Description of Microbacterium dauci sp. nov., a plant growth hormone indoleacetic acid-producing and nitrogen-fixing bacterium isolated from carrot rhizosphere soil.

A plant growth hormone indoleacetic acid-producing strain LX3-4T was isolated from a carrot rhizosphere soil sample collected in Shandong Province, China. It is Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, and has irregular short rod-shaped cells. LX3-4T shared high 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with Microbacterium oleivorans DSM 16091T (99.4%), M. testaceum NBRC 12675T (98.6%), M. marinum DSM 24947T (98.5%), M. resistens NBRC 103078T (98.4%), and M. paraoxydans NBRC 103076T (98.3%). Phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated gene sequences of 16S rRNA gene, housekeeping genes gryB and rpoB also showed the distinction between strain LX3-4T and other Microbacterium species. Furthermore, analysis of the average nucleotide identities (ANI), the average amino acid identity (AAI), and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain LX3-4T and its relatives revealed that strain LX3-4T represents a distinct species. The genomic DNA G + C content of the strain is 69.5%. It can grow at 25-37 °C (optimum 37 °C), pH 5.0-10.0 (optimum pH 6.0-8.0), and the range of NaCl concentration is 0-7% (w/v) (optimum 1-5%). The colonies on agar plates are smooth, translucent, and pale yellow. The main cellular fatty acids of strain LX3-4T are anteiso-C15:0, anteiso-C17:0, and iso-C16:0. The predominant respiratory quinones are MK-12 and MK-11. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified glycolipid, and an unidentified phosphoglycolipid are major polar lipids. The cell-wall sugar of strain LX3-4T is glucose. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contains glycine, alanine, lysine, and glutamic acid. In addition, this strain carries nitrogen fixation genes and can grow in nitrogen-free medium. Based on the polyphasic data, strain LX3-4T represents a novel species of the genus Microbacterium, for which the name Microbacterium dauci sp. nov. is proposed with strain LX3-4T (= CCTCC AB 2023103T = LMG 33159T) designated as the type strain.

A pentacyclic nitrogen-bridged thienyl-phenylene-thienyl arene for donor-acceptor copolymers: synthesis, characterization, and applications in field-effect transistors and polymer solar cells.

A pentacyclic benzodipyrrolothiophene (BDPT) unit, in which two outer thiophene rings are covalently fastened with the central phenylene ring by nitrogen bridges, was synthesized. The two pyrrole units embedded in BDPT were constructed by using one-pot palladium-catalyzed amination. The coplanar stannylated Sn-BDPT building block was copolymerized with electron-deficient thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD), benzothiadiazole (BT), and dithienyl-diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) acceptors by Stille polymerization. The bridging nitrogen atoms make the BDPT motif highly electron-abundant and structurally coplanar, which allows for tailoring the optical and electronic properties of the resultant polymers. Strong photoinduced charge-transfer with significant band-broadening in the solid state and relatively higher oxidation potential are characteristic of the BDPT-based polymers. Poly(benzodipyrrolothiophene-alt-benzothiadiazole) (PBDPTBT) achieved the highest field-effect hole mobility of up to 0.02 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). The photovoltaic device using the PBDPTBT/PC(71)BM blend (1:3, w/w) exhibited a V(oc) of 0.6 V, a J(sc) of 10.34 mA cm(-2), and a FF of 50%, leading to a decent PCE of 3.08%. Encouragingly, the device incorporating poly(benzodipyrrolothiophene-alt-thienopyrrolodione) (PBDPTTPD)/PC(71)BM (1:3, w/w) composite delivered a highest PCE of 3.72%. The enhanced performance arises from the lower-lying HOMO value of PBDPTTPD to yield a higher V(oc) of 0.72 V.