Cloning and expression of RING-finger E3 ubiquitin ligase CsSDIR1 gene in tea plant (Camellia sinensis)北大核心CSCD

Protein ubiquitination regulates many aspects of plant development and stress response. The RING-finger type E3 ubiquitin ligase SDIR1 (salt and drought induced ring finger 1) gene plays a key role in plant stress response. In this study, the full-length cDNA and the promoter sequences of CsSDIR1 were isolated from tea plants using the RT-PCR technology, and its bioinformatics characteristics were systematically analyzed. The expression patterns of CsSDIR1 in various tissues and in response to cold, drought, salt, and ABA treatments were also investigated by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). The sequence of CsSDIR1 contains a complete open reading frame of 831 bp, coding for a 276-long amino acid protein with a molecular weight of (Mr) 30.085 × 103 and a theoretical isoelectric point of 6.54. CsSDIR1 was predicted to be a hydrophobic protein localized on the intracellular membranes. The analysis of the amino acid sequence characteristics showed that CsSDIR1 contains two putative transmembrane domains at the N-terminus and a C3H2C3 RING-finger domain at the C-terminus; it shares high similarity with other plants' SDIR1, and has the closest relationship to Actinidia sinensis. A cis-acting regulatory elements prediction showed that the CsSDIR1 promoter contains many cis-acting elements, especially drought and salt stress response elements. The qRT-PCR analysis indicated that the CsSDIR1 gene has a high expression level in stems, followed by roots, leaves, and flowers; the expression of the CsSDIR1 gene is up-regulated by ABA, salt, and drought treatments, whereas it is down-regulated in response to cold stress. These results demonstrated that the CsSDIR1 gene might be involved in the plant stress response of tea trees. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Isolation,identification, and the degradation characteristics of a BDE-47 degrading strain北大核心CSCD

In an effort to remove BDE-47 residues from the environment, a bacterial strain that is capable of utilizing BDE-47 as the sole carbon source was isolated and screened from soil collected from an e-waste recycling area in Tianjin to analyze the degradation properties. The strain was preliminarily identified as Enterobacter sp. according to a 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. The strain degraded 35.8% of 525 μg/L of BDE-47 in 35 d when the initial concentration of bacteria was 7.1 × 105 cells/ mL. The product of the biodegradation of BDE-47 was BDE-28. The biodegradation of BDE-47 fit well with first-order kinetics, and its degradation kinetics was ln Ct = - 0.104t + 6.22. With the addition of an electron acceptor, such as Fe3+, SO4 2- and NO3 -, the BDE-47 degradation rate was significantly increased to 49.8%, 59.1%, and 67.3%, respectively. The above results revealed that the strain could degrade BDE-47, which is of importance in the application of environmental bioremediation of BDE-47. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Improvement of nitrification efficiency by bioaugmentation in sequencing batch reactors at low temperature

Bioaugmentation is an effective method of treating municipal wastewater with high ammonia concentration in sequencing batch reactors （SBRs） at low temperature （10℃）. The cold-adapted ammonia- and nitrite- oxidizing bacteria were enriched and inoculated, respectively, in the bioaugmentation systems. In synthetic wastewater treatment systems, the average NH4＋-N removal efficiency in the bioaugmented system （85%） was much higher than that in the unbioaugmented system. The effluent NH4＋ -N concentration of the bioaugmented system was stably below 8 mg. L1 after 20 d operation. In municipal wastewater systems with bioaugmentation, the effluent NH4＋- -N concentration was below 8 mg·L^-1 after 15 d operation. The average NH4＋ -N removal efficiency in unbioaugmentation system （about 82%） was lower compared with that in the bioaugmentation system. By inoculating the cold-adapted nitrite-oxidizing bacteria （NOB） into the SBRs after 10 d operation, the nitrite concentration decreased rapidly, reducing the NO2 -N accumulation effectively at low temperature. The func- tional microorganisms were identified by PCR-DGGE, including uncultured Dechloromonas sp., uncultured Nitrospira sp., Clostridium sp. and uncultured Thauera sp. The results suggested that the cold-adapted microbial agent of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria （AOB） and NOB could accelerate the start-up and promote achieving the stable operation of the low-temperature SBRs for nitrification.     

Cloning and expression analysis of geosmin synthase gene from Aphanizomenon gracile北大核心CSCD

Geosmin is a secondary metabolite responsible for earthy odors. The occurrence of geosmin has great impact on the quality of water environment. The gene essential for geosmin biosynthesis have been identified in several species. But little is known about the mechanism of geosmin synthesis in Aphanizomenon gracile. This study attempted to clone the gene involved in geosmin biosynthesis of Aphanizomenon gracile a nd a nalyze t he geosmin production u nder d ifferent e nvironments. T he high-efficiency thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR (hiTAIL-PCR) was used to amplify the full-length of geosmin synthase gene from Aphanizomenon gracile (WH-1). Real time PCR (RT-PCR) was applied to quantify the geosmin production in different light and temperature. As a result, geo, a geosmin synthase gene from Aphanizomenon gracile (WH-1) was cloned by hiTAIL-PCR. The full-length open reading frame (ORF) of geo was 2 262 bp, coding for a protein of 753 amino acids. Meanwhile, WH-1 was treated with different environment conditions and mRNA expression levels of geo were quantified by RT-PCR. It was found that low temperature (15 °C), high light intensity (35 μmol m-2 s-1) and continuous light illumination were beneficial to the expression of geo. The successful amplification of geosmin synthase gene verified that hiTAIL-PCR is an effective and simple procedure of low cost. The result provides fundamental knowledge on the monitoring and prevention for odorants.     

Effects of shear force on formation and properties of anoxic granular sludge in SBR

This paper reports the effects of shear force on anoxic granular sludge in sequencing batch reactors （SBR）. The study was carried out in two SBRs （SBR1 and SBR2） in which sodium acetate （200mg COD·L^-1） was used as the sole substrate and sodium nitrate （40 mgNO3-N·L^-1） was employed as the electron acceptor. The preliminary objective of this study was to cultivate anoxic granules in the SBR in order to investigate the effects of shear force on the formation of anoxic granular sludge and to compare the properties of anoxic sludge in the SBR. This study reports new results for the values of average velocity gradient, a measure of the applied shear force, which was varied in the two SBRs （3.79 s^-1 and 9.76 s^-1 for SBR1 and SBR2 respectively）. The important findings of this research highlight the dual effects of shear force on anoxic granules. A low shear force can produce large anoxic granules with high activity and poor settling ability, whereas higher shear forces produce smaller granules with better settling ability and lower activity. The results of this study show that the anoxic granulation is closely related to the strength of the shear force. For high shear force, this research demonstrated that： 1） granules with smaller diameters, high density and good settling ability were formed in the reactor, and 2） granular sludge formed faster than it did in the low shear force reactor （41days versus 76 days）. Once a steady-state has been achieved, the nitrate and COD removal rates were found to be 98% and 80%, respectively. For low shear force, such as was applied in SBR1, this research demonstrated that： 1） the activity of anoxic granular sludge in low shear force was higher than that in high shear force, 2） higher amount of soluble microbial products （SMPs） were produced, and 3） large pores were observed inside the larger granules,which are beneficial for nitrogen gas diffusion. Electron microscopic examination of the anoxic granules in both reactors showed that the morphology of the granules was ellipsoidal with a clear outline. Coccus and rod-shaped bacteria were wrapped by filamentous bacteria on the surface of granule.     

Removal of non-point pollutants from bridge runoff by a hydrocyclone using natural water head

A hydrocyclone using natural water head provided by bridge was operated for the treatment of stormwater runoff. The hydrocyclone was automatically controlled using electronic valve which is connected to a pressure meter. Normally the hydrocyclone was open during dry days, but it was closed after the capture of the first flush. The results indicated that the average pressure and the flow rate were directly affected by the rainfall intensity. The pressure head was more than 2 m when the rainfall intensity was above 5mm·h^-1. The percentage volume of underflow with high solids concentration decreased as the pressure and flow rate increased, but the percentage volume of overflow with almost no solids showed the opposite behavior. The total suspended solids （TSS） concentration ratio between the overflow and inflow （TSSover/TSSin） decreased as a function of the operational pressure, while the corresponding ratio of underflow to inflow （TSSunaer/TSSi,） increased. The TSS separation efficiency was evaluated based on a mass balance. It ranged from 25% to 99% with the pressure head ranging from 1.4 to 9.7 m, and it was proportional to pressure and flow rate. Normally, the efficiency was more than 50% when the pressure was higher than 2 m. The analysis of the water budget indicated that around 13% of the total runoff was captured by the hydrocyclone as a first flush, and this runoff was separated as underflow and overflow with the respective percentage volumes of 29% and 71%. The pollutants budget was also examined based on a mass balance. The results showed that the percentage of TSS, chemical oxygen demand （COD）, total nitrogen （TN）, and total phosphorus （TP） in underflow were 73%, 59%, 7.6%, and 49%, respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that the hydrocyclone worked well. It separated the first flush as solids-concentrated underflow and solids-absent overflow, and effectively reduced the runoff volume needing further treatment. Finally, four types of optional post treatment design are presented and compared.     

N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor for biological N and P removal from wastewater

Nitrous oxide （N2O） is a greenhouse gas that can be released during biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor （SBR） for biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater was investigated, and the aims were to examine which process, nitrification or denitrification, would contribute more to N2Oemission and to study the effects of heterotrophic activities on N2O emission during nitrification. The results showed that N2O emission was mainly attributed to nitrification rather than to denitrification. N2O emission during denitrification mainly occurred with stored organic carbon as the electron donor. During nitrification, NaO emission was increased with increasing initial ammonium or nitrite concentrations. The ratio of N2O emission to the removed ammonium nitrogen （N2O- N/NH4-N） was 2.5% in the SBR system with high heterotrophic activities, while this ratio was in the range from 0.14% to 1.06% in batch nitrification experiments with limited heterotrophic activities.     

Microbial fuel cell with three-dimensional electrodes for domestic wastewater treatment and electricity generation北大核心CSCD

A single chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) with three-dimensional electrodes packed bed carbon felts was developed to treat domestic wastewater while simultaneously generating electricity. The influence of batch and continuous operation mode on treatment effectiveness and electricity production of the MFC was investigated to provide a reference for the application of the MFC. The MFC with a total working volume of 1 440 mL was operated in the fed-batch mode for 5 d repeatedly three times, and then shifted to the continuous mode. During the testing of the continuous mode, wastewater was continuously pumped into the anode compartment at a flow rate of approximately 0.2 mL/min, resulting in a hydraulic retention time of 5 d. During the batch test, the MFC obtained 91.1% chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 98.2% NH4 +-N removal, which accorded with the first criteria specified in the discharge standard of pollutants for municipal wastewater treatment plants in China (GB18918-2002). A maximum power density of 27.88 mW/m3 was achieved at a 51 Ω external resistor. During the continuous test, the COD removal efficiencies ranged from 83.2% to 97.4%. The concentration of NH4 +-N gradually decreased within 5 d and was then maintained below 9.45 mg/L, thus an enhanced removal performance of NH4 +-N was acquired. However, a low removal efficiency of total nitrogen was observed owing to the accumulation of NO3 --N in the effluent since day 11. Additionally, the MFC continually generated electricity with a maximum power density of 582.5 mW/m3 and average output voltage of 0.087 7 V during the stable period in the continuous operation mode. Moreover, 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing showed that Thauera sp., Saprospiraceae-UN sp., and OPB56-UN sp. were identified as dominant populations. The results suggested that the organic matter associated with power generation was constantly utilized by the microorganisms in the reactor, which caused an excellent electricity generation performance during the continuous test. Therefore, the continuous operation mode could improve the low output voltage phenomenon in the MFC. Thauera sp., as a type of nitrate-reducing bacteria, was enriched in the autotrophic denitrifying microbial communities; therefore, bio-enrichment with denitrifying bacteria such as Thauera sp. could decrease the concentration of NO3 --N in the effluent during the continuous operation mode, which is expected to be an innovation for improvement of wastewater treatment. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Phase transition behavior of elastin-like polypeptides oligomerized with the Foldon domain北大核心CSCD

To investigate the underlying mechanism of the unique phase transition behavior of SpyCatcher-ELPs40 (C-E) and the influence of the oligomerization domain on the phase transition of C-E, we constructed a non-covalent three-armed star oligomerization of C-E-F and E-F by fusing the Foldon (F) domain with SpyCatcher-ELPs40 (C-E) and ELPs40 (E). Results showed that the phase transition temperature of ELPs40 fused with Foldon was higher than that of ELPs120, whereas it was lower than those of ELPs40 and the SpyTag/SpyCatcher-mediated covalent three-armed elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs). This proved that the topology of ELPs could affect their phase transition behaviors. The phase transition temperature of C-E-F was 28.8 ℃ and 35.6 ℃ higher than those of C-E and ELPs40, respectively, although C-E-F had a similar sequence with C-E and ELPs40. When the concentration of NaCl was 0.8 mol/L, the differences in the phase transition temperatures were 41.2 ℃ and 47.1, respectively. We could only observe the phase transition of C-E-F in the Na2CO3 solution with high concentration (≥ 0.7 mol/ L); however, the phase transition could be clearly detected in the Na2SO4 solution, even when the concentration of Na2SO4 was very low. This result was obviously inconsistent with the Hofmeister series. This is the first report of non-linear ELPs that has shown this unique phase transition behavior. The possible reason was related to the charges distributed on the solvent accessible surface and the oligomeric state of C-E-F triggered by the Foldon domain. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of Squaliobarbus curriculus from the Pearl River based on mitochondrial D-loop sequences北大核心CSCD

Squaliobarbus curriculus is one of the most economically important edible freshwater fish in the Pearl River. To assess the level of genetic diversity and genetic variation of S. curriculus populations w ithin t he Pearl R iver, samples were collected from six geographical populations from six drainages. 978 base pairs of the D-loop sequence were obtained as a molecular marker. 106 haplotypes were defined among 170 S. curriculus individuals. Populations of S. curriculus in the Pearl River displayed a high haplotypic diversity index (h = 0.9820) and high nucleotide diversity index (π = 0.01353). T he results of genetic distance and genetic differentiation index show that genetic differentiation among S. curriculus populations is not significant. The neighbor-joining tree shows two clades. Clade A is composed of most haplotypes of S. curriculus. Clade B includes two private haplotypes from the Xijiang River. Haplotype network analysis is consistent with the results of genetic distance and genetic differentiation. The results of AMOVA analysis showed that most variation was found within populations (99.36%). Neutral test analysis explained that there was population expansion in the history of S. curriculus in the Pearl River. Xijiang River could be the center of origin, as supported by all the results. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Production of N2O in two biologic nitrogen removal processes: a comparison between conventional and short-cut nitrogen removal processes

The N2O production in two nitrogen removal processes treating domestic wastewater was investigated in laboratory-scale aerobic-anoxic sequencing batch reactors （SBRs）. Results showed that N2O emission happened in the aerobic phase rather than in the anoxic phase. During the aerobic phase, the nitrogen conversion to N2O gas was 27.7% and 36.8% of NH＋-N loss for conventional biologic N-removal process and short-cut biologic N-removal process. The dissolved N2O was reduced to N2 in the anoxic denitrification phase. The N2O production rate increased with the increasing of nitrite concentration and ceased when NH＋-N oxidation was terminated. Higher nitrite accumulation resulted in higher NEO emission in the short-cut nitrogen removal process. Pulse-wise addition of 20 mg NO2 -N. L- 1 gave rise to 3-fold of N2O emission in the conventional N-removal process, while little change happened with 20 mg NOS-N L-1 was added to SBR1.     

The physiological response and iron and potassium contents in the hairy roots of Brassica rape L. Under cadmium stress北大核心CSCD

The experiments were conducted to investigate the tolerance and enrichment capabilities by elucidating the physiological response and cadmium impact on iron and potassium accumulation amounts of brassica rape hairy roots under different cadmium concentrations by using liquid suspension culture method. The results showed the following. (1) The growth of hairy roots was not significantly different under low cadmium concentrations (below 100 μmol/L), whereas it was obviously inhibited under high cadmium concentrations (more than 100 μmol/L). Further, the maximum fresh weight of brassica rape hairy roots reached 4.34 g under 25 μmol/L cadmium stress after 7 days. (2) The content of ROS in brassica rape hairy roots increased with increasing concentrations of cadmium; the antioxidant enzyme activities of brassica rape hairy roots (SOD, POD, and CAT) decreased first and then increased with increasing cadmium concentrations under 1-day stress, whereas showed an opposite trend under 7-day stress. (3) PI staining and MDA content indicated that cellular damage was more serious with increasing cadmium concentrations. (4) With the increase of cadmium concentrations, cadmium content of hairy roots increased and reached maximum of 2.97 mg/g under 400 μmol/L cadmium stress after 7 days. The iron content also increased significantly with the maximal weight of 14.52 mg/g after 1-day cadmium stress, whereas no significant difference was noted under 7-day cadmium stress. The potassium content under 7-day cadmium stress was 1.6 times of that after 1-day stress (15.73 mg/g). The study showed that the physiological response of Brassica rape hairy roots was correlated with the concentration and time of cadmium stress. Moreover, cadmium stress caused metabolic disorders of iron and potassium in the hairy roots, but the hairy roots of Brassica rape had better enrichment effect on cadmium. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Adsorption of benzene and toluene from waste gas using activated carbon activated by ZnCl2

A series of activated carbons with high surface area were prepared from walnut shell using chemical activation with ZnCl2. In this research the carbonization stage was carried out at 500℃. The performance of the synthesized carbons evaluated in adsorption of benzene and toluene from waste gas. The influence of impregnation ratio on the characteristics of synthesized activated carbons as well as their adsorption capacity was investigated. The ratio of activation agent to walnut shell was selected in the range of 0.5-2.0 wt/wt. The synthesized activated carbons were characterized using XRD, SEM, BET and FTIR techniques. The highest activated carbon production yield was obtained at impregnation ratio of 1.5 wt/wt. The XRD analysis illustrated that peaks intensity decreased with increasing impregnation ratio showing that amorphous property of samples was increased. The SEM analysis revealed successful pore development in synthesized activated carbons obtained at high impregnation ratios. The surface area of the activated carbons increased with increasing impregnation ratio and its maximum value reached 2643 m2.g 1 at impregnation ratio of 2/1. FTIR analysis indicated that the relative amount of different acidic surface groups on synthesized carbons was a function of impregnation ratio. Experimental results for benzene and toluene adsorption showed a high potential of employing synthesized impregnated activated carbon for treatment of waste gas. Generally, the amount of VOC adsorbed on the surface was affected by physicochemical properties of synthesized activated carbons.     

Isolation,identification, culture conditions,and laccase production of white rot fungus北大核心CSCD

The white rot fungi are members of Basidiomycota, which can degrade lignin and form white rot. They are high producers of extracellular laccases. In the present study, pure culture strain of high-temperature and high-laccase production types (numbered as BUA-01) was isolated from the fruiting bodies of a white rot fungus collected in the campus of Beijing University of Agriculture. The taxonomic characteristic was determined based on morphological and ITS sequence analysis. Furthermore, the optimal culture conditions for the mycelia were determined, including carbon source, nitrogen source, C/N ratio, growth factors, temperature, and pH. Extracellular laccase production was investigated in liquid fermentation with different concentrations of Cu (CuSO4) as inducer. Decolorizing activity of the fermentation broth was assayed using three azo dyes: Evans blue, methyl orange, and eriochrome black T. The results showed that the strain possessed the highest homology toward Trametes hirsuta, with the homology ratio of 100% and the genetic distance of 0, suggesting that the strain BUA-01 belonged to the genus Trametes. The culture condition investigated revealed that the optimal condition for mycelia growth included the following: carbon source, starch; nitrogen source, soybean powder and yeast extract; C/N ratio, 40/1 and 10/1; temperature, 37 °C; and pH, 6.0-7.0. The assayed growth factors had no significant effect on mycelial growth. It demonstrated high laccase activity in liquid fermentation. The highest extracellular laccase activity of 1 081.33 ± 6.3 U/mL was observed in the broth with a Cu adjunction concentration of 0.25 mmol/L after a 96-h culture period. It was about 26-fold higher than that of the control group. The isolated strain exhibited significant decolorizing activity toward the azo dyes Evans blue, methyl orange, and eriochrome black T, with the decolorization rate at 12 h of 93.31% ± 0.16%, 92.37% ± 0.42%, 79.25% ± 0.64%, respectively. This suggests that the strain possesses potential applications in laccase production and dye degradation. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Comparative study on the efficiency and environmental impact of two methods of utilizing polyvinyl chloride waste based on life cycle assessments

Two processes of utilizing polyvinyl chloride （PVC） waste, an incineration process and a vacuum pyrolysis process, for energy conversion were compared to determine their efficiency and environmental perfor- mance. We carried out a life cycle assessment with each of the two processes to evaluate their environmental impact and defined the goals and limits of our remit. As well, we established an inventory of PVC waste from incineration and vacuum pyrolysis based on process analysis, data collection and calculations. The results show that electrical power output per unit mass of PVC waste in the incineration process was twice as high as that of the vacuum pyrolysis process. Incineration had a larger total environmental impact potential than vacuum pyrolysis. The total environmental impact potential of PVC waste from incineration was three times higher than that from vacuum pyrolysis. Incineration of PVC disposed 300 ng. 100 kgI of dioxins and vacuum pyrolysis 98.19 ng- 100 kgI of dioxins. As well, we analyzed the data for their uncertainty with results quantified in terms of three uncertainties： basic uncertainty, additional uncertainty, and computational uncertainty. The coefficients of variation of the data were less than 25% and the quality of the inventory data was acceptable with low uncertainty. Both PVC waste disposal processes were of similar quality and their results comparable. The results of our life cycle impact assessment （LCIA） showed considerable reliability of our methodology. Overall, the vacuum pyrolysis process has a number advantages and greater potential for development of PVC disposal than the incineration process.     

Identification and ranking of the risky organic contaminants in the source water of the Danjiangkou reservoir

The Danjiangkou reservoir was selected to provide the source water for the middle routes of the South to North Water Transfer Project, which has provoked many environmental concerns. To date, investigations of water contamination of the source water of the Danjiangkou reservoir with organic micro-pollutants have been limited. This study was conducted to identify and rank organic contaminants that pose risks in the Danjiangkou reservoir. To this end, the Chemical Hazard Evaluation and Manage- ment Strategies （CHEMS-1） approach was adapted to integrate the deconvolution technology of qualitative identifying contaminants for site-specific environmental matrices. The samples were screened for the presence of 1093 contaminants using deconvolution technologies and the hazard values of the identified contaminants were calculated using the adapted CHEMS-1 approach accord- ing to their hazardous properties and occurrence in source water. The results showed that 46 contaminants from 1093 targets were present in Danjiangkou water, 23 of which appeared at frequencies higher than 50%, and 15 of which were identified as priorities. Over half （53%） of the high- ranked contaminants were polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- bons （PAHs）, with chrysene ranked highest on the list. Health risk assessment of the top-ranked PAHs was conducted and revealed that cancer risks of PAHs detected in the source water of Danjiangkou to different populations ranged from 10-7 to 104, indicating a low cancer risk to consumers. The results of this study indicated that the adapted CHEMS-1 approach was feasible for site-specific screening of organic contaminants to identify and rank potential priority pollutants.