Solar energy harvesting in the epicuticle of the oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis)

The Oriental hornet worker correlates its digging activity with solar insolation. Solar radiation passes through the epicuticle, which exhibits a grating-like structure, and continues to pass through layers of the exo-endocuticle until it is absorbed by the pigment melanin in the brown-colored cuticle or xanthopterin in the yellow-colored cuticle. The correlation between digging activity and the ability of the cuticle to absorb part of the solar radiation implies that the Oriental hornet may harvest parts of the solar radiation. In this study, we explore this intriguing possibility by analyzing the biophysical properties of the cuticle. We use rigorous coupled wave analysis simulations to show that the cuticle surfaces are structured to reduced reflectance and act as diffraction gratings to trap light and increase the amount absorbed in the cuticle. A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was constructed in order to show the ability of xanthopterin to serve as a light-harvesting molecule.     

A novel marine silk

The discovery of a novel silk production system in a marine amphipod provides insights into the wider potential of natural silks. The tube-building corophioid amphipod Crassicorophium bonellii produces from its legs fibrous, adhesive underwater threads that combine barnacle cement biology with aspects of spider silk thread extrusion spinning. We characterised the filamentous silk as a mixture of mucopolysaccharides and protein deriving from glands representing two distinct types. The carbohydrate and protein silk secretion is dominated by complex β-sheet structures and a high content of charged amino acid residues. The filamentous secretion product exits the gland through a pore near the tip of the secretory leg after having moved through a duct, which subdivides into several small ductules all terminating in a spindle-shaped chamber. This chamber communicates with the exterior and may be considered the silk reservoir and processing/mixing space, in which the silk is mechanically and potentially chemically altered and becomes fibrous. We assert that further study of this probably independently evolved, marine arthropod silk processing and secretion system can provide not only important insights into the more complex arachnid and insect silks but also into crustacean adhesion cements.     

Punctuated evolution of viscid silk in spider orb webs supported by mechanical behavior of wet cribellate silk

The origin of viscid capture silk in orb webs, from cribellate silk-spinning ancestors, is a key innovation correlated with significant diversification of web-building spiders. Ancestral cribellate silk consists of dry nanofibrils surrounding a stiff, axial fiber that adheres to prey through van der Waals interactions, capillary forces, and physical entanglement. In contrast, viscid silk uses chemically adhesive aqueous glue coated onto a highly compliant and extensible flagelliform core silk. The extensibility of the flagelliform fiber accounts for half of the total work of adhesion for viscid silk and is enabled by water in the aqueous coating. Recent cDNA libraries revealed the expression of flagelliform silk proteins in cribellate orb-weaving spiders. We hypothesized that the presence of flagelliform proteins in cribellate silk could have allowed for a gradual shift in mechanical performance of cribellate axial silk, whose effect was masked by the dry nature of its adhesive. We measured supercontraction and mechanical performance of cribellate axial silk, in wet and dry states, for two species of cribellate orb web-weaving spiders to see if water enabled flagelliform silk-like performance. We found that compliance and extensibility of wet cribellate silk increased compared to dry state as expected. However, when compared to other silk types, the response to water was more similar to other web silks, like major and minor ampullate silk, than to viscid silk. These findings support the punctuated evolution of viscid silk mechanical performance.     

Nestmate recognition in social wasps: manipulation of hydrocarbon profiles induces aggression in the European hornet

The influence of individual cuticular hydrocarbons on nestmate recognition in the European hornet, Vespa crabro L., was investigated. We observed the behavioural response of workers towards differently treated dead conspecifics in a bioassay. Dummies were extracted with dichloromethane and extracts were spiked with microgram amounts of synthetic hydrocarbons naturally occurring on the cuticle of V. crabro. These modified extracts were reapplied to extracted workers that were subsequently tested in the bioassay. Non-spiked nestmate dummies (negative control) and untreated non-nestmate dummies (positive control) were tested in control experiments. The addition of only heneicosane or a mixture of heneicosane, tricosane, and (Z)-9-tricosene to the extracts led to a significant increase of agonistic behaviour in workers leaving the nest for foraging flights. Returning workers reacted much less aggressively than those leaving. This is one of the first behavioural proofs that manipulation of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles can be perceived by a social insect species. The results support the hypothesis that colony-specific cuticular hydrocarbon profiles are involved in the phenomenon of nestmate recognition among social insects.     

共生模式治理东北养殖业污染

根据东北地区气候特点,农牧业发展方向、环境污染状况,提出了大棚内养殖、种植、沼气共生模式.     

Spider silk has an ice nucleation activity

Several ice nucleating substances have been identified, which exist in vivo or can be extracted from biological materials. Spider silk, which has a strong ability for water condensation, has also been found to possess an ice nucleation activity. The freezing temperature of water droplets was higher in the presence than in the absence of spider silk. Moreover, by means of environmental scanning electron microscopy, it was observed that the activity is not due to foreign matter attached to the silk but to the silk fibroin itself.     

降解PVA共生菌的分离及PVA降解性能

对降解PVA的共生菌B1、B2在PVA降解过程中的作用及其B1+B2混合菌的PVA降解性能进行研究 .结果表明 ,B1+B2混合菌在PVA降解过程中 ,B1为B2提供生长因子 ,B2产生PVA降解酶 ,是降解者 .在摇瓶试验中 ,B1+B2混合菌在PVA浓度为 0.1、0.5、1g/L时 ,PVA降解效率均达到80%以上 .用生产废水进行试验 ,当温度为 30℃ ,处理 12h后 ,COD_Cr去除率达到70%左右 .     

Organic micro-pollutant removal in liquid-phase using carbonized silk cotton hull

Phenolic compounds constitute one of the major pollutants in the modern world. Although many physical and chemical treatment technologies for their removal exist, most of them are economically not feasible. The present study was aimed at using silk cotton hull, a potent agricultural waste as an adsobent for removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), which was used as a model phenolic compound. The process parameters were investigated and optimized conditions were determined. The equilibrium time was found to ...     

Biodegradability of terephthalic acid in terylene artificial silk printing and dyeing wastewater

As the characteristic pollutant,terephthalic acid(TA)was in charge of 40%-78% of the total COD of terylene artificial silk printing and dyeing wastewater(TPW-water).The studies on biodegradability of TA were conducted in a serial of activated sludge reactors with TPW-water.TA appeared to be readily biodegradable with removal efficiency over 96.5% under aerobic conditions,hardly biodegradable with removal efficiency below 10% under anoxic conditions and slowly biodegradable with a turnover between 31.4% and 56.0% under anaerobic conditions. TA also accounted for the majority of BOD in TPW-water.The process combined by anoxic,anaerobic and aerobic activated sludge reactor was suitable for TA degradation and TPW-water treatment.Further, the aerobic process was essentially much more effective than the anaerobic or anoxic one to degrade TA in TPW-water.     

自主实体共生模式下企业共生的博弈分析

生态工业因是循环经济的一种重要载体,园区企业通过互相利用副产物和废物形成一种共生关系,这种共生关系形成的基础在于企业可以通过合作获得更大的经济利益。但企业共生关系的形成并不是完全的自发市场行为,而是受到各种技术、政策、园区管理等因素的影响。本文据此建立混合策略博弈模型,将以上影响,因素纳入模型分析框架,研究企业共生关系的形成过程,分析这些因素如何对企业共生关系产生的影响。     

中国首个世界农业文化遗产:青田稻鱼共生系统

青田县位于浙江省中南部,瓯江流域的中下游,县域总面积为2493平方公里。全县共辖31个乡镇,总人口48.7万。青田县是中国有名的侨乡,有遍布世界120多个国家和地区的华侨23万多人。青田物产丰富,不仅拥有丰富的动植物资源,而且拥有石雕工艺品的珍贵原料青田石。最为奇特的是,这个面积不大、人口不多的小县1200     

厌氧氨氧化菌与其他细菌之间的协同竞争关系

随着污水脱氮行业的蓬勃发展,各种新工艺、新理论层出不穷.厌氧氨氧化(Anammox)工艺以其独特的优点脱颖而出,成为最具应用前景的新工艺.厌氧氨氧化菌作为该过程的执行者目前已发现5属17种,本文主要对5属17种的厌氧氨氧化菌进行总结,并对厌氧氨氧化菌种内关系中的群体感应系统进行详细介绍,此外还介绍了厌氧氨氧化菌与硝化菌、反硝化菌以及厌氧甲烷氧化菌之间的协同与竞争关系.最后给出常见竞争因素对厌氧氨氧化种群结构的影响,通过控制竞争因素来实现对厌氧氨氧化种群结构的调节.本文将厌氧氨氧化菌微生物生态学与厌氧氨氧化污水处理工艺相结合,为厌氧氨氧化工艺在污水生物处理中的应用提供理论依据.     

水产致病菌耐药基因的研究

采用纸片扩散法(Kirby-Bauer法)研究不同来源的54株水产细菌对10种抗生素的敏感性,筛选获得耐药菌株并研究其耐药基因。根据GenBank中注册的耐药基因序列,针对不同抗生素的耐药基因设计相应的引物,对耐药基因进行扩增,检测耐药菌株中耐药基因的分布。结果由54个受试菌株中检测出42个耐药株,耐药率为77.8%。其中37株对3种以上抗生素产生耐药,多重耐药率为68.5%。以耐药菌株质粒为模板,扩增磺胺类耐药基因sul2、氯霉素耐药基因cat1、cat2、cat3、cat4、卡那霉素耐药基因aadB、喹诺酮耐药基因gyrA,结果显示:sul2基因阳性9株,3株氯霉素cat2阳性,4株氯霉素cat3阳性,1株氯霉素cat4阳性,3株aadB阳性。质粒上耐药基因的检出率分别为50%、27%、36%、9%、60%。