Recent breakthroughs have used deep learning to exploit evolutionary information in multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) to accurately predict protein structures. However, MSAs of homologous proteins are not always available, such as with orphan proteins and fast-evolving proteins like antibodies, and a protein typically folds in a natural setting from its primary amino acid sequence into its three-dimensional structure, suggesting that evolutionary information and MSAs should not be necessary to predict a protein's folded form. Here, we introduce OmegaFold, the first computational method to successfully predict high-resolution protein structure from a single primary sequence alone. Using a new combination of a protein language model that allows us to make predictions from single sequences and a geometry-inspired transformer model trained on protein structures, OmegaFold outperforms RoseTTAFold and achieves similar prediction accuracy to AlphaFold2 on recently released structures. OmegaFold enables accurate predictions on orphan proteins that do not belong to any functionally characterized protein family and antibodies that tend to have noisy MSAs due to fast evolution. Our study fills a much-needed structure prediction gap and brings us a step closer to understanding protein folding in nature.

Mainland China has 2538 nature reserves, covering approximately 15% of its total land area. However, little is known of their effectiveness in capturing the country's ecological diversity. We calculated the degree of representation of terrestrial ecoregions, biodiversity priority areas, and vegetation types within 2217 of these reserves for which spatial data were available. Of the total area set aside as nature reserves, almost 56% was concentrated in the three western provinces of Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. Of the 53 ecoregions found in China, 29 had over 10% of their land protected through the reserve system; in addition, most (81%) of China's natural vegetation communities were represented in at least one nature reserve. On the basis of these findings, we recommend that China should (1) conduct a nationwide ecoregional biodiversity assessment; (2) establish a georeferenced (spatially referenced) database of nature reserves and other types of protected areas; (3) increase efforts to improve international cooperation regarding management of cross-border ecoregions; and (4) create or expand reserves in eastern and southern China, with a focus on protecting ecosystem services to help sustain local communities' economies

There is profound interest in knowing the degree to which China's institutions are capable of protecting its natural forests and biodiversity in the face of economic and political change. China's 2 most important forest-protection policies are its National Forest Protection Program (NFPP) and its nationallevel nature reserves (NNRs

The Tibetan Plateau is one of the top 10 biodiversity hotspots in the world and acts as a modern harbour for many rare species because of its relatively pristine state. In this article, we report a landscape genetic study on the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti), a primate endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. DNA was extracted from blood, tissue and fecal samples of 135 wild individuals representing 11 out of 15 extant monkey groups. Ten microsatellite loci were used to characterize patterns of genetic diversity. The most striking feature of the population structure is the presence of five subpopulations with distinct genetic backgrounds and unique spatial regions. The population structure of R. bieti appears to be shaped by anthropogenic landscape features as gene flow between subpopulations is strongly impeded by arable land, highways and human habitation. A partial Mantel test showed that 36.23% (r = 0.51, P = 0.01) of the genetic distance was explained by habitat gaps after controlling for the effect of geographical distance. Only 4.92% of the genetic distance was explained by geographical distance in the partial Mantel test, and no significant correlation was found. Estimation of population structure history indicates that environmental change during the last glacial maximum and human impacts since the Holocene, or a combination of both, have shaped the observed population structure of R. bieti. Increasing human activity on the Plateau, especially that resulting in habitat fragmentation, is becoming an important factor in shaping the genetic structure and evolutionary potential of species inhabiting this key ecosystem.