Like Xu

Citric acid enhances the phytoextraction of manganese and plant growth by alleviating the ultrastructural damages in Juncus effusus L.

Chelate-assisted phytoextraction by high biomass producing plant species enhances the removal of heavy metals from polluted environments. In this regard, Juncus effusus a wetland plant has great potential. This study evaluated the effects of elevated levels of manganese (Mn) on the vegetative growth, Mn uptake and antioxidant enzymes in J. effusus. We also studied the role of citric acid and EDTA on improving metal accumulation, plant growth and Mn toxicity stress alleviation. Three-week-old plantlets of J. effusus were subjected to various treatments in the hydroponics as: Mn (50, 100 and 500 microM) alone, Mn (500 microM) + citric acid (5 mM), and Mn (500 microM) + EDTA (5 mM). After 2 weeks of treatment, higher Mn concentrations significantly reduced the plant biomass and height. Both citric acid and EDTA restored the plant height as it was reduced at the highest Mn level. Only the citric acid (but not EDTA) was able to recover the plant biomass weight, which was also obvious from the microscopic visualization of mesophyll cells. There was a concentration dependent increase in Mn uptake in J. effusus plants, and relatively more deposition in roots compared to aerial parts. Although both EDTA and citric acid caused significant increase in Mn accumulation; however, the Mn translocation was enhanced markedly by EDTA. Elevated levels of Mn augmented the oxidative stress, which was evident from changes in the activities of antioxidative enzymes in plant shoots. Raised levels of lipid peroxidation and variable changes in the activities of antioxidant enzymes were recorded under Mn stress. Electron microscopic images revealed several modifications in the plants at cellular and sub-cellular level due to the oxidative damage induced by Mn. Changes in cell shape and size, chloroplast swelling, increased number of plastoglobuli and disruption of thylakoid were noticed. However, these plants showed a high degree of tolerance against Mn toxicity stress, and it removed substantial amounts of Mn from the media. The EDTA best enhanced the Mn uptake and translocation, while citric acid best recovered the plant growth.

High-throughput profiling of antibiotic resistance genes in drinking water treatment plants and distribution systems☆

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are present in surface water and often cannot be completely eliminated by drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). Improper elimination of the ARG-harboring microorganisms contaminates the water supply and would lead to animal and human disease. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to determine the most effective ways by which DWTPs can eliminate ARGs. Here, we tested water samples from two DWTPs and distribution systems and detected the presence of 285 ARGs, 8 transposases, and intI-1 by utilizing high-throughput qPCR. The prevalence of ARGs differed in the two DWTPs, one of which employed conventional water treatments while the other had advanced treatment processes. The relative abundance of ARGs increased significantly after the treatment with biological activated carbon (BAC), raising the number of detected ARGs from 76 to 150. Furthermore, the final chlorination step enhanced the relative abundance of ARGs in the finished water generated from both DWTPs. The total enrichment of ARGs varied from 6.4-to 109.2-fold in tap water compared to finished water, among which beta-lactam resistance genes displayed the highest enrichment. Six transposase genes were detected in tap water samples, with the transposase gene TnpA-04 showing the greatest enrichment (up to 124.9-fold). We observed significant positive correlations between ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) during the distribution systems, indicating that transposases and intI-1 may contribute to antibiotic resistance in drinking water. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the diversity and abundance of ARGs in drinking water treatment systems utilizing high-throughput qPCR techniques in China.

Behavior of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in eco-agricultural system: A case study.

This study aims to determine abundance and persistence of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in eco-agricultural system (EAS), which starts from swine feces to anaerobic digestion products, then application of anaerobic digestion solid residue (ADSR) and anaerobic digestion liquid residue (ADLR) to the soil to grow ryegrass, one of swine feed. Oxytetracycline had the highest concentration in manure reaching up to 138.7 mg/kg. Most of antibiotics could be effectively eliminated by anaerobic digestion and removal rates ranged from 11% to 86%. ARGs abundance fluctuated within EAS. TetQ had the highest relative abundance and the relative abundance of tetG had the least variation within the system, which indicates that tetG is persistent in the agricultural environment and requires more attention. Compared to the relative abundance in manure, tetC and tetM increased in biogas residue while three ribosomal protection proteins genes (tetO, tetQ, tetW) decreased (p<0.05), with other genes showing no significant change after anaerobic fermentation (p>0.05). Most ARGs in downstream components (soils and fishpond) of EAS showed significantly higher relative abundance than the control agricultural system (p<0.05), except for tetG and sulI.

Occurrence and removal of antibiotics and the corresponding resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants: effluents’ influence to downstream water environment

In this study, the occurrence of 8 antibiotics [3 tetracyclines (TCs), 4 sulfonamides, and 1 trimethoprim (TMP)], 12 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (10 tet, 2 sul), 4 types of bacteria [no antibiotics, anti-TC, anti-sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and anti-double], and intI1 in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were assessed and their influences in downstream lake were investigated. Both WWTPs’ effluent demonstrated some similarities, but the abundance and removal rate varied significantly. Results revealed that biological treatment mainly removed antibiotics and ARGs, whereas physical techniques were found to eliminate antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARBs) abundance (about 1 log for each one). UV disinfection did not significantly enhance the removal efficiency, and the release of the abundantly available target contaminants from the excess sludge may pose threats to human and the environment. Different antibiotics showed diverse influences on the downstream lake, and the concentrations of sulfamethazine (SM2) and SMX were observed to increase enormously. The total ARG abundance ascended about 0.1 log and some ARGs (e.g., tetC, intI1, tetA) increased due to the high input of the effluent. In addition, the abundance of ARB variation in the lake also changed, but the abundance of four types of bacteria remained stable in the downstream sampling sites.

Genetic analyses of agronomic and seed quality traits of doubled haploid population in Brassica napus through microspore culture

SummaryThe results showed that the F1 genotype from the cross (Brassica napus cv. Zheshuang 758 × cv. Z-4115) had good response to embryogenesis, and their embryo yield and rate of plant regeneration reached 69.8 embryo/bud and 46.9%, respectively. Characters from the doubled haploid (DH) populations in B. napus were analyzed and it was showed that the means of each agronomic trait were between their parents, but they were nearer to the paternal in 6 agronomic traits (plant height, branch position, number of pods in the main raceme, length of pod, number of pods/plant and number of seeds/pod). The number of genes controlling each agronomic trait was analyzed based on the DH populations. The results showed that the number of genes controlling number of pods in the main raceme was the highest (15.6), and the least number of genes was involved for stem width (only 7.9). According to estimated coefficients of skewness and kurtosis of the traits tested, gene interaction was found to be absent for stem width, plant height, length of main raceme, number of primary and secondary branches, pod density in the main raceme and seed weight/plant. Complementary interaction was also observed in five agronomic traits (number of pods in the main raceme, length of pod, number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod and 1000-seed weight). A significantly positive correlation was observed between seed yield/plant and four agronomic traits (length of main raceme, length of pod, number of pods/plant and 1000-seed weight). The experiment also showed that the erucic acid, glucosinolate, oil and protein contents of DH populations were 34.23%, 87.09 μmol/g, 44.09% and 42.67%, respectively. The numbers of genes controlling each quality trait were 7.8, 9.7, 9.4 and 8.7, respectively. Partial correlations between the seed quality traits and the agronomic characters of DH populations were analyzed. In this experiment, the partial correlations among seed quality traits were also analyzed and it was found that the oil content had a negative correlation with the other three seed quality traits.

The B subfamily of plant ATP binding cassette transporters and their roles in auxin transport

The ATP binding cassette B/multidrug-resistance/P-glycoprotein (ABCB/MDR/PGP) subfamily is a member of the ABC protein family. Significant progress has been made in the functional characterization of ABCB genes, particularly in Arabidopsis thaliana. This review evaluates recent advances concerning the plant ABCB subfamilies including their evolution and structure, the involvement and regulation of ABCB-mediated auxin transport, and the roles of ABCBs in plant growth and development. Insights into specific functions of members of the ABCB subfamily and their mediation of various regulatory pathways are also presented.

Induction of tetraploidy in Juncus effusus by colchicine

Tetraploidy was induced in vitro in mat rush (Juncus effusus L.) cultivar Nonglin-4 by exposure to colchicine (0, 50, 100 and 500 mg dm−3) for 6, 12 and 24 h. Flow cytometric analysis was used to confirm the ploidy level. Anatomical and ultrastructural analyses at cellular and subcellular levels in tetraploid and diploid control plants revealed differences between diploid and tetraploid plants. The leaf epidermis had larger stomata but lower stomatal density in tetraploid plants. In addition, mesophyll cells in tetraploid plants appeared more compact and showed less intercellular spaces along with increased size of vascular bundles. However, a significant reduction of chlorophyll content was observed in tetraploid plants that might be the result of structural modification in the lamellar membranes of chloroplasts.

In Vitro Mutagenesis and Genetic Improvement

In vitro mutagenesis is an important technique which can induce stress tolerance and improve the yield and quality of crop plants. This chapter is an effort to review and compare the useful information obtained through in vitro mutation techniques, including somaclonal variation with the current achievements and future prospects. Plant improvement based on mutations can change one or more specific traits of a cultivar, which can enhance the quality and quantity of crops. Conventional induced mutations have well-defined limitations, especially in crop-breeding applications but the use of in vitro techniques with the conjunction of conventional mutagenesis has overcome this barrier. Tissue culture techniques offer opportunity for variation induction, handling of large populations, use of ready selection methods, and rapid cloning of selected variants which can increase the efficiency of mutagenic treatments. Molecular techniques can provide a better understanding about the potential and limitations of mutation breeding. It is apparent that the relatively high number of research reports compared with the low number of cultivars released suggests that mutagenesis, in combination with tissue culture techniques, needs further coordinated and integrated investigation for the improvement of existing plants. However, in vitro mutation induction has high potential to enhance the crop yields that can be used for the improvement of life style of the mankind. Various stresses cause significant yield losses in crops and significantly affect their productivity; therefore, such techniques can contribute to resolve or reduce some of these constraints. Understanding the mechanism that regulates the expression of stress-related genes is a fundamental issue in plant biology and is utmost necessary for the genetic improvement of plants.