26.8 wt.% to the conversion of this otherwise recalcitrant feedstock material, thereby reducing waste generation and enhancing the value of second-generation bioethanol production.

Prokofiev, V.Y., Banks, D.A., Lobanov, K.V., Selektor, S.L., Milichko, V.A., Akinfiev, N.N., Borovikov, A.A., Lüders, V., Chicherov, M.V., 2020. Exceptional concentrations of gold nanoparticles in 1,7 Ga fluid inclusions from the Kola superdeep borehole, northwest Russia. Scientific Reports 10, 1108.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58020-8 In the drill core of the Kola super-deep borehole (SG- 3, 12,262 mdepth) gold -bearing rocks of Archaean age have been located at depths of 9,500 to 11,000 m. In veins, between 9,052 and 10,744 m, within this gold zone, quartz contains fluid inclusions with gold nanoparticles. There are 4 types of fluid inclusions (1) gas inclusions of dense CO , (2) liquid-vapor two-phase aqueous inclusions, (3) three-phase inclusions with NaCl daughter 2 crystals, and (4) CO -aqueous inclusions. In all inclusion types, there are extremely high concentrations of gold. 2 The highest gold concentrations were found in the type 3 and 4 fluid inclusions with an average concentration of c. 750 ppm and may be as high as 6,000 ppm. The presence of gold as nanoparticles in the solutions of these fluid inclusions was determined by optical and spectroscopic methods. We suggest that these fluids could be a precursor of 'orogenic gold fluids' which, at the gold concentrations determined, would reduce the requirements for large volumes of metamorphic fluids to form orogenic ore deposits. Further, as nanoparticles, gold could be transported in larger amounts than in true solution.

Qi, Y., Fu, P., Li, S., Ma, C., Liu, C., Volmer, D.A., 2020. Assessment of molecular diversity of lignin products by various ionization techniques and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Science of The Total Environment 713, 136573.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720300838 Lignin is a highly complex, plant-derived natural biomass component, the analysis of which requires significant demands on the analytical platform. Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has been shown to be able to readily assess the complexity of lignin and lignin degradation products by assigning tens of thousands of compounds with elemental formulae. Nevertheless, many experimental and instrumental parameters introduce discrimination towards certain components, which limits the comprehensive MS analysis. As a result, a complete characterization of the lignome remains a challenge. The present study investigated a degraded lignin sample using FT-ICR MS and compared several atmospheric pressure ionization methods, e.g., electrospray ionization, atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization, and atmospheric-pressure photoionization. The results clearly show that the number of heteroatoms (e.g., N, S, P) in the sample greatly increases the chemical diversity of lignin, while at the same time also providing potentially useful biomarkers. We demonstrate here that FT-ICR MS was able to directly isolate isotopically pure single components from the ultra-complex mixture for subsequent structural analysis, without the time-consuming chromatographic separation. Capsule Various ionization techniques coupled to FT-ICR MS provide a powerful tool to assess the lignome coverage.

Qiao, W., Puentes Jácome, L.A., Tang, X., Lomheim, L., Yang, M.I., Gaspard, S., Avanzi, I.R., Wu, J., Ye, S., Edwards, E.A., 2020. Microbial communities associated with sustained anaerobic reductive dechlorination of α - , β - , γ - , and δ -hexachlorocyclohexane isomers to monochlorobenzene and benzene. Environmental Science & Technology 54, 255-265.

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b05558 Intensive historical and worldwide use of pesticide formulations containing hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) has led to widespread contamination. We derived four anaerobic enrichment cultures from HCH-contaminated soil capable of sustainably dechlorinating each of α - , β - , γ - , and δ -HCH isomers stoichiometrically to benzene and monochlorobenzene (MCB). For each isomer, the dechlorination rates, inferred from production rates of the ∼ dechlorinated products, MCB and benzene, increased progressively from <3 to 12 μM /day over 2 years. The