Comment on "The Southern Ocean biological response to aeolian iron deposition"

Cassar et al. (Reports, 24 August 2007, p. 1067) proposed that aerosol-iron input enhances Southern Ocean export production. Their conclusion critically depends upon aerosol-iron modeling simulations not validated with iron-deposition data and dust dissolution rates based on Northern Hemisphere atmospheric chemical conditions (low pH). This diminishes the relevance of their findings and demonstrates that applying such models to this region is premature.     

The effects of iron fertilization on carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean

An unresolved issue in ocean and climate sciences is whether changes to the surface ocean input of the micronutrient iron can alter the flux of carbon to the deep ocean. During the Southern Ocean Iron Experiment, we measured an increase in the flux of particulate carbon from the surface mixed layer, as well as changes in particle cycling below the iron-fertilized patch. The flux of carbon was similar in magnitude to that of natural blooms in the Southern Ocean and thus small relative to global carbon budgets and proposed geoengineering plans to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide in the deep sea.     

Southern Ocean iron enrichment experiment: carbon cycling in high- and low-Si waters

The availability of iron is known to exert a controlling influence on biological productivity in surface waters over large areas of the ocean and may have been an important factor in the variation of the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide over glacial cycles. The effect of iron in the Southern Ocean is particularly important because of its large area and abundant nitrate, yet iron-enhanced growth of phytoplankton may be differentially expressed between waters with high silicic acid in the south and low silicic acid in the north, where diatom growth may be limited by both silicic acid and iron. Two mesoscale experiments, designed to investigate the effects of iron enrichment in regions with high and low concentrations of silicic acid, were performed in the Southern Ocean. These experiments demonstrate iron's pivotal role in controlling carbon uptake and regulating atmospheric partial pressure of carbon dioxide.     

Glacial silicic acid concentrations in the Southern Ocean

Reconstruction of nutrient concentrations in the deep Southern Ocean has produced conflicting results. The cadmium/calcium (Cd/Ca) data set suggests little change in nutrient concentrations during the last glacial period, whereas the carbon isotope data set suggests that nutrient concentrations were higher. We determined the silicon isotope composition of sponge spicules from the Atlantic and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean and found higher silicic acid concentrations in the Pacific sector during the last glacial period. We propose that this increase results from changes in the stoichiometric uptake of silicic acid relative to nitrate and phosphate by diatoms, thus facilitating a redistribution of nutrients across the Pacific and Southern Oceans. Our results are consistent with the global Cd/Ca data set and support the silicic acid leakage hypothesis.     

Widespread intense turbulent mixing in the Southern Ocean

Observations of internal wave velocity fluctuations show that enhanced turbulent mixing over rough topography in the Southern Ocean is remarkably intense and widespread. Mixing rates exceeding background values by a factor of 10 to 1000 are common above complex bathymetry over a distance of 2000 to 3000 kilometers at depths greater than 500 to 1000 meters. This suggests that turbulent mixing in the Southern Ocean may contribute crucially to driving the upward transport of water closing the ocean's meridional overturning circulation, and thus needs to be represented in numerical simulations of the global ocean circulation and the spreading of biogeochemical tracers.     

Warming of the Southern Ocean since the 1950s

Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer floats recorded temperatures in depths between 700 and 1100 meters in the Southern Ocean throughout the 1990s. These temperature records are systematically warmer than earlier hydrographic temperature measurements from the region, suggesting that mid-depth Southern Ocean temperatures have risen 0.17 degrees C between the 1950s and the 1980s. This warming is faster than that of the global ocean and is concentrated within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, where temperature rates of change are comparable to Southern Ocean atmospheric temperature increases.     

南大洋抗植物病原真菌活性菌株的筛选及系统发育分析

以尖刀镰孢菌为指示菌,从第27次南极科考采取的南大洋海水样品中筛选到20株活性菌株,其中2株属于嗜冷杆菌,2株属于假单胞菌,16株属于假交替单胞菌。对4株具有较强抑菌活性的菌株进行抑菌谱研究,结果表明,菌株312-1、83-1、195对尖刀镰孢菌、辣椒疫霉、大丽轮枝菌、番茄早疫病菌、瓜亡革菌、水稻纹枯病菌、芦笋茎枯病菌均具有明显的抑菌效果。     

南大洋抗植物病原真菌活性菌株的筛选及系统发育分析(英文)

[目的]筛选南大洋抗植物病原真菌活性菌株并对其进行系统发育分析及抑菌谱研究。[方法]活性菌株筛选和抑菌谱研究采用平板扩散法,系统发育分析采用Mega4.0软件的邻接法。[结果]以尖刀镰孢菌为指示菌,从第27次南极科考采取的南大洋海水样品中筛选到20株活性菌株。分子鉴定与系统发育分析研究表明,2株活性菌株属于嗜冷杆菌(Psychrobacter),2株属于假单胞菌(Pseudomonas),16株属于假交替单胞菌(Pseudoalteromonas)。对4株具有较强抑菌活性的菌株的抑菌谱研究表明,菌株312-1、83-1、195对尖刀镰孢菌、辣椒疫霉、大丽轮枝菌、番茄早疫病菌、瓜亡革菌、水稻纹枯病菌、芦笋茎枯病菌均具有明显的抑菌效果;除水稻纹枯病菌外,312-2对其他6种植物病原真菌也均有明显的抑菌活性。[结论]4株具有较强抑菌活性的菌株具有较高的研究与开发价值。     

小麦根系对水分亏缺的生物学响应

对水分亏缺下小麦根系生物学特性响应的研究进展进行了综述 ,从根系形态、生理生化、基因型进化角度阐述了小麦在水分亏缺下作物的自我反馈调节能力 ,并由此提出了作物在旱地或灌溉条件下 ,开掘土壤水分利用效率 ,进行生物节水的农艺措施     

南方红豆杉炭疽病病原鉴定及其生物学特性

对福建明溪南方红豆杉苗木炭疽菌进行分离鉴定,结果表明病原菌为胶孢炭疽菌[Col-letotrichum gloeosporioides(Penz.)Sacc.].病原菌菌丝在查氏培养基上生长最好;病原菌菌丝生长的最适温度是25℃,最适pH值为7;产孢的最适温度为30℃,最适pH值为8;光暗交替最有利于菌丝生长,自然散光最有利于产孢;对碳源的利用,葡萄糖最有利于菌丝生长,蔗糖最有利于孢子的形成;对氮源的利用,蛋白胨最有利于菌丝生长,牛肉浸膏最有利于孢子的形成;孢子萌发的最适温度是25℃,最适pH值为6;RH在70%-100%均能萌发,在水滴中萌发率最高,为76.18%;RH低于60%不萌发;光照有利于孢子的萌发.     

Dynamical response of the tropical Pacific Ocean to solar forcing during the early Holocene

We present a high-resolution magnesium/calcium proxy record of Holocene sea surface temperature (SST) from off the west coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico, a region where interannual SST variability is dominated today by the influence of the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Temperatures were lowest during the early to middle Holocene, consistent with documented eastern equatorial Pacific cooling and numerical model simulations of orbital forcing into a La Ni?a-like state at that time. The early Holocene SSTs were also characterized by millennial-scale fluctuations that correlate with cosmogenic nuclide proxies of solar variability, with inferred solar minima corresponding to El Ni?o-like (warm) conditions, in apparent agreement with the theoretical "ocean dynamical thermostat" response of ENSO to exogenous radiative forcing.     

印度洋西北海域鸢乌贼生物学特性初步研究

根据2003年9-11月我国对印度洋鸢乌贼资源的调查,对其生物学特性作了初步分析。调查发现,鸢乌贼的胴长范围为106～540mm,优势胴长组为220～360mm,占总数的70.5%。渔获个体由南往北呈明显增长趋势,而东西方向则没有明显差异。雌、雄个体差异大,且雌性个体所占比例远高于雄性。雌性个体的胴长范围为106～540mm,优势胴长为220～360mm;而雄性个体的胴长范围为142～310mm,优势胴长为220～260mm。初步判断调查海域存在3个群体。雌性个体的性成熟度在10°00′N以南海域以Ⅳ期个体为主,而在10°00′N以北海域则以Ⅰ期为主。雄性个体的性成熟度均以Ⅳ期为主。调查期间,摄食等级以0～1级为主,上半夜摄食等级较高,而在清晨摄食等级开始下降。胃内物以鱿鱼为主。其生长参数b值小于2.6,这说明鸢乌贼是一种瘦小型的种类。鸢乌贼的净重比例达到84.7%,比其它大洋性柔鱼类高。     

实施蓝海战略 振兴民族大豆产业

我国大豆产业面对国外大量涌入的转基因大豆的冲击、广大豆农无钱可赚、国产大豆加工企业没有利润空间的严峻形势,只有实施蓝海战略,才能突出重围,谋求新的发展,实现民族大豆产业的振兴。     

杉木人工林凋落物大量元素含量与通量对模拟氮沉降的响应

在杉木人工林中开展野外模拟氮沉降试验,以探讨森林凋落物对氮沉降增加的响应。通过对凋落物的化学分析发现,4种氮沉降[(N0)0、(N1)60、(N2)120、(N3)240 kg.hm-2.a-1]处理下5种大量元素的年平均含量大小顺序表现为N>Ca>K>Mg>P。相对于N0,N1、N2、N3处理增加了落叶中N、K、Mg的含量,其中使N平均含量分别增加了3.85%、7.69%、28.30%;但在一定程度上降低了P、Ca含量。经N0、N1、N2、N3处理,凋落物中N的年归还量分别为6.93、7.74、8.70、8.50 kg.hm-2;P为0.63、0.70、0.70、0.60 kg.hm-2;K为3.67、4.29、4.50、4.11 kg.hm-2;Ca为4.72、5.09、5.06、4.47kg.hm-2;Mg为2.14、2.63、2.35、2.05 kg.hm-2。N1、N2处理提高了凋落物中5种元素的年归还量,而N3处理则降低P、Ca、Mg的年归还量。各大量元素归还量在1 a中均出现2个高峰期,其中第1次峰值出现在4月份,第2次峰值出现在6月或7月份。     

A cytosolic iron chaperone that delivers iron to ferritin

Ferritins are the main iron storage proteins found in animals, plants, and bacteria. The capacity to store iron in ferritin is essential for life in mammals, but the mechanism by which cytosolic iron is delivered to ferritin is unknown. Human ferritins expressed in yeast contain little iron. Human poly (rC)-binding protein 1 (PCBP1) increased the amount of iron loaded into ferritin when expressed in yeast. PCBP1 bound to ferritin in vivo and bound iron and facilitated iron loading into ferritin in vitro. Depletion of PCBP1 in human cells inhibited ferritin iron loading and increased cytosolic iron pools. Thus, PCBP1 can function as a cytosolic iron chaperone in the delivery of iron to ferritin.     

Top predators in the Southern ocean: a major leak in the biological carbon pump

Primary productivity in the Southern Ocean is approximately 3.5 gigatons of carbon per year, which accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global total. The presence of high concentrations of nitrate in Antarctic waters suggests that it might be possible to increase primary production significantly and thereby alleviate the net accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide. An analysis of the food web for these waters implies that the Southern Ocean may be remarkably inefficient as a carbon sink. This inefficiency is caused by the large flux of carbon respired to the atmosphere by air-breathing birds and mammals, dominant predators in the unusually simple food web of Antarctic waters. These top predators may transfer into the atmosphere as much as 20 to 25 percent of photosynthetically fixed carbon.