This article uses plane-wave density functional theory calculations to investigate the direct amination of benzene catalyzed by a Ni(111) surface to explore the reaction intermediates and to understand the role of nickel in this reaction.

This article finds that the transcript profile of the laccase gene ChLAC8 parallels the accumulation of C-lignin during seed coat development. Recombinant ChLAC8 oxidizes caffeyl and sinapyl alcohols, generating their corresponding dimers or trimers in vitro, but cannot oxidize coniferyl alcohol. The authors propose a basis for this substrate preference based on molecular modeling/docking experiments. Suppression of ChLAC8 expression led to significantly reduced C-lignin content in the seed coats of transgenic Cleome plants. Feeding of 13C-caffeyl alcohol to the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) caffeic acid o-methyltransferase mutant resulted in no incorporation of 13C into C-lignin, but expressing ChLAC8 in this genetic background led to appearance of C-lignin with >40% label incorporation. These results indicate that ChLAC8 is required for C-lignin polymerization and determines lignin composition when caffeyl alcohol is available.

Article describes how ARKENSTONE is a new model for multiphase, stellar feedback-driven galactic winds designed for inclusion in coarse resolution cosmological simulations. In this first paper of a series, the authors describe the features that allow ARKENSTONE to properly treat high specific energy wind components and demonstrate them using idealized non-cosmological simulations of a galaxy with a realistic circumgalactic medium (CGM) using the AREPO code.

This article is a review cataloging and contextualizing all of the plant genes currently known to be required for SNF in two model legume species, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, and two crop species, Glycine max (soybean) and Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean). The authors also briefly consider the future of SNF genetics in the era of pan-genomics and genome editing.

This article is a review presenting examples of gene editing responsible for conferring both biotic and abiotic stresses in tomato simultaneously. The literature on using this powerful technology to improve fruit quality, yield, and nutritional aspects in tomato is highlighted.