TY - JOUR AB - The control of nonequilibrium quantum dynamics in many-body systems is challenging because interactions typically lead to thermalization and a chaotic spreading throughout Hilbert space. We investigate nonequilibrium dynamics after rapid quenches in a many-body system composed of 3 to 200 strongly interacting qubits in one and two spatial dimensions. Using a programmable quantum simulator based on Rydberg atom arrays, we show that coherent revivals associated with so-called quantum many-body scars can be stabilized by periodic driving, which generates a robust subharmonic response akin to discrete time-crystalline order. We map Hilbert space dynamics, geometry dependence, phase diagrams, and system-size dependence of this emergent phenomenon, demonstrating new ways to steer complex dynamics in many-body systems and enabling potential applications in quantum information science. AU - Bluvstein, D. AU - Omran, A. AU - Levine, H. AU - Keesling, A. AU - Semeghini, G. AU - Ebadi, S. AU - Wang, T. T. AU - Michailidis, Alexios AU - Maskara, N. AU - Ho, W. W. AU - Choi, S. AU - Serbyn, Maksym AU - Greiner, M. AU - Vuletić, V. AU - Lukin, M. D. ID - 9618 IS - 6536 JF - Science KW - Multidisciplinary SN - 0036-8075 TI - Controlling quantum many-body dynamics in driven Rydberg atom arrays VL - 371 ER - TY - JOUR AB - To overcome nitrogen deficiency, legume roots establish symbiotic interactions with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia that is fostered in specialized organs (nodules). Similar to other organs, nodule formation is determined by a local maximum of the phytohormone auxin at the primordium site. However, how auxin regulates nodule development remains poorly understood. Here, we found that in soybean, (Glycine max), dynamic auxin transport driven by PIN-FORMED (PIN) transporter GmPIN1 is involved in nodule primordium formation. GmPIN1 was specifically expressed in nodule primordium cells and GmPIN1 was polarly localized in these cells. Two nodulation regulators, (iso)flavonoids trigger expanded distribution of GmPIN1b to root cortical cells, and cytokinin rearranges GmPIN1b polarity. Gmpin1abc triple mutants generated with CRISPR-Cas9 showed impaired establishment of auxin maxima in nodule meristems and aberrant divisions in the nodule primordium cells. Moreover, overexpression of GmPIN1 suppressed nodule primordium initiation. GmPIN9d, an ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana PIN2, acts together with GmPIN1 later in nodule development to acropetally transport auxin in vascular bundles, fine-tuning the auxin supply for nodule enlargement. Our findings reveal how PIN-dependent auxin transport modulates different aspects of soybean nodule development and suggest that establishment of auxin gradient is a prerequisite for the proper interaction between legumes and rhizobia. AU - Gao, Z AU - Chen, Z AU - Cui, Y AU - Ke, M AU - Xu, H AU - Xu, Q AU - Chen, J AU - Li, Y AU - Huang, L AU - Zhao, H AU - Huang, D AU - Mai, S AU - Xu, T AU - Liu, X AU - Li, S AU - Guan, Y AU - Yang, W AU - Friml, Jiří AU - Petrášek, J AU - Zhang, J AU - Chen, X ID - 9657 IS - 9 JF - Plant Cell SN - 1040-4651 TI - GmPIN-dependent polar auxin transport is involved in soybean nodule development VL - 33 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Selection and random drift determine the probability that novel mutations fixate in a population. Population structure is known to affect the dynamics of the evolutionary process. Amplifiers of selection are population structures that increase the fixation probability of beneficial mutants compared to well-mixed populations. Over the past 15 years, extensive research has produced remarkable structures called strong amplifiers which guarantee that every beneficial mutation fixates with high probability. But strong amplification has come at the cost of considerably delaying the fixation event, which can slow down the overall rate of evolution. However, the precise relationship between fixation probability and time has remained elusive. Here we characterize the slowdown effect of strong amplification. First, we prove that all strong amplifiers must delay the fixation event at least to some extent. Second, we construct strong amplifiers that delay the fixation event only marginally as compared to the well-mixed populations. Our results thus establish a tight relationship between fixation probability and time: Strong amplification always comes at a cost of a slowdown, but more than a marginal slowdown is not needed. AU - Tkadlec, Josef AU - Pavlogiannis, Andreas AU - Chatterjee, Krishnendu AU - Nowak, Martin A. ID - 9640 IS - 1 JF - Nature Communications TI - Fast and strong amplifiers of natural selection VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Tropisms, growth responses to environmental stimuli such as light or gravity, are spectacular examples of adaptive plant development. The plant hormone auxin serves as a major coordinative signal. The PIN auxin exporters, through their dynamic polar subcellular localizations, redirect auxin fluxes in response to environmental stimuli and the resulting auxin gradients across organs underly differential cell elongation and bending. In this review, we discuss recent advances concerning regulations of PIN polarity during tropisms, focusing on PIN phosphorylation and trafficking. We also cover how environmental cues regulate PIN actions during tropisms, and a crucial role of auxin feedback on PIN polarity during bending termination. Finally, the interactions between different tropisms are reviewed to understand plant adaptive growth in the natural environment. AU - Han, Huibin AU - Adamowski, Maciek AU - Qi, Linlin AU - Alotaibi, SS AU - Friml, Jiří ID - 9656 IS - 2 JF - New Phytologist SN - 0028-646x TI - PIN-mediated polar auxin transport regulations in plant tropic responses VL - 232 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The relative motion of three impenetrable particles on a ring, in our case two identical fermions and one impurity, is isomorphic to a triangular quantum billiard. Depending on the ratio κ of the impurity and fermion masses, the billiards can be integrable or non-integrable (also referred to in the main text as chaotic). To set the stage, we first investigate the energy level distributions of the billiards as a function of 1/κ ∈ [0, 1] and find no evidence of integrable cases beyond the limiting values 1/κ = 1 and 1/κ = 0. Then, we use machine learning tools to analyze properties of probability distributions of individual quantum states. We find that convolutional neural networks can correctly classify integrable and non-integrable states. The decisive features of the wave functions are the normalization and a large number of zero elements, corresponding to the existence of a nodal line. The network achieves typical accuracies of 97%, suggesting that machine learning tools can be used to analyze and classify the morphology of probability densities obtained in theory or experiment. AU - Huber, David AU - Marchukov, Oleksandr V. AU - Hammer, Hans Werner AU - Volosniev, Artem ID - 9679 IS - 6 JF - New Journal of Physics TI - Morphology of three-body quantum states from machine learning VL - 23 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Intestinal organoids derived from single cells undergo complex crypt–villus patterning and morphogenesis. However, the nature and coordination of the underlying forces remains poorly characterized. Here, using light-sheet microscopy and large-scale imaging quantification, we demonstrate that crypt formation coincides with a stark reduction in lumen volume. We develop a 3D biophysical model to computationally screen different mechanical scenarios of crypt morphogenesis. Combining this with live-imaging data and multiple mechanical perturbations, we show that actomyosin-driven crypt apical contraction and villus basal tension work synergistically with lumen volume reduction to drive crypt morphogenesis, and demonstrate the existence of a critical point in differential tensions above which crypt morphology becomes robust to volume changes. Finally, we identified a sodium/glucose cotransporter that is specific to differentiated enterocytes that modulates lumen volume reduction through cell swelling in the villus region. Together, our study uncovers the cellular basis of how cell fate modulates osmotic and actomyosin forces to coordinate robust morphogenesis. AU - Yang, Qiutan AU - Xue, Shi-lei AU - Chan, Chii Jou AU - Rempfler, Markus AU - Vischi, Dario AU - Maurer-Gutierrez, Francisca AU - Hiiragi, Takashi AU - Hannezo, Edouard B AU - Liberali, Prisca ID - 9629 JF - Nature Cell Biology SN - 1465-7392 TI - Cell fate coordinates mechano-osmotic forces in intestinal crypt formation VL - 23 ER - TY - JOUR AB - SnSe, a wide-bandgap semiconductor, has attracted significant attention from the thermoelectric (TE) community due to its outstanding TE performance deriving from the ultralow thermal conductivity and advantageous electronic structures. Here, we promoted the TE performance of n-type SnSe polycrystals through bandgap engineering and vacancy compensation. We found that PbTe can significantly reduce the wide bandgap of SnSe to reduce the impurity transition energy, largely enhancing the carrier concentration. Also, PbTe-induced crystal symmetry promotion increases the carrier mobility, preserving large Seebeck coefficient. Consequently, a maximum ZT of ∼1.4 at 793 K is obtained in Br doped SnSe–13%PbTe. Furthermore, we found that extra Sn in n-type SnSe can compensate for the intrinsic Sn vacancies and form electron donor-like metallic Sn nanophases. The Sn nanophases near the grain boundary could also reduce the intergrain energy barrier which largely enhances the carrier mobility. As a result, a maximum ZT value of ∼1.7 at 793 K and an average ZT (ZTave) of ∼0.58 in 300–793 K are achieved in Br doped Sn1.08Se–13%PbTe. Our findings provide a novel strategy to promote the TE performance in wide-bandgap semiconductors. AU - Su, Lizhong AU - Hong, Tao AU - Wang, Dongyang AU - Wang, Sining AU - Qin, Bingchao AU - Zhang, Mengmeng AU - Gao, Xiang AU - Chang, Cheng AU - Zhao, Li Dong ID - 9626 JF - Materials Today Physics TI - Realizing high doping efficiency and thermoelectric performance in n-type SnSe polycrystals via bandgap engineering and vacancy compensation VL - 20 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The hippocampal mossy fiber synapse is a key synapse of the trisynaptic circuit. Post-tetanic potentiation (PTP) is the most powerful form of plasticity at this synaptic connection. It is widely believed that mossy fiber PTP is an entirely presynaptic phenomenon, implying that PTP induction is input-specific, and requires neither activity of multiple inputs nor stimulation of postsynaptic neurons. To directly test cooperativity and associativity, we made paired recordings between single mossy fiber terminals and postsynaptic CA3 pyramidal neurons in rat brain slices. By stimulating non-overlapping mossy fiber inputs converging onto single CA3 neurons, we confirm that PTP is input-specific and non-cooperative. Unexpectedly, mossy fiber PTP exhibits anti-associative induction properties. EPSCs show only minimal PTP after combined pre- and postsynaptic high-frequency stimulation with intact postsynaptic Ca2+ signaling, but marked PTP in the absence of postsynaptic spiking and after suppression of postsynaptic Ca2+ signaling (10 mM EGTA). PTP is largely recovered by inhibitors of voltage-gated R- and L-type Ca2+ channels, group II mGluRs, and vacuolar-type H+-ATPase, suggesting the involvement of retrograde vesicular glutamate signaling. Transsynaptic regulation of PTP extends the repertoire of synaptic computations, implementing a brake on mossy fiber detonation and a “smart teacher” function of hippocampal mossy fiber synapses. AU - Vandael, David H AU - Okamoto, Yuji AU - Jonas, Peter M ID - 9778 IS - 1 JF - Nature Communications KW - general physics and astronomy KW - general biochemistry KW - genetics and molecular biology KW - general chemistry SN - 2041-1723 TI - Transsynaptic modulation of presynaptic short-term plasticity in hippocampal mossy fiber synapses VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Gene expression is regulated by the set of transcription factors (TFs) that bind to the promoter. The ensuing regulating function is often represented as a combinational logic circuit, where output (gene expression) is determined by current input values (promoter bound TFs) only. However, the simultaneous arrival of TFs is a strong assumption, since transcription and translation of genes introduce intrinsic time delays and there is no global synchronisation among the arrival times of different molecular species at their targets. We present an experimentally implementable genetic circuit with two inputs and one output, which in the presence of small delays in input arrival, exhibits qualitatively distinct population-level phenotypes, over timescales that are longer than typical cell doubling times. From a dynamical systems point of view, these phenotypes represent long-lived transients: although they converge to the same value eventually, they do so after a very long time span. The key feature of this toy model genetic circuit is that, despite having only two inputs and one output, it is regulated by twenty-three distinct DNA-TF configurations, two of which are more stable than others (DNA looped states), one promoting and another blocking the expression of the output gene. Small delays in input arrival time result in a majority of cells in the population quickly reaching the stable state associated with the first input, while exiting of this stable state occurs at a slow timescale. In order to mechanistically model the behaviour of this genetic circuit, we used a rule-based modelling language, and implemented a grid-search to find parameter combinations giving rise to long-lived transients. Our analysis shows that in the absence of feedback, there exist path-dependent gene regulatory mechanisms based on the long timescale of transients. The behaviour of this toy model circuit suggests that gene regulatory networks can exploit event timing to create phenotypes, and it opens the possibility that they could use event timing to memorise events, without regulatory feedback. The model reveals the importance of (i) mechanistically modelling the transitions between the different DNA-TF states, and (ii) employing transient analysis thereof. AU - Petrov, Tatjana AU - Igler, Claudia AU - Sezgin, Ali AU - Henzinger, Thomas A AU - Guet, Calin C ID - 9647 JF - Theoretical Computer Science SN - 0304-3975 TI - Long lived transients in gene regulation VL - 893 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The important roles of mitochondrial function and dysfunction in the process of neurodegeneration are widely acknowledged. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) appear to be a highly vulnerable neuronal cell type in the central nervous system with respect to mitochondrial dysfunction but the actual reasons for this are still incompletely understood. These cells have a unique circumstance where unmyelinated axons must bend nearly 90° to exit the eye and then cross a translaminar pressure gradient before becoming myelinated in the optic nerve. This region, the optic nerve head, contains some of the highest density of mitochondria present in these cells. Glaucoma represents a perfect storm of events occurring at this location, with a combination of changes in the translaminar pressure gradient and reassignment of the metabolic support functions of supporting glia, which appears to apply increased metabolic stress to the RGC axons leading to a failure of axonal transport mechanisms. However, RGCs themselves are also extremely sensitive to genetic mutations, particularly in genes affecting mitochondrial dynamics and mitochondrial clearance. These mutations, which systemically affect the mitochondria in every cell, often lead to an optic neuropathy as the sole pathologic defect in affected patients. This review summarizes knowledge of mitochondrial structure and function, the known energy demands of neurons in general, and places these in the context of normal and pathological characteristics of mitochondria attributed to RGCs. AU - Muench, Nicole A. AU - Patel, Sonia AU - Maes, Margaret E AU - Donahue, Ryan J. AU - Ikeda, Akihiro AU - Nickells, Robert W. ID - 9761 IS - 7 JF - Cells TI - The influence of mitochondrial dynamics and function on retinal ganglion cell susceptibility in optic nerve disease VL - 10 ER -