Xiao-Qing Lin

Interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizae and heavy metals under sand culture experiment

A sand culture experiment was established to determine interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizae and heavy metals. Mycorrhizal infection rates, spore densities, maize root and shoot weights, and heavy metal contents in maize were as indexes of responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Acaulospora laevis, Glomus caledonium and Glomus manihotis) to heavy metals (Cu and Cd). The mycorrhizal infection rates of G. caledonium were the highest among these three mycorrhizal fungi, but the sporulating ability of G. caledonium was the poorest in the heavy metal treatments. The shoot and root weights of non-mycorrhizal plants were usually greater than those of mycorrhizal plants when the Cu concentrations in solutions are less than 3 mg l(-1) or Cd concentrations less than 1 mg l(-1). When Cd concentrations were 0.5 and 1 mg(-1), the root and shoot weights of plants inoculated with A. laevis were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than those of other treatments. Copper concentrations in shoots of mycorrhizal plants were higher than those of non-mycorrhizal ones at all Cu concentrations in solution, especially at low Cu concentrations. As to A. laevis, Cu concentrations in roots and shoots of the host were higher than those of non-mycorrhizal plants in these treatments. Thus A. laevis was sensitive to Cu and Cd, especially Cd, and G. caledonium was more tolerant to these two heavy metals. It is suggested that G. caledonium might be a promising mycorrhizal fungus for bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil.

Changes of soil microbiological properties caused by land use changing from rice-wheat rotation to vegetable cultivation

A survey was done recently in Jiaxing city of Zhejiang Province in the Yangtze River Delta to compare the differences of soil microbiological properties among paddy soils with different land use including continuous open-field vegetable cultivation (OFVC), plastic-greenhouse vegetable cultivation (PGVC) and traditional rice–wheat rotation (RWR). The soil types included are percolating, permeable and waterlogged paddy soils. The results indicate that the microbial flora was markedly changed as the land use changed for all the three soil types. In continuous vegetable cultivation soils, especially in PGVC soils, the bacteria amounts decreased dramatically, but the fungal and actinomyce amounts increased as compared with RWR soils. The dehydrogenase activities decreased significantly in vegetable soils, especially in PGVC soils as compared with RWR soils. The microbial biomass C and the total phospholipid contents (TPL) in vegetable cultivation soil greatly decreased as compared with RWR soils. Biolog analysis indicated that the kinds of carbon sources that could be metabolized by native microbes in PGVC soils greatly decreased as compared with OFVC soils and RWR soils, revealing that microbial diversity had decreased since land use change. The activities of some soil enzymes including urease, invertase and phosphase were all lower in OFVC soils than those in RWR soils, and those in PGVC soils were the lowest. The degradation of microbiological activities in continuous vegetable cultivation soils, especially in PGVC soils, as compared with RWR soils might have been caused by soil acidification and accumulation of salts due to overuse of both organic and inorganic fertilizers in vegetable cultivation.

Effect of DBP/DEHP in vegetable planted soil on the quality of capsicum fruit.

Field experiment was conducted to investigate the di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) contamination in Capsicum annum fruit grown in DBP and DEHP contaminated soil, and to evaluate the effect of DBP and DEHP on the quality of capsicum fruit. The top layer soil (0-10 cm) of plots was treated with a mixture of DBP and DEHP (1:1 w/w) and capsicum seedlings were transplanted. After 90 days, capsicum fruit, shoot and root samples were collected. DBP and DEHP concentration in various parts of the samples were determined by gas chromatography. Vitamin C and capsaicin contents in fruit were determined using 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine colorimetric analysis and sodium nitrite-sodium molybdate colorimetric analysis, respectively. The results showed that DBP concentration in fruit, shoot and root increased with the increase of soil-applied DBP/DEHP concentration, but DEHP was not detected in all samples. When the soil-applied DBP/DEHP concentration was 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160 mg kg(-1) soil, compared with control, vitamin C and capsaicin content in capsicum fruit decreased by 1.6%, 5.9%, 10.6%/o, 18.2%, 19.2%, 22.6% and 1.6%, 2.5%, 12.9%, 20.1%, 22.2%, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that the decrease of vitamin C and capsaicin content was negatively correlated to the increase of DBP concentration in capsicum fruit, which suggested that DBP uptake by the plant might be mainly responsible for quality degradation of capsicum fruit.

Using wastewater after lipid fermentation as substrate for bacterial cellulose production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus

In this study, lipid fermentation wastewater (fermentation broth after separation with yeast biomass) with high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) value of 25,591 mg/L was used as substrate for bacterial cellulose (BC) production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus for the first time. After 5 days of fermentation, the highest BC yield (0.659 g/L) was obtained. Both monosaccharide and polysaccharides present in lipid fermentation wastewater could be utilized by G. xylinus simultaneously during fermentation. By this bioconversion, 30.0% of COD could be removed after 10 days of fermentation and the remaining wastewater could be used for further BC fermentation. The crystallinity of BC samples in lipid fermentation wastewater increased gradually during fermentation but overall the environment of lipid fermentation wastewater showed small influence on BC structure by comparison with that in traditional HS medium by using FE-SEM, FTIR, and XRD. By this work, the possibility of using lipid fermentation wastewater containing low value carbohydrate polymer (extracellular polysaccharides) for high value carbohydrate polymer (BC) production was proven.

Bacterial cellulose production from the litchi extract by Gluconacetobacter xylinus

ABSTRACT Although litchi has both nutrient and edible value, the extremely short preservation time limited its further market promotion. To explore processed litchi products with longer preservation time, litchi extract was selected as an alternative feedstock for production of bacterial cellulose (BC). After 2 weeks of static fermentation, 2.53 g/L of the BC membrane was obtained. The trace elements including magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) in the litchi extract were partly absorbed in the BC membrane, but no potassium (K) element was detected in it, curiously. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs exhibited an ultrafine network nanostructure for the BC produced in the litchi extract. Analysis of the fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the pellicles to be a cellulosic material. Interestingly, X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed the BC membrane obtained from litchi extract had higher crystallinity of 94.0% than that from HS medium. Overall, the work showed the potential of producing high value-added polymer from litchi resources.

Beneficial Effect of Corncob Acid Hydrolysate on the Lipid Production by Oleaginous Yeast Trichosporon dermatis

In this work, corncob acid hydrolysate and its simulated medium whose sugar composition was the same as the corncob acid hydrolysate were used as fermentation substrate for lipid production by oleaginous yeast Trichosporon dermatis. On the corncob acid hydrolysate, after 7 days of fermentation, the biomass, lipid content, lipid yield, and lipid coefficient of T. dermatis were 17.3 g/L, 40.2%, 7.0 g/L, and 16.5%, respectively. Interestingly, during the lipid fermentation on the corncob acid hydrolysate, glucose, xylose, arabinose, and even acetic acid could be well utilized as carbon sources by T. dermatis. Surprisingly, the lipid yield (7.0 g/L) of T. dermatis on the corncob acid hydrolysate was much higher than that (3.8 g/L) on the simulated medium, in spite of the fact that the lipid coefficient (17.4%) on the simulated medium was a little higher. This phenomenon further showed that lignocellulosic acid hydrolysate was a suitable substrate for lipid fermentation by T. dermatis. This work would help the comprehensive utilization of lignocellulosic biomass for lipid production.

Use of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) acid hydrolysate for microbial oil production by Trichosporon cutaneum

ABSTRACT Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) dilute acid hydrolysate contains 34.6 g/L total sugars. The potential of lipid production by oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum grown on elephant grass acid hydrolysate was investigated for the first time. During the fermentation process on the elephant grass acid hydrolysate, glucose, xylose, and arabinose could be well utilized as carbon sources by T. cutaneum. Interestingly, xylose was almost no use before glucose was consumed completely. This illustrated that simultaneous saccharification of xylose and glucose by T. cutaneum did not occur on elephant grass acid hydrolysate. The highest biomass, lipid content, lipid yield, and lipid coefficient of T. cutaneum were measured after the sixth day of fermentation and were 22.76 g/L, 24.0%, 5.46 g/L, and 16.1%, respectively. Therefore, elephant grass is a promising raw material for microbial oil production by T. cutaneum.

Effects of Di-n-Butyl Phthalate on Mycorrhizal and Non-Mycorrhizal Cowpea Plants

Cowpea (Vigna sinensis L.) plants were inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Acaulospora laevis) to investigate the effects of different concentrations of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP; 0, 10, and 100 mg kg−1) added to soil on their growth. Mycorrhizal plants were less affected by high concentration of DBP (100 mg kg−1) than non-mycorrhizal ones. Also the uptake and transformation of DBP by mycorrhizal plants differed from that of non-mycorrhizal plants.

Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies of acid soluble lignin adsorption from rice straw hydrolysate by a self-synthesized macro/mesoporous resin

A self-synthesized HQ-8 resin was prepared using a O/W suspension polymerization technique and employed as a potential adsorbent for the removal of acid soluble lignin (ASL) from rice straw hydrolysate (RSH). The structure and morphology of the HQ-8 resin before and after the adsorption of ASL were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms. A series of adsorption conditions such as pH value, adsorbent dose, initial concentration, and temperature were systematically investigated to obtain the optimum process parameters. Within the studied range of ASL concentrations, the adsorption equilibrium was found to follow the Freundlich isotherm model well, with R2 > 0.988. The rate of ASL adsorption onto the HQ-8 resin was very quick, and equilibrium was reached within 50 min of contact. Furthermore, the maximum adsorption capacity of ASL on the HQ-8 resin was 64.61 mg g−1 at 298 K at an initial solution pH of 1. The regression results revealed that the ASL adsorption kinetics was represented accurately by a pseudo-second-order model. The efficiency of the HQ-8 resin for the spontaneous and exothermic adsorption of ASL is attributed to the hydrophobic interaction between the cross-linked benzene ring of the HQ-8 resin and the aromatic ring of ASL. In addition, the activation energy of ASL adsorption onto the HQ-8 resin was 35.99 kJ mol−1. In summary, the present adsorption studies of ASL from RSH revealed the potential of a self-synthesized HQ-8 resin to be applied as an alternative adsorbent for lignocellulose hydrolysate detoxification.

Extraction and characterization of wax from sugarcane bagasse and the enzymatic hydrolysis of dewaxed sugarcane bagasse

ABSTRACT Extraction of high-value products from agricultural wastes is an important component for sustainable bioeconomy development. In this study, wax extraction from sugarcane bagasse was performed and the beneficial effect of dewaxing pretreatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis was investigated. About 1.2% (w/w) of crude sugarcane wax was obtained from the sugarcane bagasse using the mixture of petroleum ether and ethanol (mass ratio of 1:1) as the extraction agent. Results of Fourier-transform infrared characterization and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry qualitative analysis showed that the crude sugarcane wax consisted of fatty fractions (fatty acids, fatty aldehydes, hydrocarbons, and esters) and small amount of lignin derivatives. In addition, the effect of dewaxing pretreatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse was also investigated. The digestibilities of cellulose and xylan in dewaxed sugarcane bagasse were 18.7 and 10.3%, respectively, compared with those of 13.1 and 8.9% obtained from native sugarcane bagasse. The dewaxed sugarcane bagasse became more accessible to enzyme due to the disruption of the outermost layer of the waxy materials.