分类： 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 细胞生物学 提交时间： 2016-05-11
Hao, Ning
Chen, Yutao
Liu, Wu
Guan, Xiaotao
Li, Xuemei
Rao, Zihe
Hao, Ning
Xia, Ming
Tan, Ming
Jiang, Xi
Xia, Ming
Jiang, Xi
摘要： Human noroviruses (huNoVs) recognize histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) as attachment factors, in which genogroup (G) I and GII huNoVs use distinct binding interfaces. The genetic and evolutionary relationships of GII huNoVs under selection by the host HBGAs have been well elucidated via a number of structural studies; however, such relationships among GI NoVs remain less clear due to the fact that the structures of HBGA-binding interfaces of only three GI NoVs with similar binding profiles are known. In this study the crystal structures of the P dimers of a Lewis-binding strain, the GI.8 Boxer virus (BV) that does not bind the A and H antigens, in complex with the Lewis b (Le(b)) and Le(y) antigens, respectively, were determined and compared with those of the three previously known GI huNoVs, i.e. GI.1 Norwalk virus (NV), GI.2 FUV258 (FUV) and GI.7 TCH060 (TCH) that bind the A/H/Le antigens. The HBGA binding interface of BV is composed of a conserved central binding pocket (CBP) that interacts with the beta-galactose of the precursor, and a well-developed Le epitope-binding site formed by five amino acids, including three consecutive residues from the long P-loop and one from the S-loop of the P1 subdomain, a feature that was not seen in the other GI NoVs. On the other hand, the H epitope/acetamido binding site observed in the other GI NoVs is greatly degenerated in BV. These data explain the evolutionary path of GI NoVs selected by the polymorphic human HBGAs. While the CBP is conserved, the regions surrounding the CBP are flexible, providing freedom for changes. The loss or degeneration of the H epitope/acetamido binding site and the reinforcement of the Le binding site of the GI.8 BV is a typical example of such change selected by the host Lewis epitope.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Previous studies on the beam-driven plasma emission process were done mainly for unmagnetized plasmas. Here we present fully-kinetic electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations to investigate such process in weakly-magnetized plasmas of the solar corona conditions. The primary mode excited is the beam-Langmuir (BL) mode via the classical bump-on-tail instability. Other modes include the whistler (W) mode excited by the electron cyclotron resonance instability, the generalized Langmuir (GL) waves that include a superluminal Z-mode component with smaller wave number $k$ and a thermal Langmuir component with larger $k$, and the fundamental (F) and harmonic (H) branches of plasma emission. Further simulations of different mass and temperature ratios of electrons and protons indicate that the GL mode and the two escaping modes (F and H) correlate positively with the BL mode in intensity, supporting that they are excited through nonlinear wave-wave coupling processes involving the BL mode. We suggest that the dominant process is the decay of the primary BL mode. This is consistent with the standard theory of plasma emission. Yet, the other possibility of the Z+W$\rightarrow$O--F coalescing process for the F emission cannot be ruled out completely.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Plasma emission (PE), i.e., electromagnetic radiation at the plasma frequency and its second harmonic, is a general process occurring in both astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. The prevailing theory presents a multi-stage process attributed to the resonant coupling of beam-excited Langmuir waves with ion-acoustic waves. Here we examine another possibility of the fundamental PE induced by the resonant coupling of Z-mode and whistler (W) waves. Earlier studies have been controversial in the plausibility and significance of such process in plasmas. In this study we show that the matching condition of three wave resonant interaction (Z+W ! O) can be satisfied over a wide regime of parameters based on the magnetoionic theory, demonstrate the occurrence of such process and further evaluate the rate of energy conversion from the pumped Z or W mode to the fundamental O mode with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of wave pumping. The study presents an alternative form of the fundamental PE, which could possibly play a role in various astrophysical and laboratory scenarios with both Z and W modes readily excited through the electron cyclotron maser instability.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) is regarded as a plausible source for the coherent radio radiations from solar active regions (e.g., solar radio spikes). In this Letter, we present a 2D3V fully kinetic electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation to investigate the wave excitations and subsequent nonlinear processes induced by the energetic electrons in the loss-cone distribution. The ratio of the plasma frequency to the electron gyrofrequency ${\omega}_{pe}/{\Omega}_{ce}$ is set to 0.25, adequate for solar active region conditions. As a main result, we obtain strong emissions at the second-harmonic X mode (X2). While the fundamental X mode (X1) and the Z mode are amplified directly via the electron cyclotron maser instability, the X2 emissions can be produced by the nonlinear coalescence between two Z modes and between Z and X1 modes. This represents a novel generation mechanism for the harmonic emissions in plasmas with a low value of ${\omega}_{pe}/{\Omega}_{ce}$, which may resolve the escaping difficulty of explaining solar radio emissions with the ECME mechanism.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Content. Electron-cyclotron maser emission (ECME) is the favored mechanism for solar radio spikes and has been investigated extensively since the 1980s. Most studies relevant to solar spikes employ a loss-cone-type distribution of energetic electrons, generating waves mainly in the fundamental X/O mode (X1/O1), with a ratio of plasma oscillation frequency to electron gyrofrequency (${\omega}_ {pe}/{\Omega}_{ce}$) lower than 1. Despite the great progress made in this theory, one major problem is how the fundamental emissions pass through the second-harmonic absorption layer in the corona and escape. This is generally known as the escaping difficulty of the theory. Aims. We study the harmonic emissions generated by ECME driven by energetic electrons with the horseshoe distribution to solve the escaping difficulty of ECME for solar spikes. Methods. We performed a fully kinetic electromagnetic PIC simulation with ${\omega}_ {pe}/{\Omega}_{ce}$ = 0.1, corresponding to the strongly magnetized plasma conditions in the flare region, with energetic electrons characterized by the horseshoe distribution. We also varied the density ratio of energetic electrons to total electrons ($n_e/n_0$) in the simulation. Results. We obtain efficient amplification of waves in Z and X2 modes, with a relatively weak growth of O1 and X3. With a higher-density ratio, the X2 emission becomes more intense, and the rate of energy conversion from energetic electrons into X2 modes can reach $\sim$0.06% and 0.17%, with $n_e/n_0$= 5% and 10%, respectively. Conclusions. We find that the horseshoe-driven ECME can lead to an efficient excitation of X2 and X3 with a low value of ${\omega}_ {pe}/{\Omega}_{ce}$, providing novel means for resolving the escaping difficulty of ECME when applied to solar radio spikes. The simultaneous growth of X2 and X3 can be used to explain some harmonic structures observed in solar spikes.
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