SUMMARY Ten-Eleven Translocation (Tet) family of dioxygenases offers a new mechanism for dynamic regulation of DNA methylation and has been implicated in cell lineage differentiation and oncogenesis. Yet their functional roles and mechanisms of action in gene regulation and embryonic development are largely unknown. Here, we report that Xenopus Tet3 plays an essential role in early eye and neural development by directly regulating a set of key developmental genes. Tet3 is an active 5mC hydroxylase regulating the 5mC/5hmC status at target gene promoters. Biochemical and structural studies further reveal a novel DNA binding mode of the Tet3 CXXC domain that is critical for specific Tet3 targeting. Finally, we show that the enzymatic activity and CXXC domain are crucial for Tet3’s biological function. Together, these findings define Tet3 as a novel transcription factor and reveal a molecular mechanism by which the 5mC hydroxylase and DNA binding activities of Tet3 cooperate to control target gene expression and embryonic development.

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Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between climate and terrestrial CO 2 exchange with the atmosphere across biomes and continents are lacking. Here we present data describing the relationships between net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) and climate factors as measured using the eddy covariance method at 125 unique sites in various ecosystems over six continents with a total of 559 site-years. We find that NEE observed at eddy covariance sites is (1) a strong function of mean annual temperature at mid-and high-latitudes, (2) a strong function of dryness at mid-and low-latitudes, and (3) a function of both temperature and dryness around the mid-latitudinal belt (45 • N). The sensitivity of NEE to mean annual temperature breaks down at ∼16 • C (a threshold value of mean annual temperature), above which no further increase of CO 2 uptake with temperature was observed and dryness influence overrules temperature influence.

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Virulence factors (VFs) are molecules that allow microbial pathogens to overcome host defense mechanisms and cause disease in a host. It is critical to study VFs for better understanding microbial pathogenesis and host defense mechanisms. Victors (http://www.phidias.us/victors) is a novel, manually curated, web-based integrative knowledge base and analysis resource for VFs of pathogens that cause infectious diseases in human and animals. Currently, Victors contains 5296 VFs obtained via manual annotation from peer-reviewed publications, with 4648, 179, 105 and 364 VFs originating from 51 bacterial, 54 viral, 13 parasitic and 8 fungal species, respectively. Our data analysis identified many VF-specific patterns. Within the global VF pool, cytoplasmic proteins were more common, while adhesins were less common compared to findings on protective vaccine antigens. Many VFs showed homology with host proteins and the human proteins interacting with VFs represented the hubs of human–pathogen interactions. All Victors data are queriable with a user-friendly web interface. The VFs can also be searched by a customized BLAST sequence similarity searching program. These VFs and their interactions with the host are represented in a machine-readable Ontology of Host–Pathogen Interactions. Victors supports the ‘One Health’ research as a vital source of VFs in human and animal pathogens.