Composite Recycling with Biocatalytic Thermoset Reforming.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs, or composites) are increasingly replacing traditional manufacturing materials used in the automobile, aerospace, and energy sectors. With this shift, it is vital to develop end-of-life processes for CFRPs that retain the value of both the carbon fibers and the polymer matrix. Here we demonstrate a strategy to upcycle pre- and postconsumer polystyrene-containing CFRPs, cross-linked with unsaturated polyesters or vinyl esters, to benzoic acid.

Discovery of Uncommon Tryptophan-Containing Diketopiperazines from CBS 101889 Using an Heterologous Expression System.

Fungal secondary metabolite (SM) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) containing dimethylallyltryptophan synthases (DMATSs) produce structurally diverse prenylated indole alkaloids with wide-ranging activities that have vast potential as human therapeutics. To discover new natural products produced by DMATSs, we mined the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute's MycoCosm database for DMATS-containing BGCs. We found a DMATS BGC in CBS 101889, which also contains a nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS).

Computer-aided, resistance gene-guided genome mining for proteasome and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.

Unlabelled: Secondary metabolites (SMs) are biologically active small molecules, many of which are medically valuable. Fungal genomes contain vast numbers of SM biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) with unknown products, suggesting that huge numbers of valuable SMs remain to be discovered. It is challenging, however, to identify SM BGCs, among the millions present in fungi, that produce useful compounds.

A heterologous expression platform in for the elucidation of cryptic secondary metabolism biosynthetic gene clusters: discovery of the sartorypyrone biosynthetic pathway.

is a serious human pathogen causing life-threatening Aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. Secondary metabolites (SMs) play an important role in pathogenesis, but the products of many SM biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) remain unknown. In this study, we have developed a heterologous expression platform in , using a newly created genetic dereplication strain, to express a previously unknown BGC from and determine its products.

Disruption of the Interfacial Membrane Leads to Effector Re-location and Lifestyle Switch During Rice Blast Disease.

To cause the devastating rice blast disease, the hemibiotrophic fungus produces invasive hyphae (IH) that are enclosed in a plant-derived interfacial membrane, known as the extra-invasive hyphal membrane (EIHM), in living rice cells. Little is known about when the EIHM is disrupted and how the disruption contributes to blast disease. Here we show that the disruption of the EIHM correlates with the hyphal growth stage in first-invaded susceptible rice cells.

Nuclear and structural dynamics during the establishment of a specialized effector-secreting cell by Magnaporthe oryzae in living rice cells.

Background: To cause an economically important blast disease on rice, the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae forms a specialized infection structure, called an appressorium, to penetrate host cells. Once inside host cells, the fungus produces a filamentous primary hypha that differentiates into multicellular bulbous invasive hyphae (IH), which are surrounded by a host-derived membrane. These hyphae secrete cytoplasmic effectors that enter host cells presumably via the biotrophic interfacial complex (BIC).

The appressorium of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae remains mitotically active during post-penetration hyphal growth.

To investigate the mitotic dynamics of an appressorium, we used live-cell confocal imaging of a fluorescence-based mitotic reporter strain of Magnaporthe oryzae. We present evidence that the M. oryzae appressorium remains viable and mitotically active well after host penetration.

Mitotic stopwatch for the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae during invasion of rice cells.

To study nuclear dynamics of Magnaporthe oryzae, we developed a novel mitotic reporter strain with GFP-NLS (localized in nuclei during interphase but in the cytoplasm during mitosis) and H1-tdTomato (localized in nuclei throughout the cell cycle). Time-lapse confocal microscopy of the reporter strain during host cell invasion provided several new insights into nuclear division and migration in M. oryzae: (i) mitosis lasts about 5min; (ii) mitosis is semi-closed; (iii) septal pores are closed during mitosis; and (iv) a nucleus exhibits extreme constriction (approximately from 2μm to 0.