An experimental study of charcoal degradation in a boreal forest

Degradation rates of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) under natural environmental conditions are largely unknown. Here we present results from a field experiment monitoring the change in mass, C- and N concentrations of a variety of charcoal types in a Norwegian boreal forest over a period of 20 months. The charcoal types represent different feedstock tree species, production temperature regimes, and placements in the forest, i.e. above ground, in the humus layer or in contact with the mineral subsoil. The types of charcoal had different initial C concentrations mainly depending on their production temperature. Nevertheless, all types of charcoal at all placements in the forest showed an initial drop in their C concentrations, which subsequently rose back to reach near initial values in part of the charcoal types. In part of the charcoal types, N concentrations decreased throughout the experiment, exhibiting considerable variation among feedstock species, production temperature regime, and placements in the forest. C/N ratios rose especially in charcoal made from wood of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and charcoal that had been stored in contact with the mineral subsoil showed the most rapid mass gain. Our results confirm the important influence of production temperature and feedstock type on the degradation of charcoal, but they also show that microbial activity and environmental conditions play significant roles in charcoal degradation and thus for the fate of pyrogenic carbon under natural conditions.     

The Influence of Carbon Dioxide or Ozone Concentration on Growth and Assimilate Partitioning in Seedlings of Nine Conifers

Abstract

Seedlings of nine different conifers were exposed to 355 and 730 μmol mol-1 CO₂, or low (> 15 nmol mol^?1) and elevated 0₃ concentration (70 nmol mol^?1) for 81–116 days. The experiments were conducted in growth chambers placed in a greenhouse. Increased CO₂ concentration enhanced the mean relative growth rate (RGR) and total plant dry weight by 4 and 33% in Larix leptolepis, by 4 and 38% in Larix sibirica, by 7 and 47% in Picea glauca and by 3 and 16% in Picea sitchensis, respectively. The growth rates and dry weights of Pimis contorta, Pinus mugo and Pseudotsuga menziesii were not significantly affected. Carbon dioxide enrichment enhanced RGR of two provenances of Picea abies by 4 and 6%, respectively, while a third provenance was unaffected. In Pimis sylvestris, only the RGR of one of three provenances was stimulated by CO₂ enrichment (4%).

After two growth seasons CO₂ enrichment enhanced RGR and total plant dry weight by 11 and 35% in Picea abies and by 12 and 36% in Pinus sylvestris, respectively. Elevated CO₂ decreased the shoot:root ratio in Larix leptolepis, and decreased the needlerstem ratio in Picea glauca, but increased it in Pseudotsuga menziesii.

Elevated O₃ significantly decreased the plant dry weight in Picea sitchensis, Pseudotsuga menziesii and in one of three provenances of Pinus sylvestris, while the other species and provenances were unaffected. Increased O₃ concentration increased the shoot:root dry weight ratio in one of three Picea abies provenances, in all three Pinus sylvestris provenances and in Pinus contorta. The needle:stem ratio was enhanced by O₃ in seven of the nine species. The O₃ exposure caused chlorosis of needles in all species except Pseudotsuga menziesii.     

猪急性腹泻综合征冠状病毒SYBR Green荧光定量PCR检测方法的建立及应用

为建立快速、灵敏且特异的检测猪急性腹泻综合征冠状病毒（swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus,SADS-CoV）检测方法,本试验扩增SADS-CoV N基因保守区域将其克隆至pMD18-T载体。所构建的重组质粒pMD18-T-SADS-qN作为阳性质粒标准品,以其为模板建立一种SYBR Green荧光定量PCR检测方法。结果显示,所建立方法在3.31×10¹~3.31×10⁷拷贝·μL^-1模板量时,呈良好的线性关系,相关系数（R²）为0.997,斜率为-3.318。该方法特异性检测SADS-CoV;而猪流行性腹泻病毒（PEDV）、猪传染性胃肠炎病毒（TGEV）、猪德尔塔冠状病毒（PDCoV）和猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒（PRRSV）检测结果均为阴性。所构建的标准品检测灵敏度下限可以达到3.31×10¹拷贝·μL^-1,组内和组间变异系数均小于1%,表明其具有良好的灵敏性和重复性。用该方法检测SADS-CoV感染IPI-2I和IPEC-J2细胞后不同时间点和不同接毒剂量的复制情况,结果显示,SADS-CoV感染细胞后2 h病毒含量较低,在12~36 h病毒含量迅速增长,36 h后增长速度减缓且病毒含量维持在较高水平。分别用0、0.1、1 MOI SADS-CoV感染细胞结果显示病毒的mRAN转录水平呈现剂量依赖性增加,当MOI为1时,IPI-2I和IPEC-J2细胞病毒含量分别为10^6.7、10^5.3拷贝·mL^-1。进一步利用所建立的方法对经口服攻毒SADS-CoV仔猪的临床样本进行检测,结果发现病毒在空肠回肠含量较高,表明病毒主要定殖于空肠和回肠。综上表明,本研究建立SYBR Green荧光定量PCR检测方法能灵敏特异地检测SADS-CoV,为SADS-CoV的诊断和病毒相关基础研究提供可靠的检测手段。     

Cloning and Sequence Analysis of HA and NA Genes of One Strain of H6N6 Subtype Avian Influenza Virus Isolated from Guizhou Province

To investigate the epidemic situation of H6N6 subtype avian influenza virus (AIV) in Guizhou province,A/duck/Guizhou/013/2014 was isolated from Sansui duck in live poultry market of Guizhou in 2014,the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of DK/GZ/14 were subjected to clone and sequence analysis.The results showed that HA gene had the highest nucleotide homologies (97.5%) with the duck-origin H6N6 subtype AIV isolated from Eastern China in 2009,and the strains of HA gene proteolytic cleavage sites was P-Q-I-E-T-R-G,which accordeol with the molecular characteristic of low pathogenic AIV (LPAIV).However,NA gene of A/duck/Guizhou/013/2014 had the highest nucleotide homologies (98.2%) with the duck-origin H6N6 subtype AIV isolated from Fujian in 2007.The phylogenetic tree showed that A/duck/Guizhou/013/2014 and Hunan strains located in the same branch,while three duck-origin H6N6 subtype AIV isolated from Guizhou in 2007 and A/duck/Guizhou/013/2014 located in the different branch for HA and NA genes in genetic evolution,which suggested that A/duck/Guizhou/013/2014 was far with the local H6N6 subtype.The results also clearly indicated that duck-origin H6N6 subtype AIV had genetic diversity in duck population in Guizhou.     

猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒分离株E11105 N基因的序列分析与原核表达

为研究PRRSV N蛋白的结构、功能以及N蛋白在病毒致病中的作用,以临床分离PRRSV毒株E11105为研究对象,采用Primer Premier 5.0设计一对特异性引物,经RT-PCR扩增出N基因片段,利用相关分子生物学软件对N基因序列进行分析;将N基因克隆连接到pColdⅠ原核表达载体上,经PCR、双酶切鉴定及序列测定后,得到重组质粒pColdⅠ-N,将pColdⅠ-N转入大肠埃希菌BL21(DE3)感受态细胞中,IPTG诱导表达后用SDS-PAGE蛋白电泳及Western blot验证分析。结果显示,分离株E11105N基因与北美洲型代表株VR-2332、欧洲型代表株Lelystad virus(LV)、中国2006年暴发的高致病性PRRSV代表株JXA1、中国代表株CH-1a的核苷酸序列同源性分别为93.3%、34.7%、99.2%、95.4%,氨基酸序列同源性分别为94.4%、15.3%、94.4%、99.2%;系统进化树显示,E11105株N基因与美洲型代表株VR-2332、中国高致病性JXA1毒株的亲缘关系较近;分离株E11105N基因所编码蛋白不存在跨膜区;二级结构主要以α-螺旋和无规则卷曲为主,分别占20.33%和63.41%;预测该蛋白可能存在5个较为明显的B细胞优势抗原表位。SDS-PAGE蛋白电泳结果表明,重组N蛋白主要存在于菌体沉淀中,分子质量约为16.7ku;Western blot结果显示,带His标签的重组表达蛋白能被His单克隆抗体识别,显色后条带约为16.7ku,与SDS-PAGE蛋白电泳的条带大小一致。     

Effects of different dl‐selenomethionine and sodium selenite levels on growth performance,immune functions and serum thyroid hormones concentrations in broilers

This trial was conducted in a 2 × 3 + 1 factorial arrangement based on a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of different dl ‐selenomethionine (dl ‐Se‐Met) and sodium selenite (SS) levels on growth performance, immune functions and serum thyroid hormones concentrations in broilers. A total of 840 Ross 308 broilers (7 days old) were allocated by body weight to seven treatments (three replicates of 40 birds each treatment) including (1) basal diet (containing 0.04 mg of selenium (Se)/kg; control) without supplementary Se; (2, 3 and 4) basal diet + 0.05, 0.15 or 0.25 mg/kg Se as SS; (5, 6 and 7) basal diet + 0.05, 0.15 or 0.25 mg/kg Se as dl ‐Se‐Met. The experiment lasted 42 days. The results revealed that dietary Se supplementation improved (p < 0.05) average daily gain, feed efficiency, immune organ index, serum immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM) and triiodothyronine (T₃) concentrations and decreased (p < 0.01) thyroxine (T₄)/T₃ ratio in serum compared with the control. Broilers receiving the dl ‐Se‐Met‐supplemented diets had higher (p < 0.05) feed efficiency, thymus index, the amounts of IgA, IgG, IgM and T₃ as well as lower (p < 0.05) serum T₄ concentrations and T₄/T₃ ratio than those consuming the SS‐supplemented diets. Serum IgA and IgM levels of broilers fed 0.15 mg Se/kg were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of broilers fed 0.05 or 0.25 mg Se/kg. In summary, we concluded that dl ‐Se‐Met is more effective than SS in increasing immunity and promoting conversion of T₄ to T₃, thus providing an effective way to improve the growth performance of broilers. Besides, based on a consideration of all experiment indices, 0.15 mg Se/kg was suggested to be the optimal level of Se supplementation under the conditions of this study.     

Comparative pharmacokinetics of marbofloxacin in healthy and Mannheimia haemolytica infected calves

The pharmacokinetics of marbofloxacin were investigated in healthy (n=8) and Mannheimia haemolytica naturally infected (n=8) Simmental ruminant calves following intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) administration of 2 mg kg(-1) body weight. The concentration of marbofloxacin in plasma was measured using high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Following i.v. administration of the drug, the elimination half-life (t(1/2 beta)) and mean residence time (MRT) were significantly longer in diseased calves (8.2h; 11.13 h) than in healthy ones (4.6 h; 6.1 h), respectively. The value of total body clearance (CL(B)) was larger in healthy calves (3 ml min(-1) kg(-1)) than in diseased ones (1.3 ml min(-1) kg(-1)). After single intramuscular (i.m.) administration of the drug, the elimination half-life, mean residence time (MRT) and maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) were higher in diseased calves (8.0, 12 h, 2.32 microg ml(-1)) than in healthy ones (4.7, 7.4 h, 1.4 microg ml(-1)), respectively. The plasma concentrations and AUC following administration of the drug by both routes were significantly higher in diseased calves than in healthy ones. Protein binding of Marbofloxacin was not significantly different in healthy and diseased calves. The mean value for MIC of marbofloxacin for M. haemolytica was 0.1+/-0.06 microg ml(-1). The C(max)/MIC and AUC(24)/MIC ratios were significantly higher in diseased calves (13.0-64.4 and 125-618 h) than in healthy calves (8-38.33 and 66.34-328 h). The obtained results for surrogate markers of antimicrobial activity (C(max)/MIC, AUC/MIC and T > or = MIC) indicate the excellent pharmacodynamic characteristics of the drug in diseased calves with M. haemolytica, which can be expected to optimize the clinical efficacy and minimize the development of resistance.     

氮肥配施生物炭和脲酶抑制剂对夏玉米-冬小麦产量及氮素利用的影响

于2019—2021年采用再裂区设计,设置氮肥、生物炭和脲酶抑制剂3个因素,主处理设5个氮水平：0、75、150、225 kg·hm^-2和300 kg·hm^-2,副处理设2个生物炭水平：0 t·hm^-2和7.5 t·hm^-2,副副处理设2个脲酶抑制剂水平：0%和2%,共20个处理,研究氮肥配施生物炭和脲酶抑制剂对夏玉米-冬小麦轮作体系作物产量和氮肥吸收利用的影响。结果表明,施用生物炭显著提高夏玉米和冬小麦产量、植株氮素吸收量、氮肥表观利用率、氮素收获指数以及夏玉米地上部生物量,较不施生物炭处理分别增加4.4%和2.9%、2.3%和3.0%、25.8%和13.5%、4.9%和6.1%、4.5%;氮肥单独配施生物炭可显著提高夏玉米和冬小麦产量、植株氮素吸收量和氮肥表观利用率,且氮肥和生物炭具有显著的交互效应。施用脲酶抑制剂显著增加夏玉米植株氮素吸收量和氮肥表观利用率,较不施脲酶抑制剂处理分别提高1.5%和3.0%;氮肥单独配施脲酶抑制剂可提高夏玉米植株氮素吸收量和氮肥表观利用率,但氮肥与脲酶抑制剂无显著...