Dimas A. M. Zaia

Use of rice straw as biosorbent for removal of Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) ions in industrial effluents.

Adsorption experiments were carried out using waste rice straw of several kinds as a biosorbent to adsorb Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) ions from aqueous solutions at room temperature. To achieve the best adsorption conditions the influence of pH and contact time were investigated. The isotherms of adsorption were fitted to the Freundlich equation. Based on the experimental data and Freundlich model, the adsorption order was Cd(II)>Cu(II)>Zn(II)>Hg(II) on the rice straw. This quick adsorption process reached the equilibrium before 1.5h, with maximum adsorptions at pH 5.0. Thermodynamic aspects of the adsorption process were investigated. The biosorbent material was used in columns for the removal of ions Cu, Zn, Cd and Hg of real samples of industrial effluent and its efficiency was studied.

A review of adsorption of amino acids on minerals: Was it important for origin of life?

Summary.Minerals more readily adsorb amino acids with charged R groups than uncharged R groups, so that the incorporation of amino acids with charged R groups into peptides would be more frequent than for amino acids with uncharged R groups. However, 74% of the amino acids in the proteins of modern organisms contain uncharged R groups. Thus, what could have been the mechanisms that produced peptides/proteins with more amino acids with uncharged R groups than precursors with charged R groups? Should we expect the composition of amino acids adsorbed on minerals to be similar to those of present proteins? Was the adsorption of amino acids on minerals important for the origin of life? The lipid world offers an alternative view of origin of life. Liposomes contributed to elongation of peptides as well as select hydrophobic amino acids and peptides. These experiments could be showing the mechanism, which hydrophobic amino acids have been selected. However, liposomes have no influence on the stereoselectivity in the oligomerization of amino acids. In the present paper, several other mechanisms are also discussed that could produce peptides with a greater proportion of amino acids with uncharged R groups.

Spectrophotometric determination of cysteine and/or carbocysteine in a mixture of amino acids, shampoo, and pharmaceutical products using p-benzoquinone.

A simple, sensitive, and selective method has been developed for determination of cysteine (Cys) or carbocysteine (carboCys) in pharmaceutical products, shampoos and a mixture of amino acids. The results showed the reaction between p-benzoquinone (PBQ) and Cys occurs through the sulfhydryl group. Previous derivatization or extraction is not necessary before the assay is carried out. The method is based on the fact that the product of reaction between PBQ and Cys absorbs at 352 and 500 nm or PBQ and carboCys absorbs at 500 nm. Beers law is followed in the range 0-40 mug/ml for Cys and 0-150 mug/ml for carboCys. The product of reaction PBQ-Cys is stable for 2 h with absorption bands at 352 and 500 nm. In the presence of amino acids, PBQ is highly selective to Cys. Several substances such as amino acids, urea, salts, and dipeptide did not interfere with the proposed method. A recovery of about 100% is observed for both Cys and carboCys, when the method is applied to determine Cys in a mixture of amino acids resembling blood plasma, shampoo, and pill food as well as carboCys in pharmaceutical products.

Determination of total protein by spectrophotometry: advantages and disadvantages of proposed methods

Spectrophotometric determination of total protein is used in several areas such as clinical analysis, food science and technology, biochemistry, protein chemistry, physiology. Five spectrophotometric methods are mostly used: biuret, Lowry, Bradford, Smith and UV absorption. In this review a general overview of these methods is presented (interferences, applications); other methodologies are also discussed.

Which Amino Acids Should Be Used in Prebiotic Chemistry Studies

The adsorption of amino acids on minerals and their condensation under conditions that resemble those of prebiotic earth is a well studied subject. However, which amino acids should be used in these experiments is still an open question. The main goal of this review is to attempt to answer this question. There were two sources of amino acids for the prebiotic earth: (1) exogenous—meaning that the amino acids were synthesized outside the earth and delivered to our planet by interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), meteorites, comets, etc. and (2) endogenous—meaning that they were synthesized on earth in atmospheric mixtures, hydrothermal vents, etc. For prebiotic chemistry studies, the use of a mixture of amino acids from both endogenous and exogenous sources is suggested. The exogenous contribution of amino acids to this mixture is very different from the average composition of proteins, and contains several non-protein amino acids. On the other hand, the mixture of amino acids from endogenous sources is seems to more closely resemble the amino acid composition of terrestrial proteins.

Conjunto mínimo de parâmetros para avaliação da microbiota do solo e da fixação biológica do nitrogênio pela soja

The objective of this work was to evaluate and validate a minimum set of parameters capable of monitoring, under field conditions, soil microbes and/or the biological N2 fixation process with the soybean crop. The field trials were performed in commercial fields (2002/2003) and experimental areas (2004/2004), with complete randomized blocks design. Microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN) were adequate for the quantitative evaluation of soil microbes; the parameters were significantly correlated therefore the determination of only one of them is sufficient. Positive and significant correlations were also obtained between the parameters of shoot dry weight (SDW) and MBC and MBN. The analysis of total soil DNA by the denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis method (DGGE) detected qualitative changes in soil microbes, related to the homogeneity of the area, as well as to differences among treatments, areas and harvests. Nodule dry weight (NDW) was the most suitable parameter for the evaluation of nodulation. Significant correlations were obtained between the SDW and the total N accumulated in shoots (TNS). Similar results were obtained between SDW and total N-ureides (TNU). Monitoring of the symbiosis in soils traditionally cropped with soybean and poor on N may be achieved only by the determination of NDW and SDW.

Adsorption of amino acids and nucleic acid bases onto minerals: a few suggestions for prebiotic chemistry experiments

Amino acids and nucleic acid bases are very important for the living organisms. Thus, their protection from decomposition, selection, pre-concentration and formation of biopolymers are important issues for understanding the origin of life on the Earth. Minerals could have played all of these roles. This paper discusses several aspects involving the adsorption of amino acids and nucleic acid bases onto minerals under conditions that could have been found on the prebiotic Earth; in particular, we recommend the use of minerals, amino acids, nucleic acid bases and seawater ions in prebiotic chemistry experiments. Several experiments involving amino acids, nucleic acid bases, minerals and seawater ions are also suggested, including: (a) using well-characterized minerals and the standardization of the mineral synthesis methods; (b) using primary chondrite minerals (olivine, pyroxene, etc.) and clays modified with metals (Cu, Fe, Ni, Mo, Zn, etc.); (c) determination of the possible products of decomposition due to interactions of amino acids and nucleic acid bases with minerals; (d) using minerals with more organophilic characteristics; (e) using seawaters with different concentrations of ions (i.e. Na + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , SO 4 2− and Cl − ); (f) using non-protein amino acids (AIB, α-ABA, β-ABA, γ-ABA and β-Ala and g) using nucleic acid bases other than adenine, thymine, uracil and cytosine. These experiments could be useful to clarify the role played by minerals in the origin of life on the Earth.

Adsorption of Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, and Uracil on Sulfide-Modified Montmorillonite: FT-IR, Mössbauer and EPR Spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffractometry Studies

In the present work the interactions of nucleic acid bases with and adsorption on clays were studied at two pHs (2.00, 7.00) using different techniques. As shown by Mössbauer and EPR spectroscopies and X-ray diffractometry, the most important finding of this work is that nucleic acid bases penetrate into the interlayer of the clays and oxidize Fe2+ to Fe3+, thus, this interaction cannot be regarded as a simple physical adsorption. For the two pHs the order of the adsorption of nucleic acid bases on the clays was: adenine ≈ cytosine > thymine > uracil. The adsorption of adenine and cytosine on clays increased with decreasing of the pH. For unaltered montmorillonite this result could be explained by electrostatic forces between adenine/cytosine positively charged and clay negatively charged. However for montmorillonite modified with Na2S, probably van der Waals forces also play an important role since both adenine/cytosine and clay were positively charged. FT-IR spectra showed that the interaction between nucleic acid bases and clays was through NH+ or NH2+ groups. X-ray diffractograms showed that nucleic acid bases adsorbed on clays were distributed into the interlayer surface, edge sites and external surface functional groups (aluminol, silanol) EPR spectra showed that the intensity of the line g ≈ 2 increased probably because the oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+ by nucleic acid bases and intensity of the line g = 4.1 increased due to the interaction of Fe3+ with nucleic acid bases. Mössbauer spectra showed a large decreased on the Fe2+ doublet area of the clays due to the reaction of nucleic acid bases with Fe2+.

Determination of total proteins: a study of reaction between quinones and proteins

A previous study was undertaken to test the reaction of several quinones (p-benzoquinone; 2,5-dichloro and 2,6-dichloro p-benzoquinone; tetrachloro-p-benzoquinone; tetrachloro-o-benzoquinone; 2,5-dichloro-3,6-dihydroxy-p-benzoquinone; benz[a]anthracene-7,12-dione) with bovine serum albumin (BSA). From this study, we have devised a spectrophotometric method for determination of total proteins. The quinone, tetrachloro-p-benzoquinone (p-chloranil), showed the best result. The product of reaction between proteins and p-chloranil absorbed at 360 nm and Beers law was followed up to 200 mug ml(-1) of BSA. The product of reaction of BSA/p-chloranil was stable for 30 min, after that the absorbance increased 16% and kept stable for 24 h. The p-chloranil method showed a limit of detection (1.25 mug ml(-1)) lower than the biuret method (52.0 mug ml(-1)) or p-benzoquinone (PBQ) method (2.6-4.0 mug ml(-1)). The method was applied to spectrophotometric determination of total proteins in blood plasma; the results were compared with the biuret method that is widely used in clinical analysis.

Adsorption of Amino Acids (Ala, Cys, His, Met) on Zeolites: Fourier Transform Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy Investigations

Minerals adsorb more amino acids with charged R-groups than amino acids with uncharged R-groups. Thus, the peptides that form from the condensation of amino acids on the surface of minerals should be composed of amino acid residues that are more charged than uncharged. However, most of the amino acids (74%) in todays proteins have an uncharged R-group. One mechanism with which to solve this paradox is the use of organophilic minerals such as zeolites. Over the range of pH (pH 2.66-4.50) used in these experiments, the R-group of histidine (His) is positively charged and neutral for alanine (Ala), cysteine (Cys), and methionine (Met). In acidic hydrothermal environments, the pH could be even lower than those used in this study. For the pH range studied, the zeolites were negatively charged, and the overall charge of all amino acids was positive. The conditions used here approximate those of prebiotic Earth. The most important finding of this work is that the relative concentrations of each amino acid (X=His, Met, Cys) to alanine (X/Ala) are close to 1.00. This is an important result with regard to prebiotic chemistry because it could be a solution for the paradox stated above. Pore size did not affect the adsorption of Cys and Met on zeolites, and the Si/Al ratio did not affect the adsorption of Cys, His, and Met. ZSM-5 could be used for the purification of Cys from other amino acids (Student-Newman-Keuls test, p<0.05), and mordenite could be used for separation of amino acids from each other (Student-Newman-Keuls test, p<0.05). As shown by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, Ala interacts with zeolites through the [Formula: see text] group, and methionine-zeolite interactions involve the COO, [Formula: see text], and CH(3) groups. FT-IR spectra show that the interaction between the zeolites and His is weak. Cys showed higher adsorption on all zeolites; however, the hydrophobic Van der Waals interaction between zeolites and Cys is too weak to produce any structural changes in the Cys groups (amine, carboxylic, sulfhydryl, etc.); thus, the FT-IR and Raman spectra are the same as those of solid Cys.