Complete genome sequence of the Medicago microsymbiont Ensifer (Sinorhizobium) medicae strain WSM419

Ensifer (Sinorhizobium) medicae is an effective nitrogen fixing microsymbiont of a diverse range of annual Medicago (medic) species. Strain WSM419 is an aerobic, motile, non-spore forming, Gram-negative rod isolated from a M. murex root nodule collected in Sardinia, Italy in 1981. WSM419 was manufactured commercially in Australia as an inoculant for annual medics during 1985 to 1993 due to its nitrogen fixation, saprophytic competence and acid tolerance properties. Here we describe the basic features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence, and annotation. This is the first report of a complete genome se-quence for a microsymbiont of the group of annual medic species adapted to acid soils. We reveal that its genome size is 6,817,576 bp encoding 6,518 protein-coding genes and 81 RNA only encoding genes. The genome contains a chromosome of size 3,781,904 bp and 3 plasmids of size 1,570,951 bp, 1,245,408 bp and 219,313 bp. The smallest plasmid is a fea-ture unique to this medic microsymbiont

Resonance effects on the crossover of bosonic to fermionic superfluidity

Feshbach scattering resonances are being utilized in atomic gases to explore the entire crossover region from a Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) of composite bosons to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) of Cooper pairs. Several theoretical descriptions of the crossover have been developed based on an assumption that the fermionic interactions are dependent only on the value of a single microscopic parameter, the scattering length for the interaction of fermion particles. Such a picture is not universal, however, and is only applicable to describe a system with an energetically broad Feshbach resonance. In the more general case in which narrow Feshbach resonances are included in the discussion, one must consider how the energy dependence of the scattering phase shift affects the physical properties of the system. We develop a theoretical framework which allows for a tuning of the scattering phase shift and its energy dependence, whose parameters can be fixed from realistic scattering solutions of the atomic physics. We show that BCS-like nonlocal solutions may build up in conditions of resonance scattering, depending on the effective range of the interactions.Comment: 8 pages,7 figure

Quantifying the effect of corrective surgery for trigonocephaly: A non-invasive, non-ionizing method using three-dimensional handheld scanning and statistical shape modelling

Trigonocephaly in patients with metopic synostosis is corrected by fronto-orbital remodelling (FOR). The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess aesthetic outcomes of FOR by capturing 3D forehead scans of metopic patients pre- and post-operatively and comparing them with controls. Ten single-suture metopic patients undergoing FOR and 15 age-matched non-craniosynostotic controls were recruited at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (UK). Scans were acquired with a three-dimensional (3D) handheld camera and post-processed combining 3D imaging software. 3D scans were first used for cephalometric measurements. Statistical shape modelling was then used to compute the 3D mean head shapes of the three groups (FOR pre-op, post-op and controls). Head shape variations were described via principal component analysis (PCA). Cephalometric measurements showed that FOR significantly increased the forehead volume and improved trigonocephaly. This improvement was supported visually by pre- and post-operative computed mean 3D shapes and numerically by PCA (p < 0.001). Compared with controls, post-operative scans showed flatter foreheads (p < 0.001). In conclusion, 3D scanning followed by 3D statistical shape modelling enabled the 3D comparison of forehead shapes of metopic patients and non-craniosynostotic controls, and demonstrated that the adopted FOR technique was successful in correcting bitemporal narrowing but overcorrected the rounding of the forehead

Electron Cloud Generation And Trapping in a Quadrupole Magnet at the Los Alamos PSR

A diagnostic to measure electron cloud formation and trapping in a quadrupole magnet has been developed, installed, and successfully tested at PSR. Beam studies with this diagnostic show that the electron flux striking the wall in the quadrupole is comparable to or larger than in an adjacent drift. In addition, the trapped electron signal, obtained using the sweeping feature of diagnostic, was larger than expected and decayed very slowly with an exponential time constant of 50 to 100 {micro}s. Experimental results were also obtained which suggest that a significant fraction of the electrons observed in the adjacent drift space were seeded by electrons ejected from the quadrupole

The model legume Medicago truncatula A17 is poorly matched for N2fixation with the sequenced microsymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021

Medicago truncatula (barrel medic) A17 is currently being sequenced as a model legume, complementing the sequenced root nodule bacterial strain Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 (Sm1021). In this study, the effectiveness of the Sm1021-M. truncatula symbiosis at fixing N2 was evaluated. • N2 fixation effectiveness was examined with eight Medicago species and three accessions of M. truncatula with Sm1021 and two other Sinorhizobium strains. Plant shoot dry weights, plant nitrogen content and nodule distribution, morphology and number were analysed. • Compared with nitrogen-fed controls, Sm1021 was ineffective or partially effective on all hosts tested (excluding M. sativa), as measured by reduced dry weights and shoot N content. Against an effective strain, Sm1021 on M. truncatula accessions produced more nodules, which were small, pale, more widely distributed on the root system and with fewer infected cells. • The Sm1021-M. truncatula symbiosis is poorly matched for N2 fixation and the strain could possess broader N2 fixation deficiencies. A possible origin for this reduction in effectiveness is discussed. An alternative sequenced strain, effective at N2 fixation on M. truncatula A17, is Sinorhizobium medicae WSM419

Highly Specific hosts in the Listia section of the Legume Genus Lotononis are nodulated by Methylobacteria and by novel isolates that are a new genus of root nodule bacteria

Symbiotic specificity and nodule morphology are characteristics that can be used as taxonomic markers in the legume genus Lotononis and that support its division into two separate genera. Lotononis (from the Crotalarieae tribe in the Genistoid clade of the sub-family Fabaceae) is of mainly southern African origin, comprising some 150 species of herbs and small shrubs. Our work has shown that Lotononis is nodulated by phylogenetically diverse root nodule bacteria and that different specificity groups exist within the genus

Root nodule bacteria isolated from South African Lotononis bainesii, L. listii and L. solitudinis are species of Methylobacterium that are unable to utilize methanol

The South African legumes Lotononis bainesii, L. listii and L. solitudinis are specifically nodulated by highly effective, pink-pigmented bacteria that are most closely related to Methylobacterium nodulans on the basis of 16S rRNA gene homology. Methylobacterium spp. are characterized by their ability to utilize methanol and other C1 compounds, but 11 Lotononis isolates neither grew on methanol as a sole carbon source nor were able to metabolize it. No product was obtained for PCR amplification of mxaF, the gene encoding the large subunit of methanol dehydrogenase. Searches for methylotrophy genes in the sequenced genome of Methylobacterium sp. 4-46, isolated from L. bainesii, indicate that the inability to utilize methanol may be due to the absence of the mxa operon. While methylotrophy appears to contribute to the effectiveness of the Crotalaria/M. nodulans symbiosis, our results indicate that the ability to utilize methanol is not a factor in the Lotononis/Methylobacterium symbiosis

Origin of ocean island basalts: A new perspective from petrology, geochemistry and mineral physics considerations

Consideration of petrology, geochemistry, and mineral physics suggests that ancient subducted oceanic crusts cannot be the source materials supplying ocean island basalts (OIB). Melting of oceanic crusts cannot produce high-magnesian OIB lavas. Ancient oceanic crusts (>1 Ga) are isotopically too depleted to meet the required values of most OIB. Subducted oceanic crusts that have passed through subduction zone dehydration are likely to be depleted in water-soluble incompatible elements (e.g., Ba, Rb, Cs, U, K, Sr, Pb) relative to water-insoluble incompatible elements (e.g., Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Ti). Melting of residual crusts with such trace element composition cannot produce OIB. Oceanic crusts, if subducted into the lower mantle, will be >2% denser than the ambient mantle at shallow lower mantle depths. This negative buoyancy will impede return of the subducted oceanic crusts into the upper mantle. If subducted oceanic crusts melt at the base of the mantle, the resultant melts are even denser than the ambient peridotitic mantle, perhaps by as much as similar to15%. Neither in the solid state nor in melt form can bulk oceanic crusts subducted into the lower mantle return to upper mantle source regions of oceanic basalts. Deep portions of recycled oceanic lithosphere are important geochemical reservoirs hosting volatiles and incompatible elements as a result of metasomatism taking place at the interface between the low-velocity zone and the cooling and thickening oceanic lithosphere. These metasomatized and recycled deep portions of oceanic lithosphere are the most likely candidates for OIB sources in terms of petrology, geochemistry and mineral physics

Obvious problems in lunar petrogenesis and new perspectives

Forty-six years ago saw the first manned landing on the Moon and the return of the first lunar samples. Since then a vast database has been accumulated with many ideas published on lunar petrogenesis, yet important problems recognized in early days remain under-addressed. In this paper, we first review these problems and emphasize that these problems need resolving before genuine progress can be made. We then discuss that contrary to the prevalent view, the available data do not show the presence of a strong positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* > 1) in the lunar highland crust, but a weak negative one (Eu/Eu* 1; ∼1.99) and Sr (Sr/Sr* > 1; ∼2.56) anomalies, their absence inferred from the global remote sensing data is best explained by the widespread but areally and volumetrically insignificant KREEP-like material that is enriched in K, rare earth elements, and P (hence, KREEP) as well as all other incompatible elements with very strong negative Eu (Eu/Eu* << 1; as low as 0.24) and Sr (Sr/Sr* << 1; as low as 0.10) anomalies. The KREEP-like material may have been produced through fractional crystallization enrichment equivalent to processes in advancing, periodically replenished, periodically tapped, continuously fractionated magma chambers. Compared with magmatic rocks on the Earth, lunar rocks are depleted in moderately volatile elements like P, Na, K, Rb, Cs, etc., probably associated with volatilization during the early history of the lunar magmatism. Further work is needed toward an improved understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon and its magmatism