Complex neuropsychiatric disorders are believed to arise from multiple synergistic deficiencies within connected biological networks controlling neuronal migration, axonal pathfinding and synapse formation. Here, we show that deletion of 14-3-3ζ causes neurodevelopmental anomalies similar to those seen in neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder and bipolar disorder. 14-3-3ζ-deficient mice displayed striking behavioural and cognitive deficiencies including a reduced capacity to learn and remember, hyperactivity and disrupted sensorimotor gating. These deficits are accompanied by subtle developmental abnormalities of the hippocampus that are underpinned by aberrant neuronal migration. Significantly, 14-3-3ζ-deficient mice exhibited abnormal mossy fibre navigation and glutamatergic synapse formation. The molecular basis of these defects involves the schizophrenia risk factor, DISC1, which interacts isoform specifically with 14-3-3ζ. Our data provide the first evidence of a direct role for 14-3-3ζ deficiency in the aetiology of neurodevelopmental disorders and identifies 14-3-3ζ as a central risk factor in the schizophrenia protein interaction network.
Water-limited ecosystems, covering~50% of the global land, are controlled primarily by hydrologic factors. Because climate change is predicted to markedly alter current hydroclimatic conditions later this century, a better hydrological indicator of ecosystem performance is warranted to improve understanding of hydrological controls on vegetation and to predict changes in the future. Here we show that the observed total water storage anomaly (TWSA) from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) can serve as this indicator. Using the Australian mainland as a case study, where ecosystems are generally water limited, we found that GRACE-observed TWSA can explain changes in surface greenness (as measured by the normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI) both interannually and seasonally. In addition, we found that TWSA shows a significant decreasing trend during the millennium drought from 1997 through 2009 in the region. However, decline in annual mean NDVI during the same period was mainly driven by decline in annual minimum monthly NDVI, whereas annual maximum monthly NDVI remained relatively constant across biomes. This phenomenon reveals an intrinsic sensitivity of ecosystems to water availability that drought-induced reductions in surface greenness are more likely expressed through its influence on vegetation during lower NDVI months, whereas ecosystem activities tend to recover to their maximum level during periods when the combined environmental conditions favor vegetation growth within a year despite the context of the prolonged drought.
In this study, isotopic compositions of monthly (Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation), event, and intraevent rain samples are used to examine the relationship between precipitation deuterium excess, the type of synoptic weather systems, and associated moisture directions in a coastal area of South Australia. The results indicate that both synoptic weather systems and associated atmospheric moisture sources influence deuterium excess values in precipitation. Rain events caused by frontal systems tend to have moisture sources from the Indian Ocean to the south of Australia. They usually have deuterium excess values of 15‰ to 25‰, depending on the moisture source direction. Rain events caused by synoptic low‐pressure and trough systems tend to have inland moisture sources, and have a deuterium excess of 10‰ to 15‰. In addition to weather systems and associated moisture sources, subcloud processes alter the deuterium excess in the resulting precipitation, which is an effect that is more significant during summer when it is warm and dry. Together, these factors contribute to the seasonal variability of deuterium excess in the study area. Deuterium excess of winter frontal precipitation, resulting from minimal subcloud evaporation, is useful to infer the moisture source direction. In other seasons, deuterium excess in precipitation is more likely altered by subcloud evaporation. Nevertheless, intraevent samples in the middle of a frontal event that has experienced minimal subcloud evaporation are useful to estimate cloud deuterium excess. The results also suggest that an abrupt change in dominant precipitation weather patterns occurs between January and February, characterized by a sudden decrease in δ18O and deuterium excess.
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