Physiological responses of Juncus effusus (Rush) to chromium and relevance for wastewater treatment in constructed wetlands

Constructed wetlands are increasingly applied for industrial wastewater treatment. However, current knowledge of the stress responses of helophytes to selected toxicants such as dichromate is limited. The goal of the experiments presented here was to characterize the physiological response of Juncus effusus to different concentrations of dichromate dependent upon the growth and constitution of the plants. The growth parameters, shoot length, and dry weight already were strongly affected at low dichromate concentrations of approximately 34 microM. Concentrations of 340 microM impaired chlorophyll fluorescence and a decrease in chlorophyll a started at concentrations higher than 170 microM dichromate. The concentrations of chlorophyll b and carotenoids also were influenced negatively. Thus, the reduction of the pigment content started before any obvious influence on the chlorophyll fluorescence. The highest concentration of dichromate, which caused no permanent inhibition of growth and photosynthesis, was found to be 17 microM K2Cr2O7. In principle, J. effusus is suitable for constructed wetlands to treat chromium-containing wastewater. Because the stress resistance of J. effusus is limited, the maximum concentration of dichromate in the treated wastewater should not exceed 34 microM. The growth parameters, shoot length, and dry weight were sensitive to much lower dichromate concentrations and did react more quickly than the biochemistry-related parameters chlorophyll fluorescence and pigment concentration. Therefore, the example of Juncus effusus shows that the use of only biochemical parameters to define concentration limits for the treatment of dichromate-containing wastewater can lead to incorrect conclusions and result in disturbed long-term operation of the system.     

高浓度CO2对红松(Pinus koraiensis)针叶光合生理参数的影响

以开顶箱内经过6个生长季高浓度CO2处理的原位土壤种植的红松幼树为实验对象,研究了500umolmol-1CO2对针叶光合作用及相应光合参数的影响.实地条件下测定了净光合速率(PN)对光合有效辐射(PAR)及胞间CO2浓度(Ci)的响应曲线,根据光合作用的生化模型,推算出了Rubisco活性或数量限制的最大羧化速率(VCmax)和光饱和条件下由RuBP再生能力限制的最大电子传递速率(Jmzx),以及表观量子产量(AQY)和最大净光合速率(Pmzx)等.5001umolmol-1 CO2使红松针叶的VCmzx降低了4%,Jmzx和Jmzx/VCmzx比分别增加了27%和18%,均与对照差异不显著,所以红松针叶经过6个生长季高浓度C02处理仍未发生光合驯化.在各自生长条件下测定的PN-PAR响应曲线表明,500pumolmol-1CO2使Pmzx增加了94%,AQY增加了21%,Pmzx增长高于AQY和Jmzx的增加比例,说明500umolmol-1CO2使红松针叶对光的利用效率增强.500umolmol-1CO2下的最大气孔导度(gcmzx)和最大蒸腾速率(Emzx)与对照比增加了一倍,与Pmzx增加的幅度接近.500ummol mol-1 CO2下和对照条件下的Ci/C2比均随环境CO2浓度(C2)增加呈非线性下降趋势,在较低Ca处(Ca≤200umol mol-1),500umol mol-1CO2使Ci/Ca比下降了l%-7%,较高Ca处(Ca≥300umol mol-1),500umol mol-1CO2使Ci/Ca比增加了5%-20%.CO2浓度变化会改变Ci/Ca比,由于气孔的调节作用,Ci/Ca比最终还是要维持在一恒定范围,且气孔对较低的CO2浓度更敏感.     

毕赤酵母发酵生产颗粒性乙肝表面抗原的条件优化

乙型肝炎病毒的流行对人们的生命健康造成了极大的威胁, 而有效准确的诊断和预防性疫苗是阻止其流行的主要手段, 乙肝表面抗原是诊断试剂和疫苗的主要成分。本试验在构建稳定表达HBsAg的毕赤酵母菌株后, 对其发酵条件进行了研究。采用摇瓶分批培养方法, 探讨了不同培养基、溶解氧、诱导物甲醇的浓度以及pH值等因素对菌体生长与重组蛋白表达的影响。在10 L发酵罐上采用分批补料培养的方法研究了进行扩大培养生产重组HBsAg。结果表明, FBS无机盐合成培养基是理想的工业发酵培养基, 溶解氧对菌体的生长与表达有显著的影响, 甲醇诱导最佳终浓度为1% (V/V), 发酵的最适pH值为5.4~6.0。发酵罐放大培养后, ELISA和 SDS-PAGE分析表明重组HBsAg获得了高效表达, 最终菌体生物量达到310 OD600, 表达量达到27 mg/L。电子显微镜观察表达重组乙肝抗原可以自组装为22 nm类病毒颗粒, 为HBV的新一代早期血清学诊断和疫苗的大规模生产提供了一定的参考。     

Testing for genetic trade-offs between early- and late-life reproduction in a wild red deer population

The antagonistic pleiotropy (AP) theory of ageing predicts genetically based trade-offs between investment in reproduction in early life and survival and performance in later life. Laboratory-based research has shown that such genetic trade-offs exist, but little is currently known about their prevalence in natural populations. We used random regression 'animal model' techniques to test the genetic basis of trade-offs between early-life fecundity (ELF) and maternal performance in late life in a wild population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) on the Isle of Rum, Scotland. Significant genetic variation for both ageing rates in a key maternal performance measure (offspring birth weight) and ELF was present in this population. We found some evidence for a negative genetic covariance between the rate of ageing in offspring birth weight and ELF, and also for a negative environmental covariance. Our results suggest rare support for the AP theory of ageing from a wild population.     

Colon cancer prediction with genetic profiles using intelligent techniques

Micro array data provides information of expression levels of thousands of genes in a cell in a single experiment. Numerous efforts have been made to use gene expression profiles to improve precision of tumor classification. In our present study we have used the benchmark colon cancer data set for analysis. Feature selection is done using t‐statistic. Comparative study of class prediction accuracy of 3 different classifiers viz., support vector machine (SVM), neural nets and logistic regression was performed using the top 10 genes ranked by the t‐statistic. SVM turned out to be the best classifier for this dataset based on area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and total accuracy. Logistic Regression ranks as the next best classifier followed by Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP). The top 10 genes selected by us for classification are all well documented for their variable expression in colon cancer. We conclude that SVM together with t-statistic based feature selection is an efficient and viable alternative to popular techniques.     

SOSUI-GramN: high performance prediction for sub-cellular localization of proteins in gram-negative bacteria

A predictive software system, SOSUI-GramN, was developed for assessing the subcellular localization of proteins in Gram-negative bacteria. The system does not require the sequence homology data of any known sequences; instead, it uses only physicochemical parameters of the N- and C-terminal signal sequences, and the total sequence. The precision of the prediction system for subcellular localization to extracellular, outer membrane, periplasm, inner membrane and cytoplasmic medium was 92.3%, 89.4%, 86.4%, 97.5% and 93.5%, respectively, with corresponding recall rates of 70.3%, 87.5%, 76.0%, 97.5% and 88.4%, respectively. The overall performance for precision and recall obtained using this method was 92.9% and 86.7%, respectively. The comparison of performance of SOSUI-GramN with that of other methods showed the performance of prediction for extracellular proteins, as well as inner and outer membrane proteins, was either superior or equivalent to that obtained with other systems. SOSUI-GramN particularly improved the accuracy for predictions of extracellular proteins which is an area of weakness common to the other methods.     

Selected airborne allergenic fungal spores and meteorological factors in Szczecin,Poland, 2004–2006

Airborne fungal spore concentrations in Szczecin, Poland, were studied between 2004 and 2006 with the objective of determining a seasonal variation in the concentrations of selected fungal spore types in relation to meteorological parameters. The presence of spores of five taxa, namely, Cladosporium, Ganoderma, Alternaria, Leptosphaeria and Didymella, was recorded using a volumetric method (Hirst type). Fungal spores were present in the air in large numbers during the summer, with the highest concentrations recorded mainly in June, July and August. The peak concentrations of two of the studied spore types, Ganoderma and Alternaria, occurred in August, while the concentrations of Cladosporium, Leptosphaeria and Didymella spores were the highest in July. Multiple regression analysis was performed for three fungal seasons—2004, 2005 and 2006. Spore concentration was found to be positively correlated with the minimum temperature. For some spore types, there was also a significant correlation between concentrations, relative humidity and rain.     

陕西吴起县生态恢复区直翅目昆虫的多样性

应用多样性指数、主成分分析及多元逐步回归等方法,对陕西吴起县生态恢复区直翅目昆虫的群落结构,植被因素与直翅目昆虫群落特征的相关性进行研究。共获得标本1 155号,隶属于10科17属,共计20种。黄胫小车蝗Oedaleus infernalis Saussure,宽翅曲背蝗Pararcyptera microptera meridionalis,短星翅蝗Calliptamus abbreviatusIkonn分别占总数量的17.58%,15.15%和14.89%,共同构成该地区直翅目昆虫的优势类群。多样性的变化趋势是县城>白豹>周湾>王洼。对各生境植被因素和直翅目昆虫群落所进行的主成分分析,两维主成分的累计方差贡献率分别达到了95.299%和86.304%。影响直翅目昆虫种类和数量变化的植被因素有草本植物高度多样性、草本植物种数、菊科优势度、禾本科优势度、其他科优势度。     

昆虫病原线虫液体培养研究概况

综述昆虫病原线虫液体培养的研究概况。包括液体培养的研究历史,不同培养基组分对昆虫病原线虫产量的影响,营养源的选择,培养参数在昆虫病原线虫液体培养过程中的作用,感染期昆虫病原线虫脂肪酸含量,以及昆虫病原线虫应用前景等。     

Estimation of walrus populations on sea ice with infrared imagery and aerial photography

Population sizes of ice‐associated pinnipeds have often been estimated with visual or photographic aerial surveys, but these methods require relatively slow speeds and low altitudes, limiting the area they can cover. Recent developments in infrared imagery and its integration with digital photography could allow substantially larger areas to be surveyed and more accurate enumeration of individuals, thereby solving major problems with previous survey methods. We conducted a trial survey in April 2003 to estimate the number of Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) hauled out on sea ice around St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. The survey used high altitude infrared imagery to detect groups of walruses on strip transects. Low altitude digital photography was used to determine the number of walruses in a sample of detected groups and calibrate the infrared imagery for estimating the total number of walruses. We propose a survey design incorporating this approach with satellite radio telemetry to estimate the proportion of the population in the water and additional low‐level flights to estimate the proportion of the hauled‐out population in groups too small to be detected in the infrared imagery. We believe that this approach offers the potential for obtaining reliable population estimates for walruses and other ice‐associated pinnipeds.