Crystallization of Arthrobacter sp. strain 1C N-(1-D-carboxyethyl)-L-norvaline dehydrogenase and its complex with NAD+

The novel NAD+-linked opine dehydrogenase from a soil isolate Arthrobacter sp. strain 1C belongs to an enzyme superfamily whose members exhibit quite diverse substrate specificites. Crystals of this opine dehydrogenase, obtained in the presence or absence of co-factor and substrates, have been shown to diffract to beyond 1.8 ? resolution. X-ray precession photographs have established that the crystals belong to space group P21212, with cell parameters a = 104.9, b = 80.0, c = 45.5 ? and a single subunit in the asymmetric unit. The elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of this enzyme will provide a structural framework for this novel class of dehydrogenases to enable a comparison to be made with other enzyme families and also as the basis for mutagenesis experiments directed towards the production of natural and synthetic opine-type compounds containing two chiral centres.     

Geometry changes of a Cu(I) phenanthroline complex on photoexcitation in a confining medium by time-resolved X-ray diffraction

Using a stroboscopic technique, in which the molecule is repeatedly excited and the structural change is probed more than 5000 times per second immediately after excitation, we performed a 16 K time-resolved single-crystal study of the microsecond lifetime triplet state of the Cu(I)phenanthroline derivative[Cu(I)(dmp)(dppe)][PF6] (dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane). The geometry changes on excitation differ for the two symmetry-independent molecules, but are in the same direction as calculated for an isolated reference molecule, although the flattening distortion in the crystal is significantly smaller, implying that the reorganization energy is greatly affected by the confining medium.     

Saturation of Berge hypergraphs

Given a graph $F$, a hypergraph is a Berge- $F$ if it can be obtained by expanding each edge in $F$ to a hyperedge containing it. A hypergraph $H$ is Berge-$F$-saturated if $H$ does not contain a subhypergraph that is a Berge-$F$, but for any edge $e\in E\left(\overline{H}\right)$, $H+e$ does. The $k$-uniform saturation number of Berge-$F$ is the minimum number of edges in a $k$-uniform Berge-$F$-saturated hypergraph on $n$ vertices. For $k=2$ this definition coincides with the classical definition of saturation for graphs. In this paper we study the saturation numbers for Berge triangles, paths, cycles, stars and matchings in $k$-uniform hypergraphs.     

Shedding light on the structure of a photoinduced transient excimer by time-resolved diffraction

Time-resolved single-crystal diffraction performed with synchrotron radiation shows that the 53(1) micros phosphorescent state, generated in the crystalline phase of trimeric {[3,5-(CF3)(2)Pyrazolate]Cu}(3) molecules by exposure to 355 nm of light at 17 K, is due to the formation of an excimer rather than the shortening of the intramolecular Cu...Cu distances within the trimeric units, or the formation of a continuous chain of interacting molecules. One of the intermolecular Cu...Cu distances contracts by 0.56 Angstroms from 4.018(1) to 3.46(1) Angstroms;, whereas the interplanar spacing of the trimers is reduced by 0.65 Angstroms; from 3.952(1) to 3.33(1) Angstroms. Density-functional theory calculations support the formation of a Cu...Cu bond through the intermetallic transfer of a Cu 3d electron to a molecular orbital with a large 4p contribution on the reacting Cu atoms.     

Investigation of 28Si levels with the (α, γ) and (p, γ) reactions

Particle energies have been measured for resonances in the ²⁷Al(p, γ)²⁸Si and ²⁴Mg(α, γ)²⁸Si reactions with an accuracy of 0.5 × 10^?4 and 1 × 10^?4, respectively. The E_p = 991.88 ± 0.04 keV²⁷Al(p, γ)²⁸Si resonance served as calibration point. From these data the Q-value of the reaction ²⁷Al(p, α)²⁴Mg has been determined as 1600.14 ± 0.21 keV. Excitation energies of ²⁸Si levels have been measured with the ²⁷Al(p, γ)²⁸Si reaction; the reaction energy is Q = 11584.5 ± 0.4 keV.Of 33 resonances observed in the ²⁴Mg(α, γ)²⁸Si reaction (E_α = 1.5–3.8 MeV), energies, strengths and γ-ray decay have been measured; five of these resonances had not been reported previously. The γ-ray angular distribution measurements at three resonances yield the resonance J^π values and the mixing ratios of the strongest transitions involved in the decay. The 10.38 MeV level has J^π = 3⁺, T = 1. The arguments on which T-assignments can be based are critically reviewed. These arguments are used to assign T = 1 character to ¹⁹ states of ²⁸Si.