Ming Lyu

Editor’s summary Sexual reproduction is a complex and costly undertaking for eukaryotes such as budding yeast, which can also divide asexually. The great advantage is that sexual recombination accelerates adaptation and leaves behind deleterious mutations. In an attempt to find out how sex is maintained, Pai et al. found that for yeast subjected to a changing growth environment, which is the norm for most organisms, recombination promotes the evolution of generalists.

Abstract The adult heart grows by addition of sarcomeres along the length or width of individual cardiomyocytes, yet how directional growth is spatially coordinated remains unclear. Here, we found that microtubule dynamics could act as a toggle to direct cardiomyocyte growth. Increasing microtubule stability drove cellular widening, concomitant with redirecting mRNA export and translation along the width of the cell and reinforcement of the intercalated disc.

Abstract The chemical complexity and non-templated biosynthesis of glycans have posed significant challenges for establishing sequence-structure relationships. Here we report cryo-EM structures of tubular mastigonemes from a golden alga species, Ochromonas danica, in which a large number of N- and O-glycans are resolved at 1.8-2.2 Å resolution. Beyond high-mannose and complex N-glycans, we identify a non-canonical N-glycan on the Ala-Asn-Asp (AND) motif.