Regulation of osmoadaptation in the moderate halophile Halobacillus halophilus: chloride, glutamate and switching osmolyte strategies

The moderate halophile Halobacillus halophilus is the paradigm for chloride dependent growth in prokaryotes. Recent experiments shed light on the molecular basis of the chloride dependence that is reviewed here. In the presence of moderate salinities Halobacillus halophilus mainly accumulates glutamine and glutamate to adjust turgor. The transcription of glnA2 (encoding a glutamine synthetase) as well as the glutamine synthetase activity were identified as chloride dependent steps. Halobacillus halophilus switches its osmolyte strategy and produces proline as the main compatible solute at high salinities. Furthermore, Halobacillus halophilus also shifts its osmolyte strategy at the transition from the exponential to the stationary phase where proline is exchanged by ectoine. Glutamate was found as a “second messenger” essential for proline production. This observation leads to a new model of sensing salinity by sensing the physico-chemical properties of different anions

Bis[N,N′-bis­(2,6-diisopropyl­phen­yl)ethane-1,2-diimine]-1κ2 N,N′;2κ2 N,N′-tri-μ-trichlorido-1:2κ6 Cl:Cl-chlorido-1κCl-tetra­hydro­furan-2κO-dichromium(II) dichloro­methane 4.5-solvate

In the mol­ecular structure of the title compound, [Cr2Cl4(C26H36N2)2(C4H8O)]·4.5CH2Cl2, the two CrII centers are bridged by three Cl atoms, forming a dinuclear complex. Each CrII center is coordinated by one chelating bis­(2,6-diisopropyl­phen­yl)ethane-1,2-diimine ligand via both N atoms. An additional chloride ion binds to one chromium center, whereas an additional tetra­hydro­furan mol­ecule coordinates to the second CrII center. The coordination geometry at each CrII center can be best described as distorted octa­hedral

[2,2-Bis(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)propane-κ2 P,P′]tetra­carbonyl­chromium(0) dichloro­methane monosolvate

The title compound, [Cr(C27H26P2)(CO)4]·CH2Cl2, was obtained by the reaction of Ph2PCMe2PPh2 with Cr(CO)6 in refluxing toluene by substitution of two carbonyl ligands. The CrC4P2 coordination geometry at the Cr atom is distorted octa­hedral, with a P—Cr—P bite angle of 70.27 (2)°

Diacetonitrile[N,N′-bis(2,6-diisopropyl­phenyl)ethane-1,2-diimine]dichloridochromium(II) acetonitrile solvate

The title compound, [CrCl2(CH3CN)2(C26H36N2)]·CH3CN, was synthesized by the reaction of CrCl2(THF)2 with N,N′-bis­(2,6-diisopropyl­phen­yl)ethane-1,2-diimine in dichloro­methane/acetonitrile. The chromium center is coordinated by two N atoms of the chelating diimine ligand, two chloride ions in a trans configuration with respect to each other, and by two N atoms of two acetonitrile mol­ecules in a distorted octa­hedral geometry

[Bis(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)dimethyl­silane-κ2 P,P′]tetra­carbonyl­chromium(0)

The title compound, [Cr(C26H26P2Si)(CO)4], was obtained by the reaction of Ph2PSiMe2PPh2 with Cr(CO)6 in refluxing toluene by ligand exchange. The CrC4P2 coordination geometry at the Cr atom is distorted octa­hedral, with a P—Cr—P bite angle of 80.27 (1)°

Modern Michelson-Morley experiment using cryogenic optical resonators

We report on a new test of Lorentz invariance performed by comparing the resonance frequencies of two orthogonal cryogenic optical resonators subject to Earth's rotation over 1 year. For a possible anisotropy of the speed of light c, we obtain 2.6 +/- 1.7 parts in 10^15. Within the Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl test theory, this implies an isotropy violation parameter beta - delta - 1/2 of -2.2 +/- 1.5 parts in 10^9, about three times lower than the best previous result. Within the general extension of the standard model of particle physics, we extract limits on 7 parameters at accuracies down to a part in 10^15, improving the best previous result by about two orders of magnitude

Bis[μ-N,N′-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)ethene-1,2-diamido]-1,4(η2);1:2κ4 N:N;3:4κ4 N:N-bis(diethyl ether)-1κO,4κO-di-μ-hydrido-2:3κ4 H:H-2,3-dichromium(II)-1,4-dilithium(I) pentane hemisolvate

The title compound, [Cr2Li2(C26H36N2)2(μ-H)2(C4H10O)2]·0.5C5H12, is a binuclear chromium complex bridged by two hydrogen atoms. Each chromium atom is coordinated in a distorted square-planar geometry by one chelating bis­(2,6-diisopropyl­phen­yl)ethene-1,2-diamido ligand via its two N atoms. Additionally, two diametrically opposed lithium ether adducts coordinate in an η4 mode on the backbone of the ligands. There is a crystallographic inversion center in the middle of the Cr2H2 ring. One of the isopropyl groups is disordered over two positions in a 0.567 (7):0.433 (7) ratio. Disorder is also observed in the pentane hemisolvate molecule

PTGER4 expression-modulating polymorphisms in the 5p13.1 region predispose to Crohn's disease and affect NF-κB and XBP1 binding sites.

Genome-wide association studies identified a PTGER4 expression-modulating region on chromosome 5p13.1 as Crohn's disease (CD) susceptibility region. The study aim was to test this association in a large cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and to elucidate genotypic and phenotypic interactions with other IBD genes. A total of 7073 patients and controls were genotyped: 844 CD and 471 patients with ulcerative colitis and 1488 controls were analyzed for the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs4495224 and rs7720838 on chromosome 5p13.1. The study included two replication cohorts of North American (CD: n = 684; controls: n = 1440) and of German origin (CD: n = 1098; controls: n = 1048). Genotype-phenotype, epistasis and transcription factor binding analyses were performed. In the discovery cohort, an association of rs4495224 (p = 4.10×10⁻⁵; 0.76 [0.67-0.87]) and of rs7720838 (p = 6.91×10⁻⁴; 0.81 [0.71-0.91]) with susceptibility to CD was demonstrated. These associations were confirmed in both replication cohorts. In silico analysis predicted rs4495224 and rs7720838 as essential parts of binding sites for the transcription factors NF-κB and XBP1 with higher binding scores for carriers of the CD risk alleles, providing an explanation of how these SNPs might contribute to increased PTGER4 expression. There was no association of the PTGER4 SNPs with IBD phenotypes. Epistasis detected between 5p13.1 and ATG16L1 for CD susceptibility in the discovery cohort (p = 5.99×10⁻⁷ for rs7720838 and rs2241880) could not be replicated in both replication cohorts arguing against a major role of this gene-gene interaction in the susceptibility to CD. We confirmed 5p13.1 as a major CD susceptibility locus and demonstrate by in silico analysis rs4495224 and rs7720838 as part of binding sites for NF-κB and XBP1. Further functional studies are necessary to confirm the results of our in silico analysis and to analyze if changes in PTGER4 expression modulate CD susceptibility

(Isopropyl­amino)(meth­yl)diphenyl­phospho­nium iodide

The title compound, C16H21NP+·I−, was obtained by the reaction of Ph2PN(iPr)P(Ph)N(iPr)H with MeI involving cleavage of one of the P—N bonds in diethyl ether. The two phenyl rings form a dihedral angle of 82.98 (5)°. A weak donor–acceptor N—H⋯I inter­action is observed

[N,N-Bis(diphenyl­phosphino)isopropyl­amine]dibromidonickel(II)

The title compound, [NiBr2(C27H27NP2)], was synthesized by the reaction of NiBr2(dme) (dme is 1,2-dimethoxy­ethane) with N,N-bis­(diphenyl­phosphino)isopropyl­amine in methanol/tetra­hydro­furan. The nickel(II) center is coordinated by two P atoms of the chelating PNP ligand, Ph2PN(iPr)PPh2, and two bromide ions in a distorted square-planar geometry