Quantification of Mineral Elements of Rheum emodi Wallr. (Polygonaceae)

Present investigation was carried out to estimate mineral elements in Rheum emodi Wallr. by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The samples of R. emodi Wallr., both wild and cultivate populations, were collected from different localities at different altitudes of Uttarakhand, India. The concentration of micro- and macroelements was different in roots and leaves. The concentration of mineral elements was found in both the leaves and roots in the order of K?>?Ca?>?Fe?>?Mn?>?Na?>?Zn?>?Co?>?Li?>?Cu.     

Mapping QTLs for mineral accumulation and shoot dry biomass under different Zn nutritional conditions in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis)

Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) is one of the most important vegetables in China. Genetic dissection of leaf mineral accumulation and tolerance to Zn stress is important for the improvement of the nutritional quality of Chinese cabbage by breeding. A mapping population with 183 doubled haploid (DH) lines was used to study the genetics of mineral accumulation and the growth response to Zn. The genetic map was constructed based on 203 AFLPs, 58 SSRs, 22 SRAPs and four ESTPs. The concentration of 11 minerals was determined in leaves for 142 DH lines grown in an open field. In addition shoot dry biomass (SDB) under normal, deficient and excessive Zn nutritional conditions were investigated in hydroponics experiments. Ten QTLs, each explaining 11.1–17.1% of the Na, Mg, P, Al, Fe, Mn, Zn and Sr concentration variance, were identified by multiple-QTL model (MQM) mapping. One common QTL was found affecting SDB under normal, deficient and excessive Zn nutritional conditions. An additional QTL was detected for SDB under Zn excess stress only. These results offer insights into the genetic basis of leaf mineral accumulation and plant growth under Zn stress conditions in Chinese cabbage.     

Study on the Variations of Mineral Elements in Swertia speciosa (G. Don)

Variations of micro- and macrominerals concentration in Swertia speciosa were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The mineral elements showed significant changes in roots and leaves collected from different altitudes. Among all the elements, highest concentration (more than 2,000 mg/kg) of Ca and K were recorded in S. speciosa and the concentration of other elements analyzed in the study decreased in the order Fe>Na>Zn>Co>Li>Cu>Mn.     

Characterization of Two Subsurface H2-Utilizing Bacteria, Desulfomicrobium hypogeium sp. nov. and Acetobacterium psammolithicum sp. nov., and Their Ecological Roles

We examined the relative roles of acetogenic and sulfate-reducing bacteria in H₂ consumption in a previously characterized subsurface sandstone ecosystem. Enrichment cultures originally inoculated with ground sandstone material obtained from a Cretaceous formation in central New Mexico were grown with hydrogen in a mineral medium supplemented with 0.02% yeast extract. Sulfate reduction and acetogenesis occurred in these cultures, and the two most abundant organisms carrying out the reactions were isolated. Based on 16S rRNA analysis data and on substrate utilization patterns, these organisms were named Desulfomicrobium hypogeium sp. nov. and Acetobacterium psammolithicum sp. nov. The steady-state H₂ concentrations measured in sandstone-sediment slurries (threshold concentration, 5 nM), in pure cultures of sulfate reducers (threshold concentration, 2 nM), and in pure cultures of acetogens (threshold concentrations 195 to 414 nM) suggest that sulfate reduction is the dominant terminal electron-accepting process in the ecosystem examined. In an experiment in which direct competition for H₂ between D. hypogeium and A. psammolithicum was examined, sulfate reduction was the dominant process.     

The estimation of mineral contents in oriental supplements consumed by elite athletes

The purpose of this study is twofold: to examine macro (calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus) and trace mineral (iron) concentration in oriental supplements (OS), and to define OS prevalence in elite athletes. Participants of this study were 928 varsity athletes (male: 680, female: 248) with 23 sports types. Recent 3-month dietary supplements (DS) and OS practice was surveyed during training period, and mineral concentration in 72 randomly collected OS samples were analyzed. DS use was 41% and OS use was 20% in university elite athletes. Most common OS use informants were parents (74%). OS intake reason was for health maintenance (37%), energy supplement (25%), and recovery improvement (15%). Moreover, health maintenance was higher in females (47%) than males (32%) while energy supplement was higher in males (28%) than females (18%) (χ²(8) = 17.676, p = 0.024). Beliefs in OS efficacy and importance were significantly higher in female athletes compared to male athletes (p < 0.05). Macro mineral concentration in OS was calcium (7.54 ppm), magnesium (4.63 ppm), and phosphorus (205.34 ppb) and trace mineral concentration in OS was iron (8.10 ppb), which was a small amount. An association between OS intake reason and mineral concentration in calcium, phosphorus, and iron was found, but no association between OS intake and magnesium. In conclusion, an association between OS intake reason and mineral concentration differed by the ingredients. Minerals in OS were very small amount, which would be improved for mineral balance in elite athletes.     

The Stratiotes aloides L. stand as a habitat in oxbow lake Bużysko

The impact of Stratiotes aloides L. (water soldier) on the accumulation and concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus, seston concentrations and provision a habitat for planktonic crustaceans was studied in a Polish oxbow lake during 2002–2004. The Stratiotes stand and the open water differed in the concentrations of mineral nitrogen and chlorophyll a. Stratiotes accumulated significantly more nitrogen in spring. The lower TN:TP ratio, concentrations of mineral nitrogen and chlorophyll a in stands of the water soldier may suggest nitrogen limitation in the littoral of the oxbow lake. The decrease of phytoplankton biomass in the Stratiotes stands may also result from shading and/or allelopathy. The plants did not reduce seston concentrations in the littoral but did affect the abundance and diversity of planktonic and bentho-planktonic crustaceans and probably provided a daytime refuge for Ceriodaphnia and older stages of Cyclopoida but not for Daphnia.     

Glycogen, a cytoplasmic reserve polysaccharide of Cellulomonas sp. (DSM20108): its identification, carbon source-dependent accumulation, and degradation during starvation

During batch cultivation on complete medium or mineral salts medium with different carbon sources, Cellulomonas accumulates glycogen. The intracellular concentration of glycogen increases with increasing C/N ratio and reaches a maximum value of about 0.22 mg per mg dry weight. Under conditions of carbon starvation this polymer is degraded. Furthermore, Cellulomonas grows well on glycogen if administered as sole source of carbon and energy. The results show that glycogen is an additional energy and carbon storage compound in Cellulomonas sp. which also accumulates trehalose.     

Kissiris: A mineral support for the promotion of ethanol fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Ethanol production using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, promoted by the mineral kissiris, is reported on. A three-fold increase of ethanol productivity in the fermentation of molasses was achieved. An ethanol yield factor 0.43 g/g and conversion of 93.3% at an initial sugar concentration (ISC) 208.5 g/l were obtained in the presence of this mineral in molasses fermentation, compared to 0.21 g/g and 44.2% in its absence. It is also shown that the fermentation of molasses takes place even at relatively higher ethanol levels, with kissiris contributing to a 35% reduction of the energy demand in grade-fuel and potable ethanol production. The proposed mineral was shown to have a smaller effect in fermentations carried out in synthetic media containing glucose or saccharose.     

Optimization of Spongiochloris sp. biomass production in the abattoir digestate

In the present study, the abattoir digestate was used as a culture medium for Spongiochloris sp. growth with added mineral components under optimized conditions in batch culture. Firstly, an Hadamard matrix was used to investigate the impact of certain influencing factors on the Spongiochloris sp. growth. Then, a fractional factorial design 2^7-4 was successfully employed to optimize the concentration of different added components to abattoir digestate for increased Spongiochloris sp. biomass production. The major influencing factors were NaHCO₃ and FeSO₄ at a level of 2000 mg/L and 5 mg/L, respectively. A high biomass production of 5.29 × 10⁶ cell/mL and an important content of chlorophyll a of 65.32 mg/L were obtained after 42 days of culture of Spongiochloris sp. on the defined abattoir medium at static conditions.     

Analysis of genetic factors that control shoot mineral concentrations in rapeseed (Brassica napus) in different boron environments

Mineral nutrients are essential for plant cell function, and understanding the genetic and physiological basis of mineral concentration is therefore important for the development of nutrient-efficient crop varieties that can cope with a shortage of mineral resources. In the present study, we investigated the profiles of B, Ca, Fe, Cu, Mg, P and Zn concentrations in shoots and analyzed the genetic variation in a rapeseed (Brassica napus) double haploid population at normal and deficient boron (B) levels in hydroponic conditions. Significant correlations between the concentrations of different minerals, such as Ca and Mg, Ca and P, and Cu and Fe, existed in both B environments. A total of 35 quantitative trait loci (QTL) and 74 epistatic interaction pairs for mineral concentrations were identified by whole genome analysis of QTL and epistatic interactions. The individual phenotypic contributions of the QTL ranged from 4.4% to 19.0%, and the total percentage of genetic variance that was due to QTL and epistatic interactions varied from 10.4% to 82.4%. Most of these QTL corresponded specifically to one of the two B conditions except for one stable main-effect P-QTL across the B environments. Three QTL for Ca and Mg were found to co-localize under normal B condition. These results revealed that genetic factors control mineral homeostasis in plants and multigenes involving ion transport are required to regulate mineral balance in plants under conditions of diverse nutrient stress. In addition, 26 genes involved in ion uptake and transport in Arabidopsis thaliana were in silico mapped onto the QTL intervals of B. napus by comparative genomic analysis. These candidate orthologous genes in B. napus allowed the selection of genes involved in the controlling mineral concentration that may account for the identified QTL.     

Natural Mineral Particles Are Cytotoxic to Rainbow Trout Gill Epithelial Cells In Vitro

Worldwide increases in fluvial fine sediment are a threat to aquatic animal health. Fluvial fine sediment is always a mixture of particles whose mineralogical composition differs depending on the sediment source and catchment area geology. Nonetheless, whether particle impact in aquatic organisms differs between mineral species remains to be investigated. This study applied an in vitro approach to evaluate cytotoxicity and uptake of four common fluvial mineral particles (quartz, feldspar, mica, and kaolin; concentrations: 10, 50, 250 mg L⁻¹) in the rainbow trout epithelial gill cell line RTgill-W1. Cells were exposed for 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. Cytotoxicity assays for cell membrane integrity (propidium iodide assay), oxidative stress (H₂DCF-DA assay), and metabolic activity (MTT assay) were applied. These assays were complemented with cell counts and transmission electron microscopy. Regardless of mineral species, particles ≤2 µm in diameter were taken up by the cells, suggesting that particles of all mineral species came into contact and interacted with the cells. Not all particles, however, caused strong cytotoxicity: Among all assays the tectosilicates quartz and feldspar caused sporadic maximum changes of 0.8–1.2-fold compared to controls. In contrast, cytotoxicity of the clay particles was distinctly stronger and even differed between the two particle types: mica induced concentration-dependent increases in free radicals, with consistent 1.6–1.8-fold-changes at the 250 mg L⁻¹ concentration, and a dilated endoplasmic reticulum. Kaolin caused concentration-dependent increases in cell membrane damage, with consistent 1.3–1.6-fold increases at the 250 mg L⁻¹ concentration. All effects occurred in the presence or absence of 10% fetal bovine serum. Cell numbers per se were marginally affected. Results indicate that (i.) natural mineral particles can be cytotoxic to gill epithelial cells, (ii.) their cytotoxic potential differs between mineral species, with clay particles being more cytotoxic, and (iii.) some clays might induce effects comparable to engineered nanoparticles.     

Silicon metabolism in diatoms. I. Evidence for the role of reduced sulfur compounds in silicon utilization

1. Cells of the fresh water diatom Navicula pelliculosa may be grown in a mineral medium containing a low concentration of silicon. When transferred to a fresh silicate solution and incubated under non-growing conditions such deficient cells rapidly take up silicon from the medium. 2. The utilization of silicon is an aerobic process. 3. When deficient cells are washed with distilled water or saline, their ability to utilize silicon is impaired whereas respiration is unaffected. 4. The ability of washed cells to take up silicon can be partially restored with sulfate or ascorbic acid, and is completely restored by Na₂S, Na₂S₂O₃, glutathione, l-cysteine, dl-methionine, or ascorbic acid plus sulfate. 5. The sulfhydryl reagent, CdCl₂, inhibits silicon utilization of unwashed cells at concentrations which do not affect respiration. This inhibition similarly is reversed by glutathione or cysteine. 6. However, sodium iodoacetate or sodium arsenite inhibits respiration and silicon utilization at the same concentrations. 7. The silicon taken up by deficient cells is deposited at the cell surface as a thickening of the existing silica frustules. 8. Sulfhydryl groups in the cell membrane may be involved in silicon uptake by diatoms.     

Correlation of Hair Mineral Concentrations with Insulin Resistance in Korean Males

Calcium and magnesium that are associated with insulin resistance play an antagonistic role with each other in cells. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between hair mineral concentrations and insulin resistance in Korean adult males. A total of 123 male subjects (63 patients with metabolic syndrome and 60 normal control patients) were recruited and fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, as well as HDL cholesterol levels, HOMA-IR, and hair mineral concentrations were measured. The ratio of calcium/magnesium in hair showed a significantly positive correlation with the HOMA-IR (r?=?0.191, P?=?0.038) and insulin (r?=?0.198, P?=?0.031). The result of multiple regression analysis after adjusting the age also showed a significant correlation of the Ca/Mg ratio with HOMA-IR (R ²?=?0.115, P?=?0.047). The hair chromium concentration was lower in the metabolic syndrome group than in the control group, and it showed a significantly negative correlation with the fasting blood glucoseand the triglyceride. The result of this study showed that insulin resistance increased as the ratio of Ca/Mg increased, or as the chromium concentration in hair decreased.     

Mineral and Trace Elements Content in 30 Accessions of Tomato Fruits (Solanum lycopersicum L.,) and Wild Relatives (Solanum pimpinellifolium L., Solanum cheesmaniae L. Riley, and Solanum habrochaites S. Knapp & D.M. Spooner)

Tomato quality and its potential health benefits are directly related to its chemical composition. The characterization of nutritional properties of Solanum germplasm is essential to choose suitable donor parents for breeding programs. In this sense, wild species could be very useful for tomato fruit quality genetic improvement. With this objective, in this work, we characterize micronutrients content in Eulycopersicon germplasm (20 cultivars of S. lycopersicum L. and 10 accessions of wild relatives) analyzing mineral (Na, K, Ca, Mg) and trace elements (Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn) and applying multidimensional analysis (principal component and cluster analysis). The classification obtained and the comparison of cultivars performance showed that wild accessions belonging to S. cheesmaniae (L. Riley), S. pimpinellifolium L., and S. habrochaites S. Knapp & D.M. Spooner can be of great usefulness in breeding programs to improve mineral content characteristics of conventional S. lycopersicum varieties due to its higher mineral content.     

Engineering the Genotype of Acinetobacter sp. Strain ADP1 To Enhance Biosynthesis of Cyanophycin

To study the importance of arginine provision and phosphate limitation for synthesis and accumulation of cyanophycin (CGP) in Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1, genes encoding the putative arginine regulatory protein (argR) and the arginine succinyltransferase (astA) were inactivated, and the effects of these mutations on CGP synthesis were analyzed. The inactivation of these genes resulted in a 3.5- or 7-fold increase in CGP content, respectively, when the cells were grown on glutamate. Knockout mutations in both genes led to a better understanding of the effect of the addition of other substrates to arginine on CGP synthesis during growth of the cells of Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1. Overexpression of ArgF (ornithine carbamoyltransferase), CarA-CarB (small and large subunits of carbamoylphosphate synthetase), and PepC (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase) triggered synthesis of CGP if amino acids were used as a carbon source whereas it was not triggered by gluconate or other sugars. Cells of Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1, which is largely lacking genes for carbohydrate metabolism, showed a significant increase in CGP contents when grown on mineral medium supplemented with glutamate, aspartate, or arginine. The Acinetobacter sp. ΔastA(pYargF) strain is unable to utilize arginine but synthesizes more arginine, resulting in CGP contents as high as 30% and 25% of cell dry matter when grown on protamylasse or Luria-Bertani medium, respectively. This recombinant strain overcame the bottleneck of the costly arginine provision where it produces about 75% of the CGP obtained from the parent cells grown on mineral medium containing pure arginine as the sole source of carbon. Phosphate starvation is the only known trigger for CGP synthesis in this bacterium, which possesses the PhoB/PhoR phosphate regulon system. Overexpression of phoB caused an 8.6-fold increase in CGP content in comparison to the parent strain at a nonlimiting phosphate concentration.     

Trans-membrane transport of n-octadecane by Pseudomonas sp. DG17

The trans-membrane transport of hydrocarbons is an important and complex aspect of the process of biodegradation of hydrocarbons by microorganisms. The mechanism of transport of ¹⁴C n-octadecane by Pseudomonas sp. DG17, an alkane-degrading bacterium, was studied by the addition of ATP inhibitors and different substrate concentrations. When the concentration of n-octadecane was higher than 4.54 μmol/L, the transport of ¹⁴C n-octadecane was driven by a facilitated passive mechanism following the intra/extra substrate concentration gradient. However, when the cells were grown with a low concentration of the substrate, the cellular accumulation of n-octadecane, an energy-dependent process, was dramatically decreased by the presence of ATP inhibitors, and n-octadecane accumulation continually increased against its concentration gradient. Furthermore, the presence of non-labeled alkanes blocked ¹⁴C n-octadecane transport only in the induced cells, and the trans-membrane transport of n-octadecane was specific with an apparent dissociation constant K _t of 11.27 μmol/L and V _max of 0.96 μmol/min/mg protein. The results indicated that the trans-membrane transport of n-octadecane by Pseudomonas sp. DG17 was related to the substrate concentration and ATP.     

Clues for Regulatory Processes in Fungal Uptake and Transfer of Minerals to the Basidiospore

Several fungal species are notorious for the preferential acquisition of toxicants such as AsCdHgPbU in their wild-grown basidiomes, but it is not known how, or whether at all, mineral uptake is regulated. In this study, basidiomes of Kuehneromyces mutabilis, Pleurotus ostreatus, and Hypholoma fasciculare were grown on Fagus sylvatica logs embedded in sand, uranium-overburden soil, and garden soil (SIO) at a lab scale to raise the accessible mineral resources 30 to >1,000 times over those available in the timber alone. Non-embedded logs and a field culture established on SIO served as controls. Concentrations of 22 minerals were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry from microwave-digested samples of timber, soils, whole and dissected mushrooms, and basidiospores. It was the goal to determine whether mineral uptake rates vary simply with their concentration in the substrate or undergo selections which indicate the ability of metal sensing and optimizing/delimiting the quantity of (essential) elements on their passage from a substrate via basidiome to the basidiospores. It is shown that an underrepresented substrate mineral is up-concentrated to a more or less regulated and physiologically compatible mean, whereas a rising external mineral supply leads to uptake blockage by downregulation of the bioconcentration rate in the vicinity of an apparent mycelial saturation point. The resulting concentrations in whole K. mutabilis basidiomes of the essential metals, CaCoCuFeMgMn(Sr)Zn corresponded surprisingly with those in wheat grains which share the main metabolic pathways with fungi and whose metallome is believed to be out-regulated for an optimum and stress-free development. Concentrations of nonessential metals, too, fitted the range of those common crops, whereas KP reached the higher typical level of fungi. Minerals entering the lower stipe of the K. mutabilis basidiome were specifically enriched/diluted on a passage to the gills and once more abruptly up/down-concentrated at the basidium/sterigma/spore interface. Mineral concentrations of spores corresponded then again with those in wheat grains, with the metalloenzyme-linked CdCoCuFeMnNa(Ni) appearing moderately higher. It is concluded that the substrate/fungal interface may be the major site of metal sensing/selecting and uptake regulation. Concentration shifts obtained during the mineral transfer through the basidiome are then subject to ultimate corrections at the gill/spore interface.     

Attachment of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferriphilum cultured under varying conditions to pyrite, chalcopyrite, low-grade ore and quartz in a packed column reactor

The attachment of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferriphilum spp. grown on ferrous medium or adapted to a pyrite mineral concentrate to four mineral substrata, namely, chalcopyrite and pyrite concentrates, a low-grade chalcopyrite ore (0.5 wt%) and quartzite, was investigated. The quartzite represented a typical gangue mineral and served as a control. The attachment studies were carried out in a novel particle-coated column reactor. The saturated reactor containing glass beads, which were coated with fine mineral concentrates, provided a quantifiable surface area of mineral concentrate and maintained good fluid flow. A. ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum spp. had similar attachment characteristics. Enhanced attachment efficiency occurred with bacteria grown on sulphide minerals relative to those grown on ferrous sulphate in an ore-free environment. Selective attachment to sulphide minerals relative to gangue materials occurred, with mineral adapted cultures attaching to the minerals more efficiently than ferrous grown cultures. Mineral-adapted cultures showed highest levels of attachment to pyrite (74% and 79% attachment for A. ferrooxidans and L. ferriphilum, respectively). This was followed by attachment of mineral-adapted cultures to chalcopyrite (63% and 58% for A. ferrooxidans and L. ferriphilum, respectively). A. ferrooxidans and L. ferriphilum exhibited lower levels of attachment to low-grade ore and quartz relative to the sulphide minerals.     

Relative importance of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Rhizophagus intraradices) and root hairs in plant drought tolerance

Both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and root hairs play important roles in plant uptake of water and mineral nutrients. To reveal the relative importance of mycorrhiza and root hairs in plant water relations, a bald root barley (brb) mutant and its wild type (wt) were grown with or without inoculation of the AM fungus Rhizophagus intraradices under well-watered or drought conditions, and plant physiological traits relevant to drought stress resistance were recorded. The experimental results indicated that the AM fungus could almost compensate for the absence of root hairs under drought-stressed conditions. Moreover, phosphorus (P) concentration, leaf water potential, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency were significantly increased by R. intraradices but not by root hairs, except for shoot P concentration and photosynthetic rate under the drought condition. Root hairs even significantly decreased root P concentration under drought stresses. These results confirm that AM fungi can enhance plant drought tolerance by improvement of P uptake and plant water relations, which subsequently promote plant photosynthetic performance and growth, while root hairs presumably contribute to the improvement of plant growth and photosynthetic capacity through an increase in shoot P concentration.     

Enhanced autotrophic growth of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nannochloris</Emphasis> sp. with trona buffer for sustainable carbon recycle

In this study, a potential applicability of a modified Shuisheng-4 culture medium with trona buffer for CO₂(g) capture and the resultant CO₂-rich solution was investigated for the autotrophic growth of Nannochloris sp. Trona is an inexpensive naturally-occurring mineral with high solubility in water. Trona solution after absorbing CO₂(g) controlled at pH ~7 ~ 8 contains high dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration in water applicable to both open and closed systems and the pH is suitable for the growth. High DIC concentration was also found to enhance the autotrophic growth rate when the Na⁺ concentration is ~ < 0.12 M. However, the tolerance of a marine green alga, Nannochloris sp., to Na⁺ ion was found to twice as much as that of a freshwater green alga, Chlorella vulgaris. Therefore, it is anticipated that trona buffer solution has potential for better CO₂ utilization for the mutual benefit of microalgae-derived biofuels production and carbon recycle.