Russell Blanchard (plateparade2)

Compartmentalization is a ubiquitous building principle in cells, which permits segregation of biological elements and reactions. The carboxysome is a specialized bacterial organelle that encapsulates enzymes into a virus-like protein shell and plays essential roles in photosynthetic carbon fixation. The naturally designed architecture, semi-permeability, and catalytic improvement of carboxysomes have inspired rational design and engineering of new nanomaterials to incorporate desired enzymes into the protein shell for enhanced catalytic performance. Here, we build large, intact carboxysome shells (over 90 nm in diameter) in the industrial microorganism Escherichia coli by expressing a set of carboxysome protein-encoding genes. We develop strategies for enzyme activation, shell self-assembly, and cargo encapsulation to construct a robust nanoreactor that incorporates catalytically active [FeFe]-hydrogenases and functional partners within the empty shell for the production of hydrogen. We show that shell encapsulation and the internal microenvironment of the new catalyst facilitate hydrogen production of the encapsulated oxygen-sensitive hydrogenases. The study provides insights into the assembly and formation of carboxysomes and paves the way for engineering carboxysome shell-based nanoreactors to recruit specific enzymes for diverse catalytic reactions.Pterosaurs, the first vertebrates to evolve active flight, lived between 210 and 66 million years ago. They were important components of Mesozoic ecosystems, and reconstructing pterosaur diets is vital for understanding their origins, their roles within Mesozoic food webs and the impact of other flying vertebrates (i.e. birds) on their evolution. However, pterosaur dietary hypotheses are poorly constrained as most rely on morphological-functional analogies. Here we constrain the diets of 17 pterosaur genera by applying dental microwear texture analysis to the three-dimensional sub-micrometre scale tooth textures that formed during food consumption. We reveal broad patterns of dietary diversity (e.g. Dimorphodon as a vertebrate consumer; Austriadactylus as a consumer of 'hard' invertebrates) and direct evidence of sympatric niche partitioning (Rhamphorhynchus as a piscivore; Pterodactylus as a generalist invertebrate consumer). We propose that the ancestral pterosaur diet was dominated by invertebrates and later pterosaurs evolved into piscivores and carnivores, shifts that might reflect ecological displacements due to pterosaur-bird competition.Atmospheric circulation is a fundamental component of Earth's climate system, transporting energy poleward to partially offset the latitudinal imbalance in insolation. Changes in the latitudinal distribution of insolation thus force variations in atmospheric circulation, in turn altering regional hydroclimates. Here we demonstrate that regional hydroclimates controlled by the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude storm tracks and the African and South American Monsoons changed synchronously during the last 10 kyrs. We argue that these regional hydroclimate variations are connected and reflect the adjustment of the atmospheric poleward energy transport to the evolving differential heating of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. These results indicate that changes in latitudinal insolation gradients and associated variations in latitudinal temperature gradients exert important control on atmospheric circulation and regional hydroclimates. Since the current episode of global warming strongly affects latitudinal temperature gradients through Arctic amplification, our results can inform projections of likely inter-hemispheric precipitation changes in the future.Miscanthus is a perennial wild grass that is of global importance for paper production, roofing, horticultural plantings, and an emerging highly productive temperate biomass crop. We report a chromosome-scale assembly of the paleotetraploid M. sinensis genome, providing a resource for M