Alkylation of metals and the activity of metal‐alkyls†

The biochemical basis for resistance to metal ion toxicity is emerging though it is complicated by the different resistance mechanisms. Several strategies for resistance to toxic metal ions have been identified:

1. The development of energy driven efflux pumps which keep toxic element levels low in the interior of the cell. Such mechanisms have been described for Cd(II) and As(V).

2. Oxidation (e.g. AsO^2‐ to AsO₄ ^3‐) or reduction (e.g. Hg²⁺ to Hg⁰) can enzymatically and intracellularly convert a more toxic form of an element to a less toxic form.

3. The biosynthesis of intracellular polymers which serve as traps for the removal of metal ions from solution such as traps have been described for cadmium, calcium, nickel and copper.

4. The binding of metal ions to cell surfaces.

5. The precipitation of insoluble metal complexes (e.g. metal sulfides and metal oxides) at cell surfaces.

6. Biomethylation and transport through cell‐membranes by diffusion controlled processes.

In this short review I shall discuss the implications of biomethylation as a detoxification mechanism for microorganisms as well as for certain higher organisms.     

Gas chromatography with atomic absorption detection for the determination of alkyl selenide compounds in the breath of mice after administration of different selenium compounds

Quantitative determination of dimethylselenide and dimethyldiselenide in the breath of mice after addition of different selenium compounds to the drinking water is described. Breath samples are collected with a cryogenic trap and analyzed by gas chromatography with atomic absorption spectrometric detection. Detection limits down to 0.2 ng/100 g body weight are obtained.

The pulmonary excretion of selenium metabolites after oral administration via drinking water or after intraperitoneal injection appears to be negligible. The bioconversion of the different selenium species is discussed.     

预氯化对管道生物膜净水效能影响及性能恢复

以环状膜生物反应器BAR模拟实际输水管道,研究了预氯化对管壁生物膜净水效能的影响及其性能恢复过程.结果表明:冲击性加氯后生物膜中异养菌数量迅速降低,几乎检测不出氨氧化细菌,然而,短时的冲击利于生物膜更新,增加了细菌生长潜能,恢复运行240h及144h之后预氯化生物膜中异养菌和氨氧化细菌数量均高于对照组.氯冲击明显降低了生物膜对氨氮的去除效果,余氯为0.5,1.5,3.0mg/L的BAR对氨氮去除率由对照组的79.01%分别降到32.10%、14.46%和9.88%,并出现了显著的亚硝酸盐氮积累,恢复运行120h和216h,管道生物膜即可恢复对氨氮和亚硝酸盐氮的去除效果.余氯量达到1.5mg/L时造成出水总磷浓度升高,恢复运行264h之后4台BAR对总磷的去除率均达到20%以上.氯对生物膜的氧化作用使得出水高锰酸盐指数升高,运行192h之后生物膜净水效果恢复.     

海洋石油降解酵母的分离鉴定与降解特性

以原油为唯一碳源,采用富集培养、平板涂布分离、平板划线纯化及摇瓶复筛等方法,从表层海水或海泥中分离得到2株具有较强石油降解能力的菌株SYB-5和SYB-2. 根据菌落及菌体形态、生理生化特征和分子生物学分析、鉴定显示,SYB-5为季也蒙毕赤酵母(Meyerozyma guilliermondii/Pichia guilliermondii),SYB-2为长孢洛德酵母(Lodderomyces elongisporus). 对2株酵母菌的石油降解性能的研究结果表明,SYB-5和SYB-2以原油组分作为碳源,以(NH₄)₂SO₄和(NH₄)₃PO₄作为氮源,在ρ(NaCl)为30g/L、氧气充足的条件下,生长的最适温度分别为36和32℃,pH均为7.0. 在最适生长条件下,培养5d后的原油降解率分别达到45.8%和34.4%. 当2株菌混合培养时,培养5d的原油降解率可提高到53.9%,培养8d时达到56.4%,说明2株菌利用原油作碳源生长时具有协同作用.      

处理低污染水的复合人工湿地脱氮过程

为了解人工湿地处理低污染水的脱氮过程,以洱海流域邓北桥湿地为例,采用水质分析、细菌数量分析与硝化/反硝化强度分析相结合的方法,研究了复合型人工湿地处理低污染河水过程中的氮转化过程及污染物去除效果. 结果表明:在氧化塘-表流湿地-潜流湿地-表流湿地的复合型人工湿地中,ρ(NH₃-N)和ρ(TN)呈逐级降低的趋势,NH₃-N和TN的平均去除率分别可达53.24%和48.21%. 氧化塘和表流湿地的硝化强度显著高于潜流湿地,二级表流湿地中硝酸菌数量和表层硝化强度均为各工艺单元中最高的,分别为93.00×105g-1和8.42×102mg/(m3·h);潜流湿地中ρ(DO)较低,其反硝化作用强度为各单元最高的,其中表层反硝化强度为32.70×102mg/(m3·h),深层反硝化强度为32.09×102mg/(m3·h). 该复合型人工湿地中反硝化的主要单元为潜流湿地.      

不同植被群落表层土壤中细菌群落多样性

对3种不同植被群落(海桐、雪松、桂花)表层土壤中的pH、w(TOC)、w(TN)和w(TP)进行了测定,采用DGGE(变性梯度凝胶电泳)方法对各植被群落表层土壤细菌的16S rDNA V3~V6可变区扩增片段进行了分析,利用分析得到的图谱数据与表层土壤中的pH、w(TOC)、w(TN)和w(TP)进行了群落-理化因子相关性分析以及CCA(典范对应分析). 结果表明,不同植被群落表层土壤的pH和养分含量不同,其中w(TOC)和w(TN)的差异显著(P<0.05),而pH和w(TP)的差异不显著(P>0.05). DGGE图谱分析结果揭示,不同植被群落表层土壤的细菌群落结构明显不同. 聚类分析显示,海桐和雪松的细菌群落组成和结构最为相似(82%),而它们与桂花样地的相似性(55%)相对较低,桂花样地的Shannon-Wiener指数最高且与其他2个样地差异显著,雪松样地的均匀度指数最高. 相关性分析和CCA结果进一步表明,w(TOC)和w(TN)是表层土壤细菌群落结构和多样性的显著影响因素,并且植被群落可能通过其根系分泌物产生间接影响.      

Degradation kinetics of terephthalic acid wastewater with the hybrid strains constructed with Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The degradation kinetic parameters in terephthalic acid (TPA) wastewater for the hybrid strains of Fhh and Fhhh obtained through the protoplast fusion of the fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium (PC) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y99, and the native bacteria YZ1 were measured in this research. The highest level of the specific degradation rate for Fhhh and Fhh during 20h reaction were 0.2238 and 0.2163 h^‐1, which were higher than that of their three parental strains and that of the anaerobic bacteria reported. It suggested that the abilities of growth and degradation for Fhh and Fhhh in TPA wastewater were better than their three parental strains. They could create potentials for the purification of TPA wastewater with higher efficiency.     

Preparation,characterization and toxic activity of oxovanadium(IV) mixed-ligand complexes

New oxovanadium(IV) mixed-ligand complexes of the general composition [VO(L)(A)], where KHL?=?potassium salt of salicylideneglycine, A¹?=?bis(benzylidene)ethylenediamine, A²?=?bis (acetophenone)ethylenediamine, A³?=?di(2-pyridyl)amine, A⁴?=?bis(benzylidene)-1,8-diaminonaphthalene, A⁵?=?thiophene-o-carboxaldene-aniline, A⁶?=?thiophene-o-carboxaldene-p-anisidine, have been synthesized by the interaction of these ligands with vanadyl sulphate. The mixed-ligand complexes have been characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, magnetic measurements, electronic and infrared spectra. An octahedral structure has tentatively been assigned to all of the mixed-ligand complexes. The mixed-ligand complexes show higher toxic activity against the Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Serratia mercescen as compared to the ligands, vanadyl sulphate and control (dimethyl sulphoxide). The mixed-ligand complexes were also tested against a standard drug (tetracycline).     

Community sustainability: a holistic approach to measuring the sustainability of rural communities in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Although sustainable development was defined in the Brundtland Report almost 30 years ago, the current usage of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development remain highly equivocal. In the context of rural communities, multiple interpretations and weak definitions lead to confusion in understanding what comprises a sustainable rural community. Building on existing definitions (e.g. Baker’s, 2006, ‘Ladder of Sustainable Development’), models (principally, The Egan Review’s, 2004, ‘Components of Sustainable Communities’) and findings of this study, a sustainable community is defined and a holistic model of a sustainable place-based rural community is presented. This model, the sustainable community design (SCD) is used as the basis for analysing community sustainability, which is measured using mixed methods and scorecard assessment. Sensitivity of the method is demonstrated with inter- and intra-community variations in sustainability across three diverse Scottish rural communities. Intra-community variations illustrate heterogeneity in community sustainability, explain ambiguity in characterisations of an individual community’s sustainability, and highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to community development. The SCD framework is presented as a useful tool for meso-level sustainability assessment and to facilitate the sustainable development of rural communities.     

产表面活性剂降解石油菌株产物性质及降解性能研究

微生物是组成生态系统的重要成员,在污染物去除中发挥着重要作用,是生物修复中的主力,然而在石油污染修复过程中,石油烃的疏水性会限制微生物对石油的降解,但一些微生物的细胞代谢物即生物表面活性剂,它是微生物在一定条件下代谢分泌产生的具有一定表面活性,集亲水基和疏水基结构于一分子的两亲性化合物,可以促进油的乳化,提高油的分散程度,增大菌株和油珠的接触机会,促进对石油烃的吸收和降解。在实验室分离得到了7株产表面活性剂石油降解菌株,经分子鉴定可知菌1和菌2都为粘质沙雷氏菌Serratia marcescens,菌3为居植物柔武氏菌Raoultella planticola,菌4,菌6和菌7都为克雷伯氏菌Klebsiella variicola,菌5为蜡状芽孢杆菌Bacillus cereus。主要研究了它们的生长与表面活性剂物质分泌状况的关系,发现随着时间增加,OD值随之增大,表面张力呈现下降趋势;并对菌株产物进行提取和薄层层析,离子型分析和红外光谱分析,初步判断其产物均为阴离子糖脂类;通过pH,初始油质量浓度,接种量和盐度4个单因素的变化研究菌1粘质沙雷氏菌,菌3居植物柔武士菌,菌5蜡状芽孢杆菌和菌6克雷伯氏菌对石油类物质降解能力,发现菌3居植物柔武氏菌和菌5蜡状芽孢杆菌降解性能较好;通过响应曲面法优化蜡状芽孢杆菌的降解条件,得出其最佳降解条件为pH为5.02,油质量浓度为3 g·L-1,接种量为1199.98μL,盐度为0.5 g·L-1时,在此条件下,菌株对石油的降解率为66.94%。