Stress response, behavior, and development are shaped by transposable element-induced mutations in Drosophila

Here, Nielsen, Ard, Leng, Ivanov and colleagues characterize how transcription initiation from an upstream promoter represses alternative downstream promoter activity in plants. The authors find that this repression mechanism is associated with chromatin changes that are required to maintain precise gene expression control.

In this study, Beadle, Singh et al show that the genome of the solitary bee, Osmia bicornis, lacks the subfamily of cytochrome P450 enzymes that break down certain neonicotinoids in eusocial bees. Despite this, O. bicornis exhibits marked tolerance to the neonicotinoid thiacloprid as a result of efficient metabolism by a P450 enzyme from a different subfamily. 

Here, Sun, Ding, Bi et al identify the key miRNAs involved in brain metastasis (BM) lung cancer. The authors identify a panel of miRNAs that distinguish BM lung adenocarcinomas from non-BM, and report that either miR-4270 downregulation or miR-423-3p upregulation significantly increases cell proliferation, colony formation, and migration in vitro.