Fatty acids composition of Caenorhabditis elegans using accurate mass GCMS-QTOF

The free living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a proven model organism for lipid metabolism research. Total lipids of C. elegans were extracted using chloroform and methanol in 2:1 ratio (v/v). Fatty acids composition of the extracted total lipids was converted to their corresponding fatty acids methyl esters (FAMEs) and analyzed by gas chromatography/accurate mass quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry using both electron ionization and chemical ionization techniques. Twenty-eight fatty acids consisting of 12 to 22 carbon atoms were identified, 65% of them were unsaturated. Fatty acids containing 12 to17 carbons were mostly saturated with stearic acid (18:0) as the major constituent. Several branched-chain fatty acids were identified. Methyl-14-methylhexadecanoate (iso- 17:0) was the major identified branched fatty acid. This is the first report to detect the intact molecular parent ions of the identified fatty acids in C. elegans using chemical ionization compared to electron ionization which produced fragmentations of the FAMEs.     

Diversity of Soil Nematodes in Areas Polluted with Heavy Metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Lanzhou,China

This study investigated the soil nematode community structure along the Yellow River in the Lanzhou area of China, and analyzed the impact of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, and Zn) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the nematode community. Soil samples from five locations (named A–E), which were chosen for soil analysis, showed significant differences in their heavy metal content (p < 0.01), as well as in the variety of nematodes (up to 41 genera) and families (up to 20) that were present. The different samples also differed significantly in the total PAH content (p < 0.05), as well as the six types of PAH present. Sites A–C showed the most severe contamination with heavy metals and PAHs; these sites had the lowest abundance of fungivores and omnivore/predators, but the proportion of bacteriovores was the highest (p < 0.05). Site E, in contrast, showed only minor pollution with heavy metals and PAHs, and it contained the highest abundance of plant parasites (p < 0.05). Several nematode ecological indicators were found to correlate with concentration of soil pollutants at all the sites tested: the maturity index (MI, in addition to plant parasites), plant parasite index (PPI), ΣMI (including all the soil nematodes), Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′′), and Wasilewska index (WI). Disturbance to the soil environment was more severe when MI, ΣMI, and H′ values were lower. The results of the study show that the abundance and structure of the soil nematode communities in the sampling locations were strongly influenced by levels of heavy metals and PAHs in the soil. They also show that the diversity index H′ and the maturity index can be valuable tools for assessing the impact of pollutants on nematodes.     

Geographic shifts in the highland cooking banana (Musa spp., group AAA-EA) production in Uganda

Summary

Between 1970 and 1990 Uganda witnessed the decline of the highland cooking banana from traditional growing areas in the central region, coupled with crop expansion in the country's southwest. Apprehension that the factors leading to loss of sustainability in the central region may be replayed in extant production areas has raised concern about the future of the cooking banana in Uganda. Consequently, a multi-disciplinary study was conducted at nine central and six southwestern sites to document shifts in cooking banana production and to elucidate the causes behind these shifts.

Cooking banana production in central Uganda sites fell from 18% of total food crop and 7% of total cash crop production in the 1970s to 4% and 2%, respectively, in the 1990s. Farmers identified reduced labour availability and management, increasing pest pressure and declining soil nutrient status as the major causes of decline. On-farm verification confirmed farmers' observations: weevil levels were the highest yet found in Uganda, while foliar samples indicated deficiencies in magnesium, nitrogen, and potassium. Soil nutrient deficiencies, however, appear to be a direct outcome ofreduced management rather than ‘soil exhaustion’ as postulated by farmers.

In southwestern Uganda, the importance of the cooking banana as a cash crop has quadrupled since 1970. Banana first penetrated the region because of its ease of production and stability of yield. High yields attracted traders and urban market demand drove further crop expansion. With current market incentives, banana management standards have been high. Under current levels of management, it is unlikely that farmers in southwestern Uganda will experience a similar process of decline as that which occurred in the central region. However, concern remains aboqt lack of replenishment of nutrients leaving the farm in the form of fruits sold for market, a nutrient loss which may eventually lead to non-sustainability of the cropping system.     

胜利油田油井开采时间对土壤线虫群落的影响

选择胜利油田不同开采时间的油井,研究石油开采对土壤线虫的影响.试验共鉴定出土壤线虫18科39属,其中食细菌线虫23属、食真菌线虫2属、植物寄生线虫9属、杂食/捕食线虫5属.食细菌类线虫数量所占比例最大,达56.36%,其次为食植物类、杂食/捕食类和食真菌类线虫.优势类群为盆咽属(Panagrolaimus)、头叶属(Cephalobus)、真头叶属(Eucephalobus).石油开采时间影响土壤线虫数量与植食性线虫数量,同时还影响线虫群落植物寄生线虫成熟指数(PPI),与开采时间显著相关的线虫有13个属.受石油开采干扰土壤的线虫主要是c-p 1和c-p 2类群.油井开采时间与土壤中w(总石油烃)的相关性不显著,土壤中w(总石油烃)影响线虫成熟指数(MI),而盘旋属(Rotylenchus)数量受石油烃影响较大.      

Effects of soil nematodes communities on litter decomposition in urban forest of Dalian北大核心CSCD

In order to further expound the effect of soil nematodes on litter decomposition in urban forest, this study investigated the responses of soil nematodes communities to litter decomposition by litterbags technology at different mesh sizes in Dalian National Forest Park. Soil nematodes community composition, decomposition rate of litter and nutrient release were also analyzed. It found a total of 4 418 nematodes from 39 genera. Higher relative density of soil nematodes was found in the bags with 0.1 mm mesh size (1.55 individuals and 7.34 orders per g of dry litter) compared to the bags with 0.02 mm mesh size (0.21 individuals and 0.49 orders per g of dry litter). There were very few soil nematodes in the 0.02 mm litter bags. Thus we regarded that soil nematodes only affected the 0.1 mm litter bags. The mass loss rates as well as C and P release rates was higher in litter bags with 0.1 mm mesh size than in those with 0.02 mm mesh size, indicating a significant influence of soil nematodes on mass loss and nutrient release. The contribution of soil nematodes to the litter mass loss was about 24%. The effect of soil nematodes on the nutrient release rates differed among elements. The soil nematodes had a bigger influence on the release rate of N than that of other elements, whereas the influence on K release rate was the lowest. The results showed that soil nematodes communities has a significant effect on the litter decomposition and nutrient release of the forest litter in Dalian city, especially promoting the mass loss rates and N release rates.     

Consistency of effects of tropical‐forest disturbance on species composition and richness relative to use of indicator taxa

Lawton et al. (1998) found, in a highly cited study, that the species richness of 8 taxa each responds differently to anthropogenic disturbance in Cameroon forests. Recent developments in conservation science suggest that net number of species is an insensitive measure of change and that understanding which species are affected by disturbance is more important. It is also recognized that all disturbance types are not equal in their effect on species and that grouping species according to function rather than taxonomy is more informative of responses of biodiversity to change. In a reanalysis of most of the original Cameroon data set (canopy and ground ants, termites, canopy beetles, nematodes, and butterflies), we focused on changes in species and functional composition rather than richness and used a more inclusive measure of forest disturbance based on 4 component drivers of change: years since disturbance, tree cover, soil compaction, and degree of tree removal. Effects of disturbance on compositional change were largely concordant between taxa. Contrary to Lawton et al.’s findings, species richness for most groups did not decline with disturbance level, providing support for the view that trends in species richness at local scales do not reflect the resilience of ecosystems to disturbance. Disturbance affected species composition more strongly than species richness for butterflies, canopy beetles, and litter ants. For these groups, disturbance caused species replacements rather than just species loss. Only termites showed effects of disturbance on species richness but not composition, indicating species loss without replacement. Although disturbance generally caused changes in composition, the strength of this relationship depended on the disturbance driver. Butterflies, litter ants, and nematodes were correlated with amount of tree cover, canopy beetles were most strongly correlated with time since disturbance, and termites were most strongly correlated with degree of soil disturbance. There were moderately divergent responses to disturbance between functional feeding groups. Disturbance was most strongly correlated with compositional differences of herbivores within beetles and nematodes and humus feeders within termites. Our results suggest that consideration of the impact of different forms of disturbance on species and functional composition, rather than on net numbers of species, is important when assessing the impacts of disturbance on biodiversity.     

Effect of heavy metals on soil nematode communities in the vicinity of a metallurgical factory

The influence of Cu and Zn on soil nematode communities was examined along a pollution gradient with increasing distance from a metallurgical factory. Total and available heavy metal contents were used to study the effects of heavy metals on nematode abundance, trophic groups and ecological indices. The results demonstrated significant correlations between the number of total nematodes, bacterivores, plant-parasites and the total and available heavy metals. Bacterivores and plant-parasites were the dominant trophic groups. Significant differences in different sampling sites were found only in the number of bacterivores（P〈0.01）. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index（W）, trophic diversity index（TD）, evenness index（J＇） and dominance index（λ） were found to be sensitive to soil pH and C/N ratios. Significant correlations were found between the total nematodes （TNEM）, some genera （A crobeloides, Aphelenchoides, Cephalobus, Ditylenchus, Mesorhabditis, Tetylenchus and Tylenchus） and distance from the factory.     

Biopesticides: Has their time come?

Abstract

The increased tempo of developments in biopesticides is closely related to the growing awareness and emphasis on integrated pest management (IPM) and sustainable agriculture. Several economic forecasting sources predict a growth rate for the biopesticide industry at 10 to 15% per annum over the next 10 years in contrast to a 1 to 2% growth rate for synthetic chemical pesticides.

The greatest opportunity for biopesticides is in the insect pest management arena. This paper discusses several types of bioinsecticides that may have significant economic impact in the coming years.     

海州露天煤矿区土壤线虫的群落特征

2010年7月—8月间对海州露天煤矿区的采场、排土场、排矸场不同年龄梯田层以及矿区农田、村庄周围土壤线虫群落特征进行研究。研究结果表明：露天煤矿区土壤线虫群落中,植物寄生类群线虫数量占主导优势（77.8%）,其次是食细菌类群（16.64%）、食真菌类群（5.80%）,捕食/杂食类群数量最少（0.39%）,排土场（除覆盖表土层）、排矸场土壤线虫数量随着梯田年限增加而增高;捕食/杂食类在远郊山坡最高（每kg干土67条）,排土场与排矸场混排岩土中、农田、村庄周围土壤中没有发现敏感的捕食/杂食类线虫;线虫成熟指数在排土场稳定土壤环境中较高,在严重干扰地如农田、年轻梯田中很低。土壤线虫群落特征的研究为露天煤矿区土壤生态系统稳定性、土壤生物评价实践提供科学依据。     

Multi-biological defects caused by lead exposure exhibit transferable properties from exposed parents to their progeny in Caenorhabditis elegans

Whether the multi-biological toxicity from lead exposure could be transferred to progeny has not been clarified.In the present study,we explored the Caenorhabditis elegans to analyze the multiple toxicities from lead exposure and their possibly transferable properties.The lead exposure could cause series of severe multi-biological defects with a concentration-dependent manner by affecting the endpoints of life span,development,reproduction and locomotion behaviors in nematodes.Moreover,most of these toxicities could be transferred to progeny from lead exposed animals and some of the defects in progeny appeared even more severe than in their parents,such as the body sizes and mean life spans.We summarized the defects caused by lead exposure into three groups according to their transferable properties or rescue patterns.That is,the defects caused by lead exposure could be largely,or partially,or became even more severe in progeny animals.Therefore,our results suggest that lead exposure can cause severely multi-biological defects,and most of these multiple toxicities can be considered as transferable for exposed animals in C.elegans.