Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from cyanobacterial mats: characterisation and isolation method optimisation

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play an important role in bacterial mat formation and sediment stabilisation of coastal zones. The analysis of these secretion products on a molecular level is a prerequisite to understand their formation mechanisms and ecological function in microbial consortia. The present study focuses on the optimisation of EPS isolation and characterisation from cohesive cyanobacterial mats. Extracted EPS were analysed for quantity, content of total organic carbon and nitrogen, and bulk contents of neutral sugars, uronic acids, and proteins. These criteria are strongly influenced by the extraction conditions applied and therefore, the effects of different extraction media (NaCl or artificial seawater), addition of EDTA, centrifugal force, and purification via repeated ethanol precipitation on extraction success were determined. From this an optimised extraction procedure for EPS resulted. When using fresh mat samples, the yield of EPS amounted to 3.3 ± 0.8 mg g⁻¹ mat (dw). The isolated EPS were composed of nearly equal amounts of proteins and uronic acids (12.7 ± 1.5 and 11.8 ± 1.1%, respectively) and the bulk content of neutral sugars was 30.5 ± 2.6%. High contents of TOC and TN indicated relatively pure EPS and only a low contribution of inorganic compounds. Furthermore, low contents of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate and the small protein/polysaccharide-ratio in the EPS extracted by our method, signified low contaminations by intracellular polymers and hence a low rupture of cells. Our method provides an useful tool to evaluate further investigations of the composition, characteristics and properties of EPS on a sound basis.     

Wheat yield functions for analysis of land-use change in China

CERES-Wheat, a dynamic process crop growth model, is specified and validated for eight sites in the major wheat-growing regions of China. Crop model results are then used to test the Mitscherlich-Baule and the quadratic functional forms for yield response to nitrogen fertilizer, irrigation water, temperature, and precipitation. The resulting functions are designed to be used in a linked biophysical-economic model of land-use and land-cover change in China. While both functions predict yield responses adequately, the Mitscherlich-Baule function is preferable to the quadratic function because its parameters are biologically and physically realistic. Variables explaining a significant proportion of simulated yield variance are nitrogen, irrigation water, and precipitation; temperature was a less significant component of yield variation within the range of observed year-to-year variability at the study sites. Crop model simulations with a generic soil with median characteristics of the eight sites compared to simulations with site-specific soils showed that agricultural soils in China have similar and, in general, low-to-moderate water-holding capacities and organic matter contents. The validated crop model is useful for simulating the range of conditions under which wheat is grown in China, and provides the means to estimate production functions when experimental field data are not available.     

Task selection by workers of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

The effects of worker size, age, and crop fullness on the flow of food into the colony were assessed using video recording and playback. Regardless of the level of colony satiation, small workers seldom had full crops and were more involved in larval grooming than in food traffic. Large workers played little role in larval care, but tended to be recruited easily to a food source and to store food in their crops. Medium workers had crops ranging from empty to full because they alternated between ingesting from and donating food to other colony members. Medium workers were the most versatile, engaging competently in food recruitment, larval grooming, and larval feeding. They displayed considerable variation in the frequency at which they fed larvae: some fed a few larvae before switching to other tasks, others fed over a hundred larvae before switching. The persistence, or lack thereof, of a worker's feeding response suggests a flexibility unaccounted for by the fixed-threshold-response hypothesis. Worker coverage of the brood pile was a dynamic equilibrium process unaffected by worker size, age, or crop fullness, or by differences in the nutritional or hygienic states of larvae. In summary, it appeared that worker size and age offered coarse regulation of task selection by workers, whereas crop fullness, flexible response, and task switching fine-tuned task selection. Received: 25 May 1998 / Accepted after revision: 20 August 1998     

The Microscopic Identification of Atmospheric Particulates

Lime has become the world’s leading reagent for use in the treatment of both water and air pollution and, after sulfuric acid, is the No. 2 basic chemical in commercial use. As a result, the production capacities of the manufacturing plants are being rapidly expanded to meet the increasing demand for liming materials. This paper describes the achievements of the lime industry in developing methods of handling and controlling the various finely divided products which they produce. An extensive survey provides useful data on the availability and performance of many of the control devices that are currently in use, and an analysis is made of the operating efficiencies and costs of this equipment. The environmental control programs which are currently underway in this industry are described and an evaluation is made of these programs. The ultimate goals that are believed to be attainable are presented from the standpoint of emission control from individual processes as well as from operating plant complexes. While the paper deals primarily with practical operating and engineering aspects of the subject, some information is also included on methods of tests and the monitoring systems that are in use.     

Does nitrogen deposition increase forest production? The role of phosphorus

Effects of elevated N deposition on forest aboveground biomass were evaluated using long-term data from N addition experiments and from forest observation plots in Switzerland. N addition experiments with saplings were established both on calcareous and on acidic soils, in 3 plots with Fagus sylvatica and in 4 plots with Picea abies. The treatments were conducted during 15 years and consisted of additions of dry NH₄NO₃ at rates of 0, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. The same tree species were observed in permanent forest observation plots covering the time span between 1984 and 2007, at modeled N deposition rates of 12-46 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Experimental N addition resulted in either no change or in a decreased shoot growth and in a reduced phosphorus concentration in the foliage in all experimental plots. In the forest, a decrease of foliar P concentration was observed between 1984 and 2007, resulting in insufficient concentrations in 71% and 67% of the Fagus and Picea plots, respectively, and in an increasing N:P ratio in Fagus. Stem increment decreased during the observation period even if corrected for age. Forest observations suggest an increasing P limitation in Swiss forests especially in Fagus which is accompanied by a growth decrease whereas the N addition experiments support the hypothesis that elevated N deposition is an important cause for this development.     

12th EuCheMS International Conference on Chemistry and the Environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -