Profiling Planctomycetales diversity with reference to anammox‐related bacteria in a South China Sea,deep‐sea sediment

A systematic assessment of Planctomycetales diversity in a South China Sea, deep‐sea sediment (1657 m) was conducted using the 16S rRNA gene analysis approach. PCR amplification of the samples from seven sediment layers (0.1, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 m below the surface sediment) using the primer set Pla‐46‐F/1392‐R showed that the Planctomycetales existed within a limited range of sediment depths (≤ 5 m), and had a decreasing trend in diversity with increasing depth. The majority of the retrieved Pla‐46‐F/1392‐R sequences belonged to Pirellula‐related Planctomycetales, and two sequences retrieved from the 0.1‐m layer (GenBank accession numbers: DQ996944 and DQ996945 ) shared the same anammox‐related signature oligonucleotides and were closely related to commonly recognized anammox organisms. To identify new anammox‐related biomarkers, three primer sets were designed for amplifying the fragments of hydroxylamine oxidoreductase and S‐adenosylmethionine radical enzyme genes, but no related sequences were found. Our multiple 16S rRNA gene primer sets (Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology, 2008, in press) revealed even an higher diversity of Planctomycetales in the 0.1‐m layer of the sediment, especially at genus level. Our data profiled the distribution pattern of Planctomycetales diversity along sediment depths, and provided molecular evidence for the existence of anammox‐related bacteria in a new location, which broadens our understanding of Planctomycetales diversity in deep sea sediments.     

南海东沙东北部甲烷缺氧氧化作用的生物标志化合物及其碳同位素组成

南海东沙东北部碳酸盐岩和泥质沉积物中的生物标志化合物组合及其碳同位素组成分析表明,研究区内甲烷缺氧氧化作用(anaerobic oxidation of methane-AOM)发育.研究区内碳酸盐岩中含丰富的AOM标志化合物,2,6,11,15-四甲基十六烷(Crocetane-Cr.)、2,6,10,15,19-五甲基番茄烷(Pentamethylicosane-PMI)和2,6,10,15,19,23-六甲基二十四烷(Squalane-Sq角鲨烷)的13C亏损强烈(δ13C值介于-74.2‰~-119.0‰PDB之间),表明碳酸盐岩形成于AOM,同时反映该研究区曾发生过强烈、持续的富CH₄流体释放活动.柱状泥质沉积物中,AOM生物标志化合物在硫酸岩-甲烷过渡带(SMI-Sulfate-Methane Interface)边界附近相对丰度高,SMI之上样品中含量低,或未检出,表明现代环境在SMI附近有大量嗜甲烷微生物生长,使得深部上升的甲烷被大量消耗,很少有甲烷逸出海底.AOM生物标志化合物可用来指示SMI边界.不同站位、不同岩性AOM生物标志化合物组成(包括碳同位素组成)的差异反映了嗜甲烷古细菌组成的不同.     

Interaction of glucose and cellulose with hydrogen sulphide and polysulphides

This paper describes simulation experiments in which glucose and cellulose were reacted with polysulphide and hydrogen sulphide at ambient temperatures in an aqueous environment. Organic sulphur containing compounds were formed that yield several thiophenes upon pyrolysis/evaporation. The experiments show that interaction of carbohydrates with hydrogen sulphide or polysulphides is a possible way for carbohydrates to react in very recent sediments. From the results of this study it can be concluded that carbohydrate carbon can be preserved in sediments in a form that is resistant to microbial attack and that will have a greater potential for survival during diagenesis than the carbohydrate precursor.     

Identification and occurrence of novel C36–C54 3,4-dialkylthiophenes with an unusual carbon skeleton in immature sediments

A series of novel long-chain 3,4-dialkylthiophenes (C₃₆–C₅₄) was identified in a number of sediments ranging from Pleistocene to Cretaceous. The identifications were based on mass spectral characterisation, desulphurisation and mass spectral data of synthesised model compounds. These organic sulphur compounds are probably formed by sulphur incorporation into mid-chain dimethylalkadienes with two methylenic double bonds. These putative precursor lipids are unprecedented and may be considered rather unusual. The distribution of 3,4-dialkylthiophenes in sediments varies considerably with the depositional palaeoenvironment, indicating that these compounds have a potential as molecular markers reflecting changes in palaeoenvironment.     

Prediction of the abiotic degradability of organic compounds in the troposphere

A statistically relevant correlation between the reaction rate coefficient, k _OH, for the OH radical reaction with 161 organic compounds in the gas phase at 300 K, and the corresponding vertical ionisation energies E _i,v, reveals two classes of compounds: aromatics where –log(k _OH/cm³s^-1)3/2E _i,v(eV)–2 and aliphatics where –log(k _OH/cm³s^-1)4/5E _i,v(eV)+3. The prediction of the rate coefficient, k _OH, for the reaction of OH with organic molecules from the above equations has a probability of about 90%. Assuming a global diurnal mean of the OH radical concentration of 5×10⁵ cm³, the upper limit of the tropospheric half-life of organic compounds and their persistence can be estimated.     

Effect of system variables and particle size on physical characteristics of air sparging plumes

Air was injected through a well in a thin transparent tank filled with saturated glass beads to study how the size and air saturation of air sparging plumes are affected by particle size and gradation; operational parameters such as injection pressure, well depth, injection pressure pulsing; and well outlet configuration. V-shaped air plumes with an apex between 40° and 60° were obtained for all tests. The air pressure required to initiate sparging agreed closely with the sum of the air entry pressure and the hydrostatic pressure, with higher initiation pressures required in the fine and well-graded beads. Higher air flow rates and air saturations were obtained in coarser beads at a given pressure, and the variation in flow rate was consistent with estimated air permeabilities. Peak average air saturations were 28–56% for the coarse-medium beads, 10% for the well-graded beads, and 8% for the fine beads. Air saturation and the radius of influence increased modestly (<40%) as the normalized injection pressure exceeded 0.1. Radius of influence increased by approximately a factor of two as the well depth increased, but leveled off once the ratio of radius of influence to well depth reached 0.60–1.05. Pulsing of injection pressure had no effect on the initiation pressure, air flow rate, or air saturation, but increased the size of the air plume and the radius of influence slightly (<15%). Well outlet configuration had only a slight affect the radius of influence (<10%), air saturation (<10%), or air flow rate (<12%). Dye testing showed that water surrounding the air plume circulated during continuous and pulsed sparging. However, pulsed sparging resulted in greater and more defined circulation of water within and adjacent to the air plume, which should reduce mass transfer limitations during sparging.     

水资源中氯代烃污染物的去除方法

随着工业化的发展。氯代有机溶剂使用越来越广泛。并且难于去除。在20世纪90年代初期，人们就已认识到用Fe^0恢复污染的地下水的潜力。国外正在研究帮使用扔几种还原挥发性氯代烃的还原反应介质，尤其要提高的是双金属反应系统，反应速度快，而且脱Cl中国难解产物少，目前国也只停留在实验室研究阶段，个别做了地上反应器的验证实验，它的脱Cl机理、介质钝化和完全脱Cl问题还有待于进一步研究。     

钾膨胀石墨层间化合物(K-EGIC_S)的电阻率测量

在低温惰性条件下合成的钾膨胀石墨层间化合物 (K_EGICS)的电学性能与膨胀石墨的电学性能完全相反 ,随着温度的升高 ,K_EGICS 的电阻率逐渐升高 ,电导率逐渐降低。这一现象是由客体材料钾自身的结构及其与膨胀石墨化合时的键性决定的。     

Processing of oxidised nitrogen compounds by passage through winter-time orographic cloud

Four case studies are described, from a three-site field experiment in October/November 1991 using the Great Dun Fell flow-through reactor hill cap cloud in rural Northern England. Measurements of total odd-nitrogen nitrogen oxides (NO _y ) made on either side of the hill, before and after the air flowed through the cloud, showed that 10 to 50% of the NO _y , called NO _z , was neither NO nor NO₂. This NO _z failed to exhibit a diurnal variation and was often higher after passage through cloud than before. No evidence of conversion of NO _z to NO₃ ^- in cloud was found. A simple box model of gas-phase chemistry in air before it reached the cloud, including scavenging of NO₃ and N₂O₅ by aerosol of surface area proportional to the NO₂ mixing ratio, shows that NO₃ and N₂O₅ may build up in the boundary layer by night only if stable stratification insulates the air from emissions of NO. This may explain the lack of evidence for N₂O₅ forming NO₃ ^- in cloud under well-mixed conditions in 1991, in contrast with observations under stably stratified conditions during previous experiments when evidence of N₂O₅ was found. Inside the cloud, some variations in the calculated total atmospheric loading of HNO₂ and the cloud liquid water content were related to each other. Also, indications of conversion of NO _x to NO _z were found. To explain these observations, scavenging of NO _x and HNO₂ by cloud droplets and/or aqueous-phase oxidation of NO₂ ^- by nitrate radicals are considered. When cloud acidity was being produced by aqueous-phase oxidation of NO _x or SO₂, NO₃ ^- which had entered the cloud as aerosol particles was liberated as HNO₃ vapour. When no aqueous-phase production of acidity was occurring, the reverse, conversion of scavenged HNO₃ to particulate NO₃ ^-, was observed.     

Two-dimensional modelling of some CFC replacement compounds

The Cambridge 2-D Eulerian model has been used to study the potential atmospheric distributions and lifetimes of a number of CFC replacement compounds and their degradation products. The study has focused on HFC 134a and HCFCs 123, 141b and 142b and the major products formed by their atmospheric degradation. The loss of these compounds and their products by hydroxyl radical attack, photolysis and in-cloud hydrolysis have been investigated. The study has shown that HCFCs 141b and 142b have sufficiently long lifetimes to enter the stratosphere in significant quantities, where degradation leads to an increase in the total stratospheric chlorine concentration. The study has also highlighted areas where further experimental work would be valuable, in particular characterisation of the product channels for the degradation reactions and determination of the removal rates of the products in the aqueous phase.