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Pd and TiO2 supported on functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) catalysts were investigated in formic acid electrooxidation reaction in direct formic acid fuel cell. TiO2 (5–60 wt.% loading) on f-MWCNTs was deposited using microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. 20 wt.% of Pd was deposited on TiO2/f-MWCNTs by reduction of palladium (II) chloride salt with sodium borohydride. Catalysts' structure and composition were characterized by XRD, STEM, HR-TEM, TGA, XPS/XAES (Pd, Ti, O spectra features, density of valence states, Auger parameters). Average crystallite size of Pd and TiO2 from XRD (3–4 nm) agrees with those by HR-TEM (3–5 nm). Low TiO2 coverages (below 32wt.%) show smaller crystallites due to increased surface hydrophilicity, higher amount of TiO2 oxygen vacancies with attached Pd nanoparticles, increased density of valence states of strong Pd–TiO2 interface. In contrary, the higher coverages indicate lower amount of Pd–O–Ti, Ti–O–C, Pd–O–C interfaces, with electron charge transfer from TiO2 to f-MWCNTs, and to Pd. Catalysts activity (40–106 mWmgPd−1) and stability (5–240 h) are enhanced at low TiO2 coverages (4–8 wt.%) due to a strong Pd-TiO2 interface on oxygen vacancies, improved electron transport and a high active surface area. Oscillatory self-cleaning mechanism of Pd is due to oxidation by -OH groups (TiO2, f-MWCNTs), and hydrogen and CO spillover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thermal decomposition of a cobalt-lanthanum catalyst precursor containing a mixture of cobalt and lanthanum compounds obtained by co-precipitation were studied using thermal analysis coupled with mass spectrometry (TG-MS). Studies revealed that the calcination in air at 500°C is sufficient to transform the obtained cobalt precipitate into Co3O4, but it leads to only partial decomposition of lanthanum precipitate. In order to obtain Co/La catalyst precursor containing La2O3 the calcination in air at the temperature about 800°C is required. However, it is unfavorable from the point of view of textural properties of the catalyst precursor. A strong effect of storage conditions on the phase composition of the studied cobalt-lanthanum catalyst precursor, caused by the formation of lanthanum hydroxide and lanthanum carbonates from La2O3 when contacting with air, was observed.

In modern research on catalysts for NH3 synthesis a lot of attention is paid to cobalt. In this work the new catalytic systems based on cobalt are presented. Unsupported cobalt catalysts singly promoted (La or Ba) and doubly promoted (La and Ba) were prepared and tested in NH3 synthesis reaction under commercial synthesis conditions. Characterization studies revealed that lanthanum plays a role of a structural promoter, which improves the surface of catalyst precursors and prevents from sintering during calcination. However, lanthanum has a negative effect on the reduction of cobalt oxide, but the addition of barium promoter (Co/La/Ba catalyst) diminishes the negative impact of La. The co-promotion of cobalt with lanthanum and barium results in the increasing of the active phase surface and improvement of its activity in NH3 synthesis.

Correct orientation of the mitotic spindle determines the plane of cellular cleavage and is crucial for organ development. In the developing cerebral cortex, spindle orientation defects result in severe neurodevelopmental disorders, but the precise mechanisms that control this important event are not fully understood. Here, we use a combination of high-content screening and mouse genetics to identify the miR-34/449 family as key regulators of mitotic spindle orientation in the developing cerebral cortex. By screening through all cortically expressed miRNAs in HeLa cells, we show that several members of the miR-34/449 family control mitotic duration and spindle rotation. Analysis of miR-34/449 knockout (KO) mouse embryos demonstrates significant spindle misorientation phenotypes in cortical progenitors, resulting in an excess of radial glia cells at the expense of intermediate progenitors and a significant delay in neurogenesis. We identify the junction adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) as a key target for miR-34/449 in the developing cortex that might be responsible for those defects. Our data indicate that miRNA-dependent regulation of mitotic spindle orientation is crucial for cell fate specification during mammalian neurogenesis., (© 2016 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.)

Cytokinesis mediates the physical separation of dividing cells after chromosome segregation. In animal cell cytokinesis, a contractile ring, mainly composed of actin and myosin filaments, ingresses a cleavage furrow midway between the two spindle poles. A distinct machinery, involving the endosomal sorting complex required for transport III (ESCRT-III), subsequently splits the plasma membrane of nascent daughter cells in a process termed abscission. Here, we provide a brief overview of early cytokinesis events in animal cells and then cover in depth recently emerging models for the assembly and function of the abscission machinery and its temporal coordination with chromosome segregation., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Many cellular pathways are regulated by the competing activity of protein kinases and phosphatases. The recent identification of arginine phosphorylation as a protein modification in bacteria prompted us to analyze the molecular basis of targeting phospho-arginine. In this work, we characterize an annotated tyrosine phosphatase, YwlE, that counteracts the protein arginine kinase McsB. Strikingly, structural studies of YwlE reaction intermediates provide a direct view on a captured arginine residue. Together with biochemical data, the crystal structures depict the evolution of a highly specific phospho-arginine phosphatase, with the use of a size-and-polarity filter for distinguishing phosphorylated arginine from other phosphorylated side chains. To confirm the proposed mechanism, we performed bioinformatic searches for phosphatases, employing a similar selectivity filter, and identified a protein in Drosophila melanogaster exhibiting robust arginine phosphatase activity. In sum, our findings uncover the molecular framework for specific targeting of phospho-arginine and suggest that protein arginine (de)phosphorylation may be relevant in eukaryotes., (Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Splicing of mammalian precursor transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules involves two enzymatic steps. First, intron removal by the tRNA splicing endonuclease generates separate 5' and 3' exons. In animals, the second step predominantly entails direct exon ligation by an elusive RNA ligase. Using activity-guided purification of tRNA ligase from HeLa cell extracts, we identified HSPC117, a member of the UPF0027 (RtcB) family, as the essential subunit of a tRNA ligase complex. RNA interference-mediated depletion of HSPC117 inhibited maturation of intron-containing pre-tRNA both in vitro and in living cells. The high sequence conservation of HSPC117/RtcB proteins is suggestive of RNA ligase roles of this protein family in various organisms.

The phylogeny of symbiotic genes of Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust) rhizobia derived from Poland and Japan was studied by comparative sequence analysis of nodA, nodC, nodH, and nifH loci. In phylogenetic trees, black locust symbionts formed a branch of their own suggesting that the spread and maintenance of symbiotic genes within Robinia pseudoacacia rhizobia occurred through vertical transmission. There was 99-100% sequence similarity for nodA genes of Robinia pseudoacacia nodulators, 97-98% for nodC, and 97-100% for nodH and nifH loci. A considerable sequence conservation of sym genes shows that the symbiotic apparatus of Robinia pseudoacacia rhizobia might have evolved under strong host plant constraints. In the nodA and nodC gene phylograms, Robinia pseudoacacia rhizobia grouped with Phaseolus sp. symbionts, although they were not closely related to our isolates based on 16S rRNA genes, and with Mesorhizobium amorphae. nifH gene phylogeny of our isolates followed the evolutionary history of 16S rDNA and Robinia pseudoacacia rhizobia grouped with Mesorhizobium genus species. Nodulation assays revealed that Robinia pseudoacacia rhizobia effectively nodulated their native host and also Amorpha fruticosa and Amorpha californica resulting in a significant enhancement of plant growth. The black locust root nodules are shown to be of indeterminate type.

Robinia pseudoacacia microsymbionts from plants growing in Poland and Japan were evaluated for phylogeny and taxonomic position by genomic approach. Based on the comparative analyses of atpD (368 bp) and dnaK (573 bp) gene sequences as well as 16S rDNA restriction analysis (RFLP-16S rDNA), R. pseudoacacia microsymbionts were identified as Mesorhizobium strains. In dnaK and atpD gene phylograms R. pseudoacacia nodulators formed robust, monophyletic clusters with Mesorhizobium species with the nucleotide sequence similarity of 91-98% and 90-98%, respectively. The classification of R. pseudoacacia rhizobia to the genus Mesorhizobium was also supported by amplified 16S rDNA restriction analysis. The studied bacteria formed common clusters with Mesorhizobium species, and their DNA patterns were identical or nearly identical to Mesorhizobium genus strains. When DNA-DNA hybridization was performed, the total DNA of the representative R. pseudoacacia rhizobia exhibited 51-75% relatedness to DNA of Mesorhizobium amorphae ICMP15022 strain and below 41% to DNA of other Mesorhizobium species. These results showed that R. pseudoacacia and M. amorphae belong to the same genomospecies. The G+C content of DNA of R. pseudoacacia two microsymbionts was 59.7 and 60.6 mol% compared to 61-64 mol% across M. amorphae strains.

Rhizobial strains, rescued from the root nodules of Robinia pseudoacacia growing in Japan and Poland, were characterized for the phenotypic properties, genomic diversity as well as phylogeny and compared with the reference strains representing different species and genera of nodule bacteria. They had a moderately slow growth rate, a low tolerance to antibiotics, a moderate resistance to NaCl and produced acid in yeast mannitol agar. Cluster analysis based on the phenotypic features divided all bacteria involved in this study into four phena, comprising: (1) Rhizobium sp. + Sinorhizobium sp., (2) Bradyrhizobium sp., (3) R. pseudoacacia microsymbionts + Mesorhizobium sp., and (4) Rhizobium galegae strains at similarity coefficient of 74%. R. pseudoacacia nodule isolates and Mesorhizobium species were placed on a single branch clearly distinct from other rhizobium genera lineages. Strains representing R. pseudoacacia microsymbionts shared 98-99% 16S rDNA sequence identity with Mesorhizobium species and in 16S rDNA phylogenetic tree all these bacteria formed common cluster. The rhizobia tested are genomically heterogeneous as indicated by the AFLP (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism) method. The bacteria studied exhibited high degree of specificity for nodulation. Nitrogenase structural genes in these strains were located on 771-961 kb megaplasmids.

Artificial blood will become important to the extent that it is safer, more effective, more economical, and more readily available than natural substances. If physicians would accept blood substitutes, their use might help to eliminate prevailing shortages of blood and increasing needs for plasma. The high demand for albumin, one of the safest biologics known, is pushing the requirement for plasma to higher levels every year. The albumin situation illustrates both the value placed on hemotherapeutic agents of proven safety and the problem of mobilizing sufficient blood resources for their production. The solutions to this problem and others addressed by the National Blood Policy will involve both scientific efforts and improvements in the operation and organization of blood service systems. Thus, the search for blood and plasma substitutes must be viewed as just one of a set of management and scientific approaches to meeting the need for safe, effective hemotherapuetic agents.