Enzymatic and cellular level effects of chromium∗

Exposure of Cr to four hepatic enzymes activities of tilapia, viz. acid‐ and alkaline phosphatases, catalase and glucose‐6‐phosphatase, was contrary to the results obtained for Cd and Ni. This is the only heavy metal investigated thus far that dramatically augmented glucose‐6‐phosphatase by approximately 83% at a concentration of 12 mg L^‐1 in vivo in lieu of the fact of an initial inhibition of approximately 45 % at a lower concentration of Cr; 6 mg L^‐1. In the case of acid phosphatase and catalase activities progressive increment was observed up to 50 and 217% respectively at a concentration of 12 mg L^‐1 Cr. On the other hand, in contrast to all the investigated enzymes interestingly alkaline phosphatase was inhibited continuously at all concentrations up to 46% at 12 mgL^‐1 Cr. In vitro experiments were contrary to the above mentioned results, whereby all hepatic enzymes were inhibited with major inhibition observed for acid phosphatase of approximately 60% from 5 mgL^‐1 Cr onwards in the system.

At cellular level, Cr exposure at a lethal dose of 12 mgL^‐1 demonstrated similar effects to that of Cd. In general, the glycogen and fat reserves were depleted while lysosomal activity is increased. As compared to the effects of Cd, the mitochondria did not indicate any prominent reflection in the formation of intramitochondrial bodies. Further, similar to Cd, the cell membrane as well as nucleus were not affected.     

Impact of invasive plant and environmental conditions on denitrification potential in urban riparian ecosystems

One of the most serious problems involved in riparian restoration is the proliferation of invasive plants during or after a restoration project. Although many studies have assessed ecological influences of invasive plants, life history in particular, only a few have clarified the functional consequences of such changes. In this study, we aimed to determine the influences of an invasive plant, Humulus japonicus, and environmental conditions on riparian ecosystem functions, focusing on denitrification. Soil samples from five riparian ecosystems in Korea were collected on four occasions over a one-year period, and denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) was measured using an acetylene blocking method. DEA varied between 2.5 and>7000 ng N₂O g^?1 soil h^?1. Overall results suggest that DEA was fairly high in winter, but the influences of H. japonicus were minimal. The results suggest that water availability may be a more dominant controlling variable than the presence of H. japonicus for DEA.     

Regulation of soil enzyme activities in constructed wetlands under a short-term drying period

The activities of extracellular enzymes are important in understanding decomposition of soil organic matter in wetlands subjecting to drying. The activity of soil extracellular enzymes (β-glucosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, and phosphatase), and related physicochemical parameters were monitored in constructed freshwater wetlands during a one-month drying manipulation. Drying increased redox potential and decreased soil water content significantly (P<0.05). Higher content of soil organic matter (P<0.05) and higher concentrations of inorganic N (nitrate, P<0.01; and ammonia, P<0.001) were also observed significantly under drying condition. Soil hydrolase enzyme activities were stimulated significantly (β-glucosidase, P<0.05; N-acetylglucosaminidase, P<0.01; and phosphatase, P<0.001), and a two-phase pattern of enzyme activities was revealed under drying condition. The increase of soil enzyme activities under drying condition was significantly related to soil redox potential (P<0.001). Drying strongly affected soil enzyme activities only when soil water content remained above an optimal level for enzymatic catalysis (higher than 23% w/w), corresponding to redox potentials below 250–300 mV. Our results suggest that, under drying condition, potential enzyme activities may be regulated by redox potential, in respect to soil moisture, and consequently alter nutrient availability in wetlands.     

Effects of two root-secreted phenolic compounds from a subalpine coniferous species on soil enzyme activity and microbial biomass

In order to evaluate the ecological consequences and potential mechanisms of specific C compounds on soil microbial processes under climate warming, we injected solutions of two modelled root exudates, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) and 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, dibutyl ester (DBP), respectively, into soil at two concentrations (20 and 1000?µg?g^?1 soil). For all treatments, soils amended with the two phenolic compounds were incubated at two temperatures (20°C and 30°C) for 30 days. The responses of soil enzyme activity and microbial property to modelled root exudates to some extent depended on temperature regime, exudation component, and addition concentration. For example, the addition of BHT tended to decrease the soil enzyme activities. However, DBP addition generally increased the two metabolic enzyme activities at 30°C, and tended to decrease the two enzyme activities at 20°C, but a significant reduction was observed only at a high concentration at 20°C. The microbial biomass and enzyme activity were generally lower at 30°C compared to those at 20°C, when averaged across all treatment combinations. Taken together, our results indicated that the amounts and quality of liable root-derived C can differentially affect microbial processes, and various environmental changes will greatly complicate root–microbe–soil interactions in forests.     

In situ immobilisation remediation of cadmium in artificially contaminated soil: a chemical and ecotoxicological evaluation

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of sepiolite-induced immobilisation remediation of Cd contaminated soil. The results demonstrated that adding sepiolite significantly increased the soil pH and resulted in 35.1–66.0%, 30.3–48.9%, and 31.6–51.6% reduction in toxicity characteristic leaching procedure of Cd (TCLP-Cd), respectively, for the Cd levels of 1.25, 2.5, and 5?mg/kg compared with the no-sepiolite controls. These decreases in TCLP-Cd were associated with reductions in plant phyotoxicity and Cd absorption, and sepiolite-treated soils resulted in increases of 3.2–38.0%, 34.2–52.3%, and 8.4–51.5% in shoot biomass, respectively, and in decreases of 26.7–39.6%, 17.3–28.5%, and 6.1–21.8% in shoot Cd contents, respectively, under soil Cd concentration of 1.25, 2.5 and 5?mg/kg compared to the unamended soils. The greater microbial biomass and catalase and urease activities after applying sepiolite implied a certain degree of recovery in metabolic function recovery during soil remediation. These results demonstrated that the application of sepiolite not only was effective at reducing Cd bioavailability and the rate of Cd accumulation in plants, but also improved soil environmental quality.     

多金属硫化物矿区不同品种水稻根际土壤酶活的变化

选取酸性矿山废水污灌形成的多重金属污染水稻土,采用多格层根际箱模拟水稻根际环境,研究高镉积累水稻长香谷fOryzasativaL．cv．Choukoukoku）和低镉积累水稻金农丝苗（OryzasativaL．cv．Jinnongsimiao）2个品种水稻生育中后期（分蘖期、孕穗期、扬花期、蜡熟期）根际土壤脲酶、酸性磷酸酶和过氧化氢酶活性的变化特征。结果表明：高镉积累水稻比低镉积累水稻各时期根际土壤脲酶活性低,随着生育期的延长,2个品种水稻土壤脲酶活性先降低后升高（分蘖期酶活性最高）,2种水稻土壤脲酶活性均在根际s0层达到最高,但其他各层土壤脲酶活性与根系距离无显著关系。随着水稻生育期的延长,高镉积累水稻根际土壤酸性磷酸酶活性先升高（在孕穗期酶活性达最高）,随后降低;低镉积累水稻土壤酸性磷酸酶活性则在分蘖期最高,之后逐渐降低。除分蘖期高镉积累水稻土壤酸性磷酸酶活性低于低镉积累水稻酶活性外,其他2个时期前者酸性磷酸酶酶活性均高于后者的酶活。2个品种水稻土壤过氧化氢酶活性随生育期延长不断升高,在整个生育后期,高镉吸收水稻比低镉吸收水稻各时期土壤过氧化氢酶活性高,但在蜡熟期时两者无显著差异;在各时期2种水稻过氧化氢酶活性在根系S0层达到最大,随着与水稻根系距离的增加呈先降低后增加的趋势。可见,在多重金属污染矿区,土壤酶活性明显受水稻品种、水稻生长时期和水稻根系的影响。该结果可以为研究多重金属污染矿区分析土壤酶活性与不同重金属积累程度的水稻品种作物相关关系提供数据支持,给农业生产及土壤修复提供依据。     

镉胁迫对两品种水稻生长及抗氧化酶系统的影响

水稻Oryza sativa L.被认为是Cd吸收最强的大宗谷类作物,本研究采用网室盆栽实验研究2个籽粒镉积累水平不同的水稻品种（中浙优1号、高Cd品种和J196、低Cd品种）,研究不同浓度Cd处理对水稻幼苗生长和抗氧化酶系统的影响。结果表明：高Cd水稻品种的Cd耐性高于低Cd水稻品种,表现为前者体内的MDA含量低于后者,而SOD、CAT、POD活性高于低Cd品种;在Cd胁迫下,高Cd品种的SOD 活性、CAT活性随Cd处理浓度增加先增后降,在10 mg·kg-1时达到峰值,POD活性则为先降后增,在Cd浓度为5 mg·kg-1时达到峰值;而低Cd品种随着外源Cd浓度增长,3种酶活性在25 mg·kg-1达到峰值,除SOD比对照降低外,CAT和POD分较对照升高38.07%和62.10%,表明在本试验处理下,Cd胁迫下,两品种中3种抗氧化酶保护作用不同,高Cd品种CAT的保护性最强,低Cd品种POD的保护作用最强。但本研究对两品种生长性状的研究却发现,高Cd品种的根系耐受指数及根系鲜质量显著低于低Cd品种,这可能和水稻对Cd的耐受原因多元化,且本实验条件下的Cd处理未产生植株生长抑制,Cd敏感品种自身的保护机制有关。     

正交实验选择纤维素酶产生菌的最优综合培养条件

在复合碳源、30℃恒温培养条件下,用正交实验法对影响纤维素酶产生菌降解纤维素的5种单因素培养条件进行了优化,并将优化得到的条件应用于厌氧-好氧废水处理系统.结果表明,MgSO4用量等单因素对纤维素酶活性以及纤维素降解率有不同程度的促进作用;正交实验得到厌氧菌和好氧菌的最佳培养条件不完全一致;在废水处理系统中,5种单因素的最佳综合水平为:30mg/L MgSO4,20mg/L CoCl2,CNP配比为400:5:1,氮源为NH4Cl (28.7mg/L), pH=7.0,此时厌氧菌及好氧菌酶活性分别为4801U/L和4794U/L,酶稳定性分别达到91.0%和95.5%,纤维素降解率为31.9%和28.4% .     

双酚A对稻田土壤细菌群落特征及土壤酶活的影响

采用FQ-PCR(实时荧光定量PCR)、PCR-DGGE(PCR扩增和变性梯度凝胶电泳)技术和土壤酶学研究法对不同浓度双酚A污染的稻田土壤细菌群落特征及土壤酶活性进行了研究.结果表明:经双酚A高浓度处理〔即w(双酚A)分别为200和1 000 mg/kg〕的稻田土壤细菌数量显著低于未受污染的对照(CK)和低浓度处理〔w(双酚A)为50 mg/kg〕,并且高浓度处理分别较CK处理(3.64×109 g-1)下降90.44%和99.83%.细菌16S rDNA V3可变区DGGE图谱表明,受双酚A污染的土壤明显产生了数条特征性条带.UPGMA(非加权组平均法)聚类分析进一步表明,双酚A污染明显改变了稻田土壤的细菌群落组成.2次采样土壤总体酶活性参数均为CK>w(双酚A)为50 mg/kg处理>w(双酚A)为200 mg/kg处理>w(双酚A)为1 000 mg/kg处理.可见,高浓度的双酚A污染明显影响稻田土壤细菌数量以及细菌优势菌群,使农田土壤细菌群落多样性发生变化.      

退耕地养分和微生物量对土壤酶活性的影响

为了解侵蚀环境下植被恢复土壤酶活性对土壤养分和微生物量指标的响应规律,以典型侵蚀环境黄土丘陵区纸坊沟流域生态恢复1~50年撂荒地长期定位试验点为研究对象,采用典型逐步回归和非线性拟合来分析各指标间的耦合关系.结果表明,土壤酶活性除a淀粉酶外,均与土壤养分因子和微生物量指标有较高的相关性(P<0.05).在土壤酶活性和养分因子间,尿酶和纤维素酶主要受总氮影响,碱性磷酸酶、过氧化氢酶、蔗糖酶和多酚氧化酶主要受可利用氮影响,蔗糖酶和多酚氧化酶还受到有机质的影响;在土壤酶活性和微生物量指标间,尿酶主要受微生物量磷影响,碱性磷酸酶、过氧化氢酶、蔗糖酶和多酚氧化酶均受微生物量碳影响,纤维素酶则受微生物量氮影响,但多酚氧化酶与可利用氮、有机质和微生物量碳呈负相关;此外,它们之间均存在良好的对数关系(y=b+alnx, P<0.05).