late Permian as recorded by basin modeling, coupled with fluid inclusion analysis and illite K - Ar dating. In addition to promoting petroleum exploration in the Tarim Basin, this study, which combines crude oil Re - Os isotope dating and traditional analytical methods (organic geochemistry and fluid inclusion analysis) to constrain petroleum evolution, is applicable to hydrocarbon systems worldwide.

Ghosh, A.K., Bandopadhyay, A.K., 2020. Formation of thermogenic gases with coalification: FTIR and DFT examination of vitrinite rich coals. International Journal of Coal Geology 219, 103379.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166516219309322 The evolution of thermogenic gases during coalification has not yet been theoretically attempted. Examinations on Indian Permian vitrinites of various ranks ranging from Cwt% 76 to 92 were performed. Fourier Transform Infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) provided insight into the structural changes where the aliphatic CH increases with increase in percentage of carbon up to ~85% and then decreases. In contrast, the aromatic CH, the ratio of fa aromatic CH to aliphatic CH and aromaticity ( ) increase monotonically with the advancement of rank. A fa fa relationship between and atomic H/C ratio as fa = 1.12 - 0.45H/C was established to predict from elemental analysis. The structural data from FTIR served as an input to construct six representative hypothetical models of coal of varying Cwt% (76, 80, 83, 86, 87 and 89). Density Functional Theory (DFT) has been applied to these coal models and the formation of principal thermogenic gases, viz. CO for the low-(76%C)and CH for the 2 4 high-rank (87%C), with simultaneous increase in the rank was demonstrated considering the smaller structural units extracted from the relevant coal models. The suggested reaction pathways are supported by the negative values of changes in free energies of the reactions computed from the Gaussian thermo-chemistry. The studies could, therefore, show that gas evolution as a natural (spontaneous) process with feasibility of rank advancement.

Giner, C.R., Pernice, M.C., Balagué, V., Duarte, C.M., Gasol, J.M., Logares, R., Massana, R., 2020. Marked changes in diversity and relative activity of picoeukaryotes with depth in the world ocean. The ISME Journal 14, 437-449.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0506-9 Microbial eukaryotes are key components of the ocean plankton. Yet, our understanding of their community composition and activity in different water layers of the ocean is limited, particularly for picoeukaryotes (0.2 - 3 µm cell size). Here, we examined the picoeukaryotic communities inhabiting different vertical zones of the tropical and subtropical global ocean: surface, deep chlorophyll maximum, mesopelagic (including the deep scattering layer and oxygen minimum zones), and bathypelagic. Communities were analysed by high- tthroughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene (V4 region) as represented by DNA (community structure) and RNA (metabolism), followed by delineation of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) at 99% similarity. We found a stratification of the picoeukaryotic communities along the water column, with assemblages corresponding to the sunlit and dark ocean. Specific taxonomic groups either increased (e.g., Chrysophyceae or Bicosoecida) or decreased (e.g., Dinoflagellata or MAST-3) in abundance with depth. We used the rRNA:rDNA ratio of each OTU as a proxy of metabolic activity. The highest relative activity was found in the mesopelagic layer for most taxonomic groups, and the lowest in the bathypelagic. Altogether, we characterize the change in community structure and metabolic activity of picoeukaryotes with depth in the global ocean, suggesting a hotspot of activity in the mesopelagic.

Ginting, E.L., Kemer, K., Wullur, S., Uria, A.R., 2020. Identification of proteolytic thermophiles from Moinit Coastal Hot-Spring, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Geomicrobiology Journal 37, 50-58.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2019.1662524 We have isolated thermophilic bacteria from Moinit coastal hot-spring, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Of 12 seawater samples collected, we obtained 20 thermophilic bacterial isolates. Sixteen of the isolated thermophiles were found to exhibit protein-degrading ability as indicated by the presence of clearing zones surrounding their