Determination of drought tolerance using root activities in Robinia pseudoacacia ''Idaho'' transformed with mtl-D gene

Idaho locust (Robinia pseudoacacia 'Idaho') is an exotic multi-purpose tree used in landscaping, soil and water conservation, fodder sources and others. To improve its drought tolerance for reclaiming arid land, five lines of transformed mtl-D gene, as osmotic regulator in plant cells, have been selected and managed to determine their drought tolerance under experimental conditions.Qualitative and quantitative variables of transformed plants were studied. The critical value of drought tolerance was determined by detecting the 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) reductants in roots and soil water content (SWC). The critical value for drought tolerance was SWC 6% while for the control plants the critical SWC was 8%; a moderate level of SWC is 13% and the highest SWC for plant endurance was 18%. The method proved to be reliable and sensitive in the evaluation of drought tolerance for forest trees.     

Supercritical fluid extraction of sapogenins from tubers of Smilax china

Supercritical CO(2) fluid extraction (SFE-CO(2)) was used to extract the sapogenins after acid hydrolysis from Smilax china tubers. The influence of extraction variables, such as modifier, pressure, temperature and extraction time, were studied. SFE-CO(2) was found to produce higher yield than conventional solvent extraction. The highest yield (0.454%) of sapogenins, mostly containing diosgenin, was obtained using 35 MPa pressure, 65 degrees C and 95% EtOH as a modifier for 180 min, higher than that obtained with conventional extraction methods (0.385%).     

Tracer methods to assess nutrient uptake distribution in multistrata agroforestry systems

Separate assessment of nutrient uptake by individual plants in mixed cropping with trees is impossible without tracer techniques. The different ¹⁵N-to-¹⁴N isotope ratio of atmospheric and soil N can be used to study the contribution of biologically fixed N to the nutrition of associated trees. In most cases, the assessment of nutrient uptake distribution is an appropriate way of evaluating how to improve the transfer of biologically fixed N. Radioisotopes (e.g., ³²P), stable isotopes (e.g., ¹⁵N) and rare elements (e.g., Sr) can be used to determine relative root activity distribution by applying the tracer to different soil depths or distances from trees. A broadcast application of the tracer instead of point application makes it possibe to calculate uptake values per unit area. The direct determination of nutrient pathways with such robust experiments offers considerable advantages for improving nutrient use efficiency and complementarity in multistrata agroforestry systems. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) balance of logging residues as alternative energy resources: system analysis based on the method of a life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis

Using the method of a life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis, the energy balance and the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission of logging residues from Japanese conventional forestry as alternative energy resources were analyzed over the entire life cycle of the residues. The fuel consumption for forestry machines was measured in field experiments for harvesting and transporting logging residues at forestry operating sites in Japan. In addition, a total audit of energy consumption was undertaken. It involved an assessment of materials, construction, and the repair and maintenance of forestry machines as well as the costs associated with an energy-conversion plant. As a result, the ratio of energy output to input was calculated to be 5.69, indicating that the system examined in this study could be feasible as an energy production system. The CO₂ emission per MWh_e (e: electricity) of the biomass-fired power generation plant was calculated to be 61.8kgCO₂/MWh_e, while that of coal-fired power generation plants in Japan is 960kgCO₂/MWh_e. Therefore, the reduction in the amount of CO₂ emission that would result from replacing coal with biomass for power generation by as much as 3.0 million dry-t/year of logging residues in Japan was estimated to be 1.66 million tCO₂/year, corresponding to 0.142% of the national CO₂ emission. This study provides evidence that Japan could reduce its domestic CO₂ emission by using logging residues as alternative energy resources.     

Lignin fragments rich in detached side-chain structures found in water-soluble LCC

The content of the glyceraldehyde-2-aryl ether-type structure in water-soluble lignin–carbohydrate complex (LCC) fractions, which were obtained from Japanese cedar and birch residual wood meal after milled wood lignin isolation, was determined by ozonation. Quite high amounts of the glyceraldehyde-2-aryl ether-type structure were found in water-soluble LCC fractions of both species; about 3–5 times higher than those of other fractions. This result, as well as the high content of the β-1 structure in these fractions shown in our previous reports, suggest that lignin in these fractions has the characteristics of endwise-type lignin, because the glyceraldehyde-2-aryl ether-type structure and β-1 structure are typical characteristics of this type of lignin fraction. These results are in good agreement with the generally accepted hypothesis that the glyceraldehyde-2-aryl ether-type structure and β-1 structure are generated at the same time by a radical coupling reaction. The results also indicated that these two structures are present in close proximity in the lignin.     

Assignment of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of 2-aminobenzamide-labeled galacto- and arabinooligosaccharides

1,4-Linked β-d-galactooligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization (DP) between 1 and 7 and 1,5-linked α-l-arabinooligosaccharides with a DP between 1 and 8 were labeled at their reducing ends with 2-aminobenzamide (2AB) in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride. The 2AB-labeled oligosaccharides were shown to be homogeneous using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) and by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The signals in the ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of the 2AB-labeled oligosaccharides were then assigned using one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. These NMR data will be useful for the structural analysis of enzymatically synthesized galactan and arabinan side chains derived from rhamnogalacturonan I.     

白桦树皮中桦木醇超临界二氧化碳萃取的研究(英文)

桦木醇,一种药用五环三萜成分,大量存在于白桦(Betulaplatyphlly)树皮中。白桦树皮于2000年9月采集自黑龙江省塔源林场。超临界流体萃取技术(SFE)是一种新型分离技术,广泛用于药物和天然产物生产。本文研究了利用超临界CO2萃取技术从白桦皮中提取桦木醇的工艺条件,系统分析了携带剂用量、萃取压力和萃取温度等参数对桦木醇提取率的影响。结果表明,最佳的萃取条件为:每克桦树皮粉所用携带剂用量为1.5mL,萃取压力为20Mpa,萃取温度为55C,CO2流量为10kg/h,分离压力和分离温度分别为5.5Mpa和50C。图4参6。     

低浓度SO2对油桐叶片细胞膜脂肪酸含量的影响

膜系统是细胞内光合和呼吸等生理活动的重要场所之一,SO2对光合系统的破坏首先会引起细胞膜系统的变化.气相色谱测定表明,体积分数为0.3×10-6的SO2对油桐叶片处理10d以上,会使不饱和脂肪酸含量UFA、不饱和脂肪酸指数IUFA、C18:3、C18:3/IUFA上升,使饱和脂肪酸含量、C16:1trans、C16:1trans/IUFA下降;但随着SO2熏气时间的延长,会使不饱和脂肪酸含量UFA、不饱和脂肪指数IUFA、C18:3、C18:3/IUFA下降,饱和脂肪酸含量上升,熏气111d后,处理的UFA、IUFA、C18:3、C18:3/IUFA分别是对照的94.74%、92.52%、87.87%、94.97%;处理的饱和脂肪酸、C16:1trans、C16:1/IUFA分别是对照的1.16、1.15、1.24倍.熏气112d后,会使极性脂和中性脂中的不饱和脂肪酸C18∶3含量,不饱和脂肪酸含量UFA和不饱和脂肪酸指数IUFA及C18:3/IUFA值下降.因此,长期低体积分数SO2处理会使细胞膜的脂肪酸组成发生变化,使不饱和脂肪酸含量下降,饱和脂肪酸含量上升,从而使细胞膜的功能发生变化.     

田间和盆栽核桃与柿子苗木光合特性的初步研究

研究了核桃(Juglans regia L.)、柿子(Diospyros kaki L.f.)两种苗木在田间和盆栽栽培条件下的光合特性。通过室内人工控制光强和CO2浓度,测得盆栽的核桃、柿子的光补偿点分别是62 μmol CO2/m2·s、40μmol CO2/ m2·s;饱和点分别是1 582 μmol CO2/m2·s、1 064 μmol CO2/m2·s;CO2补偿点分别是135 ml/L、230 ml/L。6月的晴天,核桃、柿子盆栽栽培中的净光和速率日变化呈"双峰"型;田问栽培中仅出现1次高峰。两种栽培均出现"午休"现象。     

纳米级固体超强酸SO4^2-／ZrO2催化合成乙酸芳樟酯的研究

首次采用纳米级固体超强酸SO4^2-/ZrO2为催化剂合成乙酸芳樟酯，考察了催化剂用量、反应温度、反应时间、乙酐与芳樟醇摩尔比(酐醇比)等因素对反应的影响。结果表明，反应温度30℃、反应时间6．5h、催化剂用量为原料质量的2．5％、酐醇比为2．5：1时，芳樟醇转化率为93．2％，产物中乙酸芳樟酯含量为53．78％，总酯含量为76．89％。通过与其它催化剂对比发现，本实验反应时间较短，催化剂可重复使用，有较好的应用潜力。