National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

About: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is a government organization based out in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Thin film. The organization has 22114 authors who have published 65856 publications receiving 1669827 citations. The organization is also known as: Sangyō Gijutsu Sōgō Kenkyū-sho.

Genomics of Aspergillus oryzae: Learning from the History of Koji Mold and Exploration of Its Future

Abstract: At a time when the notion of microorganisms did not exist, our ancestors empirically established methods for the production of various fermentation foods: miso (bean curd seasoning) and shoyu (soy sauce), both of which have been widely used and are essential for Japanese cooking, and sake, a magical alcoholic drink consumed at a variety of ritual occasions, are typical examples. A filamentous fungus, Aspergillus oryzae, is the key organism in the production of all these traditional foods, and its solid-state cultivation (SSC) has been confirmed to be the secret for the high productivity of secretory hydrolases vital for the fermentation process. Indeed, our genome comparison and transcriptome analysis uncovered mechanisms for effective degradation of raw materials in SSC: the extracellular hydrolase genes that have been found only in the A. oryzae genome but not in A. fumigatus are highly induced during SSC but not in liquid cultivation. Also, the temperature reduction process empirically adopted in the traditional soy-sauce fermentation processes has been found to be important to keep strong expression of the A. oryzae-specific extracellular hydrolases. One of the prominent potentials of A. oryzae is that it has been successfully applied to effective degradation of biodegradable plastic. Both cutinase, responsible for the degradation of plastic, and hydrophobin, which recruits cutinase on the hydrophobic surface to enhance degradation, have been discovered in A. oryzae. Genomic analysis in concert with traditional knowledge and technology will continue to be powerful tools in the future exploration of A. oryzae.

Electrically driven single-photon source at room temperature in diamond

Abstract: Researchers demonstrate single-photon generation by electrical excitation from a single neutral nitrogen–vacancy centre in a p–i–n diamond diode. The photon generation rate at room temperature was 4 × 104 photons s−1 for an injection current of 14 mA. The researchers also investigated the carrier recombination dynamics of the device.

A Cenozoic record of the equatorial Pacific carbonate compensation depth

Abstract: Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and climate are regulated on geological timescales by the balance between carbon input from volcanic and metamorphic outgassing and its removal by weathering feedbacks; these feedbacks involve the erosion of silicate rocks and organic-carbon-bearing rocks. The integrated effect of these processes is reflected in the calcium carbonate compensation depth, which is the oceanic depth at which calcium carbonate is dissolved. Here we present a carbonate accumulation record that covers the past 53 million years from a depth transect in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The carbonate compensation depth tracks long-term ocean cooling, deepening from 3.0-3.5 kilometres during the early Cenozoic (approximately 55 million years ago) to 4.6 kilometres at present, consistent with an overall Cenozoic increase in weathering. We find large superimposed fluctuations in carbonate compensation depth during the middle and late Eocene. Using Earth system models, we identify changes in weathering and the mode of organic-carbon delivery as two key processes to explain these large-scale Eocene fluctuations of the carbonate compensation depth.