Bodenmerkmale montan-industrieller Standorte in Essen

Soil properties of coal, iron and steel industrial sites in Essen The physical and chemical soil properties of some Urbic Anthrosols derived from technogenic substrata in the study area Essen (Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany) were analyzed with special consideration of toxic elements. The sites are characterized by high contents of coarse fragments (> 2 mm) of different species and size whereby this fragments are partly porous. Bulk densities and particle densities are low due to the high contents of carbon. The sites show high pH-values with the exception of sulphur containing mining substrata, which are characterized by low pH-values in consequence of pyrite oxidation. Partly the technogenic substrata have a high content of carbon, especially of coal, before depositing. There are high contents of anorganic and organic toxic elements in some horizons due to the deposit species, e.g. high Cr-values in horizons with steel industrial slags and high PAH-values in horizons with coal tar containing material.     

Inhibition of potato tuber sprouting: Low levels of cytosolic pyrophosphate lead to non-sprouting tubers harvested from transgenic potato plants

Summary ExpressingE. coli inorganic pyrophosphatase in transgenic plants demonstrated that long distance sucrose transport is dependent on cytosolic pyrophosphate. It was speculated that removal of cytosolic pyrophosphate would impair sucrose utilization during storage of potato tubers and thereby prevent tuber sprouting. To explore this hypothesisSolanum tuberosum var. Désirée plants were transformed with a chimeric PPa gene. FollowingAgrobacterium mediated transformation, metabolite and carbohydrate contents of growing and stored tubers were measured. There was a large accumulation of soluble sugars and a decrease of starch at all developmental stages investigated. The PPase activity in PPaII tubers was parallel with a decrease of PPa, an increase of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate and an increase of UDP-glucose. As expected the amount of hexose-6-phosphates and glycolytic intermediates decreased. As a consequence PPaII tubers did not sprout even after a prolonged storage period of two years. Since the energy status of PPaII tubers is unaltered inhibition of sprouting is most likely due to reduced sucrose export and its subsequent utilization.     

The fatty acid composition of Nereis diversicolor cultured in an integrated recirculated system: Possible implications for aquaculture

The potential of solid waste originating from a recirculated fish culture system, i.e. faecal material, uneaten food pellets and bacterial biofilms was examined as food source for the marine polychaete Nereis diversicolor. These polychaetes could be a valuable food for fish if they provide essential fatty acids to the fish. Therefore, we analysed the fatty acid profiles from feed and faecal materials, the sediment as well as the cultured organisms — fish and several batches of N. diversicolor — from an integrated recirculating aquaculture system.The major fatty acids (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) for all analysed fish feed, fish and faeces samples were C16:0, C18:1 and C22:6 (n − 3), accounting for 48% to 57% of the fatty acids in the samples. The major fatty acids within the sediment were C16:0, C18:1 and C18:3 (n − 3), accounting for 61% of the total fatty acids. The samples of N. diversicolor revealed C16:0, C18:1 and C20:5 (n − 3) as the major fatty acids. Combined, they accounted for 56% of the total fatty acids detected within the worm samples.The results indicate that a recycling or even an upgrade of excreted feed nutrients such as fatty acids, which were otherwise discharged, can be achieved through integrated aquaculture combining fish and worm culture.     

The configuration of the Cu(2+) binding region in full-length human prion protein compared with the isolated octapeptide

The cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) is a copper binding protein. The molecular features of the Cu(2+) binding sites have been investigated and characterized by spectroscopic experiments on PrP(C)-derived peptides and the correctly folded human full-length PrP(C) (hPrP-[23-231]). These experiments allowed us to distinguish two different configurations of copper binding. The different copper complexes depend on sequence context, buffer conditions and stoichiometry of copper. The combined information of spectroscopic data from our EXAFS, EPR and ENDOR experiments was used to create models for these two copper complexes. A large number of conformations of these models were calculated using molecular mechanics computations, and the simulated spectra of these structures were compared with our experimental data. Common features and differences of the copper binding motifs are discussed in this paper and it remains for future investigations to study whether different configurations are associated with different functional states of PrP(C).     

Absence of correlation between karyotype profiles of Trypanosoma congolense and resistance to isometamidium chloride

Chromosome profiles of 10 Trypanosoma (T.) congolense populations with different isometamidium sensitivities were compared using the pulsed field gel electrophoresis technique. The aim was to elucidate whether there was a karyotype pattern specific to eight isometamidium resistant phenotypes. Analysis of the profiles indicated that all populations displayed several discrete bands at the region of small, intermediate and large chromosomes. The highest similarity was observed between two isolates originating from Burkina Faso, indicating that they had the same genetic origin. Other eight strains exhibited different patterns in terms of chromosome size and numbers such that there was no characteristic karyotype pattern that was established specifically to identify resistant populations and discriminate them from the sensitive ones. This study has revealed that isometamidium resistance is not correlated to karyotype profile in T. congolense.     

Effects of Plant Extracts on the Reversal of Glucose-Induced Impairment of Stress-Resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans

Enhanced blood glucose levels are a hallmark of diabetes and are associated with diabetic complications and a reduction of lifespan. In order to search for plant extracts that display preventive activities in such a scenario, we tested 16 extracts used in human nutrition for their survival enhancing activities in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Nematodes were exposed for 48 h to 10 mM glucose in the absence or presence of 0.1 % extract. Thereafter, survival was measured at 37 °C. Extracts made from coffee, kola, rooibos and cinnamon, did not influence the glucose-induced reduction of survival. Those made from ginseng, camomile, lime blossom, paraguay tea, balm, rhodiola, black tea, or knotgrass all extended the lifespan of the glucose-treated nematodes significantly but did not rescue survival completely. Extracts from the leaves of blackberries, from hibiscus, elderberries, or jiaogulan completely countered the glucose-induced survival reduction. A potent activation of the proteasome was shown for the most preventive extracts suggesting a more efficient degradation of proteins impaired by glucose. In conclusion, we present a simple animal model to screen for plant extracts with potency to reverse glucose toxicity. Extracts from blackberry leaves, hibiscus, elderberries, and jiaogulan were identified as very potent in this regard whose exact mechanisms of action appear worthwile to investigate at the molecular level.     

Rutherford backscattering to study the near-surface region of volatile liquids and solids

Here we describe the use of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) to measure quantitative in situ elemental profiles with high depth resolution, online and nondestructively, in volatile substances (liquid and frozen acids, ice). Samples for analysis are held in a chamber with controlled temperature and partial pressures designed to match conditions for aerosols in Earth's atmosphere. This technique is demonstrated in studies of water solubility in sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid (HCl) on ice surfaces, the formation of a HCl-hexahydrate surface layer on evaporating HCl-doped ice, and the diffusion of water through this layer.     

Managing contaminated sediments

While remediation and storage of contaminated dredged materials is a key issue at harbour sites, there is another type of sediment pollution problem, which mainly originates from large-scale dispersion of contaminants in flood-plains, dike foreshores and polder areas. In recent years, catastrophic cases of sediment contaminations have occurred in connection with the failure of tailing dams from mines. Unlike problems related to conventional polluted sites, the risks here are primarily connected with the transporting and depositing of contaminated solids in a catchment area, especially in downstream regions. A special example demonstrating the dispersion of highly contaminated sediments in a large catchment area will be shown from the so-called Chemistry Triangle of the upper Elbe River system, Germany. The Spittelwasser area, situated there, was chosen by the organisers of the international conference ConSoil 2000 for a case comparison and four expert teams from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK were invited to participate in this Case Study. Evaluation of the plan was done by members of the networks of NICOLE (Network for Industrially Contaminated Land) and CLARINET (Contaminated Land Rehabilition Network). In the study of the German team, five major groups of technical measures have been identified by the environmental authorities to be discussed in relation to the Spittelwasser case or for similar problem solutions in contaminated flood-plain areas. The team came to the conclusion that none of these techniques would be applicable as an individual measure. Instead, a stepwise approach combining different monitoring techniques and remediation measures was proposed. These would include point excavations of critical material, promotion of plant growth as an element for stabilising the soil and flood sediments, as well as the installation of sediment traps. At the Spittelwasser site, investigations are planned on the effects of natural attenuation processes of organic and inorganic contaminants in flood-plain sediments and soils. In the practice of this concept, non-destructive, ‘intrinsic’ bonding mechanisms and their temporal development have thus far found much less recognition compared to destructive processes such as biological degradation. Yet these so-called ‘diagenetic’ effects, which apart from chemical processes involve an enhanced mechanical consolidation of soil and sediment components by compaction, loss of water, and mineral precipitations in the pore space, may induce a quite essential reduction of the reactivity of solid matrices [see Part I ‘Improving Chemical and Biological Criteria’ (JSS - Journal of Soils and Sediments, Vol 1, No 1, pp 30-36)]. Part IV ‘Subaqueous Storage/Capping of Dredged Material’ will be published in JSS No. 4 (December issue).