Early April 2009 papers

Here are some interest papers.

Research Highlights: Chemistry: Chemical scissors, Nature 458:553 (2 April 2009).
Nature Chem. doi:10.1038/nchem.162 (2009)
A synthetic catalyst that mimics the chemical scissors at the heart of bacterial methane digestion can snap strong carbon–hydrogen bonds.

News: Fungus farmers show way to new drugs, Erika Check Hayden, Nature 458:558 (2 April 2009).
Ant colonies could be key to advances in biofuels and antibiotics.

DNA repair: New tales of an old tail, Jiri Lukas & Jiri Bartek, Nature 458:581-583 (2 April 2009)
Modifications of DNA-associated histone proteins maintain genome integrity. On damage to DNA, phosphorylation of histone H2A.X determines whether repair is justified or if the damaged cell must die.

Environmental science: Clean coal and sparkling water, Werner Aeschbach-Hertig, Nature 458:583-584 (2 April 2009).
Subsurface storage of carbon dioxide is a major option for mitigating climate change. On one account, much of the gas sequestered in this way would end up as carbonic acid in the pore waters of the host rock.

Identification of Genes Involved in Metal Transport in Plants, Aleel K. Grennan, Plant Physiol. 149:1623-1624.

Zinc-dependent global transcriptional control, transcriptional deregulation, and higher gene copy number for genes in metal homeostasis of the hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri, Talke IN, Hanikenne M, Kramer U, Plant Physiol 142:148–167 (2006).

MIKC* MADS Domain Heterodimers Are Required for Pollen Maturation and Tube Growth in Arabidopsis, Benjamin J. Adamczyk and Donna E. Fernandez, Plant Physiol. 149:1713-1723 (2009).

Roles for Auxin, Cytokinin, and Strigolactone in Regulating Shoot Branching, Brett J. Ferguson and Christine A. Beveridge, Plant Physiol. 149:1929-1944 (2009).

Alternative Splicing Studies of the Reactive Oxygen Species Gene Network in Populus Reveal Two Isoforms of High-Isoelectric-Point Superoxide Dismutase, Vaibhav Srivastava, Manoj Kumar Srivastava, Kamel Chibani, Robert Nilsson, Nicolas Rouhier, Michael Melzer, and Gunnar Wingsle, Plant Physiol. 149:1848-1859.

NEUROSCIENCE: Sleeping to Reset Overstimulated Synapses, Greg Miller, Science 324(5923):22 (3 April 2009).
In this week's issue of Science (pp. Use-Dependent Plasticity in Clock Neurons Regulates Sleep Need in Drosophila, J. M. Donlea et al. and Widespread Changes in Synaptic Markers as a Function of Sleep and Wakefulness in Drosophila, G. F. Gilestro et al.), two studies with fruit flies provide what some researchers say is the most compelling evidence to date for the provocative hypothesis that sleep dials down synapses that have been cranked up by a day's worth of neural activity, helping to conserve both energy and precious real estate in the brain.

NEWS FOCUS: ORIGINS: On the Origin of Flowering Plants, Elizabeth Pennisi, Science 324(5923):28 - 31 (3 April 2009).
Which plant was the mother of all angiosperms? In the fourth essay in Science's series in honor of the Year of Darwin, Elizabeth Pennisi discusses efforts to answer Darwin's question about how flowering plants diversified and spread so rapidly across the globe.

CHEMISTRY: Rethinking Water Splitting, Richard Eisenberg, Science 324(5923):44 - 45 (3 April 2009).
A metal complex splits water into hydrogen and oxygen through an unusual series of steps.

Biotech hirings and firings, Michael Francisco, Senior Editor of the Nature Biotechnology, Nature Biotechnology 27:395 (2009).
Small and mid-size biotech companies continue to reel from the ongoing global financial crisis. Since November, ten biotech firms have declared bankruptcy, according to the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and one-third of 360 public biotech companies have less than six months of cash on hand, according to Burrill & Co. Meanwhile, one in five of Europe's small biopharmaceutical companies are at risk of bankruptcy by the end of 2009, according to a study released by the trade group European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises.

Ethylene is an endogenous stimulator of cell division in the cambial meristem of Populus, Jonathan Love, Simon Björklund, Jorma Vahala, Magnus Hertzberg, Jaakko Kangasjärvi, and Björn Sundberg, PNAS 106(14):5984-5989 (April 7, 2009).

Wa! This is not X-file story only, it is true. Governments own the secret of our genome.
NEWS FOCUS: NEWBORN BLOOD COLLECTIONS: Science Gold Mine, Ethical Minefield, Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science 324(5924):166 - 168 (10 April 2009).
Health agencies launched a system 40 years ago to identify babies at risk. Now there are millions of blood samples in files that researchers want to access, raising public concern.

ENERGY: Renewables Test IQ of the Grid, Dan Charles, Science 324(5924):172-175 (10 April 2009).
Everybody agrees that tomorrow's electrical grid must incorporate wind and solar power seamlessly. But solving the reliability issue won't be easy.

ENERGY: Students Energized by Power Engineering, Dan Charles, Science 324(5924):175 (10 April 2009).
The study of electrical power generation and transmission has long occupied the dusty back corners of U.S. academia. But with energy back in the headlines, students are returning to the field.

GENOMICS: Green Evolution, Green Revolution, John M. Archibald, Science 324(5924):191 - 192 (10 April 2009).
The genomes of two species of green algae provide clues to how green plants evolved.

Solar Power Wires Based on Organic Photovoltaic Materials, Michael R. Lee, Robert D. Eckert, Karen Forberich, Gilles Dennler, Christoph J. Brabec, Russell A. Gaudiana, Science 324(5924):232 - 235 (10 April 2009).
A transparent polymer coating allows optics to compensate for the shadowing effects of a metal wire electrode.

Coding-Sequence Determinants of Gene Expression in Escherichia coli, Grzegorz Kudla, Andrew W. Murray, David Tollervey, Joshua B. Plotkin, Science 324(5924):255 - 258 (10 April 2009).
RNA structure, rather than optimal codon usage, determines translation efficiency in Escherichia coli.

FIERY1 regulates light-mediated repression of cell elongation and flowering time via its 3'(2'),5'-bisphosphate nucleotidase activity, Byung-Hoon Kim, Albrecht G. von Arnim, The Plant Journal 58(2):208 - 219.