Antioxidative properties of tripeptide libraries prepared by the combinatorial chemistry

Two series of combinatorial tripeptide libraries were constructed, based on an antioxidative peptide isolated from a soybean protein hydrolysate. One was a library of 108 peptides containing either His or Tyr residues. Another was a library of 114 peptides related to Pro-His-His, which had been identified as an active core of the antioxidative peptide. The antioxidative properties of these libraries were examined by several methods, such as the antioxidative activity against the peroxidation of linoleic acid, the reducing activity, the radical scavenging activity, and the peroxynitrite scavenging activity. Two Tyr-containg tripeptides showed higher activities than those of two His-containing tripeptides in the peroxidation of linoleic acid. Tyr-His-Tyr showed a strong synergistic effects with phenolic antioxidants. However, the tripeptide had only marginal reducing activity and a moderate peroxynitrite scavenging activity. Cysteine-containing tripeptides showed the strong peroxynitrite scavenging activity. Change of either the N-terminus or C-terminus of Pro-His-His to other amino acid residues did not significantly alter their antioxidative activity. Tripeptides containing Trp or Tyr residues at the C-terminus had strong radical scavenging activities, but very weak peroxynitrite scavenging activity. The present results allow us to understand why protein digests have such a variety of antioxidative properties.     

Contributions of pesticide residue chemistry to improving food and environmental safety: past and present accomplishments and future challenges

The principles of modern pesticide residue chemistry were articulated in the 1950s. Early authors pointed out the advantages of systematizing and standardizing analytical methods for pesticides so that they could be widely practiced and the results could be reproduced from one laboratory to the next. The availability of improved methods has led to a much more complete understanding of pesticide behavior and fate in foods and the environment. Using methods based largely upon gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled increasingly with mass spectrometry (MS) and MS(n) as the detection tool, residues can be measured at parts per billion levels and below in a variety of food and environmental matrices. Development of efficient extraction and cleanup methods, techniques such as ELISA, efficient sample preparation techniques such as QuEChERS, and automated laboratory and field instrumentation has also contributed to the tools available for use in modern pesticide residue analysis. As a result, great strides have been made in improving food and worker safety and in understanding environmental behavior and fate of pesticides. There are many challenges remaining in the field of pesticide residue chemistry that will continue to stimulate analytical chemists. New chemistries are emerging, often patterned on complex natural products. Analyzing for the parent chemicals and potentially multiple breakdown products will require analytical ingenuity. The development of more sensitive bioassays and knowledge of unintended side effects will challenge residue chemistry as well, as in the case of following the fate of environmental endocrine disruptors associated with some pesticides as well as nonpesticide contaminants from packaging materials and other familiar articles. Continued funding and other resources to ensure better training, international cooperation, and accelerated research and development activities will be a constant need in pesticide residue chemistry as it is for all areas of science that aim to mitigate or eliminate contaminants that can affect human and environmental health and safety.     

Long-term trends in stream chemistry and biology in North-East Scotland: Evidence for recovery

Since 1983 stream chemistry and macroinvertebrate ecology were monitored in ten streams draining the eastern Cairngorms. All streams have exhibited a decline in sulphate concentrations in response to reduced acid deposition; in the more acidic systems this has been reflected by a parallel increase in acid neutralizing capacity (ANC). In some streams this coincides with an increase in the abundance of acid-sensitive mayflies which may provide evidence for biological recovery. In the most chronically acidified systems no increased abundance has been observed despite significant increases in ANC. This suggests that further reductions in deposition and sufficient time for a reversal of soil acidification is required before any biotic recovery occurs.     

Highlights and perspectives of soil biology and ecology research in China

As seen for the publications in several distinguished soil related journals, soil biology and ecology is booming in China in recent years. This review highlights the major findings of the soil biology and ecology projects conducted in China during the past two decades. Special attention is paid on the responses of soil biota to environmental change, and the roles of soil functional groups in C transformation, nutrient cycling and pollution remediation. We also point out the future challenges facing the Chinese soil biologists and soil ecologists. In the future, more systematic studies rather than scattered case studies are needed, more controlled field experiments rather than short-term laboratory studies should be encouraged. Besides, we need to focus more on the linkage between aboveground and belowground organisms, the interactions between different groups of soil food web, and the coupling of observation with modeling. It is essential to employ the state-of-the-art technology in research of soil biology and ecology because to answer the emerging scientific questions relies heavily on the development of new technology. Our ultimate goals are to push forward the research on soil biology and ecology in China and to encourage the interaction and collaboration between the international community and research groups in China.     

植物营养生物学研究方向探讨

植物营养生物学是重点研究植物活化、吸收、转运与利用养分的生理、分子及遗传机制的科学。在过去的30年,我国植物营养生物学研究取得了长足的发展,但从国家自然科学基金资助情况分析,与相关学科相比,近10多年来植物营养生物学总体研究力量相对薄弱,缺乏新一代领军人才。一些研究更接近于“纯”植物生物学,与植物营养应用研究出现脱节,对农业绿色发展及化肥产业升级的支撑不够。植物营养生物学研究者应该重视与作物育种、耕作栽培、生态环境、植物保护及化肥产业的合作,跟踪这些领域的研究现状及生产中面临的技术需求,围绕这些领域的技术“瓶颈”开展植物营养基础研究,在提供解决途径的同时创新植物营养生物学机理,从而丰富植物营养学理论。在研究内容上,建议重视控制养分响应度的生理与遗传机制,养分信号与环境信号互作,养分×土壤×管理互作及其对根系生长的影响,养分供应与抗生物胁迫,高产高效的植物营养生理学基础,特种作物的营养机理,化肥产品升级的生物学途径等方向的研究。     

Impact of abundant Pheidole ant species on soil nutrients in relation to the food biology of the species

Impact of Pheidole sp., reportedly important in insect pest suppression in agroecosystems was studied on supporting agroecosystem services. This tropical ant species was found to be common and abundant in agroecosystems, with a high nest density and preference for the central, crop-growing zone of annual cropping systems. Physico-chemical characteristics of the debris soil were examined from nests located by the roadside and within two managed ecosystems. The debris soil had significantly higher concentrations of total C, N, P and NO₃-N along with higher water-holding capacity and moderate-sized soil particles in comparison to the control soil. The pH of the Pheidole sp. debris soil was shifted towards reduced alkaline conditions. Results reveal that annually, 2.44 kg/ha C, 0.071 kg/ha P, 0.628 kg/ha N and 0.009 kg/ha NO₃-N are added to the soil through the accumulation of organic refuse at the nest rim. This contributes to soil nutrient enhancement and is suggested to enhance ecosystem productivity. The high nutrient content of nest debris soil is linked to the predominance of arthropod carcasses (93.7% of the total organic refuse) in the refuse piles derived from the animal-based food (70.3%) brought to the nests by the foragers. Plant-based food was 29.6% (seeds, leaves, roots, etc.) of the total indicating a minor role of Pheidole sp. as a seed harvester. The results suggest an important role of Pheidole sp. in regulating the soil nutrients as an ecosystem engineer.     

Questions and possible new directions for research into the biology of terrestrial isopods

New directions for research identified during the final plenary discussion of the Sixth Symposium on the Biology of Terrestrial Isopods included: locating enzymes buffering pleon fluids during excretion of ammonia and the use of isopods in ecotoxicology including how they adapt to or tolerate high contaminant levels; how they interact with free living and endosymbiotic microbiota and how Wolbacchia avoids the immune response of isopods. New analyses of mating behaviour raised questions concerning mate choice while new microsatellite techniques may help resolve issues of multiple paternity and sperm competition. In relation to their ecology and biogeography new questions included how does the ability to learn the location of high quality food patches in spatially heterogeneous environments and the existence of an Allee effect, influence the population biology of isopods in the field and how do patterns of invasion and colonisation vary between species with different motility and life history strategies?     

Organo‐mineral associations in temperate soils: Integrating biology,mineralogy, and organic matter chemistry

We summarize progress with respect to (1) different approaches to isolate, extract, and quantify organo‐mineral compounds from soils, (2) types of mineral surfaces and associated interactions, (3) the distribution and function of soil biota at organo‐mineral surfaces, (4) the distribution and content of organo‐mineral associations, and (5) the factors controlling the turnover of organic matter (OM) in organo‐mineral associations from temperate soils. Physical fractionation achieves a rough separation between plant residues and mineral‐associated OM, which makes density or particle‐size fractionation a useful pretreatment for further differentiation of functional fractions. A part of the OM in organo‐mineral associations resists different chemical treatments, but the data obtained cannot readily be compared among each other, and more research is necessary on the processes underlying resistance to treatments for certain OM components. Studies using physical‐fractionation procedures followed by soil‐microbiological analyses revealed that organo‐mineral associations spatially isolate C sources from soil biota, making quantity and quality of OM in microhabitats an important factor controlling community composition. The distribution and activity of soil microorganisms at organo‐mineral surfaces can additionally be modified by faunal activities. Composition of OM in organo‐mineral associations is highly variable, with loamy soils having generally a higher contribution of polysaccharides, whereas mineral‐associated OM in sandy soils is often more aliphatic. Though highly reactive towards Fe oxide surfaces, lignin and phenolic components are usually depleted in organo‐mineral associations. Charred OM associated with the mineral surface contributes to a higher aromaticity in heavy fractions. The relative proportion of OC bound in organo‐mineral fractions increases with soil depth. Likewise does the strength of the bonding. Organic molecules sorbed to the mineral surfaces or precipitated by Al are effectively stabilized, indicated by reduced susceptibility towards oxidative attack, higher thermal stability, and lower bioavailability. At higher surface loading, organic C is much better bioavailable, also indicated by little ¹⁴C age. In the subsurface horizons of the soils investigated in this study, Fe oxides seem to be the most important sorbents, whereas phyllosilicate surfaces may be comparatively more important in topsoils. Specific surface area of soil minerals is not always a good predictor for C‐stabilization potentials because surface coverage is discontinuous. Recalcitrance and accessibility/aggregation seem to determine the turnover dynamics in fast and intermediate cycling OM pools, but for long‐term OC preservation the interactions with mineral surfaces, and especially with Fe oxide surfaces, are a major control in all soils investigated here.     

An integrative approach of organic matter stabilization in temperate soils: Linking chemistry,physics, and biology

With this topical issue, we present the work of the Priority Program 1090 of the German Research Foundation (“Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG”): “Soils as a source and sink for CO₂ – mechanisms and regulation of organic matter stabilisation in soils”. This introduction gives an overview on the sites investigated and the major research approaches, including a glossary of major terms used in the field of soil organic matter research. We point out the advantages of integration of data from a broad field of different soil‐science disciplines and the progress achieved by application and combination of new analytical methods describing the quality and turnover of soil organic matter.     

黑龙江省绿色食品基地发展战略研究

基地是绿色食品发展的重要基础.研究制定基地发展战略,对于确保绿色食品长远发展具有十分重要的意义.本文立足黑龙江省情、农情和"绿情",在分析"十三五"期间黑龙江省绿色食品基地发展现状的基础上,研究探讨"十四五"时期黑龙江省绿色食品基地发展战略目标及实现路径.     

高分子科学中的玻璃化转变理论在谷物干燥及储存研究中的应用初探

玻璃化转变理论是高分子科学中的一个重要理论。该文对玻璃化转变理论在谷物干燥及储存研究中的应用进行了初步探讨。先分析研究了高分子生物物料的玻璃化转变温度与物质含水率的相关关系,再根据玻璃化转变理论中关于物质相态变化的分析,初步研究了谷物在干燥过程中物理状态变化的过程,并结合干燥动力学分析了谷物干燥特性;同时,依据谷物干燥及储存过程中物质成分的玻璃化转变特点探讨了品质变化的机理以及控制品质变化的方法     

基于RAGA的PPE模型在土壤质量等级评价中的应用研究

以往的土壤分类与等级综合评价多是建立在模糊数学 (Fuzzy)基础上的模糊聚类分析与模糊综合评判 ,因此不可避免的涉及权重矩阵人为干扰 ,导致分类与评价结果的人为倾向。本文将高维降维技术——投影寻踪评价模型 (PPE)应用到土壤学科领域 ,利用改进的加速遗传算法 (RAGA)优化投影方向 ,将多维数据指标转换到低维子空间 ,通过寻求最优投影方向及投影函数值来实现对土壤的分类与等级评价 ,避免了主观赋权的人为干扰 ,取得了较好效果 ,可为土壤分类与等级评价研究提供一条新思路     

采取有效措施,救活水库死库容水体

本文论述水库死库容水体对环境的危害，提出救活水库死库容水体的工程措施，合理调度交换其水体，提高自然净化能力，增大水库水环境的承载力。     

模糊综合评判在农业自然生态环境质量评价中的应用

本文根据沈阳市6个县(区)的资料,采用模糊综合评判方法对沈阳市农业自然生态环境质量进行了评价,旨在为当地政府制定环境规划提供参考。     

应用天然滑坡理论修筑淤地坝技术初探

在分析研究天然滑坡形成机理的基础上，探索性地论证了利用滑坡研究成果模拟天然滑坡修筑淤地坝在理论上的可行性、技术上的可靠性、经济上的实用性和发展前景。