Co-inoculation of Acacia mangium with Glomus intraradices and Bradyrhizobium sp. in aeroponic culture

Acacia mangium grown in aeroponic culture was co-inoculated with selected strains of Bradyrhizobium sp. and Glomus intraradices. A single-step technique using alginate as an embedding and sticking agent for an inoculum composed of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM)-infected sheared roots was used to infect plants. This method resulted in the successful establishment of AM in 100% of the inoculated plants after 7 weeks. The results indicated that dual microbial inoculation with Glomus intraradices strain S-043 and Bradyrhizobium strain AUST 13C stimulated the growth of A. mangium in aeroponic culture. The effects of single and dual microbial inoculations were also evaluated at two levels of P in the nutrient medium. A concentration of 5 mg P kg^–1 stimulated the development of AM without affecting plant development or establishment of Bradyrhizobium symbiosis. In contrast, saplings supplemented with a higher concentration of P (25 mg kg^–1) alone or co-inoculated with Bradyrhizobium had lower AM frequencies.     

Effects of tillage and fallow period management on soil physical behaviour and maize development

Effects of two tillage treatments and two fallow period managements under continuous maize cropping on soil temperature, soil water dynamics and maize development were evaluated over a 4-year period (2005–2008). Tillage treatments were conventional tillage with mouldboard ploughing and conservation tillage with disk harrowing. The fallow period managements were bare soil or soil sown with a cover crop after maize harvest. For each year, topsoil temperature (0–20 cm-depth) was lower under conservation tillage systems at sowing, from 0.8 to 2.8 °C. This difference persisted several weeks after sowing, and disappeared afterwards. Under conservation tillage, higher soil water content was generally measured at sowing and during the growing season strong fluctuations were observed at 40 cm-depth. Under conventional tillage, soil water content varied mainly in the tilled layer (20 cm-depth). Tillage and fallow period management affected water flow rate at 40 cm-depth. During the maize growing season, the lowest drainage volumes were measured in 2006 and 2008 under conservation tillage in cover cropped plots. No effect of fallow period management on maize development and yield was observed but significantly higher yields were measured under conservation tillage in 2005 and 2007. From this 4-year experiment under continuous maize cropping, using cover crop and reducing tillage intensity enhanced water use efficiency while maintaining or increasing maize yields.     

Ecotoxicological risk assessment of a quarry filling with seaport sediments using laboratory freshwater aquatic microcosms

Purpose

In France, contaminated seaport sediments cannot be discharged into the sea according to recent regulation. Hence, they must be managed on land. Among the solutions identified, that of filling terrestrial quarries located in the littoral zone is one of the most promising. However, this requires developing a methodology for ecological risk assessment; which was the aim of the SEDIGEST research program. In the present study, we report the results of toxicological impacts of three sediments on aquatic ecosystems close to a quarry. These results were used to formulate a risk assessment methodology.

Materials and methods

The ecotoxicological approach was based on laboratory microcosm assays applied to leachates obtained from the sediments. The microcosms contained synthetic water and sediment and five pelagic (micro-algae, duckweeds and daphnids) and benthic (chironomids and amphipods) freshwater species. The biota were exposed for 3 weeks to a range of leachate concentrations; metals were monitored in the water column and the effects (i.e. mortality, growth inhibition and midge emergence) were measured.

Results and discussion

The results showed an absence of acute toxicity at concentrations of <10% (v/v) but sublethal effects for concentrations between 1 and 10%. Given the complex nature of the leachates, it was difficult to determine the factors of toxicity. Metals, especially Cu, might have been responsible for some of the effects on the amphipods.

Conclusions

Future quarries filled with seaport sediments might emit pollutants to aquatic ecosystems in their vicinity, and risk assessors should ensure that predicted environmental concentrations of leachates are below the maximum leachate concentration acceptable for the whole ecosystem; for example, by multiplying the concentration safe for the microcosm organisms by a factor of 10.     

土壤胡敏酸与富里酸热力学稳定性及其驱动因素初步研究

从过程考虑,腐殖质的形成和转化主要是微生物主导的生物化学过程,但就其始态和终态的能量水平变化而言,是热力学稳定性问题。在土壤中,影响腐殖质的形成转化的因素很多,如黏粒含量和类型,植被和微生物状况,土壤湿度、温度和空气组成,土壤溶液的化学组成、浓度、酸度和氧化还原状况等。但从热力学角度,为了计算反应平衡常数(logKR)和吉普斯生成自由能(ΔGfθ),如果将温度设为25℃,我们可以将土壤条件诸多因素简化为水活度([H2O])、氧分压(PO2)和二氧化碳分压(PCO2)这3个参数。之所以简化为这3个参数,因为任何有机成分均是由含有这3种元素的物质形成的,最终又均可以分解为含有这3种元素的H2O和CO2。本文按照上述新思路,以黑土为例探讨了胡敏酸(HA)、富里酸(FA)形成转化的驱动因素和热力学稳定性的研究方法,用元素组成-土壤条件参数法计算HA、FA的logKR和ΔGfθ及热力学稳定性范围。同时通过土壤添加有机物料的模拟培养实验研究了氧气和二氧化碳等单因素对HA和FA数量积累的影响。结果表明,黑土HA和FA的元素组成分子式分别为nC21H21O9N和nC24H33O17N。FA在缺氧、多水和高浓度二氧化碳条件下较稳定;HA则相反。培养实验中,高二氧化碳和低氧气浓度处理使FA与HA的相对比例增加。这一研究方法和结果将有助于解释和推测土壤腐殖质组成的空间变异规律,指导土壤肥力、土壤固碳的调控实践。     

NUTRIENT UPTAKE KINETICS OF CLOUDBERRY

Mineral fertilization of cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) has been inconclusive so far. Nutrient absorption of cloudberry was studied by solution depletion 1) to characterize its nutrient uptake kinetics and 2) to determine its preferred nitrogen (N) form. Two accessions, ‘Fjordgull’ (a female cultivar from Norway) and a local wild clonal selection from ‘Baie-Comeau’ (Canada) were tested. Ammonium (NH₄) and phosphorus (P) absorption presented a two-component kinetic while nitrate (NO₃), potassium (K), and glycine absorption was better fitted with the Michaelis-Menten equation alone. Cloudberry preferences for nitrogen form were in the order: NH₄-N, glycine, NO₃-N. ‘Fjordgull’ exhibited much higher K_m and J_max for P uptake than the ‘Baie-Comeau’ accession, but they exhibited similar NH₄-N uptake kinetics. However, K_m values for all nutrients tested except NH₄-N were higher than reported for other species. Cloudberry does not appear to have evolved efficient absorption kinetics to compensate for the overall very low abundance of nutrients of peatlands.     

Gallic esters of sucrose as efficient radical scavengers in lipid peroxidation

Three tests of increasing complexity were used to assess the antioxidant activity of five synthetic gallic esters of sucrose bearing 3, 6, 7, or 8 galloyl units. In addition, two of these compounds had 1 or 2 hydrocarbon (C10-C12) acyl chains. Reaction with the DPPH radical led to the evaluation of the number of radicals trapped per galloyl unit n (3-4), as well as the apparent second-order rate constant for H atom donation k (1200-1500/M/s). These results indicated similar contribution and reactivity of all the galloyl units. Inhibition of the AAPH-initiated peroxidation of linoleic acid in a micellar medium confirmed the additive contribution of the galloyl units, whereas the presence of the hydrocarbon acyl chains had no influence. These results suggest an inhibition of initiation at high antioxidant levels and an underlying prooxidant effect of the galloyl radicals at low concentrations. Finally, LDL peroxidation was inhibited in proportion to the number of galloyl units, in agreement with the preceding tests.     

Assessment of the Probiotic Potential of a Dairy Product Fermented by Propionibacterium freudenreichii in Piglets

Dairy propionibacteria, including Propionibacterium freudenreichii , display promising probiotic properties, including immunomodulation. These properties are highly strain-dependent and rarely studied in a fermented dairy product. We screened 10 strains, grown in a newly developed fermented milk ultrafiltrate, for immunomodulatory properties in vitro. The most anti-inflammatory strain, P. freudenreichii BIA129, was further tested on piglets. P. freudenreichii -fermented product improved food intake and growth of piglets. Colonic mucosa explants of treated pigs secreted less interleukin 8 (-25%, P < 0.05) and tumor necrosis factor α (-20%, P < 0.05), either in basal conditions or after a lipopolysaccharide challenge. By contrast, the gut structure, barrier function (measured ex vivo in Ussing chambers), microbial diversity (assessed by 16S rRNA pyrosequencing), and colonic short-chain fatty acid content were unchanged, assuming maintenance of normal intestinal physiology. In conclusion, this work confirms in vivo probiotic properties of dairy propionibacteria-fermented products, which are promising for the prevention or healing of inflammatory bowel diseases.     

Fractionation of beta-lactoglobulin tryptic peptides by ampholyte-free isoelectric focusing.

Solutions of tryptic hydrolysate of bovine beta-lactoglobulin were fractionated by liquid-phase IEF in a preparative Rotofor cell at constant power for 2 h without ampholytes in order to identify interactions between peptides. The 20 peptide fractions collected were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE under native, denaturing, and reducing conditions. The hydrolysate was shown to be composed mainly of acidic peptides (pI 2-5, 62%) of molecular mass below 6 kDa, and numerous disulfide bonds were detected. Purified peptides (beta-LG 15-20, 71-75, 76-82, and 84-91) were also focused individually and in mixtures and matched to components of the IEF fractions obtained from the tryptic hydrolysate of beta-LG. The separation of acidic (beta-LG 84-91) and basic (beta-LG 76-82) peptides was achieved by IEF, whereas uncharged peptides (beta-LG 15-20 and 71-75) were poorly separated due to their low electrophoretic mobility. Because no peptide-peptide interaction could be identified by IEF fractionation, it is suggested that electrical fields may decrease electrostatic interactions between charged peptides.     

Niche differentiation among neotropical soldierless soil-feeding termites revealed by stable isotope ratios

Termites represent one of the most abundant belowground animal taxa in tropical rainforests, where their species richness is much higher than in any other ecosystem. This high diversity in soil ecosystems is however difficult to explain by classical Hutchinsonian niche theory, as there is little evidence for spatial or temporal separation between species. Using δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotopic ratios, we tested if resource partitioning along the humification gradient occurs in neotropical soldierless termites of the Anoplotermes-group. Two distinct sites were investigated to check if interspecific differences are transposable between sites. Significant differences in δ¹⁵N were found between species of the Anoplotermes-group. Although some species displayed higher intersite δ¹⁵N variation than others, species-average δ¹⁵N values for both sites were highly correlated, showing that sympatric soldierless soil-feeding termites feed on distinct components of the soil. Our data also suggest that some species are more likely to shift along this gradient than others, in response to overall habitat conditions or to the presence of competitors. Feeding niche differentiation can therefore account for the high species richness and diversity of soldierless soil-feeding termites in neotropical rainforests.     

A simple dose-effect model of lake acidity in Québec (Canada)

A simple dose-effect model expressing the relationships between lake acidity, weighted mean annual sulfate concentration in wet deposition, Ca, Mg and true color (as an index of organic anion concentration) is presented. The agreement between observed and estimated pH for more than a 1000 lakes is high according to the Pearson coefficients of correlation (0.81 to 0.90) and the standard error of estimation (0.22 to 0.27 pH unit). Results obtained with this model show that an airborne sulfate target loading of 20 kg ha^?1 yr^?1 would be too high to adequately protect sensitive lake ecosystems. A target loading of 15 kg ha^?1 yr^?1 in wet deposition would be best suited for the protection of the greater portion of sensitive lakes. However, a target loading of 10 kg ha^?1 yr^?1 would be required to protect the most sensitive lake ecosystems.