Effects of cadmium on the photosynthetic activity in mature and young leaves of soybean plants

Cadmium (Cd) is a widely spread pollutant and can be easily taken up by crop from soil, resulting in a serious health issue for humans. The objective of this study was to comparatively investigate the photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll a fluorescence, chlorophyll contents, and spectral reflectance in mature and young leaves of soybean plants after being treated with different concentrations of Cd for 10 days. The photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll contents, actual photochemical efficiency of PSII, and photochemical quenching in the young leaves decreased more significantly with increasing concentrations of Cd in the nutrient solution, compared with those in the mature leaves, though the young leaves had less Cd concentrations. Thus, there was more excessive excited energy produced in the young leaves than that in the mature leaves. In the young leaves, due to more excessive excited energy, more reactive oxygen species may be generated, which further damaged the photosynthetic apparatus. It was supported by the fact that the decrease of reflectance in near-infrared wavelengths of the young leaves was more noticeable than that of the mature leaves. In addition, the chlorophyll a fluorescence transients of the young leaves was significantly different from that in the mature leaves, indicating that the electron transport of young leaves were inhibited much more severely than that of the mature leaves. These observations imply that the responses of photosynthetic activity of soybean leaves to Cd stress depend on their growth stage, and the Cd-induced inhibition of photosynthetic activity might be attributed to the decrease in chlorophyll contents and the decrease in mesophyll CO₂ assimilation ability cause by the Cd, which further decreased the consumption of ATP and NADPH, leading to accumulation of NADPH on the acceptor sides of the PSI, and then feedback inhibited electron transport in chloroplasts.     

Biodegradation of methyl red by Bacillus sp. strain UN2: decolorization capacity,metabolites characterization,and enzyme analysis

Azo dyes are recalcitrant and refractory pollutants that constitute a significant menace to the environment. The present study is focused on exploring the capability of Bacillus sp. strain UN2 for application in methyl red (MR) degradation. Effects of physicochemical parameters (pH of medium, temperature, initial concentration of dye, and composition of the medium) were studied in detail. The suitable pH and temperature range for MR degradation by strain UN2 were respectively 7.0–9.0 and 30–40 °C, and the optimal pH value and temperature were respectively 8.0 and 35 °C. Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ (1 mM) were found to significantly accelerate the MR removal rate, while the enhancement by either Fe³⁺ or Fe²⁺ was slight. Under the optimal degradation conditions, strain UN2 exhibited greater than 98 % degradation of the toxic azo dye MR (100 ppm) within 30 min. Analysis of samples from decolorized culture flasks confirmed biodegradation of MR into two prime metabolites: N,N′dimethyl-p-phenyle-nediamine and 2-aminobenzoic acid. A study of the enzymes responsible for the biodegradation of MR, in the control and cells obtained during (10 min) and after (30 min) degradation, showed a significant increase in the activities of azoreductase, laccase, and NADH-DCIP reductase. Furthermore, a phytotoxicity analysis demonstrated that the germination inhibition was almost eliminated for both the plants Triticum aestivum and Sorghum bicolor by MR metabolites at 100 mg/L concentration, yet the germination inhibition of parent dye was significant. Consequently, the high efficiency of MR degradation enables this strain to be a potential candidate for bioremediation of wastewater containing MR.     

丝状菌污泥膨胀及其致密过程中菌丝体演替规律

为了探索丝状菌的致密途径、解决丝状菌污泥膨胀的难题,从丝状菌的自身特点及外部条件出发研究了其在污泥膨胀及致密过程中菌丝体的演替规律。研究发现,致密生长的大絮体对丝状菌的种类是有选择性的,那些丝体较弯曲、丝体强度较大、贮存能力强的菌丝体更利于形成聚集态生长。另外,研究表明,不同种类丝状菌的生长势和存贮能力不同,对底物的利用上亦存在着竞争关系。实验中存在的几个菌种对PHB颗粒的存贮能力由高到低依次为:Nostocoida limicola Ⅱ、Type 1851、Type 0701、Type 021N型菌体。     

Behavior and mechanism of arsenate adsorption on activated natural siderite: evidences from FTIR and XANES analysis

Activated natural siderite (ANS) was used to investigate its characteristics and mechanisms of As(V) adsorption from aqueous solution. Batch tests were carried out to determine effects of contact time, initial As(V) concentration, temperature, pH, background electrolyte, and coexisting anions on As(V) adsorption. Arsenic(V) adsorption on ANS well-fitted pseudo-second-order kinetics. ANS showed a high-adsorption capacity of 2.19 mg/g estimated from Langmuir isotherm at 25 °C. Thermodynamic studies indicated that As(V) adsorption on ANS was spontaneous, favorable, and endothermic. ANS adsorbed As(V) efficiently in a relatively wide pH range between 2.0 and 10.0, although the removal efficiency was slightly higher in acidic conditions than that in basic conditions. Effects of background electrolyte and coexisting anions were not significant within the concentration ranges observed in high As groundwater. Results of XRD and Fe K-edge XANES analysis suggested ANS acted as an Fe(II)/(III) hybrid system, which was quite effective in adsorbing As from aqueous solution. There was no As redox transformation during adsorption, although Fe(II) oxidation occurred in the system. Two infrared bands at 787 and 872 cm^?1 after As(V) adsorption suggested that As(V) should be predominantly adsorbed on ANS via inner-sphere bidendate binuclear surface complexes.     

Catalytic hydrolysis of urea from wastewater using different aluminas by a fixed bed reactor

In order to find an effective method for treating urea wastewater, the experiments on the hydrolysis of urea in wastewater were conducted in a fixed bed reactor with different aluminas (α-Al₂O₃, γ-Al₂O₃, and η-Al₂O₃) as catalysts respectively in contrast with inert ceramic particle. The results indicate that the three alumina catalysts show obvious catalytic activity for urea hydrolysis at 125 °C. The order of activity is η-Al₂O₃?>?γ-Al₂O₃?>?α-Al₂O₃, and the activity difference increases with increasing temperature. According to the characterization results, surface acidity has little impact on the activity of catalyst. However, it was found that surface basicity of alumina catalyst plays an important role in catalytic hydrolysis of urea, and the activity of catalyst may be also influenced by the basic strength. With η-Al₂O₃ as catalyst, the urea concentration in wastewater is reduced to 4.96 mg/L at a temperature of 165 °C. Moreover, the η-Al₂O₃ shows a good stability for urea hydrolysis. The hydrolysis of urea over η-Al₂O₃ catalyst can evidently reduce the reaction temperature and is promising to replace industrial thermal hydrolysis process.     

一株光合细菌的分离鉴定及其产电特性

采用光照富集及厌氧划线法从污水厂二沉池活性污泥分离到一株光合细菌YC-1,结合菌落特征、细胞形态、活细胞吸收光谱及16S rRNA基因序列分析等对其进行了分类学鉴定,并研究了YC-1在不同光源照射下的产电性能。结果表明,该菌为短杆状,有鞭毛,菌落呈淡粉色,含有大量细菌叶绿素a,16S rRNA基因序列与Rhodopseudomonas palustris DX-1相似度为99%,属于假单胞菌属(Pseudomonas sp.);双室微生物燃料电池的阳极室接种YC-1,并以乙酸钠为底物,铁氰化钾作为阴极电子受体,外载为1 000Ω时,电池稳定运行时输出电压为0.58 V,且输出电压不受光源光谱影响。     

锰铜铈氧化物催化剂氧化NO性能及动力学研究

实验以TiO2为载体采用浸渍法制备CuOx/TiO2、CeOx/TiO2、CuCeOx/TiO2和MnCuCeOx/TiO2催化剂,考察这些催化剂氧化NO活性,探究Cu、Ce摩尔比和添加Mn元素对CuCeOx/TiO2催化剂氧化NO活性的影响,使用扫描电镜观察催化剂表面结构.研究发现,Cu、Ce元素配合后的CuCeOx/TiO2催化剂氧化活性明显好于单独含Cu、Ce的催化剂,当Cu、Ce摩尔比为Cu:Ce=1:2时,CuCeOx/TiO2催化剂氧化活性最好,在NO浓度500×10-6,O2 10%,空速为24 000 h-1,350℃时,NO氧化度为0.62;添加Mn元素可以提高CuCeOx/TiO2催化剂低温氧化活性, 250℃时,MnCuCe/Ti-3和MnCuCe/Ti-5催化剂氧化度为0.53和0.69,300℃时,MnCuCe/Ti-3和MnCuCe/Ti-5催化剂氧化度均为0.76;此外,实验还研究了NO在MnCuCe/Ti-3催化剂上反应的动力学方程.     

渗滤液耦合矿化垃圾制备甲烷氧化菌菌液

利用甲烷氧化菌菌液增加材料中甲烷氧化菌的数量,可以得到高甲烷氧化率的填埋场甲烷生物氧化覆盖材料。研究发现,渗滤液原水和渗滤液处理尾水均能促进甲烷氧化菌的生长,可利用渗滤液耦合矿化垃圾混合培养制备甲烷氧化菌菌液用于填埋场甲烷减排。填埋龄长的渗滤液原水有着较好的培养效果,得到的菌液在4 d内最高甲烷氧化速率达到2.68 mL/h,超过甲烷氧化菌培养液(nitrate minimal salt medium,NMS)的实验结果。渗滤液中总氮、无机碳、总有机碳和Ni元素的含量对甲烷氧化菌的培养过程影响较大,适用于甲烷氧化培养的渗滤液应满足:总氮1 400 mg/L,总有机碳55 mg/L,Ni元素0.4 mg/L,总磷含量较高。     

不同酶强化污泥为燃料微生物燃料电池特性对比分析

采用单室无膜悬浮阴极微生物燃料电池(MFC),对比分析了蛋白酶和淀粉酶强化剩余污泥为燃料的MFC(ESMFC)产电特性、酶特性和污泥减量化效果。研究表明,投加蛋白酶的ESMFC最大功率密度比对照组增加106.2%,投加淀粉酶时ESMFC最大功率密度比对照组增加48%。蛋白酶作用主要体现在投加后的前12小时,而淀粉酶作用时间则较长,为投加后的前144小时,但在运行前期,由于高温作用,导致系统内的酶活性较强,投加的淀粉酶作用则不明显。投加蛋白酶的系统内TCOD、TSS和VSS去除率分别为82%、65%和85%,而投加淀粉酶的系统内TCOD、TSS和VSS去除率分别达到86%、67%和88%。此研究对于ESMFC中外加酶的选择具有一定意义。     

Bioaccumulation and tissue distribution of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in freshwater fishes: a case study performed in Poyang Lake,China’s largest lake

Concentrations and tissue distribution of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in different tissues of freshwater fish, silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), collected from Poyang Lake, China’s largest shallow lake, and were studied. OCPs were detected with the observed concentrations ranging from 280.67 to 1,006.58 ng/g wet weight (ww) for bighead carp and from 67.28 to 930.06 ng/g ww for silver carp. Composition analysis demonstrated OCPs in both fish were from the same polluted environment, and then, the species-specific bioaccumulation might be mainly due to the different fish age as well as the different feeding habits elucidating from the stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope analysis. Tissue distribution indicated that dietary intake was the major exposure route of OCPs for both fish and higher accumulation potency of OCPs by the hepatobiliary-related tissues (such as liver, kidney, bile, and heart). The higher metabolic activities of these tissues elucidating from the higher values of δ¹⁵N might be the potential-determined factor responsible for the tissue-specific accumulation.