Genomic analysis of three Bradyrhizobium geno(species) nodulating Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) in Peru

The Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus), also known as pallar, ibes, garrofón or butter bean in Peru, México, Spain and USA, respectively, is the second most economically important species of Phaseolus. Peru is a centre of origin and domestication of Lima bean. This crop is cultivated mainly in the Central coast of Peru under a subtropical arid climate. In contrast to the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) which forms nodules with fast growing Rhizobium strains, the Lima bean forms nodules with slow growing bacteria of the Bradyrhizobium genus (López-López et al. 2013, Ormeño-Orrillo et al. 2006). We found strains of Bradyrhizobium yuanmingense and of three novel Bradyrhizobium genospecies inside P. lunatus nodules in Peru (Ormeño- Orrillo et al. 2006). Strains of the three novel genospecies were characterized by showing an extra-slow growing phenotype (generation time > 10 h-1) and strong alkali production in yeast extract mannitol medium. Two of the novel genospecies were recently named as Bradyrhizobium paxllaeri and Bradyrhizobium icense (Durán et al. 2014). B. paxllaeri strains dominate nodule occupancy followed by those of B. icense and then the third and yet-unnamed genospecies. With the aim to gain insights into this differential competitive ability, we sequenced the genome of one representative strain of each species. Sequencing was performed with the Illumina HiSeq or MiSeq platform and genome assembly with the SPAdes program. Gene prediction and automated annotation was performed with Prokka and RAST. Annotation of genes putatively involved in competitiveness was manually curated. Assemblies had from 55 to 175 contigs, with N50 sizes > 131 kb. Genome sizes of B. paxllaeri and B. icense were similar (8.2 Mb) and larger than that of the third genospecies (7.8 Mb). Preliminary analysis revealed differences between B. paxllaeri and the other two genospecies such as more genes for type IV pilus and two nodA genes. A comparative genomic analysis of P. lunatus symbionts will be presented at the meeting

Significant and variable linear polarization during the prompt optical flash of GRB 160625B.

Newly formed black holes of stellar mass launch collimated outflows (jets) of ionized matter that approach the speed of light. These outflows power prompt, brief and intense flashes of γ-rays known as γ-ray bursts (GRBs), followed by longer-lived afterglow radiation that is detected across the electromagnetic spectrum. Measuring the polarization of the observed GRB radiation provides a direct probe of the magnetic fields in the collimated jets. Rapid-response polarimetric observations of newly discovered bursts have probed the initial afterglow phase, and show that, minutes after the prompt emission has ended, the degree of linear polarization can be as high as 30 per cent-consistent with the idea that a stable, globally ordered magnetic field permeates the jet at large distances from the central source. By contrast, optical and γ-ray observations during the prompt phase have led to discordant and often controversial results, and no definitive conclusions have been reached regarding the origin of the prompt radiation or the configuration of the magnetic field. Here we report the detection of substantial (8.3 ± 0.8 per cent from our most conservative simulation), variable linear polarization of a prompt optical flash that accompanied the extremely energetic and long-lived prompt γ-ray emission from GRB 160625B. Our measurements probe the structure of the magnetic field at an early stage of the jet, closer to its central black hole, and show that the prompt phase is produced via fast-cooling synchrotron radiation in a large-scale magnetic field that is advected from the black hole and distorted by dissipation processes within the jet

Search for muon-neutrino emission from GeV and TeV gamma-ray flaring blazars using five years of data of the ANTARES telescope

The ANTARES telescope is well-suited for detecting astrophysical transient neutrino sources as it can observe a full hemisphere of the sky at all times with a high duty cycle. The background due to atmospheric particles can be drastically reduced, and the point-source sensitivity improved, by selecting a narrow time window around possible neutrino production periods. Blazars, being radio-loud active galactic nuclei with their jets pointing almost directly towards the observer, are particularly attractive potential neutrino point sources, since they are among the most likely sources of the very high-energy cosmic rays. Neutrinos and gamma rays may be produced in hadronic interactions with the surrounding medium. Moreover, blazars generally show high time variability in their light curves at different wavelengths and on various time scales. This paper presents a time-dependent analysis applied to a selection of flaring gamma-ray blazars observed by the FERMI/LAT experiment and by TeV Cherenkov telescopes using five years of ANTARES data taken from 2008 to 2012. The results are compatible with fluctuations of the background. Upper limits on the neutrino fluence have been produced and compared to the measured gamma-ray spectral energy distribution.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figure

The Antares Collaboration : Contributions to the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2015, The Hague)

The ANTARES detector, completed in 2008, is the largest neutrino telescope in the Northern hemisphere. Located at a depth of 2.5 km in the Mediterranean Sea, 40 km off the Toulon shore, its main goal is the search for astrophysical high energy neutrinos. In this paper we collect the 21 contributions of the ANTARES collaboration to the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2015). The scientific output is very rich and the contributions included in these proceedings cover the main physics results, ranging from steady point sources, diffuse searches, multi-messenger analyses to exotic physics

All-sky Search for High-Energy Neutrinos from Gravitational Wave Event GW170104 with the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

Advanced LIGO detected a significant gravitational wave signal (GW170104) originating from the coalescence of two black holes during the second observation run on January 4$^{\textrm{th}}$, 2017. An all-sky high-energy neutrino follow-up search has been made using data from the ANTARES neutrino telescope, including both upgoing and downgoing events in two separate analyses. No neutrino candidates were found within $\pm500$ s around the GW event time nor any time clustering of events over an extended time window of $\pm3$ months. The non-detection is used to constrain isotropic-equivalent high-energy neutrino emission from GW170104 to less than $\sim4\times 10^{54}$ erg for a $E^{-2}$ spectrum

The ANTARES Collaboration: Contributions to ICRC 2017 Part I: Neutrino astronomy (diffuse fluxes and point sources)

Papers on neutrino astronomy (diffuse fluxes and point sources, prepared for the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017, Busan, South Korea) by the ANTARES Collaboratio