Spatial distribution of archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidizers in the littoral buffer zone of a nitrogen-rich lake

The spatial distribution and diversity of archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidizers (AOA and AOB) were evaluated targeting amoA genes in the gradient of a littoral buffer zone which has been identified as a hot spot for N cycling. Here we found high spatial heterogeneity in the nitrification rate and abundance of ammonia oxidizers in the five sampling sites. The bacterial amoA gene was numerically dominant in most of the surface soil but decreased dramatically in deep layers. Higher nitrification potentials were detected in two sites near the land/water interface at 4.4-6.1 μg NO₂^--N/(g dry weight soil·hr), while only 1.0-1.7 μg NO₂^--N/(g dry weight soil·hr) was measured at other sites. The potential nitrification rates were proportional to the amoA gene abundance for AOB, but with no significant correlation with AOA. The NH4 + concentration was the most determinative parameter for the abundance of AOB and potential nitrification rates in this study. Higher richness in the surface layer was found in the analysis of biodiversity. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that most of the bacterial amoA sequences in surface soil were affiliated with the genus of Nitrosopira while the archaeal sequences were almost equally affiliated with Candidatus ‘Nitrososphaera gargensis’ and Candidatus ‘Nitrosocaldus yellowstonii’. The spatial distribution of AOA and AOB indicated that bacteria may play a more important role in nitrification in the littoral buffer zone of a N-rich lake.     

Influence and mechanism of N-(3-oxooxtanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (C8-oxo-HSL) on biofilm behaviors at early stage

N-acyl-homoserines quenching, enzymatic quenching of bacterial quorum sensing, has recently applied to mitigate biofilm in membrane bioreactor. However, the effect of AHLs on the behavior of biofilm formation is still sparse. In this study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm was formed on ultra-filtration membrane under a series of N-(3-oxooxtanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (C₈-oxo-HSL) concentrations. Diffusing C₈-oxo-HSL increased the growth rate of cells on biofilm where the concentration of C₈-oxo-HSL was over 10^-7 g/L. The C₈-oxo-HSL gradient had no observable influence on cell density and extracellular polymeric substances of biofilm with over 10^-7 g/L C₈-oxo-HSL. Surprisingly, 10^-11-10^-8 g/L of C₈-oxo-HSL had no effect on cell growth in liquid culture. The cell analysis demonstrated that the quorum sensing system might enhance the growth of neighboring cells in contact with surfaces into biofilm and may influence the structure and organization of biofilm.     

Cloning and expression of the first gene for biodegrading microcystin LR by Sphingopyxis sp. USTB-05

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a growing environmental problem worldwide in natural waters, the biodegradation is found to be the most efficient method for removing microcystins (MCs) produced by harmful cyanobacteria. Based on the isolation of a promising bacterial strain of Sphingopyxis sp. USTB-05 for biodegrading MCs, we for the first time cloned and expressed a gene USTB-05-A (HM245411) that is responsible for the first step in the biodegradation of microcystin LR (MC-LR) in E. coli DH5αup, with a cloning vector of pGEM-T easy and an expression vector of pGEX-4T-1, respectively. The cell-free extracts (CE) of recombinant E. coli DH5αup containing USTB-05-A had high activity for biodegrading MC-LR. The initial MC-LR concentration of 40 mg/L was completely biodegraded within 1 hr in the presence of CE with a protein concentration of 0.35 mg/mL. Based on an analysis of the liquid chromatogram-mass spectrum (LC-MS), the enzyme encoded by gene USTB-05-A was found to be active in cleaving the target peptide bond between 3-amino-9-methoxy-2,6, 8-trimethyl-10-phenyl-deca-4,6-dienoic acid (Adda) and arginine of MC-LR, and converting cyclic MC-LR to linear MC-LR as a first product that is much less toxic than parent MC-LR, which offered direct evidence for the first step on the pathway of MC-LR biodegradation by Sphingopyxis sp. USTB-05.     

Contamination by persistent toxic substances in surface sediment of urban rivers in Chaohu City, China

The concentration and spatial distribution of persistent toxic substances (PTS) in the river sediment in Chaohu City, China were investigated. A total of nine surface sediments were collected and the selected PTS pollutants including six heavy metals and nineteen polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed. The mean heavy metal concentrations (in mg/kg, dry weight) ranged within 0.18-1.53 (Hg), 50.08-200.18 (Cu), 118.70-313.65 (Zn), 50.77-310.85 (Cr), 37.12-92.72 (Pb) and 13.29-197.24 (As), and Cu, Zn and As have been regarded as the main metal pollutants. The levels of PBDEs (1.2-12.1 ng/g) and BDE-209 (2.4-30.5 ng/g) were at the middle level of the global range. BDE-209 was the predominant congener (67.0%-85.7%), which agrees with the fact that technical deca-BDE mixtures are the dominant PBDE formulation in China. The relative high level of PTS pollutants in the western part of the city is probably owing to the intensive agricultural activities and lack of sewerage system there. The ecological risk assessment with the sediment quality guidelines (SOGs) indicates that the urban river sediments in the city have been heavily contaminated by heavy metals with probable ecotoxicological impacts on freshwater organisms and the main toxic pollutants are Hg and As. The results of current study imply that the city, and perhaps many other small cities in China as well, requires immediate pollution control measures with emphasis on not only conventional organic pollutants but also on PTS such as heavy metals and PBDEs.     

膜生物反应器处理高浓度含酚废水研究

将膜生物反应器(MBR)用于高浓度含酚废水的处理中,探讨了进水中苯酚浓度、水力停留时间和污泥浓度对膜生物反应器处理含酚废水效果的影响。实验结果表明:经过42d驯化后,可以在高浓度含酚废水中正常运行,MBR系统对COD和氨氮的去除率分别可达98%和80.6%。当苯酚浓度为134mg/L时,处理的最佳水力停留时间为3h,最佳污泥浓度(MLSS)为7367mg/L。     

Spatial and temporal variability of agricultural pollutants in an agricultural headwater stream within a multipond system, southeastern China

The spatial and temporal variability of nutrients and suspended solids were investigated for two years in a 1.8 km agricultural headwater stream, located by Chaohu Lake, southeastern China. The stream form was greatly modified by human activities into channelized, pond and estuary shapes. The stream could be divided into 4 channelized reaches(1.3 km), a pond reach(0.15 km) and 3 estuary reaches(0.36 km). It was found that nutrients and TSS concentrations in the stream showed temporal variability, and higher concentrations occurred in months with high precipitation and intensive agricultural activities. And, retention of total nitrogen ( TN ), nitrate ( NO3-N ),ammonium( NH4^ -N) and total suspended solids (TSS) predominantly occurred in the pond reach and estuary reaches with larger width and low current velocity. Pollutants retained in these reaches accounted for more than 50% of those retained in whole stream. The retention mostly happened in the rain-runoff events and it was 7 to 27 times than that in base flow. The results showed that the channelized reach was the most important source for pollutants release under either runoff or base flow, and its release accounted for more than 90% of whole stream release.There was a high spatial variability of nutrients retention in different channelized reaches. The channelized reach directly discharging into the pond did always retain nutrients and TSS under base flow and runoff conditions, whereas the other channelized reaches performed differently in different hydrological conditions. The high spatial and temporal variability of nutrients and TSS in the stream indicated that anthropogenic disturbance of the agricultural headwater stream, such as channelization and excavation, would be expected to decrease the capacity of nutrients retention in the stream.     

Advancing ion-exchange membranes to ion-selective membranes: principles,status, and opportunities

● IEM ion/ion selectivities of charge, valence, & specific ion are critically assessed. ● Ion/molecule selectivities of ion/solvent and ion/uncharged solute are reviewed. ● Approaches to advance the selectivities through sorption and migration are analyzed. ● The permeability-selectivity tradeoff appears to be pervasive. ● Ion/molecule selectivities are comparatively underdeveloped and poorly understood. Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) are utilized in numerous established, emergent, and emerging applications for water, energy, and the environment. This article reviews the five different types of IEM selectivity, namely charge, valence, specific ion, ion/solvent, and ion/uncharged solute selectivities. Technological pathways to advance the selectivities through the sorption and migration mechanisms of transport in IEM are critically analyzed. Because of the underlying principles governing transport, efforts to enhance selectivity by tuning the membrane structural and chemical properties are almost always accompanied by a concomitant decline in permeability of the desired ion. Suppressing the undesired crossover of solvent and neutral species is crucial to realize the practical implementation of several technologies, including bioelectrochemical systems, hypersaline electrodialysis desalination, fuel cells, and redox flow batteries, but the ion/solvent and ion/uncharged solute selectivities are relatively understudied, compared to the ion/ion selectivities. Deepening fundamental understanding of the transport phenomena, specifically the factors underpinning structure-property-performance relationships, will be vital to guide the informed development of more selective IEMs. Innovations in material and membrane design offer opportunities to utilize ion discrimination mechanisms that are radically different from conventional IEMs and potentially depart from the putative permeability-selectivity tradeoff. Advancements in IEM selectivity can contribute to meeting the aqueous separation needs of water, energy, and environmental challenges.     

Factors affecting the distribution of microplastics in soils of China

● Microplastic (MP) abundance in soil of China was highly heterogeneous. ● MP abundance was higher near large rivers and central land affected by monsoons. ● MP abundance was correlated with longitude, mulching film, and average temperature. ● Factors suitable for predicting MP pollution using models were discussed. Microplastics (MPs) are found worldwide in high abundance, posing a potential threat to ecosystems. Despite the ubiquity of MPs in the environment, very little is known about the regional distribution of MPs and underlying factors affecting this distribution in the field, which likely include human activity, but also features of the environment itself. Here, out of a total of 1157 datapoints investigated in 53 Chinese studies, 9.68% datapoints were removed as outliers in the heterogeneity analysis. This review revealed that the abundance of MPs was highly heterogeneous. In addition, microplastic (MP) distribution maps based on China demonstrated that the highest abundance of MPs tended to occur near large rivers and central land affected by the intersection of two monsoons. The model-fitting and previous studies showed that MP abundance in China was correlated with longitude, agricultural mulching film usage per capita, temperature, and precipitation. However, due to the heterogeneity of MPs and the low matching degree between the current environmental data and the sampling points, this pattern was not as evident as reported in any single study. Factors affecting the distribution of MPs can not be captured by linear relationships alone, and systematic selection of suitable environmental factors and further model optimization are needed to explore the cause of MP pollution in soil. Overall, this review revealed an uneven distribution of MPs and serves as a reference for model prediction to assess and control plastic pollution in natural soil environments.     

基于GIS的上海浦东新区暴雨内涝灾害危险性分析

以上海市浦东新区为例,在修正已有的城市高程模型基础上,结合美国水土保持局SCS水文模型、降雨及排水因素,利用GIS栅格空间分析技术模拟了重现期5年、20年、50年、100年、200年、500年6种暴雨内涝灾害情景下的淹没深度和范围,并以街道(镇)为研究单元对上海浦东新区进行了暴雨内涝危险性评价。结果表明:5年一遇,全集中在0～0.2m;20年一遇,全集中在0～0.2m和0.2～0.6m;50年一遇和100年一遇,主要集中于0.2～0.6m,在此区间内淹没面积各占83.7%和70.8%;200年一遇和500年一遇,主要集中在大于0.6m的范围内,在此区间内淹没面积各占60.1%和66.5%。     

登陆台风低压再度发展引发的特大暴雨诊断分析

利用常规资料和NCEP1°×1°的分析场资料,对2008年8号台风"凤凰"减弱的低气压在滁河地区造成的特大暴雨灾害过程进行了较深入的分析。通过对暴雨期间涡度与垂直速度空间结构变化分析得到:暴雨的增幅发生在正涡度发展和上升运动明显增强的过程中,当上升运动开始减弱时,雨强也开始减小。