Lipophilic macrocycles efficiently extract sulfate ions from water into chloroform and transport this ion across a bulk liquid membrane in the presence of competing anions (chloride, nitrate and dihydrogenphosphate).

Vitamin K is essential for blood coagulation and plays important roles in bone and cardiovascular health. Menaquinone-7 (MK-7) is one form of vitamin K that is especially useful due to its long half-life in the circulation. MK-7 is difficult to make via organic synthesis, and is thus commonly produced by fermentation. This study aimed to genetically modify Bacillus subtilis cultures to increase their MK-7 yield and reduce production costs. We constructed 12 different strains of B. subtilis 168 by overexpressing different combinations of the rate-limiting enzymes Dxs, Dxr, Idi, and MenA. We observed an 11-fold enhancement of production in the best-performing strain, resulting in 50 mg/L MK-7. Metabolite analysis revealed new bottlenecks in the pathway at IspG and IspH, which suggest avenues for further optimization. This work highlights the usefulness of Bacillus subtilis for industrial production of high value compounds.

Current lipidomic profiling methods rely mainly on MS to identify unknown lipids within a complex sample. We describe a new approach, involving LC×MS/MS (liquid chromatography×tandem MS) analysis of sphingolipids based on both mass and hydrophobicity, and use this method to characterize the SM (sphingomyelin), ceramide and GalCer (galactosylceramide) content of hippocampus from AD (Alzheimer's disease) and control subjects. Using a mathematical relationship we exclude the influence of sphingolipid mass on retention time, and generate two-dimensional plots that facilitate accurate visualization and characterization of the different ceramide moieties within a given sphingolipid class, because related molecules align horizontally or vertically on the plots. Major brain GalCer species that differ in mass by only 0.04 Da were easily differentiated on the basis of their hydrophobicity. The importance of our method's capacity to define all of the major GalCer species in the brain samples is illustrated by the novel observation that the proportion of GalCer with hydroxylated fatty acids increased approximately 2-fold in the hippocampus of AD patients, compared with age- and gender-matched controls. This suggests activation of fatty acid hydroxylase in AD. Our method greatly improves the clarity of data obtained in a lipid profiling experiment and can be expanded to other lipid classes.

Aryl amines are synthesized from halobenzenes via copper mediated reactions employing sodium azide under mild conditions in ethanol/water. The reaction proceeds stepwise via the aryl azide, which is reduced to the corresponding amine in‐situ. The methodology allows syntheses of amines from corresponding para‐, meta‐ and ortho‐bromobenzenes bearing electron withdrawing groups. Bifunctional halobenzenes bearing alkanoyl chains with terminal bromides are selectively transformed, generating an aniline and an aliphatic azide, as this azide position is stable to reduction. A one‐pot multistep sequence for preparation of the target amines was designed. The azide formation is mediated by CuI while elemental Cu is generated simultaneously, which is deposited onto the employed PTFE stirring bar used in the reaction. The Cu films were quantified and analysed by SEM/EDS. The Cu, either deposited or in solution, is responsible for the azide reduction, possibly involving nitrene intermediates. An application of the modified stirring bars as a heterogeneous catalyst for a click reaction is demonstrated.

The biochemical composition and biophysical properties of cell membranes are hypothesized to affect cellular processes such as phagocytosis. Here, we examined the plasma membranes of murine macrophage cell lines during the early stages of uptake of immunoglobulin G (IgG)-coated polystyrene particles. We found that the plasma membrane undergoes rapid actin-independent condensation to form highly ordered phagosomal membranes, the biophysical hallmark of lipid rafts. Surprisingly, these membranes are depleted of cholesterol and enriched in sphingomyelin and ceramide. Inhibition of sphingomyelinase activity impairs membrane condensation, F-actin accumulation at phagocytic cups and particle uptake. Switching phagosomal membranes to a cholesterol-rich environment had no effect on membrane condensation and the rate of phagocytosis. In contrast, preventing membrane condensation with the oxysterol 7-ketocholesterol, even in the presence of ceramide, blocked F-actin dissociation from nascent phagosomes and particle uptake. In conclusion, our results suggest that ordered membranes function to co-ordinate F-actin remodelling and that the biophysical properties of phagosomal membranes are essential for phagocytosis.

Studies of odour-driven foraging by mammals focus on attractant cues emitted by flowers, fruits, and fungi. Yet, the leaves of many plant species worldwide produce odour, which could act as a cue for foraging mammalian herbivores. Leaf odour may thus improve foraging efficiency for such herbivores in many ecosystems by reducing search time, particularly but not only, for plants that are visually obscured. We tested the use of leaf odour by a free-ranging mammalian browser, the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) to find and browse palatable tree seedlings (Eucalyptus pilularis). Wallabies visited patches non-randomly with respect to the presence of seedlings. In the absence of visual plant cues, they used leaf odour (cut seedlings in vials) to find patches earlier, and visited and investigated them more often than control patches (empty vials), supporting the hypothesis that wallabies used seedling odour to enhance search efficiency. In contrast, the grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), a grazer, showed no response to seedling odour. When the availability of seedling visual and olfactory cues was manipulated, wallabies browsed seedlings equally quickly in all treatments: upright (normal cues), pinned to the ground (reduced visual cues), and upright plus pinned seedlings (double olfactory cues). Odour cues play a critical role in food-finding by swamp wallabies, and these animals are finely tuned to detecting these cues with their threshold for detection reached by odours from only a single plant. The global significance of leaf odour in foraging by mammalian herbivores consuming conifers, eucalypts, and other odour-rich species requires greater attention.

Food quality is an important consideration in the foraging strategy of all animals, including herbivores. Those that can detect and assess the nutritional value of plants from afar, using senses such as smell and sight, can forage more efficiently than those that must assess food quality by taste alone. Selective foraging not only affects herbivore fitness but can influence the structure and composition of plant communities, yet little is known about how olfactory and visual cues help herbivores to find preferred plants. We tested the ability of a free-ranging, generalist mammalian browser, the swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor, to use olfactory and visual plant cues to find and/or browse differentially on Eucalyptus pilularis seedlings grown under different nutrient conditions. Low-nutrient seedlings differed from high-nutrient seedlings, having lighter coloured leaves, red stems and lower biomass and nitrogen content. In the absence of visual cues, wallabies used odour to differentiate vials containing cut seedlings. They visited and investigated patches with high-nutrient seedling odour most, followed by patches with low-nutrient seedling odour, and patches with no added odour least. However, when visual and olfactory cues of seedlings were present, wallabies reversed their foraging response and were more likely to browse lowthan high-nutrient seedlings. This browsing difference, in turn, disappeared when long-range visual cues were reduced by pinning seedlings horizontal to the ground. We suggest that visual cues overrode the effects of olfactory cues on browsing patterns of intact seedlings. Our study shows that herbivores can respond to odours of higher nutrient plants but in ecologically realistic scenarios they use a variety of visual and olfactory cues, with a context-dependent outcome that is not always selection of high nutrient food. Our results demonstrate the importance of testing the sensory abilities of herbivores in realistic multi-sensory settings to understand their function in selective foraging.

The photocathode functionality of a Metal–Organic Framework (MOF) featuring cofacial photo- and electro-active ligands provides a new approach to CO2 reduction via charge transfer with a rhenium electrocatalyst.