Heavy metals (Cu and Zn) in recent sediments of Llangorse Lake,Wales: non-ferrous smelting,Napoleon and the price of wheat — a palaeoecological study

Elevated concentrations of Cu and Zn have been found in the upper part of three sediment cores collected from Llangorse Lake, in south Wales. Palaeomagnetic evidence from one of the cores and ²¹⁰Pb analysis of another, suggests that the increase in sediment Cu and Zn concentrations began during the eighteenth century. A sharp increase in the concentrations of these metals in the sediment profile appears to have occurred during the latter part of the eighteenth century and these concentrations remained high until the mid to late nineteenth century.The absence of known ore deposits and industry around the lake suggests that the lake and catchment soils were increasingly contaminated by long-range aerial transport of emissions from the expanding activity of Cu and Zn smelters located some 80 km upwind in the Swansea area during the Industrial Revolution. Evidence from agricultural crop returns indicates a significant increase in the amount of land devoted to tillage in the catchment, particularly to cereal production, during the late eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century which included the Napoleonic Wars. This agricultural shift appears to coincide with increased concentrations of Cu and Zn in the lake sediments. It is suggested that newly ploughed soils, contaminated with metals for many years by long-range aerial transport from the Swansea area, eroded, and were carried into the lake by catchment run-off and added to the sediment burden of Cu and Zn. A subsequent decline of Cu and Zn emissions due to the collapse of the non-ferrous smelting industry and reduced soil erosion because of a 50% reduction of tillage due to an agricultural depression in the second half of the 19th century may explain the fall in Cu and Zn concentrations in the upper part of the sediment profile. The most recent sediments (20th century) show the increase in heavy metals characteristic of many lakes around the world.     

Measuring maximum root growth instead of longest root elongation in metal tolerance tests for grasses (Agrostis capillaris,Agrostis delicatula and Agrostis castellana)

Longest root elongation diminished significantly in the three species tested from 6 mm d^-1 to 3 mm d^-1 in 3 weeks. During this period S.D. increased considerably (from 49% to 112%, A. castellana), and accounted on the average for 68% (A. capillaris) till 94% (A. castellana) of the mean. Maximum root growth stabilized at 6 mm d^-1 and showed less variation in the measurements (S.D. 52% of the mean). Growth of the originally longest root approaches zero in all three species, in accordance with the natural cease of growth of roots in grasses fascicular root system. Measuring maximum root growth instead of longest root elongation is proposed for testing metal tolerance of grasses in sequential experiments.     

Root-microbial effects on plant iron uptake from siderophores and phytosiderophores

Collaborative experiments were conducted to determine whether microbial populations associated with plant roots may artifactually affect the rates of Fe uptake and translocation from microbial siderophores and phytosiderophores. Results showed nonaxenic maize to have 2 to 34-fold higher Fe-uptake rates than axenically grown plants when supplied with 1 μM Fe as either the microbial siderophore, ferrioxamine B (FOB), or the barley phytosiderophore, epi-hydroxymugineic acid (HMA). In experiments with nonsterile plants, inoculation of maize or oat seedlings with soil microorganisms and amendment of the hydroponic nutrient solutions with sucrose resulted in an 8-fold increase in FOB-mediated Fe-uptake rates by Fe-stressed maize and a 150-fold increase in FOB iron uptake rates by Fe-stressed oat, but had no effect on iron uptake by Fe-sufficient plants. Conversely, Fe-stressed maize and oat plants supplied with HMA showed decreased uptake and translocation in response to microbial inoculation and sucrose amendment. The ability of root-associated microorganisms to affect Fe-uptake rates from siderophores and phytosiderophores, even in short-term uptake experiments, indicates that microorganisms can be an unpredictable confounding factor in experiments examining mechanisms for utilization of microbial siderophores or phytosiderophores under nonsterile conditions.     

Developmental variation in copper,zinc and metallothionein mRNA in brindled mutant and nutritionally copper deficient mice

The concentrations of copper, zinc and metallothionein-I (MT-I) mRNA were determined in the liver, kidney and brain of the brindled mutant mouse from birth until the time of death. Despite accumulation of copper in the kidney of the mutant, MT-I mRNA concentrations were normal. There was no difference between the MT-I mRNA in the brain of mutant and normal in the first 10 days of life, but after day 10 metallothionein mRNA levels were increased in the mutant. The concentration of copper was very low in the liver of the mutant, and on day 6 after birth the metallothionein mRNA was also reduced by about 50%. This reduction was not seen in copper-deficient 6-day-old pups, despite very low hepatic copper levels. This suggests that the lower hepatic MT-I mRNA in the day 6 brindled mouse was not simply due to the reduction in hepatic copper and also that hepatic copper is not regulating metallothionein gene expression the liver of neonatal mice. After day 12 hepatic MT-I mRNA levels were elevated in mutant and in copper deficient mice, both of which die at 14 to 16 days. These increases and the increase in brain MT-I mRNA in older mutant mice are likely to be caused by stress. Overall the results support the conclusions that the brindled mutation does not cause a constitutive activation of the metallothionein genes, and that the differences in metallothionein mRNA between mutant and normal are most probably secondary consequences of the mutation.     

Glucose oxidase immobilized electrode for potentiometric estimation of glucose

Glucose oxidase has been immobilized onto a thin platinum strip, by co-crosslinking with bovine serum albumin and glutaraldehyde. The retention of redox characteristics of glucose oxidase has been verified by cyclic voltammetry. The activity of the immobilized enzyme reduces to a quarter of its value when the enzyme is in solution but improves when coimmobilized with 1 urea. The potentiometric response builds up and remains stable after 100 s. It is sensitive to the thickness of the immobilizing matrix, pH and temperature. An improvement in the performance of the electrode has been achieved by coimmobilizing 2 urea and metal ions such as Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺. The presence of Cu has been proved to be detrimental. The electrode has been calibrated in the 0.1–5.0 mM glucose concentration range. It gives a stable response for more than 50 independent assays and can be stored for 60 days without significant loss of function.     

Whole-lake experimentation as a tool to assess ecosystem health,response to stress and recovery: the Experimental Lakes Area experience

The rationale and methods for and value of whole-lake experimentation are described using the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), northwestern Ontario, as the example. The ELA consists of 46 lakes (< 100 ha in surface area), their watersheds, and several streams protected for research purposes in near-pristine boreal forest on the Precambrian Shield near Kenora, Ontario. Over more than 20 y, whole-lake experimentation has provided unique information on the effects on lakes of nutrient additions, acidification, Cd addition, and biomanipulation. Experiments are planned to study the effects of PCB addition and flooding. Recovery, mitigation, and remediation have been explored in some experiments. As well, the fate of radioactive metals in a lake and the effects of acidification on a poor fen and an upland watershed are studied. Comparison between the experimental systems and unmanipulated reference systems has proven to be essential. These reference systems also have a role in defining (absolute) aquatic ecosystem health for small, pristine Precambrian Shield lakes. The ELA experimental data base is available, as well, for calibrating indices of relative aquatic ecosystem health, i.e., environmental degradation, using the dose-responses of lakes to eutrophication, acidification, Cd addition, and other stressors.     

The pH-independent effect of aluminum on cultures of phytoplankton from an acidic Wisconsin lake

Negative correlations between aluminum and planktonic algal abundance have been reported in acidic lakes. Natural assemblages of phytoplankton from a low-pH, low-Al lake (Franklin Lake, WI) were grown in semi-continuous cultures consisting of four treatments at pH 5.7 with 0.0, 50, 100, and 200 μg Al L⁻¹ and one treatment at pH 4.7 with no Al added. Asterionella ralfsii var. americana (a common diatom plankter in acidic lakes) grew well at both pH 4.7 and 5.7 when no Al was added but declined in all other treatments and so may be useful as an indicator of acidic, low monomeric-Al conditions. Other common plankters that showed this pattern included: Arthrodesmus indentatus, Ar. octocornus, Ar. quiriferus, Staurastrum arachne var. curvatum, S. longipes var. contractum, and S. pentacerum. Common taxa showing no toxic effects of Al were Dinobryon bavaricum, Peridinium limbatum, Stenokalyx monilifera, Elaktothrix sp. and Oedogonium sp. We hypothesize that metal toxicity as a pulse at spring snowmelt could dramatically change algal succession in moderately acidic lakes. The experimental results agreed well with field observations. These types of experiments are useful for predicting the responses of natural phytoplankton communities to increases in Al concentration.     

Alcohol dehydrogenase isozymes inGossypium hirsutum and its putative diploid progenitors: The biochemical consequences of enzyme multiplicity

Electrophoretic variation in alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was examined in tetraploidGossypium hirsutum and its putative diploid progenitorsG. ramondii, G. herbaceum, and a close relative,G. arboreum. All the diploids had three isozymes, while strains of the tetraploidG. hirsutum had either 4 or 6. Each isozyme was eluted from starch gels and significant differences in activity were noted between several of the isozymes relative to pH, substrate, temperature and salinity. This suggests that an increase in enzyme heterozygosity can result in higher levels of developmental homeostasis, but it depends on the isozyme alleles involved. Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Article No. 10379.     

Localised uptake of63nickel into dinoflagellate chromosomes: An autoradiographic study

Summary The uptake of⁶³Ni into cells of the binucleate dinoflagellateGlenodinium foliaceum was investigated using insoluble compound light and electron microscope autoradiography. Cells labelled over a period of 2 hours showed active uptake throughout the whole population, with an increase in mean cell grain count when the labelling period was extended to 4 hours and 24 hours. The mean grain count did not vary with type of fixation (glutaraldehyde, paraformaldehyde or acetic alcohol) suggesting that retention of⁶³ Ni is not a specific fixation-binding artefact. At light microscope level, silver grains were not localised to any major cell component, but with the greater resolution of electron microscope autoradiography, a high degree of localisation was demonstrated in the typical dinoflagellate (dinocaryotic) nucleus-which contained about 83% of the cell label (cytoplasm 16%, supernumerary nucleus 1%). Silver grain distribution within the dinocaryotic nucleus was consistent with some degree of localisation to the condensed chromatin.The autoradiographic results corroborate previous X-ray microanalytical data which demonstrated high levels of transition metals in dinoflagellate nuclei. The distinction between the two types of nucleus inGlenodinium is further emphasised, giving additional support to the concept of a separate phyllogenetic origin of the supernumerary nucleus.