Nature Communications最新文献

Covering 40-50% of world's arable lands, acidic soils pose a major constraint on global crop productivity by severely restricting root development and nutrient acquisition. The Arabidopsis C2H2-type transcription factor STOP1 plays a fundamental role in mitigating acid stress by activating H⁺/NO₃^- symport via NRT1.1, thereby driving rhizosphere alkalinization to protect root growth and improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). However, the upstream regulation of this pH-responsive STOP1-NRT1.1 pathway remains poorly defined. Here, we identify the central SWI2/SNF2-type ATPase BRAHMA (BRM) as a key suppressor of the STOP1 pathway. BRM physically interacts with STOP1 and occupies the genomic region of NRT1.1, repressing the STOP1-dependent activation of NRT1.1 expression and consequently limiting NO₃^- uptake and rhizosphere alkalization under chronic acidity. Genetic epistasis analysis using brm stop1 and brm nrt1.1 double mutants establish BRM as an upstream regulator of this signaling module. Notably, low pH rapidly triggers BRM degradation independent of NO₃^- availability, thereby relieving its repression on the STOP1-NRT1.1 pathway. This dynamic BRM disintegration enables robust induction of H⁺-coupled NO₃^- uptake, remodeling the rhizosphere pH landscape to foster optimal root growth under acidity. Collectively, our findings uncover the BRM-STOP1-NRT1.1 axis as a central regulatory module integrating NO₃^- acquisition with pH homeostasis, offering a dual-benefit strategy for enhancing crop resilience to acid soils and reducing fertilizer-driven acidification through improved NUE.

Porous liquids (PLs), integrating porous hosts into flowing liquids through intermolecular interactions, attract significant attention, while their controlled synthesis remains challenging. Here we report a controllable in-situ transformation strategy to fabricate distinct types of PLs from the same supramolecular framework (SMF). Two isomorphic polyethylene-glycol-based ionic liquids, IL-Br and IL-NTf₂, differing only in anions, exhibit contrasting electrostatic interactions with the SMF. Strong attraction between IL-Br and the SMF disrupts the ionic bonds within the framework, yielding a type II PL, PL2(SMF-Br), while electrostatic repulsion in IL-NTf₂ preserves the framework, producing a type III PL, PL3(SMF-NTf₂). These tailored host-solvent interactions endow PL2(SMF-Br) with over twice the CO₂ uptake and photoresponsivity of its counterpart, as well as record-high CO₂ capacity among reported type II PLs. In this work, we establish a general strategy for tunable PL construction through electrostatically guided host-solvent design.

In ecology, causal questions are ubiquitous, yet the literature describing systematic approaches to answering these questions is vast and fragmented across different traditions (e.g., randomization, structural equation modeling, convergent cross mapping). In our Perspective, we connect the causal assumptions, tasks, frameworks, and methods across these traditions, thereby providing a synthesis of the concepts and methodological advances for detecting and quantifying causal relationships in ecological systems. Through a newly developed workflow, we emphasize how ecologists' choices among empirical approaches are guided by the pre-existing knowledge that ecologists have and the causal assumptions that ecologists are willing to make.

Bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane (BCP) boronic esters are crucial intermediates for accessing BCP-containing drugs with improved pharmacokinetic profiles, yet their synthesis typically relies on pre-formed redox-active esters derived from carboxylic acids. Here we report a general, single-step method for the direct conversion of carboxylic acids into BCP boronic esters. Upon irradiation of carboxylic acids with [1.1.1]propellane and bis(pinacolato)diboron (B₂pin₂) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), BCP boronates are obtained in good yields, which are further enhanced by the addition of an iron catalyst. Mechanistic studies suggest that photolytic cleavage of a B₂pin₂-DMSO complex initiates decarboxylation via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), while iron catalysis enables a parallel ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) pathway. This synergistic HAT/LMCT process displays broad substrate scope and remarkable functional group tolerance. Additionally, BCP analogs of two approved drugs, butenafine and buclizine, have been readily synthesized, underscoring the potential of this dual HAT/LMCT paradigm to reshape strategies in synthetic chemistry and drug discovery.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) affects millions of reproductive-age women globally, and during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth and infant health outcomes. Research on how maternal HIV shapes the gut microbiota, a potentially modifiable factor, during pregnancy, postpartum, and in infancy remains limited. The PRACHITi cohort study was conducted in India among 244 pregnant women with and without HIV, who were followed along with their children through 1 year postpartum. Our study focuses on secondary objectives of the PRACHITi study related to gut microbiota, with longitudinal samples being collected in the full cohort and more frequent sampling in a sub-study. Here, our findings reveal gut dysbiosis (based on 16S rRNA sequencing) and distinct plasma metabolomic profiles across pregnancy, postpartum, and their infants among women with HIV compared with seronegative women. We show that specific taxa and metabolites are differentially abundant by HIV status, some of which are linked to adverse outcomes, including preterm birth, low birth weight, and inflammation, conditions that are more common among populations with HIV. These results suggest potential biological pathways through which HIV affects maternal and infant health.

Through biochemical transformation of host-derived bile acids, gut bacteria mediate host-microbe crosstalk and function at the interface of nutrition and host metabolic regulation. Bile acids play a crucial role in human health by facilitating the absorption of dietary lipophilic nutrients, interacting with hormone receptors to regulate host physiology, and shaping gut microbiota composition through antimicrobial activity. Bile acids deconjugation by bacterial bile salt hydrolase has long been recognized as the first necessary bile acid modification required before further transformations can occur. Here, we show that bile salt hydrolase activity is common among human gut bacterial isolates spanning seven major phyla. However, we observed variation in both the extent and the specificity of deconjugation of bile acids among the tested taxa. Unexpectedly, we discovered that certain strains were capable of directly dehydrogenating conjugated bile acids via hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases to produce conjugated secondary bile acids both in vitro and in vivo. These results challenge the prevailing notion that deconjugation is a prerequisite for further bile acid modifications and lay a foundation for new hypotheses regarding how bacteria act individually or in concert to diversify the bile acid pool and influence host physiology.

Ultrathin, broadband microwave absorbing materials (MAMs) are crucial for weight-sensitive and space-constrained applications. This study introduces the electromagnetic frequency dispersion coefficient (EFDC), a synergistic dielectric-magnetic parameter that moves beyond conventional complex mechanisms. Our model directly links EFDC to microwave absorption (MA) performance, guiding the design of advanced MAMs. By optimizing EFDC, we achieved an ultra-wide effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 7.04 GHz at 1 mm and 9.28 GHz at 1.3 mm. Moreover, the temperature invariance of EFDC ensures consistent MA performance from 298 K to 473 K, despite the differing thermal responses of permittivity and permeability. This principle outlines a systematic design strategy for fabricating ultrathin and broadband MAMs, establishing a robust framework for developing high-attenuation absorbers suitable for complex frequency and thermal environments.