The optical signatures of Mg-related acceptors in GaN have been revisited in samples specifically grown on bulk GaN templates, to avoid strain broadening of the optical spectra. Bound-exciton spectra can be studied in these samples for Mg concentrations up to [Mg] approximately 2 x 10(19) cm(-3). Contrary to previous work it is found that instabilities in the photoluminescence spectra are not due to unstable shallow donors, but to unstable Mg-related acceptors. Our data show that there are two Mg-related acceptors simultaneously present: the regular (stable) substitutional Mg acceptor, and a complex acceptor which is unstable in p-GaN.

Mg-doped p-type a-plane GaN films were grown on high-quality unintentionally doped GaN on þ0:5 -off r-plane sapphire substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). A maximum hole concentration of 2:0 Â 10 18 cm À3 was reproducibly achieved at room temperature, which was higher than the maximum hole concentration of p-type c-plane GaN. The activation energy of Mg acceptors in p-type a-plane GaN with a hole concentration of 2:0 Â 10 18 cm À3 was found to be 118 meV by temperature-dependent Hall-effect measurement.

We demonstrated a UV-laser diode grown on low-dislocation-density AlGaN. The combination of a low-temperature-deposited AlN interlayer technology and heteroepitaxial lateral overgrowth yielded crack-free and partially low-dislocation-density AlGaN on a grooved GaN substrate. A ridge waveguide was fabricated in the low-dislocation-density region. The lasing wavelength under pulsed current injection at room temperature was 350.9 nm, which is the shortest wavelength ever reported.

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The Ni atom at the catalytic center of [NiFe] hydrogenases is incorporated by a Ni-metallochaperone, HypA, and a GTPase/ATPase, HypB. We report the crystal structures of the transient complex formed between HypA and ATPase-type HypB (HypB AT ) with Ni ions. Transient association between HypA and HypB AT is controlled by the ATP hydrolysis cycle of HypB AT, which is accelerated by HypA. Only the ATP-bound form of HypB AT can interact with HypA and induces drastic conformational changes of HypA. Consequently, upon complex formation, a conserved His residue of HypA comes close to the N-terminal conserved motif of HypA and forms a Ni-binding site, to which a Ni ion is bound with a nearly square-planar geometry. The Ni binding site in the HypAB AT complex has a nanomolar affinity (K d = 7 nM), which is in contrast to the micromolar affinity (K d = 4 μM) observed with the isolated HypA. The ATP hydrolysis and Ni binding cause conformational changes of HypB AT , affecting its association with HypA. These findings indicate that HypA and HypB AT constitute an ATP-dependent Ni acquisition cycle for [NiFe]-hydrogenase maturation, wherein HypB AT functions as a metallochaperone enhancer and considerably increases the Ni-binding affinity of HypA.X-ray crystallography | metalloprotein | transient complex | metallochaperone A pproximately one-half of all cellular proteins require specific metal ions for proper function, which are delivered by specific metallochaperones (1, 2). However, the mechanisms of correct acquisition and delivery to target proteins of many metallochaperones remain poorly understood.[NiFe] hydrogenases harbor a complex metal cofactor, NiFe(CN) 2 CO, in their active sites (3). This cofactor catalyzes reversible H 2 production. The Ni atom in the NiFe(CN) 2 CO cofactor is bound to four thiolate groups, two of which also bridge the Fe(CN) 2 CO group (4, 5). NiFe(CN) 2 CO biosynthesis requires specific maturation machinery, in which six Hyp proteins (HypA-HypF) play key roles (6, 7). Four Hyp proteins (HypC-HypF) are involved in the biosynthesis and incorporation of the Fe(CN) 2 CO group (8-15). After Fe insertion, HypA and HypB insert the Ni ion into the hydrogenase large subunit (16).HypA is a Ni-metallochaperone that binds to a Ni ion with micromolar affinity (17-19), and its structure consists of a Ni-binding domain (NiBD) and a Zn-binding domain (ZnBD) (20, 21). The NiBD contains a highly conserved MHE motif that is essential for Ni binding at the N terminus (20,22). HypB consists of a common GTPase domain and a less conserved metal-binding region (23)(24)(25). Recently, ATPase-type HypB (HypB AT , previously abbreviated as mmHypB) proteins were identified from Thermococcales (26). GTPase and ATPase types of HypB belong to the SIMIBI class NTPase family and share a similar architecture, despite their low sequence similarity (27). HypA and HypB form a transient complex in the Ni insertion process (17,22,28,29). In the Escherichia coli system, Ni transfer occurs from HypB to HypA (30). However, the functi...

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Males of the hermit crab, Pagurusfilholi, often grasp the edges of shells occupied by females and drag them during the mating season. This behavior was experimentally confirmed to be a precopulatory guarding behavior displayed by males for ripe females, and males were found to recognize females which were within about 5 days of spawning. Most theoretical models for mating preference assume the choosing sex (the male in the present case) has complete reproductive information about potential mates, and predict that males will preferably choose more fecund females and/or females that will require less guarding time (i.e. that will spawn sooner) as partners. Several male‐choice experiments between two ripe females, both previously guarded by other males, were carried out to examine the above predictions. Males did not prefer females of larger size, higher fecundity or with less time remaining until spawning. These results suggest that males may not have complete information about potential partners, rather that male hermit crabs may adopt a mating strategy of pairing with the first ripe female they encounter. Even with such incomplete mate assessment, males may enhance their reproductive success by recognizing ripe females that will spawn within a given time (about 5 days in the present case).

Ni-Fe clusters are inserted into the large subunit of [NiFe] hydrogenases by maturation proteins such as the Ni chaperone HypA via an unknown mechanism. We determined crystal structures of an immature large subunit HyhL complexed with HypA from Structure analysis revealed that the N-terminal region of HyhL extends outwards and interacts with the Ni-binding domain of HypA. Intriguingly, the C-terminal extension of immature HyhL, which is cleaved in the mature form, adopts a β-strand adjacent to its N-terminal β-strands. The position of the C-terminal extension corresponds to that of the N-terminal extension of a mature large subunit, preventing the access of endopeptidases to the cleavage site of HyhL. These findings suggest that Ni insertion into the active site induces spatial rearrangement of both the N- and C-terminal tails of HyhL, which function as a key checkpoint for the completion of the Ni-Fe cluster assembly.