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Species’ traits and environmental conditions determine the abundance of tree species across the globe. Here, the authors find that dominant tree species are taller and have softer wood compared to rare species and that these trait differences are more strongly associated with temperature than water availability.

Inventory data from more than 1 million trees across African, Amazonian and Southeast Asian tropical forests suggests that, despite their high diversity, just 1,053 species, representing a consistent ~2.2% of tropical tree species in each region, constitute half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees.

Unlike Amazonian forests, African forests have maintained their carbon sink until recently but by 2030 the African carbon sink will have shrunk by 14 per cent and the Amazonian sink will reach almost zero.

Liver organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells populations grown with ascorbate and bilirubin can be used to recapitulate differential zonal functions of human hepatocytes and for transplantation in animal models of liver dysfunction.

Various GPCRs display constitutive ligand-independent activity, but it remains unclear whether ligand-dependent and -independent conformations differ. Here the authors demonstrate the recognition and blocking of G protein recruitment of either the ligand-bound active, or the constitutively active apo-conformation of the viral GPCR US28 by different nanobodies that target similar intracellular loops of the receptor.

Analysis of ground-sourced and satellite-derived models reveals a global forest carbon potential of 226 Gt outside agricultural and urban lands, with a difference of only 12% across these modelling approaches.

Chemical proteomics analysis of human gastric cells revealed that infection with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori decreases reactivity of legumain Cys219, which alters legumain processing and promotes xenograft tumor growth.

Transferrin receptor (TfR) and CD98hc are increasingly used to enable more effective drug delivery to the central nervous system. Here, the authors reveal comprehensive and distinct brain cellular and whole body biodistribution patterns of TfR- and CD98hc-binding molecules.

Here the authors demonstrate all-dielectric fishnet-achromatic-metalenses from the visible to the near-infrared region. This metalens performs efficiently independent of polarization over about an octave from 640 nm to 1200 nm.

Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of infectious disease and have unique molecular pathophysiology. Here the authors use host-microbe profiling to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection and immunity in solid organ transplant recipients, showing enhanced viral abundance, impaired clearance, and increased expression of innate immunity genes.

Cerebral malaria infection can provoke fatal neuroinflammation. Gros and colleagues identify an ubiquitin-modification axis that exacerbates neuroinflammation and that involves TRIM25 and USP15, which jointly promote type I interferon production.

The use of an endoplasmic reticulum–localized HaloTag system results in protein destabilization and activation of a transient unfolding protein response (UPR) without causing cell death, allowing the examination of later stage UPR events.

Capacity for carbon capture and storage in forests may not be monolithic but instead a function of complex dynamics of forest strata and age. The smaller trees that make up the understory in African tropical forests store their carbon longer as compared to sub-canopy and canopy trees and they represent a disproportionately large share of the carbon sink, in spite of their small size.

A mutation in ppe38, commonly seen in Beijing-lineage strains, alters protein secretion and increases virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

In participants from a randomized controlled trial, doxy-PEP use over 6 months minimally affected the gut microbiome’s taxonomic composition but increased the abundance and active expression of tetracycline antibiotic resistance genes.

Analysis of changes in functional groups of species and potential drivers of environmental change for protected areas across the world’s major tropical regions reveals large variation between reserves that have been effective and those experiencing an erosion of biodiversity, and shows that environmental changes immediately outside reserves are nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate.

Complete genome sequencing has already provided insights into the mutation spectra of several cancer types. Here, the first complete sequences are provided of a primary lung tumour and adjacent normal tissue. Comparison of the two reveals a variety of somatic mutations in the cancer genome, including changes in the KRAS proto-oncogene. The results reveal a distinct pattern of selection against mutations within expressed genes compared to non-expressed genes, and selection against mutations in promoter regions.

Dietary protein restriction induces a hepatic stress response mediated by the endocrine molecule FGF21, which triggers host adaptive pathways. Here the authors demonstrate that the gut microbiome is required to trigger the FGF21 response and can be manipulated through dietary fiber supplementation.

van Lengerich et al. developed a human TREM2 antibody with a transport vehicle (ATV) that improves brain exposure and biodistribution in mouse models. ATV:TREM2 promotes microglial energetic capacity and metabolism via mitochondrial pathways.

The genetic basis of gastric cancer, the fourth most common cancer worldwide, remains poorly understood. Here, the authors sequence and analyse the exomes and transcriptomes of primary gastric tumours and cell lines, and identify a ZAK kinase isoform that may have an oncogenic role in gastric cancer.

Kang and colleagues demonstrate that the ΔNp63 isoform of p63 upregulates the expression of the Fzd7 Wnt receptor to promote normal and cancer stem cell activity in the mammary gland.

Advances in CRISPR–Cas tools coupled with innovative screening and bioinformatic pipelines make it possible to conduct strain-specific and site-specific genome editing within a microbial community without the need for prior culturing or engineering.

Somasekar Seshagiri, James Brugarolas and colleagues report the mutational landscape of 167 non–clear cell renal cell carcinomas (nccRCCs) from multiple subtypes. They identify subtype-specific driver mutations and gene fusions, including ones involving MITF, which result in expression of the anti-apoptotic protein BIRC7 and might thus indicate candidates for treatment with BIRC7 inhibitors.

Raphael Bueno, Eric Stawiski, Somasekar Seshagiri and colleagues present a comprehensive genomic analysis of malignant pleural mesothelioma. They identify four distinct molecular subtypes using RNA-seq data and highlight recurrent somatic mutations, gene fusions and splicing alterations.

Primary triple-negative breast cancers are shown to vary widely and continuously in the degree of clonal evolution and mutational content at the time of diagnosis, with implications for future studies of the disease.

Deep-genome and single-cell sequencing analyses of patient-derived breast cancer xenografts reveal extensive, dynamic and reproducible changes in intra-tumoral mutational clonal composition on engraftment and serial propagation.

Exomes, transcriptomes and copy-number alterations in a sample of more than 70 primary human colonic tumours were analysed in an attempt to characterize the genomic landscape; in addition to finding alterations in genes associated with commonly mutated signalling pathways, recurrent gene fusions involving R-spondin family members were also found to occur in approximately 10% of colonic tumours, revealing a potential new therapeutic target.