Nowadays the development of submicroscale products of specific size and morphology that feature a high surface area to volume ratio, well-developed and accessible porosity for adsorbates and reactants, and are non-toxic, biocompatible, thermally stable and suitable as synergetic supports for precious metal catalysts is of great importance for many advanced applications. Complex porous non-silica metal oxide submicrospheres constitute an important class of materials that fulfill all these qualities and in addition, they are relatively easy to synthesize. This review presents a comprehensive appraisal of the methods used for the synthesis of a wide range of porous non-silica metal oxide particles of spherical morphology such as porous solid spheres, core-shell and yolk-shell particles as well as single-shell and multi-shell particles. In particular, hydrothermal and low temperature solution precipitation methods, which both include various structure developing strategies such as hard templating, soft templating, hydrolysis, or those taking advantage of Ostwald ripening and the Kirkendall effect, are reviewed. In addition, a critical assessment of the effects of different experimental parameters such as reaction time, reaction temperature, calcination, pH and the type of reactants and solvents on the structure of the final products is presented. Finally, the practical usefulness of complex porous non-silica metal oxide submicrospheres in sensing, catalysis, biomedical, environmental and energy-related applications is presented.

Yolk-shell structured nanoparticles are of immense scientific and technological interests because of their unique architecture and myriad of applications. This review summarizes recent progresses in the use of yolk-shell structured nanoparticles as nanoreactors for various chemical reactions. A very brief overview of synthetic strategies is provided with emphasis on recent research progress in the last five years. Catalytic applications of these yolk-shell structured nanoreactors are then discussed by covering photocatalysis, methane reforming and electrochemical conversion. The state of the art research and perspective in future development are also highlighted.

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Nordic Seas are the subarctic seas connecting the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean with complex water masses, experiencing an abrupt climate change. Though the knowledge of the marine virosphere has been expanded rapidly, the diversity of viruses and their relationships with host cells and water masses in the Nordic Seas remains to be fully revealed. Here we establish the Nordic Seas DNA viromes (NSVs) dataset of 55,315 viral contigs including 1,478 unique viral populations from seven stations influenced by both the warm Atlantic and cold Arctic water masses. Caudovirales dominated in the seven NSVs, especially in the warm Atlantic waters. The major giant nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) contributed a significant proportion of the classified viral contigs in the NSVs (32.2%), especially in the cold Arctic waters (44.9%). The distribution patterns of Caudovirales and NCLDVs were a reflection of the community structure of their hosts in the corresponding water masses and currents. Latitude, pH, and flow speed were found to be key factors influencing the microbial communities and co-influencing the variation of viral communities. Network analysis illustrated the tight coupling between the variation of viral communities and microbial communities in the Nordic Seas. This study suggests a probable linkage between the viromes, host cells and the surface water masses from both the cool Arctic and warm Atlantic Oceans. Importance: This is a systematic study of Nordic Seas Viromes using metagenomic analysis. The viral diversity, community structure, and their relationships with host cells and the complex water masses from both the cool Arctic and warm Atlantic Oceans were illustrated. The NCLDVs and Caudovirales are proposed as the viral characteristics of the cold Arctic and the warm Atlantic waters, respectively. This study provided an important background for the viromes in the subarctic seas connecting the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean, and will shed a light on their responses to the abrupt climate change in the future.

cMagnetotactic bacteria are capable of forming nanosized, membrane-enclosed magnetosomes under iron-rich and oxygen-limited conditions. The complete genomic sequence of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense strain MSR-1 has been analyzed and found to contain five fur homologue genes whose protein products are predicted to be involved in iron homeostasis and the response to oxidative stress. Of these, only the MGMSRv2_3149 gene (irrB) was significantly downregulated under high-iron and low-oxygen conditions, during the transition of cell growth from the logarithmic to the stationary phase. The encoded protein, IrrB, containing the conserved HHH motif, was identified as an iron response regulator (Irr) protein belonging to the Fur superfamily. To investigate the function of IrrB, we constructed an irrB deletion mutant (⌬irrB). The levels of cell growth and magnetosome formation were lower in the ⌬irrB strain than in the wild type (WT) under both high-iron and low-iron conditions. The ⌬irrB strain also showed lower levels of iron uptake and H 2 O 2 tolerance than the WT. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR analysis indicated that the irrB mutation reduced the expression of numerous genes involved in iron transport, iron storage, heme biosynthesis, and Fe-S cluster assembly. Transcription studies of the other fur homologue genes in the ⌬irrB strain indicated complementary functions of the Fur proteins in MSR-1. IrrB appears to be directly responsible for iron metabolism and homeostasis and to be indirectly involved in magnetosome formation. We propose two IrrB-regulated networks (under high-and low-iron conditions) in MSR-1 cells that control the balance of iron and oxygen metabolism and account for the coexistence of five Fur homologues. Iron is an essential nutrient for most organisms. It is involved in crucial biological processes such as nitrogen fixation, oxygen transport, central metabolism, respiration, gene regulation, and DNA biosynthesis (1). Under aerobic conditions at a neutral pH, iron is metabolically unavailable because of its insoluble state (2, 3). In cells, ferrous iron (Fe 2ϩ ) and ferric iron (Fe 3ϩ ) function, respectively, as the electron donor and electron acceptor, maintaining a compatible redox potential for many biochemical reactions (3). Excess ferrous iron catalyzes the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the Fenton reaction, resulting in cell damage or death (4). Bacteria and other microorganisms have developed various systems to maintain iron homeostasis, the most studied of which is the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) system. In Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, iron binds Fur so as to occupy its promoter and inhibit the expression of Fur-controlled genes (5, 6).Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1, a Gram-negative alphaproteobacterium, is capable of synthesizing unique intracellular magnetic nanoparticles composed of Fe 3 O 4 , termed magnetosomes (7). The biosynthesis of magnetosomes, whose membranebound magnetite nanocrystals are aligned in chain-like s...

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