Molecular spin qubits are chemical nanoobjects with promising applications that are so far hampered by the rapid loss of quantum information, a process known as decoherence. A strategy to improve this situation involves employing so-called Clock Transitions (CTs), which arise at anticrossings between spin energy levels. At CTs, the spin states are protected from magnetic noise and present an enhanced quantum coherence. Unfortunately, these optimal points are intrinsically hard to control since their transition energy cannot be tuned by an external magnetic field; moreover, their resilience towards geometric distortions has not yet been analyzed. Here we employ a python-based computational tool for the systematic theoretical analysis and chemical optimization of CTs. We compare three relevant case studies with increasingly complex ground states. First, we start with vanadium(IV)-based spin qubits, where the avoided crossings are controlled by hyperfine interaction and find that these S = 1/2 systems are very promising, in particular in the case of vanadyl complexes in an L-band pulsed EPR setup. Second, we proceed with a study of the effect of symmetry distortions in a holmium polyoxotungstate of formula [Ho(W₅O₁₈)₂]⁹⁻ where CTs had already been experimentally demonstrated. Here we determine the relative importance of the different structural distortions that causes the anticrossings. Third, we study the most complicated case, a polyoxopalladate cube [HoPd₁₂(AsPh)₈O₃₂]⁵⁻ which presents an unusually rich ground spin multiplet. This system allows us to find uniquely favorable CTs that could nevertheless be accessible with standard pulsed EPR equipment (X-band or Q-band) after a suitable chemical distortion to break the perfect cubic symmetry. Since anticrossings and CTs constitute a rich source of physical phenomena in very different kinds of quantum systems, the generalization of this study is expected to have impact not only in molecular spin science but also in other related fields such as molecular photophysics and photochemistry.

Chemical composition of commercial Origanum compactum and Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oils and the antifungal activity against pathogenic fungi isolated from Mediterranean rice grains have been investigated. Sixty-one compounds accounting for more than 99.5% of the total essential oil were identified by using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Carvacrol (43.26%), thymol (21.64%) and their biogenetic precursors p-cymene (13.95%) and γ-terpinene (11.28%) were the main compounds in oregano essential oil, while the phenylpropanoids, eugenol (62.75%), eugenol acetate (16.36%) and (E)-cinnamyl acetate (6.65%) were found in cinnamon essential oil. Both essential oils at 300 μg/mL showed antifungal activity against all tested strains. O. compactum essential oil showed the best antifungal activity towards Fusarium species and Bipolaris oryzae with a total inhibition of the mycelial growth. In inoculated rice grains at lower doses (100 and 200 μg/mL) significantly reduced the fungal infection, so O. compactum essential oil could be used as ecofriendly preservative for field and stored Valencia rice.

Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that have co-evolved with their hosts to establish an intricate network of protein–protein interactions. Here, we followed a high-throughput yeast two-hybrid screening to identify 378 novel protein–protein interactions between turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) and its natural hostArabidopsis thaliana. We identified the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase NIb as the viral protein with the largest number of contacts, including key salicylic acid-dependent transcription regulators. We verified a subset of 25 interactionsin plantaby bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. We then constructed and analyzed a network comprising 399 TuMV-A. thalianainteractions together with intravirus and intrahost connections. In particular, we found that the host proteins targeted by TuMV are enriched in different aspects of plant responses to infections, are more connected and have an increased capacity to spread information throughout the cell proteome, display higher expression levels, and have been subject to stronger purifying selection than expected by chance. The proviral or antiviral role of ten host proteins was validated by characterizing the infection dynamics in the corresponding mutant plants, supporting a proviral role for the transcriptional regulator TGA1. Comparison with similar studies with animal viruses, highlights shared fundamental features in their mode of action.

Commercial thyme and lavender essential oils were analysed by GC/MS. Sixty-six compounds accounting for 98.6–99.6% of total essential oil were identified. Thymol (52.14 ± 0.21%), followed by p-cymene (32.24 ± 0.16%), carvacrol (3.71 ± 0.01%) and γ-terpinene (3.34 ± 0.02%), were the main compounds in thyme essential oil, while large amounts of oxygenated monoterpenes linalool acetate (37.07 ± 0.24%) and linalool (30.16 ± 0.06%) were found in lavender one. In vitro antifungal activity of the essential oils was evaluated at 200 and 300 μg/mL against 10 phytopathogenic and post-harvest fungi, which significantly affect agriculture. Micelial growth inhibition was calculated for each tested fungus and dose. Thyme essential oil showed satisfactory results with 90–100% growth inhibition in almost all the assayed fungi at 300 μg/mL, while lavender essential oil showed no noteworthy inhibition data at either dose, and its growth was even enhanced. Thyme essential oil represents a natural alternative to control harvest and post-harvest fungi, and to extend the shelf-life of agriculture products.