Salmonella chemoreceptors McpB and McpC mediate a repellent response to L-cystine: a potential mechanism to avoid oxidative conditions

Chemoreceptors McpB and McpC in Salmonella enterica have been reported to promote chemotaxis in LB motility-plate assays. Of the chemicals tested as potential effectors of these receptors, the only response was towards L-cysteine and its oxidized form, L-cystine. Although enhanced radial migration in plates suggested positive chemotaxis to both amino acids, capillary assays failed to show an attractant response to either, in cells expressing only these two chemoreceptors. In vivo fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements of kinase activity revealed that in wild-type bacteria, cysteine and cystine are chemoeffectors of opposing sign, the reduced form being a chemoattractant and the oxidized form a repellent. The attractant response to cysteine was mediated primarily by Tsr, as reported earlier for E. coli. The repellent response to cystine was mediated by McpB / C. Adaptive recovery upon cystine exposure required the methyl-transferase/-esterase pair, CheR / CheB, but restoration of kinase activity was never complete (i.e. imperfect adaptation). We provide a plausible explanation for the attractant-like responses to both cystine and cysteine motility plates, and speculate that the opposing signs of response to this redox pair might afford Salmonella a mechanism to gauge and avoid oxidative environments.

High-T_c Superconductivity with T_c = 52 K under Antiferromagnetic Order in Five-layered Cuprate Ba_2Ca_4Cu_5O_10(F,O)_2 with T_N = 175 K: 19F- and Cu-NMR Studies

We report on the observation of high-T_c superconductivity (SC) emerging with the background of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order in the five-layered cuprate Ba_2Ca_4Cu_5O_10(F,O)_2 through 19F-NMR and zero-field Cu-NMR studies. The measurements of spectrum and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates 19(1/T_1) of 19F-NMR give convincing evidence for the AFM order taking place below T_N = 175 K and for the onset of SC below T_c = 52 K, hence both coexisting. The zero-field Cu-NMR study has revealed that AFM moments at Cu sites are 0.14 mu_B at outer CuO_2 layers and 0.20 mu_B at inner ones. We remark that an intimate coupling exists between the AFM state and the SC order parameter below T_c = 52 K; the spin alignment in the AFM state is presumably changed in the SC-AFM mixed state.

Uniform mixing of antiferromagnetism and high-T_c superconductivity in multilayered copper oxides Ba_2Ca_{n-1}Cu_nO_{2n}F_2 with apical fluorines (n=2,3,4): Cu-NMR/NQR and F-NMR

We report Cu-NMR/NQR and F-NMR studies on the multilayered high-T_c copper oxides Ba_2Ca_{n-1}Cu_nO_{2n}F_2 with n=2,3,4, where n is the number of CuO_2 planes. It is revealed that bi-layered Ba_2CaCu_2O_4F_2 is an underdoped superconductor with hole carriers, which are introduced into CuO_2 planes by an unexpected deviation from the nominal content of apical fluorines. In a previous paper, we proposed a self-doping mechanism as the origin of carrier doping in n=3 and n=4; in the mechanism, electrons are transferred from the inner CuO_2 plane (IP) to the outer one (OP). However, since it has been found that the bi-layered compound is hole doped, we have reexamined the superconducting and magnetic properties in n=3 and n=4 by Cu-NMR/NQR and F-NMR. The extensive NMR studies have confirmed that the apical-fluorine compounds are not self-doped but hole-doped, and that antiferromagnetism (AFM) and superconductivity (SC) coexist in a single CuO_2 plane. In n=4, the AFM ordering occurs at T_N = 80 K, well above T_c=55 K, where the respective AFM moments are M_AFM=0.11 mu_B and 0.18 mu_B at the OP and the IP. In n=3, on the other hand, the underdoped single IP exhibits a spontaneous moment M_AFM=0.12 mu_B at low temperatures and a peak in the nuclear-spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 of F at T_N=23 K, much lower than T_c = 76 K. We note that the increase in the number of IPs from one to two leads to an increase in T_N due to strengthening the interlayer coupling, although the doping levels for both compounds are almost comparable. The present results strongly suggest that the uniform mixing of AFM and SC is a general property inherent to a single CuO_2 plane in the underdoped regime for hole-doping.

Antiferromagnetic phase transition in four-layered high-T_c superconductors Ba_2Ca_3Cu_4O_8(F_yO_{1-y})_2 with T_c=55-102 K: Cu- and F-NMR studies

We report on magnetic characteristics in four-layered high-T_c superconductors Ba_2Ca_3Cu_4O_8(F_yO_{1-y})_2 with apical fluorine through Cu- and F-NMR measurements. The substitution of oxygen for fluorine at the apical site increases the carrier density (N_h) and T_c from 55 K up to 102 K. The NMR measurements reveal that antiferromagnetic order, which can uniformly coexist with superconductivity, exists up to N_h = 0.15, which is somewhat smaller than N_h = 0.17 being the quantum critical point (QCP) for five-layered compounds. The fact that the QCP for the four-layered compounds moves to a region of lower carrier density than for five-layered ones ensures that the decrease in the number of CuO_2 layers makes an interlayer magnetic coupling weaker.

Genuine Phase Diagram of Homogeneously Doped CuO2 Plane in High-Tc Cuprate Superconductors

We report a genuine phase diagram for a disorder-free CuO_2 plane based on the precise evaluation of the local hole density (N_h) by site-selective Cu-NMR studies on five-layered high-Tc cuprates. It has been unraveled that (1) the antiferromagnetic metallic state (AFMM) is robust up to N_h=0.17, (2) the uniformly mixed phase of superconductivity (SC) and AFMM is realized at N_h< 0.17, (3) the tetracritical point for the AFMM/(AFMM+SC)/SC/PM(Paramagnetism) phases may be present at N_h=0.15 and T=75 K, (4) Tc is maximum close to a quantum critical point (QCP) at which the AFM order collapses, suggesting the intimate relationship between the high-Tc SC and the AFM order. The results presented here strongly suggest that the AFM interaction plays the vital role as the glue for the Cooper pairs, which will lead us to a genuine understanding of why the Tc of cuprate superconductors is so high.

Uniform Mixing of Antiferromagnetism and High-Tc Superconductivity in Electron-doped Layers in Four-layered Ba2Ca3Cu4O8F2 : A New Phenomenon in an Electron Underdoped RegimePhenomenon in an Electron Underdoped Regime

We report Cu- and F-NMR studies on a four-layered high-temperature superconductor Ba2Ca3Cu4O8F2(0234F(2.0)) with apical fluorine (F-1), an undoped 55 K-superconductor with a nominal Cu2+ valence on average. We reveal that this compound exhibits the antiferromagnetism (AFM) with a Neel temperature TN=100 K despite being a Tc= 55 K-superconductor. Through a comparison with a related tri-layered cuprate Ba2Ca2Cu3O6F2 (0223F(2.0)), it is demonstrated that electrons are transferred from the inner plane (IP) to the outer plane (OP) in 0234F(2.0) and 0223F(2.0), confirming the self-doped high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) having electron and hole doping in a single compound. Remarlably, uniform mixing of AFM and HTSC takes place in both the electron-doped OPs and the hole-doped IPs in 0234F(2.0).