Tailoring atomic chemistry to refine reaction pathway for the most enhancement by magnetization in water oxidation.

Water oxidation on magnetic catalysts has generated significant interest due to the spin-polarization effect. Recent studies have revealed that the disappearance of magnetic domain wall upon magnetization is responsible for the observed oxygen evolution reaction (OER) enhancement. However, an atomic picture of the reaction pathway remains unclear, i.e., which reaction pathway benefits most from spin-polarization, the adsorbent evolution mechanism, the intermolecular mechanism (I2M), the lattice oxygen-mediated one, or more? Here, using three model catalysts with distinguished atomic chemistries of active sites, we are able to reveal the atomic-level mechanism. We found that spin-polarized OER mainly occurs at interconnected active sites, which favors direct coupling of neighboring ligand oxygens (I2M). Furthermore, our study reveals the crucial role of lattice oxygen participation in spin-polarized OER, significantly facilitating the coupling kinetics of neighboring oxygen radicals at active sites.

Chemoenzymatic Dynamic Kinetic Resolution Protocol with an Immobilized Oxovanadium as a Racemization Catalyst.

An excellent compatible and cost-effective dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) protocol has been developed by combining a novel immobilized oxovanadium racemization catalyst onto cheap diatomite (V-D) with an immobilized lipase LA resolution catalyst onto a macroporous resin (LA-MR). V-D was prepared via grinding immobilization, which may become a promising alternative for the immobilization of metals, especially precious metals due to its low cost, high efficiency, easy separation, and large reaction interface. The DKR afforded high yield (96.1%), e.e. (98.67%), and Sel (98.28%) under optimal conditions established using response surface methodology as follows: the amount of V-D 10.83 mg, reaction time 51.2 h, and temperature 48.1 °C, respectively, indicating that all the reactions in the DKR were coordinated very well. The DKR protocol was also found to have high stability up to six reuses. V-D exhibited excellent compatibility with LA-MR because the lipase immobilized onto MR did not physically contact with the vanadium species immobilized onto diatomite, thus avoiding inactivation. Considering that lipase, oxovanadium, diatomite, and MR used are relatively inexpensive, and the adsorption or grinding immobilization is simple, the LA-V-MD DKR by coupling LA-MR with V-D is a cost-effective and promising protocol for chiral secondary alcohols.

GALNT8 suppresses breast cancer cell metastasis potential by regulating EGFR O-GalNAcylation.

Breast cancer represents the most lethal malignancy that threatens the health of females. Metastasis is the fatal hallmark of breast cancer, and current effective therapeutic targets of metastasis are still lacking. Aberrant O-GalNAcylation, which is attributed to alteration of polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyl transferases (GALNTs), has been implicated in cancer metastasis. However, GALNTs that drive metastasis in breast cancer and their underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. In the present study, a negative correlation between GALNT8 and the prognosis of breast cancer patients was observed in multiple groups of Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. We then constructed a stable GALNT8 knockdown MCF7 cell line and performed transcriptome analysis using RNA sequencing, which revealed that the expression of multiple migration-related genes was changed. GALNT8 was identified as a regulator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, including E-cadherin, N-cadherin, ZO-1 and vimentin. Moreover, loss- and gain-of-function GALNT8 assays demonstrated that this glycosyltransferase inhibited the metastatic potential of breast cancer cells. Interestingly, the O-GalNAcylation of EGFR, which is the key factor related to the metastasis cascade, was impacted by GALNT8. Furthermore, our results suggested that the GALNT8-mediated O-GalNAcylation led to the suppression of the EGFR signaling pathway and metastatic potential in breast cancer cells. These results suggested that GALNT8 acts as a tumor suppressor, represses tumor metastasis and inhibits the EMT process through the EGFR signaling pathway. This finding may provide insight into the mechanism by which aberrant O-glycosylation modulates breast cancer metastasis.

Even Incorporation of Nitrogen into Fe0 Nanoparticles as Crystalline Fe4N for Efficient and Selective Trichloroethylene Degradation.

Surface modification of microscale Fe powder with nitrogen has emerged recently to improve the reactivity of Fe0 for dechlorination. However, it is unclear how an even incorporation of a crystalline iron nitride phase into Fe0 nanoparticles affects their physicochemical properties and performance, or if Fe0 nanoparticles with a varied nitridation degree will act differently. Here, we synthesized nitridated Fe0 nanoparticles with an even distribution of N via a sol-gel and pyrolysis method. Nitridation expanded the Fe0 lattice and provided the Fe4N species, making the materials more hydrophobic and accelerating the electron transfer, compared to un-nitridated Fe0. These properties well explain their reactivity and selectivity toward trichloroethylene (TCE). The TCE degradation rate by nitridated Fe0 (up to 4.8 × 10-2 L m-2 h-1) was much higher (up to 27-fold) than that by un-nitridated Fe0, depending on the nitridation degree. The materials maintained a high electron efficiency (87-95%) due to the greatly suppressed water reactivity (109-127 times lower than un-nitridated Fe0). Acetylene was accumulated as the major product of TCE dechlorination via ß-elimination. These findings suggest that the nitridation of Fe0 nanoparticles can change the materials' physicochemical properties, providing high reactivity and selectivity toward chlorinated contaminants for in situ groundwater remediation.

Luteirhabdus pelagi gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the family Flavobacteriaceae, isolated from the West Pacific Ocean.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, and yellow-pigmented bacterium, designated A3-108T, was isolated from seawater of the West Pacific Ocean. Cells were non-motile and rod-shaped, with carotenoid-type pigments. Strain A3-108T grew at pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum 6.5) and 15-40 °C (optimum 28 °C), in the presence of 0.5-10% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 1.0%). It possessed the ability to produce H2S. Based on the 16S rRNA gene analysis, strain A3-108T exhibited highest similarity with Aureisphaera salina A6D-50T (90.6%). Phylogenetic analysis shown that strain A3-108T affiliated with members of the family Flavobacteriaceae and represented an independent lineage. The principal fatty acids were iso-C15:0, iso-C17:0 3-OH, iso-C15:1 G, and summed feature 3 (C16:1ω7c and/or C16:1ω6c). The sole isoprenoid quinone was MK-6. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminophospholipid, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified lipid. The ANIb, in silico DDH and AAI values among the genomes of strain A3-108T and three reference strains were 67.3-71.1%, 18.7-22.1%, and 58.8-71.4%, respectively. The G + C content was 41.0%. Distinctness of the phylogenetic position as well as differentiating chemotaxonomic and other phenotypic traits revealed that strain A3-108T represented a novel genus and species of the family Flavobacteriaceae, for which the name Luteirhabdus pelagi gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed (type strain, A3-108T = CGMCC 1.18821T = KCTC 82563T).

Euzebya pacifica sp. nov., a novel member of the class Nitriliruptoria.

A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, chemo-organotrophic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming strain, which produced convex, circular, pink-pigmented colonies, designated as DY32-46T, was isolated from seawater collected from the Pacific Ocean. DY32-46T was found to grow at 20-40 °C (optimum, 30-35 °C), pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 6.5) and with 0-5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 1-2 %). The results of chemotaxonomic analysis indicated that the respiratory quinone of DY32-46T was MK-9(H4), and major fatty acids (>10 %) were C17 : 1 ω8c, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c), C16 : 0 and C15 : 1 ω6c. The polar lipids included diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified aminophospholipid, three unidentified glycolipids, three unidentified phospholipids, one unidentified phosphoglycolipid and five unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content of DY32-46T was 70.6 mol%. The results of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and genomic data indicated that DY32-46T should be assigned to the genus Euzebya. ANI and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain DY32-46T and type strains of Euzebya species were 73.1-87.2 % and 20.2-32.4 %, respectively. Different phenotypic properties, together with genetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain DY32-46T was clearly distinct from recognized species of the genus Euzebya. Therefore, DY32-46T represents a novel species within the genus Euzebya, for which the name Euzebya pacifica sp. nov is proposed. The type strain is DY32-46T (=MCCC 1K03476T=KCTC 49091T).

Anodic Oxidation Enabled Cation Leaching for Promoting Surface Reconstruction in Water Oxidation.

A rational design for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts is pivotal to the overall efficiency of water electrolysis. Much work has been devoted to understanding cation leaching and surface reconstruction of very active electrocatalysts, but little on intentionally promoting the surface in a controlled fashion. We now report controllable anodic leaching of Cr in CoCr2 O4 by activating the pristine material at high potential, which enables the transformation of inactive spinel CoCr2 O4 into a highly active catalyst. The depletion of Cr and consumption of lattice oxygen facilitate surface defects and oxygen vacancies, exposing Co species to reconstruct into active Co oxyhydroxides differ from CoOOH. A novel mechanism with the evolution of tetrahedrally coordinated surface cation into octahedral configuration via non-concerted proton-electron transfer is proposed. This work shows the importance of controlled anodic potential in modifying the surface chemistry of electrocatalysts.

Influence of ferrous-metal production on mercury contamination and fractionation in farmland soil around five typical iron and steel enterprises of Tangshan, China.

Iron and steel production is one of the main anthropogenic sources of mercury (Hg) emission and release. Oxidized and particulate Hg discharged from iron and steel enterprises deposit into the surrounding soil, which accumulate and introduce environmental risks. Therefore, it is important to assess Hg pollution in the soil surrounding iron and steel enterprises. In this study, the Hg pollution, Hg distribution from steel plants and Hg fractionation in farmland soil around five typical steel plants were analysed in Tangshan of China. The Hg pollution indexes (Pi) of more than 90% soil samples were greater than 3 by the single factor pollution index method, which showed that most soil samples around the five steel plants were strongly contaminated by Hg. The Hg contents in soil increased first and then decreased, and the maximum content presented at 250-300 m away from the boundary of the steel plants. The order of Hg fraction proportion in the soil samples was extractable (35%-43%) > volatile (24%-36%) > residual (10%-26%) > reducible (0-15%) > oxidizable (0-12%). The distribution of Hg fraction in farmland soil had no regular trend with the distance from the steel plants. The volatile Hg and extractable Hg were dominant in farmland soil, and their combined proportion was greater than 60%. These two fractions of Hg are at risk of re-volatilization into the atmosphere or potential absorption by plants.

Erythrobacter zhengii sp. nov., a bacterium isolated from deep-sea sediment.

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated V18T, was isolated from a deep-sea sediment sample collected from the Pacific Ocean and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic investigation. Cells of strain V18T grew in medium containing 0-10.0 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 1.0 %), at pH 5.5-9.0 (optimum 6.5-7.0) and at 10-40 °C (optimum 30-37 °C). Aesculin and Tweens 20, 40, 60 and 80 were hydrolysed. The isolate contained carotenoid-like pigments and lacked bacteriochlorophyll a. Strain V18T was closely related to members of the genus Erythrobacter, namely Erythrobacter odishensis JA747T (98.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), E. westpacificensis JLT2008T (98.8 %), E. gangjinensis K7-2T (97.7 %), E. aquimixticola JSSK-14T (97.6 %), E. marinus KCTC 23554T (97.4 %), E. atlanticus s21-N3T (97.3 %), E. arachoides RC4-10-4T (97.2 %), E. citreus RE35F/1T (97.1 %) and E. luteus KA37T (97.0 %), and exhibited less than 97.0 % sequence similarity with the type strains of other species with validly published names. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that strain V18T clustered with E. odishensis JA747T and formed an independent lineage. The average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain V18T and the type strains of Erythrobacter species were 70.5-83.4 % and 18.4-26.1 %, respectively. Strain V18T contained ubiquinone 10 (Q-10) as the sole respiratory quinone. The major fatty acids (>10 %) were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and C16 : 0. The major polar lipids were sphingoglycolipid (SGL), diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidyglycerol (PG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and one unidentified lipid (L1). The DNA G+C content was 62.6 mol%. According to the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain V18T represents a novel species of the genus Erythrobacter, for which the name Erythrobacter zhengii is proposed. The type strain is V18T (=KCTC 62389T=MCCC 1K03475T).

Altererythrobacter aerophilus sp. nov., isolated from deep-sea water of the north-west Pacific.

A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, designated Ery1T, was isolated from deep-sea seawater collected from the Mariana Trench and subjected to a polyphasic investigation for taxonomy. Strain Ery1T was able to grow in medium containing 0-10 % NaCl (w/v; optimum, 0-1.0 %), pH 5.0-9.5 (optimum, pH 6.0-7.0) and at temperatures between 10-45 °C (optimum, 30-40 °C). The comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain Ery1T showed highest similarity to Altererythrobacterxinjiangensis S3-63T (97.7 %) and Altererythrobacterrigui WW3T (97.6 %), and exhibited less than 97.5 % sequence similarity to other type strains of the species with validly published names. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that strain Ery1T fell within the cluster comprising the Altererythrobacter species and formed a coherent clade with Altererythrobacterxinjiangensis and Altererythrobactersoli. The OrthoANIu and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain Ery1T and the reference strains were 73.8-75.9 % and 19.2-20.1 %, respectively. Strain Ery1T contained Q-10 as the major respiratory quinone and Q-11 in a minor amount. The major fatty acids (>10 %) were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0, C18 : 1ω7c 11-methyl and C14 : 0 2-OH. The major polar lipids were sphingoglycolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidyglycerol, phatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine and three unidentified glycolipids. Differential phenotypic properties, chemotaxonomic differences, phylogenetic distinctiveness, together with the genomic data demonstrated that strain Ery1T represents a novel species of the genus Altererythrobacter, for which named as Altererythrobacter aerophilus sp. nov. with the type strain Ery1T (=KCTC 62387T=CGMCC 1.16499T=MCCC 1A10037T).

Marinobacter fuscus sp. nov., a marine bacterium of Gammaproteobacteria isolated from surface seawater.

A Gram-stain-negative bacterium, designated NH169-3T, was isolated from a surface seawater sample of the South China Sea and subjected to a taxonomic polyphasic investigation. Strain NH169-3T was strictly aerobic, non-motile, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped. The colony was 1.0-2.0 mm in diameter after the growth on marine agar at 30 °C for 72 h. The centre of the colony was smooth, circular, convex and brown with a transparent periphery. Strain NH169-3T was able to grow at temperatures between 4-40 °C (optimum, 37 °C), pH 5.5-9.0 (pH 7.5) and with 0-12.5 % (w/v) NaCl (3.0 %). Chemotaxonomic analysis showed that the sole respiratory quinone of strain NH169-3T was ubiquinone 9; major fatty acids were C16 : 0 and C18 : 1ω9c, and major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and one unidentified glycolipid. The DNA G+C content was 52.7 mol%. The comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain NH169-3T was closely related to Marinobacter shengliensis SL013A34A2T with a similarity of 98.0 %. Three phylogenetic trees reconstructed with neighbour-joining, maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods using 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain NH169-3T was grouped into a separated branch with M. shengliensis SL013A34A2T in a clade of the genus Marinobacter and closely related to Marinobacter halophilus JCM 30472T, Marinobacter vinifirmus DSM 17747T and Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus DSM 8798T. Analyses of both phenotypic and phylogenetic properties have suggested that strain NH169-3T was distinctive from species with validly published names in genus Marinobacter. Thus, strain NH169-3T (=MCCC 1K03455T=KCTC 62226T) is proposed as a novel species in genus Marinobacter with the name Marinobacter fuscus sp. nov.

Kordiimonas lipolytica sp. nov., isolated from seawater.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated M41T, was isolated from a surface seawater sample collected from the western Pacific Ocean. The isolate grew in medium containing 0.5-10.0 % (w/v) NaCl (optimally at 1.0-3.0 %) at 15-45 °C and pH 5.5-9.5. Positive for oxidase, catalase and nitrate reduction. The respiratory quinone is Q-10. The major fatty acids (>10 %) are iso-C15:0, iso-C17:1ω9c and summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH). The major polar lipids are phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified phospholipid, one unidentified aminolipid, and three unidentified glycolipids.The genomic DNA G+C content is 56.3 mol %. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain M41T should be assigned to the genus Kordiimonas. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities between the isolate and the type strains of species of the genus Kordiimonas with validly published names were in the range 96.2- 98.6 %. Strain M41T exhibited average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of 81.7 and 72.3 % with respect to Kordiimonas. lacus S3-22T and Kordiimonasgwangyangensis JCM 12864T, respectively. The genome-to-genome distance analysis revealed that strain M41T shared 51.4 % DNA-DNA relatedness with K. lacus S3-22T and 16.3 % with K. gwangyangensis JCM 12864T. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, strain M41T represents a novel species of the genus Kordiimonas, for which the name Kordiimonas lipolytica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is M41T (=CGMCC 1.15304T=JCM 30877T). An emended description of Kordiimonas lacus is also provided.

Pseudoalteromonas gelatinilytica sp. nov., isolated from surface seawater.

Three Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacteria, designated strains NH153T, F-2-11 and M-1-78, were isolated from surface seawater of the South China Sea and the East China Sea. The three isolates were able to grow at 15-45 °C (optimum 28-37 °C), but no growth occurred at 4 or 50 °C. The pH range for growth was pH 5.5-9.5 (optimum pH 7.5-8.5). The isolates required sea salts for growth and growth occurred in the presence of 0-10 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 3-5 %); no growth occurred in the presence of 12.0, 15.0 or 20.0 % (w/v) NaCl. They were positive for hydrolysis of gelatin and Tween 80. The sole respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8). The major cellular fatty acids (>10 %) were C16 : 0, C18 : 1ω7c and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH). The major polar lipid components were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified glycolipid, one unidentified phospholipid and one unidentified lipid. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain NH153T was 41.4 mol%. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolates were closely related to the type strain of Pseudoalteromonas shioyasakiensis (98.0-98.6 % sequence similarity). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities between the three isolates were 98.8-99.7 %. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that they formed a distinct lineage and clustered with P. shioyasakiensis and Pseudoalteromonas arabiensis. The level of DNA-DNA relatedness among the three isolates was 78.0-85.5 %. Strain NH153T exhibited average nucleotide identity values of 93.4 and 84.2 % with respect to P. shioyasakiensisJCM 18891T and P. arabiensisJCM 17292T, respectively. The genome-to-genome distance analysis revealed that strain NH153T shared 52.4 % DNA relatedness with P. shioyasakiensisJCM 18891T and 28.1 % with P. arabiensisJCM 17292T. On the basis of the phenotypic, genotypic and chemotaxonomic characterizations, as well as phylogenetic inference obtained in this study, strains NH153T, F-2-11 and M-1-78 represent a novel species within the genus Pseudoalteromonas, for which the name Pseudoalteromonasgelatinilytica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NH153T (=CGMCC 1.15370T=DSM 100951T), and F-2-11 (=CGMCC 1.15364=DSM 100953) and M-1-78 (=CGMCC 1.15365=DSM 100952), are additional strains of the species.

Marinirhabdus gelatinilytica gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from seawater.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic and slightly halophilic bacterium was isolated from the South China Sea, and was subjected to characterization using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells of the isolate, designated NH83T, were non-motile and rod-shaped. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain NH83Twas closely related to members of the genera Aureisphaera (with sequence similarity of 92.9 %), Jejudonia (92.8 %), Marixanthomonas (92.6 %), Altuibacter (92.6 %), Ulvibacter (91.5-91.9 %), Gilvibacter (91.8 %) and Aequorivita (89.6-91.2 %), all of which belong to the family Flavobacteriaceae. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that it represented an independent lineage and its closest relatives belonged to the genus Marixanthomonas. The sole respiratory quinone was MK-6. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, two aminolipids, one aminophospholipid and one unidentified lipid. The principal fatty acids were branched fatty acids, including iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, iso-C16 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G and summed feature 3 (iso-C15 : 0 2-OH and/or C16 : 1ω7c). The genomic DNA G+C content was 41.0 mol%. Strain NH83T was positive for hydrolysis of aesculin, gelatin and Tween 60. Phylogenetic distinctiveness and chemotaxonomic differences, together with differential phenotypic properties, revealed that strain NH83T could be differentiated from closely related genera. Therefore, it is proposed that strain NH83T represents a novel species in a new genus, for which the name Marinirhabdus gelatinilytica gen. nov., sp. nov. (type strain NH83T=CGMCC 1.15462T=DSM 101478T) is proposed.

PU.1 promotes miR-191 to inhibit adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes.

PU.1, an Ets family transcription factor, was previously demonstrated expressed in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and had an negative effect on adiopogenesis. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, miR-191 was identified as an inhibitor of adipocyte differentiation through targeting the 3' untranslated regions of C/EBPß, the initial factor in the C/EBPα/ß-PPARγ terminal pathway of adipogenic differentiation. MiR-191 suppressed the lipid accumulation by Oil Red O staining and downregulated the levels of adipogenic marker genes PPARγ (P<0.01), aP2 (P<0.01) and FAS (P<0.05). Then, we found that PU.1 overexpression resulted in upregulation of miR-191 and adipogenic inhibition. Likewise, PU.1 overexpression rescued the miR-191 decrease and resisted the adipogenic promotion caused by miR-191 oligonucleotide inhibitor. Collectively, these results revealed that PU.1 promoted miR-191 to suppress adipogenesis 3T3-L1 preadipocyte and indicated a new mechanism of PU.1 inhibiting adipogenesis.

Altererythrobacter atlanticus sp. nov., isolated from deep-sea sediment.

A Gram-stain-negative, short rod-shaped bacterium, designated 26DY36(T), was isolated from a deep-sea sediment sample collected from the North Atlantic Rise. The isolate required NaCl and grew best with 2 % (w/v) sea salts at a temperature of 30-35 °C and at pH 7.0. It formed yellow colonies, produced carotenoid-like pigments and did not produce bacteriochlorophyll a. Strain 26DY36(T) was positive for hydrolysis of aesculin, gelatin, tyrosine and Tweens 20, 40, 60 and 80, but negative for hydrolysis of casein, DNA and starch. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-10. The major polar lipid profile consisted of sphingoglycolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and two unidentified glycolipids. The principal fatty acids (>5 %) were C18 : 1ω7c, C17 : 1ω6c, C15 : 0 2-OH and C16 : 0. The genomic DNA G+C content was 59.4 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain 26DY36(T) should be assigned to the genus Altererythrobacter. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities between the isolate and the type strains of species of the genus Altererythrobacter were in the range 92.7-96.5 %. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, strain 26DY36(T) represents a novel species of the genus Altererythrobacter, for which the name Altererythrobacter atlanticus sp. nov. (type strain, 26DY36(T) = CGMCC 1.12411(T) = JCM 18865(T)) is proposed.

The role of Fe3O4 nanocrystal film in bilayer-heterojunction CuPc/C60 solar cells.

The CuPc/C60 thin-film bilayer-heterojunction solar cells are fabricated by vacuum deposition with bathocuproine (BCP) as the exciton-blocking layer. Ferroferric oxide (Fe3O4) nanocrystal film is inserted between the copper phthalocaynine (CuPc) layer and indium tin oxide (ITO) anode. The device performances dependent on the thickness of Fe3O4 are investigated and compared. The results show that both the short-circuit current density and fill factor are enhanced by introducing a 1 nm Fe3O4 buffer layer, leading to an increase of power conversion efficiency. The role of Fe3O4 as a buffer layer in the improvement of the device performances is studied in detail by ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS).

Potential and electric double-layer effect in electrocatalytic urea synthesis.

Electrochemical synthesis is a promising way for sustainable urea production, yet the exact mechanism has not been fully revealed. Herein, we explore the mechanism of electrochemical coupling of nitrite and carbon dioxide on Cu surfaces towards urea synthesis on the basis of a constant-potential method combined with an implicit solvent model. The working electrode potential, which has normally overlooked, is found influential on both the reaction mechanism and activity. The further computational study on the reaction pathways reveals that *CO-NH and *NH-CO-NH as the key intermediates. In addition, through the analysis of turnover frequencies under various potentials, pressures, and temperatures within a microkinetic model, we demonstrate that the activity increases with temperature, and the Cu(100) shows the highest efficiency towards urea synthesis among all three Cu surfaces. The electric double-layer capacitance also plays a key role in urea synthesis. Based on these findings, we propose two essential strategies to promote the efficiency of urea synthesis on Cu electrodes: increasing Cu(100) surface ratio and elevating the reaction temperature.

A quantum synthetic aperture radar image denoising algorithm based on grayscale morphology.

The quantum denoising technology efficiently removes noise from images; however, the existing algorithms are only effective for additive noise and cannot remove multiplicative noise, such as speckle noise in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. In this paper, based on the grayscale morphology method, a quantum SAR image denoising algorithm is proposed, which performs morphological operations on all pixels simultaneously to remove the noise in the SAR image. In addition, we design a feasible quantum adder to perform cyclic shift operations. Then, quantum circuits for dilation and erosion are designed, and the complete quantum circuit is then constructed. For a 2n×2n quantum SAR image with q grayscale levels, the complexity of our algorithm is O (n+q). Compared with classical algorithms, it achieves exponential improvement and also has polynomial-level improvements than existing quantum algorithms. Finally, the feasibility of our algorithm is validated on IBM Q.

Regulating electronic structure of Fe single-atom site by S/N dual-coordination for efficient Fenton-like catalysis.

The activity of single-atom catalysts in peroxymonosulfate activation process is bound up with the local electronic state of metal center. However, the large electronegativity of N atoms in Metal-N4 restricts the electron transfer between center metal atom and peroxymonosulfate. Herein, we constructed Fe-SN-C catalyst by incorporating S atom in the first coordination sphere of Fe single-atom site (Fe-S1N3) for Fenton-like catalysis. The Fe-SN-C with a low valent Fe is found to exhibit excellent catalytic activity for bisphenol A degradation, and the corresponding rate constant reaches 0.405 min-1, 11.9-fold higher than the original Fe-N-C. Besides, the Fe-SN-C/PMS system exhibits ideal catalytic stability under the effect of wide pH range and background substrates by the fast generation of high-valent Fe species. Experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that the dual coordination of S and N atoms notably increases the local electron density of Fe atoms and electron filling in eg orbital, causing a d band center shifting close to the fermi level and thereby optimizes the activation energy for peroxymonosulfate decomposition via Fe 3d-O 2p orbital interaction. This work provides further development of promising SACs for the efficient activation of peroxymonosulfate based on direct regulation of the coordination environment of active center metal atoms.