Nature Communications - 11 November 2015

Advertisement When it comes to your experiments, consistency, accuracy and reliability mean the difference between published and rejected work, particularly in sensitive applications which require ultrapure water to help guarantee success in research, where the smallest contaminant can ruin your experiment. Do you know how to ensure your water quality? To make sure that you are not being let down by your ultrapure and pure water supply, we have put together this handy infographic series to help arm you with the knowledge to troubleshoot your water problems.      Weekly Content Alert Nature Communications is now fully open access. Read more. 11 November 2015  Featured image: Hazzouri et al. identify gene mutations associated with variation in fruit colour and other agronomic traits of date palms. Latest content: Articles Corrigendum Erratum Advertisement  Nature Medicine  FOCUS ON INFLAMMATORY DISEASE This series of Reviews highlights new data that point toward the influence of environmental factors and addresses recent advances in our knowledge of the cell types and signaling pathways involved in inflammatory disease onset and progression. Produced with support from  Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement Nobel laureates in their own words “Are you sitting comfortably? Then let me tell you about my Nobel prize-winning science.” In this series of animations, Nobel prize-winning scientists talk about work, life and discoveries that change the world. Recorded at the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.  Watch the animations free online. Supported by Mars, Incorporated       Nature Communications - now fully open access All new submissions, if accepted, will be published open access and an article processing charge (APC) will apply. For more information visit the website. Visit our open access funding page or contact openaccess@nature.com to learn more about APC funding.       Latest Articles View all Articles     Two-dimensional slither swimming of sperm within a micrometre of a surface OPEN Reza Nosrati, Amine Driouchi, Christopher M. Yip and David Sinton Sperm motion near surfaces plays a key role in fertilization, but a description of how this motion differs from bulk swimming is lacking. Here, Nosrati et al. visualize sperm swimming within 1 μm of a glass surface and describe a ‘slither’ swimming mode which differs from bulk helical swimming, and increases the velocity of human sperm. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9703 Biological Sciences  Biophysics  Targeted drug delivery using genetically engineered diatom biosilica Bahman Delalat, Vonda C. Sheppard, Soraya Rasi Ghaemi, Shasha Rao, Clive A. Prestidge, Gordon McPhee, Mary-Louise Rogers, Jacqueline F. Donoghue, Vinochani Pillay, Terrance G. Johns, Nils Kröger and Nicolas H. Voelcker Transgenic diatom algae can incorporate proteins in their silica shells. Here the authors design diatoms that can be decorated with tumour-specific antibody of choice and use them as natural nanoparticles for targeted delivery of a chemotherapeutic drug, impeding mouse xenograft tumour growth. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9791 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Cancer  African humid periods triggered the reactivation of a large river system in Western Sahara OPEN C. Skonieczny, P. Paillou, A. Bory, G. Bayon, L. Biscara, X. Crosta, F. Eynaud, B. Malaizé, M. Revel, N. Aleman, J. -P. Barusseau, R. Vernet, S. Lopez and F. Grousset Given the absence of a major river system in the Western Sahara, the source of late Quaternary fluvial sediments along the West African margin remains unclear. Here, the authors present geomorphological data that reveal the existence of a large buried paleodrainage network on the Mauritanian coast. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9751 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Geology and geophysics  Maximum rates of climate change are systematically underestimated in the geological record OPEN David B. Kemp, Kilian Eichenseer and Wolfgang Kiessling Recently observed rates of climatic change are typically much higher than those inferred for the geological past. Here, the authors show that maximum rates of climate change inferred from geological data are likely erroneously underestimated. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9890 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Geology and geophysics  miR-17-92 fine-tunes MYC expression and function to ensure optimal B cell lymphoma growth OPEN Marija Mihailovich, Michael Bremang, Valeria Spadotto, Daniele Musiani, Elena Vitale, Gabriele Varano, Federico Zambelli, Francesco M. Mancuso, David A. Cairns, Giulio Pavesi, Stefano Casola and Tiziana Bonaldi The synergism between c-MYC and miR-17-19b plays an important role in lymphoma initiation. In this study, the authors identify a panel of targets co-regulated by miR-17-19b and in MYC-driven lymphoma and unravel the molecular mechanism through which miR-17-19b inhibits MYC translation. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9725 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Cell biology  Cerebrospinal fluid-derived circulating tumour DNA better represents the genomic alterations of brain tumours than plasma OPEN Leticia De Mattos-Arruda, Regina Mayor, Charlotte K. Y. Ng, Britta Weigelt, Francisco Martínez-Ricarte, Davis Torrejon, Mafalda Oliveira, Alexandra Arias, Carolina Raventos, Jiabin Tang, Elena Guerini-Rocco, Elena Martínez-Sáez, Sergio Lois, Oscar Marín, Xavier de la Cruz, Salvatore Piscuoglio, Russel Towers, Ana Vivancos, Vicente Peg, Santiago Ramon y Cajal et al. DNA circulating in the plasma of cancer patients carries features of the primary tumour, however such DNA is found in low levels in brain cancer patients. Here, the authors show that circulating tumour DNA can be detected in the cerebral spinal fluid of cancer patients and that this better recapitulates the primary tumour compared to DNA from the plasma. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9839 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Genetics  Medical research  Hybrid graphene plasmonic waveguide modulators OPEN D. Ansell, I. P. Radko, Z. Han, F. J. Rodriguez, S. I. Bozhevolnyi and A. N. Grigorenko The combination of graphene with plasmonic waveguides remains largely unexplored. Here, Ansell et al. report the fabrication of hybrid graphene plasmonic waveguide modulators working in the telecom range, with a modulation depth greater than 0.03 dB μm−1 and with comparable characteristics to silicon-based devices. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9846 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Optical physics  Antarctic glacio-eustatic contributions to late Miocene Mediterranean desiccation and reflooding OPEN Christian Ohneiser, Fabio Florindo, Paolo Stocchi, Andrew P. Roberts, Robert M. DeConto and David Pollard About 5.6 million years ago the Mediterranean Sea evaporated leaving a 1.5 km deep basin while at the same time Antarctica’s ice sheet grew. Here the authors show that growth of Antarctic ice lowered sea-level, which cut off the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea and allowed it to evaporate. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9765 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Oceanography  Complementation between polymerase- and exonuclease-deficient mitochondrial DNA polymerase mutants in genomically engineered flies OPEN Ana Bratic, Timo E. S. Kauppila, Bertil Macao, Sebastian Grönke, Triinu Siibak, James B. Stewart, Francesca Baggio, Jacqueline Dols, Linda Partridge, Maria Falkenberg, Anna Wredenberg and Nils-Göran Larsson A key source of mitochondrial DNA mutations is errors introduced during genome replication. Here the authors create Drosophilia strains with separated elongation and proofreading capabilities to explore the dynamism of mitochondrial DNA replication. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9808 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Molecular biology  Sponge-like nanoporous single crystals of gold OPEN Maria Koifman Khristosov, Leonid Bloch, Manfred Burghammer, Yaron Kauffmann, Alex Katsman and Boaz Pokroy Naturally occurring single crystals can exhibit various intricate porous morphologies. Here, the authors are able to grow nanoporous single crystals of gold following solidification of a eutectic composition melt that forms as a result of the dewetting of nanometric thin films. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9841 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Physical chemistry  Atomistic electrodynamics simulations of bare and ligand-coated nanoparticles in the quantum size regime OPEN Xing Chen, Justin E. Moore, Meserret Zekarias and Lasse Jensen Investigating the properties of metallic nanoparticles in the 2–10 nm range is a computational challenge. Here, the authors introduce an atomistic electrodynamics model to describe bare and coated particles and dimers, and show that the ligand layer modifies the near-field properties of the particles. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9921 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Optical physics  Physical chemistry  Sea-level feedback lowers projections of future Antarctic Ice-Sheet mass loss OPEN Natalya Gomez, David Pollard and David Holland The retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and its potential contribution to future sea-level rise, is a major focus of climate research. Here, the authors show that positive feedbacks involving bedrock uplift and sea surface drop, may significantly impact the timing and extent of local ice-sheet retreat. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9798 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Geology and geophysics  Oceanography  The genomics of ecological vicariance in threespine stickleback fish OPEN Marius Roesti, Benjamin Kueng, Dario Moser and Daniel Berner Threespine stickleback fish are adapted to lake and stream habitats in Central Europe. Here, the authors show colonization of a lake basin by a stream-adapted ancestor, followed by the emergence of a lake-adapted population in the face of gene flow across lake–stream boundaries. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9767 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Evolution  Genetics  Unusually high soil nitrogen oxide emissions influence air quality in a high-temperature agricultural region OPEN P. Y. Oikawa, C. Ge, J. Wang, J. R. Eberwein, L. L. Liang, L. A. Allsman, D. A. Grantz and G. D. Jenerette Soil NOx emissions can significantly impact air quality in agricultural regions, particularly high temperature fertilized systems. Here, the authors investigate NOx emissions in one such system in California and suggest that the NOx emissions are the highest ever observed, with implications for air quality. 10 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9753 Earth Sciences  Atmospheric science  Biogeochemistry  An in situ self-assembly template strategy for the preparation of hierarchical-pore metal-organic frameworks OPEN Hongliang Huang, Jian-Rong Li, Keke Wang, Tongtong Han, Minman Tong, Liangsha Li, Yabo Xie, Qingyuan Yang, Dahuan Liu and Chongli Zhong The synthesis of porous materials with hierarchically-sized pores is an attractive target for a variety of applications. Here, the authors employ in situ generated metal-organic assemblies as metal-organic framework templates which, upon removal, yield single mesoporous-microporous materials. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9847 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  Reversible gating of smart plasmonic molecular traps using thermoresponsive polymers for single-molecule detection OPEN Yuanhui Zheng, Alexander H. Soeriyadi, Lorenzo Rosa, Soon Hock Ng, Udo Bach and J. Justin Gooding Conventional substrates used for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) are slow in response and lack reproducibility. Here, Zheng et al. describe a plasmonic sensor that can trap a single molecule at hot spots for rapid single-molecule detection with repeated trap and release capability and good SERS reproducibility. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9797 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Optical physics  Atomic and vibrational origins of mechanical toughness in bioactive cement during setting OPEN Kun V. Tian, Bin Yang, Yuanzheng Yue, Daniel T. Bowron, Jerry Mayers, Robert S. Donnan, Csaba Dobó-Nagy, John W. Nicholson, De-Cai Fang, A. Lindsay Greer, Gregory A. Chass and G. Neville Greaves Bioactive cements are widely used in dentistry and medicine. Here, using a variety of novel experimental techniques, the authors uncover the atomic and vibrational contributions to the mechanical toughness of bioactive cement during the setting process. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9631 Physical Sciences  Biotechnology  Materials science  KCNK5 channels mostly expressed in cochlear outer sulcus cells are indispensable for hearing OPEN Yves Cazals, Michelle Bévengut, Sébastien Zanella, Frédéric Brocard, Jacques Barhanin and Christian Gestreau Potassium is necessary for the mechanical-electrical transduction needed for hearing. Here the authors study mice lacking the potassium channel KCNK5 and show that these channels are mostly expressed in the outer sulcus and are required for hearing, pointing to their essential role in potassium recycling. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9780 Biological Sciences  Developmental biology  Neuroscience  Ikaros mediates gene silencing in T cells through Polycomb repressive complex 2 OPEN Attila Oravecz, Apostol Apostolov, Katarzyna Polak, Bernard Jost, Stéphanie Le Gras, Susan Chan and Philippe Kastner Haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell-specific genes are epigenetically silenced during T cell differentiation. Here the authors show that Ikaros represses over 500 loci in developing T cells in cooperation with PRC2 and independently of its well established partner NuRD. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9823 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Molecular biology  Radio frequency measurements of tunnel couplings and singlet–triplet spin states in Si:P quantum dots OPEN M. G. House, T. Kobayashi, B. Weber, S. J. Hile, T. F. Watson, J. van der Heijden, S. Rogge and M. Y. Simmons Donor spin states in silicon are good quantum bit candidates due to their long coherence times. Here, the authors use radio frequency reflectometry to measure singlet and triplet states, and to determine the tunnel coupling between few-donor silicon double quantum dots and the electrical leads. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9848 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  Nanotechnology  Shared genetic aetiology of puberty timing between sexes and with health-related outcomes OPEN Felix R. Day, Brendan Bulik-Sullivan, David A. Hinds, Hilary K. Finucane, Joanne M. Murabito, Joyce Y. Tung, Ken K. Ong and John R.B. Perry Past studies on genetics of puberty relied on rare disorders or age of menarche in women. Here, Day et al. examine puberty timing in men by the age of voice breaking, and find some loci with sexually dimorphic effects and genetic architectures shared with other health conditions. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9842 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Local 3D matrix microenvironment regulates cell migration through spatiotemporal dynamics of contractility-dependent adhesions OPEN Andrew D. Doyle, Nicole Carvajal, Albert Jin, Kazue Matsumoto and Kenneth M. Yamada Little is known about how the physical properties of three dimensional (3D) extracellular matrices modulate cell adhesion dynamics. Here Doyle et al. generate 3D collagen gels of varying microarchitecture and quantify the effect on adhesion dynamics and cell motility. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9720 Biological Sciences  Biophysics  Cell biology  Whole genome re-sequencing of date palms yields insights into diversification of a fruit tree crop OPEN Khaled M. Hazzouri, Jonathan M. Flowers, Hendrik J. Visser, Hussam S. M. Khierallah, Ulises Rosas, Gina M. Pham, Rachel S. Meyer, Caryn K. Johansen, Zoë A. Fresquez, Khaled Masmoudi, Nadia Haider, Nabila El Kadri, Youssef Idaghdour, Joel A. Malek, Deborah Thirkhill, Ghulam S. Markhand, Robert R. Krueger, Abdelouahhab Zaid and Michael D. Purugganan Date palm is a perennial fruit tree crop that thrives in arid environments of North Africa and the Middle East. Here Hazzouri et al. analyze the date palm germplasm by re-sequencing 62 different varieties and uncover selection signatures and candidate genes associated with important agronomic traits. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9824 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Plant sciences  Delta-secretase cleaves amyloid precursor protein and regulates the pathogenesis in Alzheimer’s disease OPEN Zhentao Zhang, Mingke Song, Xia Liu, Seong Su Kang, Duc M. Duong, Nicholas T. Seyfried, Xuebing Cao, Liming Cheng, Yi E. Sun, Shan Ping Yu, Jianping Jia, Allan I. Levey and Keqiang Ye Age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, yet how ageing regulates disease pathology is unclear. Here, the authors find that asparagine endopeptidase expression increases with age and cleaves APP, contributing to ß-amyloid production and cognitive defects in a transgenic mouse model. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9762 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Neuroscience  NADH oxidase-dependent CD39 expression by CD8+ T cells modulates interferon gamma responses via generation of adenosine OPEN Aiping Bai, Alan Moss, Sonja Rothweiler, Maria Serena Longhi, Yan Wu, Wolfgang G. Junger and Simon C. Robson The ectonucleotidase CD39 ultimately generates extracellular adenosine, modulating paracrine purinergic signaling. Here the authors show that IFNγ induction in CD8+ T cells is accompanied by NADH oxidase-dependent CD39 expression, which then inhibits IFNγ production in CD39-CD8+ T cells. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9819 Biological Sciences  Immunology  X-ray structure and activities of an essential Mononegavirales L-protein domain OPEN Guido C. Paesen, Axelle Collet, Corinne Sallamand, Françoise Debart, Jean-Jacques Vasseur, Bruno Canard, Etienne Decroly and Jonathan M. Grimes The Mononegavirales include Ebola virus, Rabies, Measles virus and human Metapneumovirus (hMPV). Here, the authors have reported the high resolution crystal structure of a domain of the large protein of hMPV, providing insight into the mRNA modifying activities of this protein. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9749 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Virology  Direct evidence for a pressure-induced nodal superconducting gap in the Ba0.65Rb0.35Fe2As2 superconductor OPEN Z. Guguchia, A. Amato, J. Kang, H. Luetkens, P. K. Biswas, G. Prando, F. von Rohr, Z. Bukowski, A. Shengelaya, H. Keller, E. Morenzoni, Rafael M. Fernandes and R. Khasanov Evidence suggests that the superconducting gap structures of Fe-based high temperature superconductors are highly sensitive to material parameters. Here, the authors use muon spin rotation to evidence the appearance of superconducting nodes in optimally-doped Ba0.65Rb0.35Fe2As2 under hydrostatic pressure. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9863 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  The neural dynamics of sensory focus OPEN Stephen E. Clarke, André Longtin and Leonard Maler Animals tracking objects can adapt their movements to optimise sensory coding. Using fish that sense objects as perturbations to an electric field, Clarke et al. reveal that the optimal object distance maintained by the fish is encoded within the firing properties of electrosensory neurons. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9764 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Zoology  Planar-integrated single-crystalline perovskite photodetectors OPEN Makhsud I. Saidaminov, Valerio Adinolfi, Riccardo Comin, Ahmed L. Abdelhady, Wei Peng, Ibrahim Dursun, Mingjian Yuan, Sjoerd Hoogland, Edward H. Sargent and Osman M. Bakr Single crystals of organolead halide perovskites exhibit large carrier mobilities and long diffusion lengths. Here, the authors succeed in growing the single crystals on planar substrates and integrate them as the active layer of visible photodetectors with a large gain-bandwidth product. 09 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9724 Chemical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Optical physics  The effect of intrinsic crumpling on the mechanics of free-standing graphene OPEN Ryan J.T. Nicholl, Hiram J. Conley, Nickolay V. Lavrik, Ivan Vlassiouk, Yevgeniy S. Puzyrev, Vijayashree Parsi Sreenivas, Sokrates T. Pantelides and Kirill I. Bolotin Free-standing graphene is inherently crumpled in the out-of-plane direction due to dynamic flexural phonons and static wrinkling. Here, the authors use optical interferometry as a delicate probe to investigate the consequences of this crumpling on the effective mechanical constants of graphene. 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9789 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Cytokinin response factors regulate PIN-FORMED auxin transporters Mária Šimášková, José Antonio O’Brien, Mamoona Khan, Giel Van Noorden, Krisztina Ötvös, Anne Vieten, Inge De Clercq, Johanna Maria Adriana Van Haperen, Candela Cuesta, Klára Hoyerová, Steffen Vanneste, Peter Marhavý, Krzysztof Wabnik, Frank Van Breusegem, Moritz Nowack, Angus Murphy, Jiří Friml, Dolf Weijers, Tom Beeckman and Eva Benková et al. The concerted action of the hormones cytokinin and auxin is an important regulator of plant development. Here Šimášková et al. propose a mechanistic basis by which cytokinin-responsive transcription factors regulate transport of auxin in Arabidopsis roots. 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9717 Biological Sciences  Plant sciences  Late Na+ current and protracted electrical recovery are critical determinants of the aging myopathy OPEN Sergio Signore, Andrea Sorrentino, Giulia Borghetti, Antonio Cannata, Marianna Meo, Yu Zhou, Ramaswamy Kannappan, Francesco Pasqualini, Heather O'Malley, Mark Sundman, Nikolaos Tsigkas, Eric Zhang, Christian Arranto, Chiara Mangiaracina, Kazuya Isobe, Brena F. Sena, Junghyun Kim, Polina Goichberg, Matthias Nahrendorf, Lori L. Isom et al. The aging myopathy is characterized by diastolic dysfunction of unknown aetiology. Rota et al. show that increased late Na+ current (I NaL) underlies diastolic dysfunction in the aged heart, and that inhibiting I NaL improves diastolic indices and corrects the kinetics of cardiomyocyte contraction and relaxation in aged mice. 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9803 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Meta-analysis identifies seven susceptibility loci involved in the atopic march OPEN Ingo Marenholz, Jorge Esparza-Gordillo, Franz Rüschendorf, Anja Bauerfeind, David P. Strachan, Ben D. Spycher, Hansjörg Baurecht, Patricia Margaritte-Jeannin, Annika Sääf, Marjan Kerkhof, Markus Ege, Svetlana Baltic, Melanie C. Matheson, Jin Li, Sven Michel, Wei Q. Ang, Wendy McArdle, Andreas Arnold, Georg Homuth, Florence Demenais et al. The development of asthma following eczema is known as the atopic march. Here the authors conduct a GWAS on affected children and identify two novel loci associated with the disease phenotype. 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9804 Biological Sciences  Genetics  A hot-electron thermophotonic solar cell demonstrated by thermal up-conversion of sub-bandgap photons OPEN Daniel J. Farrell, Hassanet Sodabanlu, Yunpeng Wang, Masakazu Sugiyama and Yoshitaka Okada The efficiency of single junction solar cells is limited by their inability to absorb photons with an energy smaller than the bandgap. Here, the authors surpass the Shockley-Queisser limit by using an integrated hot-electron thermophotonic emitter to thermally up-convert sub-bandgap photons. 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9685 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Optical physics  Identification of DNA lesions using a third base pair for amplification and nanopore sequencing OPEN Jan Riedl, Yun Ding, Aaron M. Fleming and Cynthia J. Burrows Genomic DNA lesions exist in low levels and cannot be amplified by standard PCR. Here, Riedl et al. report a method to amplify damaged DNA sites by replacing them via DNA repair with unnatural base pairs, which are subsequently identified by Sanger sequencing or α-hemolysin nanopore sequencing. 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9807 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Molecular biology  Laboratory measurements of resistivity in warm dense plasmas relevant to the microphysics of brown dwarfs OPEN N. Booth, A. P. L. Robinson, P. Hakel, R. J. Clarke, R. J. Dance, D. Doria, L. A. Gizzi, G. Gregori, P. Koester, L. Labate, T. Levato, B. Li, M. Makita, R. C. Mancini, J. Pasley, P. P. Rajeev, D. Riley, E. Wagenaars, J. N. Waugh and N. C. Woolsey et al. Brown dwarfs are small stars that are believed to be made of a warm dense plasma that cannot support hydrogen fusion as larger stars do. Here, the authors present a method for studying the properties, such as resistivity, of warm dense plasmas in the laboratory. 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9742 Physical Sciences  Astronomy  Fluids and plasma physics  Targeting of SUMO substrates to a Cdc48–Ufd1–Npl4 segregase and STUbL pathway in fission yeast OPEN Julie Bonne Køhler, Triin Tammsalu, Maria Mønster Jørgensen, Nana Steen, Ronald Thomas Hay and Geneviève Thon The small ubiquitin-like modifier SUMO can be conjugated to hundreds of protein species to affect their stability or activity. Here the authors use a quantitative proteomics approach to identify sumoylated proteins modified by the STUbL and Ufd1 pathways in fission yeast. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9827 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Cell biology  New Permian fauna from tropical Gondwana OPEN Juan C. Cisneros, Claudia Marsicano, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Roger M. H. Smith, Martha Richter, Jörg Fröbisch, Christian F. Kammerer and Rudyard W. Sadleir The biogeographic origins of Permian terrestrial vertebrates in high-latitude regions remain poorly understood. Here, the authors report an early Permian continental tetrapod fauna from South America in tropical Western Gondwana that constitutes a new biogeographic province with North American affinities. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9676 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Evolution  Palaeontology  Photo-generated carriers lose energy during extraction from polymer-fullerene solar cells OPEN Armantas Melianas, Fabian Etzold, Tom J. Savenije, Frédéric Laquai, Olle Inganäs and Martijn Kemerink Organic photovoltaics rely on the collection of charge carriers generated in disordered materials. Here, the authors unify various experimental techniques and simulations to show that these devices operate out-of-equilibrium, questioning the typical assumption of quasi-equilibrium. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9778 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Multipole plasmons and their disappearance in few-nanometre silver nanoparticles OPEN Søren Raza, Shima Kadkhodazadeh, Thomas Christensen, Marcel Di Vece, Martijn Wubs, N. Asger Mortensen and Nicolas Stenger The surface of metal nanoparticles can support collective oscillations of electrons known as localized surface plasmon excitations. Here, the authors use electron energy-loss spectroscopy to observe multipole plasmon resonances in silver nanoparticles as small as four nanometres. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9788 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Optical physics  Inward lithium-ion breathing of hierarchically porous silicon anodes OPEN Qiangfeng Xiao, Meng Gu, Hui Yang, Bing Li, Cunman Zhang, Yang Liu, Fang Liu, Fang Dai, Li Yang, Zhongyi Liu, Xingcheng Xiao, Gao Liu, Peng Zhao, Sulin Zhang, Chongmin Wang, Yunfeng Lu and Mei Cai Porous silicon is highly promising as an anode material in lithium ion batteries, but its volume change upon lithiation has deleterious effects upon efficiency. Here, the authors demonstrate porous shell/hollow core Si nanospheres which exhibit negligible outward expansion and maintain performance. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9844 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Genetic interactions contribute less than additive effects to quantitative trait variation in yeast OPEN Joshua S. Bloom, Iulia Kotenko, Meru J. Sadhu, Sebastian Treusch, Frank W. Albert and Leonid Kruglyak This study uses a large number of crosses between a common lab strain and vineyard-isolated strain of yeast, and estimates the phenotypic variance for various quantitative traits. Using this data set, the authors show additive quantitative trait loci (QTL) and QTL–QTL interactions to be on average 43% and 9%, respectively. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9712 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Metabotropic GABA signalling modulates longevity in C. elegans OPEN Lei Chun, Jianke Gong, Fengling Yuan, Bi Zhang, Hongkang Liu, Tianlin Zheng, Teng Yu, X. Z. Shawn Xu and Jianfeng Liu The C. elegans nervous system influences organismal lifespan but mechanistic details are poorly understood. Here, Chun et al. show that the neurotransmitter GABA regulates worm lifespan by acting on GABAB receptors in motor neurons, which activate the transcription factor DAF-16 in the intestine. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9828 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Neuroscience  Recombinase-based conditional and reversible gene regulation via XTR alleles OPEN Camila Robles-Oteiza, Sarah Taylor, Travis Yates, Michelle Cicchini, Brian Lauderback, Christopher R. Cashman, Aurora A. Burds, Monte M. Winslow, Tyler Jacks and David M. Feldser Synthetic biology can be used to regulate target genes and uncover gene function in physiologically relevant settings. Here Robles-Oteiza et al. describe a new recombinase-based system for conditional inactivation and inducible restoration of gene function and develop new mouse models to study p53 and Rb. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9783 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Cancer  The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars OPEN Derek W. T. Jackson, Mary C Bourke and Thomas A. G. Smyth The absence of in situ and long-term meteorological data hampers our understanding of wind movement on Mars. Here, the authors use 3D airflow modelling to investigate small scale ripple migration and suggest that local dune topography exerts a strong influence on wind speed and direction. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9796 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Planetary sciences  Stable ultrathin partially oxidized copper film electrode for highly efficient flexible solar cells OPEN Guoqing Zhao, Wei Wang, Tae-Sung Bae, Sang-Geul Lee, ChaeWon Mun, Sunghun Lee, Huashun Yu, Gun-Hwan Lee, Myungkwan Song and Jungheum Yun Light enters and exits optoelectronic devices through transparent conductive electrodes, which are one of their most expensive components. Here, the authors develop stable transparent conductive electrodes based on copper and oxide layers that lead to efficient flexible organic solar cells. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9830 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Spectral splitting photovoltaics using perovskite and wideband dye-sensitized solar cells OPEN Takumi Kinoshita, Kazuteru Nonomura, Nam Joong Jeon, Fabrizio Giordano, Antonio Abate, Satoshi Uchida, Takaya Kubo, Sang Il Seok, Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin, Anders Hagfeldt, Michael Grätzel and Hiroshi Segawa Lead halide perovskite solar cells have a limited spectral response in the near infrared. Here, the authors present ruthenium dyes with extended near infrared absorbance and combine perovskite and dye-based solar cells by spectral splitting to obtain broadband, 21.5% efficient solar cells. 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9834 Chemical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Organic chemistry  Multifocal clonal evolution characterized using circulating tumour DNA in a case of metastatic breast cancer OPEN Muhammed Murtaza, Sarah-Jane Dawson, Katherine Pogrebniak, Oscar M. Rueda, Elena Provenzano, John Grant, Suet-Feung Chin, Dana W. Y. Tsui, Francesco Marass, Davina Gale, H. Raza Ali, Pankti Shah, Tania Contente-Cuomo, Hossein Farahani, Karey Shumansky, Zoya Kingsbury, Sean Humphray, David Bentley, Sohrab P. Shah, Matthew Wallis et al. Individual tumours are heterogeneous with regards to genetic mutations. In this study, the authors use sequencing to follow multiple tumour and plasma samples over 3 years from a breast cancer patient and show mutations detected in the plasma samples could partially reproduce the clonal nature of the primary tumour. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9760 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Genetics  Medical research  Total synthesis of palau’amine OPEN Kosuke Namba, Kohei Takeuchi, Yukari Kaihara, Masataka Oda, Akira Nakayama, Atsushi Nakayama, Masahiro Yoshida and Keiji Tanino Thanks to its immunosuppressive activity and complex molecular architecture, the natural product palau’amine has attracted continuous attention over a number of years. Here, the authors report a new synthetic strategy which includes the formation of multiple rings in a single key step. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9731 Chemical Sciences  Organic chemistry  Topologically protected elastic waves in phononic metamaterials OPEN S. Hossein Mousavi, Alexander B. Khanikaev and Zheng Wang Metamaterials are engineered media with properties that mimic those of natural materials, but offer a much wider range of possibilities. Here, the authors numerically demonstrate an elastic-wave analogue of the quantum spin Hall effect in a phononic topological metamaterial. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9682 Physical Sciences  Materials science  ESRP2 controls an adult splicing programme in hepatocytes to support postnatal liver maturation OPEN Amruta Bhate, Darren J. Parker, Thomas W. Bebee, Jaegyoon Ahn, Waqar Arif, Edrees H. Rashan, Sandip Chorghade, Anthony Chau, Jae-Hyung Lee, Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk, Russ P. Carstens, Xinshu Xiao and Auinash Kalsotra Alternative RNA splicing is important during organismal development. Here, the authors perform RNA-Seq on mouse and human liver samples to provide a comprehensive view of splicing events during liver development and growth, and identify Espr2 as a main regulator of these splicing processes. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9768 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Molecular biology  Localized reconstruction of subunits from electron cryomicroscopy images of macromolecular complexes OPEN Serban L. Ilca, Abhay Kotecha, Xiaoyu Sun, Minna M. Poranen, David I. Stuart and Juha T. Huiskonen Electron cryomicroscopy can allow the elucidation of macromolecular structures; however, mismatches in symmetry between different components limit the attainable resolution. Here, the authors set out a computational method for extracting and retaining information from such components. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9843 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Top consumer abundance influences lake methane efflux OPEN Shawn P. Devlin, Jatta Saarenheimo, Jari Syväranta and Roger I. Jones How aquatic communities influence biogeochemical cycling is not well understood. Here, Devlin et al. manipulate the abundance of fish in a whole-lake experiment and show that methane efflux is reduced by the presence of top predators, via a trophic cascade from zooplankton to methanotrophic bacteria. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9787 Biological Sciences  Biogeochemistry  Ecology  Microbiology  Asparagine requirement in Plasmodium berghei as a target to prevent malaria transmission and liver infections OPEN Viswanathan A. Nagaraj, Dhanunjay Mukhi, Vinayagam Sathishkumar, Pradeep A. Subramani, Susanta K. Ghosh, Rajeev R. Pandey, Manjunatha C. Shetty and Govindarajan Padmanaban Malaria parasites obtain amino acids primarily from the host, but possess a gene encoding a putative asparagine synthetase. Here, the authors show that this enzyme is functional and that asparagine is crucial for the development of the parasite’s sexual stages in mosquitoes and liver stages in mice. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9775 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Microbiology  Geometric stability of topological lattice phases OPEN T. S. Jackson, Gunnar Möller and Rahul Roy Fractional Chern insulators, topological insulators with partially filled bands, do not require large magnetic fields to form fractional quantum Hall states. Here, the authors investigate the correlation between the stability of such states and the bandgap to their creation on a variety of lattices. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9629 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Theoretical physics  Intronic regulation of Aire expression by Jmjd6 for self-tolerance induction in the thymus OPEN Toyoshi Yanagihara, Fumiyuki Sanematsu, Tetsuya Sato, Takehito Uruno, Xuefeng Duan, Takahiro Tomino, Yosuke Harada, Mayuki Watanabe, Yuqing Wang, Yoshihiko Tanaka, Yoichi Nakanishi, Mikita Suyama and Fukui Yoshinori Jmjd6 is a dioxygenase that catalyses lysyl hydroxylation of splicing regulatory proteins. Here the authors show that Jmjd6 directs splicing of a central tolerance regulator Aire in medullary thymic epithelial cells, and that Jmjd6 deficiency leads to loss of Aire and multi-organ autoimmunity in mice. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9820 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Photoinduced spontaneous free-carrier generation in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes OPEN Jaehong Park, Obadiah G. Reid, Jeffrey L. Blackburn and Garry Rumbles Photoinduced carrier-generation in individual semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes is controversial. Here, the authors demonstrate that free carriers can be generated even in the absence of dissociating interfaces by performing time-resolved microwave conductivity on solutions of dispersed nanotubes. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9809 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Physical chemistry  Assembling an alkyl rotor to access abrupt and reversible crystalline deformation of a cobalt(II) complex OPEN Sheng-Qun Su, Takashi Kamachi, Zi-Shuo Yao, You-Gui Huang, Yoshihito Shiota, Kazunari Yoshizawa, Nobuaki Azuma, Yuji Miyazaki, Motohiro Nakano, Goro Maruta, Sadamu Takeda, Soonchul Kang, Shinji Kanegawa and Osamu Sato Molecular motion can potentially be harnessed to control macroscopic properties such as size and shape. Here, the authors show that the phase transition of a cobalt(II) complex with an n-butyl group on its ligands, results in a reversible crystal deformation at the structural phase transition temperature. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9810 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  MITF and c-Jun antagonism interconnects melanoma dedifferentiation with pro-inflammatory cytokine responsiveness and myeloid cell recruitment OPEN Stefanie Riesenberg, Angela Groetchen, Robert Siddaway, Tobias Bald, Julia Reinhardt, Denise Smorra, Judith Kohlmeyer, Marcel Renn, Bengt Phung, Pia Aymans, Tobias Schmidt, Veit Hornung, Irwin Davidson, Colin R. Goding, Göran Jönsson, Jennifer Landsberg, Thomas Tüting and Michael Hölzel The c-Jun transcription factor can mediate a cell's response to TNFa. Here, Riesenberg et al. show in melanoma cells that c-Jun has an inverse relationship with the key melanocyte transcription factor MITF and that high c-Jun levels contribute to melanoma heterogeneity and an inflammatory microenvironment. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9755 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Cell biology  A dual-isotope approach to allow conclusive partitioning between three sources OPEN Thea Whitman and Johannes Lehmann Stable isotopes are a useful tool for distinguishing two sources in a mixture, but frequently systems have more than two components. Here, the authors propose a new approach to allow conclusive partitioning between three sources, still using only two stable isotopes, looking at soil CO2 emissions. 04 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9708 Earth Sciences  Biogeochemistry    Nature Communications JOBS of the week Bioinformatics Scientist (M / F) Uniklinik RWTH Aachen Research Assistant University of Bristol 13 PhD positions Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research Post-doctoral Positions University of Vermont University of Vermont Postdoctoral Researcher John Innes Centre (JIC) Fellowships Lundbeck Foundation Independent Research Fellows The University of Manchester Assistant Professor University of Memphis Postdoctoral Fellow Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Research Scientist University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill More Science jobs from Nature Communications EVENT The Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2016 24.07.16 Toronto, Canada More science events from       Latest Corrigendum     A solid–solid phase transition in carbon dioxide at high pressures and intermediate temperatures Jinjin Li, Olaseni Sode, Gregory A. Voth and So Hirata 06 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9907       Latest Erratum     Erratum: A trapped-ion-based quantum byte with 10−5 next-neighbour cross-talk C. Piltz, T. Sriarunothai, A. F. Varón and C. Wunderlich 05 November 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9908 Physical Sciences  Atomic and molecular physics      Advertisement The discussion on Alzheimer’s Disease continues  Nature Neuroscience presents a community forum on Alzheimer's Disease (AD) research. ACCESS NOW to view videos of our panel event at SfN 2015, read related articles for free, and discuss critical issues facing AD research today. 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