Ecosystem-atmosphere CO(2) exchange: interpreting signals of change using stable isotope ratios

Changes in the concentration and stable isotope ratio of atmospheric CO(2) can be used to study variations in the net exchange of carbon dioxide in terrestrial ecosystems (net difference between total photosynthesis and respiration). Changes in the timing of seasonal fluctuations in atmospheric CO(2) concentration have suggested that net uptake of carbon dioxide has been increasing in northern latitude ecosystems in association with warmer temperatures and a lengthening of the growing season. Stable isotope techniques allow a more detailed separation of differences between ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration because these two processes have contrasting effects on both the carbon and oxygen isotope ratio of atmospheric CO(2). Future applications of stable isotope analyses include documenting and monitoring the influence of global environmental change on ecosystem CO(2) exchange at regional scales (10-1000km(2)).     

水生生态系统的碳循环及对大气CO2的汇

水生生态系统,特别是海洋无疑是大气CO2的一个巨大的汇。海洋对大气CO2的汇以及大气圈和海洋之间碳的变换量在很大程度上取于混合层碳酸盐化学、水中溶解碳的平流传输、CO2通过空气－－海水界面的扩散、海洋生物生产和所产生的有面碳化合物的沉隆等,现在已建立和发展了多种海洋碳子模型以对CO2的汇进行估测。根据国内外研究资料,综述了水生生态系统碳循环过程及“生物泵”作用机制等方面的研究进展;介绍了两大类主要的海洋碳子模型：厢式模型和普通环流模型,采用这些模型对海洋碳汇的估算约为1.2-2.4GtC/a;分析了湖泊、河流等对大气CO2汇的特点及向海洋的转移,并对影响水体生态系统碳循环和大气CO2汇的因素进行了讨论。     

Molecular dynamics simulations to determine the effect of supercritical carbon dioxide on the structural integrity of hen egg white lysozyme

In this study, various molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of supercritical carbon dioxide on the structural integrity of hen egg white lysozyme. The analyses of backbone root-mean-square deviation, radius of gyration, and secondary structure stability all show that supercritical CO(2) exhibits the ability to increase the stability of this protein, probably as a result of the solvent with less polarity, where hydrophobic interactions stabilizing the native structure are weakened and simultaneously the local hydrogen bonds are strengthened, resulting in stabilization of the secondary structures. The hydrophobic cores in the alpha- and beta-domains also play an important role in preventing this protein from thermal unfolding. As supercritical CO(2) has been attractive for biomedical applications because of the advantages of mild critical condition, nonflammability, nontoxity, and the purity of the resulting products, the structural stabilizing effect found in this study strongly suggests that it is possible to increase the thermostability of hen egg white lysozyme by pretreatment with supercritical CO(2), leading to better industrial applications of this protein.     

Water use dynamics of dryland canola (Brassica napus L.) grown on contrasting soils under elevated CO2

Plant and Soil - Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) stimulates the leaf-level (intrinsic) water use efficiency (iWUE), which may mitigate the adverse effects of drought by...     

The synthesis of amino acids and sugars on an inorganic template from constituents of the prebiotic atmosphere

Inelastic Electron Tunnelling Spectroscopy (IETS) has been used to identify the reaction products present on an alumina surface when it is exposed to likely components of the earth's prebiotic atmosphere. The alumina barrier of Al-AlO _x -Pb tunnelling junctions have been exposed to water; aqueous ammonia; wet carbon monoxide gas and to aqueous formaldehyde vapour under normal atmospheric conditions at room temperature. The water spectrum shows strong coincidence with that of a genuine sample of formic acid. It is proposed that atmospheric CO₂ is involved in this surface catalyzed reaction. The aqueous ammonia spectrum is assigned as an amino acid species produced from ammonia, water and atmospheric carbon dioxide. This spectrum compares very closely with the tunnelling spectrum of a genuine sample of glycine. The wet carbon monoxide spectrum and the aqueous formaldehyde spectrum have been produced by an infusion doping process. These spectra of CO and aqueous formaldehyde are assigned as a sugar like polymer or a sugar formed on the alumina surface. A tunnelling spectrum of D(–) fructose has been produced to aid this assignment. The role of an inorganic template such as alumina in the original prebiotic synthesis of amino acids and sugars is considered.     

Flowering time and elevated atmospheric CO2

Flowering is a critical milestone in the life cycle of plants, and changes in the timing of flowering may alter processes at the species, community and ecosystem levels. Therefore understanding flowering-time responses to global change drivers, such as elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, [CO(2)], is necessary to predict the impacts of global change on natural and agricultural ecosystems. Here we summarize the results of 60 studies reporting flowering-time responses (defined as the time to first visible flower) of both crop and wild species at elevated [CO(2)]. These studies suggest that elevated [CO(2)] will influence flowering time in the future. In addition, interactions between elevated [CO(2)] and other global change factors may further complicate our ability to predict changes in flowering time. One approach to overcoming this problem is to elucidate the primary mechanisms that control flowering-time responses to elevated [CO(2)]. Unfortunately, the mechanisms controlling these responses are not known. However, past work has indicated that carbon metabolism exerts partial control on flowering time, and therefore may be involved in elevated [CO(2)]-induced changes in flowering time. This review also indicates the need for more studies addressing the effects of global change drivers on developmental processes in plants.     

Adaptive signals in algal Rubisco reveal a history of ancient atmospheric carbon dioxide

Rubisco, the most abundant enzyme on the Earth and responsible for all photosynthetic carbon fixation, is often thought of as a highly conserved and sluggish enzyme. Yet, different algal Rubiscos demonstrate a range of kinetic properties hinting at a history of evolution and adaptation. Here, we show that algal Rubisco has indeed evolved adaptively during ancient and distinct geological periods. Using DNA sequences of extant marine algae of the red and Chromista lineage, we define positive selection within the large subunit of Rubisco, encoded by rbcL, to occur basal to the radiation of modern marine groups. This signal of positive selection appears to be responding to changing intracellular concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) triggered by physiological adaptations to declining atmospheric CO(2). Within the ecologically important Haptophyta (including coccolithophores) and Bacillariophyta (diatoms), positive selection occurred consistently during periods of falling Phanerozoic CO(2) and suggests emergence of carbon-concentrating mechanisms. During the Proterozoic, a strong signal of positive selection after secondary endosymbiosis occurs at the origin of the Chromista lineage (approx. 1.1 Ga), with further positive selection events until 0.41 Ga, implying a significant and continuous decrease in atmospheric CO(2) encompassing the Cryogenian Snowball Earth events. We surmise that positive selection in Rubisco has been caused by declines in atmospheric CO(2) and hence acts as a proxy for ancient atmospheric CO(2).     

Long-term relationships among atmospheric CO2, stomata, and intrinsic water use efficiency in individual trees

Leaf-level responses to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentrations could have large implications for water and carbon cycles. We investigated whether stomatal density, guard cell length, and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) of 27 individual trees growing at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts have responded to changing environmental conditions over the last 100 years. We examined leaves from 74 herbarium specimens collected from three genera-Acer (maples), Quercus (oaks), and Carpinus (hornbeams)-from 1893 to 2006. During this period, global average atmospheric CO(2) concentrations increased by approximately 29% (86 ppm), and temperatures in Boston increased by 1.8°C. Stomatal density and guard cell length were negatively correlated in oaks and hornbeams. Although stomatal density declined and guard cell length increased over time, the changes were not dependent on the magnitude of changes in CO(2) concentrations. Intrinsic WUE did not change significantly over time. Our findings suggest that iWUE may not respond to changes in CO(2) concentrations over the lifetimes of individual trees, possibly because of compensating changes in stomatal density and guard cell size. We provide an example of a method that can enable researchers to differentiate between genetic and plastic responses to global change in long-lived trees.     

Backbone Flexibility of CDR3 and Immune Recognition of Antigens

Conformational entropy is an important component of protein–protein interactions; however, there is no reliable method for computing this parameter. We have developed a statistical measure of residual backbone entropy in folded proteins by using the ?–ψ distributions of the 20 amino acids in common secondary structures. The backbone entropy patterns of amino acids within helix, sheet or coil form clusters that recapitulate the branching and hydrogen bonding properties of the side chains in the secondary structure type. The same types of residues in coil and sheet have identical backbone entropies, while helix residues have much smaller conformational entropies. We estimated the backbone entropy change for immunoglobulin complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) from the crystal structures of 34 low-affinity T-cell receptors and 40 high-affinity Fabs as a result of the formation of protein complexes. Surprisingly, we discovered that the computed backbone entropy loss of only the CDR3, but not all CDRs, correlated significantly with the kinetic and affinity constants of the 74 selected complexes. Consequently, we propose a simple algorithm to introduce proline mutations that restrict the conformational flexibility of CDRs and enhance the kinetics and affinity of immunoglobulin interactions. Combining the proline mutations with rationally designed mutants from a previous study led to 2400-fold increase in the affinity of the A6 T-cell receptor for Tax-HLAA2. However, this mutational scheme failed to induce significant binding changes in the already-high-affinity C225–Fab/huEGFR interface. Our results will serve as a roadmap to formulate more effective target functions to design immune complexes with improved biological functions.     

Significance of aromatic-backbone amide interactions in protein structure

Weakly polar interactions between aromatic rings of amino acids and hydrogens of backbone amides (Ar-HN) have been shown to support local structures in proteins. Their role in secondary structures, however, has not been elucidated. To investigate the relationship between Ar-HN interaction and the stability of local and secondary structures of polypeptides and to improve the prediction of this interaction based on amino acid sequence, the structures of 560 nonhomologous proteins, from the Protein Data Bank, were searched for Ar-HN interactions between the aromatic ring of each Phe, Tyr, and Trp residue at position i and the backbone amide group of any residue, except Pro, at the positions i, i - 1, i - 2, i - 3, i + 1, i + 2, and i + 3. Ar-HN interactions were identified by calculating the chemical shift of the amide hydrogen caused by the proximal aromatic ring. Ar(i)-HN(i + 1, i + 2 and i + 3) interactions were more common (7.10%, 2.08%, and 0.54%, respectively) than were Ar(i)-HN(i - 1, i - 2, and i - 3) interactions (0.66%, <0.1%, and 0.18%, respectively). The value of the chi(1) torsion angle of the aromatic residue in position i depended on the direction of the Ar-HN interaction. The position of the aromatic ring in Ar(i)-HN(i + 1, i + 2, and i + 3) interactions was mostly trans, in Ar(i)-HN(i - 1, i - 2, and i - 3) interactions mainly gauche(-), and in Ar(i)-HN(i) interactions mostly gauche(+). The analyses of the secondary structures of the protein fragments containing Ar-HN interactions showed that Ar-HN interactions were in all types of secondary structures. Search results suggest that Ar-HN interactions have a stabilizing effect on all types of secondary structures.     

Heritable variation in stomatal responses to elevated CO2 in wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum (Brassicaceae)

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide may affect plant populations in the short term through effects on photosynthesis and carbon allocation, and over the long term as an agent of natural selection. To test for heritable effects of elevated CO2 on stomatal responses and plant fecundity in Raphanus raphanistrum, we grew plants from 12 paternal families in outdoor open-top chambers at ambient (35 Pa) or elevated (67 Pa) CO2. Contrary to results from a previous study of this species, total flower and fruit production were marginally lower under elevated CO2. Across families, stomatal index and guard cell length showed little response to CO2 enrichment, but these characters varied significantly among paternal families in both the direction and magnitude of their response to changing CO2. Although these family-by-CO2 interactions suggest that natural selection might affect stomatal characters when ambient CO2 levels increase, we found no significant correlation between either character and flower or fruit production. Therefore, our data suggest that while heritable variation for stomatal index and guard cell length exists in this population, selection due to increasing CO2 is not likely to act on these traits because they had no detectable effect on lifetime fecundity.     

大气CO2增加对陆地生态系统微量气体地-气交换的影响

简要综述了近年来国内外在大气CO2浓度增加对微量气体交换影响方面的研究进展,首先介绍了有关大气CO2浓度增加的研究技术和方法,比较了目前两种常用技术开顶箱（OTC）和开放式空气CO2增加（FACE）方法的优缺点,然后着重阐述了用OTC和FACE研究陆地生态系统CH4、N2O、CO2等微量气体的地气交换对大气CO2浓度增加的响应,综合现有的资料表明,大气CO2浓度增加,会促进绿色植物生物量增加,同时改变生物质的C/N,降低有机质的分解速率,增强了陆地生态系统对大气CO2的固特作用;大气CO2浓度增加会提高产甲烷菌的活性和影响CH4的排放过程,有可能导致湿地生态系统CH4的排放增加;大气CO2浓度增加对N2O排放影响的研究较少,且尚无一致的结论;另外,对于其他微量气体,尚没有盯关研究报道,鉴于此,今后应加强大气CO2浓度增加的微量气体地气交换响应研究。     

Nitrogen additions reduce rhizospheric and heterotrophic respiration in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest

Plant and Soil - Increasing global atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has a considerable impact on soil respiration. Due to different carbon dioxide (CO2) resources of different components of soil...     

Physiological Impacts of Elevated CO2 Concentration Ranging from Molecular to Whole Plant Responses

The dynamics of the terrestrial ecosystems depend on interactions between a number of biogeochemical cycles (i.e. carbon, nutrient, and hydrological cycles) that may be modified by human actions. Conversely, terrestrial ecosystems are important components of these cycles that create the sources and sinks of important greenhouse gases (e.g. carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide). Especially, carbon is exchanged naturally among these ecosystems and the atmosphere through photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and combustion processes. Continuous increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration has led to extensive research over the last two decades, during which more then 1 400 scientific papers describing impacts of elevated [CO₂] (EC) on photosynthesis have been published. However, the degree of response is very variable, depending on species, growing conditions, mineral nutrition, and duration of CO₂ enrichment. In this review, I have summarised the major physiological responses of plants, in particular of trees, to EC including molecular and primary, especially photosynthetic, physiological responses. Likewise, secondary (photosynthate translocation and plant water status) and tertiary whole plant responses including also plant to plant competition are shown.     

Stomatal density of cowpea correlates with carbon isotope discrimination in different phosphorus, water and CO2 environments

* Stomatal formation is affected by a plant's external environment, with long-distance signaling from mature to young leaves seemingly involved. However, it is still unclear what is responsible for this signal. To address this question, the relationship between carbon isotope discrimination (Delta) and stomatal density was examined in cowpea (Vigna sinensis). * Plants were grown under various environments that combined different amounts of soil phosphorus (P), soil water, and atmospheric CO(2). At harvest, stomatal density was measured in the youngest fully expanded leaf. The (13)C : (12)C ratio was measured in a young leaf to determine the Delta in mature leaves. * Results indicated that stomatal density is affected by P as well as by amounts of water and CO(2). However, stomatal responses to water and CO(2) were complex because of strong interactions with P. This suggests that the responses are relative, depending on some internal factor being affected by each external variable. Despite such complicated responses, a linear correlation was found between stomatal density and Delta across all environments examined. * It is proposed that the Delta value is a good surrogate for the long-term mean of the intercellular (C(i)) to the atmospheric (C(a)) CO(2) concentration ratio (C(i) : C(a)) and may be useful in understanding stomatal formation beyond complicated interactions.     

Comparison of Atmospheric Conditions for Culture of Clinical Specimens of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

We cultured 55 clinical specimens of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the following atmospheric conditions: (i) 10% carbon dioxide in a CO(2) incubator; (ii) a candle extinction jar; (iii) an air convection incubator; and (iv) an anaerobic jar without added CO(2). The number and size of colonies growing on modified Thayer-Martin medium were evaluated after incubation of cultures for 24 and 48 h at 36 C. After 24 h, the specimens from the candle extinction jar had the greatest number and size of colonies, but after 48 h growth was approximately equal for specimens from the candle jar and the CO(2) incubator. Only 19 of 55 specimens grew in the air convention incubator. None of 55 clinical specimens or of 10 laboratory strains grew anaerobically. Development of colonial morphology for colony types 1, 2, 3, and 4 was studied at 24 h on a base medium that contained no hemoglobin. The relative numbers of the four colony types in specimens were comparable after 24 h of incubation in any of the three atmospheric conditions under which growth occurred, but the different types were distinguished most readily when grown in the candle extinction jar.     

CO2浓度变化对拟柱胞藻生长与光合作用的影响

为了探讨大气CO₂浓度升高对水华藻类的影响,利用水华蓝藻-拟柱胞藻作为实验材料,研究了CO₂浓度升高对其生长生理和光合作用的影响,结果表明CO₂浓度升高,导致拟柱胞藻的生物量、最大光合放氧速率、光合效率显著增加。当CO₂浓度为700 mg/L以下,暗呼吸速率和光饱和点无明显影响,而CO₂浓度为1000 mg/L时,暗呼吸速率和光饱和点显著提高。随着CO₂浓度增加,藻细胞光合作用对无机碳的亲和力降低,同时胞外碳酸酐酶活性显著下降。这表明大气CO₂浓度的增加,有利于拟柱胞藻的生长和光合,进而增加了水华发生的风险。     

Genetic manipulation of stomatal density influences stomatal size, plant growth and tolerance to restricted water supply across a growth carbon dioxide gradient

To investigate the impact of manipulating stomatal density, a collection of Arabidopsis epidermal patterning factor (EPF) mutants with an approximately 16-fold range of stomatal densities (approx. 20-325% of that of control plants) were grown at three atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentrations (200, 450 and 1000 ppm), and 30 per cent or 70 per cent soil water content. A strong negative correlation between stomatal size (S) and stomatal density (D) was observed, suggesting that factors that control D also affect S. Under some but not all conditions, mutant plants exhibited abnormal stomatal density responses to CO(2) concentration, suggesting that the EPF signalling pathway may play a role in the environmental adjustment of D. In response to reduced water availability, maximal stomatal conductance was adjusted through reductions in S, rather than D. Plant size negatively correlated with D. For example, at 450 ppm CO(2) EPF2-overexpressing plants, with reduced D, had larger leaves and increased dry weight in comparison with controls. The growth of these plants was also less adversely affected by reduced water availability than plants with higher D, indicating that plants with low D may be well suited to growth under predicted future atmospheric CO(2) environments and/or water-scarce environments.     

Ternary effects on the gas exchange of isotopologues of carbon dioxide

The ternary effects of transpiration rate on the rate of assimilation of carbon dioxide through stomata, and on the calculation of the intercellular concentration of carbon dioxide, are now included in standard gas exchange studies. However, the equations for carbon isotope discrimination and for the exchange of oxygen isotopologues of carbon dioxide ignore ternary effects. Here we introduce equations to take them into account. The ternary effect is greatest when the leaf-to-air vapour mole fraction difference is greatest, and its impact is greatest on parameters derived by difference, such as the mesophyll resistance to CO(2) assimilation, r(m) . We show that the mesophyll resistance to CO(2) assimilation has been underestimated in the past. The impact is also large when there is a large difference in isotopic composition between the CO(2) inside the leaf and that in the air. We show that this partially reconciles estimates of the oxygen isotopic composition of CO(2) in the chloroplast and mitochondria in the light and in the dark, with values close to equilibrium with the estimated oxygen isotopic composition of water at the sites of evaporation within the leaf.     

小叶锦鸡儿根际微生物群落功能多样性对环境变化的响应

利用Biolog技术对内蒙古草原灌丛优势种小叶锦鸡儿(Caragana microphylla)根际土壤微生物群落功能多样性特征及其对大气CO2浓度、土壤氮水平和土壤水分3个环境因子变化的响应进行了研究。结果表明:(1)小叶锦鸡儿根际土壤微生物利用碳源总量在整个培养过程中呈逐渐增加的趋势。其利用比例较高的碳源类型为聚合物、糖类和氨基酸。(2)主成分分析表明,8个处理组的微生物群落功能多样性差异显著,其中与主成分1显著相关的碳源有14种,分别属于聚合物、糖类、氨基酸和羧酸。(3)加倍CO2浓度极显著提高平均颜色变化率(AWCD)以及丰富度指数和Shannon均匀度。(4)氮素添加使AWCD、丰富度指数和Shannon均匀度均极显著降低,其抑制效应在加倍CO2浓度时有所缓解。(5)加水处理对上述指标均有一定的促进作用,但是差异未达显著水平。(6)加倍CO2浓度和氮素添加联合处理下,小叶锦鸡儿根际微生物活性高于对照处理,说明加倍CO2浓度对微生物活性的促进效应强于添加氮素的抑制效应。(7)CO2和氮素对上述指标有交互作用。综上所述,小叶锦鸡儿根际土壤微生物群落的功能在很大程度上受到外界环境因子的影响,对环境变化较敏感的碳源类型为聚合物、糖类、氨基酸和羧酸,与利用比例较高的碳源类型基本一致。