SCIENCE science.org 6 MAY 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6593 593-CRESEARCHdioxide on a silica substrate have
ferroelectric order down to the
unit cell scale. Whereas in many
other materials the ferroelectric
behavior is suppressed at the
few-nanometer scale, a ferro-
electric phase transition occurs
if zirconium dioxide is thinner
than two nanometers. This
property might be true for any
fluorite-structured binary oxide,
making these types of thin films
attractive for next-generation
electronics. —BG
Science, abm8642, this issue p. 648INNATE IMMUNITY
MARCHing against cGAS
activation
The binding of microbial or
host DNA induces the cyto-
solic enzyme cyclic GMP-AMP
synthase (cGAS) to generate the
cyclic nucleotide cyclic GMP-
AMP (cGAMP), which leads to
the production of type I interfer-
ons (IFNs). Yang et al. found that
ubiquitylation of cGAS by the E3
ubiquitin ligase MARCH8 sup-
pressed the DNA-binding ability
of cGAS. This posttranslational
modification decreased the
production of cGAMP and type
I IFN, thereby impairing innate
immune responses. Compared
with their wild-type counter-
parts, mice deficient in MARCH8
had enhanced IFN responses to
the DNA virus HSV-1. —JFF
Sci. Signal. 15 , eabk3067 (2022).ANTIBODIES
IgG3 hinge packs a punch
In addition to their extracellular
functions in host defense, immu-
noglobulin G (IgG) antibodies
bound to viruses can collaborate
with the cytosolic Fc receptor
TRIM21 to target and degrade
intracellular viruses. Foss et al.
investigated the role of the elon-
gated and flexible hinge region
of human IgG3 in delivering the
most potent intracellular killing
of adenovirus among the four
human IgG subclasses. Use of
the IgG3 hinge as a substitute
for the hinge region of immu-
noglobulins from the other IgG
subclasses was sufficient to
confer enhanced intracellularvirus degradation and comple-
ment activation dependent on
TRIM21. These findings provide
fresh insights into how thera-
peutic monoclonal antibodies
can be custom tailored through
targeted engineering of the
hinge portion of the Fc fragment
to boost their antiviral effector
activity inside cells. —IRW
Sci. Immunol. 7 , eabj1640 (2022).CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
Good governance protects
protected areas
When habitats degrade, those
whose livelihoods depend on
them can suffer irreparably.
Designating such habitats as
protected areas can, at least
in theory, reduce degradation
while safeguarding livelihoods.
In practice, however, this does
not always work. Making use of
an unprecedented set of long-
term data on marine protected
and unprotected habitats in
Indonesia, Fidler et al. uncov-
ered the keys to success.
When governance is inclusive,
attentive to socioeconomic and
cultural conditions, and ensures
that vulnerable groups are not
marginalized, protected areas
work: the proverbial win-win in
conservation. —SN
Sci. Adv. 10.1126/
sciadv.abl8929 (2022).MICROBIOLOGY
Understanding bacterial
communities
Communities of bacteria
exhibit a variety of interac-
tions, including competition
between species and coop-
eration, whereby two species
benefit from interacting with
each other. These interactions
are important for determin-
ing the ecology of bacterial
communities, so they may lend
themselves to manipulations
such as engineering a highly
competitive bacterial strain that
can outcompete a pathogen.
In a Perspective, Palmer and
Foster discuss the prevalence
of cooperation versus com-
petition in various bacterialcommunities and how work in
this area may inform future anti-
bacterial strategies. —GKA
Science, abn5093, this issue p. 581WETLAND ECOLOGY
Restoring wetlands
for carbon
Wetlands disproportionately
contribute to carbon seques-
tration globally. However, the
ability of wetlands to store
carbon depends on feedbacks
between vegetation and geo-
morphology that allow wetlands
to continue to develop over long
time periods. When these feed-
backs break down, wetlands
can become carbon sources.
Temmink et al. reviewed recent
research on the role of plant-
landform interactions in wetland
carbon storage and the poten-
tial for restoration to restore
these critical processes. —BEL
Science, abn1479, this issue p. 594NEUROSCIENCE
The neural basis of
cognitive control
What are the neural mecha-
nisms that enable humans to
flexibly control and monitor
their own actions in various
non-routine and novel tasks?
Fu et al. recorded the activity of
more than 1000 neurons in the
medial frontal cortex of human
epilepsy patients while they
performed complex cognitive
tasks. They found that domain-
general and domain-specific
performance-monitoring
neurons were intermixed within
this brain region. The population
activity gave rise to a geometry
that allowed domain-general
signals to be read out with more
than 90% accuracy on single
trials while at the same time
retaining the ability to separate
different conflict conditions.
These results show how the
human medial frontal cortex
resolves the fundamental trade-
off between task generalization
and specialization, which is
critical for cognitive flexibility.
—PRS
Science, abm9922, this issue p. 5950506ISIO_15544064.indd 595 5/2/22 5:47 PM