In this study Illumina MiSeq was performed to investigate microbial diversity in soil, leaves, grape, grape juice and wine. A total of 1,043,102 fungal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) reads and 2,422,188 high quality bacterial 16S rDNA sequences were used for taxonomic classification, revealed five fungal and eight bacterial phyla. At the genus level, the dominant fungi were Ascomycota, Sordariales, Tetracladium and Geomyces in soil, Aureobasidium and Pleosporaceae in grapes leaves, Aureobasidium in grape and grape juice. The dominant bacteria were Kaistobacter, Arthrobacter, Skermanella and Sphingomonas in soil, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter and Kaistobacter in grape and grapes leaves, and Oenococcus in grape juice and wine. Principal coordinate analysis showed structural separation between the composition of fungi and bacteria in all samples. This is the first study to understand microbiome population in soil, grape, grapes leaves, grape juice and wine in Xinjiang through High-throughput Sequencing and identify microorganisms like Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Oenococcus spp. that may contribute to the quality and flavor of wine.

Quantum spin systems with strong geometric restrictions give rise to rich quantum phases such as valence bond solids and spin liquid states. However, the geometric restrictions often hamper the application of sophisticated numerical approaches. Based on the stochastic series expansion method, we develop an efficient and exact quantum Monte Carlo "sweeping cluster" algorithm which automatically satisfies the geometrical restrictions. Here we use the quantum dimer model as a benchmark to demonstrate the reliability and power of this algorithm. Comparing to existing numerical methods, we can obtain higher accuracy results for a wider parameter region and much more substantial system sizes.

Floral traits have largely been attributed to phenotypic selection in plant–pollinator interactions. However, the strength of this link has rarely been ascertained with real pollinators. We conducted pollinator observations and estimated selection through female fitness on flowering phenology and floral traits between two Primula secundiflora populations. We quantified pollinator‐mediated selection by subtracting estimates of selection gradients of plants receiving supplemental hand pollination from those of plants receiving open pollination. There was net directional selection for an earlier flowering start date at populations where the dominant pollinators were syrphid flies, and flowering phenology was also subjected to stabilized quadratic selection. However, a later flowering start date was significantly selected at populations where the dominant pollinators were legitimate (normal pollination through the corolla tube entrance) and illegitimate bumblebees (abnormal pollination through nectar robbing hole which located at the corolla tube), and flowering phenology was subjected to disruptive quadratic selection. Wider corolla tube entrance diameter was selected at both populations. Furthermore, the strength of net directional selection on flowering start date and corolla tube entrance diameter was stronger at the population where the dominant pollinators were syrphid flies. Pollinator‐mediated selection explained most of the between‐population variations in the net directional selection on flowering phenology and corolla tube entrance diameter. Our results suggested the important influence of pollinator‐mediated selection on floral evolution. Variations in pollinator assemblages not only resulted in variation in the direction of selection but also the strength of selection on floral traits.

No abstract

The magnetic field is generally considered to be incompatible with superconductivity as it tends to spin-polarize electrons and breaks apart the opposite-spin singlet superconducting Cooper pairs. Here an experimental phenomenon is observed that an intriguing reemergent superconductivity evolves from a conventional superconductivity undergoing a hump-like intermediate phase with a finite electric resistance in the van der Waals heterointerface of layered NbSe2 and CrCl3 flakes. This phenomenon merely occurred when the applied magnetic field is parallel to the sample plane and perpendicular to the electric current direction as compared to the reference sample of NbSe2 thin flake. The strong anisotropy of reemergent superconducting phase is pointed to the nature of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state driven by the strong interfacial spin-orbit coupling between NbSe2 and CrCl3 layers. The theoretical picture of FFLO state nodes induced by Josephson vortices collectively pinning is presented for well understanding the experimental observation of the reemergent superconductivity. This finding sheds light on an opportunity to search for the exotic FFLO state in the van der Waals heterostructures with strong interfacial spin-orbit coupling.

Using infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry, the dielectric functions of (111) oriented Bi2Ti2O7 thin films with pyrochlore structure prepared on Pt∕Ti∕SiO2∕Si substrate were determined in the temperature range of 20–70 °C. It is demonstrated that there is a phase transition that appears near 40 °C in terms of static effective charge as a function of temperature calculated from the infrared spectroscopic ellipsometric data of Bi2Ti2O7 thin films. It suggests that the static effective charge is related to the structural distortion, which can facilitate the polarization of Bi2Ti2O7. Accordingly, ferroelectricity in Bi2Ti2O7 is proved by analyzing the infrared dielectric function.

Elucidating how variation in selection shapes the evolution of flowers is key to understanding adaptive differentiation processes. We estimated pollinator-mediated selection through female function in L-morph (long-style and short-anther phenotype) and S-morph (short-style and long-anther phenotype) flowers among four Primula secundiflora populations with different pollinator assemblages. Variation in pollinator assemblage strongly contributed to differences in reproductive success among populations and between morphs of the primrose species. A wider corolla tube width was selected in the bumblebee-dominated populations, whereas shorter corolla tube length and wider corolla tube width were selected in the syrphid fly-dominated populations. Morph-specific variation in pollinator-mediated selection on corolla tube length was detected in the syrphid fly-dominated populations. A shorter corolla tube was selected in the L-morph flowers. However, similar selective pressure on this trait was not observed in the S-morph flowers. These results show that variation in pollinator assemblage leads to variation in selection in space and between morphs. The findings highlight the potential forces of different pollinator agents in driving floral evolution in this primrose species.

The microbial diversity of soil, grape leaves and grape fruits from three wine‐growing areas in Xinjiang, China were analysed using high‐throughput sequencing. Results show that five fungal phyla and 237 fungal genera, as well as eight bacterial phyla and 314 bacterial genera were detected in 27 samples. For both fungi and bacteria, the microbial diversity was most complex in the soil, followed by grape leaves and fruit. In the soil samples, Ascomycota, Sordariales, Tetracladium and Geomyces were the dominant fungal genus, while Arthrobacter, Kaistobacter and Skermanella were the dominant bacterial genus. With regard grape leaves and fruit, Aureobasidium, Cryptococcus, Aspergillus and Pleosporaceae were the dominant fungal genus, while Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas and Adhaeribacter were the dominant bacterial genus. Different geographical locations were associated with differences in microbial diversity. The complex microflora of vineyards provides a basis for further microbial screening and its potential utilization in different regions. © 2018 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling