Pyridine-promoted dediazoniation of aryldiazonium tetrafluoroborates : application to the synthesis of SF5-substituted phenylboronic esters and iodobenzenes

Financial support from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Research Plan RVO: 61388963) and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (P207/12/0072) is gratefully acknowledged.Pyridine promotes dediazoniation of aryldiazonium tetrafluoroborates. The formed aryl radicals were trapped with B2pin2, iodine, or tetrahydrofuran to afford boronic esters, iodobenzenes and benzenes, respectively. The application to the synthesis of (pentafluorosulfanyl) phenylboronic esters, iodo(pentafluorosulfanyl)benzenes and (pentafluorosulfanyl)benzene is shown.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Single crystal X-ray structural features of aromatic compounds having a pentafluorosulfuranyl (SF5) functional group

The authors are grateful to the University of St Andrews for financial support.Nine pentafluorosulfuranyl (SF5)-containing aromatic compounds have been characterized crystallographically. The SF5 group has an umbrella geometry, and the sulfur atom in the SF5 group is in an approximately octahedral coordination environment. All S-F bond lengths [1.572(3) to 1.618(3) Å] are very similar and the C-S-Fax bond angles [178.94(14) to 180°] are very close to each other. The angle of two adjacent Feq is approximate to 90°. The intramolecular and intermolecular interactions such as Caryl-H···Feq, Caryl-H···O/N/F/Cl interactions, and π-stacking interactions play a very important role in their three-dimension packing frameworks.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe

Efficient Designer Nuclease-Based Homologous Recombination Enables Direct PCR Screening for Footprintless Targeted Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

SummaryGenetic engineering of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) via customized designer nucleases has been shown to be significantly more efficient than conventional gene targeting, but still typically depends on the introduction of additional genetic selection elements. In our study, we demonstrate the efficient nonviral and selection-independent gene targeting in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Our high efficiencies of up to 1.6% of gene-targeted hiPSCs, accompanied by a low background of randomly inserted transgenes, eliminated the need for antibiotic or fluorescence-activated cell sorting selection, and allowed the use of short donor oligonucleotides for footprintless gene editing. Gene-targeted hiPSC clones were established simply by direct PCR screening. This optimized approach allows targeted transgene integration into safe harbor sites for more predictable and robust expression and enables the straightforward generation of disease-corrected, patient-derived iPSC lines for research purposes and, ultimately, for future clinical applications

Primate iPS cells as tools for evolutionary analyses

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are regarded as a central tool to understand human biology in health and disease. Similarly, iPSCs from non-human primates should be a central tool to understand human evolution, in particular for assessing the conservation of regulatory networks in iPSC models. Here, we have generated human, gorilla, bonobo and cynomolgus monkey iPSCs and assess their usefulness in such a framework. We show that these cells are well comparable in their differentiation potential and are generally similar to human, cynomolgus and rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells (ESCs). RNA sequencing reveals that expression differences among clones, individuals and stem cell type are all of very similar magnitude within a species. In contrast, expression differences between closely related primate species are three times larger and most genes show significant expression differences among the analyzed species. However, pseudogenes differ more than twice as much, suggesting that evolution of expression levels in primate stem cells is rapid, but constrained. These patterns in pluripotent stem cells are comparable to those found in other tissues except testis. Hence, primate iPSCs reveal insights into general primate gene expression evolution and should provide a rich source to identify conserved and species-specific gene expression patterns for cellular phenotypes

Midgut microbiota of the malaria mosquito vector Anopheles gambiae and Interactions with plasmodium falciparum Infection

The susceptibility of Anopheles mosquitoes to Plasmodium infections relies on complex interactions between the insect vector and the malaria parasite. A number of studies have shown that the mosquito innate immune responses play an important role in controlling the malaria infection and that the strength of parasite clearance is under genetic control, but little is known about the influence of environmental factors on the transmission success. We present here evidence that the composition of the vector gut microbiota is one of the major components that determine the outcome of mosquito infections. A. gambiae mosquitoes collected in natural breeding sites from Cameroon were experimentally challenged with a wild P. falciparum isolate, and their gut bacterial content was submitted for pyrosequencing analysis. The meta-taxogenomic approach revealed a broader richness of the midgut bacterial flora than previously described. Unexpectedly, the majority of bacterial species were found in only a small proportion of mosquitoes, and only 20 genera were shared by 80% of individuals. We show that observed differences in gut bacterial flora of adult mosquitoes is a result of breeding in distinct sites, suggesting that the native aquatic source where larvae were grown determines the composition of the midgut microbiota. Importantly, the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae in the mosquito midgut correlates significantly with the Plasmodium infection status. This striking relationship highlights the role of natural gut environment in parasite transmission. Deciphering microbe-pathogen interactions offers new perspectives to control disease transmission.Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); French Agence Nationale pour la Recherche [ANR-11-BSV7-009-01]; European Community [242095, 223601]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ECLAIRE: Effects of Climate Change on Air Pollution Impacts and Response Strategies for European Ecosystems. Project final report

The central goal of ECLAIRE is to assess how climate change will alter the extent to which air pollutants threaten terrestrial ecosystems. Particular attention has been given to nitrogen compounds, especially nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3), as well as Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) in relation to tropospheric ozone (O3) formation, including their interactions with aerosol components. ECLAIRE has combined a broad program of field and laboratory experimentation and modelling of pollution fluxes and ecosystem impacts, advancing both mechanistic understanding and providing support to European policy makers. The central finding of ECLAIRE is that future climate change is expected to worsen the threat of air pollutants on Europe’s ecosystems. Firstly, climate warming is expected to increase the emissions of many trace gases, such as agricultural NH3, the soil component of NOx emissions and key BVOCs. Experimental data and numerical models show how these effects will tend to increase atmospheric N deposition in future. By contrast, the net effect on tropospheric O3 is less clear. This is because parallel increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations will offset the temperature-driven increase for some BVOCs, such as isoprene. By contrast, there is currently insufficient evidence to be confident that CO2 will offset anticipated climate increases in monoterpene emissions. Secondly, climate warming is found to be likely to increase the vulnerability of ecosystems towards air pollutant exposure or atmospheric deposition. Such effects may occur as a consequence of combined perturbation, as well as through specific interactions, such as between drought, O3, N and aerosol exposure. These combined effects of climate change are expected to offset part of the benefit of current emissions control policies. Unless decisive mitigation actions are taken, it is anticipated that ongoing climate warming will increase agricultural and other biogenic emissions, posing a challenge for national emissions ceilings and air quality objectives related to nitrogen and ozone pollution. The O3 effects will be further worsened if progress is not made to curb increases in methane (CH4) emissions in the northern hemisphere. Other key findings of ECLAIRE are that: 1) N deposition and O3 have adverse synergistic effects. Exposure to ambient O3 concentrations was shown to reduce the Nitrogen Use Efficiency of plants, both decreasing agricultural production and posing an increased risk of other forms of nitrogen pollution, such as nitrate leaching (NO3-) and the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O); 2) within-canopy dynamics for volatile aerosol can increase dry deposition and shorten atmospheric lifetimes; 3) ambient aerosol levels reduce the ability of plants to conserve water under drought conditions; 4) low-resolution mapping studies tend to underestimate the extent of local critical loads exceedance; 5) new dose-response functions can be used to improve the assessment of costs, including estimation of the value of damage due to air pollution effects on ecosystems, 6) scenarios can be constructed that combine technical mitigation measures with dietary change options (reducing livestock products in food down to recommended levels for health criteria), with the balance between the two strategies being a matter for future societal discussion. ECLAIRE has supported the revision process for the National Emissions Ceilings Directive and will continue to deliver scientific underpinning into the future for the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution