Table Of ContentTable of Contents
Medical Research and Ethics in
4 February 2005 Mali
Volume 307
Number 5710 Understanding the Permian-
Triassic Extinction
Why Hair Turns Gray
Insights into Crohn's Disease
Gordon Research Conferences
RESEARCH
This Week in Science
Fungus Monoculture on the Ant Farm * Saturnian Hot Spot * Two's Company, Three's a Cloud? * The End of the Line *
Glimpses into the P/T Boundary * Protein Kinase Inhibition Revealed * A Matter of Scale * Packaging and Power Combining
* Fade to Gray * Autophagic Arms Race * Giving Mice the Nod * Cytokine Production and Kaposi's * Deconstructing
Dislocations * A Matter of Timing? 641
Editors' Choice: Highlights of the recent literature
EPIDEMIOLOGY: Don't Keep Hedgehogs * CELL BIOLOGY: Popeye's Ribosomes * CHEMISTRY: Unlocking Fluorescence *
GEOLOGY: Protection Against Erosion * BEHAVIOR: Less Editing, Less Depression * EARTH SCIENCE: Getting a Fix on
Fixation * STKE: Balancing Axons and Dendrites 646
Brevia
Simple Foraminifera Flourish at the Ocean's Deepest Point
Yuko Todo, Hiroshi Kitazato, Jun Hashimoto, and Andrew J. Gooday 689.
Research Article
Crystal Structure of a Complex Between the Catalytic and Regulatory (RI ) Subunits of PKA
Choel Kim, Nguyen-Huu Xuong, and Susan S. Taylor 690-696.
Saturn's Temperature Field from High-Resolution Middle-Infrared Imaging
G. S. Orton and P. A. Yanamandra-Fisher 696-698.
Reports
Rapid Formation of Sulfuric Acid Particles at Near-Atmospheric Conditions
Torsten Berndt, Olaf Böge, Frank Stratmann, Jost Heintzenberg, and Markku Kulmala 698-700.
Dislocations in Complex Materials
Matthew F. Chisholm, Sharvan Kumar, and Peter Hazzledine 701-703.
End States in One-Dimensional Atom Chains
J. N. Crain and D. T. Pierce 703-706.
Photic Zone Euxinia During the Permian-Triassic Superanoxic Event
Kliti Grice, Changqun Cao, Gordon D. Love, Michael E. Böttcher, Richard J. Twitchett, Emmanuelle Grosjean, Roger E.
Summons, Steven C. Turgeon, William Dunning, and Yugan Jin 706-709.
Abrupt and Gradual Extinction Among Late Permian Land Vertebrates in the Karoo Basin, South Africa
Peter D. Ward, Jennifer Botha, Roger Buick, Michiel O. De Kock, Douglas H. Erwin, Geoffrey H. Garrison, Joseph L.
Kirschvink, and Roger Smith 709-714.
Aconitase Couples Metabolic Regulation to Mitochondrial DNA Maintenance
Xin Jie Chen, Xiaowen Wang, Brett A. Kaufman, and Ronald A. Butow 714-717.
I
Natural Selection and Developmental Constraints in the Evolution of Allometries
W. Anthony Frankino, Bas J. Zwaan, David L. Stern, and Paul M. Brakefield 718-720.
Mechanisms of Hair Graying: Incomplete Melanocyte Stem Cell Maintenance in the Niche
Emi K. Nishimura, Scott R. Granter, and David E. Fisher 720-724.
Dynamic Complex Formation During the Yeast Cell Cycle
Ulrik de Lichtenberg, Lars Juhl Jensen, Søren Brunak, and Peer Bork 724-727.
Escape of Intracellular Shigella from Autophagy
Michinaga Ogawa, Tamotsu Yoshimori, Toshihiko Suzuki, Hiroshi Sagara, Noboru Mizushima, and Chihiro Sasakawa
727-731.
Nod2-Dependent Regulation of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in the Intestinal Tract
Koichi S. Kobayashi, Mathias Chamaillard, Yasunori Ogura, Octavian Henegariu, Naohiro Inohara, Gabriel Nuñez, and
Richard A. Flavell 731-734.
Nod2 Mutation in Crohn's Disease Potentiates NF- B Activity and IL-1ß Processing
Shin Maeda, Li-Chung Hsu, Hongjun Liu, Laurie A. Bankston, Mitsutoshi Iimura, Martin F. Kagnoff, Lars Eckmann, and
Michael Karin 734-738.
The Kaposin B Protein of KSHV Activates the p38/MK2 Pathway and Stabilizes Cytokine mRNAs
Craig McCormick and Don Ganem 739-741.
Mutualistic Fungi Control Crop Diversity in Fungus-Growing Ants
Michael Poulsen and Jacobus J. Boomsma 741-744.
Technical Comments
Comment on "Long-Lived Drosophila with Overexpressed dFOXO in Adult Fat Body"
Marc Tatar 675.
Response to Comment on "Long-Lived Drosophila with Overexpressed dFOXO in Adult Fat Body"
Maria E. Giannakou, Martin Goss, Martin A. Jünger, Ernst Hafen, Sally J. Leevers, and Linda Partridge 675.
COMMENTARY
Editorial
Desirable Scientific Conduct
Patrick Bateson 645.
Letters
Evolution Versus Invention David Premack and Ann Premack ; Elephants, Ecology, and Nonequilibrium? Clive Hambler,
Peter A. Henderson, Martin R. Speight;, Andrew W. Illius;, Lindsey Gillson, Keith Lindsay, Erwin H. Bulte, and Richard
Damiana ; National Environmental Policy Act at 35 Daniel A. Bronstein, Dinah Baer, Hobson Bryan, Joseph F. C. DiMento,
and Sanjay Narayan 673.
Essays on Science and Society
GLOBAL VOICES OF SCIENCE:
It Takes a Village: Medical Research and Ethics in Mali
Ogobara K. Doumbo 679-681.
125th Anniversary Series 680.
Books et al.
EVOLUTION:
Voyage to the Bottom of the Tree
Charles Francis Delwiche 676-677.
EVOLUTION:
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Scott J. Steppan 677-678.
Browsings 678.
Books Received 678.
Perspectives
OCEAN SCIENCE:
Enhanced: The Ocean's Seismic Hum
Sharon Kedar and Frank H. Webb 682-683.
GENETICS:
A Century of Corn Selection
William G. Hill 683-684.
ECOLOGY:
Untangling an Entangled Bank
David Storch, Pablo A. Marquet, and Kevin J. Gaston 684-686.
ASTRONOMY:
At the Heart of the Milky Way
T. Joseph W. Lazio and Theodore N. LaRosa 686-687.
SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION:
Signaling Specificity in Yeast
Elaine A. Elion, Maosong Qi, and Weidong Chen 687-688.
II
NEWS
News of the Week
BIOMEDICINE:
Move Provokes Bruising Fight Over U.K. Biomedical Institute
Eliot Marshall 652.
SPACE SCIENCE:
NASA Probe to Examine Edge of Solar System
Andrew Lawler 653.
AIDS TREATMENT:
A Step Toward Cheaper Anti-HIV Therapy
Jon Cohen 653.
QUANTUM COMPUTING:
Safer Coin Tosses Point to Better Way for Enemies to Swap Messages
Charles Seife 655.
MICROBIOLOGY:
Immortality Dies as Bacteria Show Their Age
Dan Ferber 656.
U.K. UNIVERSITIES:
Cash-Short Schools Aim to Raise Fees, Recruit Foreign Students
Eliot Marshall 656.
SOUTH ASIA TSUNAMI:
Powerful Tsunami's Impact on Coral Reefs Was Hit and Miss
Elizabeth Pennisi 657.
TAIWAN:
University Spending Plan Triggers Heated Debate
Dennis Normile 659.
UNITED KINGDOM:
Proposed Law Targets Animal-Rights Activists
Gretchen Vogel 659.
News Focus
CELL BIOLOGY:
Asia Jockeys for Stem Cell Lead
Dennis Normile and Charles C. Mann 660-664.
CELL BIOLOGY:
U.S. States Offer Asia Stiff Competition
Constance Holden 662-663.
CELL BIOLOGY:
Asian Countries Permit Research, With Safeguards
Dennis Normile and Charles C. Mann 664.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY:
The Unexpected Brains Behind Blood Vessel Growth
Gretchen Vogel 665-667.
U.K. UNIVERSITIES:
'Darwinian' Funding and the Demise of Physics and Chemistry
Daniel Clery 668-669.
Departments
Gordon Research Conferences 746-769.
Products
NEW PRODUCTS 745.
NetWatch
DATABASE: Planet Earth Checkup * IMAGES: Mineral Mother Lode * LINKS: Math From the Ground Up * RESOURCES:
Taking the Sting Out of Bumblebee Taxonomy * DATABASE: All Together Now 651
ScienceScope
Florida Rejects Chiropractic Program * Europe, U.S. Differ on Mercury * Italy Pulls Out of Global Fund * NIH Bans Industry
Consulting * Call for Global Biodiversity Agency 655
Random Samples
After the Earth Moved * The Burden of Sex * A Nose for Survival * Da Vinci Discovery * Two Cultures * Awards * Jobs *
Pioneers 670
III
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edited by Stella Hurtley and Phil Szuromi
Saturnian Hot Spot Glimpses into the P/T Boundary
Ground-based infrared observations of Saturn with the Long The Permian-Triassic extinction was the most extreme in Earth’s
Wavelength Spectrometer on the Keck I Telescope on Mauna Kea history.It has been difficult in part to determine the environmental
reveal a hot spot in the atmosphere within 3°of the south pole,a conditions that may have led to the extinction.Grice et al.(p.706,
warm polar cap,anomalous temperature bands,and oscillations in published online 20 January 2005) present a detailed chemical
temperatures in the southern hemisphere that are not correlated analysis of marine sections
with cloud patterns.Orton and Yanamandra-Fisher(p.696) sug- obtained by drilling off west-
gest these features are related to radiative forcing and dynamical ern Australia and South China.
forcing that are consistent The data suggest that the
with 15 years of constant upper part of the oceans at
solar illumination of the Fungus Monoculture the time of the extinction
southern hemisphere as Sat- were extremely oxygen poor
on the Ant Farm
urn goes through its southern and sulfide rich. Wardet al.
summer solstice. Leaf-cutting ants live in obligate (p. 709, published online 20
ectosymbiosis with clonal fungi January 2005),in contrast,re-
Two’s Company, that they rear for food.These construct a record of the ter-
symbionts are vertically trans- restrial vertebrate extinctions
Three’s a Cloud?
ferred during colony foundation, in the Karoo Basin,Africa. This
It has long been thought that but fungus gardens are,in princi- area preserves the most de-
the in situ creation of new ple, open for horizontal sym- tailed vertebrate fossil record
(secondary) cloud condensa- biont transmission later on. from this time,but correlating
tion nuclei arises mainly from Poulsen and Boomsma(p.741) rocks in different parts of the
the reaction of gas phase sul- show that fungal ectosymbionts prevent competing fungal strains Basin has been problematic.
furic acid and water, but the from becoming established by ancient incompatibility mechanisms Using paleomagnetism and
rate of particle formation ob- that have not been lost despite millions of years of domestication carbon isotopes, they show
served in laboratory studies and single-strain rearing by ants.These fungal incompatibility com- that extinctions were acceler-
has been too slow (by many pounds travel through the ant gut to make the ant feces incompati- ated up to a pulse at the
orders of magnitude) to ac- ble with unrelated strains of symbiont.Thus,the fungi manipulate boundary,and that the pattern
count for the number concen- the symbiosis to their own advantage at the expense of the ants’ of appearance of Triassic fauna
trations found in nature.A potential interest in a genetically more diverse agriculture. may imply that some originat-
faster,ternary mechanism that ed even before the final pulse.
includes ammonia has been
postulated on the basis of theoretical factors.Berndt et al.(p.698)
Protein Kinase Inhibition Revealed
now report experimental production of particles from a mixture of
sulfuric acid and water at concentrations like those naturally found An important target of the second-messenger cyclic adenosine
in the atmosphere,with ammonia at concentrations lower than monophosphate (cAMP) is protein kinase A (PKA). PKA, which
those normally observed.The measured rate is consistent with that regulates processes as diverse as growth,memory,and metabo-
required to explain atmosphere number concentrations. lism,exists as an inactive complex of two catalytic subunits and
a regulatory subunit dimer. cAMP binds to the regulatory sub-
The End of the Line units and facilitates dissociation and activation of the catalytic
subunits. Kim et al.(p. 690) have determined the 2.0 angstrom
The breaking of the translation symmetry of crystals at their sur- resolution structure of the PKA catalytic subunit bound to a dele-
faces gives rise to localized surface electronic states,and,in princi- tion mutant of the regulatory subunit (RIα).The complex pro-
ple,similar effects should be seen at the ends of one-dimensional vides a molecular mechanism for inhibition of PKA and suggests
wires.Crainand Pierce(p.703) present experimental evidence for how cAMP binding leads to activation.
D PIERCE sguocldh gerleocwtrno noinc tshtaetes at the ends of one-dimensional gold chains of A Matter of Scale
N AN stepped Si(553)
CRAI surface. Scanning A striking feature of morphological diversity across animal species
MA; tunneling micro- is the variability in the relative size,or allometry,of different ap-
OMS scopy images show pendages.Virtually nothing is known of the forces that underlie
O
D B markedly different the evolution of scaling relationships.Using the butterfly species
N
N A contrast for the end Bicyclus anynana,Frankino et al.(p.718) tested the roles of devel-
ULSE atoms of chains opmental constraints and natural selection in determining the size
O
M) P when the biasvolt- of the wings relative to the body,which as a measure of wing load-
OTTO age is reversed, and differential conductance measurements ing has clear functional and ecological importance.Artificial selec-
O B reveal the details of the electronic states of the end atoms that tion experiments on the size of the forewing relative to overall
OP T agree well with the results of tight-binding calculations. The for- body size resulted in a rapid evolutionary response.In this case,de-
CREDITS:(T mataotmiosn w oitfh einn dt hset actheasi nh.elps lower the energy of filled states for velopmental constraints did not limit the evoluCtOioNnTI NoUfE DthONe PsAcGaEl6in43g
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CONTINUEDFROM641 HIS EEK IN
relationship.Instead,it is the pattern of natural selection imposed by the external envi-
ronment that determine the wing-body size allometry.
Packaging and Power Combining
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is packaged with proteins into a nucleoid. Chenet al.
(p.714) show that one of the mtDNA packaging proteins is the Krebs cycle enzyme,
aconitase, that the mitochondrion uses to generate metabolic energy. In this second
role,aconitase is required for mtDNA maintenance under particular metabolic condi-
tions.This finding provides a direct link between energy generation and mtDNA stabili-
ty,mitochondrial disease,and aging.
Fade to Gray
Aging brings on many changes in the human
body,among them the graying of hair.Nishimura
et al. (p. 720; published online 23 December
2004) found in a mouse model of hair graying
that a deficiency of the gene Bcl-2 caused pro-
gressive loss of pigment cells in the bulge of the
hair follicle—the hair stem-cell niche.Thus, the
physiology of hair graying involves defective self-
maintenance of melanocyte stem cells with ag-
ing,and may serve as a paradigm for understanding aging mechanisms in other tissues.
Autophagic Arms Race
One defense against intracellular invaders is to enclose them within autophagic vac-
uoles that then fuse with degradative lysosomes to destroy the pathogen.Ogawa et
al. (p. 727, published online 2 December 2004) show that the invading bacterial
pathogen Shigella can be recognized and trapped by autophagy. Generally, the
pathogen circumvents the autophagic event by secreting an effector protein called IcsB
during multiplication within the host cytoplasm;mutant bacteria lacking IcsB are par-
ticularly susceptible to autophagic killing.The ShigellaVirG protein acts as the target
that stimulates autophagy,but the IscB protein can camouflage it.
Giving Mice the Nod
The detection of bacteria in the gut by the immune system is regulated,in part,by the Nod
proteins,which recognize peptidoglycan motifs from bacteria,and there is a strong associa-
tion of the inflammatory bowel disorder Crohn’s disease with mutations in the Nod2gene.
Nevertheless,questions remain about the normal physiological role of the Nod proteins in
maintaining homeostasis in the gut and how impaired Nod function leads to inflammation.
Maeda et al.(p.734) observed that Nod mutations in mice,corresponding with those car-
ried by Crohn’s disease patients,increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation caused
by the bacterial cell wall precursor muramyl dipeptide. Kobayashi et al.(p.731) generated
Nod2-deficient mice. Although these animals did not spontaneously develop intestinal in-
flammation,they were more susceptible to oral infection with the bacterial pathogen Listeria
monocytogenes. Production of a group of mucosal antimicrobial peptides was particularly
diminished in Nod2-deficient animals,which suggests that a similar defect may contribute
to inflammatory bowel disease in humans.
Cytokine Production and Kaposi’s
When tissues are infected with Kaposi’s sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV),they
produce large amounts of proinflammatory cytokines that are linked to disease pro-
gression.McCormick and Ganem (p.739) show that a viral protein,kaposin B inter-
ET AL.URA athcets awctitivhi tmy iotof gtehnis- ahcotsivta cteeldl pprrootteeiinn, ksienravsineg– atsos obclioactke dt hper odteecinay k ionfa AseU -2r iachn dm eenshsaenncgeesr
M
HI RNAs and increase the level of secreted cytokines. This result explains the association
NIS of KSHV-related disease and enhanced cytokine production.
DIT:
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E
DITORIAL
Desirable Scientific Conduct
M
any scientists are aware of the subtle influences on their own scientific conduct, but many others
are not. Sydney Brenner, the joint winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine,
delightfully described a slide in which data points were scattered very close to a straight line—
but a large mysterious black object lay in one corner. By degrees, the onlooker realizes that the
object is a thumb placed over a data point that is far away from the straight line. The thumb covered
it up because the result was supposedly anomalous. The test tube was dirty, the animal was sick
that day, or something else was amiss. Many other such rationalizations—perhaps they should be called rules of
thumb—are produced and the damage done may not serious.
A famous example of selective use of the thumb was provided by the data on which Gregor Mendel based his
laws of inheritance. The eminent statistician R. A. Fisher argued that, on grounds of probability, the data were too
good to be true. Mendel had presumably started to see (correctly as it turned out)
a pattern while he was still doing the critical breeding experiments and then
began to drop data that did not fit.
Another form of data selection can lead to serious error. Before the discovery
of stratospheric ozone holes in the 1980s, statistical analysis of satellite data threw
out the “outliers” on the assumption that such measurements were unreliable.
It was only when scientists working at one station in Antarctica repeatedly
obtained low values that the processing mistake was discovered and the ozone
holes recognized. Treasure your exceptions! The data point lying under the
researcher’s thumb might be the most interesting result of the whole study.
Social psychologists and sociologists have long been aware of the subtle ways
in which bias can creep into research. The behavior of their subjects sometimes
results not from the effects of any experimental manipulation, but merely from
the attention paid to them by the experimenter. Much evidence suggests that
experimenters often obtain the results they expect to obtain, partly because they
unwittingly influence the outcome of the experiment.* The expectancy effect is
sometimes comparable in size to the effect of the experimental manipulation
itself. Many scientists take appropriate steps to avoid this kind of bias. They use
“blind” procedures so that the person making the measurements cannot uncon-
sciously bias the result. Analysis is carried out ideally while the researcher
remains unaware of the identity of each group. Although many are careful, others
are not and do not even recognize the problem.
Suspect findings damage unnecessarily the reputation of scientists for integrity, lending weight to the more
bizarre views about the social construction of science. The reality of prejudice or theoretical conformism in
scientific work emphasizes that a considerable job of educating many members of the scientific community is
still needed. That kind of awareness becomes all the more necessary when issues of funding and promotion are at
stake. Some notorious cases have demonstrated just how ferocious can be the pressure from commercial funders
to ignore good scientific practice. A well-known example was the shameful treatment at the University ofToronto
of Nancy Olivieri, who published data uncongenial to the drug company that had funded her.†
Sources of funding can undoubtedly exert corrupting influences on scientific behavior. The bad cases should
be condemned when they are discovered. “Affiliation bias” may, however, be much more subtle, leading research
workers to select evidence suiting their own preconceptions. All scientists need to be very careful about how evidence
was obtained in the first place. Desirable modes of scientific conduct require considerable self-awareness as well
as a reaffirmation of the old virtues of honesty, scepticism, and integrity.
Patrick Bateson
Patrick Bateson is in the Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour,University of Cambridge,High Street,Madingley,Cambridge CB3
8AA,UK.E-mail [email protected]
*R.Rosenthal,D.B.Rubin,Behav.Brain Sci.1,377 (1978).†D.G.Nathan,D.Weatherall,N.Engl.J.Med.347,1368 (2002).
10.1126/science.1107915
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E C
DITORS’ HOICE
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RECENT LITERATURE
edited by Gilbert Chin
rivers appear to be eroding
EPIDEMIOLOGY their bedrock at the geologically
Don’t Keep Hedgehogs extreme and unsustainable
rates of several centimeters
Rescuing a hedgehog victim of a road acci- per year;hence,other processes
dent and nurturing it back to health can be must be contributing to
deeply satisfying. But Riley and Chomel bedrock dynamics.Over a
show that the payback from such 7-year period,Stock et al.
an exotic pet may not be entirely monitored several rivers in
benign. Hedgehogs harbor a Taiwan and in the Pacific
variety of pathogens that are Northwest of the United
potentially transferable to States.These rapidly eroding
humans and our livestock. European (top) and African pygmy rivers had all been historically
Several species of hedgehogs (left) hedgehogs. scoured of sediment.This history
have been widely introduced and the authors’measurements
into the United States and are ago,domestication brought humans imply that long-term stream
kept illegally in some states,in into contact with a range of new erosion,at least in areas with
the extraordinary number of 40,000 pathogens;the current vogue for exotic weak bedrock,is influenced
households.A recent survey shows that they pets and food animals will do likewise, more by the ability of rivers
can carry foot-and-mouth disease virus, namely, monkeypox and plague in prairie to entrain a thin covering of
Salmonella, and Mycobacteria, as well as dogs and SARS in civets.—CA sediment,which reduces wear,
dermal fungal infections.Thousands of years Emerg.Infect.Dis.11,1 (2005). than specific bedrock properties.
In areas of high slope,debris
flows,which periodically
CELL BIOLOGY they present evidence that rophore until it is cleaved by scour streams and rivers and
Popeye’s Ribosomes tbhioisg eexnpelsaisin iss wanh ye sFsee-nSt icalulster ecostueprlaesde sr hwoidthamin ian ec e1l1l.0T hteoy tmhauys ablelo twhe r ampoids td corwitniccaul tting, V (2005).
Rcsthyoibenmo tephsfooefimsncieiseen smnt ta ao rmcfe h tatihnhneuee rfpcayre,conattutnerrdiaen l fmcaulrueints coettcesishor eonbnn iaotdingardeila. nt— e(hwsu iShss M eworrHehig yFi en-aStes) tdItnhwe ertoihsv eoea -istrhii vdayeecdse rc tovhyxiaalyai ncatiesmn dfnio dfaroemcr elmii nct, hkaaecgides. fBaEctHoGreA.o—Vl.SIo BOc.HARm.Bull.117,174 (2005). 10.1021/JA043736
of ribosomes is crucial.These EMBO J.10.1038/sj.emboj.7600540; rhodamine core to adopt a Less Editing,Less SOC.
m60a cphrointeeisn c aonndta RinN rAo upgahrtlsy. 10.1038/sj.emboj.7600541 (2005). ncoonnffilguuorraetsicoinn.gE lsatcetro cnleizaevda ge Depression M.CHEM.
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involves importing proteins Fluorescence favored by steric interaction of optimism that the fuzzy link DRA
N
from the cytosol and placing the methyl groups,and liberates between genes and behavior HA
them onto ribosomal RNA The power of fluorescent the fluorescent acid form of might be firmed up and M) C
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(rRNA);subsequently,the probes can be enhanced by rhodamine 110.The authors made explicit,an especially OTT
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expTworot egdro tuop tsh dee csycrtiobseo al.n Caphparnodarcahn feotr a ml.adseksincrgib felu aonres- csterlolsn,gw fhlueroer etshceeyn oceb sferorvmed the t(aionnds doifs tiinndcitv imduuatal tgieonness) to ONALD/C
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unanticipated link in this cence from a xanthene fluo- cytosol and lysosomes but not behavior might be only a few MC
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tFpshueroe-bSc upe ncrsolisutit nseetgxien par o nRtrdloit 1 s.pm Krreioasqmpllu aroiilrb teeeost s raaoRl mN. aAl H2N+-O2C O NH2 AcO OOH Raaorngivedne b irtze heacedno drame sss itdunrelgetp aimnemgno derrieirvno ewgsr ii oodpnnero l aryfa irlteeescs- (rtfoesaycrrg nedeptyhttseoefdsrus inas),c sht tpraioarvinnems iapenlo rcderaetan,pdadrynei ddbsaseiteoenns. UPERT BUCHELE/
also implicate Rli1 in the The intramolecular rearrange- complicated and incompletely Englander et al.have used OP) R
export of ribosomal subunits ments that liberate rhodamine documented suite of factors. a pair of mice strains to DITS:(T
from the nucleus.In addition, (left). For instance,some streams and examine the interaction of CRE
646 4 FEBRUARY 2005 VOL 307 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org
Published by AAAS
serotonin receptors,stressful situations, detailed global estimates of its distribution
and a selective serotonin reuptake and magnitude.Measuring NPP from
inhibitor (SSRI).They report that,in space has failed to provide convincing
comparison to C57BL/6 mice,BALB/c values,because two essential parameters,
animals have lower serotonin levels phytoplankton carbon biomass and a
(due to a polymorphism in tryptophan term related to the physiological status
hydroxylase-2) and are generally easier of the organisms,are not directly
to stress (via a behavioral despair task). quantifiable remotely.
Furthermore,the type 2C serotonin Behrenfeld et al.start with satellite
receptor in BALB/c mice undergoes less measurements of the chlorophyll content of
editing of its pre-messenger RNA,and upper ocean waters and the backscattering
this yields,in compensatory fashion, of certain wavelengths of light (which they
receptors that are more sensitive to use to estimate phytoplankton carbon
serotonin.Administering the despair biomass),and then estimate phytoplankton
task or the SSRI (the antidepressant growth rates and
fluoxetine) bumps up the extent of RNA calculate NPP.
editing and presumably titrates down- They can do
ward the responsiveness of postsynaptic this by taking
neurons to released serotonin.The advantage of
unexpected finding is that this change in laboratory
editing due to drug or stress is not seen studies that
if both are given together,suggesting have shown
that the molecular response may be that the ratio
influenced by the state of the subject of chlorophyll
and blocked by antidepressants.— GJC to carbon bio-
J.Neurosci.25,648 (2005). mass is a calcula-
ble function of
EARTH SCIENCE
Getting a Fix on Fixation Phytoplankton growth rates during the
boreal summer (top) and winter (bottom).
Marine net primary production (NPP)
is a measure of how much atmospheric changes in light,nutrients,and temperature.
carbon is fixed via photosynthesis by This work brings nearer the prospect of
organisms in the ocean.Until now, producing a more accurate picture of global
only direct field sampling has yielded marine NPP over space and time.— HJS
accurate estimates of NPP,which has
Global Biogeochem.Cycles 19,
severely limited attempts to obtain 10.1029/2004GB002299 (2005).
HIGHLIGHTED IN SCIENCE’S SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION KNOWLEDGE ENVIRONMENT
Balancing Axons and Dendrites
Neurons are polarized cells with axons (signal output) and
dendrites (signal input).Not only are these functionally
distinct parts of the cell,but they differ in morphology too.
GB002299 (2005). Jwaain acadnos gn wi snehtcitetr neuaa tlG.isveSreedKlyp -b o3ayβrc ttt iartvachent aismvtfi eutwcyttah iwnoetann,s t oghinfley hi cnsiobouilgmtaeetbndee d,rst yeohnmfe t cbnherualylmsso etbn hekiacrit n ho faiofps rcepme o3leclβsda mpa(rGnpo SaadKlxu o-nc3nienβ udg)re o mcanrcuest laiwtvsipeiittldhye,
19,10.1029/2004 aToxhf oeGynS sKi di-ne3ncβrteipfaihesodes dtph heeov preyhnlo atsthpioohnua,gtwihdh ytilhcinheo roseivtseourlla t3sll- iknninu aamns ebin e(hrP iIob3fiKt in)o epnua otrihft weGsaS ydK ia-d3s βna. osAttc icmtihvuaalnatitgooenr.
CYCLES ophf othspeh PaIt3aKs ep aPtThEwNa pyr obyd uecxepdr emssuilotina xoofn t hnee ukrionnass.eY Aoksht iomru irnaa cetti aval.tisohno wo ft thhaet
HEM. GSK-3βphosphorylates collapsin response mediator protein 2 (CRMP-2),which
GEOC is known to contribute to axon formation.Treatment of neurons with neurotrophin
O
OBAL BI 3an (dN dT-e3c)r eoars ebdra CinR-MdePr-iv2e pdh noesuprhootrryolpahtiiocn f.aFcutortrh (eBrDmNoFre) ,stthime ustlaimteudl aatxioonn ignr oawxotnh
GL
ET AL.,D lPeIn3gKt rhe wgualsa btelos ctkheed a icf tCivRiMtyP o-2f GabSuKn-3dβanacned w tahse dpehcorsepahseodry.Tlahtuios,na o pfa tthhew mayic irnovtoulbviunlge
NFEL assembly regulatory protein CRMP-2, and hence controls axon formation
HRE and growth in neurons.—NG
BE
DITS: Cell 120,123;137 (2005).
CRE
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 307 4 FEBRUARY 2005
Published by AAAS
N W
ET ATCH
edited by Mitch Leslie
LINKS
Math From the Ground Up
Researchers who specialize in the foundations of mathematics delve
into deep topics such as set theory and proof theory to ensure that
math rests on solid philosophical ground.For a comprehensive take on
DATABASE the subject,visit this site from Alexander Sakharov,a computer scien-
Planet Earth Checkup tist and Web developer in Boston.Sakharov has arranged more than
50 links into chapters to create a virtual textbook,with writings from
Whether you’re interested in the number of threatened plant mathematicians,computer scientists,and other experts.The contri-
species in various countries,changes in glacier mass,airborne butions—which include books,articles,and entries in references such
lead levels,or the use of ozone-depleting compounds such as as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy—probe topics like mathe-
methyl bromide,check out the Global Data Portal from the U.N. matical logic and axioms.
Environment Programme.The site lets you download data on sakharov.net/foundation.html
more than 450 economic and
ecological variables or render RESOURCES
them as a map,graph,or table.
Taking the Sting Out of
The chart above,for example,
depicts the change in forest Bumblebee Taxonomy
cover for different countries
between 1990 and 2000,with They may be as close to cuddly as insects can
Brazil showing the biggest loss get, but bumblebees give taxonomists
and China recording gains.The headaches because different species inhabit-
figures collected here provide ing the same area often look alike.For help
the underpinnings for the U.N.’s navigating the group’s treacherous taxon-
Global Environment Outlook, omy,make a beeline for this site from ento-
an occassional report on the mologist Paul Williams of the Natural His-
biosphere’s condition,and other tory Museum in London. His checklist of
summaries. world bumblebees—the first published since
geodata.grid.unep.ch 1923—attempts to tidy up the nomenclat-
ural mess.You can find out which types of
IMAGES bees live in North America and Europe or
search the site by bioregions,such as eastern
Mineral
Asia.The checklists discuss valid and invalid
Mother Lode names for each kind of bee.To aid identification,the entries also include photos of the male bees’
genitalia,a key feature for differentiating species.Above,a male Bombus asiaticusprowls for a mate.
These glittering crystals of www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/bombus/index.html
roselite (below) owe their crim-
son hue to cobalt,which consti-
tutes about 10% of their weight. Find out much more about DATABASE
M
USEU roselite—from its chemical composition to the origin of its name—at All Together Now
M Webmineral,an exhaustive database main-
URAL HISTORY toSaigniync ee dcNo benytsW uHlatotaucnshtt’ so Dlna,asTtve ivdxisa istB– (abSrcatihseeendlcm eg,ye.ol- Ttitho ii nndtgee drfaruoccmtes wait sipt hsrot.rBtueucitnt ut’shr eifs ua innncfdot ilroomncaa,ttrieioosnne arienrcs tihdheeers sc i ennl eld etisodp wtaorha aktten omdwaot laeebvcaeusrleeyss-
MS/NAT 11 June 1999,p.1731),this com- that often use different terminology,and compiling it “can be a
UL WILLIA padendeddiu pmh ootfo s4 f3o0r0 m morien etrhaalsn hhaalsf pUaniinvfeurls eitxyp.eSroie Ynocnea,” asnayds h cios mcopluletaegr usecise cnrtaisftt eGdo Blaionz Yoonn,aa odfa Ctaobrnaesell
PA the entries and Java applets that let that merges the holdings of more than a dozen molecular biology
VAERT; you study each crystal’s structure collections,including SwissProt,KEGG,PDB,and BodyMap.The site
N VEE from multiple angles.You’ll also find data lets you run searches that span different data types,such as finding
OH such as the minerals’hardness rating,x-ray dif- 3D structures for all proteins that interact with the protein BRCA1,
NEP;J fraction values,classification according to the Strunz and Dana sys- which is implicated in some breast cancers.The ability to compare
M):U tems,and other tidbits.For example,roselite isn’t named for its ruddy results from different databases side by side also makes it easier to
OTTO color,but for Gustav Rose,a 19th century German mineralogist. spot discrepancies.
O B webmineral.com biozon.org
OP T
DITS (T Send site suggestions to [email protected]:www.sciencemag.org/netwatch
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EWS
Aging Corals
bacteria after the
tsunami
among different research groups “would
BIOMEDICINE
best be achieved through colocation with a
Move Provokes Bruising Fight
university” with “the widest possible range
of disciplines.”
Over U.K.Biomedical Institute The two NIMR scientists who sat on the
task force signed off on this report—Steven
Gamblin, head of the protein structure group,
CAMBRIDGE,U.K.—For more than a year, cedes that moving NIMR from Mill Hill and Robin Lovell-Badge, head of develop-
researchers at a world-class biomedical insti- may “cost more than it will save.” mental genetics. But both now disagree with
tution in Britain have been battling to stop Blakemore cites several reasons for want- MRC’s interpretation. They say they support
what they see as a clumsy and destructive ing to move NIMR despite the cost. He told the the broad conclusions but not Blakemore’s
attempt to overhaul their community. Next science committee that government recom- views on relocating to London. As they tell it,
week, Parliament will give its view of their mendations dating back to 1996 and earlier the consensus wanted a move to the city if this
appeal to block a relocation from the suburbs have urged that the institute be brought closer proved betterthan staying at Mill Hill. But in
to the center of London, possibly followed by to a university. And in a telephone interview, he their view, MRC has not really compared the
a clear decision from their top governing spoke of MRC’s long-held concern that NIMR options in detail and is ignoring the condi-
board, the Medical Research Council (MRC). is too isolated from academic and clinical life. tional clause. Lovell-Badge also told the par-
Both sides say this fight may It must change to survive, he liamentary committee that in a phone call
leave bruises that will affect and others argue. Blakemore had pressured him to drop his
biomedical research in the A July 2004 MRC task resistance, but that he refused. Blakemore
United Kingdom for years. force on the renovation plan, acknowledged that there was a conversation
Leading scientists at the which included two NIMR sci- but denied that he intended any threat.
National Institute for Medical entific leaders, concluded that Gamblin, Lovell-Badge, O’Garra, and oth-
Research (NIMR)—the largest the institute’s “long-term suc- ers argue that NIMR already enjoys many of
U.K. biomedical unit, with a cess” will depend on its ability the good things that the move to London might
direct government budget of bring, such as interdiscipli-
$62 million—took an angry nary collaborations and
protest to the halls of Parlia- partnerships with clinics.
ment in December. In the par- They offer piles of docu-
liamentary inquiry that began ments as proof. But they
that same month, they blasted concede the obvious: that
an MRC plan to move their entire facility NIMR is not physically
from its perch on a green ridge northwest of near a teaching hospital or
London to a university site in the city. The university. On the other
staff’s main concern, according to NIMR hand, they say, it’s doubtful
immunologist Anne O’Garra and others who any London university can
spoke with Science, is that the advantages of provide a secure, spacious
the present spot in Mill Hill will be lost— animal facility like theirs.
including a secure animal facility and an Gamblin and Lovell-Badge
unparalleled 19-hectare campus—with no voiced a widely held suspi-
commensurate gain. cion that the university-
MRC’s preferred scheme for “renewing” dominated MRC wants to
NIMR, says neuroscientist Colin Blake- Auction? Colin Blakemore,the U.K.biomedical research funding direc- sell Mill Hill to have more
more, MRC’s chief executive, is to sell the tor,defends a plan to sell off the 19-hectare Mill Hill facility and move flexibility in the budget for
entire NIMR estate. Director John Skehel the staff into the city center. academic projects—and to
has announced that he will retire in 2006, subject NIMR staffers to NIMR
but the scientific staff would be kept intact. to do “translational research”: adapting basic the rigors of university life. HY;
The cash from the sale, as Blakemore biology to medical uses. NIMR supports more Blakemore says he has heard the rumors, GRAP
O
explained in the 1 December hearing before than a dozen fields of research and is known but they are “completely unfounded.” There is OT
H
the House of Commons Science and Tech- for its excellence in infections and immunity, “no hidden agenda,” he adds: “If the MRC had NS P
nfaocloigliyt iCeos minm citetenet,r awlo Lulodn hdeolpn .p aTyh feo rf inneawl dstervucetluorpaml beinoltoagl yb, iaomloognyg, ontehuerros.s Bciuetn ict he,a sa nndo whaavnet eddo ntoe ictl”o lsoen dgo awgon athned NnoItM haRv,e t h“sepye wnto tuwldo ARKER EVA
details have not been set, but an MRC task clinical center and no degree-granting func- and a half years reviewing it.” M):B
force has singled out Kings College and tion. The task force found that NIMR could Parliament’s science committee will offer OTTO
University College as candidate sites. It’s best make a “cultural shift” from its focus on its view of the controversy in a report to be O B
not clear whether the government would laboratory work to clinical practice “through issued on 8 February. And Blakemore says OP T
own the new city buildings or pay a univer- physical proximity to a teaching hospital.” MRC hopes to issue its own decision on DITS (T
sity to maintain them. Yet Blakemore con- And it found that encouraging crosstalk 10 February. –ELIOTMARSHALL CRE
652 4 FEBRUARY 2005 VOL 307 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org
Published by AAAS
