More Like this

1. The L _p chord Minkowski problem

   https://doi.org/10.1515/ans-2022-0041  

   Xi, Dongmeng; Yang, Deane; Zhang, Gaoyong; Zhao, Yiming (January 2023, Advanced Nonlinear Studies)

   Abstract Chord measures are newly discovered translation-invariant geometric measures of convex bodies in R n {{\mathbb{R}}}^{n} , in addition to Aleksandrov-Fenchel-Jessen’s area measures. They are constructed from chord integrals of convex bodies and random lines. Prescribing the L p {L}_{p} chord measures is called the L p {L}_{p} chord Minkowski problem in the L p {L}_{p} Brunn-Minkowski theory, which includes the L p {L}_{p} Minkowski problem as a special case. This article solves the L p {L}_{p} chord Minkowski problem when p > 1 p\gt 1 and the symmetric case of 0 < p < 1 0\lt p\lt 1 . 

   more » « less
2. In Vitro Reconstitution of Fimsbactin Biosynthesis from Acinetobacter baumannii

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.2c00573  

   Yang, Jinping; Wencewicz, Timothy A. (July 2022, ACS Chemical Biology)

   He, Chuan; Seyedsayamdost, Mohammed R. (Ed.)

   Siderophores produced via non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) pathways serve as critical virulence factors for many pathogenic bacteria. An improved knowledge of siderophore biosynthesis guides the development of inhibitors, vaccines, and other therapeutic strategies. Fimsbactin A is a mixed ligand siderophore derived from human pathogenic Acinetobacter baumannii that contains phenolate-oxazoline, catechol, and hydroxamate metal chelating groups branching from a central L-Ser tetrahedral unit via amide and ester linkages. Fimsbactin A is derived from two molecules of L-Ser, two molecules of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), and one molecule of L-Orn and is a product of the fbs biosynthetic operon. Here, we report the complete in vitro reconstitution of fimsbactin A biosynthesis in a cell-free system using purified enzymes. We demonstrate the conversion of L-Orn to N1-acetyl-N1-hydroxy-putrescine (ahPutr) via ordered action of FbsJ (decarboxylase), FbsI (flavin N-monooxygenase), and FbsK (N-acetyltransferase). We achieve conversion of L-Ser, DHB, and L-Orn to fimsbactin A using FbsIJK in combination with the NRPS modules FbsEFGH. We also demonstrate chemoenzymatic conversion of synthetic ahPutr to fimsbactin A using FbsEFGH and establish the substrate selectivity for the NRPS adenylation domains in FbsH (DHB) and FbsF (L-Ser). We assign a role for the type II thioesterase FbsM in producing the shunt metabolite 2-(2,3-dihydroxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydrooxazole-4-carboxylic acid (DHB-oxa) via cleavage of the corresponding thioester intermediate that is tethered to NRPS peptidyl carrier domains during biosynthetic assembly. We propose a mechanism for branching NRPS-derived peptides via amide and ester linkages via the dynamic equilibration of N-DHB-Ser and O-DHB-Ser thioester intermediates via hydrolysis of DHB-oxa thioester intermediates. We also propose a genetic signature for NRPS ‘branching’ in the presence of a terminating C-T-C motif (FbsG). 

   more » « less
3. Untangling the ant claws: the army ant Labidus mars is a Neivamyrmex (Formicidae: Dorylinae)

   https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaf016  

   DuVal, Megan_E L; Probst, Rodolfo S; Branstetter, Michael G; Longino, John T (May 2025, Insect Systematics and Diversity)

   Beza-Beza, Cristian (Ed.)

   Abstract The New World army ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) comprise the 5 genera of the Eciton species group, and together they are important keystone predators in tropical and subtropical environments. Generic boundaries in the group have been considered solid and stable for nearly 100 years. Workers of the widespread and diverse genus Neivamyrmex are readily separable from the other 4 genera by lacking a subapical tooth on the tarsal claw, while males can be separated with genitalic characters. The genus Labidus is also widespread and is often abundant, with several species that are conspicuous surface foragers. The least known species of Labidus is L. mars, the workers of which have the tarsal tooth but otherwise share many traits with some Neivamyrmex, being completely eyeless and subterranean. This led us to question its generic placement. Here, we used ultraconserved element (UCE) phylogenomics to show that Labidus mars belongs to the genus Neivamyrmex. All phylogenies, inferred using multiple partitioning schemes and a species tree analysis, recovered the same topology, placing Labidus mars workers within Neivamyrmex. Sequenced males of L. mars were found to be within Labidus and thus incorrectly associated with L. mars. Based on these results and review of key specimens, including types, the following taxonomic changes are made: Neivamyrmex mars (Forel 1912) is a new combination; Labidus nero (Santschi 1930) (rev. stat.) is a male-based taxon revived from synonymy under L. mars; and L. denticulatus (Borgmeier 1955) (new stat.), a male-based taxon and former subspecies of L. mars, is raised to species. 

   more » « less
4. Mixed Norm l 2 Decoupling for Paraboloids

   https://doi.org/10.1093/imrn/rnad226  

   Dasu, Shival; Jung, Hongki; Li, Zane_Kun; Madrid, José (September 2023, International Mathematics Research Notices)

   Abstract We prove the sharp mixed norm $$(l^{2}, L^{q}_{t}L^{r}_{x})$$ decoupling estimate for the paraboloid in $d + 1$ dimensions. 

   more » « less
5. On L ₁ -Embeddability of Unions of L ₁ -Embeddable Metric Spaces and of Twisted Unions of Hypercubes

   https://doi.org/10.1515/agms-2022-0145  

   Ostrovskii, Mikhail I.; Randrianantoanina, Beata (January 2022, Analysis and Geometry in Metric Spaces)

   Abstract We study properties of twisted unions of metric spaces introduced in [Johnson, Lindenstrauss, and Schechtman 1986], and in [Naor and Rabani 2017]. In particular, we prove that under certain natural mild assumptions twisted unions of L 1 -embeddable metric spaces also embed in L 1 with distortions bounded above by constants that do not depend on the metric spaces themselves, or on their size, but only on certain general parameters. This answers a question stated in [Naor 2015] and in [Naor and Rabani 2017]. In the second part of the paper we give new simple examples of metric spaces such that their every embedding into L p , 1 ≤ p < ∞, has distortion at least 3, but which are a union of two subsets, each isometrically embeddable in L p . This extends the result of [K. Makarychev and Y. Makarychev 2016] from Hilbert spaces to L p -spaces, 1 ≤ p < ∞. 

   more » « less