NEUROREGENERATION
Spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish
A connective tissue growth factor underlies the unusual regenerative capacity of the zebrafish central nervous system.
M. H. Mokalled, C. Patra, A. L. Dickson, T. Endo, D. Y. R. Stainier, K. D. Poss, Injury-induced ctgfa directs glial bridging and spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish. Science 354, 630–634 (2016). [Abstract]
P. R. Williams, Z. He, Building bridges to regenerate axons. Science 354, 544–545 (2016). [Abstract]
PLANT SCIENCE
Soil microbes yield insecticidal peptide
Corn can be engineered to produce an insecticidal peptide that protects the host plant from specific crop pests, leaving other insects unharmed.
U. Schellenberger, J. Oral, B. A. Rosen, J.-Z. Wei, G. Zhu, W. Xie, M. J. McDonald, D. C. Cerf, S. H. Diehn, V. C. Crane, G. A. Sandahl, J.-Z. Zhao, T. M. Nowatzki, A. Sethi, L. Liu, Z. Pan, Y. Wang, A. L. Lu, G. Wu, L. Liu, A selective insecticidal protein from Pseudomonas for controlling corn rootworms. Science 354, 634–637 (2016). [Abstract]
B. E. Tabashnik, Tips for battling billion-dollar beetles. Science 354, 552–553 (2016). [Abstract]
SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
Complex transcription factor interactions
The response to the abscisic acid hormone in the model plant Arabidopsis involves complex transcription factor dynamics.
L. Song, S.-s. C. Huang, A. Wise, R. Castanon, J. R. Nery, H. Chen, M. Watanabe, J. Thomas, Z. Bar-Joseph, J. R. Ecker, A transcription factor hierarchy defines an environmental stress response network. Science 354, aag1550 (2016). [Abstract]