Wongbarrett3437

In the past few decades, microalgae-based bioremediation methods for treating heavy metal (HM)-polluted wastewater have attracted much attention by virtue of their environment friendliness, cost efficiency, and sustainability. However, their HM removal efficiency is far from practical use. Directed evolution is expected to be effective for developing microalgae with a much higher HM removal efficiency, but there is no non-invasive or label-free indicator to identify them. Here, we present an intelligent cellular morphological indicator for identifying the HM removal efficiency of Euglena gracilis in a non-invasive and label-free manner. Specifically, we show a strong monotonic correlation (Spearman's ρ = -0.82, P = 2.1 × 10-5) between a morphological meta-feature recognized via our machine learning algorithms and the Cu2+ removal efficiency of 19 E. selleck gracilis clones. Our findings firmly suggest that the morphology of E. gracilis cells can serve as an effective HM removal efficiency indicator and hence have great potential, when combined with a high-throughput image-activated cell sorter, for directed-evolution-based development of E. gracilis with an extremely high HM removal efficiency for practical wastewater treatment worldwide.ConspectusThe fixation of dinitrogen to ammonia is critically important for the biogeochemical cycle on earth. Ammonia also holds promise as a sustainable energy carrier. Tremendous effort has been devoted to the development of green processes and advanced materials for ammonia synthesis and decomposition under milder conditions, and encouraging progress has been made.The reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia needs electrons and protons, which hydridic hydrogen H- could supply. Polarized, electron-rich NxHy intermediates, on the other hand, can be stabilized by alkali or alkaline earth metal cations to lower kinetic barriers in the transformation. The inherent properties of alkali/alkaline earth metal hydrides (denoted as AH) endow them with a unique function in ammonia synthesis.In this Account, recent efforts in the exploration of alkali or alkaline earth metal hydrides (denoted as AH), amides, and imides (denoted as ANH hereafter) for ammonia synthesis and decomposition reactions will be summarized and discusdiating ammonia synthesis via a low-temperature chemical looping process, in which N2 is fixed by AH forming ANH. Subsequently, ANH is hydrogenated to ammonia and AH. Late TMs have a strong catalytic effect on the chemical looping process. The unique interplay of A, N, TM, and H- offers plenty of opportunities for achieving dinitrogen conversion under mild conditions, while further efforts are needed to address the challenges in the fundamental understanding and practical application.The Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR) in north-eastern Alberta, Canada, contains the world's third largest known bitumen deposit. Oil sands (OS) operations produce emissions known to contribute to acidic and alkaline deposition, which can alter the chemistry of the receiving surface waters, including dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Little is known regarding the natural variability of aquatic DOC among lakes within the AOSR. Surface-water data from 50 lakes were analyzed; variables known to be associated with the light-absorptive properties of DOC (true color [TC]) were evaluated to investigate the potential variability of chromophoric DOC (CDOC). Comparison of TC and DOC revealed two distinct "high" (H) and "low" (L) lake subpopulations, the former being characterized by high relative TC and low DOC, and the latter by the inverse. The H lakes were defined by variables known to be associated with CDOC, while L lakes appeared well-buffered potentially owing to groundwater inputs. The divergent optical properties between subpopulations appeared partially attributable to pH-limited Fe complexation. Trajectory analysis indicated that H lakes most likely to receive atmospheric deposition from OS sources experienced significantly lower pH. These results are contrary to previous studies that found OS emissions to have minimal acidifying effect over lakes throughout the AOSR.Glycopeptide antibiotics (GPAs) are last defense line drugs against multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens. Natural GPAs teicoplanin and vancomycin, as well as semisynthetic oritavancin, telavancin, and dalbavancin, are currently approved for clinical use. Although these antibiotics remain efficient, emergence of novel GPA-resistant pathogens is a question of time. Therefore, it is important to investigate the natural variety of GPAs coming from so-called "rare" actinobacteria. Herein we describe a novel GPA producer-Nonomuraea coxensis DSM 45129. Its de novo sequenced and completely assembled genome harbors a biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) similar to the dbv BGC of A40926, the natural precursor to dalbavancin. The strain produces a novel GPA, which we propose is an A40926 analogue lacking the carboxyl group on the N-acylglucosamine moiety. This structural difference correlates with the absence of dbv29-coding for an enzyme responsible for the oxidation of the N-acylglucosamine moiety. Introduction of dbv29 into N. coxensis led to A40926 production in this strain. Finally, we successfully applied dbv3 and dbv4 heterologous transcriptional regulators to trigger and improve A50926 production in N. coxensis, making them prospective tools for screening other Nonomuraea spp. for GPA production. Our work highlights genus Nonomuraea as a still untapped source of novel GPAs.β-Li3PS4 is a solid electrolyte with high Li+ conductivity, applicable to sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries. While a β-Li3PS4-synthesized by solid-state reaction forms only in a narrow 300-450 °C temperature range upon heating, β-Li3PS4 is readily available by liquid-phase synthesis through low-temperature thermal decomposition of complexes composed of PS43- and various organic solvents. However, the conversion mechanism of β-Li3PS4 from these complexes is not yet understood. Herein, we proposed the synthesis mechanism of β-Li3PS4 from Li3PS4·acetonitrile (Li3PS4·ACN) and Li3PS4·1,2-dimethoxyethane (Li3PS4·DME), whose structural similarity with β-Li3PS4 would reduce the nucleation barrier for the formation of β-Li3PS4. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction clarified that both complexes possess similar layered structures consisting of alternating Li2PS4- and Li+-ACN/DME layers. ACN/DME was removed from these complexes upon heating, and rotation of the PS4 tetrahedra induced a uniaxial compression to form the β-Li3PS4 framework.