Hormesis and plant biology

A database has been developed that demonstrates experimental evidence of hormesis. It includes information from a broad range of biological models, including plants, and information on study design, dose-response features, and physical/chemical properties of the agents. An assessment of plant hormetic dose responses is presented based on greater than 3000 plant endpoints. Plant hormetic dose responses were observed for numerous endpoints including disease incidence, reproductive indices, mutagenic endpoints, various metabolic parameters, developmental processes, and a range of growth indicators. Quantitative features of these dose responses typically display a maximum stimulatory response less than two-fold greater than controls and a width of the stimulatory response usually less than 10-fold in dose range. The database establishes that hormetic dose responses commonly occur in plants, are broadly generalizable, and have quantitative features similar to hormetic dose responses found for animals.     

High frequency monitoring of the coastal marine environment using the MAREL buoy

The MAREL Iroise data buoy provides physico-chemical measurements acquired in surface marine water in continuous and autonomous mode. The water is pumped 1.5 m from below the surface through a sampling pipe and flows through the measuring cell located in the floating structure. Technological innovations implemented inside the measuring cell atop the buoy allow a continuous cleaning of the sensor, while injection of chloride ions into the circuit prevents biological fouling. Specific sensors for temperature, salinity, oxygen and fluorescence investigated in this paper have been evaluated to guarantee measurement precision over a 3 month period. A bi-directional link under Internet TCP-IP protocols is used for data, alarms and remote-control transmissions with the land-based data centre. Herein, we present a 29 month record for 4 parameters measured using a MAREL buoy moored in a coastal environment (Iroise Sea, Brest, France). The accuracy of the data provided by the buoy is assessed by comparison with measurements of sea water weekly sampled at the same site as part of SOMLIT (Service d'Observation du Milieu LIToral), the French network for monitoring of the coastal environment. Some particular events (impact of intensive fresh water discharges, dynamics of a fast phytoplankton bloom) are also presented, demonstrating the worth of monitoring a highly variable environment with a high frequency continuous reliable system.     

First fossil evidence of an “interglacial refugium” in the Pyrenean region

A refugium is generally understood as an area where temperate species survive cold periods, such as the Iberian, Italian, or Balkan Peninsulas in Europe. Strictly speaking, this definition refers to what is known as a glacial refugium. However, there are various types of lesser-known refugia such as the interglacial refugium, which denotes a mountainous region at low latitudes, such as the Pyrenees, where species adapted to the cold survive during interstadial periods. The small-vertebrate association from the sequence of Cova Colomera, which is located on the southern face of the Pyrenees and contains the final cold spell of the Late Pleistocene and the beginnings of the temperate period in which we currently find ourselves (the Holocene), could constitute the first fossil evidence of such an interglacial refugium, thus providing new paleoecological data on the phenomenon.     

中国煤中氟的含量及其分布

在全国主要产煤的26个省、市和自治区根据各煤田的地质储量、成煤时期和煤变质程度,兼顾各矿区的煤炭产量,采集305个煤样,用高温热水解-离子选择性电极法测定了全部样品的氟含量.煤中的氟主要以无机形态赋存,氟含量和变质程度之间没有必然的联系.成煤时代等单一因素对氟含量的影响可能为其它各种因素的综合作用所掩盖,对此有必要进行更深入、具体的研究研究了各省、市和自治区的煤氟含量的分布,有必要重新审视、甄别燃煤型氟中毒区氟的来源.全国煤的氟含量服从对数正态分布,90%的样品含氟范围为47～347mg/kg,宜用几何平均值136mg/kg作为全国平均煤氟含量.与世界煤相比,中国煤氟含量并无异常.     

Living within constraints: irreversible chemical build-up and seasonal temperature-mediated die-off in a highly acidic (H2SO4) annual seaweed (Desmarestia viridis)

Seaweeds exhibit a number of adaptations to cope with strong selective pressures imposed by shallow marine environments. The exceptional ability of the annual, brown seaweed Desmarestia viridis, to produce and store high concentrations of sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) in intracellular vacuoles, makes it a particularly compelling model for studies of causes and consequences of acid production in seaweeds. We used two laboratory experiments, as well as measurements of intracellular pH of sporophytes and sea salinity and temperature over an entire growth season at one site in Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada), to test hypotheses about effects of salinity and temperature on acid production and die-off in D. viridis. We show that the acid is continuously and irreversibly accumulated (resulting in an intracellular pH as low as 0.53) as the seaweed grows from recruit to adult (March–June) and that this build-up inevitably culminates into dramatic mass releases of acid and die-offs. Progressive, synchronous death among individuals is under the predominant control of sea temperature (death systematically occurred around 12 °C in both laboratory and field), which suggests the evolution of a life-history strategy in which death occurs at a time when individuals reach a size that may correspond to reproductive maturity. The seaweed exhibits a low tolerance to changes in salinity (death was inevitable below 29 psu), which likely imposes severe limitations on its distribution range throughout its existence as a sporophyte. Our findings suggest that major phenological events and survival in D. viridis are intimately linked to synergistic effects of oceanographic controls, which either impair the ability of the seaweed to retain the acid in its tissues (seasonal sea warming), or contribute to dissipating the acid that is released to the environment (wave and current action). They also provide novel insights into the ecophysiological and evolutionary constraints within which marine organisms adapt.