Chemical structure and biological activity of the Caenorhabditis elegans dauer-inducing pheromone

Pheromones are cell type-specific signals used for communication between individuals of the same species. When faced with overcrowding or starvation, Caenorhabditis elegans secrete the pheromone daumone, which facilitates communication between individuals for adaptation to adverse environmental stimuli. Daumone signals C. elegans to enter the dauer stage, an enduring and non-ageing stage of the nematode life cycle with distinctive adaptive features and extended life. Because daumone is a key regulator of chemosensory processes in development and ageing, the chemical identification of daumone is important for elucidating features of the daumone-mediated signalling pathway. Here we report the isolation of natural daumone from C. elegans by large-scale purification, as well as the total chemical synthesis of daumone. We present the stereospecific chemical structure of purified daumone, a fatty acid derivative. We demonstrate that both natural and chemically synthesized daumones equally induce dauer larva formation in C. elegans (N2 strain) and certain dauer mutants, and also result in competition between food and daumone. These results should help to elucidate the daumone-mediated signalling pathway, which might in turn influence ageing and obesity research and the development of antinematodal drugs.     

A single class of olfactory neurons mediates behavioural responses to a Drosophila sex pheromone

Insects, like many other animals, use sex pheromones to coordinate their reproductive behaviours. Volatile pheromones are detected by odorant receptors expressed in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). Whereas fruit odours typically activate multiple ORN classes, pheromones are thought to act through single dedicated classes of ORN. This model predicts that activation of such an ORN class should be sufficient to trigger the appropriate behavioural response. Here we show that the Drosophila melanogaster male-specific pheromone 11-cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) acts through the receptor Or67d to regulate both male and female mating behaviour. Mutant males that lack Or67d inappropriately court other males, whereas mutant females are less receptive to courting males. These data suggest that cVA has opposite effects in the two sexes: inhibiting mating behaviour in males but promoting mating behaviour in females. Replacing Or67d with moth pheromone receptors renders these ORNs sensitive to the corresponding moth pheromones. In such flies, moth pheromones elicit behavioural responses that mimic the normal response to cVA. Thus, activation of a single ORN class is both necessary and sufficient to mediate behavioural responses to the Drosophila sex pheromone cVA.     

Chemical characterization of element 112

The heaviest elements to have been chemically characterized are seaborgium (element 106), bohrium (element 107) and hassium (element 108). All three behave according to their respective positions in groups 6, 7 and 8 of the periodic table, which arranges elements according to their outermost electrons and hence their chemical properties. However, the chemical characterization results are not trivial: relativistic effects on the electronic structure of the heaviest elements can strongly influence chemical properties. The next heavy element targeted for chemical characterization is element 112; its closed-shell electronic structure with a filled outer s orbital suggests that it may be particularly susceptible to strong deviations from the chemical property trends expected within group 12. Indeed, first experiments concluded that element 112 does not behave like its lighter homologue mercury. However, the production and identification methods used cast doubt on the validity of this result. Here we report a more reliable chemical characterization of element 112, involving the production of two atoms of (283)112 through the alpha decay of the short-lived (287)114 (which itself forms in the nuclear fusion reaction of 48Ca with 242Pu) and the adsorption of the two atoms on a gold surface. By directly comparing the adsorption characteristics of (283)112 to that of mercury and the noble gas radon, we find that element 112 is very volatile and, unlike radon, reveals a metallic interaction with the gold surface. These adsorption characteristics establish element 112 as a typical element of group 12, and its successful production unambiguously establishes the approach to the island of stability of superheavy elements through 48Ca-induced nuclear fusion reactions with actinides.     

化学法制备纳米氧化物及其EXAFS特征

利用化学方法合成了纳米Ｙ２Ｏ３和纳米ＺｒＯ２颗粒（晶粒的平均大小为２５ｎｍ和１４ｎｍ），并制得了相应氧化物的纳米压结块。探讨了纳米氧化物颗粒被压结成型的各种影响因素。对不同成型压力及不同尺寸纳米氧化物的ＥＸＡＦＳ（扩展Ｘ射线吸收精细结构）谱特征进行了，工与纳米金属的ＥＸＡＦＳ谱特征进行了比较。结果表明，纳米氧化物块体中，晶界原子主要由氧原子组成。     

兔血铜锌超氧化物歧化酶的纯化及其性质

用乙醇－氯仿处理，丙酮分级沉淀，ＤＥＡＥ－纤维层析等方法，从兔血红细胞中纯化出铜锌超氧化物歧化酶，产率为５１％，比活力为１２４３０ｕ／ｍｇ．该酶经冷冻干燥后呈淡蓝色，天然状态，下该酶的分子量约为３００００，由相同的两个亚基组成，紫外扫描表明纯酶在２６５ｎｍ处有最大光吸收值，经聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳后，用蛋白染色及ＮＢＴ活性染色均显示出三条带，结果表明用该纯化方法得到的ＳＯＤ为均一性纯酶，氨基酸组成显示     

苯胺-邻-氨基酚共聚物的化学合成及其性能表征

运用化学氧化法制备了聚苯胺、聚邻-氨基酚以及苯胺和邻-氨基酚的共聚物．通过红外光谱、紫外可见光谱、热重分析及导电率测试方法对合成聚合物的结构和性能进行了表征．红外及紫外光谱表明：采用化学氧化法可以合成聚邻-氨基酚以及苯胺-邻-氨基酚的共聚物．热重分析表明：聚邻-氨基酚和苯胺-邻-氨基酚的共聚物具有良好的稳定性,且随着溶液中邻-氨基酚单体浓度比例的增加,所得共聚物的稳定性也随之增高．电导率测试结果表明：聚邻-氨基酚及苯胺-邻-氨基酚共聚物的导电性优于本征态聚苯胺的导电性．     

Chemical characterization of bohrium (element 107)

The arrangement of the chemical elements in the periodic table highlights resemblances in chemical properties, which reflect the elements' electronic structure. For the heaviest elements, however, deviations in the periodicity of chemical properties are expected: electrons in orbitals with a high probability density near the nucleus are accelerated by the large nuclear charges to relativistic velocities, which increase their binding energies and cause orbital contraction. This leads to more efficient screening of the nuclear charge and corresponding destabilization of the outer d and f orbitals: it is these changes that can give rise to unexpected chemical properties. The synthesis of increasingly heavy elements, now including that of elements 114, 116 and 118, allows the investigation of this effect, provided sufficiently long-lived isotopes for chemical characterization are available. In the case of elements 104 and 105, for example, relativistic effects interrupt characteristic trends in the chemical properties of the elements constituting the corresponding columns of the periodic table, whereas element 106 behaves in accordance with the expected periodicity. Here we report the chemical separation and characterization of six atoms of element 107 (bohrium, Bh), in the form of its oxychloride. We find that this compound is less volatile than the oxychlorides of the lighter elements of group VII, thus confirming relativistic calculations that predict the behaviour of bohrium, like that of element 106, to coincide with that expected on the basis of its position in the periodic table.     

Chemical leaching of an Indian bituminous coal and characterization of the products by vibrational spectroscopic techniques

High volatile bituminous coal was demineralized by a chemical method. The vibrations of the "aromatics" structure of graphite, crystalline or non-crystalline, were observed in the spectra at the 1600 cm-1 region. The band at 1477 cm-1 is assigned as V_R band, the band at 1392 cm-1 as V_L band and the band at 1540 cm-1 as G_R band. Graphite structure remains after chemical leaching liberates oxygenated functional groups and mineral groups. The silicate bands between 1010 and 1100 cm-1 are active in the infrared (IR) spectrum but inactive in the Raman spectrum. Absorption arising from C-H stretching in alkenes occurs in the region of 3000 to 2840 cm-1. Raman bands because of symmetric stretch of water molecules were also observed in the spectrum at 3250 cm-1 and 3450 cm-1. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed the presence of a graphite layer on the surface. Leaching of the sample with hydrofluoric acid decreases the mineral phase and increases the carbon content. The ash content is reduced by 84.5wt% with leaching from its initial value by mainly removing aluminum and silicate containing minerals.