Synthesis and phytotoxicity of new ionic liquids incorporating chiral cations and/or chiral anions

The aim of this work was to synthesize chiral ionic liquids as chiral solvents for organic synthesis and to evaluate the phyto(eco)toxicity of the new products and starting N-alkylimidazoles and their potential environmental influence on soil and plants. Chiral ionic liquids containing anions such as Cl-, Br-, TsO-, PF6(-), NO3(-), CF3SO3(-), and (+)- and (-)-C6H5CH(OH)C(O)O- were synthesized using (-)-(1R)-6,6-dimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-2-ene-2-ethyl [(-)-(1R)-nopyl] halides (X = Cl, Br) and tosylate in 62-100% yields. The chloride 7 and the nitrate 13 ionic liquids possessed a toxicity dependent on the applied concentration. The lowest concentration causing a distinct reduction in plant germination/growth was 100 mg/kg. Spring barley better tolerated the ionic liquids (200 mg/kg) than common radish (100 mg/kg). The nitrate liquid did not exhibit an inhibiting effect on the germination ability of seeds. The starting N-methylimidazole used in lower concentrations (1 and 10 mg/kg of soil dry weight) was not phytotoxic, in contrast to higher doses (>1000 mg/kg).     

Numerical and behavioral responses of waterfowl to the invasive American mink: A conservation paradox

A behavioral response is usually the first adaptation of animals to environmental changes such as the introduction of an alien invasive species, and it seems to be the most important factor in reducing the negative impact of new predators on naive prey. This study examined changes in the abundance and behavior of breeding coots (Fulica atra) and great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) in response to invasion of the Mazurian Lakeland (NE Poland) by American mink (Neovison vison), first recorded here in 1984. Feral mink densities varied from 1.0 to 14.6 individuals per 10 km of shoreline. Mink were responsible for the losses of 17–58% of experimental clutches (artificial nests containing chicken eggs) that were deployed. Mink destroyed more experimental clutches than other predators; the effects of mink predation were similar in reeds and on the bank. Radio-tracking showed that mink avoided lake banks near human settlements. Mink have markedly affected the breeding distribution of both species and caused a greater than 20-fold decline in coot numbers. For coots and grebes breeding distribution and nesting success were positively associated with built-up areas along lake shores and also with whether the birds were breeding in colonies. Increased brood survival of coots and grebes near human settlements is a paradox in the sense that a man-made habitat change has provided refuge from an alien predator.     

Community level physiological profiles of microbial communities from forest humus polluted with different amounts of Zn,Pb, and Cd—Preliminary study with BIOLOG ecoplates

Abstract

Heavy metals may alter the structure and metabolic functions of soil microbial community. The objective of our study was to compare the community level physiological proffies (CLPPs) of microbial communities from forest humus polluted with different amounts of Zn, Pb, and Cd to test whether the addition of soluble Zn and Cd may affect the CLPPs of microbial communities. The samples were taken at 18 locations in southern Poland referred to as unpolluted (UP), slightly polluted (SP), and heavily polluted sites (HP). The contents of heavy metals were measured after wet digestions in concentrated HNO₃. Microbial communities were extracted using 0.96% NaCl solution. In order to test heavy metal tolerance of microbial communities from UP sites the extracts from these sites were additionally treated with Zn (50 mg L^-1; UP + Zn) and Cd (1 mg L^-1; UP + Cd). Metabolic functions of the microbial communities were analyzed using BIOLOG Ecoplates method. The contents of Zn, Pb and Cd were the highest at HP sites (4,740, 1,120, 41.0 mg kg^-1, respectively) followed by SP (830, 509, 9.2 mg kg^-1, respectively), and UP (173, 93, 2.1 mg kg^-1, respectively) sites. Principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that CLPPs at all sites were similar. This suggests that microbial community from SP and HP sites revealed tolerance to heavy metals. Addition of Zn affected CLPPs of microbial communities from UP sites as indicated by significantly (p < 0.05) higher value of PC1 score. The addition of Cd did not affect CLPPs of microbial communities from these sites.     

The distribution and diversity of Collembola in saltmarsh habitats of the German North Sea – a preliminary study

The distribution pattern and diversity of Collembola communities in the soils of low and high intertidal saltmarshes were compared. The intertidal “mud” soils are colonized by Collembola to depth of 30 cm and at a distance of 10 m towards the sea from coastal edge. The communities of Collembola in low intertidal saltmarsh soils are dominated by a population of Archisotoma sp. The contents of organic matter in the intertidal saltmarsh soils influenced the distribution of Archisotoma sp.     

Some characteristics of organic soils irrigated with municipal wastewater

Soil irrigation with wastewater (WW) gives the opportunity to solve the problems of its disposal, final purification or reuse. Many studies have examined mineral soils upon continued WW application. The aim of this paper was to examine the properties of organic soils 3 years after WW application was discontinued. Peat‐muck soil planted with Populus spp. or Salix spp., and mineral‐muck soil under grasses were irrigated for 4 years with municipal WW at a low (comparable with intensive NPK fertilization) and high WW rate (600 and 1200 mm yearly, respectively). Soils were analysed for organic matter (OM), pH, bulk density (BD), water holding capacity (WHC), P₂O₅, Fe₂O₃, Al₂O₃, MnO, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, magnetic susceptibility (MS) and dehydrogenase and catalase activities. The results were compared with control soils which have never received WW. The study showed that only P₂O₅, MnO and catalase activity (CA) were significantly affected by former WW application. On average, P₂O₅ increased by 30 per cent, whereas MnO decreased by 35 per cent with no differences between the two WW rates. CA decreased by 18 per cent at the high WW rate. Most of tested characteristics were determined by soil type. The peat‐muck soil showed higher OM, WHC, P₂O₅, MnO, Pb and CA than mineral‐muck soil and lower BD, MS, Fe₂O₃, Al₂O₃ and Cr. Soil depth influenced Fe₂O₃, MnO, Zn, MS and enzyme activities, while basic soil properties (OM, pH, BD, WHC and P₂O₅) were not changed by soil depth. Heavy metals (Zn, Cr, Cu and Pb) were below upper permissible limits. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effectiveness of Vernalization of Immature Embryos of Winter Wheat var. Grana as Related to Age and Exogenous Phytohormones

Starting from the 10th day after pollination, immature embryos of winter wheat var. Grana were isolated and then vernalized for 4 to 8 weeks on Murashige and Skoog nutrients containing BAP (0.5 or 2 mg/dm³), NAA (0.5 or 2 mg/dm³), or GA₃ (5 or 20 mg/dm³). Vernalized seedlings were cultivated in a greenhouse and the number of days to the heading of individual plants as well as the percentage of plants capable of generative development were estimated. The lower limit of size for 50 % survival of embryos strongly depended on the phytohormone used: from 0.9 mm in control, 1.1 mm in nutrient containing BAP, 1.2 mm for NAA, up to 1.7 mm in nutrient with GA₃. Exogenous GA₃ was lethal for embryos younger than 18 days but induced elongation of older embryos. Embryos isolated 2.5 to 4 weeks after pollination showed minimal requirements for the length of vernalization. BAP increased the percentage of heading plants originated from the youngest embryos. GA₃ improved partial vernalization, strongly increasing the percentage of heading plants, but did not change the time from the end of vernalization to heading. It has been postulated that GA₃ increases number of plants capable of overcoming the threshold of induction of generative development but does not accelerate the flowering process. Hormonized plants showed no deformation of generative development. As the effectiveness of vernalization increased, the heading of plants was faster but they were shorter, forming spikes with a smaller number of spikelets and producing fever lateral shoots. The very young embryos probably have in reserve sufficient amounts of auxins and gibberellins and therefore exogenous GA₃ decreases their viability or even exerts a deleterious effect. However, as the embryos' ageing, gibberellin starvation develops. This being especially pronounced during vernalization. The de novo synthesis or activation of gibberellins takes place during the second stage of vernalization. This is why exogenous hormone improves the effectiveness of partial vernalization, though it is not possible to substitute by gibberellins the vernalization requirements of immature embryos.     

The effect of energy-rich feed supplements for cows on the health of their calves]

Experiments were carried out with 24 pregnant cows and their calves. The cows were divided in 2 equal groups. One of these received a supplement of animal fat additional to the feed from 4 weeks a. p. to 6 weeks p. p. Apart from clinical examinations following laboratory investigations in the blood were performed: hematological parameters, cholesterol, lipids, free fatty acids, ketone bodies, protein, glucose, bilirubin, transaminases, alkaline phosphatase, Ca, Mg, P, K, Na, Cl. The addition of fat to the feed of cows influenced the energy metabolism of the cows, the body weight of the newborn ones and some hematological parameters (incl. protein) of the calves positively.     

Über die unterschiedliche Reaktion der Chromosomen des Sproß-und Wurzelmeristems von Gerste gegenüber mutagener Behandlung

Zusammenfassung Nach Einwirkung von Nitrosomethylharnstoff (NMH) auf Gerstenkaryopsen wurden die Prozentsätze geschädigter Zellen mit Chromosomenaberrationen in der mittleren Anaphase bis frühen Telophase für Wurzel- und Sproßmeristem im 1. Mitosezyklus der Keimung ermittelt. Eine geringfügig stärkere Wirkung auf das Wurzelmeristem ist nicht signifikant.Eine Vorbehandlung mit Äthylendiaminotetraessigsäure (ÄDTE) sensibilisierte die Chromosomen gegenüber der radiomimetischen Wirkung von NMH in beiden Meristemen. Der durch ÄDTE verursachte Sensibilisierungseffekt betraf das Wurzelmeristem in signifikant stärkerem Maße als das Sproßmeristem.Unterschiede in der Permeabilität und im Mitoserhythmus zwischen Sproß-und Wurzelmeristem konnten als mögliche Ursachen der beobachteten Differenzen ausgeschlossen werden. Es wird vermutet, daß die ermittelten Differenzen in kausalem Zusammenhang mit stoffwechselphysiologischen Verschiedenheiten zwischen beiden Meristemen stehen.Die Befunde zeigen, daß im Wurzelmeristem ermittelte Chromosomenaberrationsfrequenzen nicht ohne weiteres auf das Sproßmeristem übertragen werden dürfen, wie das vielfach geschieht.

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Summary The percentages of damaged cells with chromosomal bridges or fragments in the middle ana- to early telophase were determined in barley seeds treated with nitrosomethylurea (NU), after various recovery times in the first mitotic cycle, both for shoot and root meristems. A slightly higher effect in the root meristem is not significant.Pretreatment with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) sensitized the chromosomes against the radiomimetic effects of NU in both meristems. This EDTA-dependent sensitization affected the root meristem to a significantly greater extent than the shoot meristem.Differences in permeability or in duration of mitosis could be excluded as a possible cause for the observed differences. It appears probable that the found differences are caused by specific metabolic features of both meristems.These findings indicate that one cannot infer, as sometimes done, the situation in the shoot meristem directly from the known frequencies of chromosomal aberrations in the root.

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The effect of photoperiod on selected parameters of boar semen

The objective of the present research was to determine the effect of increasing and decreasing natural photoperiods on selected parameters of boar ejaculates. The study material consisted of 17 boars: six Polish Large White (PLW) breed, five Polish Landrace (PL) breed, and six Duroc×Pietrain (D×P) crossbreed, all aged between 8 and 12 months at the beginning of the research. Analyses were conducted on 612 ejaculates, which were collected in two experimental periods: an increasing photoperiod (IP) (January–June) and a decreasing photoperiod (DP) (July–December). A statistically proven impact of photoperiod on the volume of semen was observed in all the studied breeds (P=0.004). During the decreasing photoperiod the mean volume of semen was 261.16±75.20 ml and this was almost 17 ml higher than that for the increasing period. For boars involved in the experiment, day length also had a significant impact on the total number of motile spermatozoa (P=0.037). In the increasing photoperiod the mean number was 3.26×10⁹ lower. A decreasing photoperiod has a positive affect on both boars and the parameters of the collected ejaculates, which were observed in the higher number of insemination doses per ejaculate. Between the different breeds, the reactions of boars to photoperiod differed and the most significant influence of photoperiod on semen parameters was noted among D×P breed boars. Least susceptible to changes in day length were PLW breed boars.