TY - JOUR AB - In animals, parasitic infections impose significant fitness costs.1,2,3,4,5,6 Infected animals can alter their feeding behavior to resist infection,7,8,9,10,11,12 but parasites can manipulate animal foraging behavior to their own benefits.13,14,15,16 How nutrition influences host-parasite interactions is not well understood, as studies have mainly focused on the host and less on the parasite.9,12,17,18,19,20,21,22,23 We used the nutritional geometry framework24 to investigate the role of amino acids (AA) and carbohydrates (C) in a host-parasite system: the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, and the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum. First, using 18 diets varying in AA:C composition, we established that the fungus performed best on the high-amino-acid diet 1:4. Second, we found that the fungus reached this optimal diet when given various diet pairings, revealing its ability to cope with nutritional challenges. Third, we showed that the optimal fungal diet reduced the lifespan of healthy ants when compared with a high-carbohydrate diet but had no effect on infected ants. Fourth, we revealed that infected ant colonies, given a choice between the optimal fungal diet and a high-carbohydrate diet, chose the optimal fungal diet, whereas healthy colonies avoided it. Lastly, by disentangling fungal infection from host immune response, we demonstrated that infected ants foraged on the optimal fungal diet in response to immune activation and not as a result of parasite manipulation. Therefore, we revealed that infected ant colonies chose a diet that is costly for survival in the long term but beneficial in the short term—a form of collective self-medication. AU - Csata, Eniko AU - Perez-Escudero, Alfonso AU - Laury, Emmanuel AU - Leitner, Hanna AU - Latil, Gerard AU - Heinze, Juerge AU - Simpson, Stephen AU - Cremer, Sylvia AU - Dussutour, Audrey ID - 14479 IS - 4 JF - Current Biology SN - 0960-9822 TI - Fungal infection alters collective nutritional intake of ant colonies VL - 34 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Coupling of orbital motion to a spin degree of freedom gives rise to various transport phenomena in quantum systems that are beyond the standard paradigms of classical physics. Here, we discuss features of spin-orbit dynamics that can be visualized using a classical model with two coupled angular degrees of freedom. Specifically, we demonstrate classical ‘spin’ filtering through our model and show that the interplay between angular degrees of freedom and dissipation can lead to asymmetric ‘spin’ transport. AU - Varshney, Atul AU - Ghazaryan, Areg AU - Volosniev, Artem ID - 15045 JF - Few-Body Systems KW - Atomic and Molecular Physics KW - and Optics SN - 1432-5411 TI - Classical ‘spin’ filtering with two degrees of freedom and dissipation VL - 65 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Atom-based quantum simulators have had many successes in tackling challenging quantum many-body problems, owing to the precise and dynamical control that they provide over the systems' parameters. They are, however, often optimized to address a specific type of problem. Here, we present the design and implementation of a 6Li-based quantum gas platform that provides wide-ranging capabilities and is able to address a variety of quantum many-body problems. Our two-chamber architecture relies on a robust combination of gray molasses and optical transport from a laser-cooling chamber to a glass cell with excellent optical access. There, we first create unitary Fermi superfluids in a three-dimensional axially symmetric harmonic trap and characterize them using in situ thermometry, reaching temperatures below 20 nK. This allows us to enter the deep superfluid regime with samples of extreme diluteness, where the interparticle spacing is sufficiently large for direct single-atom imaging. Second, we generate optical lattice potentials with triangular and honeycomb geometry in which we study diffraction of molecular Bose-Einstein condensates, and show how going beyond the Kapitza-Dirac regime allows us to unambiguously distinguish between the two geometries. With the ability to probe quantum many-body physics in both discrete and continuous space, and its suitability for bulk and single-atom imaging, our setup represents an important step towards achieving a wide-scope quantum simulator. AU - Jin, Shuwei AU - Dai, Kunlun AU - Verstraten, Joris AU - Dixmerias, Maxime AU - Al Hyder, Ragheed AU - Salomon, Christophe AU - Peaudecerf, Bruno AU - de Jongh, Tim AU - Yefsah, Tarik ID - 15053 IS - 1 JF - Physical Review Research KW - General Physics and Astronomy SN - 2643-1564 TI - Multipurpose platform for analog quantum simulation VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Embryogenesis results from the coordinated activities of different signaling pathways controlling cell fate specification and morphogenesis. In vertebrate gastrulation, both Nodal and BMP signaling play key roles in germ layer specification and morphogenesis, yet their interplay to coordinate embryo patterning with morphogenesis is still insufficiently understood. Here, we took a reductionist approach using zebrafish embryonic explants to study the coordination of Nodal and BMP signaling for embryo patterning and morphogenesis. We show that Nodal signaling triggers explant elongation by inducing mesendodermal progenitors but also suppressing BMP signaling activity at the site of mesendoderm induction. Consistent with this, ectopic BMP signaling in the mesendoderm blocks cell alignment and oriented mesendoderm intercalations, key processes during explant elongation. Translating these ex vivo observations to the intact embryo showed that, similar to explants, Nodal signaling suppresses the effect of BMP signaling on cell intercalations in the dorsal domain, thus allowing robust embryonic axis elongation. These findings suggest a dual function of Nodal signaling in embryonic axis elongation by both inducing mesendoderm and suppressing BMP effects in the dorsal portion of the mesendoderm. AU - Schauer, Alexandra AU - Pranjic-Ferscha, Kornelija AU - Hauschild, Robert AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 15048 IS - 4 JF - Development SN - 0950-1991 TI - Robust axis elongation by Nodal-dependent restriction of BMP signaling VL - 151 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Substrate induces mechanical strain on perovskite devices, which can result in alterations to its lattice dynamics and thermal transport. Herein, we have performed a theoretical investigation on the anharmonic lattice dynamics and thermal property of perovskite Rb2SnBr6 and Cs2SnBr6 under strains using perturbation theory up to the fourth-order terms and the unified thermal transport theory. We demonstrate a pronounced hardening of low-frequency optical phonons as temperature increases, indicating strong lattice anharmonicity and the necessity of adopting temperature-dependent interatomic force constants in the lattice thermal conductivity ( κL) calculations. It is found that the low-lying optical phonon modes of Rb2SnBr6 are extremely soft and their phonon energies are almost strain independent, which ultimately lead to a lower κL and a weaker strain dependence than Cs2SnBr6. We further reveal that the strain dependence of these phonon modes in the A2XB6-type perovskites weakens as their ibrational frequency decreases. This study deepens the understanding of lattice thermal transport in perovskites A2XB6 and provides a perspective on the selection of materials that meet the expected thermal behaviors in practical applications. AU - Cheng, Ruihuan AU - Zeng, Zezhu AU - Wang, Chen AU - Ouyang, Niuchang AU - Chen, Yue ID - 15052 IS - 5 JF - Physical Review B SN - 2469-9950 TI - Impact of strain-insensitive low-frequency phonon modes on lattice thermal transport in AxXB6-type perovskites VL - 109 ER - TY - COMP AU - Hauschild, Robert ID - 14926 TI - Matlab script for analysis of clone dispersal ER - TY - JOUR AB - Tropical precipitation extremes and their changes with surface warming are investigated using global storm resolving simulations and high-resolution observations. The simulations demonstrate that the mesoscale organization of convection, a process that cannot be physically represented by conventional global climate models, is important for the variations of tropical daily accumulated precipitation extremes. In both the simulations and observations, daily precipitation extremes increase in a more organized state, in association with larger, but less frequent, storms. Repeating the simulations for a warmer climate results in a robust increase in monthly-mean daily precipitation extremes. Higher precipitation percentiles have a greater sensitivity to convective organization, which is predicted to increase with warming. Without changes in organization, the strongest daily precipitation extremes over the tropical oceans increase at a rate close to Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) scaling. Thus, in a future warmer state with increased organization, the strongest daily precipitation extremes over oceans increase at a faster rate than CC scaling. AU - Bao, Jiawei AU - Stevens, Bjorn AU - Kluft, Lukas AU - Muller, Caroline J ID - 15047 IS - 8 JF - Science Advances TI - Intensification of daily tropical precipitation extremes from more organized convection VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The superior colliculus (SC) in the mammalian midbrain is essential for multisensory integration and is composed of a rich diversity of excitatory and inhibitory neurons and glia. However, the developmental principles directing the generation of SC cell-type diversity are not understood. Here, we pursued systematic cell lineage tracing in silico and in vivo, preserving full spatial information, using genetic mosaic analysis with double markers (MADM)-based clonal analysis with single-cell sequencing (MADM-CloneSeq). The analysis of clonally related cell lineages revealed that radial glial progenitors (RGPs) in SC are exceptionally multipotent. Individual resident RGPs have the capacity to produce all excitatory and inhibitory SC neuron types, even at the stage of terminal division. While individual clonal units show no pre-defined cellular composition, the establishment of appropriate relative proportions of distinct neuronal types occurs in a PTEN-dependent manner. Collectively, our findings provide an inaugural framework at the single-RGP/-cell level of the mammalian SC ontogeny. AU - Cheung, Giselle T AU - Pauler, Florian AU - Koppensteiner, Peter AU - Krausgruber, Thomas AU - Streicher, Carmen AU - Schrammel, Martin AU - Özgen, Natalie Y AU - Ivec, Alexis AU - Bock, Christoph AU - Shigemoto, Ryuichi AU - Hippenmeyer, Simon ID - 12875 IS - 2 JF - Neuron SN - 0896-6273 TI - Multipotent progenitors instruct ontogeny of the superior colliculus VL - 112 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Poxviruses are among the largest double-stranded DNA viruses, with members such as variola virus, monkeypox virus and the vaccination strain vaccinia virus (VACV). Knowledge about the structural proteins that form the viral core has remained sparse. While major core proteins have been annotated via indirect experimental evidence, their structures have remained elusive and they could not be assigned to individual core features. Hence, which proteins constitute which layers of the core, such as the palisade layer and the inner core wall, has remained enigmatic. Here we show, using a multi-modal cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) approach in combination with AlphaFold molecular modeling, that trimers formed by the cleavage product of VACV protein A10 are the key component of the palisade layer. This allows us to place previously obtained descriptions of protein interactions within the core wall into perspective and to provide a detailed model of poxvirus core architecture. Importantly, we show that interactions within A10 trimers are likely generalizable over members of orthopox- and parapoxviruses. AU - Datler, Julia AU - Hansen, Jesse AU - Thader, Andreas AU - Schlögl, Alois AU - Bauer, Lukas W AU - Hodirnau, Victor-Valentin AU - Schur, Florian KM ID - 14979 JF - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology KW - Molecular Biology KW - Structural Biology SN - 1545-9993 TI - Multi-modal cryo-EM reveals trimers of protein A10 to form the palisade layer in poxvirus cores ER - TY - JOUR AB - Contraction and flow of the actin cell cortex have emerged as a common principle by which cells reorganize their cytoplasm and take shape. However, how these cortical flows interact with adjacent cytoplasmic components, changing their form and localization, and how this affects cytoplasmic organization and cell shape remains unclear. Here we show that in ascidian oocytes, the cooperative activities of cortical actomyosin flows and deformation of the adjacent mitochondria-rich myoplasm drive oocyte cytoplasmic reorganization and shape changes following fertilization. We show that vegetal-directed cortical actomyosin flows, established upon oocyte fertilization, lead to both the accumulation of cortical actin at the vegetal pole of the zygote and compression and local buckling of the adjacent elastic solid-like myoplasm layer due to friction forces generated at their interface. Once cortical flows have ceased, the multiple myoplasm buckles resolve into one larger buckle, which again drives the formation of the contraction pole—a protuberance of the zygote’s vegetal pole where maternal mRNAs accumulate. Thus, our findings reveal a mechanism where cortical actomyosin network flows determine cytoplasmic reorganization and cell shape by deforming adjacent cytoplasmic components through friction forces. AU - Caballero Mancebo, Silvia AU - Shinde, Rushikesh AU - Bolger-Munro, Madison AU - Peruzzo, Matilda AU - Szep, Gregory AU - Steccari, Irene AU - Labrousse Arias, David AU - Zheden, Vanessa AU - Merrin, Jack AU - Callan-Jones, Andrew AU - Voituriez, Raphaël AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 14846 JF - Nature Physics SN - 1745-2473 TI - Friction forces determine cytoplasmic reorganization and shape changes of ascidian oocytes upon fertilization ER -