A new study models how climate change could affect the future distribution of tree species across North America. The researcher analyzed 442 species found in Mexico and neighboring regions and found that suitable climate for many trees is likely to shift northward by several hundred kilometers by the end of the century. While most Mexican tree species are expected to retain some suitable climate within Mexico, many may also find suitable conditions in the United States and Canada. Species with wide ranges and those growing at lower elevations are more likely to expand, while species with small ranges, high-elevation habitats, or restricted to Mexico may lose suitable areas. The study suggests that forest ecosystems may lag behind climate change, as many species already have suitable climate in new regions but have not yet moved there.

mLife has published a collaborative study by the teams of Lu Fan (Southern University of Science and Technology) and Linan Huang (Sun Yat-sen University), titled "A hot origin of dissimilatory sulfite reduction catalyzed by DsrAB in the Paleoarchean Era". Using phylogenetic analysis, molecular dating, and ancestral sequence reconstruction, the authors infer that the dissimilatory sulfite reductase DsrAB originated approximately 3.508 billion years ago in a moderate thermal environment of around 73°C, and successfully reconstructed the ancestral form of the sulfite reductase protein complex. This work provides the first bioinformatics-based validation of the oldest known (3.47 Ga) geological record of biological sulfate reduction, offering important evidence for understanding the origins of early metabolism of life on Earth.

In a paper published in Mycology, a team led by Prof. Gang Liu in collaboration with the team led by Prof. Wenying Zhuang at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, reports the establishment of a CRISPR/Cas9 nickase–mediated cytosine base-editing system in Trichoderma koningiopsis. This system enables simultaneous editing of multiple genes without introducing double-strand breaks (DSBs), substantially reducing the time consumption for targeted genetic modification, and it provides a powerful new platform for the rational engineering of the industrial Trichoderma strains.

In humans, Chlamydia psittaci causes psittacosis, a disease usually linked to contact with infected birds. We report two independent, epidemiologically unrelated events of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in the megacity of Beijing associated with pet parrots, where convergent clinical, epidemiological, histopathological, and genetic evidence support the zoonotic transmission of C. psittaci from parrots to humans. These findings highlight an urgent need for the development and widespread adoption of certified diagnostic kits and standardized testing protocols for C. psittaci in clinical practice, both in China and globally.

Predicting major-histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) restricted epitopes is challenging; however, AlphaFold (AF) may provide a structure-based pan-prediction solution. In this study, we have established the new tool AlphaFold-prediction (AF-pred) with a clear standard for quantitative prediction results of MHC-II-restricted epitopes. We validated AF-pred using MHC-II molecules from humans, pigs, cattle, and bats, with this validation including large-scale in silico analyses with known immunopeptidome datasets, as well as in vitro binding assays and crystallographic characterization of newly predicted epitopes. When compared to sequence-based tools heavily trained with the human immunopeptidome, AF-pred demonstrates advantages in the prediction of cross-species MHC-II binding patterns. Using unreported bat MHC-II structures, we analyzed the prediction capability, logic, and limitations of AF-pred. In addition, we explored the impact of the AF algorithm iterations on the prediction of MHC-II-restricted epitopes. These results demonstrate that AF-pred is capable of cross-species prediction of MHC-II-restricted epitopes, which is conducive to the development of novel T-cell epitope vaccines and the advancement of the "One Health" initiative.