determined whether this pattern deviates from what would be expected on the basis of a null model or whether it might mirror a legacy of a common primitive niche based on a phylogenetic reconstruction. Key Results: The niche of three-quarters of the species and all genera converged towards tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs). The latitudinal pattern of basal angiosperm richness indeed culminated in the tropics, and the elevational pattern revealed a humpback curve peaking between 2000 mand 3500 mwhen accounting for the effect of area. At first glance, this diversity pattern does not significantly differ from null predictions. However, we revealed a tendency for the basal-most taxa to occur in TMCFs so that phylogenetic reconstructions indicated that the niche of the common ancestor of the sampled basal angiosperms had a probability of 0.85 - 0.93 to overlap with TMCFs. Conclusions: Our new approach indicates that the environmental convergence of extant basal angiosperms towards TMCFs would reflect a legacy of an ancestral niche from which the least basal taxa would have diverged following a random pattern under geometric constraints.

Preston, L.J., Barcenilla, R., Dartnell, L.R., Kucukkilic-Stephens, E., Olsson-Francis, K., 2019. Infrared spectroscopic detection of biosignatures at Lake Tírez, Spain: Implications for Mars. Astrobiology 20, 15-25.

https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2019.2106 The detection of potential biosignatures with mineral matrices is part of a multifaceted approach in the search for life on other planetary bodies. The 2020 ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover includes within its payload three IR spectrometers in the form of ISEM (Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars), MicrOmega, and Ma-MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies). The use of this technique in the detection and characterization of biosignatures is of great value. Organic materials are often co-deposited in terrestrial evaporites and as such have been proposed as relevant analogs in the search for life on Mars. This study focuses on Ca-sulfates collected from the hypersaline Tírez Lake in Spain. Mid infrared and visible near infrared analysis of soils, salt crusts, and crystals with green and red layering indicative of microbial colonization of the samples was acquired from across the lake and identified the main mineral to be gypsum with inputs of carbonate and silica. Organic functional groups that could be attributed to amides and carboxylic acids were identified as well as chlorophyll; however, due to the strong mineralogical absorptions observed, these were hard to unambiguously discern. Taxonomical assignment demonstrated that the archaeal community within the samples was dominated by the halophilic extremophile Halobacteriaceae while the bacterial community was dominated by the class Nocardiaceae. The results of this research highlight that sulfates on Mars are a mixed blessing, acting as an effective host for organic matter preservation but also a material that masks the presence of organic functional groups when analyzed with spectroscopic tools similar to those due to fly on the 2020 ExoMars rover. A suite of complementary analytical techniques therefore should be used to support the spectral identification of any candidate extraterrestrial biosignatures.

Priharto, N., Ronsse, F., Yildiz, G., Heeres, H.J., Deuss, P.J., Prins, W., 2020. Fast pyrolysis with fractional condensation of lignin-rich digested stillage from second-generation bioethanol production. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 145, 104756.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165237019305327 Poplar-derived lignin-rich feedstock (i.e. stillage) obtained from bioethanol production was subjected to fast pyrolysis in a modified fluidised bed reactor at 430 °C, 480 °C, and 530 °C. The stillage was pretreated by enzymatic digestion prior to fast pyrolysis. Pyrolysis vapors were collected by fractional condensation to separate the heavy organic and aqueous phase liquids. The intention of this study was to assess the potential utilization of lignin-rich digested stillage as a fast pyrolysis feedstock. Heavy organic and aqueous phase pyrolysis liquids were obtained in yields ranging from 15.1 to 18.1 wt.% and 9.7 to 13.4 wt.% respectively. The rest of the feedstock material was converted to char (37.1 to 44.7 wt.%) and non -condensable gases (27.1 to 31.5 wt.%). Detailed liquid analysis indicated that the heavy organic phase fractions contain compounds arising from the degradation of lignin, residual microbial biomass and remaining polysaccharides. Fast pyrolysis adds