Lyubov Belova

Roles of curli, cellulose and BapA in Salmonella biofilm morphology studied by atomic force microscopy

BackgroundCurli, cellulose and the cell surface protein BapA are matrix components in Salmonella biofilms. In this study we have investigated the roles of these components for the morphology of bacteria grown as colonies on agar plates and within a biofilm on submerged mica surfaces by applying atomic force microscopy (AFM) and light microscopy.ResultsAFM imaging was performed on colonies of Salmonella Typhimurium grown on agar plates for 24 h and on biofilms grown for 4, 8, 16 or 24 h on mica slides submerged in standing cultures. Our data show that in the wild type curli were visible as extracellular material on and between the cells and as fimbrial structures at the edges of biofilms grown for 16 h and 24 h. In contrast to the wild type, which formed a three-dimensional biofilm within 24 h, a curli mutant and a strain mutated in the global regulator CsgD were severely impaired in biofilm formation. A mutant in cellulose production retained some capability to form cell aggregates, but not a confluent biofilm. Extracellular matrix was observed in this mutant to almost the same extent as in the wild type. Overexpression of CsgD led to a much thicker and a more rapidly growing biofilm. Disruption of BapA altered neither colony and biofilm morphology nor the ability to form a biofilm within 24 h on the submerged surfaces. Besides curli, the expression of flagella and pili as well as changes in cell shape and cell size could be monitored in the growing biofilms.ConclusionOur work demonstrates that atomic force microscopy can efficiently be used as a tool to monitor the morphology of bacteria grown as colonies on agar plates or within biofilms formed in a liquid at high resolution.

Transition from ferromagnetism to diamagnetism in undoped ZnO thin films

We report a systematic study of the film thickness dependence (0.1-1 mu m) of room-temperature ferromagnetism in pure magnetron-sputtered ZnO thin films wherein a sequential transition from ferroma ...

Room temperature ferromagnetism in pristine MgO thin films

Robust ferromagnetic ordering at, and well above room temperature is observed in pure transparent MgO thin films (<170 nm thick) deposited by three different techniques. Careful study of the wid ...

Intermediate filament‐like proteins in bacteria and a cytoskeletal function in Streptomyces

Actin and tubulin cytoskeletons are conserved and widespread in bacteria. A strikingly intermediate filament (IF)‐like cytoskeleton, composed of crescentin, is also present in Caulobacter crescentus and determines its specific cell shape. However, the broader significance of this finding remained obscure, because crescentin appeared to be unique to Caulobacter. Here we demonstrate that IF‐like function is probably a more widespread phenomenon in bacteria. First, we show that 21 genomes of 26 phylogenetically diverse species encoded uncharacterized proteins with a central segmented coiled coil rod domain, which we regarded as a key structural feature of IF proteins and crescentin. Experimental studies of three in silico predicted candidates from Mycobacterium and other actinomycetes revealed a common IF‐like property to spontaneously assemble into filaments in vitro. Furthermore, the IF‐like protein FilP formed cytoskeletal structures in the model actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor and was needed for normal growth and morphogenesis. Atomic force microscopy of living cells revealed that the FilP cytoskeleton contributed to mechanical fitness of the hyphae, thus closely resembling the function of metazoan IF. Together, the bioinformatic and experimental data suggest that an IF‐like protein architecture is a versatile design that is generally present in bacteria and utilized to perform diverse cytoskeletal tasks.

Metal-insulator transition induced by oxygen isotope exchange in the magnetoresistive perovskite manganites

Perovskite manganites derived from LaMnO3 have recently become the subject of intensive study following the discovery of ‘colossal’ magnetoresistance (a magnetically induced change in electrical resistance of up to several orders of magnitude) in several members of this family of compounds. The manganites exhibit a broad range of electronic and magnetic phases, ranging from low-resistance ferromagnetic metals to high-resistance insulators, which are extremely sensitive to variation of composition, temperature and pressure. A recent study showed that such sensitivity also extends to oxygen isotope exchange: replacing 16O with 18O in La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 produces an unusually large change in the magnetic properties (a 21-kelvin decrease in the Curie temperature). The magnitude of this isotope shift is evidence for the essential role played by electron–phonon coupling in determining the transport properties of these materials. Here we show that this sensitivity to oxygen isotope exchange can be even more extreme. In its normal state, the compound La0.175Pr0.525Ca0.3MnO3 undergoes an insulator-to-metal transition as it is cooled below ∼95 K. But we find that, after substituting 18O for 16O, the compound remains an insulator down to 4.2 K, so providing a vivid demonstration of the importance of lattice vibrations in these materials.

Perovskite rare-earth nickelates in the thin-film epitaxial state

We have succeeded in the preparation of thin films of rare-earth nickelates RNiO3 (R=Pr, Nd, Sm, and Gd) under reduced oxygen pressure <0.02 bar by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition owing to their epitaxial stabilization on perovskite substrates. The film–substrate lattice mismatch is critical for the epitaxial stabilization of RNiO3 phases. Increase of the lattice mismatch or film thickness results in the deposition of rare-earth oxides and NiO instead of RNiO3. The epitaxial films of nickelates were strained and consisted of 90° domains with the orthorhombic Pnma structure. The transport properties of the strained films on LaAlO3 were similar to those of the bulk material of the same composition under applied pressure of 9 kbar but they were different from the properties of the bulk material under ambient pressure. The result implies that transport properties of RNiO3 films with sharp metal-to-insulator transition can be effectively tuned by the control of the lattice strain.

Electron beam induced deposition at elevated temperatures: compositional changes and purity improvement

Thermally assisted electron beam induced deposition can result in an improvement of the purity of nano-scale depositions. Six commonly used organic precursors were examined: W(CO)(6), TEOS (tetraethylorthosilicate), MeCpPtMe(3), Co(CO)(3)NO, Co(2)(CO)(8), and Me(2)Auacac. The last two precursors were also tested on two different instruments to confirm reproducibility of the results. The influence of the substrate temperature on the composition of the deposition has been quantified systematically in the temperature range 25-360 °C. It has been shown that most purities improve when applying an elevated temperature, while the shape of the deposition remains intact. The purity improvement is achieved at the cost of a lower deposition yield. The amount of improvement is different for each precursor. Within the maximum temperature range of 360 °C, the best improvement was found for W(CO)(6): from 36.7 at.% at 25 °C to 59.2 at.% at 280 °C. For both cobalt precursors an additional transition region between patterned electron beam induced deposition (EBID) and thermal thin film growth has been identified. In this region seeded growth occurs with strongly increased growth rates.

METAL-INSULATOR TRANSITION INDUCED BY 16O-18O OXYGEN ISOTOPE EXCHANGE IN COLOSSAL NEGATIVE MAGNETORESISTANCE MANGANITES

The effect of 16O→18O isotope exchange on the electric resistivity was studied for (La1−yPry)0.7Ca0.3MnO3 ceramic samples. It was found that at y=0.75, the substitution of 16O by 18O results in the reversible transition from a ferromagnetic metal (FM) to charge ordered (CO) insulator at zero magnetic field. The applied magnetic field (H⩾2 T) transformed the sample with 18O again to the metallic state and caused the increase in the FM transition temperature TC of the 16O sample. As a result, the isotope shift of TC at H=2 T was as high as 63 K. Such unique sensitivity of the system to oxygen isotope exchange, giving rise even to the metal–insulator transition, is discussed in terms of the isotope dependence of the effective electron bandwidth which shifts the balance between the CO and FM phases.

Particle size and magnetic properties dependence on growth temperature for rapid mixed co-precipitated magnetite nanoparticles.

Magnetite nanoparticles have been prepared by co-precipitation using a custom-designed jet mixer to achieve rapid mixing (RM) of reactants in a timescale of milliseconds. The quick and stable nucleation obtained allows control of the particle size and size distribution via a more defined growth process. Nanoparticles of different sizes were prepared by controlling the processing temperature in the first few seconds post-mixing. The average size of the nanoparticles investigated using a Tecnai transmission electron microscope is found to increase with the temperature from 3.8 nm at 1 ± 1 °C to 10.9 nm for particles grown at 95 ± 1 °C. The temperature dependence of the size distribution follows the same trend and is explained in terms of Ostwald ripening of the magnetite nanoparticles during the co-precipitation of Fe(2+) and Fe(3+). The magnetic properties were studied by monitoring the blocking temperature via both DC and AC techniques. Strikingly, the obtained RM particles maintain the high magnetization (as high as ∼88 A m(2) kg(-1) at 500 kA m(-1)) while the coercivity is as low as ∼12 A m(-1) with the expected temperature dependence. Besides, by adding a drop of tetramethylammonium hydroxide, aqueous ferrofluids with long term stability are obtained, suggesting their suitability for applications in ferrofluid technology and biomedicine.

Ternary monodispersed Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles: preparation and magnetic characterization

A ternary system of Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 has been synthesized for the first time using thermal decomposition of metal acetylacetonate in the presence of a high temperature boiling point solvent and fatty acids. Unlike the results of synthesis of this material by other techniques, we obtain nearly monodispersed nanoparticles, rendering them ideal for applications like in hyperthermia. The crystal structure and morphology of the particles obtained using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are those of a single phase spinel structure with no other impurity phases. The particles are of 7 nm average diameter, with a very narrow (<10%) size distribution. The oleic acid surfactant on the particles shows a 28% weight loss in thermo-gravimetric analyses (TGAs), which corresponds to a monolayer thickness of the coating. Magnetic measurements show the particles to be superparamagnetic with a characteristic blocking temperature of around 50 K.