Proteomic Analysis of Fusarium solani Isolated from the Asian Longhorned Beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis

Wood is a highly intractable food source, yet many insects successfully colonize and thrive in this challenging niche. Overcoming the lignin barrier of wood is a key challenge in nutrient acquisition, but full depolymerization of intact lignin polymers has only been conclusively demonstrated in fungi and is not known to occur by enzymes produced by insects or bacteria. Previous research validated that lignocellulose and hemicellulose degradation occur within the gut of the wood boring insect, Anoplophora glabripennis (Asian longhorned beetle), and that a fungal species, Fusarium solani (ATCC MYA 4552), is consistently associated with the larval stage. While the nature of this relationship is unresolved, we sought to assess this fungal isolate's ability to degrade lignocellulose and cell wall polysaccharides and to extract nutrients from woody tissue. This gut-derived fungal isolate was inoculated onto a wood-based substrate and shotgun proteomics using Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT) was employed to identify 400 expressed proteins. Through this approach, we detected proteins responsible for plant cell wall polysaccharide degradation, including proteins belonging to 28 glycosyl hydrolase families and several cutinases, esterases, lipases, pectate lyases, and polysaccharide deacetylases. Proteinases with broad substrate specificities and ureases were observed, indicating that this isolate has the capability to digest plant cell wall proteins and recycle nitrogenous waste under periods of nutrient limitation. Additionally, several laccases, peroxidases, and enzymes involved in extracellular hydrogen peroxide production previously implicated in lignin depolymerization were detected. In vitro biochemical assays were conducted to corroborate MudPIT results and confirmed that cellulases, glycosyl hydrolases, xylanases, laccases, and Mn- independent peroxidases were active in culture; however, lignin- and Mn- dependent peroxidase activities were not detected While little is known about the role of filamentous fungi and their associations with insects, these findings suggest that this isolate has the endogenous potential to degrade lignocellulose and extract nutrients from woody tissue

Review on catalytic cleavage of C-C inter-unit linkages in lignin model compounds: Towards lignin depolymerisation

Lignin depolymerisation has received considerable attention recently due to the pressing need to find sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel feedstock to produce chemicals and fuels. Two types of interunit linkages (C–C and C–O linkages) link several aromatic units in the structure of lignin. Between these two inter-unit linkages, the bond energies of C–C linkages are higher than that of C–O linkages, making them harder to break. However, for an efficient lignin depolymerisation, both types of inter-unit linkages have to be broken. This is more relevant because of the fact that many delignification processes tend to result in the formation of additional C–C inter-unit bonds. Here we review the strategies reported for the cleavage of C–C inter-unit linkages in lignin model compounds and lignin. Although a number of articles are available on the cleavage of C–O inter-unit linkages, reports on the selective cleavage of C–C inter-unit linkages are relatively less. Oxidative cleavage, hydrogenolysis, two-step redox-neutral process, microwave assisted cleavage, biocatalytic and photocatalytic methods have been reported for the breaking of C–C inter-unit linkages in lignin. Here we review all these methods in detail, focused only on the breaking of C–C linkages. The objective of this review is to motivate researchers to design new strategies to break this strong C–C inter-unit bonds to valorise lignins, technical lignins in particular

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

LINE BROADENING OF NE-LIKE XENON AS A DIAGNOSTIC FOR HIGH-DENSITY IMPLOSION EXPERIMENTS

8TH TOPICAL CONF ON HIGH TEMPERATURE PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS, HYANNIS, MA, MAY 06-10, 1990International audienc

Spectroscopy of compressed high energy density matter

International audienceA theoretical and experimental time-resolved spectroscopic investigation of indirectly driven microsphere implosions is described. The plasma dynamics is studied for several fill gases with a trace amount of argon. Through an analysis of the line profile of Ar XVII 1s(2)-1s(3)p P-1, with a line center position at E(v) = 3684 eV, the evolution of the plasma density and temperature as a function of fill gas is examined. The theoretical calculations are performed with a fast computer code, which has been previously benchmarked through the analysis of specific complex ionic spectra in hot dense plasmas. The experimental aspect of the work utilizes the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Nova 10 beam laser facility to indirectly drive the implosion of a gas filled plastic microsphere contained in a gold Holhraum target. The dynamical density measurement is derived from a streak camera linewidth measurement and a comparison with the computed profile. Calculations demonstrate that in certain cases there can be a substantial ion dynamics effect on the line shape. The frequency fluctuation model is used to compute the effect on the line profile and a comparison with the experimental spectra provides evidence that ion dynamics may be affecting the Line shape. This study provides a method for obtaining an improved understanding of the basic processes dominating the underlying plasma physics of matter compressed to a state of high energy density

Competing effects of collisional ionization and radiative cooling in inertially confined plasmas

International audienceWe describe an experimental investigation, a detailed analysis of the Ar XVII 1s(2 1)S-1s3p P-1 (He beta) line shape formed in a high-energy-density implosion, and report on one-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics simulation of the implosion. In this experiment trace quantities of argon are doped into a lower-Z gas-filled core of a plastic microsphere. The dopant level is controlled to ensure that the He beta transition is optically thin and easily observable. Then the observed line shape is used to derive electron temperatures (T-e) and electron densities (n(e)). The high-energy density plasma, with T-e approaching 1 keV and n(e) = 10(24) cm(-3), is created by placing the microsphere in a gold cylindrical enclosure, the interior of which is directly irradiated by a high-energy laser; the x rays produced by this laser-gold interaction indirectly implode the microsphere. Central to the interpretation of the hydrodynamics of the implosions is the characterization and understanding of the formation of these plasmas. To develop an understanding of the plasma and its temporal evolution, time-resolved T-e and n(e) measurements are extracted using techniques that are independent of the plasma hydrodynamics. Comparing spectroscopic diagnostics with measurements derived from other diagnostic methods, we find the spectroscopic measurements to be reliable and further we find that the experiment-to-experiment comparison shows that these implosions are reproducible

Evolution of electron temperature and electron density in indirectly driven spherical implosions

International audienceUsing spectroscopic measurements to extract electron density and temperature, we construct simulation-independent time histories of the assembly and disassembly phase of an imploding core, To achieve this, we show the hot dense plasma produced by indirectly imploding gas-filled microsphere is a reproducible and reliable plasma source. We further show that this plasma is suitable for detailed hydrodynamic and spectroscopic studies, and that the plasma provides a useful testbed for nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium plasma studies at extreme conditions