Before reaching the skies, the Himalayas had a leg up, new study shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Mountain ranges play a key role in global climate, altering weather and shaping the flora and fauna that inhabit their slopes and the valleys below. As warm air rises windward grades and cools, moisture condenses into rain and snow. On the leeward side, it’s quite the opposite. Deserts prevail, a phenomenon known as rain shadow. Thus, the way mountain ranges form is a matter of intense interest among those who study and model climates of the past.

That debate will soon grow more heated with a new paper in the journal Nature Geoscience. A team of researchers at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability has adapted a technique used to study meteorites to measure historic altitudes in sedimentary rocks to show that one of the world’s most familiar mountain ranges, the Himalayas, did not form as experts have long assumed.

“The controversy rests mainly in what existed before the Himalayas were there,” explains Page Chamberlain, professor of Earth and planetary sciences and of Earth system science at the Doerr School of Sustainability, and senior author of the study. “Our study shows for the first time that the edges of the two tectonic plates were already quite high prior to the collision that created the Himalayas – about 3.5 kilometers on average.”

“That’s more than 60 percent of their present height,” added Daniel Ibarra, BS ’12, MS ’14, PhD ’18, a recent postdoctoral researcher from Chamberlain’s lab, first author of the paper, and now an assistant professor at Brown University. “That’s a lot higher than many thought and this new understanding could reshape theories about past climate and biodiversity.”

At the very least, the findings mean that ancient climate models will have to be recalibrated, and it will likely lead to new paleoclimatic assumptions about the Himalayan region of Southern Tibet, an area known as the Gangdese Arc. It could also beget closer scrutiny of other key mountain ranges, such as the Andes and the Sierra Nevada.

Old technique, new insight

Why this longstanding debate is suddenly roiling has much to do with the challenges of measuring topographic altitudes of the past – a field known as paleoaltimetry. It is extremely challenging work, the researchers say. There are not many proxies for altitude in the geologic record, but the Stanford team found one in collaboration with study authors from China University of Geosciences (Beijing).

Not only do rains fall more heavily on windward slopes, but the chemical composition of the precipitation changes as the air rises toward the peaks. Heavier isotopes tend to drop out first; lighter ones nearer the peaks. Thus, by analyzing the isotopic makeup of the rocks, experts can find the telltale signs of the altitude at which they were laid down.

In the sedimentary record, oxygen exists in three stable isotopes: oxygen 16, 17, 18. Dauntingly, the key isotope, oxygen 17, is extremely rare. It comprises just 0.04% of the oxygen on Earth. That means, in a sample containing a million atoms of oxygen, just four atoms are oxygen 17.

“There are maybe eight labs in the world that can do this analysis,” said Chamberlain, who helped process samples at the Terrestrial Paleoclimate lab at Stanford. “Still, it took us three years to get numbers that made some sense and that were working every day.”

Tectonic shifts

That explains why triple oxygen analysis had been overlooked – or perhaps too easily dismissed – as a proxy for ancient altitude. But Chamberlain and his colleagues saw an opportunity. Using a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation, the team adapted the technique to paleoaltimetry and used the mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho, for a proof-of-concept paper in 2020. With the science established, they then turned their sights higher – to the Himalayas.

Sampling quartz veins from lower altitudes in southern Tibet and using triple oxygen analysis, the team showed that the foundations of the Gangdese Arc were already much higher than anticipated, long before any tectonic collision occurred.

“Experts have long thought that it takes a massive tectonic collision, on the order of continent-to-continent scale, to produce the sort of uplift required to produce Himalaya-scale elevations,” Ibarra said. “This study disproves that and sends the field in some interesting new directions.”

Contributing authors include Yuan Gao, Jingen Dai, and Chengshan Wang at China University of Geosciences (Beijing). Chamberlain is also a member of Bio-X and an affiliate with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

---

JOURNAL

Nature Geoscience

DOI

10.1038/s41561-023-01243-x 

ARTICLE TITLE

High-elevation Tibetan Plateau before India–Eurasia collision recorded by triple oxygen isotopes

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Aug-2023

 

Researchers reverse hearing loss in mice

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KING'S COLLEGE LONDON

New research from The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London has successfully reversed hearing loss in mice. 

The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used a genetic approach to fix deafness in mice with a defective Spns2 gene, restoring their hearing abilities in low and middle frequency ranges. Researchers say this proof-of-concept study suggests that hearing impairment resulting from reduced gene activity may be reversible.  

Over half of adults in their 70s experience significant hearing loss. Impaired hearing is associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing depression and cognitive decline, as well as being a major predictor of dementia. While hearing aids and cochlear implants may be useful, they do not restore normal hearing function, and neither do they halt disease progression in the ear. There is a significant unmet need for medical approaches that slow down or reverse hearing loss.  

Researchers in this study bred mice with an inactive Spns2 gene. Mice were then provided with a special enzyme at differing ages to activate the gene after which their hearing improved. This was found to be most effective when Spns2 was activated at a young age, with the positive effects of gene activation becoming less potent the longer the researchers waited to provide the intervention.  

Professor Karen Steel, Professor of Sensory Function at King’s IoPPN and the study’s senior author said, “Degenerative diseases such as progressive hearing loss are often believed to be irreversible, but we have shown that at least one type of inner ear dysfunction can be reversed. We used a genetic method to show this reversal as a proof-of-concept in mice, but the positive results should encourage research into methods like gene therapy or drugs to reactivate hearing in people with a similar type of hearing loss.”  

Dr Elisa Martelletti, the study’s first author from King’s IoPPN said, “Seeing the once-deaf mice respond to sounds after treatment was truly thrilling. It was a pivotal moment, demonstrating the tangible potential to reverse hearing loss caused by defective genes. This groundbreaking proof-of-concept study unlocks new possibilities for future research, sparking hope for the development of treatments for hearing loss.”

This study was possible thanks to funding from the Medical Research Council, Wellcome, and from Decibel Therapeutics Inc.  

Ends  

For more information, please contact Patrick O’Brien (Senior Media Officer) on 07813 706 151. 

Reversal of an existing hearing loss by gene activation in Spns2 mutant mice (DOI10.1101/2023.05.02.539081) (Elisa Martelletti, Neil J. Ingham and Karen P. Steel) was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

About King’s College London and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience   

 

King's College London is one of the top 35 universities in the world and one of the top 10 in Europe (QS World University Rankings, 2021/22) and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 33,000 students (including more than 12,800 postgraduates) from over 150 countries worldwide, and 8,500 staff. King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. 

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s is a leading centre for mental health and neuroscience research in Europe. It produces more highly cited outputs (top 1% citations) on psychiatry and mental health than any other centre (SciVal 2021), and on this metric has risen from 16th (2014) to 4th (2021) in the world for highly cited neuroscience outputs. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), 90% of research at the IoPPN was deemed ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). World-leading research from the IoPPN has made, and continues to make, an impact on how we understand, prevent and treat mental illness, neurological conditions, and other conditions that affect the brain.  

---

JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2307355120 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Reversal of an existing hearing loss by gene activation in Spns2 mutant mice

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Aug-2023

COI STATEMENT

The authors declare no competing interest.

NIH zebrafish research included in US Postal Service’s “Life Magnified” stamps

NIH/EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

 

IMAGE: "ZEBRAFISH" FOREVER® STAMP FROM THE USPS® "LIFE MAGNIFIED" STAMP PANEL. view more 

CREDIT: USPS®

A microscopy image created by National Institutes of Health researchers is part of the “Life Magnified” stamp panel issued today by the United States Postal Service (USPS®). The NIH zebrafish image, which was taken to understand lymphatic vessel development in the brain, merges 350 individual images to reveal a juvenile zebrafish with a fluorescently tagged skull, scales and lymphatic system. 

“Zebrafish are used as a model for typical and atypical human development. It is surprising how much we have in common with zebrafish,” said Diana W. Bianchi, director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which generated the image. “NIH research affects our lives every day. My hope is that this postage stamp will help spur conversations and appreciation for the importance of basic science research.” 

The image was taken by NICHD’s Daniel Castranova, an aquatic research specialist, with assistance from former trainee Bakary Samasa. The research was conducted in the Section on Vertebrate Organogenesis, led by principal investigator Brant Weinstein, Ph.D. The lab is devoted to understanding mechanisms guiding the formation of blood and lymphatic vessels. The image also received top honor in the 46th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition in 2020.

Findings from the microscopy image were published in Circulation Research and featured on the journal’s cover. The work led to a groundbreaking discovery that zebrafish have lymphatic vessels inside their skull. These vessels were previously thought to occur only in mammals, and their discovery in fish could expedite and revolutionize research related to treatments for diseases that occur in the human brain, including cancer and Alzheimer’s.

“Life Magnified” is a set of 20 Forever® stamps (Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price). This collection includes work from other researchers relevant to the broader NIH community. Two creators lead microscopy core facilities often used by NIH-funded researchers at their universities. Tagide deCarvalho, Ph.D., is director of the Keith R. Porter Imaging Facility at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She created “Moss Leaves” and “Mold Spores.” Jason M. Kirk is director of the Optical Imaging & Vital Microscopy Core at Baylor College of Medicine. He created “Oak Leaf Surface” and “Mouse Brain Neurons.”

###

About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): NICHD leads research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. For more information, visit https://www.nichd.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit https://www.nih.gov.

---

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

 

Threatened grey-necked rockfowl's habitat even smaller than expected, study finds

Researchers’ findings may help drive conservation efforts for this unique bird species, found only in Central Africa

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SAN DIEGO ZOO WILDLIFE ALLIANCE

SAN DIEGO (AUG. 10, 2023) — A new study on gray-necked rockfowl has found a much smaller range of suitable habitat for this elusive African bird than was previously assumed, and may warrant a downgrade in its conservation status.

Scientists from the Cameroon Biodiversity Association (CAMBIO) in Cameroon, in partnership with San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, set out to better understand how much suitable habitat remains for the rockfowl, and where the birds can still be found.

Understanding suitable habitat and its extent is crucial for protecting species. However, scientists have limited knowledge about the available habitat for many species, including the grey-necked rockfowl (Picathartes oreas). One of only two species in the little-known family Picathartidae, grey-necked rockfowl are found only in the forests of Central Africa. Changes in land use are resulting in disappearing forests and habitat fragmentation in this region.

The study, published in Bird Conservation International, utilized intensive field work and advanced modeling techniques to generate crucial insights, including evidence to suggest changing the species’ status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, from Near Threatened to Vulnerable.

Scientists assessed 339 new and historical grey-necked rockfowl occurrence records, along with environmental variables. Then they predicted suitable habitat available for grey-necked rockfowl, and where conservation efforts for the species should be focused. The results show that the birds are strongly connected to areas with steep slopes and abundant forest cover, while variables related to climate, vegetation health and habitat condition didn't play a role in the birds’ distribution.

This study did not consider, however, how predictor variables might change in the future, due to factors such as climate change.

“Forest cover loss across Central Africa, home to many endemic, endangered and often understudied species, is accentuating biodiversity loss driven by climate change and other pressures,” said Ekwoge Abwe, Ph.D., a Scientific Program Manager for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, manager of CAMBIO and a co-author of the study. “Given its specific habitat requirements, including forest cover and steep slopes, the persistence of grey-necked Picathartes could be a good indicator of healthy forest. Conserving these unique habitats will help not only these birds, but a wide range of other related species.”

Ultimately, the team identified around 6,690 square miles, or 17,327 square kilometers, that fit the species’ desired criteria.

“Unfortunately, only about 2,490 square kilometers (961 square miles, or 14.4%) of this suitable habitat is in protected areas with strictly enforced conservation efforts,” said Guilain Tsetagho, research assistant at CAMBIO, who led the study. “Considering the bird’s limited range, specific nesting habitat needs and the increasing pressures from human activities, changing its conservation status could help prevent further land use from damaging rockfowl-compatible areas.”

 

###

 

About San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a nonprofit conservation leader, inspires passion for nature and collaboration for a healthier world. The Alliance supports innovative conservation science through global partnerships. Through wildlife care, science expertise and collaboration, more than 44 endangered species have been reintroduced to native habitats. Annually, the Alliance reaches over 1 billion people, in person at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and virtually in 150 countries through media channels, including San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers television programming in children’s hospitals in 13 countries. Wildlife Allies—members, donors and guests—make success possible.

---

JOURNAL

Bird Conservation International

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Modeling the potential distribution of the threatened Grey-necked Picathartes Picathartes oreas across its entire range

 

Hidden moles in hidden holes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH

 

IMAGE: TALPA HAKKARIENSIS – FOUND IN THE HAKKARI REGION OF SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY – WAS IDENTIFIED AS A NEW SPECIES OF MOLE, HIGHLY DISTINCTIVE IN TERMS OF BOTH ITS MORPHOLOGY AND DNA view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH

Scientists have identified two types of mole which they believe have been living undiscovered in the mountains of eastern Turkey for as many as 3 million years.

The new moles – named Talpa hakkariensis and Talpa davidiana tatvanensis – belong to a familiar group of subterranean, invertebrate-eating mammals found across Europe and Western Asia.

While only one species, Talpa europaea, is found in Britain, further east there are a number of different moles, many of which have very small geographical ranges.

The researchers – using cutting edge DNA technology – have confirmed the new forms are biologically distinct from others in the group.

Both inhabit mountainous regions in eastern Turkey, and are able to survive in temperatures of up to 50°C in summer and being buried under two metres of snow in winter.

The study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, was conducted by researchers from Ondokuz Mayıs University (Turkey), Indiana University (USA), and the University of Plymouth (UK).

Senior author David Bilton, Professor of Aquatic Biology at the University of Plymouth, has previously been responsible for identifying almost 80 new species of animals, particularly insects, and said the new discoveries were notable for a number of reasons.

“It is very rare to find new species of mammals today,” he said. “There are only around 6,500 mammal species that have been identified across the world and, by comparison, there are around 400,000 species of beetles known, with an estimated 1-2 million on Earth. Superficially, the new moles we have identified in this study appear similar to other species, since living underground imposes serious constraints on the evolution of body size and shape – there are a limited number of options available for moles really. Our study highlights how, in such circumstances, we can under-estimate the true nature of biodiversity, even in groups like mammals, where most people would assume we know all the species with which we share the planet.”

The discoveries mean that the number of known Eurasian moles has been raised from 16 to 18, and each have their own distinct genetic and physical characteristics.

To identify their latest finds, the researchers studied the size and shape of various bodily structures, using advanced mathematical analyses, which also allowed them to include specimens collected in the 19th century that are still available in museum collections.

A complimentary analysis of the moles’ DNA, and a detailed comparison with known species, then confirmed their distinctiveness.

As a result, Talpa hakkariensis – found in the Hakkari region of southeastern Turkey – was identified as a new species of mole, highly distinctive in terms of both its morphology and DNA.

Talpa davidiana tatvanensis – found near Bitlis, also in southeastern Turkey – was also identified as being morphologically distinct but has been classified as a subspecies of Talpa davidiana. First identified in 1884, T. davidiana it is listed as data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Professor Bilton added: “We have no doubt that further investigations will reveal additional diversity, and that more new species of mole remain undiscovered in this and adjacent regions. Amid increasing calls to preserve global biodiversity, if we are looking to protect species we need to know they exist in the first place. Through this study, we have established something of a hidden pocket of biodiversity and know far more about the species that live within it than previously. That will be critical for conservation experts, and society as a whole, when considering how best to manage this part of the planet.”

---

JOURNAL

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

DOI

10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad049 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Notes from the Anatolian underground: two new mole taxa from Eastern Turkey, together with a revised phylogeny of the genus Talpa (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla: Talpidae)

Karl Marx  

"We recognize our old friend, our old mole, who knows so well how to work underground, suddenly to appear: the revolution."

 

Researchers “film” novel catalyst at work

Catalysis scheme developed at the University of Bonn is inexpensive, sustainable, and effective

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BONN

 

IMAGE: PROF. DR. PETER VÖHRINGER, DR. LUIS DOMENIANNI, JONAS SCHMIDT AND PROF. DR. ANDREAS GANSÄUER. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO: VOLKER LANNERT/UNIVERSITY OF BONN

A novel catalysis scheme enables chemical reactions that were previously virtually impossible. The method developed at the University of Bonn is also environmentally friendly and does not require rare and precious metals. The researchers recorded the exact course of the catalysis in a kind of high-speed film. They did this using special lasers that can make processes visible that last only fractions of a billionth of a second. The results allow them to further optimize the catalyst. They have been published in the international edition of the renowned journal Angewandte Chemie.

Let’s say you are playing mini golf. There is a small hill on the course that the golf ball has to overcome in order to roll into the hole behind it. To do this, you need to hit it with enough force. Otherwise, it will not make it over the obstacle, but will roll back towards you.

It is similar for many chemical reactions: In order for them to proceed, you first have to supply them with enough energy. A catalyst reduces this activation energy. To stay in the picture: It levels the hill a bit so the ball needs less momentum to roll over it. The reaction is therefore easier and faster. “Some reactions are even only made possible by the use of catalysts,” explains Prof. Dr. Andreas Gansäuer.

Titanium instead of precious metals

The researcher works at the Kekulé Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Bonn. He has been working for years on how to simplify the production of certain carbon compounds. The use of catalysts is usually the means of choice here. The problem: Often, the “reaction accelerators” consist of rare and precious metals such as platinum, palladium, or iridium.

“We usually use titanium compounds instead,” says Gansäuer. “This is because titanium is one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust and is also completely non-toxic.” However, titanium-based catalysts often still need a companion to be able to accelerate chemical reactions. Most often, this is also a metal. It activates the catalyst, (unlike the latter) is consumed in the reaction, and generates by-products as waster.

“This is both costly and not very sustainable,” emphasizes Gansäuer’s colleague Prof. Dr. Peter Vöhringer of the Clausius Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Bonn. “However, there have been attempts for some time to achieve this activation in a different way: By irradiating the catalyst with light. We have now implemented this idea. At the same time we filmed, in a sense, the processes that occur during activation and catalysis.”

Lasers create “lightning storm”

The “high-speed camera” used by the researchers was a spectrometer - this is a complex instrument that can be used to determine what a molecule looks like at a certain point in time. For this to work, you also need a flash. To do this, the researchers use a laser that switches on and off continuously. The bright moments each last only a few hundred femtoseconds (a femtosecond is the millionth part of a billionth of a second). The catalysis process is thus broken down into a sequence of individual images. “This allows us to visualize ultrafast processes,” says Vöhringer, who is a specialist in this method.

Not all molecules can be filmed easily. “We therefore had to make some modifications to the titanium catalyst we usually use,” says Gansäuer. The experiments show that the compound can be activated by light and is then able to catalyze a specific form of redox reactions. In redox reactions, electrons are passed from one reactant to the other. “This process is facilitated by the activated catalyst,” Gansäuer explains. “This allows us, for example, to produce compounds that serve as starting materials for many important drugs.”

Greedy for electrons

The “high-speed film” documents exactly what happens during light activation. “Electrons resemble a compass needle that points in a certain direction,” says Jonas Schmidt, who is doing his doctorate in Prof. Vöhringer’s research group. “This spin changes as a result of irradiation.” Figuratively speaking, the titanium compound thus becomes “greedier” to accept an electron. When it does, it starts the redox reaction.

“Thanks to the insights we have gained with our method, we can now further optimize the catalyst,” explains Vöhringer, who, like Prof. Gansäuer, is a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Matter” at the University of Bonn. It is already possible to use it to carry out chemical reactions that were hardly feasible before. The success is also an expression of fruitful cooperation between organic chemistry on the one hand and laser and molecular physics on the other, Vöhringer emphasizes: “Our study shows the fruits that can come from collaboration between two research groups with completely different methodological backgrounds.”

Funding:

The study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Manchot Foundation.

Publication: Jonas Schmidt, Luis I. Domenianni, Marcel Leuschner, Andreas Gansäuer und Peter Vöhringer: Observing the Entry Events of a Titanium-Based Photoredox Catalytic Cycle in Real Time; Angewandte Chemie; DOI: 10.1002/anie.202307178; Internet: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202307178

---

JOURNAL

Angewandte Chemie

DOI

10.1002/anie.202307178 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Observing the Entry Events of a Titanium-Based Photoredox Catalytic Cycle in Real Time

 

Mosquito hearing could be targeted by insecticides

Peer-reviewed | observational study | animals

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Specific receptors in the ears of mosquitoes have been revealed to modulate their hearing,  finds a new study led by researchers at UCL and University of Oldenburg. Scientists say, this discovery could help develop new insecticides and control the spread of harmful diseases, such as malaria.

The ability of male mosquitoes to hear female mosquitoes is a crucial requirement for their reproduction. As a result, the finding could help develop novel insecticides or mating disruptors to prevent mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, and yellow fever

In the study, published in Nature Communications, the researchers focused on a signalling pathway involving a molecule called octopamine. They demonstrated that it is key for mosquito hearing and mating partner detection, and so is a potential new target for mosquito control.

Male mosquitoes acoustically detect the buzz generated by females within large swarms that form transiently at dusk.

As swarms are potentially noisy, mosquitoes have developed highly sophisticated ears to detect the faint flight tone of females amid hundreds of mosquitoes flying together.

However, the molecular mechanisms by which mosquito males ‘sharpen their ears’ to respond to female flight tones during swarm time have been largely unknown.

The researchers looked at the expression of genes in the mosquito ear and found that an octopamine receptor specifically peaks in the male mosquito ear when mosquitoes swarm.

The study found that octopamine affects mosquito hearing on multiple levels. It modulates the frequency tuning and stiffness of the sound receiver in the male ear, and also controls other mechanical changes to boost the detection of the female.

The researchers demonstrated that the octopaminergic system in the mosquito ear can be targeted by insecticides.

Mosquito mating is a bottleneck for mosquito survival, so identifying new targets to disrupt it is key to controlling disease-transmitting mosquito populations.

Co-lead author, Dr Marta Andrés (UCL Ear Institute) said: “Octopamine receptors are of particular interest as they are highlighy suitable for insecticide development. We plan to use these findings to develop novel molecules to develop mating disruptors for malaria mosquitoes.

“Because mosquito hearing is required for mosquito mating, it can be targeted to disrupt mosquito reproduction. And increased knowledge of mosquito auditory neurosciences could lead to the development of mosquito mating disruptors for mosquito control.”

Co-lead author, Professor Joerg Albert (UCL Ear Institute and University of Oldenburg) said: “The molecular and mechanistic complexity of mosquito hearing is truly remarkable. With the identification of an octopamine pathway we are just beginning to scratch the outer surface of the tip of an iceberg.

“Future studies will without doubt deliver deeper insights into how mosquito hearing works and also provide us with novel opportunities to control mosquito populations and reduce human disease.”

---

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-40029-y 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

. Hearing of malaria mosquitoes is modulated by a beta-adrenergic-like octopamine receptor which serves as insecticide target

 

USTC develops new catalysts for CO2 electroreduction

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA

 

IMAGE: ANALYSIS OF FINE STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES, AND CATALYTIC REACTION MECHANISM OF CATALYSTS view more 

CREDIT: IMAGE BY PROF. SONG’S TEAM

As a crucial part of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technology, CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to carbon-based fuels and chemicals presents broad application prospects in renewable energy storage and CO2 negative emission. Recently, a team led by Prof. SONG Li and Associate Researcher HE Qun from the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) put forth a novel understanding of the mechanism of CO2RR on the nickel (Ni) single-atomic sites. Their study, titled "Asymmetric Dinitrogen-Coordinated Nickel Single-Atomic Sites for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction", was published in Nature Communications on 24 June.

An ideal CO2RR catalyst requires low overpotential and high current density to products. However, former catalysts either are featured with high cost and low current density, such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag), usually exhibit much higher overpotentials than Au and Ag, such as Fe, Co, or Ni, limiting reaction efficiency. Therefore, it is imperative to develop overpotential low, high current density, abundant 3d metal-based catalysts to replace precious metal catalysts for CO2RR. To address those challenges, the researchers proposed an asymmetric dinitrogen-coordinated nickel single-atom catalyst (Ni-N-C). By utilizing the unsaturated and asymmetric characteristics of the sites, structural self-optimization during the electrochemical process is achieved, thereby enhancing the intrinsic activity of the sites in CO2RR.

In the study, the team designed and synthesized Ni-N-C featuring dinitrogen coordination (pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen) and then utilized it for CO2 electroreduction reactions in neutral and alkaline media. Synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectra and emission spectra revealed the local coordination structure of Ni sites in the catalyst. The electrochemical test results showed that the Ni-N-C catalyst could achieve very high electrochemical performance in both neutral (H-type cell) and alkaline (gas diffusion electrode, GDE) electrolytes. Especially in alkaline conditions, the catalyst could achieve a CO partial current density of 20.1 mA cmgeo-2 at -0.15 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (VRHE), Faraday efficiency of over 90% for CO in the potential range of -0.15 to -0.9 VRHE, and high turnover frequency (TOF) of over 274,000 site-1 h-1 at -1.0 VRHE, surpassing most reported catalysts.

This study offers a novel comprehension of the catalyst's role in the CO2 electroreduction reaction and promises to shed new light on future CO2 reduction technologies.

 

Jane FAN Qiong 

Tel: +86-551-63607280 

E-mail:englishnews@ustc.edu.cn

---

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-39505-2 

ARTICLE TITLE

Asymmetric dinitrogen-coordinated nickel single-atomic sites for efficient CO2 electroreduction