Table Of Contents Page, PNAS Volume 121, Number 32
Special Feature
Climate Change and California Sustainability–Challenges and Solutions
One of California’s most pressing social and environmental challenges is the rapid
expansion of the wildlands–urban interface (WUI). Multiple issues associated with
WUI growth compared to more dense and compact urban form are of concern—including
greatly ...
California agriculture will undergo significant transformations over the next few
decades in response to climate extremes, environmental regulation and policy encouraging
environmental justice, and economic pressures that have long driven agricultural ...
In this review and synthesis, we argue that California is an important test case for
the nation and world because terrestrial biodiversity is very high, present and anticipated
threats to biodiversity from climate change and other interacting stressors ...
As human-caused climate changes accelerate, California will experience hydrologic
and temperature conditions different than any encountered in recorded history. How
will these changes affect the state’s freshwater ecosystems? Rivers, lakes, and wetlands
...
In the realm of climate policy, issues of environmental justice (EJ) are often treated
as second-order affairs compared to overarching sustainability goals. We argue that
EJ is in fact critical to successfully addressing our national and global climate
...
The climate crisis has exacerbated many ecological and cultural problems including
wildfire and drought vulnerability, biodiversity declines, and social justice and
equity. While there are many concepts of social and ecological resilience, the exemplar
...
Climate change is an existential threat to the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability
of the coastal zone and impacts will be complex and widespread. Evidence from California
and across the United States shows that climate change is impacting ...
An increasing amount of California’s landscape has burned in wildfires in recent decades,
in conjunction with increasing temperatures and vapor pressure deficit due to climate
change. As the wildland–urban interface expands, more people are exposed to ...
California faces several serious direct and indirect climate exposures that can adversely
affect public health, some of which are already occurring. The public health burden
now and in the future will depend on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, ...
This Week in PNAS
Editorial
Core Concepts
Commentaries
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Letters
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Fragment correlation mass spectrometry correlates ion pairs generated from the same
fragmentation pathway, achieved by covariance mapping of tandem mass spectra generated
with an unmodified linear ion trap without preseparation. We enable the ...
Physical Sciences
Applied Mathematics
Most problems within and beyond the scientific domain can be framed into one of the
following three levels of complexity of function approximation. Type 1: Approximate
an unknown function given input/output data. Type 2: Consider a collection of variables
...
Exploring the complexity of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) unveils
a diversity of potential cell fates; however, the exact timing and mechanisms by which
early cell states diverge into distinct EMT trajectories remain unclear. Studying
...
Applied Physical Sciences
The duality between deformations of elastic bodies and noninertial flows in viscous
liquids has been a guiding principle in decades of research. However, this duality
is broken when a spheroidal or other doubly curved liquid film is suddenly forced
out of ...
Drop–fiber interactions are fundamental to the operation of technologies such as atmospheric
fog capture, oil filtration, refrigeration, and dehumidification. We demonstrate that
by twisting together two fibers, a sliding drop’s flow path can be ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
How do we capture the breadth of behavior in animal movement, from rapid body twitches
to aging? Using high-resolution videos of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, we show that a single dynamics connects posture-scale fluctuations with trajectory
...
Two-pore channels are pathophysiologically important Na+- and Ca2+-permeable channels expressed in lysosomes and other acidic organelles. Unlike most
other ion channels, their permeability is malleable and ligand-tuned such that when
gated by the ...
Chemistry
Over the last decade, an increasing body of evidence has emerged, supporting the existence
of a metastable liquid–liquid critical point in supercooled water whereby two distinct
liquid phases of different densities coexist. Analyzing long molecular ...
Many bacteria secrete metallophores, low-molecular-weight organic compounds that bind
ions with high selectivity and affinity, in order to access essential metals from
the environment. Previous work has elucidated the structures and biosynthetic machinery
...
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Elevated temperatures persisted for an anomalously protracted interval following pulsed
volcanic carbon release associated with the end-Permian mass extinction, deviating
from the expected timescale of climate recovery following a carbon injection event.
...
The nitrogen isotopes of the organic matter preserved in fossil fish otoliths (ear
stones) are a promising tool for reconstructing past environmental changes. We analyzed
the 15N/14N ratio (δ15N) of fossil otolith-bound organic matter in Late Cretaceous ...
To test the hypothesis that an abiotic Earth and its inert atmosphere could form chemically
reactive carbon- and nitrogen-containing compounds, we designed a plasma electrochemical
setup to mimic lightning-induced electrochemistry under steady-state ...
Engineering
Monogenic blood diseases are among the most common genetic disorders worldwide. These
diseases result in significant pediatric and adult morbidity, and some can result
in death prior to birth. Novel ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene editing
...
Proteins play a key role in biological electron transport, but the structure–function
relationships governing the electronic properties of peptides are not fully understood.
Despite recent progress, understanding the link between peptide conformational ...
Magnetic miniature robotic systems have attracted broad research interest because
of their precise maneuverability in confined spaces and adaptability to diverse environments,
holding significant promise for applications in both industrial infrastructures ...
Physics
The group of moiré graphene superconductors keeps growing, and by now it contains
twisted graphene multilayers as well as untwisted stacks. We analyze here the contribution
of long-range charge fluctuations in the superconductivity of twisted double ...
Social Sciences
Anthropology
This study aimed to reconstruct the environmental conditions and the crop management
practices and plant characteristics when agriculture appeared in western Europe. We
analyzed oak charcoal and a large number of cereal caryopsides recovered from La Draga
...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Distracted driving is responsible for nearly 1 million crashes each year in the United
States alone, and a major source of driver distraction is handheld phone use. We conducted
a randomized, controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of interventions ...
Linguistic communication is an intrinsically social activity that enables us to share
thoughts across minds. Many complex social uses of language can be captured by domain-general
representations of other minds (i.e., mentalistic representations) that ...
The primary visual cortex (V1) in blindness is engaged in a wide spectrum of tasks
and sensory modalities, including audition, touch, language, and memory. This widespread
involvement raises questions regarding the constancy of its role and whether it ...
Social Sciences
Despite the long-standing calls for increased levels of interdisciplinary research
as a way to address society’s grand challenges, most science is still disciplinary.
To understand the slow rate of convergence to more interdisciplinary research, we
...
A typical empirical study involves choosing a sample, a research design, and an analysis
path. Variation in such choices across studies leads to heterogeneity in results that
introduce an additional layer of uncertainty, limiting the generalizability of ...
Sustainability Science
Indigenous communities in the North American Arctic are characterized by mixed economies
that feature hunting, fishing, gathering, and trapping activities—and associated sharing
practices—alongside the formal wage economy. The region is also undergoing ...
Biological Sciences
Agricultural Sciences
This study aimed to reconstruct the environmental conditions and the crop management
practices and plant characteristics when agriculture appeared in western Europe. We
analyzed oak charcoal and a large number of cereal caryopsides recovered from La Draga
...
Applied Biological Sciences
Monogenic blood diseases are among the most common genetic disorders worldwide. These
diseases result in significant pediatric and adult morbidity, and some can result
in death prior to birth. Novel ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene editing
...
Cell–matrix interactions in 3D environments significantly differ from those in 2D
cultures. As such, mechanisms of mechanotransduction in 2D cultures are not necessarily
applicable to cell-encapsulating hydrogels that resemble features of tissue ...
Protein engineering often targets binding pockets or active sites which are enriched
in epistasis—nonadditive interactions between amino acid substitutions—and where the
combined effects of multiple single substitutions are difficult to predict. Few ...
Biochemistry
Dihydrouridine (D), a prevalent and evolutionarily conserved base in the transcriptome,
primarily resides in tRNAs and, to a lesser extent, in mRNAs. Notably, this modification
is found at position 2449 in the Escherichia coli 23S rRNA, strategically ...
Parkin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase implicated in early-onset forms of Parkinson’s disease.
It catalyzes a transthiolation reaction by accepting ubiquitin (Ub) from an E2 conjugating
enzyme, forming a short-lived thioester intermediate, and transfers Ub to ...
Since prion diseases result from infection and neurodegeneration of the central nervous
system (CNS), experimental characterizations of prion strain properties customarily
rely on the outcomes of intracerebral challenges. However, natural transmission of
...
Invasive fungal diseases are a major threat to human health, resulting in more than
1.5 million annual deaths worldwide. The arsenal of antifungal therapeutics remains
limited and is in dire need of drugs that target additional biosynthetic pathways
that ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Proteins play a key role in biological electron transport, but the structure–function
relationships governing the electronic properties of peptides are not fully understood.
Despite recent progress, understanding the link between peptide conformational ...
Exploring the complexity of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) unveils
a diversity of potential cell fates; however, the exact timing and mechanisms by which
early cell states diverge into distinct EMT trajectories remain unclear. Studying
...
Two-pore channels are pathophysiologically important Na+- and Ca2+-permeable channels expressed in lysosomes and other acidic organelles. Unlike most
other ion channels, their permeability is malleable and ligand-tuned such that when
gated by the ...
Cell Biology
Macroautophagy is a conserved cellular degradation pathway that, upon upregulation,
confers resilience toward various stress conditions, including protection against
proteotoxicity associated with neurodegenerative diseases, leading to cell survival.
...
Evolution
How emerging adaptive variants interact is an important factor in the evolution of
wild populations, but the opportunity to empirically study this interaction is rare.
We recently documented the emergence of an adaptive phenotype “curly-wing” in Hawaiian
...
Genetics
Repression of facultative heterochromatin is essential for developmental processes
in numerous organisms. Methylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) by Polycomb repressive
complex 2 is a prominent feature of facultative heterochromatin in both fungi and
...
Heteromorphic sex chromosomes (XY or ZW) present problems of gene dosage imbalance
between sexes and with autosomes. A need for dosage compensation has long been thought
to be critical in vertebrates. However, this was questioned by findings of unequal
...
Time-restricted feeding (RF) is known to shift the phasing of gene expression in most
primary metabolic tissues, whereas a time misalignment between the suprachiasmatic
nucleus circadian clock (SCNCC) and its peripheral CCs (PCC’s) is known to induce
...
Immunology and Inflammation
Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has developed substantial
antigenic variability. As the majority of the population now has pre-existing immunity
due to infection or vaccination, the use of experimentally generated animal ...
Although many cytokine pathways are important for dendritic cell (DC) development,
it is less clear what cytokine signals promote the function of mature dendritic cells.
The signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) promotes protective
...
Medical Sciences
Activating leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) mutations cause Parkinson’s and phosphorylation
of Rab10 by pathogenic LRRK2 blocks primary ciliogenesis in cultured cells. In the
mouse brain, LRRK2 blockade of primary cilia is highly cell type specific: ...
Understanding the normal function of the Huntingtin (HTT) protein is of significance
in the design and implementation of therapeutic strategies for Huntington’s disease
(HD). Expansion of the CAG repeat in the HTT gene, encoding an expanded polyglutamine (...
Microbiology
Many bacteria secrete metallophores, low-molecular-weight organic compounds that bind
ions with high selectivity and affinity, in order to access essential metals from
the environment. Previous work has elucidated the structures and biosynthetic machinery
...
Microbes rarely exist in isolation and instead form complex polymicrobial communities.
As a result, microbes have developed intricate offensive and defensive strategies
that enhance their fitness in these complex communities. Thus, identifying and ...
The animal origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains elusive, lacking a plausible evolutionary
narrative that may account for its emergence. Its spike protein resembles certain
segments of BANAL-236 and RaTG13, two bat coronaviruses considered possible progenitors
of ...
Alcelaphine gammaherpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) asymptomatically persists in its natural host,
the wildebeest. However, cross-species transmission to cattle results in the induction
of an acute and lethal peripheral T cell lymphoma-like disease (PTCL), named ...
Plants release a wealth of metabolites into the rhizosphere that can shape the composition
and activity of microbial communities in response to environmental stress. The connection
between rhizodeposition and rhizosphere microbiome succession has been ...
Neuroscience
How do we capture the breadth of behavior in animal movement, from rapid body twitches
to aging? Using high-resolution videos of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, we show that a single dynamics connects posture-scale fluctuations with trajectory
...
The primary visual cortex (V1) in blindness is engaged in a wide spectrum of tasks
and sensory modalities, including audition, touch, language, and memory. This widespread
involvement raises questions regarding the constancy of its role and whether it ...
High-throughput volumetric fluorescent microscopy pipelines can spatially integrate
whole-brain structure and function at the foundational level of single cells. However,
conventional fluorescent protein (FP) modifications used to discriminate single ...
Understanding how neural circuits generate sequential activity is a longstanding challenge.
While foundational theoretical models have shown how sequences can be stored as memories
in neural networks with Hebbian plasticity rules, these models considered ...
Human standing balance relies on the continuous monitoring and integration of sensory
signals to infer our body’s motion and orientation within the environment. However,
when sensory information is no longer contextually relevant to balancing the body
(...
For the human brain to operate, populations of neurons across anatomical structures
must coordinate their activity within milliseconds. To date, our understanding of
such interactions has remained limited. We recorded directly from the hippocampus
(HPC), ...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and debilitating neurological disease that results
in inflammatory demyelination. While endogenous remyelination helps to recover function,
this restorative process tends to become less efficient over time. Currently, ...
Leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1 (LGI1), a secretory protein in the brain,
plays a critical role in myelination; dysfunction of this protein leads to hypomyelination
and white matter abnormalities (WMAs). Here, we hypothesized that LGI1 may ...
Corrections
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Cover image: Pictured is an aerial drop of fire retardant onto a wildfire in Los Padres National Forest, California, in 2008. A collection of articles in the Climate Change and California Sustainability–Challenges and Solutions Special Feature highlights recent research on improving climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience in California to support the state’s ecological, social, and economic sustainability. Together, the articles explore methods and solutions to generate co-benefits for California’s diverse population and ecosystems in the face of extreme weather, wildfire, sea level rise, and health effects driven by climate change. See the Introduction to the Special Feature, e2405458121. Image credit: the Western Ecological Research Center; photo by Daniel Lindsay.
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