Composition and transformation of 1.4 nm minerals in cutan and matrix of alfisols in central China

Background, Aims, and Scope  Hydroxy interlayered vermiculite (HIV) and vermiculite are commonly referred to as 1.4 nm minerals. In the subtropical soils of central China, the concentration of vermiculites decreased while that of HIVs increased gradually from north to south as the intensity of soil formation or eluviation increases in the same direction. The cutans in these soils closely interact with air, roots, microbes, water and dissolved ions in soils. Cutans may therefore be expected to exert an important influence on the formation of 1.4 nm minerals relative to the matrix soils. However, little is known about the transformation of 1.4 nm minerals in Alfisols in central China. Here, we investigate the compositional differences of 1.4 nm minerals in cutans and matrix soils, and the probable transformation of vermiculite to HIV or vice versa when sodium citrate and sodium acetate are added to matrix Alfisols. Methods  Cutans and matrix soils were separated from three soils in the northern subtropical zone in China. The samples were analyzed for Fe, Mn, exchangeable cations, organic matter(O.M.), pH, and clay minerals. To 10 mL of matrix soil, suspensions containing about 250 mg (oven-dry weight) of clay was added with 5 mL of 0.4 mol/dm³ or 2 mol/dm³ of sodium citrate or sodium acetate solution and 5 mL of 0.2 mol/dm³ mixed solutions of CaCl₂, Mg(NO₃)₂ and KCl. After its pH was adjusted to 6.0, the mixture was ‘incubated’ for 120 or 210 days (more than one season or half a year) during which period it was shaken for 1 hour every day. The clay mineral composition of the samples was determined after incubation. Results  Both vermiculites and HIVs were present in matrix soils, but only vermiculties were detected in cutans. The addition of organic ligands (citrate and acetate) promoted the transformation of HIV to vermiculite. This transformation was obvious for the matrix soils that had been incubated with 0.5 mol/dm³ sodium citrate for 210 days while sodium acetate was less effective in this regard. The promoting effect of organic ligands is dependent on type and concentration as well as incubation time. This would suggest the reverse transformation occurred in the formation of cutans compared with a vermiculite-to-HIV transformation in the subtropical soils of central China from north to south. Discussion  The position and environment of cutans in the B horizon together with the pH, organic matter and exchangeable base status in cutans seem conducive to the co-existence of vermiculite and HIV in the soils, but only vermiculite is found in cutans. The transformation of HIV to vermiculite in incubation experiments could be divided into two steps: 1) Cheluviation of organic matter to the interlayer hydroxy-aluminums from HIVs. 2) Rebasification of hydrated cations into the interlayers of vermiculites. Conclusions  The clay minerals in cutans can interact with organic ligands and nutrient elements excreted by roots. Under conditions of frequent wetting and drying and high pH, and when the concentrations of exchangeable bases, iron-manganese oxides, clays, and organic matter are high, the exchangeable cations can be incorporated into the interlayers of HIV, thereby promoting the partial transformation of HIV to vermiculite in rhizosphere soils. Recommendations and Perspectives  Cutan is at the interface of material and energy exchange involved in physical, chemical and biochemical reactions in the rhizosphere. These factors strongly affect the compositions of cutans. HIVs in (upper or adjacent) matrix soils may transform to vermiculites during cutan formation in these special soil environments. ESS-Submission Editor: Jizheng (Jim) He (jzhe@rcees.ac.cn)     

Isomerization of trans-astaxanthin induced by copper(II) ion in ethanol

Carotenoids are unstable and susceptible to disruption by environmental factors such as heat, light, and solvents. However, there is little information on the effect of metal ions on stability of carotenoids, especially those essential elements in human nutrition. Astaxanthin is one of the few carotenoids containing four oxygen donors. Usually, these oxygen donors can coordinate with heavy metal ions such as Cu(II) and Fe(III). In the present study, the interaction of trans-astaxanthin with Cu(II) was examined. It was found that Cu(II) markedly induces the conversion of trans-astaxanthin to its cis forms, which mainly consist of 9-cis-astaxanthin and 13-cis-astaxanthin as suggested by UV-visible spectra and HPLC measurements. Increasing either incubation time of Cu(II) and trans-astaxanthin in ethanol or the Cu(II)/astaxanthin ratio results in an increased percentage of cis isomers derived from trans-astaxanthin. All these results provide important information on the effects of dietary factors on the bioavailability and bioactivity of trans-astaxanthin.     

模拟自然降雨条件下植物根系增强边坡土体抗剪强度特征

该研究以位于青藏高原东北部黄土区的西宁盆地作为试验区,采用柠条锦鸡儿(Caragana korshinskii Kom.)、霸王(Zygophyllum xanthoxylon(Bunge)Maxim.)、垂穗披碱草(Elymus nutans Griseb.)、细茎冰草(Agropyron trachycaulum(Linn.)Gaertn.)的单播种植,以及柠条锦鸡儿分别与细茎冰草、垂穗披碱草混播种植等2种方式,开展了原位模拟降雨试验并采用直接剪切试验,系统分析了模拟降雨试验前后试验区边坡表层以下3个不同位置处复合体抗剪强度大小及其随深度变化规律。结果表明:模拟降雨试验前,由柠条锦鸡儿与细茎冰草、垂穗披碱草混播的边坡a层(0~20 cm)根-土复合体黏聚力分别为19.5、18.9 k Pa,均较相同条件下单播边坡a层复合体黏聚力大;混播种植边坡各层根-土复合体黏聚力均较模拟降雨试验后裸坡a层土体黏聚力大,其中柠条锦鸡儿与细茎冰草混播边坡、垂穗披碱草混播边坡模拟降雨试验后,a层复合体黏聚力分别较裸坡a层黏聚力的增幅为30.65%~56.45%;柠条锦鸡儿、霸王、垂穗披碱草、细茎冰草单播边坡b层复合体黏聚力增幅为4.17%~38.89%;柠条锦鸡儿分别与细茎冰草、垂穗披碱草混播边坡b层黏聚力增幅为29.17%~34.72%;边坡c层土体黏聚力增幅相对不及a层、b层显著,反映了草本起到浅层加筋作用,灌木则起到深部锚固作用。     

长期施肥后简育湿润均腐土中磷素形态特征的研究

对黑土（简育湿润均腐土）长期定位施肥15年后土壤磷素形态进行分析研究。结果表明：土壤中积累的Al-P、Ca2-P量与施磷量成正相关；只施NK能促进植物对Ca8-P的吸收；闭蓄态磷（Oc-P）含量均较低。施磷肥能增加黑土Fe-P含量，却未能增加Ca10-P含量。黑土各形态无机磷的含量大小顺序为：Fe-P〉Ca10-P〉Al-P〉Cas-P〉Ca2-P〉Oc-P。施磷能增加土壤中有机磷（O-P）的含量，但不能增加土壤有机质含量。土壤有机质含量均有不同程度的下降。本试验黑土中施入N112．5kg hm^-2a^-1和P20kg hm^-2a^-1能保持土壤中无机磷（I-P）平衡。     

几种有机酸对恒电荷和可变电荷土壤吸附Cu2+的影响

以恒电荷土壤(黄褐土和黄棕壤)和可变电荷土壤(红壤和砖红壤)为供试材料,研究了乙酸、草酸、酒石酸和柠檬酸对土壤吸附重金属铜离子(Cu2 )的影响。结果表明,在相同酒石酸浓度下,土壤对酒石酸的吸附量依次为黄棕壤(2 1 8mmolkg-1) >红壤(15 4mmolkg-1) >砖红壤(9 5mmolkg-1) ,土壤吸附有机酸后负电荷量增加,相同条件下增幅为砖红壤>红壤>黄棕壤;无有机酸配体时,供试土壤对Cu2 的吸附量为黄褐土>黄棕壤>砖红壤>红壤;加入有机酸时,随有机酸浓度增高,土壤对Cu2 的吸附一般表现为“峰”形曲线,峰所对应的有机酸浓度因有机酸类型而异,且随土壤可变电荷性质增强而增高;土壤吸附有机酸后对Cu2 的次级吸附不同于有机酸与铜共存时的竞争吸附,且因土壤性质表现迥异。这些结果意味着在存在有机酸配体的根际环境中,恒电荷土壤与可变电荷土壤对Cu2 的吸附明显不同,并将影响重金属离子在根际的转化与有效性     

喷灌条件下土壤NO3--N含量的空间变异性研究

作物生长所需的养分主要来源于土壤 ,因而土壤作为作物生长的营养库 ,其养分的变异必然会引起作物生长的变异。北方旱地土壤氮素形态一般以硝态氮为主 ,所以开展土壤NO- 3 N含量空间变异性研究对于科学合理地制定农田施肥方案 ,提高氮肥利用率 ,促进变量施肥技术的发展 ,实现精     

生物有机肥对生态农业发展的影响

指出了生物有机肥利用科学技术手段,经过科学配制和无害化加工处理,是发展有机农业,建立绿色食品安全工程体系的有力保障,在综合分析我国生物有机肥发展状况的基础上,探讨了有机肥在生态农业发展中的重要作用,展望了生物有机肥在我国农业可持续发展中的应用前景。     

Soybean oil content QTL mapping and integrating with meta-analysis method for mining genes

Oil content of soybean was a valuable quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes. Eleven QTLs were detected by both CIM and MIM method with the population crossed between Charleston and Dong nong594 in recent 3 years (2007, 2008, 2009). Combining the QTLs collected over the past 20 years, an integrated map of oil-content major QTLs in soybean was established using soymap2, which was published in 2004, as a reference. Using the software BioMercator ver.2.1, QTLs were projected from their own maps onto the reference map. In total, ninety-eight QTLs were integrated into soymap2. A meta-analysis method was used to narrow down the confidence interval, and 20 consensus QTLs and their corresponding markers were obtained. Using a local version of GENSCAN, 10,137 sequences in the consensus QTL intervals were predicted. With BLAST, these predicted genes were compared to the International Protein Index database to mine the related genes. The results offer a basis for gene mining and molecular breeding in soybean.     

大豆水溶性蛋白测定方法探讨

对大豆水溶性蛋白测定方法进行探讨,对大豆水溶性蛋白影响因素进行分析,同时,对提取条件进行优化。实验结果表明,温度的影响最为显著（P〈0.05）,所得最优提取完全的条件为：温度35℃,每次加100 mL水,提取2次,每次提取时间为60 min。通过研究后获得的试验条件在操作上较灵活,所提取的水溶蛋白具有更稳定、彻底和准确度高等特点。     

猪TLR6基因Msp I多态性与生长性状相关性研究

本研究旨在阐明猪TLR6基因片段多态性及其与生长性状之间的关系,利用PCR-RFLPs技术检测405头猪TLR6基因片段Msp I酶切位点的多态性,结果表明：该位点具有两种等位基因T\C, 在大围子猪、沙子岭猪、宁乡猪和黔邵花猪各群体中的频率分别为0.136/0.864、0.189/0.811、0.186/0.814、0.281/0.719。C等位基因是群体中的优势等位基因,该基因座处于Hardy-Weinberg平衡状态。利用最小二乘分析研究了该多态位点对初生体质量、45日龄体质量、60日龄体质量、4月龄体质量、6月龄体质量、6月龄体高、6月龄体长、6月龄胸围等生长性状的影响。结果显示：TT基因型个体对4月龄体质量性状影响达极显著水平（P<0.01）;TT基因型4月龄体质量比CC型高25.92%;对45日龄体质量、6月龄体质量、体长和胸围性状影响达显著水平（P<0.05）,TT基因型45日龄体质量比CC型高12.46%、6月龄体质量高7.20%、6月龄体长高7.62%、6月龄胸围高7.24%。由此可知,猪TLR6基因不同基因型对生长性状有着重要的影响,是猪育种应用中的一个潜在遗传标记。