We describe the isolation and characterization of ICL1 from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea, a gene that encodes isocitrate lyase, one of the principal enzymes of the glyoxylate cycle. ICL1 shows elevated expression during development of infection structures and cuticle penetration, and a targeted gene replacement showed that the gene is required for full virulence by M. grisea. In particular, we found that the prepenetration stage of development, before entry into plant tissue, is affected by loss of the glyoxylate cycle. There is a delay in germination, infection-related development and cuticle penetration in Delta icl1 mutants. Recent reports have shown the importance of the glyoxylate cycle in the virulence of the human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans and the bacterial pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our results indicate that the glyoxylate cycle is also important in this plant pathogenic fungus, demonstrating the widespread utility of the pathway in microbial pathogenesis.

Herein we introduce a straightforward, low cost, scalable, and technologically relevant method to manufacture an all-carbon, electroactive, nitrogen-doped nanoporous-carbon/carbon-nanotube composite membrane, dubbed "HNCM/CNT". The membrane is demonstrated to function as a binder-free, high-performance gas diffusion electrode for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO to formate. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) for the production of formate is 81 %. Furthermore, the robust structural and electrochemical properties of the membrane endow it with excellent long-term stability.

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Ammonia, a key precursor for fertilizer production, convenient hydrogen carrier, and emerging clean fuel, plays a pivotal role in sustaining life on Earth. Currently, the main route for NH synthesis is by the heterogeneous catalytic Haber-Bosch process (N +3 H →2 NH ), which proceeds under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure with a very large carbon footprint. Herein we report that a pristine nitrogen-doped nanoporous graphitic carbon membrane (NCM) can electrochemically convert N into NH in an acidic aqueous solution under ambient conditions. The Faradaic efficiency and rate of production of NH on the NCM electrode reach 5.2 % and 0.08 g m h , respectively. Functionalization of the NCM with Au nanoparticles dramatically enhances these performance metrics to 22 % and 0.36 g m h , respectively. As this system offers the potential to be scaled to industrial levels it is highly likely that it might displace the century-old Haber-Bosch process.

Self-supported electrocatalysts being generated and employed directly as electrodes for energy conversion has been intensively pursued in the fields of materials chemistry and energy. Herein, we report a synthetic strategy to prepare freestanding hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped nanoporous graphitic carbon membranes functionalized with Janus-type Co/CoP nanocrystals (termed as HNDCM-Co/CoP), which were successfully applied as a highly efficient, binder-free electrode in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Benefited from multiple structural merits, such as a high degree of graphitization, three-dimensionally interconnected micro/meso/macropores, uniform nitrogen doping, well-dispersed Co/CoP nanocrystals, as well as the confinement effect of the thin carbon layer on the nanocrystals, HNDCM-Co/CoP exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity and long-term operation stability for HER under both acidic and alkaline conditions. As a proof-of-concept of practical usage, a 5.6 cm × 4 cm × 60 μm macroscopic piece of HNDCM-Co/CoP was prepared in our laboratory. Driven by a solar cell, electroreduction of water in alkaline conditions (pH 14) was performed, and H was produced at a rate of 16 mL/min, demonstrating its potential as real-life energy conversion systems.

Developing high-power cathodes is crucial to construct next-generation quick-charge batteries for electric transportation and grid applications. However, this mainly relies on nanoengineering strategies at the expense of low scalability and high battery cost. Another option is provided herein to build high-power cathodes by exploiting inexpensive bulk graphite as the active electrode material, where anion intercalation is involved. With the assistance of a strong alginate binder, the disintegration problem of graphite cathodes due to the large volume variation of >130% is well suppressed, making it possible to investigate the intrinsic electrochemical behavior and to elucidate the charge storage kinetics of graphite cathodes. Ultrahigh power capability up to 42.9 kW kg at the energy density of >300 Wh kg (based on graphite mass) and long cycling life over 10 000 cycles are achieved, much higher than those of conventional cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. A self-activating and capacitive anion intercalation into graphite is discovered for the first time, making graphite a new intrinsic intercalation-pseudocapacitance cathode material. The finding highlights the kinetical difference of anion intercalation (as cathode) from cation intercalation (as anode) into graphitic carbon materials, and new high-power energy storage devices will be inspired.

Limited strategies have been established to prepare monodisperse mesoporous carbon nanospheres (MCNs) with tailored pore sizes. In this work, a method is reported to synthesize MCNs by combining polymerization of aniline with co-assembly of colloidal silica nanoparticles. The controlled self-assembly behavior of colloidal silica enables the formation of uniform composite nanospheres and convenient modulation over mesopores. After carbonization and removal of sacrificial templates, the resultant MCNs possess tunable mesopores (7-42 nm) and spherical diameters (90-300 nm), as well as high surface area (785-1117 m(2)  g(-1) ), large pore volume (1.46-2.01 cm(3)  g(-1) ) and abundant nitrogen moieties (5.54-8.73 at %). When serving as metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), MCNs with an optimum pore size of 22 nm, compared to those with 7 and 42 nm, exhibit the best ORR performance in alkaline medium.

Nanoporous graphitic carbon membranes with defined chemical composition and pore architecture are novel nanomaterials that are actively pursued. Compared with easy-to-make porous carbon powders that dominate the porous carbon research and applications in energy generation/conversion and environmental remediation, porous carbon membranes are synthetically more challenging though rather appealing from an application perspective due to their structural integrity, interconnectivity and purity. Here we report a simple bottom–up approach to fabricate large-size, freestanding and porous carbon membranes that feature an unusual single-crystal-like graphitic order and hierarchical pore architecture plus favourable nitrogen doping. When loaded with cobalt nanoparticles, such carbon membranes serve as high-performance carbon-based non-noble metal electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.