Norway spruce spatiotemporal programs of conifer reproductive development.

September 14, 2026| Source: Cell

Conifers are essential components of forest ecosystems; however, their reproductive development remains largely understudied due to their genomes' complexity. Here, we present a time-resolved spatial transcriptomics (ST) atlas of 88 tissue sections across three time points from developing reproductive and vegetative shoots in wild-type Norway spruce (Picea abies), as well as transition shoots from the acrocona mutant. By studying their different spatiotemporal gene expression dynamics, we identified molecular processes active during the vegetative-to-reproductive shift and their specific spatial domains in the shoots. We also identified and experimentally characterized the MADS-box gene DAL55, which is active during lateral organ development. Moreover, we shed light on the evolutionary relationships between gymnosperm and angiosperm YABBY genes, responsible for inner or outer cell layers in complex structures. Overall, our spatiotemporal atlas identifies genes, pathways, and evolutionary relationships associated with plant reproductive organs, providing a valuable resource for studying conifer reproductive development.

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The honey bee stinger: An unusual pump with collapsible double pistons.

Most stinging animals deliver venom by contracting muscles around a venom reservoir, but honey bees employ a fundamentally different strategy. The stingers of worker bees have the unique ability to autotomize, separating from the body, to continue to sting independently. Despite more than a century of anatomical descriptions, the mechanics of venom pumping have remained unresolved due to the challenges of observing them in action. We recorded high-speed videos of active, autotomized stingers, co

Health & MedicineOctober 20, 2026

Chronic cigarette smoke exposure induces distinct stem cell states driving genetic driver-specific non-small cell lung cancer subtypes.

Cigarette smoke-induced chronic inflammation (CI) potentiates development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by mediating genetic and epigenetic events. Using normal lung organoids (LOs), we define how chronic cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) exposure drives two separate stem cell populations to evolve premalignant states harboring progressive epigenetic and linked transcriptomic abnormalities in the absence of major driver mutations. These dynamics facilitate evolution of an immune evasive s

Health & MedicineOctober 20, 2026

Cell identity competes with surface tension to determine stromal organization in tumor spheroids beyond the CAF shell paradigm.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are often found forming a peripheral stromal barrier around tumors. Here, this paradigm is challenged using microfabricated 3D cancer-CAF spheroid models combined with quantitative magnetic force tensiometry. A surface tension atlas is established for eight cancer cell lines, three CAF populations, and heterotypic tumor-CAF assemblies, spanning nearly two orders of magnitude. Surface tension is first shown to govern spheroid morphology and modulate drug respo

Health & MedicineOctober 15, 2026

A phenome-wide structural variant map from 467,152 UK Biobank genomes.

Structural variants (SVs) are large (>50 base pairs) genomic rearrangements that can significantly influence human phenotypes, yet their contribution to health and disease remains undercharacterized. We conducted a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) of 1.6 million SVs identified in whole-genome sequencing data from 467,152 UK Biobank participants, across 13,322 binary, 2,018 quantitative, and 2,923 plasma protein traits. Of these, 82.25% of SVs were outside the detectable range of prior

Health & MedicineOctober 15, 2026

Mitochondria-targeted tetraoxanes initiate lipid peroxidation to drive ferroptosis and tumor suppression.

Ferroptosis is implicated as a vulnerability in multiple cancers, yet approaches for effectively inducing ferroptosis in vivo are limited. Bypassing conventional strategies targeting the antiferroptotic glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 (FSP1) proteins, we designed metabolic initiators of lipid peroxidation (MILPOs) and developed the compounds WMK-1/2, which contain tetraoxane radical-generating and mitochondria-targeting groups, as de novo ferroptosis inducers