Bio-Med Roundup


This month in Bio-Med Roundup:
    • Lyall et al. showed that transgenic chickens expressing a short hairpin RNA that blocks viral polymerase hinder influenza transmission.
    • Tursun et al. showed that removal of a chromatin-regulating factor allows transcription factors to reprogram worm germ cells into neurons.
    • Parsons et al. described the genetic landscape of the childhood cancer medulloblastoma.
    • Atarashi et al. showed that in the mouse colon, bacteria of the genus Clostridium promote anti-inflammatory immune responses by expanding and activating regulatory T cells.
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NEUROSCIENCE/PSYCHOLOGY

Spontaneous Cortical Activity Reveals Hallmarks of an Optimal Internal Model of the Environment (7 January 2011)
P. Berkes et al.
Internal models of the environment optimize as the brain develops.

Electrical Synapses Control Hippocampal Contributions to Fear Learning and Memory (7 January 2011)
S. Bissiere et al.
Neuronal gap-junction channels containing connexin 36 proteins participate in consolidation of fear memories.

Human Tears Contain a Chemosignal (14 January 2011)
S. Gelstein et al.
Merely sniffing women’s negative emotional tears reduces sexual arousal in men.

Direct Conversion of C. elegans Germ Cells into Specific Neuron Types (21 January 2011)
B. Tursun et al.
Removal of a chromatin factor allows transcription factors to reprogram germ cells into neurons.
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The Neural Basis of Intuitive Best Next-Move Generation in Board Game Experts (21 January 2011)
X. Wan et al.
Compared with amateurs, expert shogi players show specific brain activation patterns.

Big and Mighty: Preverbal Infants Mentally Represent Social Dominance (28 January 2011)
L. Thomsen et al.
Infants use size as a predictor in judging which contestant will win.


MICROBIOLOGY/VIROLOGY

Light-Driven Changes in Energy Metabolism Directly Entrain the Cyanobacterial Circadian Oscillator (14 January 2011)
M. J. Rust et al.
Cyanobacterial circadian clock components are directly coupled to the metabolic status of the cell through interactions with adenine nucleotides.

Suppression of Avian Influenza Transmission in Genetically Modified Chickens (14 January 2011)
J. Lyall et al.
Transgenic birds expressing a short hairpin RNA that blocks viral polymerase hinder influenza transmission.

Discovery of a Viral NLR Homolog that Inhibits the Inflammasome (21 January 2011)
S. M. Gregory et al.
A viral homolog of a host microbial sensor inhibits viral detection by the host and subsequent antiviral immunity.

A Methylaspartate Cycle in Haloarchaea (21 January 2011)
M. Khomyakova et al.
Salt-loving microbes have patched together an alternative carbon assimilation cycle.
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Rapid Pneumococcal Evolution in Response to Clinical Interventions (28 January 2011)
N. J. Croucher et al.
Streptococcus pneumoniae evades vaccines and drugs by high levels of recombination and rapid adaptation.
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Intramembrane Cleavage of AMA1 Triggers Toxoplasma to Switch from an Invasive to a Replicative Mode (28 January 2011)
J. M. Santos et al.
Membrane proteins govern a change from invasion to replication of an intracellular parasite.
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CELL/DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

Rotational Movement of the Formin mDia1 Along the Double Helical Strand of an Actin Filament (7 January 2011)
H. Mizuno et al.
Visualization of formin protein rotating along an actin filament gives insight into how it promotes actin assembly.
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A Biological Solution to a Fundamental Distributed Computing Problem (14 January 2011)
Y. Afek et al.
Modeling of development in the fruit fly yields an algorithm useful in designing wireless communication networks.

Phosphorylation of ULK1 (hATG1) by AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Connects Energy Sensing to Mitophagy (28 January 2011)
D. F. Egan et al.
A protein kinase links energy stores to control of autophagy.
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BIOCHEMISTRY

Structure of Precursor-Bound NifEN: A Nitrogenase FeMo Cofactor Maturase/Insertase (7 January 2011)
J. T. Kaiser et al.
A metalloprotein structure involved in nitrogen fixation offers insight into metal-cluster insertion in nitrogenase.

The Structure of Human 5-Lipoxygenase (14 January 2011)
N. C. Gilbert
Substitution of a destabilizing sequence has allowed crystallization of a key enzyme of the inflammatory response.


GENETICS

Complex Diel Cycles of Gene Expression in Coral-Algal Symbiosis (14 January 2011)
O. Levy et al.
Rhythmically expressed genes in reef-building corals may be required to deal with oxidative stress and the coral-algal symbiosis.

Genomic Signatures Predict Migration and Spawning Failure in Wild Canadian Salmon (14 January 2011)
K. M. Miller et al.
High mortality of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River is associated with signals of metabolic and immune stress.

Metagenomic Discovery of Biomass-Degrading Genes and Genomes from Cow Rumen (28 January 2011)
M. Hess et al.
Metagenomic sequencing of biomass-degrading microbes from cow rumen reveals new carbohydrate-active enzymes.


MEDICINE

Mitochondrial Capture by a Transmissible Cancer (21 January 2011)
C. A. Rebbeck et al.
A clonal cancer in feral dogs has likely acquired mitochondria from its host by horizontal transfer.

The Genetic Landscape of the Childhood Cancer Medulloblastoma (28 January 2011)
D. W. Parsons et al.
Genomic analysis of a childhood cancer reveals markedly fewer mutations than what is typically seen in adult cancers.

Cleavage of NIK by the API2-MALT1 Fusion Oncoprotein Leads to Noncanonical NF-κB Activation (28 January 2011)
S. Rosebeck et al.
An oncogenic fusion protein promotes lymphomagenesis by activating a noncanonical signaling pathway.


IMMUNOLOGY

Induction of Colonic Regulatory T Cells by Indigenous Clostridium Species (21 January 2011)
K. Atarashi et al.
Bacteria of the genus Clostridium promote the induction of suppressor T cells in the colons of mice.
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PLANT SCIENCE

Vernalization-Mediated Epigenetic Silencing by a Long Intronic Noncoding RNA (7 January 2011)
J. B. Heo and S. Sung
Spring flowering enabled by a winter chill is regulated by interplay between protein-coding and noncoding RNA transcripts.
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