Lanthanides function as enzyme cofactors in bacteria, where they are widely distributed in pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent 8-bladed beta-propeller dehydrogenases. No lanthanide-dependent enzymes, however, have been described outside prokaryotes. Here, we combined structural bioinformatics, phylogenetics, AlphaFold3 co-folding, coordination-sphere comparison, and quantum-mechanical cluster modeling to search for and rank putative lanthanide-coordinating 8-bladed beta-propeller enzymes in Eukarya. We identified candidate lanthanide-coordinating proteins in a diverse range of eukaryotes, predominantly plants and fungi, including species of clear industrial and agricultural relevance. A high-confidence subset matched validated bacterial Ln-binders based on both geometric similarity to canonical Ln-binding sites and on predicted Ln3+ versus Ca2+ selectivity. Our findings indicate that lanthanide biology likely extends beyond bacteria, with implications for plant, fungal, and broader eukaryotic metabolism, and warrant targeted biochemical investigation. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Japan Atomic Energy Agency, https://ror.org/05nf86y53, 63853--12998--44--//--PG1JL

Isolating the lanthanide in this oxidation state suggests a shift in some periodic tables

Luminescent emitters based on lanthanide ions are of ubiquitous importance in the biological sciences, but typically need sensitisation from a covalently attached adjacent chromophore – an “antenna” ....

Lanthanide — airlemoneXArtwork and jacket design for Resurrection Cup 2025

Not known for their outgoing nature, 4f orbitals have been caught steering a reaction for the first time

Cluster stabilised within a C80 fullerene cage

Isolating the lanthanide in this oxidation state suggests a shift in some periodic tables

Lanthanide (Ln) magnetic resonance imaging and chiral shift reagents generally exploit 1H NMR shifts, as paramagnetic broadening tends to preclude the use of heavier, less sensitive nuclei. Here, we report the solution and solid-state 31P NMR shifts of an isostructural series of distorted trigonal bipyramidal Ln(III) tris-silylphosphide complexes, [Ln{P(SiMe3)2}3(THF)2] (1-Ln; Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm); 1-Ln was also characterized by elemental analysis; single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction; multinuclear NMR, EPR, ATR-IR, and UV–vis-NIR spectroscopy; and SQUID magnetometry. Breaking assumptions, we observed paramagnetically broadened 31P NMR spectra for the Ln-bound P atoms for the 1-Ln family; in solution, 1-Nd showed the most downfield chemical shift (δ{31P} = 2570.14 ppm) and 1-Sm the most upfield value (δ{31P} = −259.21 ppm). We determined the span of the chemical shift anisotropies (CSAs) for solid 1-Ln using magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy; the CSA was largest for 1-Pr (Ω{31P} ≈ 2000 ppm), consistent with a combination of paramagnetism and the relatively large differences in pyramidalization of the three P atoms in the solid-state. Density functional theory calculations for 1-La were in excellent agreement with the experimentally determined 31P NMR parameters. We find good agreement of experimental 1H NMR chemical shifts with ab initio-calculated values for paramagnetic 1-Ln, while the shifts of heavier 13C, 29Si, and 31P nuclei are not well-reproduced due to the current limitations of paramagnetic NMR calculations for nuclei with large contact shifts.

The electroluminescence emitted from lanthanide fluoride nanocrystals functionalized with ligands is shown to be tunable, providing a method for exciton control in insulating nanocrystal systems and offering a pathway for spectrally precise electroluminescent materials.

To turn on and obtain emission from lanthanide-doped insulating nanoparticles, an electrical excitation pathway coupling them to organic optical molecules to form nanohybrids is described, enabling tunable electroluminescence properties of LEDs fabricated from such materials.

Nature Chemistry - The most common oxidation state for lanthanide elements is +3, and, beyond cerium, examples of these elements exhibiting higher oxidation states remain scarce. Now, a molecular...