This month in Bio-Med Roundup:
- Gerstein et al. and the modENCODE Consortium et al. provided insights into the organization, structure, and function of the C. elegans and Drosophila genomes.
- Dehaene et al. described how learning to read changes the cortical networks for vision and language.
- Mochida et al. and Gharbi-Ayachi et al. showed that initiation of the cell division cycle involves a signaling pathway that blocks the action of a specific phosphatase.
- Bloomfield et al. found that a single genetic locus determines the three sexes of the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum.
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GENETICS
Plasticity of Animal Genome Architecture Unmasked by Rapid Evolution of a Pelagic Tunicate (3 December 2010)
F. Denoeud et al.
A metazoan genome departs from the organization that appears rigidly established in other animal phyla.
Rewiring of Genetic Networks in Response to DNA Damage (3 December 2010)
S. Bandyopadhyay et al.
A network comparison of genetic interactions mapped at two conditions reveals genetic responses to DNA damage in yeast.
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The Major Genetic Determinants of HIV-1 Control Affect HLA Class I Peptide Presentation (10 December 2010)
The International HIV Controllers Study
MHC class I alleles are the major genetic determinants associated with people able to control HIV infection without therapy.
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New Genes in Drosophila Quickly Become Essential (17 December 2010)
S. Chen et al.
One-third of evolutionary young genes is essential to fruit flies.
Integrative Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans Genome by the modENCODE Project (24 December 2010)
M. B. Gerstein et al.
Extensive analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome reveals regions highly occupied by multiple transcription factors.
Identification of Functional Elements and Regulatory Circuits by Drosophila modENCODE (24 December 2010)
The modENCODE Consortium et al.
The Drosophila modENCODE project demonstrates the functional regulatory network of flies.
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Hsp90 and Environmental Stress Transform the Adaptive Value of Natural Genetic Variation (24 December 2010)
D. F. Jarosz and S. Lindquist
A molecular chaperone both buffers and potentiates the adaptive nature of genetic variation in yeast.
NEUROSCIENCE/PSYCHOLOGY
How Learning to Read Changes the Cortical Networks for Vision and Language (3 December 2010)
S. Dehaene et al.
Reading changes the mind.
Alleviating Neuropathic Pain Hypersensitivity by Inhibiting PKMζ in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (3 December 2010)
X.-Y. Li et al.
Nerve injury increases the activity of an enzyme in the brain and contributes to chronic pain–related cortical sensitization.
Micro-Optical Sectioning Tomography to Obtain a High-Resolution Atlas of the Mouse Brain (3 December 2010)
A. Li et al.
Acquisition of light microscopic data at 1-micrometer resolution for an entire mouse brain has been developed.
Paradoxical False Memory for Objects After Brain Damage (3 December 2010)
S. M. McTighe et al.
Impaired recognition may be due to treating novel objects as familiar, rather than treating familiar objects as novel.
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Thought for Food: Imagined Consumption Reduces Actual Consumption (10 December 2010)
C. K. Morewedge et al.
Imagining eating a food caused subsequent actual consumption of that food to decline.
Cholinergic Interneurons Control Local Circuit Activity and Cocaine Conditioning (17 December 2010)
I. B. Witten et al.
Silencing giant interneurons and thereby exciting medium spiny neurons during cocaine-induced activity disrupts cocaine reward.
The Social Sense: Susceptibility to Others' Beliefs in Human Infants and Adults (24 December 2010)
A. M. Kovács et al.
Knowledge of what others believe is present in 7-month-old infants.
Siah Regulation of Pard3A Controls Neuronal Cell Adhesion During Germinal Zone Exit (24 December 2010)
J. K. Famulski et al.
A ubiquitination cascade regulates formation of cell adhesions that immature neurons require in the developing mouse brain.
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CELL/DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
BID, BIM, and PUMA Are Essential for Activation of the BAX- and BAK-Dependent Cell Death Program (3 December 2010)
D. Ren et al.
Proapoptotic proteins act directly on mitochondrial "gatekeeper" proteins to initiate apoptotic events during mouse development.
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Nebulin and N-WASP Cooperate to Cause IGF-1–Induced Sarcomeric Actin Filament Formation (10 December 2010)
K. Takano et al.
An alternative signaling mechanism for nucleating unbranched actin filaments is required for skeletal muscle maturation.
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Greatwall Phosphorylates an Inhibitor of Protein Phosphatase 2A That Is Essential for Mitosis (17 December 2010)
S. Mochida et al.
An inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A is identified as a component of the machinery controlling cell division.
The Substrate of Greatwall Kinase, Arpp19, Controls Mitosis by Inhibiting Protein Phosphatase 2A (17 December 2010)
A. Gharbi-Ayachi et al.
The protein kinase Greatwall controls cell division by phosphorylating and activating an inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A.
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Cytoplasmic Partitioning of P Granule Components Is Not Required to Specify the Germline in C. elegans (17 December 2010)
C. M. Gallo et al.
Germ granules do not need to be segregated asymmetrically during cell division to specify germ cell fate.
Decreased Clearance of CNS β-Amyloid in Alzheimer's Disease (24 December 2010)
K. G. Mawuenyega et al.
Alzheimer's disease is associated with reduced β-amyloid clearance from the brain.
Ectopic Expression of Germline Genes Drives Malignant Brain Tumor Growth in Drosophila (24 December 2010)
A. Janic et al.
Inactivation of germline genes suppresses brain tumor growth in Drosophila.
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BIOCHEMISTRY
Structural Basis of Biological N2O Generation by Bacterial Nitric Oxide Reductase (17 December 2010)
T. Hino et al.
A structural comparison gives insight into the features that allow conversion between nitric oxide and oxygen reduction.
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Structures of C3b in Complex with Factors B and D Give Insight into Complement Convertase Formation (24 December 2010)
F. Forneris et al.
A double-safety–catch mechanism controls amplification of the complement cascade during immune responses.
PLANT SCIENCE
Arabidopsis Type I Metacaspases Control Cell Death (3 December 2010)
N. S. Coll et al.
An ancient link between cell death control and innate immune receptor function has been discovered in plants.
An Antagonistic Pair of FT Homologs Mediates the Control of Flowering Time in Sugar Beet (3 December 2010)
P. A. Pin et al.
A homolog of a flowering time gene has evolved a flowering repression function, affecting the seasonal cold response in beets.
Genome Evolution Following Host Jumps in the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen Lineage (10 December 2010)
S. Raffaele et al.
Genome Expansion and Gene Loss in Powdery Mildew Fungi Reveal Tradeoffs in Extreme Parasitism (10 December 2010)
P. D. Spanu et al.
Pathogenicity Determinants in Smut Fungi Revealed by Genome Comparison (10 December 2010)
J. Schirawski et al.
Signatures of Adaptation to Obligate Biotrophy in the Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis Genome (10 December 2010)
L. Baxter et al.
A group of papers analyzes pathogen genomes to find the roots of virulence, opportunism, and life-style determinants.
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A Pollen Factor Linking Inter- and Intraspecific Pollen Rejection in Tomato (24 December 2010)
W. Li and R. T. Chetelat
The inability to cross with distant relatives in the nightshade family is linked to mechanisms preventing self-pollination.
MEDICINE
Frequent Mutation of BAP1 in Metastasizing Uveal Melanomas (3 December 2010)
J. W. Harbour et al.
A gene implicated in the control of protein degradation is mutated at high frequency in a metastatic eye cancer.
Glucose and Weight Control in Mice with a Designed Ghrelin O-Acyltransferase Inhibitor (17 December 2010)
B. P. Barnett et al.
A drug inhibiting the activation of ghrelin, a peptide that promotes weight gain, has beneficial metabolic effects in mice.
MICROBIOLOGY
Direct Exchange of Electrons Within Aggregates of an Evolved Syntrophic Coculture of Anaerobic Bacteria (3 December 2010)
Z. M. Summers et al.
Direct cell-to-cell electron transfer occurs between two related species of bacteria.
Sex Determination in the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum (10 December 2010)
G. Bloomfield et al.
The three mating types of a model eukaryote are regulated by two small soluble proteins.
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PHYSIOLOGY
The Cellular and Physiological Mechanism of Wing-Body Scaling in Manduca sexta (17 December 2010)
H. F. Nijhout and L. W. Grunert
The central nervous system and the hormone ecdysone govern wing-size scaling in the tobacco hornworm.
IMMUNOLOGY
Fetal and Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cells Give Rise to Distinct T Cell Lineages in Humans (17 December 2010)
J. E. Mold et al.
Distinct fetal T cell lineages help explain the tolerogenic properties of the fetus and immune responsiveness at birth.
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