Rhizosphere colonizing plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) increase their competitiveness by producing diffusible toxic secondary metabolites, which inhibit competitors and deter predators. Many PGPB also have one or more Type VI Secretion System (T6SS), for the delivery of weapons directly into prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Studied predominantly in human and plant pathogens as a virulence mechanism for the delivery of effector proteins, the function of T6SS for PGPB in the rhizosphere niche is poorly understood. We utilized a collection of Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84 mutants deficient in one or both of its two T6SS and/or secondary metabolite production to examine the relative importance of each T6SS in rhizosphere competence, bacterial competition, and protection from bacterivores. A mutant deficient in both T6SS was less persistent than wild type in the rhizosphere. Both T6SS contributed to competitiveness against other PGPB or plant pathogenic strains not affected by secondary metabolite production, but only T6SS-2 was effective against strains lacking their own T6SS. Having at least one T6SS was also essential for protection from predation by several eukaryotic bacterivores. In contrast to diffusible weapons that may not be produced at low cell density, T6SS afford rhizobacteria an additional, more immediate line of defense against competitors and predators.

After the identification of the gamma-ray blazar TXS 0506+056 as the first compelling IceCube neutrino source candidate, we perform a systematic analysis of all high-energy neutrino events satisfying the IceCube realtime trigger criteria. We find one additional known gamma-ray source, the blazar GB6 J1040+0617, in spatial coincidence with a neutrino in this sample. The chance probability of this coincidence is 30% after trial correction. For the first time, we present a systematic study of the gamma-ray flux, spectral and optical variability, and multiwavelength behavior of GB6 J1040+0617 and compare it to TXS 0506+056. We find that TXS 0506+056 shows strong flux variability in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope gamma-ray band, being in an active state around the arrival of IceCube-170922A, but in a low state during the archival IceCube neutrino flare in 2014/15. In both cases the spectral shape is statistically compatible (<= 2 sigma) with the average spectrum showing no indication of a significant relative increase of a high-energy component. While the association of GB6 J1040+0617 with the neutrino is consistent with background expectations, the source appears to be a plausible neutrino source candidate based on its energetics and multiwavelength features, namely a bright optical flare and modestly increased gamma-ray activity. Finding one or two neutrinos originating from gamma-ray blazars in the given sample of high-energy neutrinos is consistent with previously derived limits of neutrino emission from gamma-ray blazars, indicating the sources of the majority of cosmic high-energy neutrinos remain unknown.

The Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields and Legacy Observations (BUFFALO) is a 101 orbit + 101 parallel Cycle 25 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury program taking data from 2018 to 2020. BUFFALO will expand existing coverage of the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) in Wide Field Camera 3/IR F105W, F125W, and F160W and Advanced Camera for Surveys/WFC F606W and F814W around each of the six HFF clusters and flanking fields. This additional area has not been observed by HST but is already covered by deep multiwavelength data sets, including Spitzer and Chandra. As with the original HFF program, BUFFALO is designed to take advantage of gravitational lensing from massive clusters to simultaneously find high-redshift galaxies that would otherwise lie below HST detection limits and model foreground clusters to study the properties of dark matter and galaxy assembly. The expanded area will provide the first opportunity to study both cosmic variance at high redshift and galaxy assembly in the outskirts of the large HFF clusters. Five additional orbits are reserved for transient follow-up. BUFFALO data including mosaics, value-added catalogs, and cluster mass distribution models will be released via MAST on a regular basis as the observations and analysis are completed for the six individual clusters.

The plant haploid generation is specified late in higher plant development, and post-meiotic haploid plant cells divide mitotically to produce a haploid gametophyte, in which a subset of cells differentiates into the gametes. The immediate mother of the angiosperm seed is the female gametophyte, also called the embryo sac. In most flowering plants the embryo sac is comprised of two kinds of gametes (egg and central cell) and two kinds of subsidiary cells (antipodals and synergids) all of which descend from a single haploid spore produced by meiosis. The embryo sac develops within a specialized organ of the flower called the ovule, which supports and controls many steps in the development of both the embryo sac and the seed. Double fertilization of the central cell and egg cell by the two sperm cells of a pollen grain produce the endosperm and embryo of the seed, respectively. The endosperm and embryo develop under the influence of their precursor gametes and the surrounding tissues of the ovule and the gametophyte. The final size and pattern of the angiosperm seed then is the result of complex interactions across multiple tissues of three different generations (maternal sporophyte, maternal gametophyte, and the fertilization products) and three different ploidies (haploid gametophyte, diploid parental sporophyte and embryo, and triploid endosperm).

A central problem in speciation is the origin and mechanisms of reproductive barriers that block gene flow between sympatric populations. Wind-pollinated plant species that flower in synchrony with one another rely on post-pollination interactions to maintain reproductive isolation. In some locations in Mexico, sympatric populations of domesticated maize and annual teosinte grow in intimate associate and flower synchronously, but rarely produce hybrids. This trait is typically conferred by a single haplotype, Teosinte crossing barrierl-s. Here, we show that the Teosinte crossing barrierl-s haplotype contains a pistil-expressed, potential speciation gene, encoding a pectin methylesterase homolog. The modification of the pollen tube cell wall by the pistil, then, is likely a key mechanism for pollen rejection in Zea and may represent a general mechanism for reproductive isolation in grasses.

A central challenge in global change research is the projection of the future behavior of a system based upon past observations. Tree-ring data have been used increasingly over the last decade to project tree growth and forest ecosystem vulnerability under future climate conditions. But how can the response of tree growth to past climate variation predict the future, when the future does not look like the past? Space-for-time substitution (SFTS) is one way to overcome the problem of extrapolation: the response at a given location in a warmer future is assumed to follow the response at a warmer location today. Here we evaluated an SFTS approach to projecting future growth of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), a species that occupies an exceptionally large environmental space in North America. We fit a hierarchical mixed-effects model to capture ring-width variability in response to spatial and temporal variation in climate. We found opposing gradients for productivity and climate sensitivity with highest growth rates and weakest response to interannual climate variation in the mesic coastal part of Douglas-fir's range; narrower rings and stronger climate sensitivity occurred across the semi-arid interior. Ring-width response to spatial versus temporal temperature variation was opposite in sign, suggesting that spatial variation in productivity, caused by local adaptation and other slow processes, cannot be used to anticipate changes in productivity caused by rapid climate change. We thus substituted only climate sensitivities when projecting future tree growth. Growth declines were projected across much of Douglas-fir's distribution, with largest relative decreases in the semiarid U.S. Interior West and smallest in the mesic Pacific Northwest. We further highlight the strengths of mixed-effects modeling for reviving a conceptual cornerstone of dendroecology, Cook's 1987 aggregate growth model, and the great potential to use tree-ring networks and results as a calibration target for next-generation vegetation models.

Gametophytic cross-incompatibility systems in corn have been the subject of genetic studies for more than a century. They have tremendous economic potential as a genetic mechanism for controlling fertilization without controlling pollination. Three major genetically distinct and functionally equivalent cross-incompatibility systems exist inZea mays:Ga1,Tcb1, andGa2. All three confer reproductive isolation between maize or teosinte varieties with different haplotypes at any one locus. These loci confer genetically separable functions to the silk and pollen: a female function that allows the silk to block fertilization by non-self-type pollen and a male function that overcomes the block of the female function from the same locus. Identification of some of these genes has shed light on the reproductive isolation they confer. The identification of both male and female factors as pectin methylesterases reveals the importance of pectin methylesterase activity in controlling the decision between pollen acceptance versus rejection, possibly by regulating the degree of methylesterification of the pollen tube cell wall. The appropriate level and spatial distribution of pectin methylesterification is critical for pollen tube growth and is affected by both pectin methylesterases and pectin methylesterase inhibitors. We present a molecular model that explains how cross-incompatibility systems may function that can be tested inZeaand uncharacterized cross-incompatibility systems. Molecular characterization of these loci in conjunction with further refinement of the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms will allow researchers to bring new and powerful tools to bear on understanding reproductive isolation inZea maysand related species.

We present a chemodynamical study of the Grus I ultra-faint dwarf galaxy (UFD) from medium-resolution (R similar to 11,000) Magellan/IMACS spectra of its individual member stars. We identify eight confirmed members of Grus I, based on their low metallicities and coherent radial velocities, and four candidate members for which only velocities are derived. In contrast to previous work, we find that Grus I has a very low mean metallicity of <[Fe/H]> = -2.62 +/- 0.11 dex, making it one of the most metal-poor UFDs. Grus I has a systemic radial velocity of -143.5 +/- 1.2 km s(-1) and a velocity dispersion of sigma(rv) = 2.5(-0.8)(+1.3) km s(-1), which results in a dynamical mass of M(1/2()r(h)) = 8(-4)(+12) 2 x 10(5) M-circle dot and a mass-to-light ratio of M/L-V = 440(-250)(+650) M-circle dot/L-circle dot. Under the assumption of dynamical equilibrium, our analysis confirms that Grus I is a dark-matter-dominated UFD (M/L> 80 M-circle dot/L-circle dot). However, we do not resolve a metallicity dispersion (sigma([Fe/H]) < 0.44 dex). Our results indicate that Grus I is a fairly typical UFD with parameters that agree with mass-metallicity and metallicity-luminosity trends for faint galaxies. This agreement suggests that Grus I has not lost an especially significant amount of mass from tidal encounters with the Milky Way, in line with its orbital parameters. Intriguingly, Grus I has among the lowest central densities ( rho(1/2) similar to 3.5(-2 1)(+5.7) x 10(7) M-circle dot kpc(-3))of the UFDs that are not known to be tidally disrupting. Models of the formation and evolution of UFDs will need to explain the diversity of these central densities, in addition to any diversity in the outer regions of these relic galaxies.

Core formation may modify the stable isotopic signatures for both the mantles and cores of differentiated planetary bodies. We performed high P-T experiments with a piston-cylinder apparatus at 1 GPa and 1873-2073 K to determine the Cr isotopic fractionation factor during metal-silicate segregation. Experimental results consistently indicate that the metal phase is isotopically heavier than the coexisting silicate phase, with Delta Cr-53(metal-sliicate) up to 0.3 parts per thousand at the investigated experimental conditions. Oxygen fugacity, silicate composition, and S content in the metal phase do not have significant effects on the Cr isotopic fractionation factor. By contrast, increasing Ni content in the metal increases the Cr-53(metal-sliicate) value, implying that the Ni content of the core could influence planetary isotopic signatures. We conclude that heavier Cr isotopes enter the core preferentially during planetary core formation. The delta Cr-53 value of the terrestrial mantle could be lowered by up to similar to 0.02 parts per thousand by core formation, despite that this is within current analytical uncertainty of chondritic Cr isotopic composition. For smaller bodies such as the Moon, Mars, and Vesta, the lower core formation temperatures could potentially generate a resolvable coremantle Cr isotopic fractionation. However, the Moon's small core size would limit the change in the Cr isotopic composition of the lunar mantle compared to chondritic. For Vesta and Mars, core formation could lower the delta Cr-53 values of their mantles by similar to 0.01-0.02 parts per thousand, which is trivial relative to the analytical uncertainty. On the other hand, core formation could increase the delta Cr-53 values of the cores of the parent bodies of iron meteorites by up to similar to 0.2 parts per thousand at 1873 K. Therefore, the significantly heavy Cr isotopic composition (up to 2.85 parts per thousand) of iron meteorites cannot be explained by equilibrium fractionation between the core and the mantle of the parent bodies of iron meteorites. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The iron-silicon phase diagram has been established at the conditions of Mercury's core. The resulting phase diagram is remarkably complex, and presents an array of new mechanisms which may power Mercury's inner dynamo.