RAD-Seq analysis of wild Japanese garlic (Allium macrostemon Bunge) growing in Japan revealed that this neglected crop was previously actively utilized.

Allium macrostemon Bunge, commonly referred to as "no-biru" in Japan, is a widespread wild onion species found across the country. Despite being deeply entwined in ancient Japanese culture, it remains an underutilized crop in Japan. Determining the origins of its domestic populations and understanding their genetic composition is crucial to highlighting the plant's historical significance in Japan. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by examining the genetic diversity of 47 A. macrostemon samples from various regions in Japan using RAD-Seq. Our analyses distinguished unique population structures, dividing the samples into three distinct groups: A, B, and C. Notably, groups A and B showed clear evidence of bulb propagation, while group C did not. Group C formed four subgroups: C1, C2, C3, and C4. Hybridization between subgroup C1 and either group A, B, or both, resulted in the emergence of subgroups C2, C3, and C4. Thus, groups A, B, and C1 are posited as the ancestral populations. Additionally, our morphological observations indicated distinct differences among these three groups. Our findings also suggest that human migration may have influenced the plant's distribution, hinting at active usage in the past that later waned, causing its current underutilized status.

Dendronized macromonomers for three-dimensional data storage.

A series of dendritic macromonomers have been synthesized and utilized as the photoactive component in holographic storage systems leading to high performance, low shrinkage materials.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of 2,3-diketo-5-methylthiopentyl-1-phosphate enolase from Bacillus subtilis.

2,3-Diketo-5-methylthiopentyl-1-phosphate enolase (DK-MTP-1P enolase) from Bacillus subtilis was crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals grew using PEG 3350 as the precipitant at 293 K. The crystals diffracted to 2.3 A resolution at 100 K using synchrotron radiation and were found to belong to the monoclinic space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 79.3, b = 91.5, c = 107.0 A, beta = 90.8 degrees. The asymmetric unit contained four molecules of DK-MTP-1P enolase, with a V(M) value of 2.2 A(3) Da(-1) and a solvent content of 43%.

Roles of hydrophobic interaction in a volume phase transition of alkylacrylamide gel induced by the hydrogen-bond-driving alkylphenol binding.

It was found that a degree of the binding of alkylphenols to N-alkylacrylamide gel increased transitionally to induce the volume phase transition of gel. Binding isotherms of nonylphenol (n-Ph), propylphenol (p-Ph), ethylphenol (e-Ph), methylphenol (m-Ph), and phenol (Ph) to N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA), N,N-diethylacrylamide (DEA), N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA), and acrylamide (AM) gels were examined. Two types of binding, the site binding at beta < 1 and the multimolecular binding at beta > 1, were observed, where beta was a degree of binding to a monomeric unit of the chain. The former binding was analyzed with the Hill equation applicable to the cooperative binding and the latter binding with the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) equation applicable to the multilayer adsorption. The binding constant, K, and the Hill coefficient, N, decreased and increased, respectively, in the order of DEA, NIPA, and DMA gels in the case where the binding alkylphenol was the same. The K value increased in the order of Ph, m-Ph, e-Ph, p-Ph, and n-Ph that bound to the same type of gel. The N value was found to change little with the type of binding alkylphenol. The complexes of N-alkylamide with alkylphenol were condensed to form the ordered nanostructures that were observed as broad scattering peaks in small-angle X-ray scattering experiments. The fluorescence excimer emission was observed for the phenol-binding DMA gel, which corresponded to the condensed state of phenol.

Nanostructures of polyelectrolyte gel-surfactant complexes in uniaxially stretched networks.

Nanostructures of poly(acrylate) gel and dodecylpyridinium complexes equlibrated with the NaCl aqueous solution (from 5 to 100mM) and their time evolution after stretching uniaxially were investigated by means of time-resolved small-angle x-ray scattering. The scattering profile revealed the existence of the cubic nanostructure belonging to Pm3n space group in the gel before and long after the stretch. Each of the three intensive peaks was found to be resolved into two, which suggested the existence of two cubic structures with the slightly different lattice spacings. On the other hand, the splits of scattering peaks were not observed for the linear poly(acrylate) and dodecylpyridinium complexes. This indicates that the existence of the cross-linked chain is concerned in the formation of the double structure in the complex system. A series of time-resolved experiments demonstrated that the peaks corresponding to the longer lattice constant disappeared once just after stretching and regenerated to grow up, whereas the peaks corresponding to the shorter lattice constant were continuously observed. The growing rates of the peaks increased with the NaCl concentration. It was also found that a two-dimensional scattering pattern changed from the Debye-Scherrer ring type into the Laue spot type with stretching at the lower NaCl concentrations. This indicates that the single-crystal-like domains align in the stretched network due to the strong electrostatic interaction between the dodecylpyridinium cation and poly(acrylate) anion.

Peptide-nucleotide microdroplets as a step towards a membrane-free protocell model.

Although phospholipid bilayers are ubiquitous in modern cells, their impermeability, lack of dynamic properties, and synthetic complexity are difficult to reconcile with plausible pathways of proto-metabolism, growth and division. Here, we present an alternative membrane-free model, which demonstrates that low-molecular-weight mononucleotides and simple cationic peptides spontaneously accumulate in water into microdroplets that are stable to changes in temperature and salt concentration, undergo pH-induced cycles of growth and decay, and promote α-helical peptide secondary structure. Moreover, the microdroplets selectively sequester porphyrins, inorganic nanoparticles and enzymes to generate supramolecular stacked arrays of light-harvesting molecules, nanoparticle-mediated oxidase activity, and enhanced rates of glucose phosphorylation, respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that peptide-nucleotide microdroplets can be considered as a new type of protocell model that could be used to develop novel bioreactors, primitive artificial cells and plausible pathways to prebiotic organization before the emergence of lipid-based compartmentalization on the early Earth.