Characterization of sulfide oxidation and optimization of sulfate production by a thermophilic Paenibacillus naphthalenovorans LYH-3 isolated from sewage sludge composting

The sulfur-containing odor emitted from sludge composting could be controlled by sulfide oxidizing bacteria, yet mesophilic strains show inactivation during the thermophilic stage of composting. Aimed to investigate and characterize the thermotolerant bacterium that could oxidize sulfide into sulfate, a heterotrophic strain was isolated from sewage sludge composting and identified as Paenibacillus naphthalenovorans LYH-3. The effects of various environmental factors on sulfide oxidation capacities were studied to optimize the sulfate production, and the highest production rate (27.35% ± 0.86%) was obtained at pH 7.34, the rotation speed of 161.14 r/min, and the inoculation amount of 5.83% by employing Box-Behnken design. The results of serial sulfide substrates experiments indicated that strain LYH-3 could survive up to 400 mg/L of sulfide with the highest sulfide removal rate (88.79% ± 0.35%) obtained at 50 mg/L of sulfide. Growth kinetic analysis presented the maximum specific growth rate µ_m (0.5274 hr⁻¹) after 22 hr cultivation at 50°C. The highest enzyme activities of sulfide quinone oxidoreductase (0.369 ± 0.052 U/mg) and sulfur dioxygenase (0.255 ± 0.014 U/mg) were both obtained at 40°C, and the highest enzyme activity of sulfite acceptor oxidoreductase (1.302 ± 0.035 U/mg) was assessed at 50°C. The results indicated that P. naphthalenovorans possessed a rapid growth rate and efficient sulfide oxidation capacities under thermophilic conditions, promising a potential application in controlling sulfur-containing odors during the thermophilic stage of sludge composting.     

表面活性剂对分枝杆菌KR2生长的影响

研究了表面活性剂的浓度、离子类型和分子结构等对分枝杆菌KR2菌株生长的影响。结果表明，一些表面活性剂在低浓度时可以促进分枝杆菌KR2的生长，高浓度时则会抑制KR2菌株的生长。表面活性剂的离子类型对KR2菌株生长抑制作用的顺序为：阳离子活性剂TDTMA＞阴离子表面活性剂LAS＞非离子表面活性剂Tween80。表面活性剂的直链长度对KR2菌株生长的影响为：直链越短，对分枝杆菌KR2菌株生长的抑制作用越大。     

Discounting in the presence of scarce ecosystem services

The discount rate for cost-benefit analysis has to take account of future scarcity of ecosystem services in consumption and production. Previous literature focuses on the first aspect and shows the importance of the relative price effect, for given growth rates of consumption and ecosystem services. This paper focuses on intermediate ecosystem services in production and shows that for limited substitutability and a low growth rate of these ecosystem services, the growth rate of consumption, and thus the discount rate, declines towards a low value. Using a Ramsey growth model, the paper distinguishes three cases. If ecosystem services can be easily substituted, the discount rate converges to the usual value in the long term. Secondly, if ecosystem services can be easily substituted in production but not in consumption, the relative price effect is important. Finally, and most interestingly, if ecosystem services cannot be easily substituted in production, the discount rate declines towards a low value and the relative price effect is less important. Another part of the previous literature has shown that a declining discount rate is the result of introducing several forms of uncertainty, but this paper reaches that conclusion from an endogenous effect on the growth rate of the economy.     

Assessment of pesticide contamination in three Mississippi Delta oxbow lakes using Hyalella azteca

Three oxbow lakes in northwestern Mississippi, USA, an area of intensive agriculture, were assessed for biological impairment from historic and current-use pesticide contamination using the amphipod, Hyalella azteca. Surface water and sediment samples from three sites in each lake were collected from Deep Hollow, Beasley, and Thighman Lakes from September 2000 to February 2001. Samples were analyzed for 17 historic and current-use pesticides and selected metabolites. Ten-day H. azteca survival and growth (as length and dry weight) were measured to determine the degree of biological impairment. Maximum number of detectable pesticides in surface water from Deep Hollow, Beasley and Thighman Lakes was 10, 11, and 17, respectively. Maximum number of detectable pesticides in lake sediments was 17, 17, and 15, respectively. Bioassay results indicated no observable survival effects on H. azteca exposed to surface water or sediment from any lake examined and no growth impairment in animals exposed to lake sediments. However, growth was significantly impaired in surface water exposures from Deep Hollow Lake (2 sites) and Beasley Lake (1 site). Statistically significant relationships between growth impairment (length) and cyanazine, methyl parathion, λ-cyhalothrin, chlorfenapyr, and pp′DDE surface water concentrations in Deep Hollow Lake as well as trifluralin, atrazine, and methyl parathion in Beasley Lake were observed. Although pesticide frequency and concentrations were typically greater in sediment than surface water, bioassay results indicated decreased availability of these pesticides in sediment due to the presence of clay and organic carbon. Growth impairment observed in surface water exposures was likely due to complex interaction of pesticide mixtures that were present.     

Growth factors, kinetics and biodegradation mechanism associated with Pseudomonas nitroreducens TX1 grown on octylphenol polyethoxylates

The growth properties and biodegradation mechanism of a Gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas nitroreducens TX1 that was able to grow on branched octylphenol polyethoxylates (OPEO(n), average n=9.5) as the sole carbon source over a wide concentration range (1-100,000 mgl(-1)) were studied. Analysis of growth factors indicated the highest specific growth rate (micro) of 0.53 h(-1) was obtained at an initial concentration of 5,000 mgl(-1) OPEO(n). An optimal C/N ratio of 12 was obtained for (NH(4))(2)SO(4) as the nitrogen source in a cultivated medium at pH 7. The kinetic analysis demonstrated that bacterial growth and OPEO(n) degradation followed the Monod equation and were based on a substrate concentration inhibition model and pseudo-first-order reaction, respectively. The substrate inhibition coefficient was over 18,000 mgl(-1) and this indicates that the strain has an ability to sustain growth at high concentrations of OPEO(n) and use it as the sole carbon source under such a stress condition. Furthermore, LC-MS analysis showed that the biodegradation mechanism of dodecyl octaethoxylate (AEO8) by P. nitroreducens TX1 was the sequential cleavage of the ethoxylate chain.     

Effects of ozone on growth, yield and leaf gas exchange rates of two Bangladeshi cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

To clarify the effects of O₃ on crop plants cultivated in Bangladesh, two Bangladeshi wheat cultivars (Sufi and Bijoy) were grown in plastic boxes filled with Andisol and exposed daily to charcoal-filtered air or O₃ at 60 and 100 nl l⁻¹ (10:00-17:00) from 13 March to 4 June 2008. The whole-plant dry mass and grain yield per plant of the two cultivars at the final harvest were significantly reduced by the exposure to O₃. Although there was no significant effect of O₃ on stomatal diffusive conductance to H₂O of flag leaf, net photosynthetic rate of the leaf was significantly reduced by the exposure to O_3. The sensitivity of growth, yield, yield components and leaf gas exchange rates to O₃ was not significantly different between the two cultivars. The results obtained in the present study suggest that ambient levels of O₃ may detrimentally affect wheat production in Bangladesh.     

Phytotoxicity of atrazine, isoproturon, and diuron to submersed macrophytes in outdoor mesocosms

The submersed macrophytes Elodea canadensis, Myriophyllum spicatum and Potamogeton lucens were constantly exposed over a five-week period to environmentally relevant concentrations of atrazine, isoproturon, diuron, and their mixture in outdoor mesocosms. Effects were evaluated investigating photosynthetic efficiency (PE) of the three macrophytes and growth of M. spicatum and E. canadensis. Adverse effects on PE were observed on days 2 and 5 after application. M. spicatum was found to be the more sensitive macrophyte. E. canadensis and P. lucens were less sensitive to atrazine, diuron and the mixture and insensitive to isoproturon. PE of M. spicatum was similarly affected by the single herbicides and the mixture demonstrating concentration addition. Growth of E. canadensis and M. spicatum was not reduced indicating that herbicide exposure did not impair plant development. Although PE measurements turned out to be a sensitive method to monitor PSII herbicides, plant growth remains the more relevant ecological endpoint in risk assessment.     

The presence of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) protein in earthworms Eisenia fetida has no deleterious effects on their growth and reproduction

Earthworms Eisenia fetida, bred in substances with stover of two genetically-engineered Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corns (5422Bt1 (Event Bt11) and 5422CBCL (MON810)) expressing Cry1Ab and their near-isogenic non-Bt corn (5422), were used to investigate the non-target effects of Bt corn on soil-dwelling organisms. Cry1Ab concentrations in substances, casts and guts of E. fetida were also investigated by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). More than 90% individuals of E. fetida survived over a period of 30 d, irrespective of whether they received Bt corn or non-Bt corn. Compared to 5422 treatments, significantly higher relative growth rate and more number of new offspring and cocoons of E. fetida were found in 5422Bt1 and 5422CBCL treatments. These results were unlikely to be directly caused by Cry1Ab released from Bt corns but rather by differences in other factors of plants such as plant components (soluble sugar, total organic carbon, total protein and available phosphorus of Bt corns were more than 5422). ELISA results indicated immunoreactive Cry1Ab was detectable in substances, and the casts, guts of E. fetida from Bt corns treatments, of which the highest levels were detected in substances under the corresponding experimental conditions. With the increase of treated time, a strong decline was observed in Cry1Ab from substances and casts of E. fetida, whereas Cry1Ab in guts of E. fetida from 5422Bt1 treatments gradually increased and that from 5422CBCL treatments increased between 14 and 30 d. Therefore, the presence of Cry1Ab in E. fetida had no deleterious effects on their growth and reproduction.     

Hormesis and plant biology

A database has been developed that demonstrates experimental evidence of hormesis. It includes information from a broad range of biological models, including plants, and information on study design, dose-response features, and physical/chemical properties of the agents. An assessment of plant hormetic dose responses is presented based on greater than 3000 plant endpoints. Plant hormetic dose responses were observed for numerous endpoints including disease incidence, reproductive indices, mutagenic endpoints, various metabolic parameters, developmental processes, and a range of growth indicators. Quantitative features of these dose responses typically display a maximum stimulatory response less than two-fold greater than controls and a width of the stimulatory response usually less than 10-fold in dose range. The database establishes that hormetic dose responses commonly occur in plants, are broadly generalizable, and have quantitative features similar to hormetic dose responses found for animals.     

Effects of tree size and spatial distribution on growth of ponderosa pine forests under alternative management scenarios

Forest ecosystems may be actively managed toward heterogeneous stand structures to provide both economic (e.g., wood production and carbon credits) and environmental benefits (e.g., invasive pest resistance). In order to facilitate wider adoption of possibly more sustainable forest stand structures, defining growth expectations among alternative management scenarios is crucial. To estimate the effect of tree size and spatial distributions on growth for forest structures commonly considered in uneven-aged forest stand management, large (0.2 ha+) plots were established in 14 uneven-aged ponderosa pine stands in eastern Montana. All study trees were stem-mapped and measured for diameter and 10-year sapwood and basal area increment. A generalized growth model was developed to predict both total and merchantable 10-year basal area increment for nine hypothetical stand structures [three diameter distributions (reverse-J, irregular, flat) × three spatial distributions (clumpy, partial clumpy, uniform)]. Results indicate that the size and spatial distributions of individual trees have a considerable effect on overall stand growth. The greatest total stand growth was in stands with reverse “J” shaped tree size distributions, while the greatest merchantable stand growth was in stands with “flat” diameter distributions and uniform spatial distributions. Through better comprehension of generalized uneven-aged stand growth dynamics, forest managers may better assess the effects of alternative stand structures on stand growth while providing forest stand structures that may be more resilient in a changing climate.