Microbial Communities in Composite Biofilms Participating in the Degradation of PCB

A moorland soil site polluted with PCB showed a high diversity ofmetabolically active bacteria. Beside frequent types of 16S rRNAsequences similar to those of the species ofSphingomonasand the Acidobacterium phylum an unusual high number ofsequences from the genus Burkholderia were found. Burkholderia was also the main genus in isolates enriched onbiphenyl or various chlorobenzoates. In microcosm experimentssterilized surfaces exposed to PCB polluted soil always showed thepresence of clay aggregates formed by bacteria attached to thesubstratum. The bacteria use the PCB loaded clay colloids astransport medium for the water insoluble substrate to get accessto the carbon source. This is a novel mechanism of how bacteria dealwith hydrophobic substrates.     

The relationship between agricultural intensification and biological control: experimental tests across Europe

Agricultural intensification can affect biodiversity and related ecosystem services such as biological control, but large-scale experimental evidence is missing. We examined aphid pest populations in cereal fields under experimentally reduced densities of (1) ground-dwelling predators (-G), (2) vegetation-dwelling predators and parasitoids (-V), (3) a combination of (1) and (2) (-G-V), compared with open-fields (control), in contrasting landscapes with low vs. high levels of agricultural intensification (AI), and in five European regions. Aphid populations were 28%, 97%, and 199% higher in -G, -V, and -G-V treatments, respectively, compared to the open fields, indicating synergistic effects of both natural-enemy groups. Enhanced parasitoid: host and predator: prey ratios were related to reduced aphid population density and population growth. The relative importance of parasitoids and vegetation-dwelling predators greatly differed among European regions, and agricultural intensification affected biological control and aphid density only in some regions. This shows a changing role of species group identity in diverse enemy communities and a need to consider region-specific landscape management.     

Triclosan—the forgotten priority substance?

Introduction  

Triclosan (TCS) is a multi-purpose biocide. Its wide use in personal care products (PCPs) fosters its dispersal in the aquatic environment. Despite enhanced awareness of both scientists and the public in the last decade with regard to fate and effects, TCS received little attention regarding its prioritisation as a candidate river basin-specific pollutant or even priority substance, due to scarce monitoring data.     

Effect of Cry3Bb transgenic corn and tefluthrin on the soil microbial community: biomass, activity, and diversity

Transgenic Bt corn expressing the Cry3Bb insecticidal protein active against corn rootworm (CRW) (Diabrotica spp.; Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was released for commercial use in 2003 and is expected to be widely adopted. Yet, the direct and indirect risks to soil microorganisms of growing this CRW-resistant Bt corn versus applying insecticides to control the rootworm have not been assessed under field conditions. The effects of CRW Bt corn and the insecticide tefluthrin [2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-4-methylbenzyl (Z)-(1RS)-cis-3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-enyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate] on soil microbial biomass, activity (N mineralization potential, short-term nitrification rate, and soil respiration), and bacterial community structure as determined by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis were assessed over two seasons in a field experiment. Bt corn had no deleterious effects on microbial activity or bacterial community measures compared with the non-transgenic isoline. The T-RFLP analysis indicated that amplifiable bacterial species composition and relative abundance differed substantially between years, but did not differ between rhizosphere and bulk soils. The application of tefluthrin also had no effect on any microbial measure except decreased soil respiration observed in tefluthrin-treated plots compared with Bt and non-transgenic isoline (NoBt) plots in 2002. Our results indicate that the release of CRW Bt corn poses little threat to the ecology of the soil microbial community based on parameters measured in this study.     

The evolution of the upright posture and gait—a review and a new synthesis

During the last century, approximately 30 hypotheses have been constructed to explain the evolution of the human upright posture and locomotion. The most important and recent ones are discussed here. Meanwhile, it has been established that all main hypotheses published until the last decade of the past century are outdated, at least with respect to some of their main ideas: Firstly, they were focused on only one cause for the evolution of bipedality, whereas the evolutionary process was much more complex. Secondly, they were all placed into a savannah scenario. During the 1990s, the fossil record allowed the reconstruction of emerging bipedalism more precisely in a forested habitat (e.g., as reported by Clarke and Tobias (Science 269:521–524, 1995) and WoldeGabriel et al. (Nature 412:175–178, 2001)). Moreover, the fossil remains revealed increasing evidence that this part of human evolution took place in a more humid environment than previously assumed. The Amphibian Generalist Theory, presented first in the year 2000, suggests that bipedalism began in a wooded habitat. The forests were not far from a shore, where our early ancestor, along with its arboreal habits, walked and waded in shallow water finding rich food with little investment. In contrast to all other theories, wading behaviour not only triggers an upright posture, but also forces the individual to maintain this position and to walk bipedally. So far, this is the only scenario suitable to overcome the considerable anatomical and functional threshold from quadrupedalism to bipedalism. This is consistent with paleoanthropological findings and with functional anatomy as well as with energetic calculations, and not least, with evolutionary psychology. The new synthesis presented here is able to harmonise many of the hitherto competing theories.     

Oxygen tolerance capacity of upflow anaerobic solid-state (UASS) with anaerobic filter (AF) system

In order to investigate the oxygen tolerance capacity of upflow anaerobic solid-state(UASS)with anaerobic filter(AF) system, the effect of microaeration on thermophilic anaerobic digestion of maize straw was investigated under batch conditions and in the UASS with AF system. Aeration intensities of 0–431 m L O2/gvswere conducted as pretreatment under batch conditions. Aeration pretreatment obviously enhanced anaerobic digestion and an aeration intensity of 431 m L O2/gvsincreased the methane yield by 82.2%. Aeration intensities of 0–355 m L O2/gvswere conducted in the process liquor circulation of the UASS with AF system. Dissolved oxygen(DO) of UASS and AF reactors kept around 1.39 ±0.27 and 0.99 ± 0.38 mg/L, respectively. p H was relatively stable around 7.11 ± 0.04. Volatile fatty acids and soluble chemical oxygen demand concentration in UASS reactor were higher than those in AF reactor. Methane yield of the whole system was almost stable at 85 ± 7 m L/gvs as aeration intensity increased step by step. The UASS with AF system showed good oxygen tolerance capacity.