Effect of phenolic acids on the formation and stabilization of soil aggregates

ABSTRACT

To examine the effects of phenolic acids, which are generated by the decomposition of cell walls in plant residues, and other constituents on the stability of soil aggregates, phenolic acids and carbohydrates were mixed into three different types of soil. After a 1-month incubation, the plot containing soil mixed with phenolic acids showed the greatest mean weight diameter of all the soils. In the treated soils, before incubation, the decline of saturated water permeability during continuous water percolation was mitigated in the plot containing soil mixed with phenolic acids compared with that in the other plots. Soil aggregates were synthesized with the addition of phenolic acids and carbohydrates using two methods (mixing and surface brushing) and were incubated for 153 days. The aggregate stability was greatest in the plots surface-brushed with phenolic acids for Andosol and gray lowland soil, whereas the aggregate stability was most stable in the plots mixed with phenolic acids for yellow soil. This difference in the effectiveness of application methods is rationalized by the densities of the active Al and Fe contents, the carbon content, and the specific surface area of the soils. The phenolic acids also affected sandy soil. In a similar experiment using a gray lowland soil, mixing a portion of p-coumaric acid into synthetic aggregates was found to shift the molecular weight distribution of substances to larger molecular weights, as determined by size exclusion chromatography of the liquid extracted from the aggregates, which was likely accompanied by an increase in aggregate stability. The effects of fungi and bacteria on soil long-term stability were not greater than those of phenolic acids. Our findings and previous results show that microorganisms aid in soil-aggregate formation during the early stages, and phenolic acids not only aid in the formation of aggregates but also strongly stabilize them.     

鲢肌球蛋白重链球状结构域的cDNA克隆及结构解析

根据已经获得的两种鲢肌球蛋白重链同工型基因(低温型sc-w和高温型sc-s)在3′端展现的明显差异,设计了2个特异性的反向引物,以鲤科鱼类肌球蛋白重链5′端的保守序列为正向引物,通过Long-PCR对编码鲢两种肌球蛋白重链同工型的球状结构域(Subfragment-1,S1)的全长基因进行了克隆和测序,并推断出它们一级结构的氨基酸序列。研究结果表明,sc-w与sc-s在S1的初级结构上显示80.5%的同源性、与已经报道的草鱼低温型(gc10)有97.2%的高同源性;sc-s则与草鱼中间型(gcI)和高温型(gc30)显示了分别为98.4%和97.1%的高同源性。低温型的sc-w和gc10在S1初级结构上展现的特有变异主要发生在43个氨基酸残基位点,其中15个属保守性残基。对S1区域中两个功能性的表面环loop1(与ATP结合位点有关)和loop2(与肌动蛋白结合位点有关)的结构解析发现,sc-w和gc10在两个表面环的长度、残基电荷分布和氨基酸组成等方面与其它同工型之间存在明显差异,揭示了这两个表面环的结构差异可能影响了栖息于不同环境温度下的淡水鱼的肌球蛋白分子马达功能。分子系统树的分析结果进一步证明,鱼类栖...