Enhancement Of Recombination Research Articles

Radiative recombination enhancement of bare ions in storage rings with electron cooling.

Experiments on ion-electron recombination in electron coolers show an enhancement of the recombination rate with respect to the standard theory. The theoretical explanation of this effect is an active field of research. Here a parameter-free model is presented in terms of the Vlasov equation. Its inherent scaling rests on two dimensionless variables and agrees with measurements. Additionally, numerical calculations yield the correct magnitude for the enhancement and trace its cause to the process of beam merging.

Suppression and enhancement of tunneling ion recombination of electron bubbles in solid para-hydrogen– ortho-hydrogen mixtures at 4.2 K: controlling factors of tunneling reaction

The decay of electron bubbles due to a tunneling ion recombination was studied by ESR in γ-ray irradiated solid para-hydrogen ( p-H 2)– ortho-hydrogen ( o-H 2) mixtures at 4.2 K. In the range of 10–75% o-H 2 (region I), the decay rates of the electron bubbles increase with decreasing o-H 2 concentration. The decay rate constant shows the maximum around 10% o-H 2. Then, the decay rates decrease with decreasing o-H 2 concentration below 10% o-H 2 (region II). The results were interpreted by two different rate-determining steps: a tunneling process in region I and an energy-dissipation process in region II.

Manipulating the production and recombination of electrons during electron transfer: Femtosecond control of the charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) dynamics of the sodium anion.

The scavenging of a solvated electron represents the simplest possible electron-transfer (ET) reaction. In this work, we show how a sequence of femtosecond laser pulses can be used to manipulate an ET reaction that has only electronic degrees of freedom: the scavenging of a solvated electron by a single atom in solution. Solvated electrons in tetrahydrofuran are created via photodetachment using the charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) transition of sodide (Na(-)). The CTTS process ejects electrons to well-defined distances, leading to three possible initial geometries for the back ET reaction between the solvated electrons and their geminate sodium atom partners (Na(0)). Electrons that are ejected within the same solvent cavity as the sodium atom (immediate contact pairs) undergo back ET in approximately 1 ps. Electrons ejected one solvent shell away from the Na(0) (solvent-separated contact pairs) take hundreds of picoseconds to undergo back ET. Electrons ejected more than one solvent shell from the sodium atom (free solvated electrons) do not recombine on subnanosecond time scales. We manipulate the back ET reaction for each of these geometries by applying a "re-excitation" pulse to promote the localized solvated electron ground state into a highly delocalized excited-state wave function in the fluid's conduction band. We find that re-excitation of electrons in immediate contact pairs suppresses the back ET reaction. The kinetics at different probe wavelengths and in different solvents suggest that the recombination is suppressed because the excited electrons can relocalize into different solvent cavities upon relaxation to the ground state. Roughly one-third of the re-excited electrons do not collapse back into their original solvent cavities, and of these, the majority relocalize into a cavity one solvent shell away. In contrast to the behavior of the immediate pair electrons, re-excitation of electrons in solvent-separated contact pairs leads to an early time enhancement of the back ET reaction, followed by a longer-time recombination suppression. The recombination enhancement results from the improved overlap between the electron and the Na(0) one solvent shell away due to the delocalization of the wave function upon re-excitation. Once the excited state decays, however, the enhanced back ET is shut off, and some of the re-excited electrons relocalize even farther from their geminate partners, leading to a long-time suppression of the recombination; the rates for recombination enhancement and relocalization are comparable. Enhanced recombination is still observed even when the re-excitation pulse is applied hundreds of picoseconds after the initial CTTS photodetachment, verifying that solvent-separated contact pairs are long-lived, metastable entities. Taken together, all these results, combined with the simplicity and convenient spectroscopy of the sodide CTTS system, allow for an unprecedented degree of control that is a significant step toward building a full molecular-level picture of condensed-phase ET reactions.

Low-Energy Three-Body Recombination Near a Feshbach Resonance

Ultralow-energy three-body recombination of identical particles with internal degrees of freedom is considered. The study reveals two different mechanisms for recombination enhancement below and above resonance, namely, production of loosely bound dimers for positive scattering length and diminishing of the potential barrier in the entrance channel for negative . The recombination rate on both sides of a Feshbach resonance is found to diverge as a power of the resonance detuning. The results are in agreement with experimental data.

Recombination Analysis of the Human Minisatellite MsH42 Suggests the Existence of Two Distinct Pathways for Initiation and Resolution of Recombination at MsH42 in Rat Testes Nuclear Extracts

We have previously described a GC-rich human minisatellite, termed MsH42, which exists in two allelic forms, long and short. Here, we have identified a third allele of medium length and localized the MsH42 locus in the chromosome 15q25.1 inside an intron belonging to a gene of unknown function. The recombinogenic potential of the three alleles was assayed in vitro incubating pBR322-based constructs containing two copies of the minisatellite MsH42 with its flanking sequences, in the presence of rat testes nuclear extracts. This assay system was configured to monitor only reciprocal exchange type events and not gene conversion. All MsH42 allelic sequences enhanced intramolecular homologous recombination promoting high rates (approximately 76%) of equal crossover, the long allele showing the highest recombinogenic activity. Removal of the MsH42 long allele flanking sequences, which are identical in the three alleles, provoked a decrease in the enhancement of recombination and in the frequency of equal crossovers, suggesting that these sequences are important for the recombinogenic activity and for the correct pairing between homologous sequences. The occurrence of some complex recombination events within the minisatellite MsH42 suggests the existence of processes related to polymerase slippage and unwinding with reinvasion during the repair synthesis. Our findings point toward the existence of two distinct biochemical pathways for initiation and resolution of recombination at the minisatellite MsH42. Finally, the in vitro recombination system employed in this study could provide an approach to dissect processes of repetitive DNA instability and recombination.

半導体エレクトロニクス サブミクロン解像度極低温顕微ホトルミネセンス装置の開発とワイドギャップ半導体の欠陥検出への応用

A new photoluminescence (PL) microscope has been developed with a conventional optical system to obtain a monochromated PL image at a low temperature with a spatial resolution in sub-micron range. The objective and sample were put in the identical vacuum chamber to ensure thermal insulation between them. The spatial resolution at 15K was confirmed to be almost equal to the diffraction limit, i.e., 0.3μm, at a wavelength of 488nm. The microscope clearly visualized defective region, and polytype domain with a spatial resolution of 0.3μm in GaN. PL emissions ascribed to free excitons (EXA) and excitons bound to donors (D0X) were discriminated in μ-PL measurements at 15K on epitaxially laterally overgrown (ELO) GaN. The emission at 3.487eV ascribed to D0X became strong above the SiO2 mask within a distance of 8μm from the mask. In a μ-PL image related to excitons bound to N atoms in a 4H-SiC homoepitaxial layer, a dark line was observed at a line-shaped surface defect. Since the PL emission from donor (N)-acceptor (B) pairs was spatially uniform, N atoms were incorporated uniformly in the 4H-SiC epilayer. The dark line is probably caused by an enhancement of nonradiative recombination at the surface defect.

Counteracting regulation of chromatin remodeling at a fission yeast cAMP response element-related recombination hotspot by stress-activated protein kinase, cAMP-dependent kinase and meiosis regulators.

In fission yeast, an ATF/CREB-family transcription factor Atf1-Pcr1 plays important roles in the activation of early meiotic processes via the stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) and the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) pathways. In addition, Atf1-Pcr1 binds to a cAMP responsive element (CRE)-like sequence at the site of the ade6-M26 mutation, which results in local enhancement of meiotic recombination and chromatin remodeling. Here we studied the roles of meiosis-inducing signal transduction pathways in M26 chromatin remodeling. Chromatin analysis revealed that persistent activation of PKA in meiosis inhibited M26 chromatin remodeling, suggesting that the PKA pathway represses M26 chromatin remodeling. The SAPK pathway activated M26 chromatin remodeling, since mutants lacking a component of this pathway, the Wis1 or Spc1/Sty1 kinases, had no M26 chromatin remodeling. M26 chromatin remodeling also required the meiosis regulators Mei2 and Mei3 but not the subsequently acting regulators Sme2 and Mei4, suggesting that induction of M26 chromatin remodeling needs meiosis-inducing signals before premeiotic DNA replication. Similar meiotic chromatin remodeling occurred meiotically around natural M26 heptamer sequences. These results demonstrate the coordinated action of genetic and physiological factors required to remodel chromatin in preparation for high levels of meiotic recombination and eukaryotic cellular differentiation.

Temperature dependence of electroluminescence intensity of green and blue InGaN single-quantum-well light-emitting diodes

Temperature dependence of electroluminescence (EL) spectral intensity of the super-bright green and blue InGaN single-quantum-well (SQW) light-emitting diodes has been studied over a wide temperature range (T=15–300 K) under a weak injection current of 0.1 mA. It is found that when T is slightly decreased to 140 K, the EL intensity efficiently increases, as usually seen due to the improved quantum efficiency. However, with further decrease of T down to 15 K, it drastically decreases due to reduced carrier capture by SQW and trapping by nonradiative recombination centers. This unusual temperature-dependent evolution of the EL intensity shows a striking difference between green and blue SQW diodes owing to the different potential depths of the InGaN well. The importance of efficient carrier capture processes by localized tail states within the SQW is thus pointed out for enhancement of radiative recombination of injected carriers in the presence of the high-density dislocations.

DNA inversion in the tail fiber gene alters the host range specificity of carotovoricin Er, a phage-tail-like bacteriocin of phytopathogenic Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora Er.

Carotovoricin Er is a phage-tail-like bacteriocin produced by Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora strain Er, a causative agent for soft rot disease in plants. Here we studied binding and killing spectra of carotovoricin Er preparations for various strains of the bacterium (strains 645Ar, EC-2, N786, and P7) and found that the preparations contain two types of carotovoricin Er with different host specificities; carotovoricin Era possessing a tail fiber protein of 68 kDa killed strains 645Ar and EC-2, while carotovoricin Erb with a tail fiber protein of 76 kDa killed strains N786 and P7. The tail fiber proteins of 68 and 76 kDa had identical N-terminal amino acid sequences for at least 11 residues. A search of the carotovoricin Er region in the chromosome of strain Er indicated the occurrence of a DNA inversion system for the tail fiber protein consisting of (i) two 26-bp inverted repeats inside and downstream of the tail fiber gene that flank a 790-bp fragment and (ii) a putative DNA invertase gene with a 90-bp recombinational enhancer sequence. In fact, when a 1,400-bp region containing the 790-bp fragment was amplified by a PCR using the chromosomal DNA of strain Er as the template, both the forward and the reverse nucleotide sequences of the 790-bp fragment were detected. DNA inversion of the 790-bp fragment also occurred in Escherichia coli DH5alpha when two compatible plasmids carrying either the 790-bp fragment or the invertase gene were cotransformed into the bacterium. Furthermore, hybrid carotovoricin CGE possessing the tail fiber protein of 68 or 76 kDa exhibited a host range specificity corresponding to that of carotovoricin Era or Erb, respectively. Thus, a DNA inversion altered the C-terminal part of the tail fiber protein of carotovoricin Er, altering the host range specificity of the bacteriocin.

A Pulsed Laser Photolysis−Pulsed Laser Induced Fluorescence Study of the Kinetics of the Gas-Phase Reaction of OH with NO2

The kinetics of the recombination reaction, OH+NO2+(M)→HNO3 +(M) have been investigated by the pulsed laser photolysis−pulsed laser induced fluorescence (PLP−PLIF) technique in air, nitrogen, oxygen, and helium buffer gases at room temperature and as a function of pressure (30−700 Torr). Additional measurements in nitrogen at 273 K (100−700 Torr) are reported. The third-body efficiency of water vapor has also been investigated. Our values for the absolute rate coefficient in nitrogen at room temperature and at 273 K are in excellent agreement with the JPL 1994 recommendation but lie substantially above the current JPL 2000 recommendation. Our rate coefficients in helium agree with previous literature studies, suggesting that systematic errors are small. Oxygen is found to be about 20% less efficient than nitrogen, and we see no significant enhancement in recombination in the presence of water vapor. Our results suggest that formation of the pernitrous acid isomer cannot explain the discrepancies in the cu...

Enhanced homologous recombination caused by the non-transcribed spacer of the rDNA in Arabidopsis.

The problem of the low frequency of homologous recombination observed in higher plants has been approached in several ways. Here, we report a new strategy to enhance homologous recombination in Arabidopsis. In Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, hotspots that enhance homologous recombination nearby have been identified in regions close to sites associated with the blocking of DNA replication forks or with intensive transcriptional activity. In yeast, a recombination hotspot (HOT1) was found in a region spanning two non-transcribed spacers (NTS) between ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA), which contains both a replication fork barrier ( RFB) and the promoter for transcription of the 35S rRNA gene. Since rDNA has a common structure among eukaryotes, we analyzed the effect of the endogenous NTS on homologous mitotic recombination in a higher plant. We constructed transgenic lines of Arabidopsis containing this NTS and a recombination substrate, in which two 3'- and 5'-deleted uidA (beta-glucuronidase) genes with partially overlapping sequences are separated by a Hyg(r) gene. Reconstitution of functional uidA genes by homologous recombination was monitored by histochemical GUS staining. We found that recombination occurred more frequently in all organs tested in F (Fork block) lines transgenic for the NTS than in C (Control) lines without the NTS. The average number of GUS+ spots on leaves in F lines was more than nine-fold higher than in C lines. Furthermore, by genomic Southern analysis, post-recombinational molecules were detected in a transgenic line, F43, which had an extremely high number of GUS+ blue spots. These results strongly suggest that NTS-dependent enhancement of homologous recombination may be a common feature of higher plants as well as yeast.

Improvement in electron and hole injection at electrodes and in recombination at a two-organic-layer interface

In order to improve the power efficiency of standard multilayered organic electroluminescent (EL) devices, i.e. ITO/HTL/ETL/M, enhanced electron and enhanced hole injection at an ETL/M and an ITO/HTL interface, respectively, were attempted, as well as enhanced electron–hole recombination at an HTL/ETL interface, by designing proper charge injection at these interfaces. Here, ITO, HTL, ETL, and M are abbreviations for an indium-tin oxide anode, a hole-transport layer, an electron-transport layer, and a metal cathode. The HTL and ETL materials used were N, N′-diphenyl- N, N′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine (TPD) and tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)–aluminum (Alq 3) respectively, whereas a vapor-deposited aluminum (Al) electrode was used as the metal cathode M. In order to enhance the charge injection at both electrodes, lowering the barrier heights and thinning the barrier thickness were attempted by controlling the work functions of the ITO and the Al electrode and doping the HTL and the ETL, respectively. For lowering the work function of the Al cathode and doping the Alq 3 ETL, the reaction of hot Al atoms with alkali metal carboxylates during Al vapor deposition was utilized. To increase the work function of the ITO and doping the TPD HTL, the use of thin TPD films doped with various oxidizing reagents was examined at the ITO/HTL interface. The enhancement of the charge recombination at HTL/ETL was attained by increasing the interfacial areas, i.e. introducing a mixed layer of TPD and Alq 3, or inserting a thin film of rubrene with a higher recombination efficiency.

A Saccharomyces servazzii clone homologous to Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome III spanning KAR4, ARS 304 and SPB1 lacks the recombination enhancer but contains an unknown ORF.

In order to learn about the evolutionary conservation of the recombination enhancer (RE) that controls donor preference during mating type switching in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have cloned a 13 kb region from S. servazzii. We find that the order of four genes surrounding the RE in S. cerevisiae (PRD1, KAR4, SPB1 and PBN1) is preserved in S.servazzii. However, there is an additional ORF in S. servazzii between PRD1 and KAR4 that is not homologous to any gene in S. cerevisiae or to genes in other organisms. Despite a 75-79% amino acid identity for KAR4 and SPB1, respectively, the S. servazzii sequence did not carry a well-conserved RE sequence and these sequences lacked RE function when introduced into S. cerevisiae. The S. servazzii region contains a sequence that supports autonomous DNA replication in S. cerevisiae and may represent a homologue of ARS304. The S. servazziii sequence has Genbank Accession No. BankIt359091 AF307954.

Folding and activity of recombinant human procollagen C-proteinase enhancer.

Recombinant human procollagen C-proteinase enhancer (rPCPE) was expressed using a baculovirus system and purified to homogeneity using a three-step procedure including heparin affinity chromatography. Heparin binding was dependent on the C-terminal netrin-like domain. The recombinant protein was found to be active, increasing the activity of procollagen C-proteinase/bone morphogenetic protein-1 on type I procollagen in a manner comparable to the native protein. Enhancing activity was dependent on intact disulfide bonding within the protein. By circular dichroism, the observed secondary structure of rPCPE was consistent with the known three-dimensional structures of proteins containing homologous domains.

Cloning and characterization of the mouse alpha1C/A-adrenergic receptor gene and analysis of an alpha1C promoter in cardiac myocytes: role of an MCAT element that binds transcriptional enhancer factor-1 (TEF-1).

alpha1-Adrenergic receptor (AR) subtypes in the heart are expressed by myocytes but not by fibroblasts, a feature that distinguishes alpha1-ARs from beta-ARs. Here we studied myocyte-specific expression of alpha1-ARs, focusing on the subtype alpha1C (also called alpha1A), a subtype implicated in cardiac hypertrophic signaling in rat models. We first cloned the mouse alpha1C-AR gene, which consisted of two exons with an 18 kb intron, similar to the alpha1B-AR gene. The receptor coding sequence was >90% homologous to that of rat and human. alpha1C-AR transcription in mouse heart was initiated from a single Inr consensus sequence at -588 from the ATG; this and a putative polyadenylation sequence 8.5 kb 3' could account for the predominant 11 kb alpha1C mRNA in mouse heart. A 5'-nontranscribed fragment of 4.4 kb was active as a promoter in cardiac myocytes but not in fibroblasts. Promoter activity in myocytes required a single muscle CAT (MCAT) element, and this MCAT bound in vitro to recombinant and endogenous transcriptional enhancer factor-1. Thus, alpha1C-AR transcription in cardiac myocytes shares MCAT dependence with other cardiac-specific genes, including the alpha- and beta-myosin heavy chains, skeletal alpha-actin, and brain natriuretic peptide. However, the mouse alpha1C gene was not transcribed in the neonatal heart and was not activated by alpha1-AR and other hypertrophic agonists in rat myocytes, and thus differed from other MCAT-dependent genes and the rat alpha1C gene.

Novel Function of Rad27 (FEN-1) in Restricting Short-Sequence Recombination

Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants lacking the structure-specific nuclease Rad27 display an enhancement in recombination that increases as sequence length decreases, suggesting that Rad27 preferentially restricts recombination between short sequences. Since wild-type alleles of both RAD27 and its human homologue FEN1 complement the elevated short-sequence recombination (SSR) phenotype of a rad27-null mutant, this function may be conserved from yeast to humans. Furthermore, mutant Rad27 and FEN-1 enzymes with partial flap endonuclease activity but without nick-specific exonuclease activity partially complement the SSR phenotype of the rad27-null mutant. This suggests that the endonuclease activity of Rad27 (FEN-1) plays a role in limiting recombination between short sequences in eukaryotic cells.

Recombination of Bare Cl17+ Ions in an Electron Cooler

Using an electron beam merged with an energetic ion beam in a storage ring, non-resonant recombination between multiply charged ions and free electrons is studied by measuring directly the rate of recombination products leaving the interaction zone. The relative electron-ion energy was varied from meV energies up to ∼ 50 eV. Above ∼ 0.5 eV the measured rates are well represented by the calculated RR into final states up to the experimental Rydberg-ion detection limit. Between ∼ 0.01 and 0.5 eV the calculated RR rates are 10% experimental data. As the relative energy is decreased below 0.01 eV, the observed recombination rates rise strongly (to ≲ 2.2 times the predicted RR rate), reproducing the low-energy recombination enhancement found in other recent experiments.

Resonant enhancement of dielectronic recombination by a microwave field

We have observed dielectronic recombination of Ba+ and e(-) from a continuum of finite bandwidth in the presence of microwave fields of frequencies 8.08 and 12.05 GHz and amplitudes of up to 2 V/cm. There are sharp resonant enhancements when the microwave frequency matches the Deltan = 1, 2, and 3 resonances of the intermediate autoionizing Rydberg states, and we attribute the enhancements to resonant microwave Stark l mixing. The microwave field provides a simple and powerful way to enhance the recombination rate for incident electrons of a specific energy.

Effect of the murine leukemia virus extended packaging signal on the rates and locations of retroviral recombination.

Reverse transcriptase (RT) switches templates frequently during DNA synthesis; the acceptor template can be the same RNA (intramolecular) or the copackaged RNA (intermolecular). Previous results indicated that intramolecular template switching occurred far more frequently than intermolecular template switching. We hypothesized that intermolecular template-switching events (recombination) occurred at a lower efficiency because the copackaged RNA was not accessible to the RT. To test our hypothesis, the murine leukemia virus (MLV) extended packaging signal (Psi(+)) containing a dimer linkage structure (DLS) was relocated from the 5' untranslated region (UTR) to between selectable markers, allowing the two viral RNAs to interact closely in this region. It was found that the overall maximum recombination rates of vectors with Psi(+) in the 5' UTR or Psi(+) between selectable markers were not drastically different. However, vectors with Psi(+) located between selectable markers reached a plateau of recombination rate at a shorter distance. This suggested a limited enhancement of recombination by Psi(+). The locations of the recombination events were also examined by using restriction enzyme markers. Recombination occurred in all four regions between the selectable markers; the region containing 5' Psi(+) including DLS did not undergo more recombination than expected from the size of the region. These experiments indicated that although the accessibility of the copackaged RNA was important in recombination, other factors existed to limit the number of viruses that were capable of undergoing intermolecular template switching. In addition, recombinants with multiple template switches were observed at a frequency much higher than expected, indicating the presence of high negative interference in the MLV-based system. This extends our observation with the spleen necrosis virus system and suggests that high negative interference may be a common phenomenon in retroviral recombination.

Type-I and type-II transitions in electroluminescence spectra of GaAs/AlAs monolayer multiquantum-well structures

We have investigated the temperature dependence of type-I and type-II optical transitions in electroluminescence spectra from type-II (GaAs) n /(AlAs) m multiquantum-well structures embedded in InAlP confinement layers. The experimental results confirm a thermally assisted up-conversion of electrons from the AlAs conduction band X-point into the energetically higher lying quantized GaAs Γ-states. This process yields to a remarkable enhancement of the radiative type-I recombination in the type-II structures.