Plasmacytoid dendritic cells sense self-DNA coupled with antimicrobial peptide

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) sense viral and microbial DNA through endosomal Toll-like receptors to produce type 1 interferons. pDCs do not normally respond to self-DNA, but this restriction seems to break down in human autoimmune disease by an as yet poorly understood mechanism. Here we identify the antimicrobial peptide LL37 (also known as CAMP) as the key factor that mediates pDC activation in psoriasis, a common autoimmune disease of the skin. LL37 converts inert self-DNA into a potent trigger of interferon production by binding the DNA to form aggregated and condensed structures that are delivered to and retained within early endocytic compartments in pDCs to trigger Toll-like receptor 9. Thus, our data uncover a fundamental role of an endogenous antimicrobial peptide in breaking innate tolerance to self-DNA and suggest that this pathway may drive autoimmunity in psoriasis.     

华南武夷山早古生代构造事件的^40Ar／^39Ar同位素年龄研究

华南武夷山地区广泛发育一套强烈韧性剪切变形的中、高级变质岩系,其新生矿物白云母非常普遍.对武夷山南麓政和县蝴碟街大理岩和北麓弋阳县慈竹片麻状花岗岩中的动力变质矿物白云母进行40Ar/39Ar法同位素测年,分别获得391±3Ma和421±8Ma的坪年龄值,以及385±5Ma和422±6Ma的等时线年龄值,时代相当于志留纪末到泥盆纪初.结合地质证据,认为武夷山地区存在过一期早古生代沉积作用和早古生代末期的构造热事件.至少有一期的强烈韧性剪切变形和糜棱岩化作用是该构造事件所导致     

Late middle Eocene epoch of Libya yields earliest known radiation of African anthropoids

Reconstructing the early evolutionary history of anthropoid primates is hindered by a lack of consensus on both the timing and biogeography of anthropoid origins. Some prefer an ancient (Cretaceous) origin for anthropoids in Africa or some other Gondwanan landmass, whereas others advocate a more recent (early Cenozoic) origin for anthropoids in Asia, with subsequent dispersal of one or more early anthropoid taxa to Africa. The oldest undoubted African anthropoid primates described so far are three species of the parapithecid Biretia from the late middle Eocene Bir El Ater locality of Algeria and the late Eocene BQ-2 site in the Fayum region of northern Egypt. Here we report the discovery of the oldest known diverse assemblage of African anthropoids from the late middle Eocene Dur At-Talah escarpment in central Libya. The primate assemblage from Dur At-Talah includes diminutive species pertaining to three higher-level anthropoid clades (Afrotarsiidae, Parapithecidae and Oligopithecidae) as well as a small species of the early strepsirhine primate Karanisia. The high taxonomic diversity of anthropoids at Dur At-Talah indicates either a much longer interval of anthropoid evolution in Africa than is currently documented in the fossil record or the nearly synchronous colonization of Africa by multiple anthropoid clades at some time during the middle Eocene epoch.     

Genome evolution in yeasts

Identifying the mechanisms of eukaryotic genome evolution by comparative genomics is often complicated by the multiplicity of events that have taken place throughout the history of individual lineages, leaving only distorted and superimposed traces in the genome of each living organism. The hemiascomycete yeasts, with their compact genomes, similar lifestyle and distinct sexual and physiological properties, provide a unique opportunity to explore such mechanisms. We present here the complete, assembled genome sequences of four yeast species, selected to represent a broad evolutionary range within a single eukaryotic phylum, that after analysis proved to be molecularly as diverse as the entire phylum of chordates. A total of approximately 24,200 novel genes were identified, the translation products of which were classified together with Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteins into about 4,700 families, forming the basis for interspecific comparisons. Analysis of chromosome maps and genome redundancies reveal that the different yeast lineages have evolved through a marked interplay between several distinct molecular mechanisms, including tandem gene repeat formation, segmental duplication, a massive genome duplication and extensive gene loss.     

Structure of fumarate reductase from Wolinella succinogenes at 2.2 A resolution

Fumarate reductase couples the reduction of fumarate to succinate to the oxidation of quinol to quinone, in a reaction opposite to that catalysed by the related complex II of the respiratory chain (succinate dehydrogenase). Here we describe the crystal structure at 2.2 A resolution of the three protein subunits containing fumarate reductase from the anaerobic bacterium Wolinella succinogenes. Subunit A contains the site of fumarate reduction and a covalently bound flavin adenine dinucleotide prosthetic group. Subunit B contains three iron-sulphur centres. The menaquinol-oxidizing subunit C consists of five membrane-spanning, primarily helical segments and binds two haem b molecules. On the basis of the structure, we propose a pathway of electron transfer from the dihaem cytochrome b to the site of fumarate reduction and a mechanism of fumarate reduction. The relative orientations of the soluble and membrane-embedded subunits of succinate:quinone oxidoreductases appear to be unique.     

Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality

Arising from M. A. Nowak, C. E. Tarnita & E. O. Wilson 466, 1057-1062 (2010); Nowak et al. reply. Nowak et al. argue that inclusive fitness theory has been of little value in explaining the natural world, and that it has led to negligible progress in explaining the evolution of eusociality. However, we believe that their arguments are based upon a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory and a misrepresentation of the empirical literature. We will focus our comments on three general issues.     

Extinction risk from climate change

Climate change over the past approximately 30 years has produced numerous shifts in the distributions and abundances of species and has been implicated in one species-level extinction. Using projections of species' distributions for future climate scenarios, we assess extinction risks for sample regions that cover some 20% of the Earth's terrestrial surface. Exploring three approaches in which the estimated probability of extinction shows a power-law relationship with geographical range size, we predict, on the basis of mid-range climate-warming scenarios for 2050, that 15-37% of species in our sample of regions and taxa will be 'committed to extinction'. When the average of the three methods and two dispersal scenarios is taken, minimal climate-warming scenarios produce lower projections of species committed to extinction ( approximately 18%) than mid-range ( approximately 24%) and maximum-change ( approximately 35%) scenarios. These estimates show the importance of rapid implementation of technologies to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and strategies for carbon sequestration.     

Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality,Chad

All six known specimens of the early hominid Sahelanthropus tchadensis come from Toros-Menalla site 266 (TM 266), a single locality in the Djurab Desert, northern Chad, central Africa. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the palaeontological and palaeoecological context of these finds. The rich fauna from TM 266 includes a significant aquatic component such as fish, crocodiles and amphibious mammals, alongside animals associated with gallery forest and savannah, such as primates, rodents, elephants, equids and bovids. The fauna suggests a biochronological age between 6 and 7 million years. Taken together with the sedimentological evidence, the fauna suggests that S. tchadensis lived close to a lake, but not far from a sandy desert, perhaps the oldest record of desert conditions in the Neogene of northern central Africa.