Forest Litters as a Link in the Carbon Cycle in Coniferous–Broadleaved Forests of the Southern Far East of Russia

Forest litter as a component of the carbon cycle in pine–broadleaved forests of different ages was characterized. Field studies of the forest site of the Primorskaya State Agricultural Academy in the south of the Sikhote Alin Range continued for three years. Multiple sampling of forest litter and plant litter fall and measurements of the CO₂ emission from the litter and underlying soil horizons were performed on test plots. The maximum litter pool (14.44 ± 0.86 t/ha) was found in the mature stand of Pinus koraiensis; the minimum litter pool (11.52 ± 0.65 t/ha), in the 80-year-old stand. The carbon stock in the litters amounted to 3.7% of the phytomass carbon. The rate of carbon turnover in the forest litters was relatively low in comparison with that in other regions: the ratio of carbon pools in the litter horizons and annual plant falloff reached 3.5. The winter season provided about 10–25% of the annual plant litter fall. The data obtained in this study describe a part of the carbon cycle and contribute to our understanding of the ecosystem function of climate regulation by valuable forest massifs in the south of the Far East of Russia. In this region, the decomposition of forest litters generates the CO₂ flux amounting up to 16% of the total CO₂ emission from the soil.     

Transformation and contamination of soils in iron ore mining areas (a review)

Current concepts of soil transformation and contamination in iron ore mining areas have been reviewed. Changes of soils and ecosystems in the mining areas are among the largest-scale impacts of economic activity on the nature. Regularities in the radial differentiation, spatial distribution, and accumulation of heavy metals in soils of different natural zones are analyzed. The effects of mining technogenesis and gas–dust emissions from enterprises on soil microbial communities and fauna are considered. In zones of longterm atmotechnogenic impact of mining and processing plants, the stable state of ecosystems is lost and/or a new technoecosystem different from the natural one, with own microbial cenosis, is formed, where communities of soil organisms are in the stress state. In the ore mining regions, embriozems are formed, which pass through specific stages of technogenically-determined development, as well as technosols, chemozems, and technogenic surface formations with variable material compositions and properties. Technogenic soils and soil-like bodies form a soil cover differing from the initial one, whose complexity and contrast are not related to the natural factors of differentiation.     

Tomography of Soil Pores: from Morphological Characteristics to Structural–Functional Assessment of Pore Space

Eurasian Soil Science - The development of tomographic studies of soil pore space in Russian soil science in 2011–2018 is discussed. In several years, these studies have evolved from the...     

Changes in the Rate of Soil Loss in River Basins within the Southern Part of European Russia

Eurasian Soil Science - Four river basins located in the forest, forest-steppe, and steppe zones of European Russia were evaluated for two time intervals (1960–1985 and 1986–2015) based...     

Productivity of herbaceous stands of different ages under landscape conditions of a terminal moraine ridge

Yield formation of uneven-aged herbaceous stands under various weather and lanscape conditions is investigated in a multifactor experiment. It is shown that yield and adaptive properties of the stands depend in many respects on their age and climatic situation as well as on the properties of the landscape and soil environment.     

Particle nucleation in the tropical boundary layer and its coupling to marine sulfur sources

New particle formation in a tropical marine boundary layer setting was characterized during NASA's Pacific Exploratory Mission-Tropics A program. It represents the clearest demonstration to date of aerosol nucleation and growth being linked to the natural marine sulfur cycle. This conclusion was based on real-time observations of dimethylsulfide, sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid (gas), hydroxide, ozone, temperature, relative humidity, aerosol size and number distribution, and total aerosol surface area. Classic binary nucleation theory predicts no nucleation under the observed marine boundary layer conditions.     

Absorption capacity of blood neutrophils after injecting heifer calves with chitosan sulfate at different times relative to vaccination against leptospirosis

Subcutaneous injection of an aqueous chitosan succinate solution into heifer calves promotes an increase of the adaptation reserve of absorption capacity of neutrophils 1 month after vaccination against leptospirosis, which creates the prerequisites for a favorable state of the calves 2 months after vaccination. Injection of the preparation 3 days before vaccination is found to be most effective.     

Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction in the Determination of Macroelements in Soil and Plants

Sample preparation is a crucial stage in obtaining correct results for micro- and macro-elements in soil and plants. The current study is a part of systematic research on the methods for soil and plant sample preparation for analysis of the most important macro-elements. The purpose is to determine the limits of the application of the most widely spread standardized and non-standardized methods for sample preparation and to shed more light on the possibilities of using scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) in soil and plant analysis. The most common methods for extracting macro- elements in soil and plants (dry ashing, acid digestion, and microwave digestion in different variants) were compared using three certified soil samples and the Polish reference material CTR-VTL-2 (Virginia tobacco leaves). Three macro-elements (K, Ca and Mg) in the digest were analyzed using flame AAS and the insoluble fraction after digestion were analysed using XRD and SEM-EDS. It is concluded, that the degree of extraction of the elements from soil and plant materials is highly dependent on the mineralisation method. The X-ray investigation showed the formation of KClO₄ when HClO₄ was used as a part of the acids mixture. The use of HF at Ca and Mg determination led to the formation of CaF₂ and MgF₂. The result was verified by SEM-EDS.     

New Kunitz-Type HCRG Polypeptides from the Sea Anemone Heteractis crispa

Sea anemones are a rich source of Kunitz-type polypeptides that possess not only protease inhibitor activity, but also Kv channels toxicity, analgesic, antihistamine, and anti-inflammatory activities. Two Kunitz-type inhibitors belonging to a new Heteractis crispa RG (HCRG) polypeptide subfamily have been isolated from the sea anemone Heteractis crispa. The amino acid sequences of HCRG1 and HCRG2 identified using the Edman degradation method share up to 95% of their identity with the representatives of the HCGS polypeptide multigene subfamily derived from H. crispa cDNA. Polypeptides are characterized by positively charged Arg at the N-terminus as well as P1 Lys residue at their canonical binding loop, identical to those of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI). These polypeptides are shown by our current evidence to be more potent inhibitors of trypsin than the known representatives of the HCGS subfamily with P1Thr. The kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of the intermolecular interactions between inhibitors and serine proteases were determined by the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) method. Residues functionally important for polypeptide binding to trypsin were revealed using molecular modeling methods. Furthermore, HCRG1 and HCRG2 possess anti-inflammatory activity, reducing tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) secretions, as well as proIL-1β expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages. However, there was no effect on nitric oxide (NO) generation.     

Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic Content of Betalain Extracts from Intact Plants and Hairy Root Cultures of the Red Beetroot Beta vulgaris cv. Detroit Dark Red

Betalains are water-soluble plant pigments that are widely used as food colorants, and have a wide range of desirable biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer properties. They can be produced from various plants, notably beetroot, but betalain products obtained in this way also have some undesirable properties and are difficult to standardize. A potentially attractive alternative is to use hairy root cultures. In the study reported here, we found that betalain extracts obtained from hairy root cultures of the red beetroot B. vulgaris cv. Detroit Dark Red also had higher antioxidant activity than extracts obtained from mature beetroots: six-fold higher 2,2-dyphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging ability (90.7% inhibition, EC₅₀ = 0.11 mg, vs 14.2% inhibition, EC₅₀ = 0.70 mg) and 3.28-fold higher oxygen radical absorbance capacity (4,100 μM TE/g dry extract, vs 1,250 μM TE/g dry extract). The high antioxidant activity of the hairy root extracts was associated with increased concentrations (more than 20-fold) of total phenolic concomitant compounds, which may have synergistic effects with betalains. The presence of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, catechin hydrate, and epicatechin were detected in both types of extract, but at different concentrations. Rutin was only present at high concentration (1.096 mg.g⁻¹ dry extract) in betalain extracts from the hairy root cultures, whereas chlorogenic acid was only detected at measurable concentrations in extracts from intact plants.