The intestine is responsible for efficient absorption and packaging of dietary lipids before they enter the circulatory system. This review provides a comprehensive overview of how intestinal enterocytes from diverse model organisms absorb dietary lipid and subsequently secrete the largest class of lipoproteins (chylomicrons) to meet the unique needs of each animal. We discuss the putative relationship between diet and metabolic disease progression, specifically Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Understanding the molecular response of intestinal cells to dietary lipid has the potential to undercover novel therapies to combat metabolic syndrome.

The concepts that we generally associate with the field of data science are strikingly descriptive of the way that life, in general, processes information about its environment. The 'information life cycle', which enumerates the stages of information treatment in data science endeavours, also captures the steps of data collection and handling in biological systems. Similarly, the 'data-information-knowledge ecosystem', developed to illuminate the role of informatics in translating raw data into knowledge, can be a framework for understanding how information is constantly being transferred between life and the environment. By placing the principles of data science in a broader biological context, we see the activities of data scientists as the latest development in life's ongoing journey to better understand and predict its environment. Finally, we propose that informatics frameworks can be used to understand the similarities and differences between abiotic complex evolving systems and life.

Stomata, cellular valves found on the surfaces of aerial plant tissues, present a paradigm for studying cell fate and patterning in plants. A highly conserved core set of related basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors regulates stomatal development across diverse species. We characterized BdFAMA in the temperate grass Brachypodium distachyon and found this late-acting transcription factor was necessary and sufficient for specifying stomatal guard cell fate, and unexpectedly, could also induce the recruitment of subsidiary cells in the absence of its paralogue, BdMUTE. The overlap in function is paralleled by an overlap in expression pattern and by unique regulatory relationships between BdMUTE and BdFAMA. To better appreciate the relationships among the Brachypodium stomatal bHLHs, we used in vivo proteomics in developing leaves and found evidence for multiple shared interaction partners. We reexamined the roles of these genes in Arabidopsis thaliana by testing genetic sufficiency within and across species, and found that while BdFAMA and AtFAMA can rescue stomatal production in Arabidopsis fama and mute mutants, only AtFAMA can specify Brassica-specific myrosin idioblasts. Taken together, our findings refine the current models of stomatal bHLH function and regulatory feedback among paralogues within grasses as well as across the monocot/dicot divide.

The recent discovery of SPINDLY (SPY)-catalyzed protein O-fucosylation revealed a novel mechanism for regulating nucleocytoplasmic protein functions in plants. Genetic evidence indicates important roles of SPY in diverse developmental and physiological processes. However, the upstream signal controlling SPY activity and the downstream substrate proteins O-fucosylated by SPY remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated that SPY mediates sugar-dependent growth in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We further identified hundreds of O-fucosylated proteins using lectin affinity chromatography followed by mass spectrometry. All the O-fucosylation events quantified in our proteomic analyses were undetectable or dramatically decreased in the spy mutants, and thus likely catalyzed by SPY. The O-fucosylome includes mostly nuclear and cytosolic proteins. Many O-fucosylated proteins function in essential cellular processes, phytohormone signaling, and developmental programs, consistent with the genetic functions of SPY. The O-fucosylome also includes many proteins modified by O-linked-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) and by phosphorylation downstream of the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase, revealing the convergence of these nutrient signaling pathways on key regulatory functions such as post-transcriptional/translational regulation and phytohormone responses. Our study identified numerous targets of SPY/O-fucosylation and potential nodes of crosstalk among sugar/nutrient signaling pathways, enabling future dissection of the signaling network that mediates sugar regulation of plant growth and development.

Pathway enrichment analysis is indispensable for interpreting omics datasets and generating hypotheses. However, the foundations of enrichment analysis remain elusive to many biologists. Here, we discuss best practices in interpreting different types of omics data using pathway enrichment analysis and highlight the importance of considering intrinsic features of various types of omics data. We further explain major components that influence the outcomes of a pathway enrichment analysis, including defining background sets and choosing reference annotation databases. To improve reproducibility, we describe how to standardize reporting methodological details in publications. This article aims to serve as a primer for biologists to leverage the wealth of omics resources and motivate bioinformatics tool developers to enhance the power of pathway enrichment analysis.

Compared with conventional, solution-phase approaches, solid-state reaction methods can provide unique access to novel synthetic targets. Nanothreads-one-dimensional diamondoid polymers formed through the compression of small molecules-represent a new class of materials produced via solid-state reactions, however, the formation of chemically homogeneous products with targeted functionalization represents a persistent challenge. Through careful consideration of molecular precursor stacking geometry and functionalization, we report here the scalable synthesis of chemically homogeneous, functionalized nanothreads through the solid-state polymerization of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid. The resulting product possesses high-density, pendant carboxyl functionalization along both sides of the backbone, enabling new opportunities for the post-synthetic processing and chemical modification of nanothread materials applicable to a broad range of potential applications.

The 2021 La Palma eruption provided an unpreceded opportunity to test the relationship between earthquake hypocenters and the location of magma reservoirs. We performed density measurements on CO2-rich fluid inclusions (FIs) hosted in olivine crystals that are highly sensitive to pressure via calibrated Raman spectroscopy. This technique can revolutionize our knowledge of magma storage and transport during an ongoing eruption, given that it can produce precise magma storage depth constraints in near real time with minimal sample preparation. Our FIs have CO2 recorded densities from 0.73 to 0.98g/cm3, translating into depths of 15 to 27km, which falls within the reported deep seismic zone recording the main melt storage reservoir.

Populating the exoplanet mass-radius diagram in order to identify the underlying relationship that governs planet composition is driving an interdisciplinary effort within the exoplanet community. The discovery of hot super-Earths & mdash;a high-temperature, short-period subset of the super-Earth planet population & mdash;has presented many unresolved questions concerning the formation, evolution, and composition of rocky planets. We report the discovery of a transiting, ultra-short-period hot super-Earth orbiting TOI-1075 (TIC 351601843), a nearby (d = 61.4 pc) late-K/early-M-dwarf star, using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. The newly discovered planet has a radius of 1.791(-0.081)(+0.116) R-circle plus and an orbital period of 0.605 day (14.5 hr). We precisely measure the planet mass to be 9.95(-1.30) (+1.36) M-circle plus using radial velocity measurements obtained with the Planet Finder Spectrograph mounted on the Magellan II telescope. Our radial velocity data also show a long-term trend, suggesting an additional planet in the system. While TOI-1075 b is expected to have a substantial H/He atmosphere given its size relative to the radius gap, its high density ( 9.32(-1.85)(+2.05) g cm(-3)) is likely inconsistent with this possibility. We explore TOI-1075 b's location relative to the M-dwarf radius valley, evaluate the planet's prospects for atmospheric characterization, and discuss potential planet formation mechanisms. Studying the TOI -1075 system in the broader context of ultra-short-period planetary systems is necessary for testing planet formation and evolution theories and density-enhancing mechanisms and for future atmospheric and surface characterization studies via emission spectroscopy with the JWST.

C. reinhardtii has two putative SEC23 genes, CrSEC23A and CrSEC23B. The encoded polypeptides are only similar to 18.9% identical, suggesting that they might have different functions. It is not clear whether SEC23 paralogs have same or different functions in diverse organisms. Interestingly, our alignment and homology modeling showed that CrSEC23B does not have the conserved SEC24 binding motif (VFR), but instead appears to have an LPA motif in the same position. While LPA might be part of a novel SEC24 binding motif, CrSEC23B might have an alternate function that is either associated with or independent of COPII. Our results also show SEC23 orthologs in various organisms have variations in the putative SEC24 binding motif. Phylogenetic analyses place the SEC23 orthologs into two clusters that we designated group A (conventional; CrSEC23A-like orthologs) and group B (unconventional; CrSEC23B-like orthologs). Our results suggest that many photosynthetic organisms have a divergent SEC23 paralog. This divergence is not seen in animals. We hypothesize that divergent (unconventional) SEC23 paralogs might be the result of gene duplication and divergence that may facilitate specific aspects of trafficking. Since we only identified the B-like proteins in photosynthetic lineages, we hypothesize that B-like proteins may not have been present in the common ancestor involved in the primary endosymbiotic event.

Populating the exoplanet mass-radius diagram in order to identify the underlying relationship that governs planet composition is driving an interdisciplinary effort within the exoplanet community. The discovery of hot super-Earths & mdash;a high-temperature, short-period subset of the super-Earth planet population & mdash;has presented many unresolved questions concerning the formation, evolution, and composition of rocky planets. We report the discovery of a transiting, ultra-short-period hot super-Earth orbiting TOI-1075 (TIC 351601843), a nearby (d = 61.4 pc) late-K/early-M-dwarf star, using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. The newly discovered planet has a radius of 1.791(-0.081)(+0.116) R-circle plus and an orbital period of 0.605 day (14.5 hr). We precisely measure the planet mass to be 9.95(-1.30) (+1.36) M-circle plus using radial velocity measurements obtained with the Planet Finder Spectrograph mounted on the Magellan II telescope. Our radial velocity data also show a long-term trend, suggesting an additional planet in the system. While TOI-1075 b is expected to have a substantial H/He atmosphere given its size relative to the radius gap, its high density ( 9.32(-1.85)(+2.05) g cm(-3)) is likely inconsistent with this possibility. We explore TOI-1075 b's location relative to the M-dwarf radius valley, evaluate the planet's prospects for atmospheric characterization, and discuss potential planet formation mechanisms. Studying the TOI -1075 system in the broader context of ultra-short-period planetary systems is necessary for testing planet formation and evolution theories and density-enhancing mechanisms and for future atmospheric and surface characterization studies via emission spectroscopy with the JWST.