ZnSe/ZnSeTe Superlattice Nanotips

The authors report the growth of ZnSe/ZnSeTe superlattice nanotips on oxidized Si(100) substrate. It was found the nanotips exhibit mixture of cubic zinc-blende and hexagonal wurtzite structures. It was also found that photoluminescence intensities observed from the ZnSe/ZnSeTe superlattice nanotips were much larger than that observed from the homogeneous ZnSeTe nanotips. Furthermore, it was found that activation energies for the ZnSe/ZnSeTe superlattice nanotips with well widths of 16, 20, and 24 nm were 76, 46, and 19 meV, respectively

Chemolithotrophic nitrate-dependent Fe(II)-oxidizing nature of actinobacterial subdivision lineage TM3

Anaerobic nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidation is widespread in various environments and is known to be performed by both heterotrophic and autotrophic microorganisms. Although Fe(II) oxidation is predominantly biological under acidic conditions, to date most of the studies on nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidation were from environments of circumneutral pH. The present study was conducted in Lake Grosse Fuchskuhle, a moderately acidic ecosystem receiving humic acids from an adjacent bog, with the objective of identifying, characterizing and enumerating the microorganisms responsible for this process. The incubations of sediment under chemolithotrophic nitrate-dependent Fe(II)-oxidizing conditions have shown the enrichment of TM3 group of uncultured Actinobacteria. A time-course experiment done on these Actinobacteria showed a consumption of Fe(II) and nitrate in accordance with the expected stoichiometry (1:0.2) required for nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidation. Quantifications done by most probable number showed the presence of 1 × 10(4) autotrophic and 1 × 10(7) heterotrophic nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidizers per gram fresh weight of sediment. The analysis of microbial community by 16S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing showed that these actinobacterial sequences correspond to ~0.6% of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences. Stable isotope probing using (13)CO2 was performed with the lake sediment and showed labeling of these Actinobacteria. This indicated that they might be important autotrophs in this environment. Although these Actinobacteria are not dominant members of the sediment microbial community, they could be of functional significance due to their contribution to the regeneration of Fe(III), which has a critical role as an electron acceptor for anaerobic microorganisms mineralizing sediment organic matter. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to show the autotrophic nitrate-dependent Fe(II)-oxidizing nature of TM3 group of uncultured Actinobacteri