Asn57 N-glycosylation promotes the degradation of hemicellulose by β-1,3–1,4-glucanase from Rhizopus homothallicus

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - N-glycosylation alters the properties of different enzymes in different ways. Rhizopus homothallicus was first described as an environmental isolate...     

Degradation and metabolism of hexazinone by two isolated bacterial strains from soil

Two hexazinone-degrading bacterial strains were isolated from soil by enrichment culture technique, and identified as Pseudomonas sp. and Enterobacter cloacap. The two purified isolates, designated as WFX-1 and WFX-2, could rapidly degrade hexazinone with a half-life of 3.08 days and 2.95 days in mineral salt medium (MSM), while their mixed bacterial culture was found to degrade hexazinone, at an initial concentration of 50 microg/ml, by enhancing 2.3-fold over that when the isolates were used alone. Two microbial metabolites (A and D) were obtained by preparative TLC and identified on the basis of the spectral data of IR, 1H NMR and HPLC-ESI-MS, but both of them were known products as they had been reported in soil and vegetation metabolites of hexazinone. However, metabolites B and C were new degradates, whose molecular weights (MW) were 157 and 156, respectively, being reported from microbial metabolism for the first time.     

间歇浸取对废物水泥窑共处置产品中Cr和As释放的影响

研究间歇浸取条件下废物水泥窑共处置产品中重金属Cr、As的释放,对水泥产品在实际应用中的环境安全性评价有重要意义.通过模拟煅烧实验制取含Cr和As的水泥熟料,并制取混凝土样品,采用pH影响实验和扩散浸出实验,研究了混凝土中Cr和As的溶解特性及其间歇浸取对混凝土中Cr和As释放的影响.结果表明,浸取方式对浸取液pH有较...     

Biotreatment of chromite ore processing residue by Pannonibacter phragmitetus BB

Chromite ore processing residues (COPR) is the source of the Cr(VI) contamination in the environment. Pannonibacter phragmitetus BB was used to treat two different types of COPRs in this research. The water-soluble Cr(VI) of COPR A and B is 3,982.9 and 1,181.4 mg/kg, respectively. In the column biotreatment process, P. phragmitetus BB can reduce Cr(VI) in the leachate to an undetectable level at the flow rate of 1 and 2 ml/min. In the direct biotreatment process, Cr(VI) in the liquid supernatant of COPR A and B decreased from 265 and 200 mg/l to 145 and 40 mg/kg after 240 h of incubation. In one-step and two-step biotreatment processes, Cr(VI) in the liquid supernatant of both COPRs can be reduced to an undetectable level. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure results indicate that the Cr(VI) concentration of treated COPR A (3.48 mg/l) is lower than the identification standards for hazardous wastes of China (5 mg/l) (GB 5085.6-2007). The information obtained in this study has significance for the application of P. phragmitetus BB to remediate COPR contamination.     

Environmental contamination of mercury from Hg-mining areas in Wuchuan, northeastern Guizhou, China

Total Hg and methyl-Hg were evaluated in mine wastes, soils, water, and vegetations from the Wuchuan Hg-mining areas, Guizhou, China. Mine wastes contain high total Hg concentrations, ranging from 79 to 710 microg g(-1), and methyl-Hg from 0.32 to 3.9 ng g(-1). Total Hg in soil samples range from 0.33 to 320 microg g(-1) and methyl-Hg from 0.69 to 20 ng g(-1). Vegetations present a high average total Hg concentration of 260 ng g(-1), which greatly exceeds the maximum Hg concentration of 20 ng g(-1) recommended by the Chinese National Standard Agency for food sources. The rice samples contain elevated methyl-Hg concentrations, ranging from 4.2 to 18 ng g(-1). Stream water collected from Hg-mining areas is also contaminated, containing Hg as high as 360 ng l(-1), and methyl-Hg reaches up to 5.7 ng l(-1). Data indicate heavy Hg-contaminations and significant conversion of methyl-Hg in the study areas.     

Quantification of joint effect for hydrogen bond and development of QSARs for predicting mixture toxicity

A QSAR model is successfully proposed to predict the toxicity effect on Photobacterium phosphoreum by nonpolar-narcotic-chemical mixtures and/or polar-narcotic-chemical mixtures. For nonpolar-narcotic-chemical mixtures and polar-narcotic-chemical mixtures, their corresponding hydrophobicity-based QSAR models are derived from regression analysis. Comparison of these two QSAR models make us believe that it is the joint effect of hydrogen bond in polar-narcotic-chemical mixture that leads to the difference between these two models. Such joint effect of hydrogen bond can be quantified as AMH and BMH by using the different partition coefficients of mixtures in various organic phase/water systems. And the regression analysis results convinced us that the introduction of AMH does improve the quality of the QSAR model with r2=0.948, S.E.=0.166 and F=745.201 at P=0.000 for total 84 mixtures.     

Association between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and number of outpatient Helicobacter pylori infection visits

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI) is an important risk factor of gastrointestinal diseases, but factors leading to it are still not fully...     

Degradation characteristics and metabolic pathway of 4-nitrophenol by a halotolerant bacterium Arthrobacter sp. CN2

Arthrobacter sp. strain CN2, capable of degrading 4-nitrophenol, was isolated from activated sludge. Degradation of 4-nitrophenol was optimized at pH 7.7, 30?°C, and 0.53% of glucose. Salt tolerance of 4-nitrophenol degradation was as high as 6% (w/v). Several biodegradation intermediates were identified and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. 4-Nitrocatechol is involved in the degradation of 4-nitrophenol by CN2. Scale-up of 4-nitrophenol degradation was conducted in a bioreactor with different salinity. When the salinity was below 7%, the degradation rate of 4-nitrophenol was above 90% (100 mg L^?1, 3 L).