Spin Reversal of a Quantum Hall Ferromagnet at a Landau Level Crossing

When Landau levels (LLs) become degenerate near the Fermi energy in the quantum Hall regime, interaction effects can drastically modify the electronic ground state. We study the quantum Hall ferromagnet formed in a two-dimensional hole gas around the LL filling factor $\nu=1$ in the vicinity of a LL crossing in the heave-hole valence band. Cavity spectroscopy in the strong-coupling regime allows us to optically extract the two-dimensional hole gas' spin polarization. By analyzing this polarization as a function of hole density and magnetic field, we observe a spin flip of the ferromagnet. Furthermore, the depolarization away from $\nu=1$ accelerates close to the LL crossing. This is indicative of an increase in the size of Skyrmion excitations as the effective Zeeman energy vanishes at the LL crossing

Recovery of pectinases from Aspergillus niger using aqueous two-phase systems / Recuperação de pectinases de Aspergillus niger usando sistemas aquosos bifásicos

This work aimed to study the purification of pectinases by aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The crude enzymatic extract was produced by Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642 and contained exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG), pectinmethylesterase (PME) and pectin lyase (PMGL). The ATPS systems tested consisted in the combinations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and potassium phosphate and sodium citrate, alcohol (ethanol, n-propanol and isopropanol) and salt (ammonium sulfate, potassium phosphate and sodium citrate). The experiments showed higher recoveries using ATPS system - PEG/phosphate for the exo-PG were using 16% PEG 4.0 kDa/4.8% NaCl and 16% PEG 1.5 kDa/without NaCl, obtaining purification factors (PF) of 1.37 and 1.21 times and recovery (R) of 49 and 59%, respectively. However, for the enzymes PME and PMGL were of 4.8 and 4.7 fold and 478 and 241%, respectively. When used ATPS system - PEG/sodium citrate the best PF were of 2.4, 7.85 and 5.7 and R of 100, 331 and 239% for exo-PG, PME and PMGL, respectively. The ATPS system is an alternative and efficient method for the recovery and/or purification of pectinases. This work aimed to study the purification of pectinases by aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The crude enzymatic extract was produced by Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642 and contained exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG), pectinmethylesterase (PME) and pectin lyase (PMGL). The ATPS systems tested consisted in the combinations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and potassium phosphate and sodium citrate, alcohol (ethanol, n-propanol and isopropanol) and salt (ammonium sulfate, potassium phosphate and sodium citrate). The experiments showed higher recoveries using ATPS system - PEG/phosphate for the exo-PG were using 16% PEG 4.0 kDa/4.8% NaCl and 16% PEG 1.5 kDa/without NaCl, obtaining purification factors (PF) of 1.37 and 1.21 times and recovery (R) of 49 and 59%, respectively. However, for the enzymes PME and PMGL were of 4.8 and 4.7 fold and 478 and 241%, respectively. When used ATPS system - PEG/sodium citrate the best PF were of 2.4, 7.85 and 5.7 and R of 100, 331 and 239% for exo-PG, PME and PMGL, respectively. The ATPS system is an alternative and efficient method for the recovery and/or purification of pectinases. This work aimed to study the purification of pectinases by aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The crude enzymatic extract was produced by Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642 and contained exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG), pectinmethylesterase (PME) and pectin lyase (PMGL). The ATPS systems tested consisted in the combinations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and potassium phosphate and sodium citrate, alcohol (ethanol, n-propanol and isopropanol) and salt (ammonium sulfate, potassium phosphate and sodium citrate). The experiments showed higher recoveries using ATPS system - PEG/phosphate for the exo-PG were using 16% PEG 4.0 kDa/4.8% NaCl and 16% PEG 1.5 kDa/without NaCl, obtaining purification factors (PF) of 1.37 and 1.21 times and recovery (R) of 49 and 59%, respectively. However, for the enzymes PME and PMGL were of 4.8 and 4.7 fold and 478 and 241%, respectively. When used ATPS system - PEG/sodium citrate the best PF were of 2.4, 7.85 and 5.7 and R of 100, 331 and 239% for exo-PG, PME and PMGL, respectively. The ATPS system is an alternative and efficient method for the recovery and/or purification of pectinases

Environmental metabarcoding reveals contrasting belowground and aboveground fungal communities from poplar at a Hg phytomanagement site

Characterization of microbial communities in stressful conditions at a field level is rather scarce, especially when considering fungal communities from aboveground habitats. We aimed at characterizing fungal communities from different poplar habitats at a Hg-contaminated phytomanagement site by using Illumina-based sequencing, network analysis approach, and direct isolation of Hg-resistant fungal strains. The highest diversity estimated by the Shannon index was found for soil communities, which was negatively affected by soil Hg concentration. Among the significant correlations between soil operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the co-occurrence network, 80% were negatively correlated revealing dominance of a pattern of mutual exclusion. The fungal communities associated with Populus roots mostly consisted of OTUs from the symbiotic guild, such as members of the Thelephoraceae, thus explaining the lowest diversity found for root communities. Additionally, root communities showed the highest network connectivity index, while rarely detected OTUs from the Glomeromycetes may have a central role in the root network. Unexpectedly high richness and diversity were found for aboveground habitats, compared to the root habitat. The aboveground habitats were dominated by yeasts from the Lalaria, Davidiella, and Bensingtonia genera, not detected in belowground habitats. Leaf and stem habitats were characterized by few dominant OTUs such as those from the Dothideomycete class producing mutual exclusion with other OTUs. Aureobasidium pullulans, one of the dominating OTUs, was further isolated from the leaf habitat, in addition to Nakazawaea populi species, which were found to be Hg resistant. Altogether, these findings will provide an improved point of reference for microbial research on inoculation-based programs of tailings dumps