Preliminary results of the Spacelab 1 experiment on the response of Bacillus subtilis spores to conditions of free space are presented. Exposure to the vacuum of space on the Spacelab pallet reduced viability counts about 50 percent and increased mutation frequencies by a factor of about 10. Interpretation of apparent differences in the photobiological and photochemical data between flight and ground simulation experiments will require more statistical analyses and data from actual fluence measurements. 相似文献
Magnetic reconnection of solar coronal loops is the main process that causes solar flares and possibly coronal heating. In the standard model, magnetic field lines break and reconnect instantaneously at places where the field mapping is discontinuous. However, another mode may operate where the magnetic field mapping is continuous but shows steep gradients: The field lines may slip across each other. Soft x-ray observations of fast bidirectional motions of coronal loops, observed by the Hinode spacecraft, support the existence of this slipping magnetic reconnection regime in the Sun's corona. This basic process should be considered when interpreting reconnection, both on the Sun and in laboratory-based plasma experiments. 相似文献
Organic single crystals provide an ideal model for studying the factors that influence chemical processes in structured media. Reaction trajectories are well defined and reveal the influence of spontaneous mechanical stresses equivalent to tens of thousands of atmospheres. Analysis of molecular and crystal structures helps to explain both local mechanical properties, which influence reactions, and bulk properties such as melting point, compressibility, and surface energy. 相似文献
We studied human population structure using genotypes at 377 autosomal microsatellite loci in 1056 individuals from 52 populations. Within-population differences among individuals account for 93 to 95% of genetic variation; differences among major groups constitute only 3 to 5%. Nevertheless, without using prior information about the origins of individuals, we identified six main genetic clusters, five of which correspond to major geographic regions, and subclusters that often correspond to individual populations. General agreement of genetic and predefined populations suggests that self-reported ancestry can facilitate assessments of epidemiological risks but does not obviate the need to use genetic information in genetic association studies. 相似文献
T-shaped molecules with a rod-like aromatic core and a flexible side chain form liquid crystal honeycombs with aromatic cell walls and a cell interior filled with the side chains. Here, we show how the addition of a second chain, incompatible with the first (X-shaped molecules), can form honeycombs with highly complex tiling patterns, with cells of up to five different compositions ("colors") and polygonal shapes. The complexity is caused by the inability of the side chains to separate cleanly because of geometric frustration. Furthermore, a thermoreversible transition was observed between a multicolor (phase-separated) and a single-color (mixed) honeycomb phase. This is analogous to the Curie transition in simple and frustrated ferro- and antiferromagnets; here spin flips are replaced by 180° reorientations of the molecules. 相似文献
As key ‘ecosystem engineers’, earthworms improve mineralization of organic matter, plant growth, soil quality, and are an important component of many terrestrial food webs. Under appropriate conditions, they are therefore likely to accelerate the restoration of soil ecosystem function after mining.Conserving naturally occurring populations and facilitating their recolonisation appears as the most efficient way to increase earthworms’ overall effect. The impact of mining activities and restoration measures on New Zealand endemic earthworm communities was tested. Earthworm biomass and diversity were compared in four different habitat types.Mining activities, not surprisingly, are shown here to have a detrimental impact on earthworm communities. Soil stockpiling induces anaerobic conditions at and below a depth of 1 m, where earthworms do not survive. The use of stockpiled soil for vegetation replanting therefore leads to low diversity and low abundance of earthworms. An alternative restoration technique consisting in transferring vegetation and soil units (the vegetation direct transfer) was efficient in preserving earthworm populations with earthworm biomass and diversity not significantly different from those observed in undisturbed areas. Based on these results, we recommend vegetation direct transfer (VDT) to be prioritised whenever it is logistically and economically feasible. When VDT is not applicable, low stockpiles should be prioritised as they will comprise a higher proportion of good quality soil (at the surface) and a lower proportion of anaerobic and compacted soil (below 1 m depth at the studied site). 相似文献
A simple test based on the germination of conidia of Botrytis on agar media augmented with various fungicides has been developed. Average concentrations causing a 50% reduction of germ-tube growth (EC50) of highly sensitive isolates were determined on 1% malt extract agar (thiophanate-methyl 0.090 ppm; iprodione 0.566 ppm; fludioxonil 0.026 ppm; fenhexamid 0.144 ppm), 1% malt extract agar with 100 ppm salicyl hydroxamic acid (QoI fungicides, viz. trifloxystrobin 0.009 ppm; pyraclostrobin 0.013 ppm; azoxystrobin 0.087 ppm), 0.5% yeast extract agar (boscalid 0.069 ppm) and 0.5% sucrose agar (cyprodinil 0.053 ppm). In order to detect different levels of resistance against these various fungicides, two discriminatory concentrations were identified for each compound. A routine assay method was developed in which drops of a conidial suspension harvested directly from diseased plant material or sporulating cultures were incubated on each of 20 different agar media. Because of a very short time-span of 24–48 h between sample collection and evaluation of results, field-specific information on the occurrence, frequency and types of resistance of Botrytis against common botryticides in soft-fruit production may be generated prior to the main fungicide spray season at blossom time.
Mineralization of organic matter and microbial activities in an intensively cultivated acid, N-rich peat soil planted with Salix sp. cv. aquatica were examined for 3 yr. The soil was amended with wood ash or NPK fertilizers providing N as ammonium nitrate or urea. The wood ash amendment (10 tons ha?1) increased soil pH from 4.6 to 5.5 and increased markedly all microbial activities measured, resulting in increased mineralization and N availability, and in loss of 9% total soil N during the first year. The addition of ammonium nitrate caused a corresponding though less pronounced increase in N mineralization. Cellulose decomposition increased in all amended soils, reaching rates 53–86% higher than in non-amended soil. Potential N2 fixation (C2H2 reduction) by free-living organisms was increased by the ash-amendment. Potential denitrification rates were positively correlated (r = 0.98) with the presence of water-soluble organic-C, which was more abundant in ash-amended and non-amended soils than in the soils fertilized with N. 相似文献
Goal, Scope and Background Numerous xenobiotics released into surface waters are transferred to suspended particulate matter and finally attached to
sediments. Aquatic organisms may be exposed to them by direct particle feeding, by physical contact with contaminated surfaces
as an exposure route, and by the uptake of dissolved contaminants after equilibration via the free water phase. In order to
assess potential sediment toxicity, each of these exposure routes has to be addressed. This paper presents a newly developed
particle contact assay that uses the fermentation performance of a specific Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain for the assessment
of toxic effects in sediments. The test procedure is based on the characteristic feature of growing yeast cells to attach
to sediment particles, which are also relevant for the accumulation of contaminants. The physical contact with lipophilic
contaminants mirrors an exposition pathway for the direct uptake into the cells. In order to quantitatively characterize the
toxic effects of particle attached pollutants on the fermentation performance, unpolluted native reference sediment was spiked
with representatives for widely distributed anthropogenic contaminants.
Methods Saccharomyces cerevisiae was established as sensitive eukaryotic microorganism for the ecotoxicological assessment of particle
attached anthropogenic contaminants in freshwater sediments. For this purpose, yeast cells were cultivated in sediment samples
and the resulting fermentation performance was continuously measured. Sediments artifically spiked with HCB, PCB, g-HCH, DDT,
and benzo(a)pyrene and solutions of each contaminant were comparatively investigated by means of their adverse effects on
yeast fermentation performance. Additionally, four native river sediments characterized by increasing levels of pollution
were assessed by the yeast particle contact assay, and simultaneously by standard aquatic tests with algae, daphniae, and
luminescent bacteria using pore water and elutriates. Results of the bioassays were related to specific sediment contamination
with respect to metals and organic priority pollutants.
Results and Discussion In sediments spiked with PCB and benzo(a)pyrene fermentation, performance was affected extensively below concentrations inhibiting
fermentation in contaminant solutions. This suggests a high efficiency of the exposure route by physical contact. The fermentation
performance was only slightly affected by single lipophilic pollutants, whereas mixtures of individually spiked sediments
caused critically reduced fermentation performance suggesting additive synergistic effects. Native river sediments modestly
to critically polluted by hazardous organic compounds lead to a slightly to dangerously reduced fermentation performance in
the yeast contact assay. These inhibitory effects were much less pronounced in the standard bioassays conducted with algae,
daphniae and luminescent bacteria, applying pore waters and elutriates as sample matrices. Using pore water, inhibition was
measured only in the most polluted sediment, elutriates lead to a slight inhibition of the algal growth in the undiluted sample
only. These results indicate an improved sensitivity of the yeast particle contact assay compared to the standard assays,
due to uptake and physical cell contact as additional routes of exposure.
Conclusion The yeast particle contact assay is a valuable tool for the assessment of ecotoxicological potential in freshwater sediments.
Since the assay addresses physical contact as an exposure route, it indicates bioavailability of lipophilic compounds in sediments.
Outlook The sensitive indication of bioavailable contaminants associated to sediment particles by the newly developed yeast particle
contact assay recommends it as a complementary microbial bioassay in a test battery for assessing major pathways of contaminants
in whole sediments. 相似文献