Nature Communications - 27 September 2011

Weekly Content Alert 27 September 2011 Featured image: Nakano et al. show that serotype K Strptococcus mutans can bind to injured blood vessels in the mouse brain. Latest content: Review Articles Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement TRADE SECRETS A Nature Network blog by BIOENTREPRENEUR Brought to you by Nature Biotechnology Access the insights, advice and commentary from scientists and entrepreneurs building biotech sectors around the world. Join the global dialogue on life science entrepreneurship.     Latest Review View all Reviews     Capturing the essence of folding and functions of biomolecules using coarse-grained models Changbong Hyeon and D. Thirumalai Coarse-grained models can be used to study the folding of biological macromolecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins. In this Review, Hyeon and Thirumalai describe recent advances in the use of these theoretical models to describe dynamic processes in biology. 27 Sep | Nat Commun 2:487 doi:10.1038/ncomms1481 (2011) Biological sciences Biochemistry Biophysics  Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,497 kB)       Latest Articles View all Articles     Role of mid-gap states in charge transport and photoconductivity in semiconductor nanocrystal films OPEN Prashant Nagpal and Victor I. Klimov Nanocrystals are used in light-emitting diodes and solar cells, but their charge transport in films is unclear. Here, the study of PbS nanocrystal films reveals the role of mid-gap states in their charge transport, suggesting different design needs for devices operated in dark (transistors) versus light (solar cells) conditions. 27 Sep | Nat Commun 2:486 doi:10.1038/ncomms1492 (2011) Physical sciences Applied physics  Condensed matter Materials science  Nanotechnology Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,022 kB) | Supplementary Information The collagen-binding protein of Streptococcus mutans is involved in haemorrhagic stroke OPEN Kazuhiko Nakano, Kazuya Hokamura, Naho Taniguchi, Koichiro Wada, Chiho Kudo, Ryota Nomura, Ayuchi Kojima, Shuhei Naka, Yoshinori Muranaka, Min Thura, Atsushi Nakajima, Katsuhiko Masuda, Ichiro Nakagawa, Pietro Speziale, Nobumitsu Shimada, Atsuo Amano, Yoshinori Kamisaki, Tokutaro Tanaka, Kazuo Umemura and Takashi Ooshima The risk factors associated with both ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke are not fully understood. Here a certain strain of the bacteria, Streptococcus mutans, which expresses a collagen-binding protein, is shown to be associated with haemorrhagic stroke in both animal models and human patients. 27 Sep | Nat Commun 2:485 doi:10.1038/ncomms1491 (2011) Biological sciences Medical research  Microbiology Neuroscience Abstract | Full Text | PDF (884 kB) | Supplementary Information A shift of the TOR adaptor from Rictor towards Raptor by semaphorin in C. elegans  OPEN Akira Nukazuka, Shusaku Tamaki, Kunihiro Matsumoto, Yoichi Oda, Hajime Fujisawa and Shin Takagi What controls the binding partner selection of the target of rapamycin protein, TOR, is unknown. Using the Caenorhabditis elegans tail as a model, Nukazuka et al. determine that signals of semaphorin through plexin control the binding partner selection of TOR and are required for the correct organization of rays in the tail. 27 Sep | Nat Commun 2:484 doi:10.1038/ncomms1495 (2011) Biological sciences Cell biology Developmental biology  Abstract | Full Text | PDF (734 kB) | Supplementary Information Identification and microbial production of a terpene-based advanced biofuel OPEN Pamela P. Peralta-Yahya, Mario Ouellet, Rossana Chan, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, Jay D. Keasling and Taek Soon Lee Advanced biofuels with comparable properties to petroleum-based fuels could be microbially produced from lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, Escherichia coli is engineered to produce bisabolene, the immediate precursor of bisabolane, a biosynthetic alternative to D2 diesel. 27 Sep | Nat Commun 2:483 doi:10.1038/ncomms1494 (2011) Chemical sciences Biotechnology Chemical biology Abstract | Full Text | PDF (464 kB) | Supplementary Information Room temperature magnetic materials from nanostructured diblock copolymers Zoha M. AL-Badri, Raghavendra R. Maddikeri, Yongping Zha, Hitesh D. Thaker, Priyanka Dobriyal, Raja Shunmugam, Thomas P. Russell and Gregory N. Tew Simple routes to self-assembling magnetic materials are elusive. Tew and colleagues produce copolymers containing cobalt complexes, which phase separate to give ferromagnetic properties at room temperature following heat treatment. 27 Sep | Nat Commun 2:482 doi:10.1038/ncomms1485 (2011) Chemical sciences Condensed matter  Materials science Nanotechnology  Abstract | Full Text | PDF (502 kB) | Supplementary Information   Nature Communications JOBS of the week Postdoctoral Fellow Duke University Durham, US Assistant Professor, Pharmacology Purdue University West Lafayette, US Postdoctoral position in Structural microbiology University of Toronto Toronto, CA Phd Position on Material Science and Engineering, Biomedical science Department of Material Science and Engineering, Lobat Tayebi Tulsa, US Research technician Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) Vienna, AT Interdisciplinary PhD studentships in Heidelberg University of Heidelberg and Max Planck Institute Heidelberg, DE Clinical Assistant Professor of Biology & Environmental Studies New York University New York, US Financial Manager – Customer Marketing Syngenta Seeds, Inc. 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