In vitro digestibility of α-casozepine, a benzodiazepine-like peptide from bovine casein, and biological activity of its main proteolytic fragment

α-Casozepine is a peptide, corresponding to the sequence 91-100 of the bovine α(s1)-casein, displaying anxiolytic activity in the rat. The α(s1)-casein tryptic hydrolysate containing this peptide decreases stress effects after oral administration in various species including man. Therefore, the stability of this peptide toward gastric and pancreatic proteases has been assessed by using pepsin, chymotrypsin/trypsin, Corolase PP, pepsin followed by chymotrypsin/trypsin or pepsin followed by Corolase PP. α-Casozepine was slowly degraded by chymotrypsin, much more sensitive to pepsin and Corolase PP but not completely destroyed after 4 h kinetics. The bonds in the region 91 to 95 of the α-casozepine were totally resistant to hydrolysis by all studied proteases. Surprisingly, a fragment, corresponding to the sequence 91-97 and found in all the hydrolysis media in significant amount, possessed an anxiolytic activity in three behavioral tests measuring this parameter. This peptide could participate in the in vivo activity of α-casozepine.     

Morphology and water barrier properties of nanobiocomposites of κ/ι-hybrid carrageenan and cellulose nanowhiskers

The current study presents the development and characterization of novel carrageenan nanobiocomposites showing enhanced water barrier due to incorporation of cellulose nanowhiskers (CNW). CNW, prepared by acid hydrolysis of highly purified α cellulose microfibers, were seen to have a length of around 25-50 nm and a cross section of ca. 5 nm when dispersed in the matrix. The nanobiocomposites were prepared by incorporating 1, 3, and 5 wt % of the CNW into a carrageenan matrix using a solution casting method. Morphological data (TEM and optical microscopy) of the nanocomposites containing CNW were compared with the morphology of the corresponding biocomposites containing the original cellulose microfibers and the differences discussed. Thermal stability by TGA, water vapor permeability, and percent water uptake were also determined. The main conclusion arising from the analysis of the results is that the nanobiocomposites containing 3 wt % of CNW exhibited the lowest reduction in water vapor permeability, that is, ca. 71%, and that this reduction was largely attributed to a filler-induced water solubility reduction. This fully biobased nanoreinforced carrageenan can open new opportunities for the application of this biopolymer in food-packaging and -coating applications.     

Studies of nitrogen immobilization and mineralization in calcareous soils—V. Formation and distribution of isotope-labelled biomass during decomposition of 14C- and 15N-labelled plant material

Medicago littoralis leaf material, labelled with ¹⁴C and ¹⁵N, and of C:N ratio 8.7:1, decomposed rapidly in a calcareous soil. One half of the plant-C and two thirds of the plant-N remained in the soil as organic residues after 34 days. The rates of decomposition and the changes in the distribution of organic-¹⁴C and -¹⁵N residues followed similar patterns.Incorporation of ¹⁴C and ¹⁵N into microbial cells, formed during plant breakdown, reached a maximum after 62 days. At this time the microbial biomass accounted for 21.9 and 23.3%, respectively, of residual organic-¹⁴C and -¹⁵N. Thereafter, the amounts of isotope-labelled biomass decreased with the percentage decrease slightly exceeding that of the total labelled soil residues.During plant decomposition, changes occurred in the concentrations of organic-¹⁴C and -¹⁵N in some of the soil components, these having been fractionated according to density and particle size. Especially evident was the rapid and extensive decrease of labelled material from the fine clay-size components. This was partly due to the decrease in the biomass-¹⁴C of this fraction. Changes in biomass-¹⁴C of some physical fractions were approximately reflected by changes in their numbers of viable microorganisms.     

Genetic identity and relationships of Iranian apple (Malus?×?domestica Borkh.) cultivars and landraces, wild Malus species and representative old apple cultivars based on simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker analysis

In order to shed light on the role of Iran in apple evolution and domestication, we chose to investigate the relationships of a collection of 159 accessions of wild and domesticated apples including Iranian indigenous apple cultivars and landraces, selected wild species, and old apple scion and rootstock cultivars from different parts of the world. The majority of the wild species belonged to M. sieversii, which is widely believed to be the main maternal wild ancestor of domestic apples, from Kazakhstan and M. orientalis, which is one of the probable minor ancestors of domestic apples, from Turkey and Russia located on the east and west of Iran, respectively. The accessions were assigned into six arbitrary populations for the purpose of generating information on genetic parameters. Nine simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci selected from previous studies in apple were screened over DNA extracted from all the accessions. Results showed that all SSR loci displayed a very high degree of polymorphism with 11–25 alleles per locus. In total, there were 153 alleles across all loci with an average of 17 alleles per locus. The SSR allelic data were then used for estimation of population genetic parameters, including genetic variation statistics, F-statistics, gene flow, genetic identity, genetic distance and then cluster analysis using POPGENE 1.32 software. The F-statistics and gene flow in particular, showed that there was more intra-population than between population variation. The genetic identity and genetic distance estimates, and the dendrogram generated from the un-weighted pair group arithmetic average (UPGMA) method of cluster analysis showed that the Iranian cultivars and landraces were more closely related to M. sieversii from Central Asia (east of Iran) and M. orientalis native to Turkey and Russia than to other accessions of Malus species. Also, the old apple cultivars from different parts of the world have a closer genetic relationship to M. sieversii, M. orientalis and the Iranian apples, than to other wild species. Based on these results, we suggest that the Iranian apples may occupy an intermediate position between the domesticated varieties and wild species. We propose that Iran could be one of the major players in apples’ domestication and transfer from Central Asia to the western countries.     

Interactions between Escherichia coli and allophane—II. Metabolism

A purified allophane clay fraction increased the respiration of Escherichia coli (ATCC 11303B) by buffering the suspension against decreases in pH. Allophane had no significant effect on respiration in the presence of 0.02 M phosphate buffer. When E. coli was exposed to pH values below 5.0 in the presence of allophane, allophane supernatant (which contains soluble Al), or soluble Al. toxicity was evident even after raising the pH to 7.0.     

Interactions between Escherichia coli and allophane—I. Adsorption

Sorptive interactions between Escherichia coli (ATCC 11303B) and a purified allophane clay fraction were studied quantitatively using electronic particle counting and electrophoresis. Adsorption was influenced by pH and ions present at the allophane surface. These effects could be rationalized by considering changes in the net surface charge of the components. Electronic particle counting studies at pH 5.5 and above gave adsorption isotherms that obeyed single-term Langmuir kinetics. At pH 4.5, a more complex two-step isotherm was obtained, which was attributed to aggregation of unadsorbed cells by Al solubilized from the allophane surface.     

Variability in pattern and hydrogen isotope composition (δ2H) of long-chain n-alkanes of surface soils and its relations to climate and vegetation characteristics: A meta-analysis

The average chain length (ACL), carbon preference index (CPI), and hydrogen isotope composition (δ²H) of long-chain n-alkanes in sediments have been used to retrieve information about the paleoclimate. Despite their importance as in-between media from leaves to sediments, n-alkanes of surface soils have not been systematically analyzed at large scale. Such an investigation of the spatial variation of n-alkane properties in soil and their dependence on climatic and botanic (e.g., vegetation type) factors could provide a rationale for a better estimation of the past environment. We synthesized the patterns and δ²H of long-chain n-alkanes in soil (δ²H^n-alkanes) with regard to vegetation types (cropland, grassland, shrubland, and woodland) and environmental factors using data from peer-reviewed papers. Our results showed that the ACL and CPI of soil C₂₇–C₃₃ n-alkanes were not suitable indicators for differentiating vegetation types at large scale; instead, ACL significantly correlated with water conditions such as mean annual precipitation (MAP) and Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), and CPI significantly correlated with temperature without significant influence of vegetation type. The variation (i.e., standard deviation) of fractionation between the δ²H values in annual precipitation and in soil n-alkanes (ε_rain-soil) was smaller than that reported in leaves; therefore, soils were better suited to quantifying the general growing conditions of plants at a certain site. The fractionation ε_rain-soil correlated with climatic conditions as described by the PDSI and relative humidity (RH). This correlation agreed with the change in leaf water enrichment with changing RH taken from the literature and was independent of the vegetation type at large scale. This meta-analysis may provide useful information for the variations of the patterns and δ²H_n-alkanes values in surface soils.     

Abiotic drivers and their interactive effect on the flux and carbon isotope (C and δC) composition of peat-respired CO2

Feedbacks to global warming may cause terrestrial ecosystems to add to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, thus exacerbating climate change. The contribution that soil respiration makes to these terrestrial emissions, particularly from carbon-rich soils such as peatlands, is of significant importance and its response to changing climatic conditions is of considerable debate. We collected intact soil cores from an upland blanket bog situated within the northern Pennines, England, UK and investigated the individual and interactive effects of three primary controls on soil organic matter decomposition: (i) temperature (5, 10 and 15 °C); (ii) moisture (50 and 100% field capacity – FC); and (iii) substrate quality, using increasing depth from the surface (0–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm) as an analogue for increased recalcitrance of soil organic material. Statistical analysis of the results showed that temperature, moisture and substrate quality all significantly affected rates of peat decomposition. Q₁₀ values indicated that the temperature sensitivity of older/more recalcitrant soil organic matter significantly increased (relative to more labile peat) under reduced soil moisture (50% FC) conditions, but not under 100% FC, suggesting that soil microorganisms decomposing the more recalcitrant soil material preferred more aerated conditions. Radiocarbon analyses revealed that soil decomposers were able to respire older, more recalcitrant soil organic matter and that the source of the material (deduced from the δ¹³C analyses) subject to decomposition, changed depending on depth in the peat profile.     

Phenol acidity and ease of oxidation in isoflavonoid/β-carotene antioxidant synergism

Regeneration of β-carotene from the β-carotene radical cation by the 4'-propylpuerarin anion (second-order rate constant=1.5×10(9) L mol(-1) s(-1) in methanol/chloroform=1:9 (v/v) solution at 25 °C as determined by laser flash photolysis) was found to be marginally slower than regeneration by the 7-propylpuerarin anion (2.3×10(9) L mol(-1) s(-1)), in agreement with the 7-propylpuerarin anion being more reducing (E'=0.56 V vs NHE) than the 4'-propylpuerarin anion (E'=1.01 V vs NHE). The potentials were calculated from E°=1.12 and 1.44 V (vs NHE) as determined by cyclic voltametry in aqueous solution and pKa=9.51 and 7.23 obtained previously for 7-propylpuerarin and 4'-propylpuerarin, respectively. The less reducing but more acidic 4'-propylpuerarin showed less antioxidant activity in liposome of pH 7.4, but more significant antioxidant synergism with β-carotene than the more reducing but less acidic 7-propylpuerarin for oxidation initiated in the liposome lipid phase. Electrostatic effects are concluded to be important in the regeneration of β-carotene from the radical cation in the water/lipid interface because approximately 50% of 4'-propylpuerarin is present as the anion, whereas only 0.5% of 7-propylpuerarin is present as the anion. In contrast, penetration of the undissociated phenolic group into the lipid phase, more significant for 7-propylpuerarin than for 4'-propylpuerarin according to the calculated water/lipid partition coefficients, becomes important for the chain-breaking action in lipid oxidation of the puerarin derivatives as models for (iso)flavonoids and their glycosides.     

Potential use of δ13C, δ15N, N concentration, and Ca/Al of Pinus densiflora tree rings in estimating historical precipitation pH

Purpose  

The chemistry of annual tree growth rings is affected by precipitation pH, and tree rings store information on environmental conditions at the time of ring formation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential use of tree ring chemistry data in estimating historical precipitation pH using the relationship between precipitation pH and tree ring chemistry.     

Removal of Indigo Blue in Aqueous Solution Using Fe/Cu Nanoparticles and C/Fe–Cu Nanoalloy Composites

Actually, there is a growing interest in finding efficient low-cost materials that allow the removal of chemical substances from water in order to decrease the environmental impact. The use of nanoscale systems is a new area of investigation for the elimination of polluting agents from water among other useful applications in science and technology. In this work, removal of indigo blue in water solutions has been evaluated using Fe/Cu nanoparticles and composites of C/Fe–Cu nanoalloy. The first composite was using carbon obtained by pyrolysis of sewage sludge with Fe/Cu nanoparticles (MCL-NP); the second one was made with commercial activated carbon and Fe–Cu nanoparticles (CAC-NP). Synthesis of materials were carried out by the sodium borohydride reduction of FeSO₄?7H₂O and CuSO₄?5H₂O aqueous mixture. Batch adsorption and isotherm experiments were carried out in order to know the behavior of each adsorbent material employed. The experimental data were adjusted to Langmuir, Freundlich, and BET models.     

Adsorption Kinetics of Pb2+ and Cu2+ on Variable Charge Soils and Minerals: Ⅲ. Adsorption Kinetics of Pb2+ Within 30 Minutes

The adsorption kinetics of Pb2+ on different soils and minerals with variable charges was studied by the two ion-selective electrode technique at different pH and concentrations. The results showed that more than 95% of adsorption on all the samples occurred during the first 5 minutes. All adsorption time-dependent data could fit the surface second-order equation very well. The values of Xm were goethite > kaolinite, and latosol > red soil at the same initial reaction concentration. The values of k were kaolinite > > goethite, and latosol > red soil at the same reaction pH and initial concentration.     

Adsorption Kinetics of Pb2+ and Cu2+ on Variable Charge Soils and Minerals: Ⅱ. Equations for Describing Experimental Data

Different mathematical methods,including linearization,differential,integration and nonlinear least squares approximation (Newton-Marquardt method),were used to fit different kinetic equations,such as zero-order,first-order (i.e.membrane diffusion),second-order,parabolic-diffusion,Elovich,two-constant equations,to the experimental data of Pb^2 and Cu^2 adsorption on variable charge soils and kaolinite.Assuming each M^2 occupied two adsorption sites,two more equations,the so-caled surface second-order equation and third-order equation were derived and compared with the above equations according to the fitting results,which showed that the second-order equation and surface second-order equation,being one equation in different expressions under some conditions,were better than the other equations in describing the Pb^2 and Cu^2 adsorption kinetics,and the latter was the best.     

Zn accumulation and subcellular distribution in the Zn hyperaccumulator Sedurn alfredii Hance

Zn accumulation and subcellular distribution in leaves of the hyperaccumulating ecotype （HE） and non-hyperaccumulating ecotype （NHE） of Sedum alfredii Hance were studied using radiotracer and gradient centrifugation techniques. Leaf Zn accumulation in the HE of S. alfredii was 18.5-26.7 times greater than that in the NHE when the plants were grown at 1-500μmol Zn L-1. Leaf section uptake of 65Zn was highly dependent on external Zn levels. Greater 65Zn uptake in HE was noted only at external Zn levels 〉 100μmol L-1. Zinc subcellular distribution in the leaves of the two ecotypes of S. alfredii was： cell wall 〉 soluble fraction 〉 cell organelle. However, more Zn was distributed to the leaf cell wall and soluble fractions for HE than for NHE. In the leaf of HE, 91%-94% of the Zn was found in the cell walls and the soluble fraction and only 6%-9% Zn was distributed in the cell organelle fraction. For NHE, about 20%-26% Zn was recovered in the cell organelle fraction. In stems, Zn distribution to the ceil wail fraction was approximately two fold greater in the HE than that in the NHE. For the hyperaccumulating ecotype of S. alfredii, the cell wall and the vacuole played a very important role in Zn tolerance and hyperaccumulation.     

Retention and release isotherm of arsenic in arsenic–humic/fulvic equilibrium study

Organic fractions from farm yard manure (FYM), vermicompost, municipal sludge, mustard cake, and surface soil of West Bengal, which was arsenic (As)-contaminated, were extracted and fractionated into fulvic and humic acid (FA and HA, respectively) fractions following standard procedures. These HA and FA samples were characterized by pH-potentiometric titrations, viscometric measurements and visible spectrophotometry. The stability constant (logK) of the complexes formed by these natural with As in aqueous phase was evaluated by the ion-exchange method. The logK values suggest that the organo-As complexes were quite stable. The release isotherm of As from the HA/FA complexes extracted from vermicompost and FYM was assayed in the presence of molybdate, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate and borate. The greatest tendency to displace As from the complexes was shown by sulfate, molybdite, and nitrate.