Multiple biomarkers highlight the importance of water column processes in treatment wetland organic matter cycling.

A suite of biomarkers, including amino acids, pigments, and lignin phenols coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry were used to evaluate differences in the sources and fate of organic matter (OM) in Everglades treatment wetlands as a model for OM cycling in shallow water wetlands. Five components of the system (water column particulate matter, vertical traps, flocculent material, periphyton, and surface soil) were assessed for OM transformations down-profile (i.e. water column to soil) and between treatment cells dominated by emergent aquatic vegetation (EAV) and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), with comparisons to reference sites within the remnant Everglades. We found that OM cycling is fundamentally different between EAV and SAV wetlands, and that SAV wetlands have some shared characteristics with similar habitats in the remnant Everglades. Other than locations densely populated by Typha spp., water column particulate organic C was predominantly derived from microbial/cryptomonad sources, rather than macroscopic sources (vascular plants and algal mats). Bacterial amino acid biomarkers were positively correlated with amino acid degradation indices and organic P (Po), respectively suggesting that microbial abundance is associated with less degraded OM, and that further investigation into relationships between microbial biomass and Po is warranted. Overall, this multi-biomarker approach can elucidate the relative degradation of OM pools, identify sources of OM, and highlight the importance of water column processes in shallow water wetlands.

Chemical Composition and Potential Environmental Impacts of Water-Soluble Polar Crude Oil Components Inferred from ESI FT-ICR MS.

Polar petroleum components enter marine environments through oil spills and natural seepages each year. Lately, they are receiving increased attention due to their potential toxicity to marine organisms and persistence in the environment. We conducted a laboratory experiment and employed state-of-the-art Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) to characterize the polar petroleum components within two operationally-defined seawater fractions: the water-soluble fraction (WSF), which includes only water-soluble molecules, and the water-accommodated fraction (WAF), which includes WSF and microscopic oil droplets. Our results show that compounds with higher heteroatom (N, S, O) to carbon ratios (NSO:C) than the parent oil were selectively partitioned into seawater in both fractions, reflecting the influence of polarity on aqueous solubility. WAF and WSF were compositionally distinct, with unique distributions of compounds across a range of hydrophobicity. These compositional differences will likely result in disparate impacts on environmental health and organismal toxicity, and thus highlight the need to distinguish between these often-interchangeable terminologies in toxicology studies. We use an empirical model to estimate hydrophobicity character for individual molecules within these complex mixtures and provide an estimate of the potential environmental impacts of different crude oil components.

[Study on HPLC chromatographic fingerprint of anti-tumor active site SSCE of Caulis spatholobi].

OBJECTIVE: To establish the chromatographic fingerprints for the anti-tumor flavonoids of Caulis spatholobi (SSCE). It could used to reflect the chemical information in this part comprehensively, and identify the chemical consitituents preliminarily. METHOD: The HPLC-DAD analysis method was performed on the column Kromasil 100-5PHENYL (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm). The mobile phase was water (0.5% acetic acid)- methanol in gradient elution and the detection wavelength was 254 nm. RESULT: The chromatographic fingerprint of SSCE was established, which showed 16 characteristic peaks from 10 batches of medicinal materials. Among them, the peaks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 16 were identified 3,4-dihodroxybenzoic acid, 4-Hydroxybenzoic Acid, epicatechin, puerarin, daidzein, liquiritigenin, calycosin, genistein, formononetin, and prunetin, respectively. CONCLUSION: The method is convenient, reproducibility and stability. It can used for quality control of the anti-tumor flavonoids of C. spatholobi (SSCE).