Electrons, life and the evolution of Earth's oxygen cycle

The biogeochemical cycles of H, C, N, O and S are coupled via biologically catalysed electron transfer (redox) reactions. The metabolic processes responsible for maintaining these cycles evolved over the first ca 2.3 Ga of Earth's history in prokaryotes and, through a sequence of events, led to the production of oxygen via the photobiologically catalysed oxidation of water. However, geochemical evidence suggests that there was a delay of several hundred million years before oxygen accumulated in Earth's atmosphere related to changes in the burial efficiency of organic matter and fundamental alterations in the nitrogen cycle. In the latter case, the presence of free molecular oxygen allowed ammonium to be oxidized to nitrate and subsequently denitrified. The interaction between the oxygen and nitrogen cycles in particular led to a negative feedback, in which increased production of oxygen led to decreased fixed inorganic nitrogen in the oceans. This feedback, which is supported by isotopic analyses of fixed nitrogen in sedimentary rocks from the Late Archaean, continues to the present. However, once sufficient oxygen accumulated in Earth's atmosphere to allow nitrification to out-compete denitrification, a new stable electron 'market' emerged in which oxygenic photosynthesis and aerobic respiration ultimately spread via endosymbiotic events and massive lateral gene transfer to eukaryotic host cells, allowing the evolution of complex (i.e. animal) life forms. The resulting network of electron transfers led a gas composition of Earth's atmosphere that is far from thermodynamic equilibrium (i.e. it is an emergent property), yet is relatively stable on geological time scales. The early coevolution of the C, N and O cycles, and the resulting non-equilibrium gaseous by-products can be used as a guide to search for the presence of life on terrestrial planets outside of our Solar System.     

Paleoenvironmental proxies and what the Xiamaling Formation tells us about the mid‐Proterozoic ocean

The Mesoproterozoic Era (1,600–1,000 million years ago, Ma) geochemical record is sparse, but, nevertheless, critical in untangling relationships between the evolution of eukaryotic ecosystems and the evolution of Earth‐surface chemistry. The ca. 1,400 Ma Xiamaling Formation has experienced only very low‐grade thermal maturity and has emerged as a promising geochemical archive informing on the interplay between climate, ecosystem organization, and the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans. Indeed, the geochemical record of portions of the Xiamaling Formation has been used to place minimum constraints on concentrations of atmospheric oxygen as well as possible influences of climate and climate change on water chemistry and sedimentation dynamics. A recent study has argued, however, that some portions of the Xiamaling Formation deposited in a highly restricted environment with only limited value as a geochemical archive. In this contribution, we fully explore these arguments as well as the underlying assumptions surrounding the use of many proxies used for paleo‐environmental reconstructions. In doing so, we pay particular attention to deep‐water oxygen‐minimum zone environments and show that these generate unique geochemical signals that have been underappreciated. These signals, however, are compatible with the geochemical record of those parts of the Xiamaling Formation interpreted as most restricted. Overall, we conclude that the Xiamaling Formation was most likely open to the global ocean throughout its depositional history. More broadly, we show that proper paleo‐environmental reconstructions require an understanding of the biogeochemical signals generated in all relevant modern analogue depositional environments. We also evaluate new data on the δ⁹⁸Mo of Xiamaling Formation shales, revealing possible unknown pathways of molybdenum sequestration into sediments and concluding, finally, that seawater at that time likely had a δ⁹⁸Mo value of about 1.1‰.     

外源表油菜素内酯对NaHCO3胁迫下黄瓜幼苗生长及氧化还原平衡的影响

以‘津研四号’黄瓜为试材,以30 mmol·L^-1NaHCO_3模拟盐碱环境,采用水培法研究了0.2μmol·L^-1外源2,4表油菜素内酯(2,4-epibrassinolide,EBR)对盐碱胁迫下黄瓜幼苗生长和活性氧代谢的影响.结果表明:NaHCO_3胁迫显著诱导了叶片及根系中O2-·的产生和H_2O_2的积累,导致丙二醛含量和电解质渗透率提高.NaHCO_3胁迫下,超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化物酶、过氧化氢酶、抗坏血酸过氧化物酶、脱氢抗坏血酸还原酶、单脱氢抗坏血酸还原酶、谷胱甘肽还原酶活性及还原型抗坏血酸、还原型谷胱甘肽含量随胁迫时间延长呈现先升后降的趋势.外源EBR显著提高了NaHCO_3胁迫下黄瓜叶片和根系中抗氧化酶活性、抗氧化物质的含量以及As A/DHA(双脱氢抗坏血酸)和GSH/GSSG(氧化型谷胱甘肽)比值,维持了植株内的氧化还原平衡,降低了活性氧积累水平,缓解了膜脂过氧化,从而提高了黄瓜幼苗的盐碱耐受性.     

外源表油菜素内酯对NaHCO3胁迫下黄瓜幼苗生长及氧化还原平衡的影响

以‘津研四号’黄瓜为试材,以30 mmol·L^-1 NaHCO₃模拟盐碱环境,采用水培法研究了0.2 μmol·L^-1外源2,4表油菜素内酯(2,4-epibrassinolide,EBR)对盐碱胁迫下黄瓜幼苗生长和活性氧代谢的影响.结果表明: NaHCO₃胁迫显著诱导了叶片及根系中O₂^-·的产生和H₂O₂的积累,导致丙二醛含量和电解质渗透率提高.NaHCO₃胁迫下,超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化物酶、过氧化氢酶、抗坏血酸过氧化物酶、脱氢抗坏血酸还原酶、单脱氢抗坏血酸还原酶、谷胱甘肽还原酶活性及还原型抗坏血酸、还原型谷胱甘肽含量随胁迫时间延长呈现先升后降的趋势.外源EBR显著提高了NaHCO₃胁迫下黄瓜叶片和根系中抗氧化酶活性、抗氧化物质的含量以及AsA/DHA(双脱氢抗坏血酸)和GSH/GSSG(氧化型谷胱甘肽)比值,维持了植株内的氧化还原平衡,降低了活性氧积累水平,缓解了膜脂过氧化,从而提高了黄瓜幼苗的盐碱耐受性.     

Accounting for Emissions and Sinks from the Biogeochemical Cycle of Carbon in the U.S. Economic Input‐Output Model

Biogeochemical cycles are essential ecosystem services that continue to degrade as a result of human activities, but are not fully considered in efforts toward sustainable engineering. This article develops a model that integrates the carbon cycle with economic activities in the 2002 U.S. economy. Data about the carbon cycle, including emissions and sequestration flows, is obtained from the greenhouse gas inventory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Economic activities are captured by the economic input‐output model available from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The resulting model is more comprehensive in its accounting for the carbon cycle than existing methods for carbon footprint (CF) calculations. Examples of unique flows in this model include the effect of land‐use and land‐cover change on carbon dioxide flow within the U.S. national boundary, carbon sequestration in urban trees, and emissions resulting from liming. This model is used to gain unique insight into the carbon profile of U.S. economic sectors by providing the life cycle emissions and sequestration in each sector. Such insight may be used to support policies, manage supply chains, and be used for more comprehensive CF calculations.     

Effects of large-scale Amazon forest degradation on climate and air quality through fluxes of carbon dioxide, water, energy, mineral dust and isoprene

Loss of large areas of Amazonian forest, through either direct human impact or climate change, could exert a number of influences on the regional and global climates. In the Met Office Hadley Centre coupled climate-carbon cycle model, a severe drying of this region initiates forest loss that exerts a number of feedbacks on global and regional climates, which magnify the drying and the forest degradation. This paper provides an overview of the multiple feedback process in the Hadley Centre model and discusses the implications of the results for the case of direct human-induced deforestation. It also examines additional potential effects of forest loss through changes in the emissions of mineral dust and biogenic volatile organic compounds. The implications of ecosystem-climate feedbacks for climate change mitigation and adaptation policies are also discussed.     

A case study for late Archean and Proterozoic biogeochemical iron‐ and sulphur cycling in a modern habitat—the Arvadi Spring

As a consequence of Earth's surface oxygenation, ocean geochemistry changed from ferruginous (iron(II)‐rich) into more complex ferro‐euxinic (iron(II)‐sulphide‐rich) conditions during the Paleoproterozoic. This transition must have had profound implications for the Proterozoic microbial community that existed within the ocean water and bottom sediment; in particular, iron‐oxidizing bacteria likely had to compete with emerging sulphur‐metabolizers. However, the nature of their coexistence and interaction remains speculative. Here, we present geochemical and microbiological data from the Arvadi Spring in the eastern Swiss Alps, a modern model habitat for ferro‐euxinic transition zones in late Archean and Proterozoic oceans during high‐oxygen intervals, which enables us to reconstruct the microbial community structure in respective settings for this geological era. The spring water is oxygen‐saturated but still contains relatively elevated concentrations of dissolved iron(II) (17.2 ± 2.8 μM) and sulphide (2.5 ± 0.2 μM) with simultaneously high concentrations of sulphate (8.3 ± 0.04 mM). Solids consisting of quartz, calcite, dolomite and iron(III) oxyhydroxide minerals as well as sulphur‐containing particles, presumably elemental S⁰, cover the spring sediment. Cultivation‐based most probable number counts revealed microaerophilic iron(II)‐oxidizers and sulphide‐oxidizers to represent the largest fraction of iron‐ and sulphur‐metabolizers in the spring, coexisting with less abundant iron(III)‐reducers, sulphate‐reducers and phototrophic and nitrate‐reducing iron(II)‐oxidizers. 16S rRNA gene 454 pyrosequencing showed sulphide‐oxidizing Thiothrix species to be the dominating genus, supporting the results from our cultivation‐based assessment. Collectively, our results suggest that anaerobic and microaerophilic iron‐ and sulphur‐metabolizers could have coexisted in oxygenated ferro‐sulphidic transition zones of late Archean and Proterozoic oceans, where they would have sustained continuous cycling of iron and sulphur compounds.     

What the ~1.4 Ga Xiamaling Formation can and cannot tell us about the mid‐Proterozoic ocean

Despite a surge of recent work, the evolution of mid‐Proterozoic oceanic–atmospheric redox remains heavily debated. Constraining the dynamics of Proterozoic redox evolution is essential to determine the role, if any, that anoxia played in protracting the development of eukaryotic diversity. We present a multiproxy suite of high‐resolution geochemical measurements from a drill core capturing the ~1.4 Ga Xiamaling Formation, North China Craton. Specifically, we analyzed major and trace element concentrations, sulfur and molybdenum isotopes, and iron speciation not only to better understand the local redox conditions but also to establish how relevant our data are to understanding the contemporaneous global ocean. Our results suggest that throughout deposition of the Xiamaling Formation, the basin experienced varying degrees of isolation from the global ocean. During deposition of the lower organic‐rich shales (130–85 m depth), the basin was extremely restricted, and the reservoirs of sulfate and trace metals were drawn down almost completely. Above a depth of 85 m, shales were deposited in dominantly euxinic waters that more closely resembled a marine system and thus potentially bear signatures of coeval seawater. In the most highly enriched sample from this upper interval, the concentration of molybdenum is 51 ppm with a δ⁹⁸Mo value of +1.7‰. Concentrations of Mo and other redox‐sensitive elements in our samples are consistent with a deep ocean that was largely anoxic on a global scale. Our maximum δ⁹⁸Mo value, in contrast, is high compared to published mid‐Proterozoic data. This high value raises the possibility that the Earth's surface environments were transiently more oxygenated at ~1.4 Ga compared to preceding or postdating times. More broadly, this study demonstrates the importance of integrating all available data when attempting to reconstruct surface O₂ dynamics based on rocks of any age.     

Belowground carbon flux links biogeochemical cycles and resource‐use efficiency at the global scale

Nutrient limitation is pervasive in the terrestrial biosphere, although the relationship between global carbon (C) nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles remains uncertain. Using meta‐analysis we show that gross primary production (GPP) partitioning belowground is inversely related to soil‐available N : P, increasing with latitude from tropical to boreal forests. N‐use efficiency is highest in boreal forests, and P‐use efficiency in tropical forests. High C partitioning belowground in boreal forests reflects a 13‐fold greater C cost of N acquisition compared to the tropics. By contrast, the C cost of P acquisition varies only 2‐fold among biomes. This analysis suggests a new hypothesis that the primary limitation on productivity in forested ecosystems transitions from belowground resources at high latitudes to aboveground resources at low latitudes as C‐intensive root‐ and mycorrhizal‐mediated nutrient capture is progressively replaced by rapidly cycling, enzyme‐derived nutrient fluxes when temperatures approach the thermal optimum for biogeochemical transformations.     

Ecosystem fluxes of hydrogen in a mid‐latitude forest driven by soil microorganisms and plants

Molecular hydrogen (H₂) is an atmospheric trace gas with a large microbe‐mediated soil sink, yet cycling of this compound throughout ecosystems is poorly understood. Measurements of the sources and sinks of H₂ in various ecosystems are sparse, resulting in large uncertainties in the global H₂ budget. Constraining the H₂ cycle is critical to understanding its role in atmospheric chemistry and climate. We measured H₂ fluxes at high frequency in a temperate mixed deciduous forest for 15 months using a tower‐based flux‐gradient approach to determine both the soil‐atmosphere and the net ecosystem flux of H₂. We found that Harvard Forest is a net H₂ sink (?1.4 ± 1.1 kg H₂ ha^?1) with soils as the dominant H₂ sink (?2.0 ± 1.0 kg H₂ ha^?1) and aboveground canopy emissions as the dominant H₂ source (+0.6 ± 0.8 kg H₂ ha^?1). Aboveground emissions of H₂ were an unexpected and substantial component of the ecosystem H₂ flux, reducing net ecosystem uptake by 30% of that calculated from soil uptake alone. Soil uptake was highly seasonal (July maximum, February minimum), positively correlated with soil temperature and negatively correlated with environmental variables relevant to diffusion into soils (i.e., soil moisture, snow depth, snow density). Soil microbial H₂ uptake was correlated with rhizosphere respiration rates (r = 0.8, P < 0.001), and H₂ metabolism yielded up to 2% of the energy gleaned by microbes from carbon substrate respiration. Here, we elucidate key processes controlling the biosphere–atmosphere exchange of H₂ and raise new questions regarding the role of aboveground biomass as a source of atmospheric H₂ and mechanisms linking soil H₂ and carbon cycling. Results from this study should be incorporated into modeling efforts to predict the response of the H₂ soil sink to changes in anthropogenic H₂ emissions and shifting soil conditions with climate and land‐use change.     

Survival of glioblastoma cells in response to endogenous and exogenous oxidative challenges: possible implication of NMDA receptor‐mediated regulation of redox homeostasis

Cancer cells are highly metabolically active and produce high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Drug resistance in cancer cells is closely related to their redox status. The role of ROS and its impact on cancer cell survival seems far from elucidation. The mechanisms through which glioblastoma cells overcome aberrant ROS and oxidative stress in a milieu of hypermetabolic state is still elusive. We hypothesize that the formidable growth potential of glioma cells is through manipulation of tumor microenvironment for its survival and growth, which can be attributed to an astute redox regulation through a nexus between activation of N‐methyl‐d ‐aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and glutathione (GSH)‐based antioxidant prowess. Hence, we examined the NMDAR activation on intracellular ROS level, and cell viability on exposure to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and antioxidants in glutamate‐rich microenvironment of glioblastoma. The activation of NMDAR attenuated the intracellular ROS production in LN18 and U251MG glioma cells. MK‐801 significantly reversed this effect. On evaluation of GSH redox cycle in these cells, the level of reduced GSH and glutathione reductase (GR) activity were significantly increased. NMDAR significantly enhanced the cell viability in LN18 and U251MG glioblastoma cells, by attenuating exogenous H₂O₂‐induced oxidative stress, and significantly increased catalase activity, the key antioxidant that detoxifies H₂O₂. We hereby report an unexplored role of NMDAR activation induced protection of the rapidly multiplying glioblastoma cells against both endogenous ROS as well as exogenous oxidative challenges. We propose potentiation of reduced GSH, GR, and catalase in glioblastoma cells through NMDAR as a novel rationale of chemoresistance in glioblastoma.     

Iejimalides A and B inhibit lysosomal vacuolar H+‐ATPase (V‐ATPase) activity and induce S‐phase arrest and apoptosis in MCF‐7 cells

Iejimalides are novel macrolides that are cytostatic or cytotoxic against a wide range of cancer cells at low nanomolar concentrations. A recent study by our laboratory characterized the expression of genes and proteins that determine the downstream effects of iejimalide B. However, little is known about the cellular target(s) of iejimalide or downstream signaling that lead to cell‐cycle arrest and/or apoptosis. Iejimalides have been shown to inhibit the activity of vacuolar H⁺‐ATPase (V‐ATPase) in osteoclasts, but how this inhibition may lead to cell‐cycle arrest and/or apoptosis in epithelial cells is not known. In this study, MCF‐7 breast cancer cells were treated with iejimalide A or B and analyzed for changes in cell‐cycle dynamics, apoptosis, lysosomal pH, cytoplasmic pH, mitochondrial membrane potential, and generation of reactive oxygen species. Both iejimalides A and B sequentially neutralize the pH of lysosomes, induce S‐phase cell‐cycle arrest, and trigger apoptosis in MCF‐7 cells. Apoptosis occurs through a mechanism that involves oxidative stress and mitochondrial depolarization but not cytoplasmic acidification. These data confirm that iejimalides inhibit V‐ATPase activity in the context of epithelial tumor cells, and that this inhibition may lead to a lysosome‐initiated cell death process. J. Cell. Biochem. 109: 634–642, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Highly sensitive spectrofluorimetic determination of rutin based on its activated effect on a multi‐enzyme redox system

A highly sensitive and simple spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of rutin, based on its activated effect on a haemoglobin‐catalysed reaction, was developed. Under optimum conditions, the concentration of rutin was linear, with decreased fluorescence (ΔF) of the system under optimal experimental conditions. The calibration graph was linear in the range 1.0 × 10^–7–3.0 × 10^–5 mol/L, with a detection limit of 7.0 × 10^–8 mol/L. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 3.26% for 11 determinations of 1.0 × 10^–5 mol/L. This method was used for the determination of rutin in pharmaceuticals with satisfactory results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method of determining rooting depth from a terrestrial biosphere model and its impacts on the global water and carbon cycle

We outline a method of inferring rooting depth from a Terrestrial Biosphere Model by maximizing the benefit of the vegetation within the model. This corresponds to the evolutionary principle that vegetation has adapted to make best use of its local environment. We demonstrate this method with a simple coupled biosphere/soil hydrology model and find that deep rooted vegetation is predicted in most parts of the tropics. Even with a simple model like the one we use, it is possible to reproduce biome averages of observations fairly well. By using the optimized rooting depths global Annual Net Primary Production (and transpiration) increases substantially compared to a standard rooting depth of one meter, especially in tropical regions that have a dry season. The decreased river discharge due to the enhanced evaporation complies better with observations. We also found that the optimization process is primarily driven by the water deficit/surplus during the dry/wet season for humid and arid regions, respectively. Climate variability further enhances rooting depth estimates. In a sensitivity analysis where we simulate changes in the water use efficiency of the vegetation we find that vegetation with an optimized rooting depth is less vulnerable to variations in the forcing. We see the main application of this method in the modelling communities of land surface schemes of General Circulation Models and of global Terrestrial Biosphere Models. We conclude that in these models, the increased soil water storage is likely to have a significant impact on the simulated climate and the carbon budget, respectively. Also, effects of land use change like tropical deforestation are likely to be larger than previously thought.     

Respiratory carbon use and carbon storage in mid‐rotation loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations: the effect of site resources on the stand carbon balance

We used estimates of autotrophic respiration (R_A), net primary productivity (NPP) and soil CO₂ evolution (S_ff), to develop component carbon budgets for 12‐year‐old loblolly pine plantations during the fifth year of a fertilization and irrigation experiment. Annual carbon use in R_A was 7.5, 9.0, 15.0, and 15.1 Mg C ha^?1 in control (C), irrigated (I), fertilized (F) and irrigated and fertilized (IF) treatments, respectively. Foliage, fine root and perennial woody tissue (stem, branch, coarse and taproot) respiration accounted for, respectively, 37%, 24%, and 39% of R_A in C and I treatments and 38%, 12% and 50% of R_A in F and IF treatments. Annual gross primary production (GPP=NPP+R_A) ranged from 13.1 to 26.6 Mg C ha^?1. The I, F, and IF treatments resulted in a 21, 94, and 103% increase in GPP, respectively, compared to the C treatment. Despite large treatment differences in NPP, R_A, and carbon allocation, carbon use efficiency (CUE=NPP/GPP) averaged 0.42 and was unaffected by manipulating site resources. Ecosystem respiration (R_E), the sum of S_ff, and above ground R_A, ranged from 12.8 to 20.2 Mg C ha^?1 yr^?1. S_ff contributed the largest proportion of R_E, but the relative importance of S_ff decreased from 0.63 in C treatments to 0.47 in IF treatments because of increased aboveground R_A. Aboveground woody tissue R_A was 15% of R_E in C and I treatments compared to 25% of R_E in F and IF treatments. Net ecosystem productivity (NEP=GPP‐R_E) was roughly 0 in the C and I treatments and 6.4 Mg C ha^?1 yr^?1 in F and IF treatments, indicating that non‐fertilized treatments were neither a source nor a sink for atmospheric carbon while fertilized treatments were carbon sinks. In these young stands, NEP is tightly linked to NPP; increased ecosystem carbon storage results mainly from an increase in foliage and perennial woody biomass.     

Reconciling estimates of the contemporary North American carbon balance among terrestrial biosphere models,atmospheric inversions,and a new approach for estimating net ecosystem exchange from inventory‐based data

We develop an approach for estimating net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using inventory‐based information over North America (NA) for a recent 7‐year period (ca. 2000–2006). The approach notably retains information on the spatial distribution of NEE, or the vertical exchange between land and atmosphere of all non‐fossil fuel sources and sinks of CO₂, while accounting for lateral transfers of forest and crop products as well as their eventual emissions. The total NEE estimate of a ?327 ± 252 TgC yr^?1 sink for NA was driven primarily by CO₂ uptake in the Forest Lands sector (?248 TgC yr^?1), largely in the Northwest and Southeast regions of the US, and in the Crop Lands sector (?297 TgC yr^?1), predominantly in the Midwest US states. These sinks are counteracted by the carbon source estimated for the Other Lands sector (+218 TgC yr^?1), where much of the forest and crop products are assumed to be returned to the atmosphere (through livestock and human consumption). The ecosystems of Mexico are estimated to be a small net source (+18 TgC yr^?1) due to land use change between 1993 and 2002. We compare these inventory‐based estimates with results from a suite of terrestrial biosphere and atmospheric inversion models, where the mean continental‐scale NEE estimate for each ensemble is ?511 TgC yr^?1 and ?931 TgC yr^?1, respectively. In the modeling approaches, all sectors, including Other Lands, were generally estimated to be a carbon sink, driven in part by assumed CO₂ fertilization and/or lack of consideration of carbon sources from disturbances and product emissions. Additional fluxes not measured by the inventories, although highly uncertain, could add an additional ?239 TgC yr^?1 to the inventory‐based NA sink estimate, thus suggesting some convergence with the modeling approaches.     

A recent advance in the intracellular and extracellular redox post‐translational modification of proteins in plants

Plants, as sessile organisms, have acquired through evolution sophisticated regulatory signal pathways to overcome external variable factors during each stage of the life cycle. Among these regulatory signals, two pathways in particular, reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species, have become of significant interest in several aspects of plant biology, underpinning these molecules as critical regulators during development, cellular differentiation, and plant‐pathogen interaction. Recently, redox posttranslational modifications (PTM), such as S‐nitrosylation on cysteine residues and tyrosine nitration, have shed light on multiple protein targets, as they are associated with signal networks/downstream metabolic pathways, capable of transducing the imbalance of redox hemostasis and consequently redirecting the biochemical status under stress conditions. However, most of the redox PTM have been studied only in the intracellular compartment, providing limited information concerning redox PTM in the extracellular matrix of plant cells. Nevertheless, recent studies have indicated the plausibility of redox PTM in extracellular proteins, including cell wall associated proteins. Accordingly, in this review, we endeavor to examine evidence of redox PTM supported by mass spectrometry data in the intracellular and extracellular space in plant cells. As a further example, we focus the last section of this review on illustrating, using molecular dynamics simulation, the effect of S‐nitrosylation on the structural conformation of well‐known cell wall‐associated proteins including pectin methylesterase and xyloglucan endo‐transglycosylases.     

造林气候调节效应及其影响机理研究进展

造林及人工林生长吸收并固定二氧化碳(CO₂),其"幼龄效应"使得全球中、高纬度新造林的CO₂吸收超过天然林,被认为是减缓全球变暖、控制升温2℃目标的一个关键战略,亦是生态保护修复和林业可持续发展并举的一个重要措施。我国人工林保有面积居全球首位,占林地面积的36%,近几十年造林为全球变绿的贡献超过10%。造林改变地表生物地球化学和生物物理过程从而影响温度、降水、成云、风等,在不同气候带、不同区域呈现差异性气候调节效应,取决于温室气体、辐射能量、水汽收支之间的平衡结果。分析了国际、国内在应对气候变化活动中对于造林的急迫需求,综述了造林气候调节效应的研究进展,以及产生这种效应的生物地球化学和生物物理机理,总结了当前研究中亟待深入探索的内容,并展望了未来造林仍需深入开展系统地生物地球化学和生物物理机理研究,推动可持续地人工林管理、恢复具有完整结构的森林、促进多重生态系统服务的协同。     

Biomass production and energy balance of a 12‐year‐old short‐rotation coppice poplar stand under different cutting cycles

Given today's political targets, energy production from agricultural areas is likely to increase and therefore needs to be more sustainable. The aim of this study was thus to carry out a long‐term field trial based on the poplar short‐rotation coppice (SRC), in order to compare dry matter, energy‐use efficiency and the net energy yield obtainable from this crop in relation to different harvest frequencies (1‐, 2‐ and 3‐year cutting cycles). The results showed that poplar SRC performed very well under temperate climates as it can survive up to 12 years, providing a considerable annual biomass yield (9.9, 13.8, 16.4 t ha^?1 yr^?1 for annual T1, biannual T2 and triennial T3 cutting cycles, respectively). The system tested in southern Europe showed a positive energy balance characterized by a high energy efficiency. We found that the choice of harvest interval had huge consequences in terms of energy yields. In fact, the energy efficiency improved from T1 to T2 and T3, while the net energy yield increased from 172 to 299 GJ ha^?1 yr^?1. This study suggests that, with 3‐year harvest cycles, poplar SRC can contribute to agronomic and environmental sustainability not only in terms of its high yield and energy efficiency but also in terms of its positive influence on limiting soil tillage and on the environment, given its low pesticide and nutrient requirements.