Effects of surfactants on the combined toxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles and cadmium to Escherichia coli

The combined ecological toxicity of TiO₂ nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) and heavy metals has been paid more attention. As the common pollutants in water environment, surfactants could affect the properties of nanoparticles and heavy metals, and thus further influence the combined toxicity of nano-TiO₂ and heavy metals. In this study, the effects of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and Tween 80 on the single and combined toxicities of Cd^2 + and nano-TiO₂ to Escherichia coli (E. coli) were examined, and the underlying influence mechanism was further discussed. The results showed both SDBS and Tween 80 enhanced the toxicity of Cd^2 + to E. coli in varying degrees. The reaction of SDBS and Cd^2 + could increase the outer membrane permeability and the bioavailability of Cd, while Tween 80 itself could enhance the outer membrane permeability. The combined toxicity of nano-TiO₂ and Cd^2 + to E. coli in absence of surfactant was antagonistic because of the adsorption of Cd^2 + to nano-TiO₂ particles. However, in the presence of SDBS, both SDBS and nano-TiO₂ influenced the toxicity of Cd^2 +, and also SDBS could adsorb to nano-TiO₂ by binding to Cd^2 +. The combined toxicity was reduced at Cd^2 + lower than 4 mg/L and enhanced at Cd^2 + higher than 4 mg/L under multiple interactions. Tween 80 enhanced the combined toxicity of nano-TiO₂ and Cd^2 + by increasing the outer membrane permeability. Our study firstly elucidated the effects of surfactants on the combined toxicity of nano-TiO₂ and Cd^2 + to bacteria, and the underlying influencing mechanism was proposed.     

Hollow TiO2 spheres with improved visible light photocatalytic activity synergistically enhanced by multi-stimulative: Morphology advantage, carbonate-doping and the induced Ti3 +

Great efforts have been devoted to improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO_2 in the visible light region. Rational design of the external structure and adjustment of intrinsic electronic status by impurity doping are two main effective ways to achieve this purpose. A facile onepot synthetic approach was developed to prepare C-doped hollow TiO_2 spheres, which simultaneously realized these advantages. The synthesized TiO_2 exhibits a mesoporous hollow spherical structure composed of fine nanocrystals, leading to high specific surface area(~180 m~2/g) and versatile porous texture. Carbonate-doping was achieved by a postthermal treatment at a relatively low temperature(200°C), which makes the absorption edge red-shifted to the visible region of the solar spectrum. Concomitantly, Ti~(3+) induced by C-doping also functions in improving the visible-light photocatalytic activity by reducing the band gap. There exists a synergistic effect from multiple stimulatives to enhance the photocatalytic effect of the prepared TiO_2 catalyst. It is not out of expectation that the asprepared C-doped hollow TiO_2 spheres exhibits an improved photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation in organic pollutant degradation.     

Investigation on mechanism of phosphate removal on carbonized sludge adsorbent

For the removal of phosphate (PO₄^3 -) from water, an adsorbent was prepared via carbonization of sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant: carbonized sludge adsorbent (CSA). The mechanism of phosphate removal was determined after studying the structure and chemical properties of the CSA and its influence on phosphate removal. The results demonstrate that phosphate adsorption by the CSA can be fitted with the pseudo second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models, indicating that the adsorption is single molecular layer adsorption dominated by chemical reaction. The active sites binding phosphate on the surface are composed of mineral particles containing Si/Ca/Al/Fe. The mineral containing Ca, calcite, is the main factor responsible for phosphate removal. The phosphate removal mechanism is a complex process including crystallization via the interaction between Ca^2 + and PO₄^3 -; formation of precipitates of Ca^2 +, Al^3 +, and PO₄^3 -; and adsorption of PO₄^3 - on some recalcitrant oxides composed of Si/Al/Fe.     

An innovative approach to minimize excess sludge production in sewage treatment using integrated bioreactors

The present investigation deals with an application of integrated sequential oxic and anoxic bioreactor(SOABR) and fluidized immobilized cell carbon oxidation(FICCO) reactor for the treatment of domestic wastewater with minimum sludge generation. The performance of integrated SOABR-FICCO system was evaluated on treating the domestic wastewater at hydraulic retention time(HRT) of 3 hr and 6 hr for 120 days at organic loading rate(OLR)of 191 ± 31 mg/(L·hr). The influent wastewater was characterized by chemical oxygen demand(COD) 573 ± 93 mg/L; biochemical oxygen demand(BOD5) 197 ± 35 mg/L and total suspended solids(TSS) 450 ± 136 mg/L. The integrated SOABR-FICCO reactors have established a significant removal of COD by 94% ± 1%, BOD5 by 95% ± 0.6% and TSS by 95% ± 4% with treated domestic wastewater characteristics COD 33 ± 5 mg/L; BOD59 ± 0.8 mg/L and TSS 17 ± 9 mg/L under continuous mode of operation for 120 days. The mass of dry sludge generated from SOABR-FICCO system was 22.9 g/m~3. The sludge volume index of sludge formed in the SOABR reactor was 32 mL/g and in FICCO reactor it was 46 mL/g. The sludge formed in SOABR and FICCO reactor was characterized by TGA, DSC and SEM analysis. Overall, the results demonstrated that the integrated SOABR-FICCO reactors substantially removed the pollution parameters from domestic wastewater with minimum sludge production.     

Toward chemical-free reclamation of biologically pretreated greywater: solar photocatalytic oxidation with powdered activated carbon

Heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation is a water reclamation technology which avoids chemical consumption and can be powered by solar radiation. Because this generally sustainable process is of limited efficiency for the treatment of biologically pretreated greywater, it was combined with activated carbon adsorption. The effluent of a constructed wetland for treatment of separately collected greywater was subjected to photocatalytic oxidation using the photocatalyst titanium dioxide (TiO₂) “P25” in both the absence and the presence of powdered activated carbon (PAC). Photocatalytic oxidation alone with UV fluences of about 10 Wh L^?1 was not capable of reducing total organic carbon (TOC) from an initial concentration of 5.5 mg L^?1 safely below 2 mg L^?1 as a prerequisite for high-quality water reuse purposes. However, when PAC was added, TOC concentrations subsequent to photocatalytic oxidation were less than 2 mg L^?1 even after reusing the TiO₂/PAC mixture 10 times. PAC addition is estimated to reduce the insolation area necessary to achieve this target by solar photocatalytic oxidation of biologically treated greywater by a factor 7. This combination process represents an innovative chemical-free technology within wastewater reuse schemes.     

Attenuation of arsenic in a karst subterranean stream and correlation with geochemical factors: A case study at Lihu, South China

Arsenic （As） pollutants generated by human activities in karst areas flow into subterranean streams and contaminate groundwater easily because of the unique hydrogeological characteristics of karst areas. To elucidate the reaction mechanisms of arsenic in karst subterranean streams, physical-chemical analysis was conducted by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer and an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The results show that inorganic species account for most of the total arsenic, whereas organic arsenic is not detected or occurs in infinitesimal amounts. As（III） accounts for 51.0% ± 9.9% of the total inorganic arsenic. Arsenic attenuation occurs and the attenuation rates of total As, As（III） and As（V） in the Lihu subterranean stream are 51%, 36% and 59%, respectively. To fully explain the main geochemical factors influencing arsenic attenuation, SPSS 13.0 and CANOCO 4.5 bundled with CanoDraw for Windows were used for simple statistical analysis and redundancy analysis （RDA）. Eight main factors, i.e., sediment iron （SFe）, sediment aluminum （SAI）, sediment calcium （SCa）, sediment organic matter （SOM）, sediment manganese （SMn）, water calcium （WCa^2＋）, water magnesium （WMg^2＋）, and water bicarbonate ion （WILCOX） were extracted from thirteen indicators. Their impacts on arsenic content rank as： SFe〉SCa〉WCa^2＋〉SAl〉wHCO3^-〉SMn〉SOM〉WMg^2＋. Of these factors, SFe, SAl, SCa, SOM, SMn, WMg^2＋ and WCa＆2＋ promote arsenic attenuation, whereas WHCO3^- inhibits it. Further investigation revealed that the redox potential （Eh） and pH are adverse to arsenic removal. The dramatic distinction between karst and non-karst terrain is that calcium and bicarbonate are the primary factors influencing arsenic migration in karst areas due to the high calcium concentration and alkalinity of karst water.     

Adsorption of VOCs on reduced graphene oxide

A modified Hummer's method was adopted for the synthesis of graphene oxide(GO) and reduced graphene oxide(rGO). It was revealed that the modified method is effective for the production of GO and rGO from graphite. Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) images of GO and rGO showed a sheet-like morphology. Because of the presence of oxygenated functional groups on the carbon surface, the interlayer spacing of the prepared GO was higher than that of rGO. The presence of \OH and C_O groups in the Fourier transform infrared spectra(FTIR) spectrum and G-mode and 2D-mode in Raman spectra confirmed the synthesis of GO and rGO. rGO(292.6 m~2/g) showed higher surface area than that of GO(236.4 m~2/g). The prepared rGO was used as an adsorbent for benzene and toluene(model pollutants of volatile organic compounds(VOCs)) under dynamic adsorption/desorption conditions. rGO showed higher adsorption capacity and breakthrough times than GO. The adsorption capacity of rGO for benzene and toluene was 276.4 and 304.4 mg/g, respectively.Desorption experiments showed that the spent rGO can be successfully regenerated by heating at 150.0°C. Its excellent adsorption/desorption performance for benzene and toluene makes rGO a potential adsorbent for VOC adsorption.     

Phosphogypsum stabilization of bauxite residue: Conversion of its alkaline characteristics

Reduction of the high alkalinity of bauxite residue is a key problem to solve to make it suitable for plant growth and comprehensive utilization. In this study, phosphogypsum, a waste product from the phosphate fertilizer industry, was used to drive the alkaline transformation of the bauxite residue. Under optimal water washing conditions(liquid/solid ratio of 2 mL/g, 30°C, 24 hr), the impact of quantity added, reaction time and reaction mechanism during phosphogypsum application were investigated. Phosphogypsum addition effectively lowered p H levels and reduced the soluble alkalinity by 92.2%. It was found that the concentration of soluble Na and Ca ions in the supernatant increased gradually, whilst the exchangeable Na+and Ca~(2+)in solid phase changed 112 mg/kg and 259 mg/kg, respectively. Ca~(2+)became the dominant element in the solid phase(phosphogypsum addition of 2%, liquid/solid ratio of 2 mL/g, 30°C, 12 hr). X-ray diffraction data indicated that cancrinite and hydrogarnet were the primary alkaline minerals. SEM images suggested that phosphogypsum could promote the formation of stable macroaggregates, whilst the content of Ca~(2+)increased from 5.6% to 18.2% and Na reduced from 6.8% to 2.4%. Treatment with phosphogypsum could significantly promote the transformation of alkalinity cations by neutralization, precipitation and replacement reactions.This research provided a feasible method to promote soil formation of bauxite residue by phosphogypsum amendment.     

Effect of air-exposed biocathode on the performance of a Thauera-dominated membraneless single-chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC)

To investigate the effect of air-exposed biocathode(AEB) on the performance of singlechamber microbial fuel cell(SCMFC), wastewater quality, bioelectrochemical characteristics and the electrode biofilms were researched. It was demonstrated that exposing the biocathode to air was beneficial to nitrogen removal and current generation. In Test 1 of 95%AEB, removal rates of ammonia, total nitrogen(TN) and chemical oxygen demand(COD)reached 99.34% ± 0.11%, 99.34% ± 0.10% and 90.79% ± 0.12%, respectively. The nitrogen removal loading rates were 36.38 g N/m~3/day. Meanwhile, current density and power density obtained at 0.7 A/m3 and 104 m W/m~3 respectively. Further experiments on opencircuit(Test 2) and carbon source(Test 3) indicated that this high performance could be attributed to simultaneous biological nitrification/denitrification and aerobic denitrification, as well as bioelectrochemical denitrification. Results of community analysis demonstrated that both microbial community structures on the surface of the cathode and in the liquid of the chamber were different. The percentage of Thauera, identified as denitrifying bacteria, maintained at a high level of over 50% in water, but decreased gradually in the AEB. Moreover, the genus Nitrosomonas, Alishewanella, Arcobacter and Rheinheimera were significantly enriched in the AEB, which might contribute to both enhancement of nitrogen removal and electricity generation.     

Wastewater degradation by iron/copper nanoparticles and the microorganism growth rate

Nowadays, trends in wastewater treatment by zero-valent iron (ZVI) were turned to use bimetallic NZVI particles by planting another metal onto the ZVI surface to increase its reactivity. Nano size zero-valent iron/copper (NZVI/Cu⁰) bimetallic particles were synthesized in order to examine its toxicity effects on the wastewater microbial life, kinetics of phosphorus, ammonia stripping and the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Various concentrations of NZVI/Cu⁰ and operation conditions both aerobic and anaerobic were investigated and compared with pure NZVI experiment. The results showed that addition 10 mg/L of NZVI/Cu⁰ significantly increased the numbers of bacteria colonies under anaerobic condition, conversely it inhibited bacteria activity with the presence of oxygen. Furthermore, the impact of nanoparticles on ammonia stripping and phosphorus removal was also linked to the emitted iron ions electrons. It was found that dosing high concentration of bimetallic NZVI/Cu⁰ has a negative effect on ammonia stripping regardless of the aeration condition. In comparison to control, dosing only 10 mg/L NZVI/Cu⁰, the phosphorus removal increased sharply both under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, these outcomes were obtained as a result of complete dissolution of bimetallic nanoparticles which formed copper-iron oxides components that are attributed to increasing the phosphorus adsorption rate.     

Characterizing the antibiotic resistance genes in a river catchment: Influence of anthropogenic activities

Previous studies on environmental antibiotics resistance genes(ARGs) have focused on the pollution sources such as wastewater treatment plants, aquaculture and livestock farms,etc. Few of them had addressed this issue in a regional scale such as river catchment. Hence,the occurrence and abundances of 23 ARGs were investigated in surface water samples collected from 38 sites which located from the river source to estuary of the Beijiang River.Among them, 11 ARGs were frequently detected in this region and 5 ARGs(sul I, sul II, tet B,tet C, and tet W) were selected for their distribution pattern analysis. The abundances of the selected ARGs were higher in the upstream(8.70 × 10~6 copies/ng DNA) and downstream areas(3.17 × 10~6 copies/ng DNA) than those in the midstream areas(1.23 × 10~6 copies/ng DNA), which was positively correlated to the population density and number of pollution sources. Pollution sources of ARGs along the Beijiang River not only had a great impact on the abundances and diversity, but also on the distribution of specific ARGs in the water samples. Both sul I and sul II were likely originated from aquaculture farms and animal farms,tet W gene was possibly associated with the mining/metal melting industry and the electric waste disposal and tet C gene was commonly found in the area with multiple pollution sources.However, the abundance of tet B was not particularly related to anthropogenic impacts. These findings highlight the influence of pollution sources and density of population on the distribution and dissemination of ARGs at a regional scale.     

Emissions of N2O and NH3, and nitrogen leaching from direct seeded rice under different tillage practices in central China

Tillage practices affect the fate of fertilizer nitrogen (N) through influencing transformations of N, but few studies have examined N₂O and NH₃ emissions, and N leaching from different rice tillage systems. Thus the objective of this study was to assess N₂O emission, NH₃ volatilization and N leaching from direct seeded rice in conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) production systems in the subtropical region of China during the 2008 and 2009 rice growing seasons. Treatments were established following a split-plot design of a randomized complete block with tillage practices as the main plot and N fertilizer level as the sub-plot treatment, and there were four treatments: NT + no fertilizer (NT0), CT + no fertilizer (CT0), NT + compound fertilizer (NTC) and CT + compound fertilizer (CTC), respectively. Results showed that N fertilization significantly increased (p < 0.01) N₂O emissions, NH₃ volatilization and N leaching from rice fields in both years. In general, there was no significant difference in N₂O emissions and NH₃ volatilization between NT0 and CT0 in both years, while NTC had significantly higher (p < 0.05) N₂O emissions and NH₃ volatilization compared to CTC. Over the two rice growing seasons, NTC showed 32% and 47% higher N₂O emissions, and 29% and 52% higher NH₃ losses than CTC. Higher (p < 0.05) N₂O emissions from NTC than CTC were presumably due to higher soil organic C and greater denitrification. Total N and NO₃^? concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in CTC than NTC, but larger volumes of percolation water in NTC than CTC resulted in no significant difference in leakage of total N and NO₃^?. Hence, application of N fertilizer in combination with NT appeared to be ineffective in reducing N losses from N fertilizer in paddy fields.     

Carbon footprint of sugar produced from sugarcane in eastern Thailand

Carbon footprint (CFP) of sugar produced from sugarcane in eastern Thailand was estimated from greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O) during the sugarcane cultivation and milling process. The use of fossil fuels, chemical and organic fertilizer and sugarcane biomass data during cultivation were collected from field surveys, questionnaires and interviews. Sugar mill emissions, fossil fuel utilization and greenhouse gas emission from wastewater treatments were included. The results show that sugar production has a carbon footprint of 0.55 kg CO₂e kg^?1 sugar. This carbon footprint was a sum of 0.49 kg CO₂e kg^?1 sugar from sugarcane cultivation and 0.06 kg CO₂e kg^?1 sugar from the milling process. For the cultivation part, most of the GHGs emissions were from fertilizer, fossil fuel use and biomass burning. The CFP in eastern Thailand is sensitive to the type of data selected for calculation and of variations of farm inputs during sugarcane cultivation. There was no significant difference of CFP among farm sizes, although small farms tended to give a relatively higher CFP than that of medium and large farms.     

Dairy farm CH4 and N2O emissions,from one square metre to the full farm scale

The greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems contribute significantly to the national budgets for most countries in Europe. Measurement techniques that can identify and quantify emissions are essential in order to improve the selection process of emission reduction options and to enable quantification of the effect of such options. Fast box emission measurements and mobile plume measurements were used to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from farm sites. The box measurement technique was used to evaluate emissions from farmyard manure and several other potential source areas within the farm. Significant (up to 250 g CH₄ m⁻² day⁻¹and 0.4 g N₂O m⁻² day⁻¹) emissions from ditches close to stables on the farm site were found.Plume emission measurements from individual manure storages were performed at three sites. For a manure storage with 1200 m³ dairy slurry in Wageningen emission factors of 11 ± 5 g CH₄ m⁻³ manure day⁻¹ and 14 ± 8 mg N₂O m⁻³ manure day⁻¹ were obtained in February 2002.Mobile plume measurements were carried out during 4 days at distances between 30 and 300 m downwind of 20 different farms. Total farm emissions levels ranged from 14 to 95 kg CH₄ day⁻¹ for these sites. Expressed as emission per animal the levels were 0.7 ± 0.4 kg CH₄ animal⁻¹ day⁻¹ for conventional farms. For three farms that used straw bedding for the animals1.4 ± 0.2 kg CH₄ animal⁻¹ day⁻¹ was obtained. These factors include both respired methane and emission from manure in the stable and the outside storages.For a subset of these farms the CH₄ emission was compared with monthly averaged model emission calculations using FarmGHG. This model calculates imports, exports and flows of all products through the internal chains on the farm using daily time steps. The fit of modelled versus measured data has a slope of 0.97 but r² = 0.27. Measurements and model emission estimates agree well on average, for large farms within 30%. For small farms the differences can be up to a factor of 3. CH₄ emissions during winter seem to be underestimated.     

Recent progress of arsenic adsorption on TiO2 in the presence of coexisting ions: A review

Arsenic (As)-contaminated wastewater and groundwater pose a pressing environmental issue and worldwide concern. Adsorption of As using TiO₂ materials, in combination with filtration, introduces a promising technology for the treatment of As-contaminated water. This review presents an overview on the recent progress of the application of TiO₂ for removal of As from wastewater and groundwater. The main focus is on the following three pressing issues that limit the field applications of TiO₂ for As removal: coexisting ions, simulation of breakthrough curves, and regeneration and reuse of spent TiO₂ materials. We first examined how the coexisting ions in water, especially high concentrations of cations in industrial wastewater, affect the efficacy of As removal using the TiO₂ materials. We then discussed As breakthrough curves and the effect of compounded ions on the breakthrough curves. We successfully simulated the breakthrough curves by PHREEQC after integrating the CD-MUSIC model. We further discussed challenges facing the regeneration and reuse of TiO₂ media for practical applications. We offer our perspectives on remaining issues and future research needs.     

Photo-catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide with in-situ synthesized CoPc/TiO2 under visible light irradiation

CO₂ is photo-catalytically reduced to produce formic acid, methanol, formaldehyde in an aqueous solution using visible light irradiation and in-situ synthesized CoPc/TiO₂. CoPc/TiO₂ nano-composite is in-situ synthesized through the annulations of 1,2-dicyanobenzene on the surface of TiO₂ with Co(II) as template. The prepared catalysts are characterized by means of XRD, DTA–TG, UV–vis and FT-IR methods. The photo-catalytic activity of these catalysts under visible light is discussed. The experimental results indicate that cobalt-phthalocyanine (CoPc) and TiO₂ are indeed synthesized by the in-situ method. Under the visible light irradiation, CoPc molecules are excited first and the excited electrons are injected into the conduction band of TiO₂, then the separation of electron–hole pairs is increased so that the photo-catalytic efficiency is increased. The results show that the in-situ CoPc/TiO₂ out performed physical absorbed CoPc/TiO₂. The total organic carbon (TOC) yield of 0.7 wt.% in-situ CoPc/TiO₂ is 1714.9 μmol/g catal. following 10 h of visible light illumination. The yield is much higher than those of TiO₂ and physical absorbed CoPc/TiO₂.     

Nitrous oxide emissions from organic and conventional crop rotations in five European countries

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agriculture are currently estimated from N inputs using emission factors, and little is known about the importance of regional or management-related differences. This paper summarizes the results of a study in which N₂O emission rates were recorded on 15–26 occasions during a 12-month period in organic and conventional dairy crop rotations in five European countries (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, UK). A common methodology based on static chambers was used for N₂O flux measurements, and N₂O data were compiled together with information about N inputs (from fertilizers, N₂ fixation, atmospheric deposition and excretal returns), crop rotations and soil properties. Organic rotations received only manure as N fertilizer, while manure accounted for 0–100% of fertilizer N in conventional rotations. A linear regression model was used to examine effects of location, system and crop category on N₂O emissions, while a second model examined effects of soil properties. Nitrous oxide emissions were higher from conventional than from organic crop rotations except in Austria and, according to the statistical analysis, the differences between locations and crop categories were significant. Ammonium was significantly related to N₂O emissions, although this effect was dominated by observations from a grazing system. Despite the limited number of samplings, annual emissions were estimated by interpolation. Across the two systems and five locations there was a significant relationship between total N inputs and N₂O emissions at the crop rotation level which indicated that annually 1.6 ± 0.2% (mean ± standard error) of total N inputs were lost as N₂O, while there was a background emission of 1.4 ± 0.3 kg N₂O-N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Although this measurement program emphasized system effects at the expense of high temporal resolution, the results indicate that N input is a significant determinant for N₂O emissions from agricultural soils.     

Protecting the photosynthetic performance of snap bean under free air ozone exposure

Tropospheric ozone(O_3) is a major air pollutant and causes serious injury to vegetation. To protect sensitive plants from O_3 damage, several agrochemicals have been assessed,including cytokinin(e.g., kinetin, KIN) and ethylenediurea(EDU) with cytokinin-like activity.In higher plant, leaves are primarily injured by O_3 and protective agrochemicals are often applied by leaf spraying. To our knowledge, the mitigating abilities of EDU and KIN have not been compared directly in a realistic setup. In the present research, impacts of elevated O3(2 × ambient O_3, 24 hr per day, for 8 days) on an O_3 sensitive line(S156) of snap bean(Phaseolus vulgaris), which is often used for biomonitoring O_3 pollution, were studied in a free air controlled exposure system. The day before starting the O_3 exposure, plants were sprayed with a solution of EDU(300 ppm), KIN(1 mmol/L) or distilled water, to compare their protective abilities. The results demonstrated that 2 × ambient O_3 inhibited net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance, increased the minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state, decreased the maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, and led to visible injury. KIN and EDU alleviated the reduction of the photosynthetic performance, and visible injury under O_3 fumigation. The plants sprayed with EDU showed greater ability to mitigate the O_3 damage than those sprayed with KIN. Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging may have detected more precisely the differences in O_3 response across the leaf than the conventional fluorometer.     

Community structures and population dynamics of “Candidatus Accumulibacter” in activated sludges of wastewater treatment plants using ppk1 as phylogenetic marker

Candidatus Accumulibacter has been identified as dominant polyphosphate-accumulating organisms(PAOs) in enhanced biological phosphorus(P) removal(EBPR) from wastewater.This study revealed the relevance of community structure, abundance and seasonal population dynamics of Candidatus Accumulibacter to process operation of wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs) in China using ppk1 gene as phylogenetic marker. All sludge samples had properties of denitrifying P removal using nitrate as an electron acceptor.Accumulibacter abundance in the anaerobic-anoxic-oxic(A~2O) process was the highest(26%of total bacteria), and higher in winter than in summer with a better EBPR performance.Type-II was the dominant Accumulibacter in all processes, and type-I accounted for a small proportion of total Accumulibacter. The abundance of Clade-IIC as the most dominant clade reached 2.59 × 10~9 cells/g MLSS and accounted for 87.3% of total Accumulibacter. Clade IIC mainly contributed to denitrifying P removal. Clades IIA, IIC and IID were found in all processes, while clade-IIF was only found in oxidation ditch process through phylogenetic analysis. High proportion of clade IID to total Accumulibacter led to poor performance of aerobic P-uptake in inverted A~2O process. Therefore, Accumulibacter clades in WWTPs were diverse, and EBPR performance was closely related to the clade-level community structures and abundances of Accumulibacter.     

Lodging in rice can be alleviated by atmospheric CO2 enrichment

The projected increase of atmospheric CO₂ concentration [CO₂] is expected to increase yield of agricultural C₃ crops, but little is known about effects of [CO₂] on lodging that can reduce yield. This study examined the interaction between [CO₂] and nitrogen (N) fertilization on the lodging of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) systems installed in paddy fields at Shizukuishi, Iwate, Japan (39°38′N, 140°57′E). Rice plants were grown under two levels of [CO₂] (ambient = 365 μmol mol⁻¹; elevated [CO₂] = 548 μmol mol⁻¹) and three N fertilization regimes: a single initial basal application of controlled-release urea (8 g N m⁻², CRN), split fertilization with a standard amount of ammonium sulfate (9 g N m⁻², MN), and ample N (15 g N m⁻², HN). Lodging score (six ranks at 18° intervals, with larger scores indicating greater bending), yield, and yield components were measured at maturity. The lodging score was significantly higher under HN than under CRN and MN, but lodging was alleviated by elevated [CO₂] under HN. This alleviation was associated with the shortened and thickened lower internodes, but was not associated with a change in the plant's mass moment around the culm base. A positively significant correlation between lodging score and ripening percentage indicated that ripening percentage decreased by 4.5% per one-unit increase in lodging score. These findings will be useful to develop functional algorithm that can be incorporated into mechanistic crop models to predict rice production more accurately in a changing climate and with different cultural practices.