The dominance of Suillus species in ectomycorrhizal fungal communities on Larix gmelinii in a post-fire forest in the Russian Far East.

Wildfires can negatively affect ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungal communities. However, potential shifts in community structures due to wildfires have rarely been evaluated in the forests of eastern Eurasia, where surface fires are frequent. We investigated EM fungal communities in a Larix gmelinii-dominated forest that burned in 2003 in Zeya, in the Russian Far East.

Experimental and First-Principles NMR Analysis of Pt(II) Complexes With O,O'-Dialkyldithiophosphate Ligands.

Polycrystalline bis(dialkyldithiophosphato)Pt(II) complexes of the form [Pt{SP(OR)}] (R = ethyl, iso-propyl, iso-butyl, sec-butyl or cyclo-hexyl group) were studied using solid-state P and Pt NMR spectroscopy, to determine the influence of R to the structure of the central chromophore. The measured anisotropic chemical shift (CS) parameters for P and Pt afford more detailed chemical and structural information, as compared to isotropic CS and J couplings alone. Advanced theoretical modeling at the hybrid DFT level, including both crystal lattice and the important relativistic spin-orbit effects qualitatively reproduced the measured CS tensors, supported the experimental analysis, and provided extensive orientational information.

Supramolecular self-organisation and conformational isomerism of a binuclear O,O'-dipropyl dithiophosphate gold(I) complex, [Au2{S2P(OC3H7)2}2]: Synthesis, (13)C and (31)P CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction study and thermal behaviour.

Crystalline one-dimensional polymeric catena-poly[bis(μ2-O,O'-dipropyldithiophosphato-S,S')digold(I)] (Au-Au) (1) was prepared and studied using (13)C and (31)P CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. To elucidate the structural function of Dtph ligands in crystalline gold(I) O,O'-dipropyl dithiophosphate, the chemical shift anisotropy parameters (δaniso and η) were calculated from spinning sideband manifolds in (31)P MAS NMR spectra. A novel structure of the gold(I) compound comprises two isomeric, non-centrosymmetric binuclear molecules of [Au2{S2P(OC3H7)2}2] (isomers 'A' and 'B'), whose four Dtph groups display structural inequivalence.

Dinosaur evolution. A Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from Siberia with both feathers and scales.

Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits from northeastern China have yielded varied theropod dinosaurs bearing feathers. Filamentous integumentary structures have also been described in ornithischian dinosaurs, but whether these filaments can be regarded as part of the evolutionary lineage toward feathers remains controversial. Here we describe a new basal neornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia with small scales around the distal hindlimb, larger imbricated scales around the tail, monofilaments around the head and the thorax, and more complex featherlike structures around the humerus, the femur, and the tibia.

Silaffins of diatoms: from applied biotechnology to biomedicine.

Silaffins are involved in the formation of the cell walls of diatoms. It is known that silaffins can precipitate silica in vitro, forming nano- and micro-particles in the shape of spheres and plates containing many pores. It is important to note that the deposition of silica and the particle morphology in the presence of silaffins affects chemical and physical agents (e.

Origin and status of homologous proteins of biomineralization (biosilicification) in the taxonomy of phylogenetic domains.

The taxonomic affiliation (in the systematisation of viruses, and biological domains) of known peptides and proteins of biomineralization (silicateins, silaffins, silacidins and silicase) and their primary structure homologues were analyzed (methods in silico; using Uniprot database). The total number of known peptides and proteins of biosilicification was counted. The data of the quantitative distribution of the detected homologues found in nature are presented.