Synthesis and stability of phytochelatins induced by cadmium and lead in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

The synthesis of phytochelatins (PC), intracellular metal-binding polypeptides characterized by a repeating sequence of gamma-glutamic acid- cysteine (gamma-Glu-Cys) pairs, has been studied in laboratory cultures of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum exposed to Cd, Pb or Zn. Cd and Pb were able to induce PC of different degree of polymerization. The accumulation of the peptides follows a direct relationship with the metal exposure. No PC induction was observed in Zn-treated cultures, although the intracellular concentration of Zn increased during exposure. Both in short-term (7 h exposure, 10 microM Cd or Pb) and 3-day experiments (metal concentration less than 0.5 microM), the major fraction of total PC gamma-Glu-Cys subunits synthesized was polymerized as PC2 when cells were exposed to Pb, but as PC4 when cells were exposed to Cd. In short-term experiments about 50% of the gamma-Glu-Cys residues of the cellular pool of glutathione was quickly and almost quantitatively converted into PC. Recovery experiments, in which metal-stressed cells are suspended in a metal-free medium, showed a decrease of the PC pool and a concomitant increase of glutathione, suggesting a mechanism of degradation and release of metal-phytochelatin complexes.     

Sample treatment with focused ultrasound and bath sonication as a powerful tool for the evaluation of cadmium pollution in estuarine waters

A new sample treatment was developed for the determination of dissolved cadmium in Tagus estuarine waters, based on focused ultrasound in conjunction with small volumes in the extraction steps for Cd pre-concentration. Cadmium was first pre-concentrated using a classical approach (APDC as the complexing agent and MIBK as the organic phase) and then back-extracted into HNO₃ with the aid of focused ultrasound, which reduced the acid concentration by more than one order of magnitude (from 4 to 0.1 mol L^− 3). This sample treatment was accomplished in less than 5 min, using low sample volume (20 mL), and low-volume, low-concentration reagents. The pre-concentration factor used in this work was 25, but different sample/organic volume ratios may be used in order to increase that value. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification in Tagus water samples were 0.03 nmol L^− 1 and 0.1 nmol L^− 3, respectively. Recoveries from spiked Tagus water were higher than 90%. The procedure was validated using the reference estuarine water NRC-SLEW-3. In the solubilization of Cd particulate, bath ultrasonication was used in conjunction with HNO₃ + HCl, followed by H₂O₂, which took about 2 instead of the usual 12 h (cooling included) when high-pressure microwave digestion is used.     

Imaging spectroscopy as a tool to study sediment characteristics on a tidal sandbank in the Westerschelde

This paper focuses on the use of imaging spectroscopy for the mapping of sediment characteristics on a tidal sandbank in the Westerschelde, called the Molenplaat. On June 8, 2004, during low tide, a HyMap™ scanner recorded the Molenplaat at 4 m pixel resolution. The hyperspectral data were radiometrically calibrated, geometrically corrected, and atmospherically corrected to give apparent surface reflectance data. On the calibrated and corrected dataset a supervised binary classification was performed, based on linear discriminant analysis. Simultaneous to the flight, 25 sediment samples were collected in the field and analysed in the lab to define the median grain size, the water content, the total organic matter content and the chlorophyll-a concentration. These four parameters play a crucial role in sediment stability and macrofaunal habitat definition. Prior to the classification, a feature selection, based on sequential floating forward search (SFFS), was performed. For each of the four parameters two to three bands were retained for the classification. These bands were most frequently selected in the visible and near infrared parts of the spectrum, except for the organic matter content where also SWIR bands were used. The overall classification accuracy was highest for the water content (88%), the median grain size (88%) and the chlorophyll-a concentration (84%). The organic matter content, for which three instead of two classes were distinguished, scored somewhat lower but still reached 80%. The classifications were limited to a small number of classes in order to obtain reliable statistics with a small number of training samples. The spatial patterns in the classified images indicated that the four parameters under study are highly correlated. In most cases coarse sediment coincided with dry conditions, low organic matter and low concentrations of chlorophyll-a. The wet and muddy parts of the Molenplaat were in general characterised by a notably higher amount of organic matter and chlorophyll-a. The individual classification results for the median grain size, the water content and the chlorophyll-a concentration were combined to generate a sediment ecotope map. The presented study illustrates how airborne hyperspectral data can be used to achieve accurate classified maps of intertidal sediment ecotope types, applying feature selection and a binary classification approach.     

繁茂膜海绵中具有促进细胞粘附成团作用蛋白质的分离纯化研究

用凝胶层析和离子交换层析方法从黄海的繁茂膜海绵(Hymeniacidon perleve)中分离得到一种蛋白质D1,相对分子质量为2,3ku,pI为6．6。纯化的蛋白质富含疏水性氨基酸和酸性氨基酸。研究表明蛋白质D1对繁茂膜海绵细胞培养表现出很强的使海绵细胞贴壁且快速粘附成团的作用。凝集实验表明该蛋白对人的A、B、O、AB血,兔和鼠的红细胞没有凝集活性。     

Preservation conditions and the use of sediment pigments as a tool for recent ecological reconstruction in four Northern European estuaries

Down-core sediment pigment concentrations from four Northern European estuaries were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to investigate phytoplankton community structure and preservation conditions over the last ca. 100 years where all sites have experienced different levels of eutrophication. Phytoplankton pigments have been shown to be useful biomarkers for phytoplankton community structure and abundance due to their taxonomic specificity. The pigment concentrations and sediment pigment inventory showed large variation between the four sites. Concentrations ranged from more than 6000 nmol/g OC to less than 100 nmol/g OC and the inventory integrated over the top 10 cm from more than 300 nmol/cm² to less than 30 nmol/cm² for total identified pigments. Good pigment preservation in Mariager Fjord (Denmark) reflected the almost permanently anoxic conditions. Pigments in Laajalahti (Finland) showed peak concentrations around the time of highest nitrogen loading events known from historical and modelled records over the past 100 years. In contrast, poor down-core preservation of pigments (especially carotenoids) was observed in the Ems-Dollard (The Netherlands) and Himmerfjärden (Sweden) estuaries. The Ems-Dollard site is an intertidal mudflat that experiences daily exposure to light and air, which enhances pigment degradation. In Himmerfjärden, resuspension is an important process affecting both the sedimentation rate and degradation properties. The different preservation conditions at the four sites were supported by the differences in two degradation indicators; the ratio of pheopigment-a to chlorophyll-a and total carotenoids to total pigments. Class-specific carotenoid pigments represented the dominant algal groups reported from each site, however, no distinct down-core changes in the pigment composition were observed at any of the four sites. This indicated that changes in plankton community structure on the group level have been limited over this time period or masked by low preservation of pigments.     

海洋动物营养生态位研究方法及其应用

食物资源对海洋动物的生存和繁衍至关重要。海洋动物的营养生态位描述了其在海洋生态系统中的生态地位及功能, 对分析种间关系和资源分配模式、了解群落结构与功能具有重要的指示作用。本文在整理近30年来国内外相关研究的基础上, 系统归纳了当前海洋动物营养生态位研究的主要方法(胃含物分析、整体组织稳定同位素分析、脂肪酸组成分析和特定化合物稳定同位素分析)及其应用领域, 着重归纳总结了量化营养生态位宽度和重叠的生态模型, 并分析了各营养生态位评估方法的优势和局限性。同时在此基础上, 对今后研究方向提出了展望, 以期为我国海洋动物摄食生态学相关研究工作提供参考。     

黄河三角洲极端风暴诱发地质灾害研究进展及对策

受全球气候变化影响,河口三角洲及沿海地区极端风暴事件发生频率及其危害性不断加剧。风暴事件中海底沉积物在波浪荷载作用下产生压密固结、液化流变等动态响应,并伴随粒度成分、力学强度、结构分层等一系列海床工程地质性质的变化,诱发侵蚀、滑坡等海洋地质灾害,严重影响海洋资源开发工程及生态环境安全。黄河三角洲特殊的地理位置、气候特点和沉积特性,决定了其成为我国海洋地质灾害最多发的地区之一,是开展极端风暴事件下地质灾害机理与防控研究的理想试验场。近年来,海洋工程地质领域围绕风暴水动力-海底沉积物相互作用与致灾机理开展了大量研究,特别在极端风暴诱发海床液化、侵蚀冲刷、变形滑动的灾害特征、机制与定量评价方面取得了重要创新性成果,为全球气候背景下的海洋工程地质评价和防灾减灾提供了理论指导。今后应进一步加强多学科交叉与产学研联合攻关,在海洋地质灾害链生机制、灾害综合监测预警技术、海洋工程灾害防控技术等方面力争突破,不断提升我国海洋地质灾害应对能力。     

天津近岸台风暴潮漫滩数值模式研究

基于对POM(Princeton Ocean Model)模式的改进,采用Flather-Heaps干湿网格法和两重网格嵌套的数值计算格式,针对天津近岸海域的地形和易受风暴潮漫滩灾害侵袭的特点,建立了天津近岸海域三维动边界风暴潮漫滩模型,对天津近岸区域台风影响下的风暴潮漫滩进行了数值模拟研究。选取7203,8509,9216,9711号典型台风过程,计算了风暴潮漫滩水位变化,通过与塘沽站点实测数据的比较,计算的增水曲线过程与实测结果吻合较好,基本能够真实反映天津近岸的风暴潮水位变化情况及漫滩范围。研究结果验证了改进POM模式为动边界数值模型并应用于浅海区域是可行性的。     

Fishery management as a governance network: Examples from the Gulf of Maine and the potential for communication network analysis research in fisheries

It has been suggested that the fisheries management process with multiple, informed stakeholders and socio-economic, political, and scientific complexity can be considered a governance network. This exploratory study applied communication network analysis (CNA) measures and methods to assess two cases of US federal fishery management in the Northwest Atlantic—Atlantic herring and sea scallop. Through questionnaires and interviews, CNA maps were constructed and quantitative measures of network structure and function (density, weighted average path length) and centrality measures for individual network members (degree, betweenness) were derived using InFlow software. The results show that fishery governance networks are horizontally and vertically integrated across levels of government and public–private–nonprofit sectors. The findings validated existing understanding of fisheries management as a contested, competitive management context among stakeholders, and provided new insights about the effectiveness of information sharing across the network and the critical role of bridgers connecting disparate subgroups. Fisheries management can be conceptualized and analyzed as governance networks, and the paper discusses additional research questions, refinements needed for application of the research methods, and ramifications for managers (e.g., can resource managers manage networks).