Electronic and Steric Effects on the Reactivity of Seleniranium Ions with Alkenes in the Gas Phase.

Gas phase ion-molecule reactions between seleniranium ions, R-c-SeCH2CH2+, and cis-cyclooctene were used to probe electronic and steric effects of substituents on kinetics and branching ratios. The second-order rate coefficients increased in the order p-OMeC6H4 < C6H5 < p-BrC6H4 < p-CF3C6H4 < m-NO2C6H4, giving a Hammett plot with R2 = 0.98 and ρ = +1.66. The two main pathways include direct transfer of the selenium moiety to the incoming alkene (π-ligand exchange) and the less favored ring-opening by attack at an iranium carbon to give a cis-bicyclic selenonium ion as supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Branching ratios of each pathway indicated that electron-withdrawing groups directed more attack at carbon than selenium in agreement with previous solution-phase results. Increased steric bulk on selenium was investigated by changing the R group from a methyl to t-butyl, which not only shut down π-ligand exchange but also significantly reduced the overall reactivity. Finally, the reactivity of the iranium ion derived from Se-methylselenocysteine was investigated and shown to react faster and favor π-ligand exchange as the leaving group was changed from ethene to acrylic acid.

Interactions between dietary fibre and the gut microbiota.

Research characterising the gut microbiota in different populations and diseases has mushroomed since the advent of next-generation sequencing techniques. However, there has been less emphasis on the impact of dietary fibres and other dietary components that influence gut microbial metabolic activities. Dietary fibres are the main energy source for gut bacteria. However, fibres differ in their physicochemical properties, their effects on the gut and their fermentation characteristics. The diversity of carbohydrates and associated molecules in fibre-rich foods can have a major influence on microbiota composition and production of bioactive molecules, for example SCFAs and phenolic acids. Several of these microbial metabolites may influence the functions of body systems including the gut, liver, adipose tissues and brain. Dietary fibre intake recommendations have recently been increased (to 30 g daily) in response to growing obesity and other health concerns. Increasing intakes of specific fibre and plant food sources may differentially influence the bacteria and their metabolism. However, in vitro studies show great individual variability in the response of the gut microbiota to different fibres and fibre combinations, making it difficult to predict which foods or food components will have the greatest impact on levels of bioactive molecules produced in the colon of individuals. Greater understanding of individual responses to manipulation of the diet, in relation to microbiome composition and production of metabolites with proven beneficial impact on body systems, would allow the personalised approach needed to best promote good health.

Erratum: Upconversion Loop Oscillator Axion Detection Experiment: A Precision Frequency Interferometric Axion Dark Matter Search with a Cylindrical Microwave Cavity [Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 081803 (2021)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.081803.

Upconversion Loop Oscillator Axion Detection Experiment: A Precision Frequency Interferometric Axion Dark Matter Search with a Cylindrical Microwave Cavity.

First experimental results from a room-temperature tabletop phase-sensitive axion haloscope experiment are presented. The technique exploits the axion-photon coupling between two photonic resonator oscillators excited in a single cavity, allowing low-mass axions to be upconverted to microwave frequencies, acting as a source of frequency modulation on the microwave carriers. This new pathway to axion detection has certain advantages over the traditional haloscope method, particularly in targeting axions below 1 µeV (240 MHz) in energy. At the heart of the dual-mode oscillator, a tunable cylindrical microwave cavity supports a pair of orthogonally polarized modes (TM_{0,2,0} and TE_{0,1,1}), which, in general, enables simultaneous sensitivity to axions with masses corresponding to the sum and difference of the microwave frequencies. However, in the reported experiment, the configuration was such that the sum frequency sensitivity was suppressed, while the difference frequency sensitivity was enhanced. The results place axion exclusion limits between 7.44-19.38 neV, excluding a minimal coupling strength above 5×10^{-7} 1/GeV, after a measurement period of two and a half hours. We show that a state-of-the-art frequency-stabilized cryogenic implementation of this technique, ambitious but realizable, may achieve the best limits in a vast range of axion space.

phot1 inhibition of ABCB19 primes lateral auxin fluxes in the shoot apex required for phototropism.

It is well accepted that lateral redistribution of the phytohormone auxin underlies the bending of plant organs towards light. In monocots, photoreception occurs at the shoot tip above the region of differential growth. Despite more than a century of research, it is still unresolved how light regulates auxin distribution and where this occurs in dicots. Here, we establish a system in Arabidopsis thaliana to study hypocotyl phototropism in the absence of developmental events associated with seedling photomorphogenesis. We show that auxin redistribution to the epidermal sites of action occurs at and above the hypocotyl apex, not at the elongation zone. Within this region, we identify the auxin efflux transporter ATP-BINDING CASSETTE B19 (ABCB19) as a substrate target for the photoreceptor kinase PHOTOTROPIN 1 (phot1). Heterologous expression and physiological analyses indicate that phosphorylation of ABCB19 by phot1 inhibits its efflux activity, thereby increasing auxin levels in and above the hypocotyl apex to halt vertical growth and prime lateral fluxes that are subsequently channeled to the elongation zone by PIN-FORMED 3 (PIN3). Together, these results provide new insights into the roles of ABCB19 and PIN3 in establishing phototropic curvatures and demonstrate that the proximity of light perception and differential phototropic growth is conserved in angiosperms.

Interaction specificity of Arabidopsis 14-3-3 proteins with phototropin receptor kinases.

Phototropin receptor kinases play an important role in optimising plant growth in response to blue light. Much is known regarding their photochemical reactivity, yet little progress has been made to identify downstream signalling components. Here, we isolated several interacting proteins for Arabidopsis phototropin 1 (phot1) by yeast two-hybrid screening. These include members of the NPH3/RPT2 (NRL) protein family, proteins associated with vesicle trafficking, and the 14-3-3 lambda (lambda) isoform from Arabidopsis. 14-3-3lambda and phot1 were found to colocalise and interact in vivo. Moreover, 14-3-3 binding to phot1 was limited to non-epsilon 14-3-3 isoforms and was dependent on key sites of receptor autophosphorylation. No 14-3-3 binding was detected for Arabidopsis phot2, suggesting that 14-3-3 proteins are specific to phot1 signalling.

In vivo phosphorylation site mapping and functional characterization of Arabidopsis phototropin 1.

Phototropins (phot1 and phot2) are blue-light receptor kinases controlling a range of responses that optimize the photosynthetic efficiency of plants. Light sensing is mediated by two flavin-binding motifs, known as LOV1 and LOV2, located within the N-terminal region of the protein. Photoexcitation via LOV2 leads to activation of the C-terminal kinase domain and consequently receptor autophosphorylation. However, knowledge of the in-vivo phosphorylation sites for Arabidopsis phototropins is lacking and has impeded progress in elucidating the functional significance of receptor phosphorylation. We have purified phot1 from Arabidopsis and identified the in-vivo sites of receptor phosphorylation by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Arabidopsis-derived phot1 binds flavin mononucleotide as chromophore and is phosphorylated at four major sites located upstream of LOV2 (Ser(58), Ser(85), Ser(350), and Ser(410)), three of which are induced by blue light. Nevertheless, structure-function analysis indicates that the biological activity of phot1 can be attributed to a modular unit comprising the LOV2-kinase region of the protein. Thus, peptide regions upstream of LOV2, including the sites of receptor phosphorylation identified here, do not appear to be important for receptor signaling. By contrast, these regions may be necessary for maximizing stomatal performance and possibly light-induced relocalization of phot1.