Amelioration of Aluminum Toxicity by Pretreatment with Phosphate in Aluminum‐Tolerant Rice Cultivar

Abstract

The phytotoxicity of aluminum (Al) in relation to preculture with phosphates was examined in the rice cultivar Arkansas fortuna. In plants precultured with phosphates, Al did not inhibit shoot growth, while Al retarded shoot growth in plants precultured without phosphates. In contrast, Al inhibited root elongation, irrespective of the presence of phosphates in the preculture solution. A large proportion of the Al in roots was in unknown, insoluble forms. In phosphate‐precultured plants, Al deposition was slightly increased, presumably due to the formation of aluminum phosphates in the roots, and phosphorus levels in shoots were markedly increased. Binding with phosphates may ameliorate the toxicity of Al when it enters the shoots and account for the uninhibited shoot growth in the presence of Al in plants precultured with phosphates.     

Phosphorus and potassium depletion by roots of field-grown slash pine: Aerobic and hypoxic conditions

Slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) is planted extensively on flatwood and coastal savanna soils of the southeastern USA. Pine roots growing in these soils encounter shallow water tables. Although the fine-root system of pine trees growing in the surface 20–26 cm of those soils will not be continuously submerged, they will encounter short-term reduced soil conditions, with a severely reduced O₂ supply which might affect their ability for ion uptake from the soil solution. The objectives were: (i) to compare P and K depletion by lateral root systems of slash pine roots subjected to a short-term hypoxic treatment, and (ii) to document K and P depletion patterns by lateral root systems of slash pine roots following the removal of the hypoxic treatment. Our purpose was to evaluate the uptake ability of these roots of changing aeration. For the experiment, 17 intact lateral roots from twelve-year-old slash pine trees were inserted into nutrient-uptake root chambers. The chambers were filled with a nutrient solution containing 6.25 μM P (phosphate), and 25.66 μM K. P and K depletion rates were monitored in six consecutive treatments, each lasting five days. Treatments of aerobic and hypoxic conditions were sequentially applied in the following order: aerobic–hypoxic–aerobic. This sequence was repeated twice. Uptake of P and K by slash pine roots was affected by oxygen availability, but the degree of response differed. Under hypoxic nutrient solution conditions, K depletion from solution by pine roots was totally inhibited, resulting in net efflux of K. In contrast, P depletion was not inhibited under hypoxic nutrient solution conditions. Results suggest that pine roots grown in aerobic soil conditions of surface horizons are capable of P depletion when reduced soil conditions are present.     

Structure of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) natural regeneration in the ‘Jata'' reserve in Poland

Over the last 20 years, investigations have been carried out to determine the influence of various ecological factors on silver fir natural regeneration in highlands and mountains. However, there has been little research on the structure and development of fir regeneration in lowlands. Results of this study indicate that three main stand characteristics play a very important part in the structure of fir regeneration in the lowland. The results revealed that the quantity, frequency and growth rate of fir regeneration were affected by site conditions. One of the most important ecological factors differentiating quantity and quality of fir regeneration was the proportion of fir in a stand. It was found that, with an increase in the percentage of fir in a stand, the quantity and the sum of heights and the sum of height increments of fir regeneration tends to increase. Results of this study showed that the number and development of fir regeneration were influenced by species composition of a stand; fir regenerated not only in pure fir stands but also in mixed forests. A positive influence of pine and birch canopy on initiation and development of fir regeneration was confirmed. Optimal conditions for the growth and development of fir with respect to species composition were found in mixed fir stands with an admixture of hornbeam. In contrast, results of the study suggest that the worst conditions for fir regeneration were found in the stands composed of species, such as ash, alder, oak, aspen, lime and spruce.     

Evaluation of Joint Toxicity of Enrofloxacin and Three Antimicrobials on MRC-5 Cells

The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined toxicity of enrofloxacin with each of three antimicrobials (ciprofloxacin,florfenicol and sulfamethazine).MRC-5 cells were used as a cell model to simulate the damage of lung cells caused by mixed contamination of antimicrobials.Multiple concentration gradients and mixing ratios were set.CCK-8 method was used to determine the inhibition rate of cell growth caused by four antimicrobials and the inhibition rate of cell growth caused by enofloxacin mixed with three antimicrobials,respectively.Then Chou-Talalay method was used to fit the median effect plot and to calculate the combination index (CI) value.The results showed that the growth inhibition rates of MCR-5 cells caused by four single drugs went up in a step-like manner with the increase of drug concentration in the tested concentration range,among them,the growth inhibitory rate of MCR-5 cells by florfenicol was low (<4.5%).The combined toxicity of the three binary combinations showed a concentration-dependent and mixing-ratio dependence.Mixing enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin showed synergistic toxicity (CI<1) on MRC-5 cells at high and middle concentration groups,and antagonistic toxicity (CI>1) at the very-low-concentration groups.Mixing ciprofloxacin and florfenicol mainly showed an inhibited toxicity (CI>1).Binary combination enrofloxacin and sulfamethazine might present either a synergistic joint toxicity (CI<1) or an antagonistic joint toxicity (CI>1) as the concentration and mixing ratio changing.This study showed that it was necessary to assess the combined toxicity of antimicrobials in the toxicity evaluation of antimicrobials.Using Chou-Talalay method,the joint toxicity of multiple antimicrobials could be quickly and efficiently determined at cellular level.     

Some nutrient dynamics associated with litterfall and litter decomposition in hoop pine plantations of southeast Queensland, Australia

Litterfall was collected over a 12-month period with littertraps in hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) plantations aged 10, 14 and 62 years in southeast Queensland, Australia. The bulk of litterfall occurred during spring, mainly as hoop pine foliage with the annual litterfall ranging between 6.0 and 10.9 t ha⁻¹, respectively, for the younger stands (10 and 14 years) and the mature 62-year old stand. The amount of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) recycled annually through litterfall was lower in the younger stands (28–37 kg N ha⁻¹ and 4.4–5.3 kg P ha⁻¹) compared with that of the mature stand (85 N ha⁻¹ and 6.2 kg P ha⁻¹). The N and P retranslocated during senescence varied across the three stands studied with a trend for N and P retranslocation to increase as availability of soil mineral-N decreased.

Decomposition of the hoop pine foliage component of litter was also studied in the same stands using a litterbag technique and mass-balance analysis. The estimated half-life of hoop pine foliage mass ranged between 1.5 and 1.8 years. Litter-mass loss was strongly correlated with litter substrate quality indicators of N, C, P, C/N ratio, lignin, lignin/N ratio and polyphenols. During the course of the study, there was no difference in litter-mass loss between the stands of different ages. During the 15-month period, the order of element release from the hoop pine litter was K>Na>C>Mg>P, with N, Ca and Mn generally demonstrating varying degrees of net accumulation. During the course of the study, the lignin/C ratio of the hoop pine litter increased from 0.61 to 0.96. This suggested that the litter-C was predominantly in a recalcitrant form and, therefore, the associated N was unlikely to be rapidly released in the hoop pine litter layer.     

重组鸡痘病毒vFV282疫苗株在鸽体内的分布及毒性试验

采用翅内侧皮肤无血管处刺种途径给30日龄幼鸽接种重组鸡痘病毒vFV282疫苗株,利用PCR的方法检测其在鸽体内的分布及其动态并对其毒性进行了研究。结果显示,接种后6 h即在脾脏检测到病毒DNA;接种后1 d,脾、肺PCR检测阳性;3 d,在心、肝、脾、肺、肾、皮肤均检测到病毒DNA;7 d,心、肝、脾、肺、肾、脑PCR检测均呈阳性;10 d,除脑外所有内脏器官中均未检测到病毒DNA,15 d后所有内脏器官PCR检测结果均为阴性。而对照组在整个试验期间PCR检测结果均为阴性。毒性试验表明,重组鸡痘病毒vFV282疫苗株使用安全。     

甲氰菊酯在土壤中的降解及对蚯蚓的毒性效应研究

拟除虫菊酯作为全球第三大杀虫剂品种，在农业生产中广泛使用，同时也带来了一系列不利的环境影响。然而，目前有关拟除虫菊酯在土壤环境中的残留行为和风险评估报道较少。以典型拟除虫菊酯类杀虫剂甲氰菊酯(FEN)为研究对象，重点探究其在不同性质土壤中的降解行为以及对典型土壤生物蚯蚓的毒性效应。结果表明，甲氰菊酯在碱性土壤中的降解速度快于酸性土壤，同时在非灭菌土壤中的降解速度为灭菌土壤的4倍。因此，土壤酸碱度和微生物是影响FEN在土壤中降解快慢的主要因素。此外，在降解过程中检测到甲氰菊酯主要代谢物3-苯氧基苯甲酸(3-PBA)的生成。蚯蚓富集结果表明，FEN在蚯蚓体内的含量先升高后降低，最大生物富集因子为0.3。亚急性毒性结果表明，高剂量（5 mg?kg-1）甲氰菊酯暴露14 d后，蚯蚓体内蛋白质含量显著降低（P<0.05），细胞色素P450（CYP450）、羧酸酯酶（CarE）、谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶（GST）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性和丙二醛（MDA）含量均显著增加（P<0.05），同时存在剂量效应，证实土壤中残留的FEN对蚯蚓具有毒性效应。本文对甲氰菊酯在土壤环境中的降解行为研究以及生态毒性风险评估具有重要的指导意义。     

铝胁迫对山茶属植物光合特性的影响

以山茶属植物山茶花（Camellia japonica）品种花克瑞墨大牡丹以及茶（Camellia sinensis）的2个品种（白茶、乐茶）为材料，设置不同铝处理浓度，研究了铝对山茶属植物叶片光合作用特性的影响。结果表明，低浓度的铝处理促进了山茶属植物叶片叶绿素的合成和净光合速率的升高，高浓度的铝处理抑制了山茶属植物叶片叶绿素的合成，降低了净光合速率，胞间CO2浓度在不同铝浓度处理下变化不大，说明低浓度的铝能促进山茶属植物的光合作用，高浓度铝抑制了山茶属植物的光合作用。     

河朔荛花灌丛特性及其毒性的初步研究

对山西吉县蔡家川流域荛花灌丛的分布及其提取液的毒性进行了初步研究，结果表明，河朔荛花一般分布在阳坡立地上，半阳坡生长不良，阴坡基本无分布，其生物量与立地条件有明显的关系，其乙醇取液对3龄粘虫有一定的拒食作用，胃毒作用不明显，无触杀作用，对粘虫的生长具有明显的抑制作用。