Explanipedia

Chern-Selective multi-valley Flat Bands in Twisted Mono-Bilayer and Mono-Trilayer MoTe$_2$ Open

Ziyue Qi, Hualiang Pi, Yan Zhang, J.D. Liu, Nicolas Regnault , et al. · 2025

The interplay between moiré flat bands originating from different valleys can give rise to a variety of exotic quantum phases. In this work, we investigate the electronic properties of twisted mono-bilayer (A-AB) and mono-trilayer (A-ABA) …

Engineering Spatial Control of Bacterial Organelles Open

Y Hoang, Pankaj Jadhav, Daniel S. Trettel, Rachel E. Dow, Seokmu Kwon , et al. · 2025

Bacteria were once thought to lack organelles, but it is now clear they confine cellular reactions using an array of membrane- and protein-based compartments. A central question, however, is how bacterial organelles are organized in the ce…

FapR regulates HssRS-mediated heme homeostasis in Bacillus anthracis Open

Hualiang Pi, Owen Burroughs, Sophia M. Carlin, William N. Beavers, Gideon H. Hillebrand , et al. · 2025

Bacillus anthracis, a Gram-positive facultative anaerobe and the causative agent of anthrax, multiplies to extraordinarily high numbers in vertebrate blood, resulting in considerable heme exposure. Heme is an essential nutrient and the pre…

Theory of Superconductivity in LaRu$_3$Si$_2$ and Predictions of New Kagome Flat Band Superconductors Open

Junze Deng, Yi Jiang, Tiago F. T. Cerqueira, Haoyu Hu, Eeli O. Lamponen , et al. · 2025

We present a comprehensive investigation of the flat-band kagome superconductor LaRu$_3$Si$_2$, which has recently been reported to host charge density wave (CDW) order above room temperature ($T_{CDW} \simeq 400$ K). The stable crystal st…

The extracytoplasmic sigma factor σX supports biofilm formation and increases biocontrol efficacy in Bacillus velezensis 118 Open

Yanfei Cai, Huan Tao, Ahmed Gaballa, Hualiang Pi, John D. Helmann · 2025

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) offer an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach to combat pathogens and enhance crop production. The biocontrol activity of PGPR depends on their ability to colonize plant roots and sy…

Bacterial Organelles in Iron Physiology Open

Kristina Ferrara, Kuldeepkumar Ramnaresh Gupta, Hualiang Pi · 2024

Bacteria were once thought to be simple organisms, lacking the membrane‐bound organelles found in eukaryotic cells. However, recent advancements in microscopy have changed this view, revealing a diverse array of organelles within bacterial…

2D Theoretically Twistable Material Database Open

Yi Jiang, Urko Petralanda, Grigorii Skorupskii, Qiaoling Xu, Hualiang Pi , et al. · 2024

The study of twisted two-dimensional (2D) materials, where twisting layers create moiré superlattices, has opened new opportunities for investigating topological phases and strongly correlated physics. While systems such as twisted bilayer…

Universal Moiré-Model-Building Method without Fitting: Application to Twisted MoTe$_2$ and WSe$_2$ Open

Yan Zhang, Hualiang Pi, Jiaxuan Liu, Wangqian Miao, Ziyue Qi , et al. · 2024

We develop a comprehensive method to construct analytical continuum models for moiré systems directly from first-principle calculations without any parameter fitting. The core idea of this method is to interpret the terms in the continuum …

The extracytoplasmic sigma factor SigX supports biofilm formation and increases biocontrol efficacy in Bacillus velezensis 118 Open

Yanfei Cai, Huan Tao, Hualiang Pi, John D. Helmann · 2024

Utilizing plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to combat pathogens and enhance crop production is an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach. The biocontrol activity of PGPR depends on their ability to colonize plant roots…

FapR regulates HssRS-mediated heme homeostasis inBacillus anthracis Open

Hualiang Pi, Sophia M. Carlin, William N. Beavers, Gideon H. Hillebrand, Evan Krystofiak , et al. · 2024

Bacillus anthracis , a Gram-positive facultative anaerobe and the causative agent of anthrax, multiplies to extraordinarily high numbers in vertebrate blood, resulting in considerable heme exposure. Heme is an essential nutrient and the pr…

Clostridioides difficile ferrosome organelles combat nutritional immunity Open

Hualiang Pi, Rong Sun, James R. McBride, Angela Kruse, Katherine N. Gibson‐Corley , et al. · 2023

Bacterial hydrophilins promote pathogen desiccation tolerance Open

Erin R. Green, Joseph N. Fakhoury, Andrew J. Monteith, Hualiang Pi, David Giedroc , et al. · 2022

An RNA-binding protein acts as a major post-transcriptional modulator in Bacillus anthracis Open

Hualiang Pi, Andy Weiss, Clare L. Laut, Caroline M. Grunenwald, Hannah K. Lin , et al. · 2022

HitRS is a two-component system that responds to cell envelope damage in the human pathogen Bacillus anthracis . Here we identify an RNA-binding protein, KrrA, that regulates HitRS function by modulating the stability of the hitRS mRNA. In…

A Central Role for Magnesium Homeostasis during Adaptation to Osmotic Stress Open

Brian M. Wendel, Hualiang Pi, Larissa Krüger, Christina Herzberg, Jörg Stülke , et al. · 2022

Environments with high concentrations of salt or other solutes impose an osmotic stress on cells, ultimately limiting viability by dehydration of the cytosol. A very common cellular response to high osmolarity is to immediately import high…

Directed evolution reveals the mechanism of HitRS signaling transduction in Bacillus anthracis Open

Hualiang Pi, Michelle Chu, Samuel Ivan, Casey J. Latario, Allen M. Toth , et al. · 2020

Two c omponent s ystems (TCSs) are a primary mechanism of signal sensing and response in bacteria. Systematic characterization of an entire TCS could provide a mechanistic understanding of these important signal transduction systems. Here,…

Directed evolution reveals the mechanism of HitRS signal transduction inBacillus anthracis Open

Hualiang Pi, Michelle Chu, Samuel Ivan, Casey J. Latario, Allen M. Toth , et al. · 2020

Bacterial two c omponent s ystems (TCSs) have been studied for decades; however, most work has focused on individual domains or proteins. Systematic characterization of an entire TCS could provide a mechanistic understanding of these impor…

Dysregulation of Magnesium Transport Protects Bacillus subtilis against Manganese and Cobalt Intoxication Open

Hualiang Pi, Brian M. Wendel, John D. Helmann · 2020

Cellular metal ion homeostasis is tightly regulated. When metal ion levels are imbalanced, or when one metal is at toxic levels, enzymes may bind to the wrong metal cofactor. Enzyme mismetallation can impair metabolism, lead to new and del…

Genome-Wide Characterization of the Fur Regulatory Network Reveals a Link between Catechol Degradation and Bacillibactin Metabolism in Bacillus subtilis Open

Hualiang Pi, John D. Helmann · 2018

Many bacteria synthesize high-affinity iron chelators (siderophores). Siderophore-mediated iron acquisition is an efficient and widely utilized strategy for bacteria to meet their cellular iron requirements. One prominent class of sideroph…

Genome-wide characterization of the Fur regulatory network reveals a link between catechol degradation and bacillibactin metabolism in Bacillus subtilis Open

Hualiang Pi, John D. Helmann · 2018

The ferric uptake regulator (Fur) is the global iron biosensor in many bacteria. Fur functions as an iron-activated transcriptional repressor for most of its regulated genes. There are a few examples where holo-Fur activates transcription,…

Antagonism of Two Plant-Growth Promoting Bacillus velezensis Isolates Against Ralstonia solanacearum and Fusarium oxysporum Open

Yu Cao, Hualiang Pi, Pete Chandrangsu, Yongtao Li, Yuqi Wang , et al. · 2018

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) provide an effective and environmentally sustainable method to protect crops against pathogens. The spore-forming Bacilli are attractive PGPR due to their ease of storage and application. Here, w…

Sequential induction of Fur-regulated genes in response to iron limitation in Bacillus subtilis Open

Hualiang Pi, John D. Helmann · 2017

Significance Fur is a key regulator of bacterial iron homeostasis and regulates the derepression of iron acquisition systems when iron is limited. However, it is unclear whether Fur-regulated genes are derepressed coordinately or in a sequ…

Ferrous iron efflux systems in bacteria Open

Hualiang Pi, John D. Helmann · 2017

Iron efflux transporters play a critical role in protecting cells from iron intoxication.

The Listeria monocytogenes Fur‐regulated virulence protein FrvA is an Fe(II) efflux P1B4‐type ATPase Open

Hualiang Pi, Sarju J. Patel, José Argüello, John D. Helmann · 2016

Summary Listeria monocytogenes FrvA (Lmo0641) is critical for virulence in the mouse model and is an ortholog of the Bacillus subtilis Fur‐ and PerR‐regulated Fe(II) efflux P 1B4 ‐type ATPase PfeT. Previously, FrvA was suggested to protect…

Summary of enterobactin production in vivo. Open

Hualiang Pi, A. Jones Shari, E. Mercer Lynn, P. Meador Jessica, E. Caughron Joyce , et al. · 2015

The amount of FeEnt produced by the colonizing bacteria was standardized in relation to the amount of protein in the mucosal samples (CPM/A₂₈₀ nm). The plotted data therefore depicts the relative amount of enterobactin productio…

Discovery of Antibiotic ( E )-3-(3-Carboxyphenyl)-2-(4-cyanostyryl)quinazolin-4(3 H )-one Open

Renee A. Bouley, Malika Kumarasiri, Zhihong Peng, Lisandro H. Otero, Wei Song , et al. · 2015

In the face of the clinical challenge posed by resistant bacteria, the present needs for novel classes of antibiotics are genuine. In silico docking and screening, followed by chemical synthesis of a library of quinazolinones, led to the d…

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