Sakurai, H., Tokanai, F., Miyake, F., Horiuchi, K., Masuda, K., Miyahara, H., Ohyama, M., Sakamoto, M., 14 Mitsutani, T., Moriya, T., 2020. Prolonged production of C during the ~660 BCE solar proton event from Japanese tree rings. Scientific Reports 10, 660.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57273-2 Annual rings record the intensity of cosmic rays (CRs) that had entered into the Earth's atmosphere. Several 14 14 rapid C increases in the past, such as the 775 CE and 994CE C spikes, have been reported to originate from 14 extreme solar proton events (SPEs). Another rapid C increase, also known as the ca. 660 BCE event in 10 36 German oak tree rings as well as increases of Be and Cl in ice cores, was presumed similar to the 775 CE 14 event; however, as the C increase of approximately 10‰ in 660 BCE had taken a rather longer rise time of 3 - 4 years as compared to that of the 775 CE event, the occurrence could not be simply associated to an extreme 14 SPE. In this study, to elucidate the rapid increase in C concentrations in tree rings around 660 BCE, we have 14 precisely measured the C concentrations of earlywoods and latewoods inside the annual rings of Japanese 14 cedar for the period 669 - 633 BCE. Based on the feature of C production rate calculated from the fine 14 14 measured profile of the C concentrations, we found that the C rapid increase occurred within 665 - 663.5 14 BCE, and that duration of C production describing the event is distributed from one month to 41 months. The possibility of occurrence of consecutive SPEs over up to three years is offered.

Salari, Z., Kazemi, M.J., Shirsalimian, M.S., 2020. Isolation and molecular identification of halophilic microorganisms from around Saghand Uranium Mine, Saghand Desert, Iran. Geomicrobiology Journal 37, 40- 49.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2019.1662522 Halophiles are a group of microorganisms found in salty environments such as marine ecosystems, salty meat, salt evaporation ponds, and salt mines. The present study aimed to investigate the diversity of halophilic microorganisms in Saghand Desert (Yazd Province, Iran). To this end, water, soil, and salt crystal samples were taken from Saghand Desert. In order to isolate and culture bacteria and archaea, they were separately inoculated in solid 10% Halophiles Moderate (HM) medium and 23% Modified Growth Medium (MGM). After incubation at 37 °C, all obtained halophilic isolates were analyzed in terms of phenotypic, microscopic, and biochemical characteristics. After eliminating repetitive strains, 26 isolates from each representative sample were selected for DNA extraction and molecular studies. Phylogenetic analysis showed that archaeal isolates belonged to Natrinema Haloarcula Halomonas Bacillus genera and and bacterial isolates were from genera , , Staphylococcus Gracilibacillus , and . The isolation of these genera from many regions of Iran and their enzymatic activity indicate the high biodiversity of these microorganisms in Iran and their potentials for use in biotechnology, which should be considered by industries more seriously.

Sánchez-Romero, M.A., Casadesús, J., 2020. The bacterial epigenome. Nature Reviews Microbiology 18, 7-20.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-019-0286-2 In all domains of life, genomes contain epigenetic information superimposed over the nucleotide sequence. Epigenetic signals control DNA - protein interactions and can cause phenotypic change in the absence of mutation. A nearly universal mechanism of epigenetic signalling is DNA methylation. In bacteria, DNA methylation has roles in genome defence, chromosome replication and segregation, nucleoid organization, cell cycle control, DNA repair and regulation of transcription. In many bacterial species, DNA methylation controls reversible switching (phase variation) of gene expression, a phenomenon that generates phenotypic cell variants. The formation of epigenetic lineages enables the adaptation of bacterial populations to harsh or changing environments and modulates the interaction of pathogens with their eukaryotic hosts.

Sandoval, B.A., Hyster, T.K., 2020. Emerging strategies for expanding the toolbox of enzymes in biocatalysis. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 55, 45-51.