Sponge-associated fungi from a mangrove habitat in Indonesia: species composition,antimicrobial activity,enzyme screening and bioactive profiling

There is no report of diversity, biological properties and bioactive compounds of sponge-associated fungi from Indonesia’s mangrove ecosystem to date. This study was designed to isolate sponge-associated fungi from a mangrove ecosystem in Mangkang, to screen the antimicrobial and extracellular enzyme properties of the isolates, characterize the biologically promising isolates using molecular approaches, and profile the secondary metabolites using phytochemical and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analyses. An unidentified sponge that lived in association with mangrove roots was collected from Mangkang. Total of eight associated fungi were isolated from the sponge. Among all isolates, only two fungi SPMKF 1 and SPMKF 6 produced extracellular amylase, another two fungi SPMKF 4 and 5 showed antibacterial activity against MRSA, and only one fungus SPMKF 8 was able to produce extracellular amylase and show antimicrobial activity against ESBL E. coli, Salmonella enterica ser. Typhi strain MDR and C. albicans, while SPMKF 2, SPMKF 3 and SPMKF 9 did not show any biological properties. The result of genetic characterization proved that SPMKF 1 was Cladosporium tenuissimum, SPMKF 4 was Eutypella sp., SPMKF 5 was Lasiodiplodia theobromae, SPMKF 6 was Fusarium keratoplasticum and SPMKF 8 was F. solani. Furthermore, an amylase gene was detected in fungi SPMKF 1, 6 and 8 while among the BGC, only NRPS genes were detected in SPMKF 4, 5 and 8. Interestingly, several same metabolites indicating the same retention factor (Rf) values in TLC were detected in the fungal crude extracts by TLC.     

Modeling and Evaluating the Performance of River Sediment on Immobilizing Arsenic from Hydrothermally Altered Rock in Laboratory Column Experiments with Hydrus-1D

Large volumes of excavated rock are produced as a result of road and railway tunnel construction in Hokkaido, Japan. Due to the geological condition of this region, these rocks have often undergone hydrothermal alterations, causing them to contain elevated amounts of hazardous elements including arsenic (As). Therefore, these excavated rocks are potentially hazardous waste, and proper disposal methods are required. In this article, performance of unsaturated river sediment on immobilizing As from hydrothermally altered rock is evaluated using laboratory column experiments and Hydrus-1D. The results reveal that the river sediment significantly reduces As migration. Arsenic retarded by river sediment was observed in three patterns. The first was an adsorption onto minerals originally contained in the river sediment. The next pattern was a combination of reduction of As generation by oxidation of As bearing-minerals, irreversible adsorption, and adsorption onto newly precipitated Fe oxy-hydroxide/oxide. The last pattern led to a further depletion of As leached from the rock layer due to a shift in the majority of the As generation mechanism from dissolution to oxidation in combination with a low concentration of oxygen in the rock layer. These patterns were satisfactorily evaluated by a Hydrus-1D model with reversible and irreversible adsorptions. The information from this work is effective in designing and establishing a reasonable technique for the disposal of hydrothermally altered rocks.     

Anatomical variations in wood among four native species of Leguminosae grown in arid areas of China

Morphological features and anatomical variations are described and illustrated in detail for four native species of Legumi-nosae grown in arid sandy regions in China, which are Hedysarum scoparium Fisch.et Mey., Caragana korshiskii Kom., Lespedeza bicolor Turcz. and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim. ex Kom.) Cheng f. All species showed similar morphological features: distinct growth ring boundaries, ring to semi-ring-porosity, simple perforation plates, alternate intervessel pitting, nonseptate fibers, para...     

Experiences of a Forest Owners’ Cooperative in using FSC forest certification as an environmental strategy

Yusuhara Forest Owners’ Cooperative (YFOC) in Kochi Prefecture in Japan received its forest management certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in 2000. YFOC is recognised as the resource manager of its members’ forests, and they were the first organisation to gain such certification in Japan. With the continuous efforts of selling FSC certified wood in the domestic housing construction market, YFOC has substantially increased their timber sales in recent years. It is a noteworthy event in Japanese small-scale forestry, which has been struggling with declining economic performance for many years. This paper analyses the detail of forestry activities and changes which occurred in YFOC after certification by FSC. An interesting effect of increasing economic performance is found to have come from an unexpected direction. It is concluded that the FSC certification system is a possible tool to revitalise Japanese small-scale forestry as well as obtain favourable environmental outcomes.     

Ecological Wood Adaptation and Horizontal Variations of Vessel Element and Fibre Length of Calligonum mongolicum

INTRODUCTION The larger genus in Polygonaceae is Calligonum, which includes about 100 species of shrubs that grow in central Asia. It is well suited to arid climates with drought resistance, and grows more on clay, sandy and gravel grounds. These plants are often cultivated as ornamentals and a stabilizer of mobile sand dunes. There was published information on the wood anatomy of all the examined genera in Polygonaceae (Ma 1994), but the selected species have not yet been described. Ad…     

The shrinking profitability of small-scale forestry in Japan and some recent policy initiatives to reverse the trend

About 80% of annual wood fiber consumption in Japan is imported. Even though most of the land surface is covered by forests in Japan, the domestic forestry and forest industry are threatened by such imports flooding the local market. Fragmented land ownership, steep terrain, rapid growth of weeds, and high labor costs have all contributed to the decline of domestic forestry. Further, the purchasing power of the Japanese Yen has become very strong in recent years, and the decreasing prices of imported timber have depressed the prices of domestic timber, eroding profitability and discouraging small-scale forestry. In spite of these difficult circumstances, there are several interesting new developments in Japanese forestry. One is the revision of the Basic Forestry Law of 1964, through which the Japanese government is steering forest policy from timber production towards environmental services. Because of this change, new ways to assist rural forestry activities will become available in the near future. Another change is the certification movement, where recent examples of Japanese companies acquiring ISO 14001 and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest certifications provide hope to depressed domestic forestry activities. In particular, FSC group certification is useful in motivating small-scale forest owners to implement and maintain sustainable forestry practices. This paper is based on the presentation at IUFRO Group 3.08.00 Symposium at Joensuu, Finland 2001. The original article, ‘The economic situation of small-scale forestry in Japan’, is in Niskanen and Vayrynen (2001).     

Policies Affecting Forestry Entrepreneurship

Many demand and supply-side policies impede or foster forestry entrepreneurship. A study was conducted to consolidate existing knowledge on policies influencing forestry entrepreneurship in Finland, Norway, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and the USA, and to draw conclusions on these impeding and fostering factors. From the country studies it was difficult to find common structures on policies affecting forestry entrepreneurship. This is understandable because most policies in forestry are aimed at supporting sustainable forest management, wood production and ecological services of the forests rather than entrepreneurship as such. Despite the high variety of policies applied in the study countries, it can be concluded that strict public control on forests’ use and management potentially impedes forestry entrepreneurship. While these policies assist to correct market failure and to promote sustainability of forest management, they may also result into unnecessary and ineffective regulations that limit the opportunities for forestry entrepreneurship. A common feature promoting the demand for forestry entrepreneurship in some of the countries studied is the strong emphasis on forestry cooperatives, which were important institutions to support small-scale forestry entrepreneurship. In many study countries, different ad hoc programs are implemented to find new economic and entrepreneurial opportunities aside from the current use of wood and forests. Subsidies and tax incentives are commonly applied to reduce risks from making forestry investments or otherwise increase the economic return from timber production.     

Aerosol and Precipitation Chemistry during the Summer at the Summit of Mt. Fuji, Japan (3776m a.s.l.)

Aerosol and precipitation samples were obtained at the summit of Mt. Fuji, the highest peak (3776m a.s.l.) in Japan, in the summers of 1997, 1998, and 1999. The mountaintop might be affected by valley wind during the afternoon, but is located in the free troposphere during the morning. The temporal variations of chemical species in the aerosol and precipitation samples correspond with meteorological conditions. The SO₄ ^2? in the aerosol and precipitation exhibits high concentration with low temperature air mass, indicating the influence of long range transport from the Asian Continent. The contribution of the free troposphere to the chemical species obtained at the summit is estimated to be at least 30% during the summer season.     

Levels of active oxygen species are controlled by ascorbic acid and anthocyanin in Arabidopsis

Stabilization of the levels of active oxygen species (AOS) is important to the survival of organisms. To clarify the system controlling levels of AOS in plants, this study used an electron spin resonance (ESR) method to directly measure superoxide radical (O(2)(.-)) scavenging activities in the wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana (Col and Ler ecotypes), two anthocyanin mutants (tt3 and ttg1), and an ascorbic acid mutant (vtc1). Under ordinary growth conditions, Arabidopsis contained superoxide-scavenging activity (SOSA) of approximately 300-500 SOD units/g of fresh weight. The ESR pattern indicated that most (40-50%) of this activity was due to ascorbic acid. For the analysis of SOSA under conditions of oxidative stress, synthesis of AOS was induced by gamma-irradiation. The radical scavenging activity in irradiated plants increased approximately 10-fold following an associated increase in the accumulation of ascorbic acid and anthocyanin. The accumulation of ascorbic acid and anthocyanin was suppressed by treatment with an antioxidant before irradiation and was induced by treatment with a radical-generating reagent. The contributions of ascorbic acid and anthocyanin to the total superoxide radical scavenging activity differed among ecotypes. In the Ler ecotype, ascorbic acid accumulated at twice the level of that in the Col ecotype, and induction of anthocyanin was half that in Col. To confirm the activity of ascorbic acid and anthocyanin against AOS stress, the viability of the wild type and mutants (tt2, tt3,tt5, ttg1, and vtc1) was examined after gamma-irradiation. Only the plants in which ascorbic acid and anthocyanin were induced had the ability to grow and flower.     

Secretome analysis of the basidiomycete <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phanerochaete chrysosporium</Emphasis> grown on ammonia-treated lignocellulosic biomass from birch wood

Ammonia pretreatment is a promising technique for enhancing enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass. However, an enzymatic cocktail suitable for the breakdown of pretreated biomass samples is still being developed. The basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium is a well-studied fungus with regard to bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. In the present work, we analyzed proteins secreted by P. chrysosporium grown on untreated and ammonia-treated birch wood meal. Fungal growth, xylanase activity, and extracellular protease activity increased in the media containing the ammonia-treated biomass; however, cellulase production decreased compared to that observed in the untreated biomass. Secreted extracellular proteins were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and identified by liquid chromatography ion–trap mass spectrometry. Fifty-five spots corresponding to secreted proteins were chosen for further analysis. In the culture with ammonia-treated biomass, the relative concentration of a xylanase belonging to glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 11 increased, while acetyl xylan esterases belonging to carbohydrate esterase family 1 decreased. Moreover, GH family 10 xylanases were promoted proteolysis in the culture of ammonia-treated biomass, leading to the loss of family 1 carbohydrate-binding modules. These results indicated that P. chrysosporium produced enzymes related to the recognition of structural changes on xylan with de-acetylation and introduction of nitrogen by ammonia pretreatment of birch wood meal.