Potential advantage of multiple alkali metal doped KNbO3 single crystals

Potassium niobate crystal KNbO3 (KN) is a well-known crystal for lead free piezoelectric or nonlinear optical applications. The KN crystal has been studied in both single crystal form and in thin film form which has resulted in many review articles being published. In order to exceed the KN crystal, it is important to study KN phase forming and doping effects on the K site. This article summarizes the authors\u27 study towards a multiple alkali metal doped KN crystal and related single crystals briefly from the viewpoint of crystal growth

Comparative exploration on bifurcation behavior for integer-order and fractional-order delayed BAM neural networks

In the present study, we deal with the stability and the onset of Hopf bifurcation of two type delayed BAM neural networks (integer-order case and fractional-order case). By virtue of the characteristic equation of the integer-order delayed BAM neural networks and regarding time delay as critical parameter, a novel delay-independent condition ensuring the stability and the onset of Hopf bifurcation for the involved integer-order delayed BAM neural networks is built. Taking advantage of Laplace transform, stability theory and Hopf bifurcation knowledge of fractional-order differential equations, a novel delay-independent criterion to maintain the stability and the appearance of Hopf bifurcation for the addressed fractional-order BAM neural networks is established. The investigation indicates the important role of time delay in controlling the stability and Hopf bifurcation of the both type delayed BAM neural networks. By adjusting the value of time delay, we can effectively amplify the stability region and postpone the time of onset of Hopf bifurcation for the fractional-order BAM neural networks. Matlab simulation results are clearly presented to sustain the correctness of analytical results. The derived fruits of this study provide an important theoretical basis in regulating networks

Unlocking the mystery of the hard-to-sequence phage genome: PaP1 methylome and bacterial immunity

BACKGROUND: Whole-genome sequencing is an important method to understand the genetic information, gene function, biological characteristics and survival mechanisms of organisms. Sequencing large genomes is very simple at present. However, we encountered a hard-to-sequence genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage PaP1. Shotgun sequencing method failed to complete the sequence of this genome. RESULTS: After persevering for 10 years and going over three generations of sequencing techniques, we successfully completed the sequence of the PaP1 genome with a length of 91,715 bp. Single-molecule real-time sequencing results revealed that this genome contains 51 N-6-methyladenines and 152 N-4-methylcytosines. Three significant modified sequence motifs were predicted, but not all of the sites found in the genome were methylated in these motifs. Further investigations revealed a novel immune mechanism of bacteria, in which host bacteria can recognise and repel modified bases containing inserts in a large scale. This mechanism could be accounted for the failure of the shotgun method in PaP1 genome sequencing. This problem was resolved using the nfi(-) mutant of Escherichia coli DH5α as a host bacterium to construct a shotgun library. CONCLUSIONS: This work provided insights into the hard-to-sequence phage PaP1 genome and discovered a new mechanism of bacterial immunity. The methylome of phage PaP1 is responsible for the failure of shotgun sequencing and for bacterial immunity mediated by enzyme Endo V activity; this methylome also provides a valuable resource for future studies on PaP1 genome replication and modification, as well as on gene regulation and host interaction. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-803) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A‐to‐I RNA editing in Klebsiella pneumoniae regulates quorum sensing and affects cell growth and virulence

Millions of adenosine (A) to inosine (I) RNA editing events are reported and well-studied in eukaryotes; however, many features and functions remain unclear in prokaryotes. By combining PacBio Sequel, Illumina whole-genome sequencing, and RNA Sequencing data of two Klebsiella pneumoniae strains with different virulence, a total of 13 RNA editing events are identified. The RNA editing event of badR is focused, which shows a significant difference in editing levels in the two K. pneumoniae strains and is predicted to be a transcription factor. A hard-coded Cys is mutated on DNA to simulate the effect of complete editing of badR. Transcriptome analysis identifies the cellular quorum sensing (QS) pathway as the most dramatic change, demonstrating the dynamic regulation of RNA editing on badR related to coordinated collective behavior. Indeed, a significant difference in autoinducer 2 activity and cell growth is detected when the cells reach the stationary phase. Additionally, the mutant strain shows significantly lower virulence than the WT strain in the Galleria mellonella infection model. Furthermore, RNA editing regulation of badR is highly conserved across K. pneumoniae strains. Overall, this work provides new insights into posttranscriptional regulation in bacteria