Suspend disbelief p.7
Wrangling over scientific misconduct could influence Romania’s general election.doi: 10.1038/492007b
Volume 492 Issue 7427
리서치 하이라이트
표지 기사： 단체 멍게에서 발견된 원시적인 신경릉 구조
조류 지놈 분석을 통해서 밝혀진 진화 과정에서의 모자이크 현상과 핵 유사체 지놈의 운명
후각 회로에서 인접한 두 뉴런 간의 비 시냅스 억제 현상
포유류 뇌에 존재하는 공간 인식 격자 세포 시스템
L1527 IRS 시스템에서 발견된 태양 질량의 0.2배에 해당하는 원시 항성
필름 코팅된 콜로이드성 나노 안테나의 우수한 광학적 특성 및 분광학적 단일성
EZH2 활성화 돌연변이를가진 림프종에서의 치료 타깃으로써의 EZH2
인간화 생쥐를 이용한 HIV-1 중화 항체 대규모 스크리닝
컨텐츠
Editorials
An unhealthy obsession p.7
The energy expended by US biomedical scientists on complaining about grant-application limits would be better directed at the real problem: stagnant funding.doi: 10.1038/492007a
Haste not speed p.8
US science would benefit if Congress improved the predictability and stability of funding.doi: 10.1038/492008a
News
Flood of protest hits Indian dams p.15
Himalayan plans pose ecological threat, researchers warn.doi: 10.1038/492015a
Nanoparticle blast caught on film p.16
Combustion could help to make minuscule matter.doi: 10.1038/492016a
Quiet Texan to head science committee p.17
Innovation promoter wins key role in US Congress.doi: 10.1038/492017a
US advisers seek research overhaul p.18
Report calls for stable funding and industry collaborations.doi: 10.1038/492018a
FDA under pressure to relax drug rules p.19
Industry says antibiotic pipeline is being blocked by overly stringent clinical-trial requirements for new treatments.doi: 10.1038/492019a
Megacities move to track emissions p.20
Scientists monitor greenhouse gases in urban areas as a first step to gauging success of climate initiatives worldwide.doi: 10.1038/492020a
News Features
The quantum space race p.22
Fierce rivals have joined forces in the race to teleport information to and from space.doi: 10.1038/492022a
Radical reactors p.26
For decades, one design has dominated nuclear reactors while potentially better options were left by the wayside. Now, the alternatives might finally have their day.doi: 10.1038/492026a
News & Views
Olfaction Intimate neuronal whispers
p.44
It's a touching story of cohabitation and meaningful communication. Two neighbouring fruitfly neurons talk to each other not by means of synaptic junctions but by interactions through the surrounding electrical field. See Article doi: 10.1038/nature11757
Organic chemistry Toolkit of reagents to aid drug discovery
p.45
Reagents have been developed that allow carbon—hydrogen bonds on benzene-like compounds called heterocycles to be converted directly into carbon—carbon bonds. The finding will be a boon to medicinal chemists. See Letter doi: 10.1038/nature11760
Evolutionary genomics Algae's complex origins
p.46
The nuclear genomes of two of nature's most complex cells have been sequenced. The data will help to determine the evolutionary path from symbioses between species to a multi-compartmental unicellular organism. See Article doi: 10.1038/nature11759
Extrasolar planets Astrophysical false positives
p.48
The probability that giant-planet-like signals detected by the Kepler spacecraft are not from planets is higher than expected. The result underscores the importance of making follow-up observations to confirm the nature of the signals.
doi: 10.1038/492048a
Biochemistry Another aspect of nature's ingenuity
p.50
Eyewitnesses are sometimes asked to identify a culprit from a line-up of people associated with a crime scene. An enzyme — iridoid synthase — that catalyses an unusual reaction has been identified by a similar approach. See Letter doi: 10.1038/nature11754
Applied physics An optical trampoline
p.51
A neat study shows that a sheet of laser light can be used to reflect light-absorbing liquid droplets and manipulate their trajectories. This observation may open up new ways of controlling and studying aerosols.
doi: 10.1038/492051a
Astronomy A truly embryonic star
p.52
The discovery of what may be the best example yet of a forming star caught in the moments just before birth provides a missing link in our understanding of how giant gas clouds collapse to form fully fledged stars. See Letter doi: 10.1038/492052a
NOBEL 2012 Economics Stable allocations and market design
p.54
As the recipients of the 2012 science Nobel prizes gather in Stockholm to celebrate and be celebrated, News & Views shares some expert opinions on the achievements honoured.
doi: 10.1038/492054a
NOBEL 2012 Physics Manipulating individual quantum systems
p.55
As the recipients of the 2012 science Nobel prizes gather in Stockholm to celebrate and be celebrated, News & Views shares some expert opinions on the achievements honoured.
doi: 10.1038/492055a
NOBEL 2012 Physiology or medicine Mature cells can be rejuvenated
p.56
As the recipients of the 2012 science Nobel prizes gather in Stockholm to celebrate and be celebrated, News & Views shares some expert opinions on the achievements honoured.
doi: 10.1038/492056a
NOBEL 2012 Chemistry Studies of a ubiquitous receptor family
p.57
As the recipients of the 2012 science Nobel prizes gather in Stockholm to celebrate and be celebrated, News & Views shares some expert opinions on the achievements honoured.
doi: 10.1038/492057a
Articles
Algal genomes reveal evolutionary mosaicism and the fate of nucleomorphs p.59
Cryptophyte and chlorarachniophyte algae are transitional forms in the widespread secondary endosymbiotic acquisition of photosynthesis by engulfment of eukaryotic algae. Unlike most secondary plastid-bearing algae, miniaturized versions of the endosymbiont nuclei (nucleomorphs) persist in cryptophytes and chlorarachniophytes. To determine why, and to address other fundamental questions about eukaryote–eukaryote endosymbiosis, we sequenced the nuclear genomes of the cryptophyte Guillardia theta and the chlorarachniophyte Bigelowiella natans. Both genomes have >21,000 protein genes and are intron rich, and B. natans exhibits unprecedented alternative splicing for a single-celled organism. Phylogenomic analyses and subcellular targeting predictions reveal extensive genetic and biochemical mosaicism, with both host- and endosymbiont-derived genes servicing the mitochondrion, the host cell cytosol, the plastid and the remnant endosymbiont cytosol of both algae. Mitochondrion-to-nucleus gene transfer still occurs in both organisms but plastid-to-nucleus and nucleomorph-to-nucleus transfers do not, which explains why a small residue of essential genes remains locked in each nucleomorph.
doi: 10.1038/nature11681
Non-synaptic inhibition between grouped neurons in an olfactory circuit p.66
Diverse sensory organs, including mammalian taste buds and insect chemosensory sensilla, show a marked compartmentalization of receptor cells; however, the functional impact of this organization remains unclear. Here we show that compartmentalized Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) communicate with each other directly. The sustained response of one ORN is inhibited by the transient activation of a neighbouring ORN. Mechanistically, such lateral inhibition does not depend on synapses and is probably mediated by ephaptic coupling. Moreover, lateral inhibition in the periphery can modulate olfactory behaviour. Together, the results show that integration of olfactory information can occur via lateral interactions between ORNs. Inhibition of a sustained response by a transient response may provide a means of encoding salience. Finally, a CO2-sensitive ORN in the malaria mosquito Anopheles can also be inhibited by excitation of an adjacent ORN, suggesting a broad occurrence of lateral inhibition in insects and possible applications in insect control.
doi: 10.1038/nature11712
The entorhinal grid map is discretized p.72
The medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) is part of the brain’s circuit for dynamic representation of self-location. The metric of this representation is provided by grid cells, cells with spatial firing fields that tile environments in a periodic hexagonal pattern. Limited anatomical sampling has obscured whether the grid system operates as a unified system or a conglomerate of independent modules. Here we show with recordings from up to 186 grid cells in individual rats that grid cells cluster into a small number of layer-spanning anatomically overlapping modules with distinct scale, orientation, asymmetry and theta-frequency modulation. These modules can respond independently to changes in the geometry of the environment. The discrete topography of the grid-map, and the apparent autonomy of the modules, differ from the graded topography of maps for continuous variables in several sensory systems, raising the possibility that the modularity of the grid map is a product of local self-organizing network dynamics.
doi: 10.1038/nature11649
Letters
Extremely metal-poor gas at a redshift of 7 p.79
The spectrum of a quasar at redshift 7.04 reveals absorption from a large column of foreground neutral hydrogen with no corresponding heavy elements; this absorbing gas is either diffuse and intergalactic but has not yet been ionized by starlight at this early epoch, or it is gravitationally bound to a proto-galaxy that has a chemical abundance <1/10,000 the solar level.doi: 10.1038/nature11612
A ∼0.2-solar-mass protostar with a Keplerian disk in the very young L1527 IRS system p.83
In the earliest stage of star formation, protostars accrete mass from their surrounding envelopes through circumstellar disks; observations of the protostar L1527 IRS find a large, rotating proto-planetary disk from which the protostellar mass is measured to be 0.19 solar masses, with a protostar-to-envelope mass ratio of about 0.2.doi: 10.1038/nature11610
Controlled-reflectance surfaces with film-coupled colloidal nanoantennas p.86
Randomly adsorbing chemically synthesized silver nanocubes, each of which is the optical analogue of a grounded patch antenna, onto a nanoscale-thick polymer spacer layer on a gold film results in a metamaterial surface with a reflectance spectrum that can be tailored by varying the geometry.doi: 10.1038/nature11615
Continuous gas-phase synthesis of nanowires with tunable properties p.90
Aerotaxy, an aerosol-based growth method, is used to produce gallium arsenide nanowires with a growth rate of about 1 micrometre per second, which is 20 to 1,000 times higher than previously reported for traditional nanowires and allows sensitive and reproducible control of the nanowires’ optical and electronic properties.doi: 10.1038/nature11652
Practical and innate carbon–hydrogen functionalization of heterocycles p.95
It is shown that zinc sulphinate salts can be used to transfer alkyl radicals to heterocycles, allowing for the mild, direct and operationally simple formation of medicinally relevant carbon–carbon bonds while reacting in a complementary fashion to other innate carbon–hydrogen functionalization methods.doi: 10.1038/nature11680
The root of branching river networks p.100
Models and field measurements together show that the branching patterns of fine-scale river networks are the result of coupled instabilities in the erosional processes that drive valley incision.doi: 10.1038/nature11672
Identification of a rudimentary neural crest in a non-vertebrate chordate p.104
The sessile tunicate Ciona intestinalis possesses a lineage of cells, originating at the margin of the neural plate, that express several neural crest specification genes and can be reprogrammed into migrating ectomesenchyme by the targeted misexpression of Twist.doi: 10.1038/nature11589
EZH2 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for lymphoma with EZH2-activating mutations p.108
EZH2 is a methyltransferase that is mutated in lymphoma; here a potent small molecule inhibitor of EZH2 is described, which inhibits the proliferation of EZH2 mutant cell lines and growth of EZH2 mutant xenografts in mice, thus providing a potential treatment for EZH2 mutant lymphoma.doi: 10.1038/nature11606
Fucose sensing regulates bacterial intestinal colonization p.113
FusKR, a fucose-sensing two-component system, has been identified in enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, linking fucose utilization and virulence factor gene expression and providing insight into how sensing of a host signal can facilitate bacterial colonization.doi: 10.1038/nature11623
HIV therapy by a combination of broadly neutralizing antibodies in humanized mice p.118
Passive immunotherapy with a combination of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies is shown to be effective in suppressing HIV replication in a humanized mouse model.doi: 10.1038/nature11604
The calcium-sensing receptor regulates the NLRP3 inflammasome through Ca2+ and cAMP
p.123
Evidence is presented that activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is regulated by the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR).
doi: 10.1038/nature11588
Structure of a force-conveying cadherin bond essential for inner-ear mechanotransduction p.128
A combination of structural, computational and biophysical tools is used to characterize the bond between tip-link proteins protocadherin 15 and cadherin 23, which have an essential role in inner-ear mechanotransduction; the bond, involving an extended protein handshake, is found to be affected by deafness mutations and is mechanically strong enough to resist forces in hair cells, adding to our understanding of hair-cell sensory transduction and interactions among cadherins.doi: 10.1038/nature11590
B12 cofactors directly stabilize an mRNA regulatory switch p.133
The crystal structures of two different cobalamin (vitamin B12)-binding riboswitches are determined; the structures reveal how cobalamin facilitates interdomain interactions to regulate gene expression.doi: 10.1038/nature11607
An alternative route to cyclic terpenes by reductive cyclization in iridoid biosynthesis p.138
Iridoids are a large family of bicyclic natural products that possess anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial activities; here the essential cyclization step in their biosynthesis is identified, opening up the possibility of production of naturally occurring and synthetic variants of iridoids for use in pharmacy or agriculture.doi: 10.1038/nature11692
