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Marine chromophoric dissolved organic matter (m-CDOM) mediates many vital photochemical processes at the ocean's surface. Isolating m-CDOM within the chemical complexity of marine dissolved organic matter has remained an analytical challenge. The SeaSCAPE campaign, a large-scale mesocosm experiment, provided a unique opportunity to probe the

Protein adsorption onto mineral nanoparticle surfaces is critical to the function and fate of biological compounds in environmental and industrial systems. However, adsorption kinetics, coverage, and conformation of biological macromolecules are poorly understood, particularly in the presence of ubiquitous oxyanions. In this study, the adsorption of two proteins, beta-lactoglobulin (β-LG) and bovine serum albumin (BSA), onto hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles was investigated in the presence and absence of pre-adsorbed phosphate. Using solution and temporal solid-phase attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, our results show dynamic changes in the secondary structure of both proteins when adsorbed onto nanoscale α-Fe2O3 surfaces, compared to their unbound conformations. However, these differences were attenuated in the presence of adsorbed phosphate. Adsorbed phosphate significantly reduced the protein surface coverage on iron oxide nanoparticle surfaces, and impacted protein adsorption kinetics. The latter was observed to be protein-specific, with β-LG exhibiting a higher adsorption rate and sigmoidal kinetics compared to slower, more Langmuir-type kinetics of BSA adsorption. Our results reveal the importance of phosphate on protein–mineral adsorption kinetics and conformation, a critical driver of protein function, in complex environmental systems.

Soil organic matter (SOM) is correlated with reactive iron (Fe) in humid soils, but Fe also promotes SOM decomposition when oxygen (O2) becomes limited. Here we quantify Fe-mediated OM protection vs. decomposition by adding 13C dissolved organic matter (DOM) and 57FeII to soil slurries incubated under static or fluctuating O2. We find Fe uniformly protects OM only under static oxic conditions, and only when Fe and DOM are added together: de novo reactive FeIII phases suppress DOM and SOM mineralization by 35 and 47%, respectively. Conversely, adding 57FeII alone increases SOM mineralization by 8% following oxidation to 57FeIII. Under O2 limitation, de novo reactive 57FeIII phases are preferentially reduced, increasing anaerobic mineralization of DOM and SOM by 74% and 32‒41%, respectively. Periodic O2 limitation is common in humid soils, so Fe does not intrinsically protect OM; rather reactive Fe phases require their own physiochemical protection to contribute to OM persistence., Reactive iron minerals protect vast amounts of terrestrial carbon from decomposition and release as CO2. Here the authors show that reactive iron alone does not provide sufficient protection except under strict oxic conditions—instead, iron itself promotes carbon decomposition.

Permafrost contains a large (1700 Pg C) terrestrial pool of organic matter (OM) that is susceptible to degradation as global temperatures increase. Of particular importance is syngenetic Yedoma permafrost containing high OM content. Reactive iron phases promote stabilizing interactions between OM and soil minerals and this stabilization may be of increasing importance in permafrost as the thawed surface region ("active layer") deepens. However, there is limited understanding of Fe and other soil mineral phase associations with OM carbon (C) moieties in permafrost soils. To elucidate the elemental associations involved in organomineral complexation within permafrost systems, soil cores spanning a Pleistocene permafrost chronosequence (19,000, 27,000, and 36,000 years old) were collected from an underground tunnel near Fairbanks, Alaska. Subsamples were analyzed via scanning transmission X-ray microscopy-near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy at the nano- to microscale. Amino acid-rich moieties decreased in abundance across the chronosequence. Strong correlations between C and Fe with discrete Fe(III) or Fe(II) regions selectively associated with specific OM moieties were observed. Additionally, Ca coassociated with C through potential cation bridging mechanisms. Results indicate Fe(III), Fe(II), and mixed valence phases associated with OM throughout diverse permafrost environments, suggesting that organomineral complexation is crucial to predict C stability as permafrost systems warm.

While the importance of organic matter adsorption onto reactive iron-bearing mineral surfaces to carbon stabilization in soils and sediments has been well-established, fundamental understanding of how compounds assemble at the mineral interface remains elusive. Organic matter is thought to layer sequentially onto the mineral surface, forming molecular architecture stratified by bond strength and compound polarity. However, prominent complexation models lack experimental backing, despite the role of such architecture in fractionated, compound-dependent persistence of organic matter and modulating future perturbations in mineral stabilization capacity. Here, we use kinetic assays and ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry under high temporal frequency to directly detect the molecular partitioning of organic matter onto an iron oxyhydroxide during adsorption. We observed three sequential intervals of discrete molecular composition throughout the adsorption reaction, in which rapid primary adsorption of aromatic compounds was followed by secondary lignin-like and tertiary aliphatic compounds. These findings, paired with observed differential fractionation along formulas nitrogen and oxygen content and decreasing selective sorption with reaction time, support "zonal" assembly models. This work presents direct detection of sequential molecular assembly of organic matter at the mineral interface, an important yet abstruse regulator of carbon stabilization and composition across temporal and spatial scales.

While the contribution of iron (Fe)-bearing minerals to organic carbon (C) stabilization in terrestrial systems is well-described, the influence of Fe solid-phase speciation on organomineral associations is unclear in highly dynamic, oxidation-reduction (redox)-active soils. In humid tropic forest soils, fluctuations in redox state accelerate weathering of Fe-bearing mineral phases, producing a spectrum of mineral sizes and bonding environments available for C stabilization, and confounding our understanding of C stability. Characterizing these Fe-bearing phases can improve predictions of the response of redox-active soil systems to climatic changes that may alter Fe mineral crystallinity and solubility, such as precipitation intensity, storm event frequency and temperature. Leveraging inorganic selective dissolution techniques, 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy (MBS), specific surface area (SSA) analyses and X-ray diffraction (XRD), we investigated mineral speciation in surface soils of contrasting lithologies from the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO), Puerto Rico. The LCZO provides a model investigatory framework in which high C inputs to surface horizons by similar vegetation, topography and climatic forcings are intercepted by highly-weathered, volcaniclastic Oxisols or quartz diorite-derived Inceptisols, producing a gradient of Fe content and speciation. Strong correlations observed between Fe concentrations and extraction-induced changes in SSA indicated target Fe phases contribute substantially to SSA of the bulk mineral matrix. MBS analysis of untreated soils reveal both Oxisol and Inceptisol soils are largely composed of FeIII-oxyhydroxides, accompanied by substantial FeII and silicate FeIII contributions in Inceptisol soils. FeIII-oxyhydroxides in the Oxisol soils were largely short-range-ordered (SRO), and notably, a fraction of particularly low-crystallinity FeIII-oxyhydroxide mineral phases in these soils appear protected against harsh reductive dissolution, whereas the overall higher crystallinity Fe phases in the Inceptisol soils do not. These findings suggest that some high-SSA, SRO FeIII phases, which likely also have high C sorption capacities, may be immobilized against reduction in these Oxisol soils. Consequently, C associated with these FeIII phases may be preferentially stabilized in Oxisol soils, potentially driving disparate C mineralization and CO2 production rates across contrasting lithologies.

Tropical forest soils contribute disproportionately to the poorly-characterized and persistent deep soil carbon (C) pool. These soils, highly-weathered and often extending one to two meters in depth, may contain an abundance of iron-(Fe) bearing mineral phases. Short-range-order (SRO) minerals are of particular interest due to their high reactive surface areas and capacity for soil C stabilization through sorption or co-precipitation. We hypothesized that SRO minerals might serve as primary contributors to soil C accumulation and storage in surface (0–20 cm) and subsurface (50–80 cm) soils of the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO) in northeast Puerto Rico. Oxisol and Inceptisol soils obtained from 20 quantitative soil pits, stratified across quartz-dominated granodiorite and clay-rich volcaniclastic parent materials, were subjected to selective dissolution procedures to extract Fe-C associations: sodium pyrophosphate (PP) to isolate colloidal or dispersable Fe, HCl-hydroxylamine (HH) and ammonium oxalate (AO) to isolate SRO Fe, and inorganic dithionite-HCl (DH) to isolate more crystalline pedogenic Fe. Pyrophosphate extraction of colloidal or dispersable Fe also extracted the greatest concentrations of soluble C across all samples. Dissolved molar C:Fe ratios > 1 observed solely in the PP extracts indicated the presence of organic-rich non-sorptive associations, the stability of which may have stronger control on accumulation of total soil C in these soils than those of extractable SRO and pedogenic Fe. Pedogenic and SRO Fe phases were the dominant extractable minerals in both soil types, at the surface and at depth, and notably, correlated well with extracted C. This suggests that these phases are strongly associated with a smaller, but substantial, fraction of total soil C. Direct observations of the limited extractability of soil C (

Iron (oxyhydr)oxides are highly reactive, environmentally ubiquitous organic matter (OM) sorbents that act as mediators of terrestrial and aqueous OM cycling. However, current understanding of environmental iron (oxyhydr)oxide affinity for OM is limited primarily to abiogenic oxides. Bacteriogenic iron (oxyhydr)oxides (BIOs), common to quiescent waterways and soil redox transitions, possess a high affinity for oxyanions (i.e., arsenate and chromate) and suggests that BIOs may be similarly reactive for OM. Using adsorption and desorption batch reactions, paired with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, this work demonstrates that BIOs are capable of sorbing leaf litter-extracted DOM and Suwannee River Humic/Fulvic Acid (SRHA/SRFA) and have sorptive preference for distinct organic carbon compound classes at the biomineral interface. BIOs were found to sorb DOM and SRFA to half the extent of 2-line ferrihydrite per mass of sorbent and was resilient to desorption at high ionic strength and in the presence of a competitive ligand. We observed the preferential sorption of aromatic and carboxylic-containing species and concurrent solution enrichment of aliphatic groups unassociated with carboxylic acids. These findings suggest that DOM cycling may be significantly affected by BIOs, which may impact nutrient and contaminant transport in circumneutral environments.

Iron (Fe)-bearing mineral phases contribute disproportionately to adsorption of soil organic matter (SOM) due to their elevated chemical reactivity and specific surface area (SSA). However, the spectrum of Fe solid-phase speciation present in oxidation-reduction-active soils challenges analysis of SOM-mineral interactions and may induce differential molecular fractionation of dissolved organic matter (DOM). This work used paired selective dissolution experiments and batch sorption of postextraction residues to (1) quantify the contributions of Fe-bearing minerals of varying crystallinity to DOM sorption, and (2) characterize molecular fractionation using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). A substantial proportion of soil SSA was derived from extracted Fe-bearing phases, and FT-ICR-MS analysis of extracted DOM revealed distinct chemical signatures across Fe-OM associations. Sorbed carbon (C) was highly correlated with Fe concentrations, suggesting that Fe-bearing phases are strong drivers of sorption in these soils. Molecular fractionation was observed across treatments, particularly those dominated by short-range-order (SRO) mineral phases, which preferentially adsorbed aromatic and lignin-like formulas, and higher-crystallinity phases, associated with aliphatic DOM. These findings suggest Fe speciation-mediated complexation acts as a physicochemical filter of DOM moving through the critical zone, an important observation as predicted changes in precipitation may dynamically alter Fe crystallinity and C stability.

Background The selection of chromosomal targets for retroviral integration varies markedly, tracking with the genus of the retrovirus, suggestive of specific targeting by cellular factors. Gamma-retroviral murine leukemia virus (MLV) DNA integration into the host genome is favored at transcription start sites, but the underlying mechanism for this preference is unknown. The molecular mechanisms of MLV integration are of particular significance due to the fact that MLV-based vectors are used for human gene-therapy. In clinical trials the use of MLV-based vectors to correct primary immunodeficiencies has been curative, but adverse events have occurred that are associated with the insertional activation of proto-oncogenes. Therefore the identification of cellular factors that control MLV integration may provide mechanistic clues to facilitate the development of safer gene-therapy vectors.

The selection of chromosomal targets for retroviral integration varies markedly, tracking with the genus of the retrovirus, suggestive of targeting by binding to cellular factors. γ-Retroviral murine leukemia virus (MLV) DNA integration into the host genome is favored at transcription start sites, but the underlying mechanism for this preference is unknown. Here, we have identified bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) proteins (Brd2, -3, -4) as cellular-binding partners of MLV integrase. We show that purified recombinant Brd4(1-720) binds with high affinity to MLV integrase and stimulates correct concerted integration in vitro. JQ-1, a small molecule that selectively inhibits interactions of BET proteins with modified histone sites impaired MLV but not HIV-1 integration in infected cells. Comparison of the distribution of BET protein-binding sites analyzed using ChIP-Seq data and MLV-integration sites revealed significant positive correlations. Antagonism of BET proteins, via JQ-1 treatment or RNA interference, reduced MLV-integration frequencies at transcription start sites. These findings elucidate the importance of BET proteins for MLV integration efficiency and targeting and provide a route to developing safer MLV-based vectors for human gene therapy.