312 research outputs found
Revealing natural relationships among arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: culture line BEG47 represents Diversispora epigaea, not Glomus versiforme
Background: Understanding the mechanisms underlying biological phenomena, such as evolutionarily conservative trait inheritance, is predicated on knowledge of the natural relationships among organisms. However, despite their enormous ecological significance, many of the ubiquitous soil inhabiting and plant symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, phylum Glomeromycota) are incorrectly classified.
Methodology/Principal Findings:
Here, we focused on a frequently used model AMF registered as culture BEG47. This fungus is a descendent of the ex-type culture-lineage of Glomus epigaeum, which in 1983 was synonymised with Glomus versiforme. It has since then been used as ‘G. versiforme BEG47’. We show by morphological comparisons, based on type material, collected 1860–61, of G. versiforme and on type material and living ex-type cultures of G. epigaeum, that these two AMF species cannot be conspecific, and by molecular phylogenetics that BEG47 is a member of the genus Diversispora.
Conclusions: This study highlights that experimental works published during the last >25 years on an AMF named ‘G. versiforme’ or ‘BEG47’ refer to D. epigaea, a species that is actually evolutionarily separated by hundreds of millions of years from all members of the genera in the Glomerales and thus from most other commonly used AMF ‘laboratory strains’. Detailed redescriptions substantiate the renaming of G. epigaeum (BEG47) as D. epigaea, positioning it systematically in the order Diversisporales, thus enabling an evolutionary understanding of genetical, physiological, and ecological traits, relative to those of other AMF. Diversispora epigaea is widely cultured as a laboratory strain of AMF, whereas G. versiforme appears not to have been cultured nor found in the field since its original description
Spectroscopy of stripe order in La1.8Sr0.2NiO4 using resonant soft x-ray diffraction
Strong resonant enhancements of the charge-order and spin-order
superstructure-diffraction intensities in La1.8Sr0.2NiO4 are observed when
x-ray energies in the vicinity of the Ni L2,3 absorption edges are used. The
pronounced photon-energy and polarization dependences of these diffraction
intensities allow for a critical determination of the local symmetry of the
ordered spin and charge carriers. We found that not only the antiferromagnetic
order but also the charge-order superstructure resides within the NiO2 layers;
the holes are mainly located on in-plane oxygens surrounding a Ni2+ site with
the spins coupled antiparallel in close analogy to Zhang-Rice singlets in the
cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Epitaxy, stoichiometry, and magnetic properties of Gd-doped EuO films on YSZ (001)
We have succeeded in preparing high-quality Gd-doped single-crystalline EuO
films. Using Eu-distillation-assisted molecular beam epitaxy and a systematic
variation in the Gd and oxygen deposition rates, we have been able to observe
sustained layer-by-layer epitaxial growth on yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia
(001). The presence of Gd helps to stabilize the layer-by-layer growth mode. We
used soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Eu and Gd M4,5 edges to confirm
the absence of Eu3+ contaminants and to determine the actual Gd concentration.
The distillation process ensures the absence of oxygen vacancies in the films.
From magnetization measurements we found the Curie temperature to increase
smoothly as a function of doping from 70 K up to a maximum of 125 K. A
threshold behavior was not observed for concentrations as low as 0.2%.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Direct observation of t2g orbital ordering in magnetite
Using soft-x-ray diffraction at the site-specific resonances in the Fe L23
edge, we find clear evidence for orbital and charge ordering in magnetite below
the Verwey transition. The spectra show directly that the (001/2) diffraction
peak (in cubic notation) is caused by t2g orbital ordering at octahedral Fe2+
sites and the (001) by a spatial modulation of the t2g occupation.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
In-situ electron-beam lithography of deterministic single-quantum-dot mesa-structures using low-temperature cathodoluminescence spectroscopy
We report on the deterministic fabrication of sub-um mesa structures
containing single quantum dots by in-situ electron-beam lithography. The
fabrication method is based on a two-step lithography process using a
low-temperature cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy setup. In the first step
the position and spectral features of single InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) are
detected by CL. Then circular sub-um mesa-structures are exactly defined by
high-resolution electron-beam lithography and subsequent etching in the second
step. CL spectroscopy and micro-photoluminscence spectroscopy demonstrate the
high optical quality of the single-QD mesa-structures with emission linewidths
below 15 ueV and g(2)(0) = 0.04. Our lithography method allows for an alignment
precision better than 100 nm which paves the way for a fully-deterministic
device technology using in-situ CL lithography.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Determination of the orbital moment and crystal field splitting in LaTiO
Utilizing a sum-rule in a spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopic
experiment with circularly polarized light, we show that the orbital moment in
LaTiO is strongly reduced both below and above the N\'{e}el temperature.
Using Ti x-ray absorption spectroscopy as a local probe, we found
that the crystal field splitting in the subshell is about 0.12-0.30
eV. This large splitting does not facilitate the formation of an orbital
liquid
Metal-insulator Crossover Behavior at the Surface of NiS_2
We have performed a detailed high-resolution electron spectroscopic
investigation of NiS and related Se-substituted compounds
NiSSe, which are known to be gapped insulators in the bulk at all
temperatures. A large spectral weight at the Fermi energy of the room
temperature spectrum, in conjunction with the extreme surface sensitivity of
the experimental probe, however, suggests that the surface layer is metallic at
300 K. Interestingly, the evolution of the spectral function with decreasing
temperature is characterized by a continuous depletion of the single-particle
spectral weight at the Fermi energy and the development of a gap-like structure
below a characteristic temperature, providing evidence for a metal-insulator
crossover behavior at the surfaces of NiS and of related compounds. These
results provide a consistent description of the unusual transport properties
observed in these systems.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
Electronic structure of NiSSe across the phase transition
We report very highly resolved photoemission spectra of NiS(1-x)Se(x) across
the so-called metal-insulator transition as a function of temperature as well
as composition. The present results convincingly demonstrate that the low
temperature, antiferromagnetic phase is metallic, with a reduced density of
states at E. This decrease is possibly due to the opening of gaps along
specific directions in the Brillouin zone caused by the antiferromagnetic
ordering.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 3 postscript figure
- …