Redox Promoted Rapid and Deep Reconstruction of Defect-Rich Nickel Precatalysts for Efficient Water Oxidation.

Understanding the reconstruction mechanism to rationally design cost-effective electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is still challenging. Herein, a defect-rich NiMoO4 precatalyst is used to explore its OER activity and reconstruction mechanism. In situ generated oxygen vacancies, distorted lattices, and edge dislocations expedite the deep reconstruction of NiMoO4 to form polycrystalline Ni (oxy)hydroxides for alkaline oxygen evolution. It only needs ≈230 and ≈285 mV to reach 10 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively. The reconstruction boosted by the redox of Ni is confirmed experimentally by sectionalized cyclic voltammetry activations at different specified potential ranges combined with ex situ characterization techniques. Subsequently, the reconstruction route is presented based on the acid-base electronic theory. Accordingly, the dominant contribution of the adsorbate evolution mechanism to reconstruction during oxygen evolution is revealed. This work develops a novel route to synthesize defect-rich materials and provides new tactics to investigate the reconstruction.

Unlocking Nature's Defense: Plant Pattern Recognition Receptors as Guardians Against Pathogenic Threats.

Embedded in the plasma membrane of plant cells, receptor kinases (RKs) and receptor proteins (RPs) act as key sentinels, responsible for detecting potential pathogenic invaders. These proteins were originally characterized more than three decades ago as disease resistance (R) proteins, a concept that was formulated based on Harold Flor's gene-for-gene theory. This theory implies genetic interaction between specific plant R proteins and corresponding pathogenic effectors, eliciting effector-triggered immunity (ETI). Over the years, extensive research has unraveled their intricate roles in pathogen sensing and immune response modulation. RKs and RPs recognize molecular patterns from microbes as well as dangers from plant cells in initiating pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and danger-triggered immunity (DTI), which have intricate connections with ETI. Moreover, these proteins are involved in maintaining immune homeostasis and preventing autoimmunity. This review showcases seminal studies in discovering RKs and RPs as R proteins and discusses the recent advances in understanding their functions in sensing pathogen signals and the plant cell integrity and in preventing autoimmunity, ultimately contributing to a robust and balanced plant defense response. [Formula: see text] The author(s) have dedicated the work to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 "No Rights Reserved" license by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law, 2024.

Dual phosphorylation of DGK5-mediated PA burst regulates ROS in plant immunity.

Phosphatidic acid (PA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are crucial cellular messengers mediating diverse signaling processes in metazoans and plants. How PA homeostasis is tightly regulated and intertwined with ROS signaling upon immune elicitation remains elusive. We report here that Arabidopsis diacylglycerol kinase 5 (DGK5) regulates plant pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). The pattern recognition receptor (PRR)-associated kinase BIK1 phosphorylates DGK5 at Ser-506, leading to a rapid PA burst and activation of plant immunity, whereas PRR-activated intracellular MPK4 phosphorylates DGK5 at Thr-446, which subsequently suppresses DGK5 activity and PA production, resulting in attenuated plant immunity. PA binds and stabilizes the NADPH oxidase RESPIRATORY BURST OXIDASE HOMOLOG D (RBOHD), regulating ROS production in plant PTI and ETI, and their potentiation. Our data indicate that distinct phosphorylation of DGK5 by PRR-activated BIK1 and MPK4 balances the homeostasis of cellular PA burst that regulates ROS generation in coordinating two branches of plant immunity.

Evidence for an Interface of Hybrid Cocatalysts Favoring Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Kinetics.

Hybrid cocatalysts have great application potential for improving the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of semiconductors. The interfaces between components of hybrid cocatalysts make a great contribution to the improvement, but the associated mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we prepared and tested three comparative CdS-based photocatalysts with NiS, NiS/Ni9S8, and Ni9S8 as the cocatalysts separately. The emphasis is placed on investigating the effect of the NiS/Ni9S8 interfaces on the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of CdS. NiS/Ni9S8 exhibits a higher ability than NiS and Ni9S8 in making CdS a more active photocatalyst for water splitting. It shows that NiS, NiS/Ni9S8, and Ni9S8 perform similarly in terms of promoting the charge transfer and separation of CdS based on steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence studies. At the same time, the linear sweep voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests combined with the density functional theory calculations reveal that the component interfaces of NiS/Ni9S8 enable us to lower the water splitting activation energy, the charge-transfer resistance from the cocatalyst to sacrificial agent, and hydrogen adsorption Gibbs free energy. It is evidenced from this work that component interfaces of hybrid cocatalysts play a vital role in accelerating the dynamics of hydrogen evolution reactions.

A phospho-switch constrains BTL2-mediated phytocytokine signaling in plant immunity.

Enabling and constraining immune activation is of fundamental importance in maintaining cellular homeostasis. Depleting BAK1 and SERK4, the co-receptors of multiple pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), abolishes pattern-triggered immunity but triggers intracellular NOD-like receptor (NLR)-mediated autoimmunity with an elusive mechanism. By deploying RNAi-based genetic screens in Arabidopsis, we identified BAK-TO-LIFE 2 (BTL2), an uncharacterized receptor kinase, sensing BAK1/SERK4 integrity. BTL2 induces autoimmunity through activating Ca2+ channel CNGC20 in a kinase-dependent manner when BAK1/SERK4 are perturbed. To compensate for BAK1 deficiency, BTL2 complexes with multiple phytocytokine receptors, leading to potent phytocytokine responses mediated by helper NLR ADR1 family immune receptors, suggesting phytocytokine signaling as a molecular link connecting PRR- and NLR-mediated immunity. Remarkably, BAK1 constrains BTL2 activation via specific phosphorylation to maintain cellular integrity. Thus, BTL2 serves as a surveillance rheostat sensing the perturbation of BAK1/SERK4 immune co-receptors in promoting NLR-mediated phytocytokine signaling to ensure plant immunity.

Fundus Image-Label Pairs Synthesis and Retinopathy Screening via GANs With Class-Imbalanced Semi-Supervised Learning.

Retinopathy is the primary cause of irreversible yet preventable blindness. Numerous deep-learning algorithms have been developed for automatic retinal fundus image analysis. However, existing methods are usually data-driven, which rarely consider the costs associated with fundus image collection and annotation, along with the class-imbalanced distribution that arises from the relative scarcity of disease-positive individuals in the population. Semi-supervised learning on class-imbalanced data, despite a realistic problem, has been relatively little studied. To fill the existing research gap, we explore generative adversarial networks (GANs) as a potential answer to that problem. Specifically, we present a novel framework, named CISSL-GANs, for class-imbalanced semi-supervised learning (CISSL) by leveraging a dynamic class-rebalancing (DCR) sampler, which exploits the property that the classifier trained on class-imbalanced data produces high-precision pseudo-labels on minority classes to leverage the bias inherent in pseudo-labels. Also, given the well-known difficulty of training GANs on complex data, we investigate three practical techniques to improve the training dynamics without altering the global equilibrium. Experimental results demonstrate that our CISSL-GANs are capable of simultaneously improving fundus image class-conditional generation and classification performance under a typical label insufficient and imbalanced scenario. Our code is available at: https://github.com/Xyporz/CISSL-GANs.

A Novel Sugar-Assisted Solvothermal Method for FeF2 Nanomaterial and Its Application in LIBs.

Due to its quite high theoretical specific-energy density, FeF2 nanomaterial is a good candidate for the cathode material of high-energy lithium-ion batteries. The preparation of FeF2 nanomaterial is very important for its application. At present, the preparation process mostly involves high temperature and an inert atmosphere, which need special or expensive devices. It is very important to seek a low-temperature and mild method, without the need for high temperature and inert atmosphere, for the preparation and following application of FeF2 nanomaterial. This article reports a novel sugar-assisted solvothermal method in which the FeF3∙3H2O precursor is reduced into FeF2 nanomaterial by carbon derived from the dehydration and condensation of sugar. The obtained FeF2 nanomaterials are irregular granules of about 30 nm, with inner pores inside each granule. Electrochemical tests show the FeF2 nanomaterial's potential as a lithium-ion battery cathode material.

An atlas of bacterial two-component systems reveals function and plasticity in signal transduction.

Two-component systems (TCSs) consist of the biggest group of signal transduction pathways in biology. Although TCSs play key roles in sensing signals to sustain survival and virulence, the genome-wide regulatory variability and conservation and synergistic actions of global TCSs in response to external stimulus are still uncharacterized. Here, we integrate 120 transcriptome sequencing datasets and 38 chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing datasets of the model phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae to illustrate how bacterial TCSs dynamically govern their regulatory roles under changing environments. We reveal themes of conservation and variability in bacterial gene regulations in response to changing environments by developing a network-based PSTCSome (Pseudomonas syringae TCS regulome) containing 232 and 297 functional genes under King's B medium and minimal medium conditions, respectively. We identify 7 TCSs regulating the type III secretion system, motility, or exopolysaccharide production. Overall, this study represents an important source to study the plasticity of TCSs among other TCS-containing organisms.

Maintenance of tRNA and elongation factors supports T3SS proteins translational elongations in pathogenic bacteria during nutrient starvation.

BACKGROUND: Sufficient nutrition contributes to rapid translational elongation and protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells and prokaryotic bacteria. Fast synthesis and accumulation of type III secretion system (T3SS) proteins conduce to the invasion of pathogenic bacteria into the host cells. However, the translational elongation patterns of T3SS proteins in pathogenic bacteria under T3SS-inducing conditions remain unclear. Here, we report a mechanism of translational elongation of T3SS regulators, effectors and structural protein in four model pathogenic bacteria (Pseudomonas syringae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Xanthomonas oryzae and Ralstonia solanacearum) and a clinical isolate (Pseudomonas aeruginosa UCBPP-PA14) under nutrient-limiting conditions. We proposed a luminescence reporter system to quantitatively determine the translational elongation rates (ERs) of T3SS regulators, effectors and structural protein under different nutrient-limiting conditions and culture durations. RESULTS: The translational ERs of T3SS regulators, effectors and structural protein in these pathogenic bacteria were negatively regulated by the nutrient concentration and culture duration. The translational ERs in 0.5× T3SS-inducing medium were the highest of all tested media. In 1× T3SS-inducing medium, the translational ERs were highest at 0 min and then rapidly decreased. The translational ERs of T3SS regulators, effectors and structural protein were inhibited by tRNA degradation and by reduced levels of elongation factors (EFs). CONCLUSIONS: Rapid translational ER and synthesis of T3SS protein need adequate tRNAs and EFs in nutrient-limiting conditions. Numeric presentation of T3SS translation visually indicates the invasion of bacteria and provides new insights into T3SS expression that can be applied to other pathogenic bacteria.

Phosphorus doping and phosphates coating for nickel molybdate/nickel molybdate hydrate enabling efficient overall water splitting.

Earth-abundant transition metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts are promising alternatives to noble metals for overall water electrolysis, but restricted by low activity and durability. Herein, a three-dimensional phosphorus-doped nickel molybdate/nickel molybdate hydrate @phosphates core-shell nanorod clusters on nickel foam self-supported electrode was fabricated by a combined hydrothermal and phosphating process. The phosphorus doping and phosphate coating induced by phosphating process bring in a synergistic effect to improve the electrical conductivity, provide abundant active surface sites and accelerate the surface reaction for nickel molybdate/nickel molybdate hydrate (NiMoO4/NiMoO4·nH2O) heterostructures. These advantages enable the self-supported electrode to exhibit high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity in 1.0 M KOH with low overpotentials of 148 and 260 mV at 10 mA cm-2, respectively. When it was employed both as anode and cathode, a cell voltage of 1.62 V is only required to reach the current density of 10 mA cm-2 in alkaline solution. Especially, the self-supported electrode reveals outstanding durability, which could maintain over 25 h at 10 mA cm-2 for HER, OER or overall water splitting. This work provides a novel avenue to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of the catalysts by synergistically modulating the intrinsic electrical conductivity, active surface sites and surface reaction.

Pseudomonas syringae senses polyphenols via phosphorelay crosstalk to inhibit virulence.

Bacteria use a variety of mechanisms, such as two-component regulatory systems (TCSs), to rapidly sense and respond to distinct conditions and signals in their host organisms. For example, a type III secretion system (T3SS) is a key determinant of the virulence of the model plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and contains the TCS RhpRS as a key regulator. However, the plant-derived compound targeting RhpRS remains unknown. Here, we report that RhpRS directly interacts with polyphenols and responds by switching off P. syringae T3SS via crosstalk with alternative histidine kinases. We identify three natural polyphenols that induce the expression of the rhpRS operon in an RhpS-dependent manner. The presence of these three specific polyphenols inhibits the phosphatase activity of RhpS, thus suppressing T3SS activation in T3SS-inducing conditions. The Pro40 residue of RhpS is essential to respond to these polyphenols. In addition, three non-cognate histidine kinases cooperatively phosphorylate RhpR and antagonize the rhpS mutant phenotype. This work illustrates that plant polyphenols can directly target P. syringae RhpRS, which results in bacterial virulence being switched off via a phosphorylation-related crosstalk.

Integrated regulatory network in Pseudomonas syringae reveals dynamics of virulence.

Pseudomonas syringae, a Gram-negative plant pathogen, expresses multitudinous transcriptional regulators to control the type III secretion system (T3SS) and response to diverse environmental challenges. Although the mechanisms of virulence-associated regulators of P. syringae have been studied for decades, the overall crosstalk underlying these regulators is still elusive. Here, we identify five T3SS regulators (EnvZ-OmpR, CbrAB2, PhoPQ, PilRS, and MgrA), and find that the two-component systems EnvZ-OmpR and CbrAB2 negatively regulate the T3SS. To elucidate crosstalk between 16 virulence-associated regulators in P. syringae, we map an online intricate network called "PSRnet" (Pseudomonas syringae regulatory network) by combining the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of these 16 regulators by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and their binding loci by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq). Consequently, we identify 238 and 153 functional genes involved in the T3SS and other virulence-related pathways in KB and MM media, respectively. Our results provide insights into the mechanism of plant infections caused by P. syringae.

Signal transduction schemes in Pseudomonas syringae.

To cope with their continually fluctuating surroundings, pathovars of the unicellular phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae have developed rapid and sophisticated signalling networks to sense extracellular stimuli, which allow them to adjust their cellular composition to survive and cause diseases in host plants. Comparative genomic analyses of P. syringae strains have identified various genes that encode several classes of signalling proteins, although how this bacterium directly perceives these environmental cues remains elusive. Recent work has revealed new mechanisms of a cluster of bacterial signal transduction systems that mainly include two-component systems (such as RhpRS, GacAS, CvsRS and AauRS), extracytoplasmic function sigma factors (such as HrpL and AlgU), nucleotide-based secondary messengers, methyl-accepting chemotaxis sensor proteins and several other intracellular surveillance systems. In this review, we compile a list of the signal transduction mechanisms that P. syringae uses to monitor and respond in a timely manner to intracellular and external conditions. Further understanding of these surveillance processes will provide new perspectives from which to combat P. syringae infections.

Novel therapeutic strategies for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.

INTRODUCTION: Persistent infections caused by the superbug Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents are huge threats to patients with cystic fibrosis as well as those with compromised immune systems. Multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa has posed a major challenge to conventional antibiotics and therapeutic approaches, which show limited efficacy and cause serious side effects. The public demand for new antibiotics is enormous; yet, drug development pipelines have started to run dry with limited targets available for inventing new antibacterial drugs. Consequently, it is important to uncover potential therapeutic targets. AREAS COVERED: The authors review the current state of drug development strategies that are promising in terms of the development of novel and potent drugs to treat P. aeruginosa infection. EXPERT OPINION: The prevention of P. aeruginosa infection is increasingly challenging. Furthermore, targeting key virulence regulators has great potential for developing novel anti-P. aeruginosa drugs. Additional promising strategies include bacteriophage therapy, immunotherapies, and antimicrobial peptides. Additionally, the authors believe that in the coming years, the overall network of molecular regulatory mechanism of P. aeruginosa virulence will be fully elucidated, which will provide more novel and promising drug targets for treating P. aeruginosa infections.

Pseudomonas syringae dual-function protein Lon switches between virulence and metabolism by acting as both DNA-binding transcriptional regulator and protease in different environments.

Lon, a member of the AAA+ protease family, plays vital roles in Type III secretion systems (T3SS), agglutination and colony shape in the model plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Lon also functions as a transcriptional regulator in other bacterial species such as Escherichia coli and Brevibacillus thermoruber. To reveal the molecular mechanisms of Lon as a dual-function protein in P. syringae, we studied Lon-regulated genes by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. As a transcriptional regulator, Lon directly regulated a group of genes (PSPPH_4788, gacA, fur, gntR, clpS, lon and glyA) and consequently regulated their functions, such as 1-dodecanol oxidation activity, motility, pyoverdine production, glucokinase activity, N-end rule pathway, lon expression and serine hydroxymethyltransferase activity. Mass spectrometry results revealed that the expression levels of five T3SS proteins (such as HrcV, HrpW1) were higher in the ∆lon strain than the wild-type (WT) strain in KB. In MM, 12 metabolic proteins (such as AcdS and NuoI) showed lower levels in the ∆lon strain than the WT strain. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the dual-function protein Lon sophisticatedly regulates virulence and metabolism in P. syringae.

The SiaA/B/C/D signaling network regulates biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Bacterial cyclic-di-GMP (c-di-GMP) production is associated with biofilm development and the switch from acute to chronic infections. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the diguanylate cyclase (DGC) SiaD and phosphatase SiaA, which are co-transcribed as part of a siaABCD operon, are essential for cellular aggregation. However, the detailed functions of this operon and the relationships among its constituent genes are unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the siaABCD operon encodes for a signaling network that regulates SiaD enzymatic activity to control biofilm and aggregates formation. Through protein-protein interaction, SiaC promotes SiaD diguanylate cyclase activity. Biochemical and structural data revealed that SiaB is an unusual protein kinase that phosphorylates SiaC, whereas SiaA phosphatase can dephosphorylate SiaC. The phosphorylation state of SiaC is critical for its interaction with SiaD, which will switch on or off the DGC activity of SiaD and regulate c-di-GMP levels and subsequent virulence phenotypes. Collectively, our data provide insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the modulation of DGC activity associated with chronic infections, which may facilitate the development of antimicrobial drugs.

RNA G-Quadruplex Structures Mediate Gene Regulation in Bacteria.

Guanine (G)-rich sequences in RNA can fold into diverse RNA G-quadruplex (rG4) structures to mediate various biological functions and cellular processes in eukaryotic organisms. However, the presence, locations, and functions of rG4s in prokaryotes are still elusive. We used QUMA-1, an rG4-specific fluorescent probe, to detect rG4 structures in a wide range of bacterial species both in vitro and in live cells and found rG4 to be an abundant RNA secondary structure across those species. Subsequently, to identify bacterial rG4 sites in the transcriptome, the model Escherichia coli strain and a major human pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were subjected to recently developed high-throughput rG4 structure sequencing (rG4-seq). In total, 168 and 161 in vitro rG4 sites were found in E. coli and P. aeruginosa, respectively. Genes carrying these rG4 sites were found to be involved in virulence, gene regulation, cell envelope synthesis, and metabolism. More importantly, biophysical assays revealed the formation of a group of rG4 sites in mRNAs (such as hemL and bswR), and they were functionally validated in cells by genetic (point mutation and lux reporter assays) and phenotypic experiments, providing substantial evidence for the formation and function of rG4s in bacteria. Overall, our study uncovers important regulatory functions of rG4s in bacterial pathogenicity and metabolic pathways and strongly suggests that rG4s exist and can be detected in a wide range of bacterial species.IMPORTANCE G-quadruplex in RNA (rG4) mediates various biological functions and cellular processes in eukaryotic organisms. However, the presence, locations, and functions of rG4 are still elusive in prokaryotes. Here, we found that rG4 is an abundant RNA secondary structure across a wide range of bacterial species. Subsequently, the transcriptome-wide rG4 structure sequencing (rG4-seq) revealed that the model E. coli strain and a major human pathogen, P. aeruginosa, have 168 and 161 in vitro rG4 sites, respectively, involved in virulence, gene regulation, cell envelope, and metabolism. We further verified the regulatory functions of two rG4 sites in bacteria (hemL and bswR). Overall, this finding strongly suggests that rG4s play key regulatory roles in a wide range of bacterial species.

Regulation of type III secretion system in Pseudomonas syringae.

Pseudomonas syringae is a model phytopathogenic bacterium that uses the type III secretion system (T3SS) to cause lethal diseases in staple crops and thus presents a threat to food security worldwide. Great progress has been made in delineating the biochemical mechanisms and cellular targets of T3SS effectors, but less is known about the signalling pathways and molecular mechanisms of T3SS regulators. In recent years, thanks to the popularity and power of genome-wide mutant screening and high-throughput sequencing, new regulatory proteins (such as RhpR, AefR, AlgU and CvsR) and proteases (such as Lon and RhpP) have been identified as T3SS regulators in P. syringae pathovars. The detailed mechanisms of previously illustrated regulators (such as HrpRS, HrpL and HrpGV) have also been further studied. Notably, the two-component system RhpRS has been determined to play key roles in the modulation of T3SS via direct regulation of hrpRS and other virulence-related pathways by sensing changes in environmental signals. In addition, secondary messengers (such as c-di-GMP and ppGpp) have been shown to fine-tune the activity of T3SS. Overall, these studies have suggested the existence of a highly intricate regulatory network for T3SS, which controls the pathogenicity of P. syringae. This short review summarizes studies of P. syringae T3SS regulation and the known mechanisms of key regulators.