Zhou L

Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 27 October 2022; doi:10.1038/s41589-022-01170-9

Velcrins kill cancer cells by inducing complex formation between PDE3A and SLFN12, upregulating SLFN12 RNase activity. Activated SLFN12 specifically cleaves tRNALeu(TAA), resulting in global inhibition of protein synthesis.

Malaria parasite infection weakens colonization resistance against Salmonella enterica serovar (S.) Typhimurium. S. Typhimurium is a member of the Enterobacterales, a taxon that increases in abundance when the colonic microbiota is disrupted or when the colonic mucosa is inflamed. However, here, we show that infection of mice with Plasmodium yoelii enhances S. Typhimurium colonization by weakening host control in the upper GI tract. P. yoelii–infected mice had elevated gastric pH. Stimulation of gastric acid secretion during P. yoelii infection restored stomach acidity and colonization resistance, demonstrating that parasite-induced hypochlorhydria increases gastric survival of S. Typhimurium. Furthermore, blockade of P. yoelii–induced TNF-α signaling was sufficient to prevent elevation of gastric pH and enhance S. Typhimurium colonization during concurrent infection. Collectively, these data suggest that abundance in the fecal microbiota of facultative anaerobes, such as S. Typhimurium, can be increased by suppressing antibacterial defenses in the upper GI tract, such as gastric acid.

Nature, Published online: 30 June 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01979-1

Scientists carrying out routine monitoring in China have found that pigs are widely infected with a virus with the potential to trigger a pandemic. Plus, cosmic rays could explain why DNA is right-handed, and quantum computers work better when no one’s around.

传统的合成纤维存在耗能高、环境污染严重等缺点，因此可受到人们的广泛关注。通过对大麻纤维的表面改性，可以获得高性能的大麻纤维复合材料，因此，大麻纤维有望代替传统的合成纤维，成为新型聚合物增强体。本文介绍了大麻纤维的结构与性能及表面改性方法，对其复合材料性能的最新研究动态进行了综述，并对大麻纤维复合材料的研究作了进一步展望。

Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions

Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions, Published online: 17 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1092-8

Chiral polar-skyrmion bubbles are observed in superlattices of titanium-based perovskite oxides at room temperature.

Advanced Materials, Volume 31, Issue 1, January 4, 2019.

Morphinan-based painkillers are derived from opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). We report a draft of the opium poppy genome, with 2.72 gigabases assembled into 11 chromosomes with contig N50 and scaffold N50 of 1.77 and 204 megabases, respectively. Synteny analysis suggests a whole-genome duplication at ~7.8 million years ago and ancient segmental or whole-genome duplication(s) that occurred before the Papaveraceae-Ranunculaceae divergence 110 million years ago. Syntenic blocks representative of phthalideisoquinoline and morphinan components of a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid cluster of 15 genes provide insight into how this cluster evolved. Paralog analysis identified P450 and oxidoreductase genes that combined to form the STORR gene fusion essential for morphinan biosynthesis in opium poppy. Thus, gene duplication, rearrangement, and fusion events have led to evolution of specialized metabolic products in opium poppy.

Zebra finches identify individuals using vocal signatures unique to each call type

Zebra finches identify individuals using vocal signatures unique to each call type, Published online: 02 October 2018; doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06394-9

Individual animals have vocal signatures, but are the same signatures consistent across behavioral contexts? Here, the authors use behavioral experiments and acoustic analyses to show that zebra finches have distinct vocal signatures for different call types, such as aggression and long-distance contact.

Many European countries impose employment bans that prevent asylum seekers from entering the local labor market for a certain waiting period upon arrival. We provide evidence on the long-term effects of these employment bans on the subsequent economic integration of refugees. We leverage a natural experiment in Germany, where a court ruling prompted a reduction in the length of the employment ban. We find that, 5 years after the waiting period was reduced, employment rates were about 20 percentage points lower for refugees who, upon arrival, had to wait for an additional 7 months before they were allowed to enter the labor market. It took up to 10 years for this employment gap to disappear. Our findings suggest that longer employment bans considerably slowed down the economic integration of refugees and reduced their motivation to integrate early on after arrival. A marginal social cost analysis for the study sample suggests that this employment ban cost German taxpayers about 40 million euros per year, on average, in terms of welfare expenditures and foregone tax revenues from unemployed refugees.

Advanced Materials, July 2018.