Volume 505 Number 7481

Editorial

政府は、助成機関や大学とともに、社会の重要課題に取り組む科学者の研究が適切に評価され、意欲が報われるよう図るべきだ。

The greater good p.5

Governments, funding agencies and universities must all do their bit to ensure that research is appropriately assessed and rewarded.

doi: 10.1038/505005a

News

サンディア国立研究所のZマシンの改良が進み、パルス法による核融合の成功に期待が。

Triple-threat method sparks hope for fusion p.9

The secrets to its success are lasers, magnets and a big pinch.

doi: 10.1038/505009a

複数の地球温暖化モデルの比較評価によって、水供給が重大なリスクになる恐れが明らかに。

Water risk as world warms p.10

First comprehensive global-impact project shows that water scarcity is a major worry.

doi: 10.1038/505010a

全米科学財団(NSF)から多額の助成があるものの、次世代X線源の建設は膠着状態に。

X-ray source left without home p.11

No plans to build next-generation accelerator despite large investment by US agency.

doi: 10.1038/505011a

Natureが予測する、2014年の科学界のニュースは?

What to expect in 2014 p.13

Nature takes a look at what is in store for science in the new year.

doi: 10.1038/505013a

News Features

行動と生物学:思いがけずエピジェネティクス研究へ

Behaviour and biology: The accidental epigeneticist p.14

心理学者Richard Tremblayは、子供たちの常習的な攻撃的行動の根が幼少期にあることを突き止め、さらにもっと深い原因を探っている。

doi: 10.1038/505014a

News & Views

マラリア:耐性の広がりを食い止める

Malaria: Resistance nailed p.30

in vitro、ゲノミクス、生態学的および疫学的な一連の研究によって、熱帯熱マラリア原虫(Plasmodium falciparum)の遺伝子に生じた変異で、アルテミシニンを使った抗マラリア薬への耐性に重要な役割を持つものが突き止められた。

doi: 10.1038/nature12845

太陽系外惑星:くもりときどきダストボール

Extrasolar planets: Cloudy with a chance of dustballs p.31

中程度の大きさの2つの太陽系外惑星について、親星の前面を通過する際に観測された透過スペクトルは平らで特徴のないものだった。この結果は、これらの惑星の大気の性質を明らかにするものだ。

doi: 10.1038/505031a

旧人類:4種類に増えてさらに賑やか

Archaic humans: Four makes a party p.32

旧人類と現生人類のゲノムの比較に、初めてのネアンデルタール人高品質ゲノム塩基配列が加えられたことで、遺伝子流動、個体群の構造や適応についての手がかりが得られ、またこれまで知られていなかった旧人類集団の存在が示唆された。

doi: 10.1038/nature12847

気候科学:不確実性という暗雲

Climate science: Clouds of uncertainty p.34

気候モデルにおける大気の対流混合と低層雲の評価が新たに行われ、二酸化炭素濃度の上昇に応答して、地球の気候がこれまで考えられていたよりも温暖となる可能性が示唆された。

doi: 10.1038/505034a

細胞生物学:終わりの始まり

Cell biology: The beginning of the end p.35

細胞の老化、つまりがんを抑制し老化を促進する細胞増殖停止は、胚発生を調節するために進化した可能性が、マウスとヒトでの研究で示唆された。

doi: 10.1038/nature12844

Articles

気候科学:大気の対流混合に由来するモデルの気候感度の広がり

Spread in model climate sensitivity traced to atmospheric convective mixing p.37

The change in global mean temperature in response to a change in external forcing is highly uncertain; here differences in the simulated strength of convective mixing between the lower and middle tropical troposphere are shown to explain about half of the variance in climate sensitivity, constraining the predicted equilibrium climate sensitivity to an increase of 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.

doi: 10.1038/nature12829

進化:アルタイ山脈で発掘されたネアンデルタール人の完全なゲノム塩基配列

The complete genome sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains p.43

A complete genome sequence is presented of a female Neanderthal from Siberia, providing information about interbreeding between close relatives and uncovering gene flow events among Neanderthals, Denisovans and early modern humans, as well as establishing substitutions that became fixed in modern humans after their separation from the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans.

doi: 10.1038/nature12886

医学:熱帯熱マラリア原虫が引き起こすアルテミシニン耐性マラリアの分子マーカー

A molecular marker of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria p.50

A molecular marker is required to monitor artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites in southeast Asia; here mutations in K13-propeller are associated with artemisinin resistance in vitro and in vivo and also cluster in Cambodian provinces where resistance is prevalent.

doi: 10.1038/nature12876

構造生物学:電位依存性カルシウムチャネルのCa2+選択性の構造的基盤

Structural basis for Ca2+ selectivity of a voltage-gated calcium channel p.56

X-ray crystal structures of a voltage-gated Na+ channel mutated to be highly Ca2+ selective provide a framework for understanding the mechanisms of ion selectivity and conductance in vertebrate voltage-gated Ca2+ channels.

doi: 10.1038/nature12775

Letters

宇宙:中性子星の地殻における電子捕獲とβ崩壊のサイクルによる強いニュートリノ冷却

Strong neutrino cooling by cycles of electron capture and β decay in neutron star crusts p.62

Cycles of electron capture and β decay involving neutron-rich nuclei at a typical depth of about 150 metres are found to cool the outer crust of a neutron star by emitting neutrinos while also thermally decoupling the surface layers from the deeper crust; this mechanism has been studied in other astrophysical environments, but has not hitherto been considered in neutron stars.

doi: 10.1038/nature12757

宇宙:海王星質量の系外惑星GJ 436bの特徴のない透過スペクトル

A featureless transmission spectrum for the Neptune-mass exoplanet GJ 436b p.66

The transmission spectrum of the Neptune-mass exoplanet GJ 436b is shown to be featureless, implying that the planet has either a hydrogen-poor atmosphere or a high cloud layer.

doi: 10.1038/nature12887

宇宙:スーパーアース系外惑星GJ 1214bの大気中にある雲

Clouds in the atmosphere of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b p.69

The transmission spectrum of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b is observed to be featureless at near-infrared wavelengths and its atmosphere must contain clouds to be consistent with the data.

doi: 10.1038/nature12888

材料:DNAを介するナノ粒子の結晶化によるウルフ多面体形成

DNA-mediated nanoparticle crystallization into Wulff polyhedra p.73

Very slow cooling, over several days, of solutions of complementary-DNA-modified nanoparticles through the melting temperature of the system produces nanoparticle assemblies with the Wulff equilibrium crystal structure, thus showing that DNA hybridization can direct nanoparticle assembly along a pathway that mimics atomic crystallization.

doi: 10.1038/nature12739

海洋科学:小氷期以降に増加した亜熱帯北太平洋の窒素固定量

Increasing subtropical North Pacific Ocean nitrogen fixation since the Little Ice Age p.78

Despite a reduction in nutrient supply to the North Pacific subtropical gyre, it has undergone a recent increase in nitrogen fixation, and here records of nitrogen isotopes preserved in Hawaiian corals show that this is a trend that could be linked to climate change since the end of the Little Ice Age.

doi: 10.1038/nature12784

生態学:リンの制限に適応した植物は有性生殖への投資の低下によって存続が脅かされる

Low investment in sexual reproduction threatens plants adapted to phosphorus limitation p.82

Plant life-history traits, notably plant investments in growth versus reproduction, can explain the impact of nitrogen:phosphorus stoichiometry on plant species richness; compared with plants in nitrogen-limited communities, plants in phosphorus-limited communities (in which endangered plant species are more common) invest little in phosphorus-intense activity such as sexual reproduction and have conservative leaf traits.

doi: 10.1038/nature12733

集団遺伝学:後期旧石器時代のシベリア人ゲノムから、アメリカ先住民の祖先は2系統であることが判明 

Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans p.87

Draft genomes of two south-central Siberian individuals dating to 24,000 and 17,000 years ago show that they are genetically closely related to modern-day western Eurasians and Native Americans but not to east Asians; the results have implications for our understanding of the origins of Native Americans.

doi: 10.1038/nature12736

神経科学:前前頭皮質のパルブアルブミン介在ニューロンは神経活動を成形して恐怖表現を促す

Prefrontal parvalbumin interneurons shape neuronal activity to drive fear expression p.92

Single-unit recordings and optogenetic manipulations in mice undergoing auditory fear conditioning show that fear expression is related to the phasic inhibition of prefrontal cortex (PFC) parvalbumin interneurons; inhibition disinhibits PFC projection neurons and synchronizes their firing, leading to fear expression.

doi: 10.1038/nature12755

細胞生物学:血管性ニッチからの分岐したアンジオクラインシグナルが肝臓の再生と繊維形成のバランスをとる

Divergent angiocrine signals from vascular niche balance liver regeneration and fibrosis p.97

Divergent angiocrine signals from liver sinusoidal endothelial cells elicit regeneration after immediate injury and provoke fibrosis after chronic insult.

doi: 10.1038/nature12681

免疫:孔形成性の腸管C型レクチンによる抗菌性膜攻撃

Antibacterial membrane attack by a pore-forming intestinal C-type lectin p.103

Secreted C-type lectins protect the intestinal epithelium from Gram-positive bacteria; this study shows that for the C-type lectin RegIIIα, bacterial killing occurs in a two-step process whereby the lectin first binds to bacterial peptidoglycans then oligomerizes on the bacterial membrane to form a permeabilizing pore.

doi: 10.1038/nature12729

構造生物学:ボツリヌス神経毒素Aによるシナプス小胞タンパク質2C認識の構造的基盤

Structural basis for recognition of synaptic vesicle protein 2C by botulinum neurotoxin A p.108

Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) is considered the most toxic substance known but is also used as a therapeutic drug for a growing number of diseases and conditions; researchers have now obtained a high-resolution crystal structure of the receptor-binding domain of the BoNT/A in complex with the luminal domain of synaptic vesicle protein 2C (SV2C), one of its receptors, allowing the identification of a peptide that can inhibit complex formation.

doi: 10.1038/nature12732

分子生物学:GTPアーゼ活性と60S前駆体のリモデリングATPアーゼ活性の共役がリボゾーム核外輸送のチェックポイントを形成する

Coupled GTPase and remodelling ATPase activities form a checkpoint for ribosome export p.112

Two proteins are identified in yeast that regulate the timing of pre-ribosome export from the nucleus; Nug2 binds pre-60S particles until they are ready for export, at which time Nug2 is replaced by the export adaptor Nmd3, enabling the export machinery to recognise the pre-ribosome that is ready to be transferred to the cytoplasm.

doi: 10.1038/nature12731

分子生物学:N6-メチルアデノシンに依存した、メッセンジャーRNAの安定性調節

N6-methyladenosine-dependent regulation of messenger RNA stability p.117

The mRNAs of higher eukaryotes are extensively modified internally with N6-methyladenosine, but the specific functional role of this modification has been unclear; here this modification on mRNA is shown to be recognized by several proteins, the modification and its recognition serve to regulate the RNA’s lifetime.

doi: 10.1038/nature12730

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