Liu Zhu-Hong

Characterization of role of the toxR gene in the physiology and pathogenicity of Vibrio alginolyticus.

AbstracttoxR, a conserved virulence-associated gene in vibrios, is identified in Vibrio alginolyticus ZJ51-O, a pathogenic strain isolated from diseased fish. To reveal the role of ToxR in the pathogenicity of V. alginolyticus, a deletion mutant was constructed by allelic exchange. The mutant showed the same level of growth in trypticase soy broth (TSB) and iron-limiting condition, as the wild type strain. However, deletion of toxR severely reduced resistance against bile salts and the capability of biofilm formation. Outer-membrane protein (OMP) analysis showed that a 37-kD protein was absent and a 43-kD protein was decreased in the mutant. By MS/MS, the two proteins are identified as the homologues of OmpT and OmpN, respectively. These data suggest that ToxR might have enhanced the bile resistance and biofilm formation through modulating the production of OMP without affecting the ability of iron acquisition and the virulence to the fish via injection. These results indicate that ToxR may assist V. alginolyticus to colonize on the surface of the fish intestine which is crucial for the initiation of the infection, though it may not be involved in the proliferation of the bacteria in the host tissue.

Point contact Andreev reflection measurement of the spin polarization of ferromagnetic alloy NiFeSb

We have studied the temperature-dependent and barrier-strength-dependent Andreev reflection tunnelling spectroscopy with point contacts consisting of the newly synthesized half-metallic alloy NiFeSb and a Nb tip. By fitting the data to the generalized Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk theory, a spin polarization P = 0.52 has been obtained.

Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy and Magnetoelasticity of Preferentially Oriented Martensitic Variants in Ni52Mn24Ga24 Single Crystals

The magnetocrystalline anisotropy and magnetoelasticity of preferentially oriented martensitic variants in an off-stoichiometric Ni52Mn24Ga24 single crystal have been investigated. We found that the easy magnetization direction of the martensite phase is the [110] direction, and the hard magnetization exhibited in [001], the growth direction of single crystals. The temperature dependence of the anisotropy fields and constants of Ni52Mn24Ga24 have been determined. It was found that, at the martensite phase, the anisotropy field increases monotonically with decreasing temperature, but the anisotropy constant first increases rapidly and then the increasing rate becomes smaller and smaller. Based on a previous model, the present results suggest that the competition between the Zeeman energy and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy is mainly responsible for the magnitude of magnetic-field-induced strain in this material.