Imaging molecular chemistry of Pioneer corn

Synchrotron Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy as a rapid, direct, and nondestructive analytical technique can explore molecular chemical features of the microstructure of biological samples. The objective of this study was to use synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopy to image the molecular chemistry of corn (cv. Pioneer 39P78) to reveal spatial intensity and distribution of chemical functional groups in corn tissue. This experiment was performed at the U2B station of the National Synchrotron Light Source in Brookhaven National Laboratory (NSLS-BNL, Upton, NY). The Pioneer corn tissue was imaged from the pericarp, seed coat, aleurone, and endosperm under peaks at 1736 (carbonyl C=O ester), 1510 (aromatic compound), 1650 (amide I), 1550 (amide II), 1246 (cellulosic material), 1160 (CHO), 1150 (CHO), 1080 (CHO), 929 (CHO), 860 (CHO), 3350 (OH and NH stretching), 2929 (CH(2) stretching band), and 2885 cm(-1) (CH(3) stretching band). The results showed that with synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopy, the images of the molecular chemistry of Pioneer corn could be generated. Such information on the microstructural-chemical features of grain corn can also be used for corn breeding programs for selecting superior varieties of corn for targeted food and feed purposes and for prediction of corn quality and nutritive value for humans and animals.     

Inhibitory effects of feeding with carrots or (-)-falcarinol on development of azoxymethane-induced preneoplastic lesions in the rat colon

The effects of intake of dietary amounts of carrot or corresponding amounts of (-)-(3R)-falcarinol from carrots on development of azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon preneoplastic lesions were examined in male BDIX rats. Three groups of eight AOM-treated rats were fed the standard rat feed Altromin supplemented with either 10% (w/w) freeze-dried carrots with a natural content of 35 mug falcarinol/g, 10% maize starch to which was added 35 mug falcarinol/g purified from carrots, or 10% maize starch (control). After 18 weeks, the animals were euthanized and the colon was examined for tumors and aberrant crypt foci (ACF), which were classified into four size classes. Although the number of small ACF was unaffected by the feeding treatments, the numbers of lesions as a function of increasing size class decreased significantly in the rats that received one of the two experimental treatments, as compared with the control treatment. This indicates that the dietary treatments with carrot and falcarinol delayed or retarded the development of large ACF and tumors. The present study provides a new perspective on the known epidemiological associations between high intake of carrots and reduced incidence of cancers.     

Cadmium soil sorption at low concentrations: VI. A model for zinc competition

Previously presented evidence of Zn competition for Cd soil sorption sites has been confirmed by detailed studies of two Danish soils. Cadmium distribution between soil and solute decreases for increasing Zn solute concentrations. A Langmuir model accounting for both Cd and Zn sorption onto the same sorption sites was supported by independent experimental data on Cd and Zn distribution. The competition of Zn is governed by the product of the Zn soil sorption stability constant and the actual Zn solute concentration. Cadmium distribution coefficients may be significantly influenced by Zn at Zn solute concentrations above 100 μg Zn dm^?3. This may have implications for interpreting Cd plant uptake and leaching.     

Adirondack headwater lake chemistry relationships with watershed characteristics

The Adirondack Region of New York State has been identified as having surface waters sensitive to acidic deposition and as receiving large annual inputs of acidic deposition. The large amount of data available for this region makes a quantitative study of the region possible. Compiled from a variety of sources, the Adirondack Watershed Data Base (AWDB) contains information on lake chemistry; lake elevation, area, and volume; and associated watershed data, such as size, slope, aspect, elevation, vegetation and wetland types, beaver activity, fire and logging history, and soils data. Bivariate and multivariate procedures were used to examine relationships between watershed attributes and lake chemistry. Because the variables in the data base are being refined and modified, the current relationships should be considered preliminary. Preliminary results indicate that wet deposition, lake elevation, and forest cover are the principal variables that are associated with variance in the data for lake pH and acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) in the Adirondacks. For headwater lakes in the Adirondacks, we estimate approximately 50% have a total ANC ≤ 40 μeq L^?1 and 40% have a pH ≤ 5.5.     

Nematode migration and nutrient diffusion between vetch and barley material in soil

This paper deals with migration of nematodes along nutrient gradients in soil. Portions of barley straw and green vetch leaves were mixed with soil and buried at 6, 12, 18, and 50 mm distance from each other in soil. During the following 12 weeks respiration activity, microbial (SIR) biomass, nitrogen limitation of respiration activity in soil slurries all indicated that nitrogen was transferred in the soil from the nutrient rich vetch to the nutrient poor barley at least during the first 3 weeks of the experiment. Twelve out of 39 taxonomic groups of nematodes showed different growth in the two plant material-soil mixtures. Only one of these taxonomic groups (long rhabditid larvae) suggested that migration could have contributed to population development; for three other groups (short rhabditid larvae, Aphelenchoides, and Bursilla) nutrient transport through the soil was the likely mechanism for a distance-dependant population development. We suggest that for most microbivorous nematodes, except larvae of fast growing bacterivores, migration over distances exceeding one centimetre does not contribute markedly to population development even when cues such as nutrient gradients to stimulate the activity exist.     

Cadmium soil sorption at low concentrations. VII: Effect of stable solid waste leachate complexes

Soil sorption of Cd in solid waste leachates of landfill, sewage sludge, and incinerator residue was studied in the laboratory with emphasis on the behavior of Cd present as stable complexes. A previously developed speciation method was employed to determine free divalent Cd and complexed Cd of various stability. The experiments involved 13 soils covering a wide range of clay contents. Speciation of Cd present in solution after exposure to increasing amounts of soil showed that stable Cd complexes did not sorb onto the soil. This was supported by equilibrium isotherms exhibiting similar solute concentration intercepts and by a leaching study of soil columns which resulted in the same concentration of stable Cd complexes. The stable complexes were of the order of 1 to 10 μg Cd L^?1, the higher values found in landfill and sewage sludge leachate. Very little Cd present in the leachates was free divalent Cd (a few percent), which may explain the low Cd distribution coefficients (3 to 70 L kg^?1).     

Linking laboratory and field responses of fish populations to acidification

To increase understanding of mechanisms by which fish populations respond to water chemistry changes resulting from acidification, it is necessary to link the results of laboratory studies of the effects of pH, Al, and Ca on the survival, growth, and reproduction of individual fish to responses of fish populations in the field. Our framework for achieving this goal is based on the types of data commonly available from both laboratory and field studies. One of the models (PHALCA) in this framework estimates the number of fish surviving as a function of time, given pH, Al, and Ca levels. A second model (FISHEGGS) evaluates the reduction in reproductive potential of a fish population attributable to the effects of pH, Al, and Ca on the survival of young-of-the-year and older fish and on fecundity. Preliminary results from these two models are presented, and the entire framework will be applied and tested over the next year using data for brook trout and lakes in the Adirondacks. The framework and models are a complementary alternative to the statistical analysis of survey data on water chemistry and on presence or absence of a fish species.     

Cadmium soil sorption at low concentrations: I. Effect of time,cadmium load,pH, and calcium

Sorption of Cd at low concentrations onto two Danish soils (loamy sand, sandy loam) was examined in terms of kinetics and governing factors. From an environmental point of view soil sorption of Cd is a fast process: More than 95% of the sorption takes place within 10 min, equilibrium is reached in 1 hr, and exposures up to 67 wk did not reveal any long term changes in Cd sorption capacities. The soils have very high affinity for Cd at pH = 6.00 (10^?3 M CaCl₂) exhibiting distribution coefficients in the order of 200 to 250 (soil Cd concentration/solute Cd concentration). However, the sorption isotherms describing the distribution of Cd between soil and solute are slightly curvelinear. In the pH-interval 4 to 7.7, the sorption capacity of the soil approximately increases 3 times for a pH increase of one unit. Increasing the Ca concentration from 10^?3 to 10^?2 M reduces the sorption capacity of the sandy loam to one third.     

Novel chemotaxonomic markers of the Alternaria infectoria species-group

Two new structurally related metabolites, novae-zelandin A (1) and novae-zelandin B (2), as well as the novel metabolite 4Z-infectopyrone (3) were purified from extracts of filamentous fungi belonging to the Alternaria infectoria species-group. The structures were elucidated by a combination of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data and MS data. 1-3 are important chemotaxonomic markers of the A. infectoria species-group and exhibit structures similar to those of known biologically active compounds, suggesting that they could be potential phytotoxins.     

Electrochemical in situ impregnation of wood using a copper nail as source for copper

A new method for copper impregnation of wood in structures was suggested and tested in laboratory scale with specimen of new pine sapwood. A copper nail and a steel screw were placed in the wood, and an electric direct current field was applied, so the copper nail was anode and the screw was cathode. At the anode, copper ions were generated. The copper ions were transported into the wood by electromigration (movement of ions in an applied electric field) towards the cathode, and a volume between the two electrodes was thereby impregnated. Copper also moved to a lesser degree in the opposite direction, probably due to capillary effects, and a smaller volume behind the anode was impregnated as well. The impregnation perpendicular to the grain was limited compared to the one along the grain. The highest Cu concentrations were obtained close to the anode.