Within-plant allocation of a chemical defense in Secale cereale. Is concentration the appropriate currency of allocation?

Summary. The among-leaves allocation of DIBOA, a hydroxamic acid associated with plant resistance, in the shoot of rye (Secale cereale) was evaluated over the vegetative development of the plant. The appropriateness of using the concentration of secondary metabolites, DIBOA in this case, as the parameter to evaluate defense allocation in plants is discussed. Both biological and statistical arguments are put forward to suggest that allocation of chemical defenses should refer to absolute content and not to concentration. Results showed that leaf age was significantly linked to leaf concentration of DIBOA, young leaves having higher concentrations. In contrast, leaf content of DIBOA, our proposed currency of allocation, was not significantly higher in younger leaves. Furthermore, a regression analysis showed that the DIBOA content of leaves was better explained by the leaf relative biomass (proportion of shoot biomass) than by leaf biomass itself. It is suggested that, rather than leaf age, leaf relative biomass is the major factor determining DIBOA allocation in rye shoots. It is proposed that studies addressing within-plant defense allocation should use chemical defense content as the currency, emphasizing the major factors driving this process and its underlying mechanisms. Likewise, it is proposed that studies aiming at characterizing optimal patterns of plant defense should use chemical defense concentration as the currency, and be accompanied by evaluations of the actual resistance against herbivores of the plant parts analyzed, together with the effect on plant fitness. Received 19 February 1999; accepted 28 April 1999.     

A review of biomarker compounds as source indicators and tracers for air pollution

An overview of the application of organic geochemistry to the analysis of organic matter on aerosol particles is presented here. This organic matter is analyzed as solvent extractable bitumen/ lipids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The organic geochemical approach assesses the origin, the environmental history and the nature of secondary products of organic matter by using the data derived from specific molecular analyses. Evaluations of production and fluxes, with cross-correlations can thus be made by the application of the same separation and analytical procedures to samples from point source emissions and the ambient atmosphere. This will be illustrated here with typical examples from the ambient atmosphere (aerosol particles) and from emissions of biomass burning (smoke). Organic matter in aerosols is derived from two major sources and is admixed depending on the geographic relief of the air shed. These sources are biogenic detritus (e.g., plant wax, microbes, etc.) and anthropogenic particle emissions (e.g., oils, soot, synthetics, etc.). Both biogenic detritus and some of the anthropogenic particle emissions contain organic materials which have unique and distinguishable compound distribution patterns (C₁₄-C₄₀). Microbial and vascular plant lipids are the dominant biogenic residues and petroleum hydrocarbons, with lesser amounts of the pyrogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and synthetics (e.g., chlorinated compounds), are the major anthropogenic residues. Biomass combustion is another important primary source of particles injected into the global atmosphere. It contributes many trace substances which are reactants in atmospheric chemistry and soot paniculate matter with adsorbed biomarker compounds, most of which are unknown chemical structures. The injection of natural product organic compounds into smoke occurs primarily by direct volatilization/steam stripping and by thermal alteration based on combustion temperature. Although the molecular composition of organic matter in smoke particles is highly variable, the molecular tracers are generally still source specific. Retene has been utilized as a tracer for conifer smoke in urban aerosols, but is not always detectable. Dehydroabietic acid is generally more concentrated in the atmosphere from the same emission sources. Degradation products from biopolymers (e.g., levoglucosan from cellulose) are also excellent tracers. An overview of the biomarker compositions of biomass smoke types is presented here. Defining additional tracers of thermally-altered and directly-emitted natural products in smoke aids the assessment of the organic matter type and input from biomass combustion to aerosols. The precursor to product approach of compound characterization by organic geochemistry can be applied successfully to provide tracers for studying the chemistry and dispersion of ambient aerosols and smoke plumes. Presented at the 6th FECS Conference on Chemistry and the Environment, Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Pollution, August 26–28, 1998, Copenhagen.     

北京市饮用水中溴酸盐、卤代乙酸及高氯酸盐研究

调查了北京市饮用水厂源水及出厂水中消毒副产物溴酸盐、卤代乙酸及典型污染物高氯酸盐的污染现状,研究了其来源及环境影响因素.结果表明,北京市饮用水中基本不含溴酸盐;含有5种卤代乙酸和高氯酸盐.饮用水加氯消毒是产生卤代乙酸的主要原因.在所调查水厂出厂水中卤代乙酸的平均浓度为42.1～149.5μg/L;其中含氯卤代乙酸占总量的90%以上.5种卤代乙酸的含量顺序为三氯乙酸>二氯乙酸>氯溴乙酸>二溴乙酸>一溴二氯乙酸.饮用水中卤代乙酸受季节影响较大,9月份浓度最高,4月份浓度最低.高氯酸盐主要存在于以地下水为源水的水厂中,受地下水污染影响较大.各水厂出厂水中高氯酸盐含量为0.1～6.8μg/L.饮用水中高氯酸盐在11月份含量最高,7月份含量最低.     

不同渗滤液循环方式对填埋层甲烷产生的影响

通过填埋模拟柱 ,实验室研究了以我国大城市生活垃圾组成为依据的新鲜垃圾填埋层在不同渗滤液循环方式条件下甲烷产生的规律 .渗滤液循环方式包括 :原液循环、好氧预处理 (SBR)后循环、与陈垃圾出水混合后循环 .结果表明 :新鲜垃圾填埋层初期渗滤液COD、VFA浓度高 ,原液循环导致有机酸的积累 ,抑制了甲烷化进程 ;初期渗滤液经预处理控制一定COD、VFA浓度后循环 ,能够显著地缩短产甲烷滞后时间、加速甲烷化进程 ;当填埋层进入稳定的甲烷化阶段后 ,渗滤液循环才能有效地降解渗滤液中的有机污染 ,近 10 0 %地转化为填埋气体.     

The role of lipids in fermentative propionate production from the co-fermentation of lipid and food waste

● Lipid can promote PA production on a target from food waste. ● PA productivity reached 6.23 g/(L∙d) from co-fermentation of lipid and food waste. ● Lipid promoted the hydrolysis and utilization of protein in food waste. ● Prevotella , Veillonella and norank _f _Propioni bacteriaceae were enriched. ● Main pathway of PA production was the succinate pathway. Food waste (FW) is a promising renewable low-cost biomass substrate for enhancing the economic feasibility of fermentative propionate production. Although lipids, a common component of food waste, can be used as a carbon source to enhance the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) during co-fermentation, few studies have evaluated the potential for directional propionate production from the co-fermentation of lipids and FW. In this study, co-fermentation experiments were conducted using different combinations of lipids and FW for VFA production. The contributions of lipids and FW to propionate production, hydrolysis of substrates, and microbial composition during co-fermentation were evaluated. The results revealed that lipids shifted the fermentation type of FW from butyric to propionic acid fermentation. Based on the estimated propionate production kinetic parameters, the maximum propionate productivity increased significantly with an increase in lipid content, reaching 6.23 g propionate/(L∙d) at a lipid content of 50%. Propionate-producing bacteria Prevotella, Veillonella, and norank_f_Propionibacteriaceae were enriched in the presence of lipids, and the succinate pathway was identified as a prominent fermentation route for propionate production. Moreover, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes functional annotation revealed that the expression of functional genes associated with amino acid metabolism was enhanced by the presence of lipids. Collectively, these findings will contribute to gaining a better understanding of targeted propionate production from FW.     

Inhibition character of crotonaldehyde manufacture wastewater on biological acidification

• The inhibition of the main organic pollutions in CMW was demonstrated. • Variations of AK and BK showed a high correlation with the SAA of Ac and n-Bu. • The inhibitory degree was in the order of Ac>n-Bu for individual toxicants. • Biodegradation products of the main toxicants were analyzed. This work aims to investigate the inhibitory effect of crotonaldehyde manufacture wastewater (CMW) on biological acidification. To reveal the inhibitory effect of wastewater to the anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS), variations of the specific acidogenic activity (SAA) and activities of key enzymes were investigated. The results indicated that the dosage of CMW causing a 50% effect concentration (EC₅₀) on the activity of total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) production was 380 mg COD/g VSS. The inhibitory effect of individual toxicants in CMW on the activity of TVFA production were in the order of crotonaldehyde>ethyl sorbate>(E,E)-2,4-hexadienal, and their inhibitory degrees on individual VFA products were acetic acid (Ac)>n-butyric acid (n-Bu), which could correspond to the variations in the activities of acetate kinase (AK) and butyrate kinase (BK). Furthermore, the combined effect of three toxicants on the activity of TVFA production was significantly higher than that of any individual toxicant, and the contribution of the relative toxicity to CMW was 77.27%. Additionally, the biodegradation products of the main toxicants indicated that the removal of crotonaldehyde and (E,E)-2,4-hexadienal was primarily due to the hydrogenation of alkene and aldehyde and the oxidation of aldehyde. Nevertheless, the removal of ethyl sorbate was primarily based on adsorption. In conclusion, biological acidification has a limited ability to treatment CMW, therefore, a further pretreatment technology should be used to remove the main toxicant of wastewater.     

四海龙湾表层沉积物中有机质的组成特征及其源解析

为研究玛珥湖四海龙湾表层沉积物中有机质的组成特征及来源,采集四海龙湾表层沉积物样品,并对其中的有机质进行了分析. 结果表明,四海龙湾表层沉积物中w(TOC)(TOC为总有机碳)为6.7%、w(TN)为0.6%、δ13C_org(TOC同位素丰度)为-28.0‰、δ15N_total(TN同位素丰度)为2.2‰. 可溶性有机质主要包括脂肪烃、脂肪醇、脂肪酸和GDGTs(甘油二烷基甘油四醚脂)等,其中脂肪酸是可溶性有机质的主要组分,约占可溶性有机质总量的68.8%,主要来源于内源性的藻类和厌氧菌; 脂肪烃主要来源于陆源的C3木本植物;结合态脂肪醇具有明显的内源来源特征,而游离态脂肪醇却呈现陆源来源特征. 四海龙湾沉积物中含有丰富的GDGTs,主要来源于陆源土壤,包括支链类GDGTs和类异戊二烯类GDGTs,其中类异戊二烯类GDGTs以GDGTⅣ和GDGTⅤ为主,但其在四海龙湾沉积物中的含量相对较小. 研究显示,四海龙湾流域陆源是沉积物中可溶性有机质的主要来源,陆源有机质的大量流入改变了四海龙湾的营养水平;不同种类可溶性有机质表现出不同的来源特征,这主要是由于微生物对不同种类有机质降解速率的不同所致,并且导致降解所产生的二次有机质数量也不同.      

Role of water chemistry on estrone removal by nanofiltration with the presence of hydrophobic acids

Hydrophobic acid organic matter (HpoA) extracted from treated effluent has been known to improve the rejection of steroid hormone estrone by reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this study, the effects of solution chemistry (solution pH and ionic strength) on the estrone rejection by NF membrane with the presence of HpoA were systematically investigated. Crossflow nanofiltration experiments show that the presence of HpoA significantly improved estrone rejection at all pH and ionic strength levels investigated. It is consistently shown that the “enhancement effect” of HpoA on estrone rejection at neutral and alkaline pH is attributed to the binding of estrone by HpoA macromolecules via hydrogen bonding between phenolic functional groups in feed solutions, which leads to an increase in molecular weight and appearance of negative charge. The membrane exhibited the best performance in terms of estrone rejection at pH 10.4 (compared to pH 4 and pH 7) as a result of strengthening the electrostatic repulsion between estrone and membrane with the presence of HpoA. At neutral pH level, the ability of HpoA macromolecules to promote estrone rejection became stronger with increasing ionic strength due to their more extended conformation, which created more chances for the association between estrone and HpoA. The important conclusion of this study is that increasing solution pH and salinity can greatly intensify the “enhancement effect” of HpoA. These results can be important for NF application in direct/indirect potable water reuse.     

Effect of metal ion-doping on characteristics and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotubes for removal of humic acid from water

The effect of ion-doping on TiO₂ nanotubes were investigated to obtain the optimal TiO₂ nanotubes for the effective decomposition of humic acids (HA) through O₃/UV/ion-doped TiO₂ process. The experimental results show that changing the calcination temperature, which changed the weight fractions of the anatase phase, the average crystallite sizes, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, and the energy band gap of the catalyst, affected the photocatalytic activity of the catalyst. The ionic radius, valence state, and configuration of the dopant also affected the photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic activities of the catalysts on HA removal increased when Ag⁺, Al³⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, V⁵⁺, and Zn²⁺ were doped into the TiO₂ nanotubes, whereas such activities decreased as a result of Mn²⁺- and Ni²⁺-doping. In the presence of 1.0 at.% Fe³⁺-doped TiO₂ nanotubes calcined at 550°C, the removal efficiency of HA was 80% with a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.158 min⁻¹. Fe³⁺ in TiO₂ could increase the generation of ·OH, which could remove HA. However, Fe³⁺ in water cannot function as a shallow trapping site for electrons or holes.     

高温碱间歇式处理对互花米草厌氧发酵特性的影响

以互花米草为原料,采用中温(35±1)℃批式发酵的方式,考察了NaOH高温碱间歇式处理对互花米草厌氧消化过程的影响.结果表明,互花米草一次发酵至产气停止,单位TS产气量为263mL/g,发酵过程中出现酸化现象, pH值最低为5.17.二次发酵原料为一次发酵后的固体残余物,主要组分为可分解有机物以及一些难分解有机物,过程中未出现酸化现象, pH值经短暂下降后很快稳定在7.5左右,累积产气量在一次发酵的基础上提高了46%.互花米草单位TS产气量为383mL/g.消化液中有机酸乙酸含量最大,丙酸和丁酸含量相当.