Coral reefs are diverse marine ecosystems that provide ecological functions and economic and social benefits across over 100 tropical countries. Warming driven by climate change is a primary threat to coral reefs and is increasing the frequency of global coral bleaching events. Here we reassessed the IUCN Red List status of 892 reef-building coral species, first assessed in 2008 1. Because species-level population trends are unavailable for most reef-building corals, population reductions were inferred using proxies based on global coral cover trends and projected annual severe bleaching under SSP2-4.5, both over three decades, adjusted using trait-based estimates of species vulnerability. Of the 774 species with sufficient data to be assessed, 340 (44%) were classified as threatened under IUCN Red List criteria. Thirty-three species were assessed as Critically Endangered, 251 as Endangered, and 56 as Vulnerable, most due to risk of population reduction associated with projected thermal stress. These findings predate the three hottest years on record and the fourth global coral bleaching event (2023-2025), and the first exceedance for an annual mean of the 1.5oC global warming threshold. The findings reinforce the importance of limiting further warming to maintain coral biodiversity and reef ecosystem function. The Red List assesses the relative extinction risk of species, whereby species are placed in categories of increasing risk by comparing their population size, decline and geographic range against standardised thresholds. The Red List does not predict whether or when a species may go extinct. As the ranges of coral species remain under-surveyed, future assessments would be strengthened by species-level population data and thermal-stress and recovery metrics that better capture range-representative dynamics.
The epidermis is a stratified epithelium comprising proliferative basal cells and differentiated suprabasal cells that are continuously renewed throughout life. Conflicting theories have been proposed regarding the heterogeneity of the basal cell layer, with some studies proposing that all proliferative cells have self-renewal potential during homeostasis1–5. Meanwhile, others posit a model in which stem cell differentiation occurs through an intermediate transit-amplifying-like progenitor state with strictly limited proliferative potential6–10. Here, to determine the heterogeneity and pattern of cell fate, we performed intravital time-lapse imaging to track the fate of lineage-labelled cells in the skin interfollicular epidermis. Results from quantitative analyses of clonal dynamics support a two-compartment model of epidermal homeostasis, whereby basal cells are organized in a stem cell–transit-amplifying cell hierarchy. Critical to these conclusions was the discovery of sexual dimorphism in epidermal fate, with female mice showing a highly synchronized pattern of cell division, differentiation and delamination that contributes to accelerated wound healing. Single-cell RNA sequencing, transcriptional profiling and clonal analyses of castrated mice revealed that male sex hormones promote stem cell differentiation and delamination. In summary, our study provides insight into the functional identity of the stem cell population and identifies sex-specific differences in the regulation of epidermal stem cells and transit-amplifying cell fate. Long-term live imaging of adult mouse ear skin reveals sex-specific differences in the clonal dynamics of epidermal stem cells and transit-amplifying cells during homeostasis.
Hydroformylation has been a cornerstone of industrial organometallic catalysis, with regioselectivity being a critical aspect in this process1,2. Present industrial systems use homogeneous Rh-based catalysts with expensive and toxic phosphine-containing ligands, underscoring the need to develop alternative heterogeneous catalysts that could compete with the actual homogeneous ones3. In this direction, atomically dispersed Rh catalysts have been proposed as promising candidates for hydroformylation4,5. However, achieving high regioselectivity at high conversion is still a big challenge. Here subnanometre Rh2O3 clusters are confined inside the channels of the MFI zeolite, which under reaction conditions disrupt into isolated Rh3+ and Rh+ species. Density functional theory (DFT) investigations combined with spectroscopic and catalytic studies demonstrate that Rh3+-mediated hydroformylation is energetically plausibly similar to Rh+, with Rh3+ being intrinsically more selective for hydroformylation and less selective for double-bond isomerization than Rh+. In the coexistence of both Rh3+ and Rh+ species, we demonstrate the possibility to selectively inhibit Rh+ sites through the addition of N-containing molecules such as N-methylpyrrolidine (MP) or 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), which preferentially coordinate to Rh+ inside MFI zeolite channel, thereby suppressing its isomerization function while leaving Rh3+ sites catalytically accessible. This strategy results in a notable enhancement of regioselectivity, with a state-of-the-art reported highest linear to branched aldehydes (l/b) ratio of 817 with 96% undecanal selectivity at 99.8% 1-decene conversion, using NMP as additive. DFT investigations combined with spectroscopic and catalytic studies of disrupted subnanometric Rh2O3 clusters show that Rh+ centres in a zeolite-based catalyst are blocked with N-containing molecules, whereas Rh3+ sites are stabilized, allowing hydroformylation reactions with enhanced regioselectivity and efficiency.
Tetrapods arose from lobe-finned fishes with a notochord-dominated axial column1–3. During this transition, the skull became separated from the shoulder girdle4–6, giving rise to a neck region. This head–shoulder separation has generated hypotheses suggesting that neck mobility increased during the origin of tetrapods, facilitating the ecological transition towards more terrestrial habitats4,5,7–9. However, incompletely co-ossified vertebral components10 have posed a challenge to modelling the mobility of these early tetrapod necks. Here we used material tests on the similarly configured axial columns of sturgeon to predict the capacities of the tetrapod neck region for lateral flexion, extension and rotation across the tetrapod stem. Our model indicates that the soft tissue-dominated axial column was surprisingly rigid, despite lacking co-ossified vertebral components. We estimate that most stem tetrapods could move their heads less than 6° laterally and less than 3° dorsally but could not rotate them. Notably, mobility did not shift in conjunction with the head–shoulder separation that occurred between the origin of tristichopterids (represented by Eusthenopteron) and that of more crownward stem tetrapods. Therefore, mobility in the tetrapod neck did not serve as a functional driver of head–shoulder separation. Instead, forelimb-driven locomotion, implicated in early tetrapods11–14, provides a better functional explanation for the head–shoulder separation. Biomechanical analysis of several early tetrapods using sturgeon as an analogue revealed that early tetrapods had limited neck mobility despite separation of the head and shoulders.
