Alkali Soil Reclamation with Flue Gas Desulfurization Gypsum in China and Assessment of Metal Content in Corn Grains

Flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG), the by-product of wet and semi-dry desulfurization processes, has been used as an alkali soil amendment in China. We evaluated the change in soil properties, agricultural production and the safety of FGDG as a soil amendment. As a result, soil pH and ESP (exchangeable sodium percentage) decreased and corn production increased in FGDG-treated plots. The metal (B, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, As, Cd, Pb) contents in soil, FGDG, and corn grains were quantified by ICP-MS. Consequently, the contents of almost all metals in FGDG were lower than in soil. Moreover, the contents of almost all of the metals in the corn grains in the FGDG-treated plots were almost the same or lower than those in the control plot. Statistical analysis indicated that there was no effect of gypsum application on the metal content in the corn grains. Almost all of the metal contents were lower than the standard values set by FAO/WHO for human intake. The results showed that the FGDG from wet and semi-dry FGD processes is suitable as an alkali soil amendment.     

Analysis of Rice Mutants by Low Temperature-Derivative Spectrophotometry in Relation to Pigment Compositions and Photochemical Activities

The chloroplasts of five rice (Oryza sativa) mutants examined in the present study possessed the following pigment and activity characteristics as compared with those of normal strain (Nohrin No. 8); a) less chlorophylls (especially, chlorophyll b, the molar ratio of a to b= 6 ～ 41) and less carotenoids but higher ratios of β-carotene to chlorophylls; b) only photosystem 1 particles were obtained by density gradient centrifugation of digitonin-treated mutant chloroplasts while both photosystem 1 and 2 particles were obtained from normal strain chloroplasts; c) the photosystem 2 activities of mutant chloroplasts were lower (48 ～ 81 %) than that of normal chloroplasts while their photosystem 1 activities were 1.9 ～ 2.4 times higher. The derivative absorption spectrum of the normal chloroplasts (a/b= 4) measured at liquid nitrogen temperature showed many small but distinct maxima and minima in the red region in addition to those observable for chlorophylls in solution. These band structures including the French inflection were lost partially in the derivative spectra of three mutants with a/b= 6, 8 and 11 and almost completely in those of the remaining two mutants with a/b= 18 and 41. The lack of such band structures reflecting specific states of chlorophylls in vivo was attributed to the absence of some conformational structures such as those expected in photosystem-2 particles, which are formed by the presence of chlorophyll b and are resistant to the digitonin treatment. Chlorophylls in specific states in such structures were thought to exhibit a higher photosystem 2 activity.