Adventitious roots support population expansion of the invasive plant Mikania micrantha Kunth.

Mikania micrantha Kunth is a serious invasive alien plant characterized by the formation of an adventitious root system in its prostrate growth form. Unlike the initial roots from seed germination, adventitious roots gradually appear above the stem and branch nodes. Little is known about adventitious roots play on plant growth and population expansion of M. micrantha. We hypothesized that adventitious roots provide an advantage for plant growth and nutrient availability. To test this hypothesis, plant growth, physiology, and nutrition characteristics of M. micrantha were measured under four soil surface conditions allowing various plant parts to touch the soil to stimulate variable adventitious root formation. The results showed that the biomass, stem length, branch number, and adventitious root biomass of M. micrantha were significantly increased (P < 0.05) with increasing nodes bearing adventitious roots. As the number of nodes with adventitious roots increased, the net photosynthetic rate, antioxidant enzyme activities like superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, and malondialdehyde, chlorophyll content, and plant nutrient contents (N, P, and K) of M. micrantha were increased (P < 0.05), with higher values in main stem leaves than in those of branch leaves. The concentrations of soil organic matter, total N, total P, total K, available N, available P, and available K were greater (P < 0.05) in initial soil (CK) than in treatment soil (with M. micrantha) and were significantly reduced by adventitious roots. Our study was the first to show that plant growth, physiology and nutrition status of M. micrantha were strongly promoted by adventitious roots in the prostrate growth form.

Potential use of Helianthus tuberosus to suppress the invasive alien plant Ageratina adenophora under different shade levels.

BACKGROUND: An ecological approach for managing biological invasions in agroecosystems is the selection of alternative crop species to manage the infestation of invasive alien plants through competition. In the current study, plant growth, photosynthesis, and competitive ability of the crop Helianthus tuberosus L. (Jerusalem artichoke) and the invasive alien plant Ageratina adenophora (Spreng.) R. M. King and H. Rob were compared under varying shade levels by utilizing a de Wit replacement series method. We hypothesized that H. tuberosus had higher competitive ability than A. adenophora even under shaded conditions. RESULTS: The results showed the main stem, leafstalk length, leaf area, underground biomass, and aboveground biomass of A. adenophora were significantly lower compared to H. tuberosus in monoculture although A. adenophora had a greater number of branches that were longer on average. Under full sunlight, the total shoot length (stem + branch length), main stem length and branch length of A. adenophora were significantly suppressed (P < 0.05) by increasing proportions of H. tuberosus, and the same morphological variables of H. tuberosus were significantly higher with decreasing proportions of H. tuberosus. With increasing shade rates and plant ratios, the plant height, branch, leaf, and biomass of both plants were significantly suppressed, but to a greater degree in the case of A. adenophora. The net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of H. tuberosus and A. adenophora increased gradually from July to September, then decreased in October. The Pn of H. tuberosus was consistently higher than that of A. adenophora. Although the Pn for both species was significantly reduced with increasing shade rates and plant ratios, A. adenophora experienced greater inhibition than H. tuberosus. The relative yield (RY) of A. adenophora was significantly less than 1.0 (P < 0.05) in mixed culture under all shade levels, indicating that the intraspecific competition was less than interspecific competition. The RY of H. tuberosus was significantly less than 1.0 under 40-60% shade and greater than 1.0 (P < 0.05) under 0-20% shade in mixed culture, respectively, showing that intraspecific competition was higher than interspecific competition under low shade, but the converse was true under high shade. The relative yield total (RYT) of A. adenophora and H. tuberosus was less than 1.0 in mixed culture, indicating that there was competition between the two plants. The fact that the competitive balance (CB) index of H. tuberosus was greater than zero demonstrated a higher competitive ability than A. adenophora even at the highest shade level (60%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that H. tuberosus is a promising replacement control candidate for managing infestations of A. adenophora, and could be widely used in various habitats where A. adenophora invades.

[Removal of Fe(⠡), Mn(⠡), and NH4+-N by Using δ-MnO2 Coated Zeolite].

δ-MnO2/zeolite nanocomposites were prepared with natural zeolite, potassium permanganate, and manganese sulfate by oxidation-reduction precipitation, which were used to simultaneously remove Fe2+, Mn2+, and NH4+-N from groundwater. To investigate the performance and mechanism of Fe2+, Mn2+, and NH4+-N removal from groundwater by δ-MnO2/zeolite nanocomposites, static batch experiments were conducted under different environmental conditions in a zero-oxygen atmosphere using SEM, TEM, Zeta potential, FTIR, and XPS techniques. The experimental results showed that the manganese-oxide-coated natural zeolite was δ-MnO2, and Fe2+, Mn2+, and NH4+-N adsorption on the δ-MnO2/zeolite nanocomposites could be best described with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir model. In addition, the maximum adsorption capacities of Fe2+, Mn2+, and NH4+-N were calculated to be 215.1, 23.6, and 7.64 mg·g-1, respectively. The removal mechanism of NH4+-N from the solutions by zeolite was via the action of ion exchange, and the adsorption and oxidation catalysis of δ-MnO2-coated zeolite were responsible for the removal of Fe2+ and Mn2+. This research indicates that δ-MnO2/zeolite nanocomposites could be used as highly efficient adsorbents to simultaneously remove Fe2+, Mn2+, and NH4+-N from water.

Enhanced hydrophilic and antibacterial efficiencies by the synergetic effect TiO2 nanofiber and graphene oxide in cellulose acetate nanofibers.

In this study, a novel nanofiber with improved antibacterial efficiencies was created by introducing TiO2 nanofibers and graphene oxide (GO) sheets into cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers using an efficient electrospinning process. The morphologies and chemical composition of above nanocomposite were fully measured by SEM, FTIR and XRD measurements. The results demonstrated that TiO2 nanofibers and GO sheets have a uniform distribution in the CA nanofibers and these two additives also could improve hydrophilicity. TiO2/GO/CA@cotton exhibited high antibacterial activity with an inhibition rate higher than 95% against B. subtilis and B. cereus bacteria. Therefore, the proposed nanofiber is promising for the large-scale production of antibacterial nanofiber/cotton hybrid yarns for biomedical and antibacterial textiles applications.

The effect of pH on the LCST of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid).

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (P(NIPAAm-co-AAc)) hydrogels are synthesized by irradiating the aqueous solutions of NIPAAm and NIPAAm/AAc with 60Co gamma-ray. The effects of pH on the swelling ratio and on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) are studied by determining the dependence of swelling ratio on temperature in different pH butter solutions. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is applied in determination of the LCST of the hydrogels. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry is used in the comparison of hydrogels swelled in various pH conditions. As a result, PNIPAAm was found to be a pH-sensitive hydrogel and the LCST of the PNIPAAm and P(NIPAAm-co-AAc) hydrogels are influenced by pH.