Effect of long-term changes in soil chemistry induced by road salt applications on N-transformations in roadside soils

Of several impacts of road salting on roadside soils, the potential disruption of the nitrogen cycle has been largely ignored. Therefore the fates of low-level ammonium-N and nitrate-N inputs to roadside soils impacted by salting over an extended period (decades) in the field have been studied. The use of road salts disrupts the proportional contributions of nitrate-N and ammonium-N to the mineral inorganic fraction of roadside soils. It is highly probable that the degree of salt exposure of the soil, in the longer term, controls the rates of key microbial N transformation processes, primarily by increasing soil pH. Additional influxes of ammonium-N to salt-impacted soils are rapidly nitrified therefore and, thereafter, increased leaching of nitrate-N to the local waterways occurs, which has particular relevance to the Water Framework Directive. The results reported are important when assessing the fate of inputs of ammonia to soils from atmospheric pollution.     

Effect of spatial variation on salinity tolerance of macroinvertebrates in Eastern Australia and implications for ecosystem protection trigger values

Salinisation of freshwater has been identified as a serious environmental issue in Australia and around the world. Protective concentrations (trigger values) for salinity can be used to manage salinity impacts, though require locally relevant salinity tolerance information. 72-h acute salinity tolerance values were determined for 102 macroinvertebrates collected from 11 locations in four biologically distinct freshwater bio-regions in Northeast Australia and compared with sensitivities observed in Southeast Australia. The salinity tolerance of individual taxa was consistent across Northeast Australia and between Northeast and Southeast Australia. However, two distinct communities were identified in Northeast Australia using distributions of the acute tolerance values and a calculated index of salinity sensitivity. Salinity trigger values should therefore be representative of local or regionally relevant communities and may be adequately calculated using sensitivity values from throughout Eastern Australia. The results presented provide a basis for assessing salinity risk and determining trigger values for salinity in freshwater ecosystems at local and regional scales in Eastern Australia.     

Assessment of the phytoextraction potential of high biomass crop plants

A hydroponic screening method was used to identify high biomass crop plants with the ability to accumulate metals. Highest values of shoot accumulation were found in maize cv. Ranchero, rapeseed cv. Karat, and cardoon cv. Peralta for Pb (18 753 mg kg(-1)), Zn (10 916 mg kg(-1)), and Cd (242 mg kg(-1)), respectively. Subsequently, we tested the potential of these three cultivars for the phytoextraction of a metal spiked compost, finding out that, in cardoon and maize plants, increasing Zn and Cd concentrations led to lower values of root and shoot DW. By contrast, rapeseed shoot growth was not significantly affected by Cd concentration. Finally, a metal polluted soil was used to check these cultivars' phytoextraction capacity. Although the soil was phytotoxic enough to prevent the growth of cardoon and rapeseed plants, maize plants phytoextracted 3.7 mg Zn pot(-1). We concluded that the phytoextraction performance of cultivars varies depending on the screening method used.     

拟南芥VTE1过量表达可以增加维生素E含量和提高烟草植株耐盐行

维生素E在动物细胞内具有抗氧化等重要作用，但在植物体内的功能却鲜为人知．本实验利用CaMV 35S启动子与来源于拟南芥的编码生育酚环化酶（TC）的cDNA（VTE1）构建的嵌合表达载体，以根癌农杆菌介导的叶盘法转化烟草W38．实验结果表明，具有卡那霉素抗性的再生植株经RT-PCR检测，得到了与阳性对照一致的495bp的目标片段；转基因植株的VE含量比对照植株高2倍左右，个别株系高达11倍．实验还发现，在耐盐性实验中转基因植株对盐的抗性明显高于野生型烟草；同时，在不同盐浓度（150、250mmoL／L）胁迫下转基因植株VE含量比未转化植株增加了1．3～1．8倍，首次证明VTE1与植物耐盐性之间的关系．     

石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定海河下游水中痕量镉

原子吸收光谱法直接测定高盐水中痕量镉时,有很大背景吸收和误差。本文采用络合—萃取技术使共存元素与待测元素分离,既消除了基体干扰,又达到了富集作用,使测定结果准确可靠。     

Influence of aluminium on the restoration potential of a terrestrial vascular plant,Portulaca Oleracea L. as a biomonitoring tool of fresh water aquatic environments

In the present study, the influence of aluminium on the regeneration potential of leaf and stem-cuttings of Portulaca oleracea was studied in order to identify a terrestrial plant species as an alternate biomonitoring toolof fresh water environment. The leaves and stem cuttings of theterrestrial plant, P. oleracea grew well in the distilled water producing adventitious and lateral roots. The aluminium treated leaves and stem cuttings showed a reduction in the growthof the adventitious and lateral roots and increase in the decay of leaves and stem cuttings with increasing aluminium concentration. The tolerance index calculated for the leaves and the stem cuttings showed that the leaves were more sensitivethan stems to aluminium. Since all the parameters studied showedconcentration dependent changes, the terrestrial plant, P. oleracea can be considered a suitable biomonitoring tool of fresh water environment besides its usage in the Al toxicity testing.     

Constitutional tolerance to heavy metals of a fiber crop, ramie (Boehmeria nivea), and its potential usage

It is observed that ramie (Boehmeria nivea), an economic fiber crop, can establish and colonize metal-contaminated sites in China. Metal tolerance and accumulation by ramie originating from 13 metal-contaminated and 4 “clean” sites in China were compared under field and hydroponic conditions. All selected populations and germplasms displayed good growth performance under diverse metal-contaminated habitats; while growth responses, metal accumulation and tolerance were similar among the 8 populations and 2 germplasms when exposed to solutions containing elevated As, Cd, Pb, or Zn in the laboratory. These revealed that ramie possesses a certain degree of constitutional metal tolerance. To our knowledge, this is the first report of constitutional metal tolerance possessed by a fiber crop. Ramie can be considered as a good candidate for both fiber production and phytoremediation of sites contaminated by multi-metals, as it accumulates relative low metal concentrations, but possesses both high biomass and high economic value.     

Ammonium and nitrate tolerance in lichens

Since lichens lack roots and take up water, solutes and gases over the entire thallus surface, these organisms respond more sensitively to changes in atmospheric purity than vascular plants. After centuries where effects of sulphur dioxide and acidity were in the focus of research on atmospheric chemistry and lichens, recently the globally increased levels of ammonia and nitrate increasingly affect lichen vegetation and gave rise to intense research on the tolerance of lichens to nitrogen pollution. The present paper discusses the main findings on the uptake of ammonia and nitrate in the lichen symbiosis and to the tolerance of lichens to eutrophication. Ammonia and nitrate are both efficiently taken up under ambient conditions. The tolerance to high nitrogen levels depends, among others, on the capability of the photobiont to provide sufficient amounts of carbon skeletons for ammonia assimilation. Lowly productive lichens are apparently predisposed to be sensitive to excess nitrogen.     

Influence of arsenic stress on synthesis and localization of low-molecular-weight thiols in Pteris vittata

The roles of low-molecular-weight thiols (LMWTs), such as glutathione and phytochelatins, in arsenic (As) tolerance and hyperaccumulation in Pteris vittata an As-hyperaccumulator fern remain to be better understood. This study aimed to thoroughly characterize LMWT synthesis in P. vittata to understand the roles played by LMWTs in As tolerance and hyperaccumulation. LMWT synthesis in P. vittata was induced directly by As, and not by As-mediated oxidative stress. Expression of PvECS2, one of the putative genes of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γECS), increases in P. vittata shoots at 48 h after the onset of As exposure, almost corresponding to the increase in the concentrations of γ-glutamylcysteine and glutathione. Furthermore, localization of As showed similar trends to those of LMWTs in fronds at both whole-frond and cellular levels. This study thus indicates the specific contribution of LMWTs to As tolerance in P. vittata. γECS may be responsible for the As-induced enhancement of LMWT synthesis.     

Combustion characteristics of asphalt and sodium compounds

Risk evaluation of mixtures of asphalt and inorganic salts such as sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sodium carbonate and sodium dihydrogenphosphate was conducted. The ignition and the combustion characteristics of mixtures of asphalt and oxidizing salts were obtained. Quasi-heat-accumulation experiments of asphalt–salt mixtures were conducted using about 1 kg samples. Six types of asphalt–salt mixtures were made and their ignition characteristics were examined in the quasi-heat-accumulation experiments. Then to clarify burning behavior of the asphalt–salt mixtures, experiments for understanding their combustion characteristics were conducted using a cone calorimeter.

The main results are as follows.

(1) In the quasi-heat-accumulation experiment, a region with high concentration of the salt mixture particles was made at the bottom of the sample vessel through the process of their sedimentation. An exothermic reaction started in this region. Just before the asphalt–salt mixture was ignited, a huge amount of white smoke was released. A kind of jet flame of a few meters in height was created.

(2) Based on the data of ignition temperature from the cone calorimeter experiments, ignition of asphalt was caused by a chemical reaction of asphalt with an oxidizing salt. The combustion of the asphalt–salt mixture contained the self-heating reaction.