Open Access

Melanins are organic, dark pigments produced by many organisms. Fungi either fix these pigments in their cell wall or secrete them into their environment to protect themselves against an array of physicochemical stresses (e.g., UV irradiation, desiccation, ...). However, melanins can also adsorb metals like iron and therefore might have a role in the fungal capacity to deteriorate iron-containing minerals and metals. To study this, we focus on the fungi Knufia petricola, a rock-inhabiting fungus with melanised cell walls which deteriorates minerals, and Amorphotheca resinae, a soil-borne fungus able to secrete melanin, degrade alkane-containing fuels, and corrode metals. The broader significance of this work lies in the mitigation of climate change via the negative emission technology enhanced rock weathering for the former to the mitigation of corrosion of biofuel infrastructure for the latter. Genes of K. petricola involved in melanin synthesis and iron uptake were deleted and down- and up- regulated to generate strains with a different melanin content and ability to take up iron. These strains and the wild type (WT) were exposed to a growth solution containing the iron-magnesium silicate olivine of which dissolution rates were obtained by measuring aqueous Mg concentrations using ICP-OES. Thus, the specific mineral deterioration mechanisms of melanised fungi were identified. Abiotically, these experiments showed that iron oxidation at the surface inhibits olivine dissolution. K. petricola was able to enhance dissolution when this abiotic inhibition is strongest (at pH 6) but prevented dissolution when this inhibition is weakest (at pH 4). The fungus therefore dissolves olivine by interacting with the oxidised iron at the olivine surface. Its iron uptake pathways do not seem to be involved as mutants deficient in iron uptake dissolved olivine at the same rate as the WT. The higher dissolution rates of a mutant which secretes a melanin precursor and the lower rates of a melanin-deficient mutant, however, indicate that the iron-adsorbing and -reducing capacities of melanin play a key role. This hypothesis is further supported by carbon steel corrosion experiments with six strains of A. resinae isolated from anthropogenic and natural environments. Their varying ability to secrete melanin correlated with their corrosion rates. We now plan to develop CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing techniques for A. resinae to figure out whether this correlation is also a causation. In summary, our data show that the iron-binding capacity of melanins enables fungi to deteriorate iron-containing substrates at a higher rate.

This contribution presents the results of an experimental study on the creep behavior of an austenitic 316L stainless steel produced by laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M/316L) with an emphasis on understanding the effects of microstructure on the creep mechanisms. Hot tensile tests and constant force creep tests at 600 °C and 650 °C, X-ray computed tomography, as well as optical and electron microscopy were performed. The produced PBF-LB/M/316L exhibits a low void population (< 0.01 %) resulting from the manufacturing parameters used and which allowed us to understand the effects of other microstructural aspects on creep behavior, e.g., grain morphology and dislocation substructure. A hot‑rolled variant of 316L was also tested as a reference.

A consortium of landfill bacteria including strain G3 can break down polyethylene, a long-lasting plastic that accumulates in the environment. The complete genome sequence of strain G3 was determined by PacBio and Nanopore sequencing and consists of three circular replicons. Genome-based classification assigned strain G3 to the species Pseudomonas silesiensis.

This definition was agreed within the infrastructure use case IUC02 “Framework for curation and distribution of reference datasets” of the consortium NFDI-MatWerk. It is broadly formulated to cover experimental and simulation MSE data and will be developed further in agreement with the MSE community.

This data schema was developed within the infrastructure use case IUC02: “Framework for curation and distribution of reference datasets” of the consortium NFDI-MatWerk. It intends to define a structured approach for collecting all required information on a creep experiment using the established terminology of the respective test standard ISO 204:2022 and additional terminology agreed upon by the domain experts. The individual entries are grouped according to their content type and sub-summarized under respective headlines, thereby suggesting a basic categorization and a related hierarchy of concepts. This hierarchy can be similarly applied to other test methods and different metallic (and other) materials. In version 1.1 some editorial and formal changes were made.