Biochar obtained from alkaline earth metal-treated mushroom residue: Thermal behavior and methyl orange adsorption capability.

To achieve the resource utilization of edible fungi residue and obtain efficient adsorbents for treating dyeing wastewater, biochars were prepared from mushroom residue (MR) with the introduction of alkaline-earth metals (AEMs) and used for methyl orange (MO) wastewater treatment. The thermal behavior of the AEM-treated MR was analyzed using thermogravimetric analysis. The physicochemical properties of the biochars obtained from AEM-treated MR (MRCs) were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, laser particle size analyzer, N2 adsorption/desorption, and scanning electron microscopy. The adsorption performance of MRCs on MO was also investigated. The involvement of AEMs was found to obviously move the main pyrolysis zone of MR to a low temperature region and reduce the temperature corresponding to the maximum weight loss rate and activation energy, which is highly dependent on the concentration of AEMs, the anion and cationic species of the AEMs. Moreover, the addition of AEMs resulted in a decrease in oxygen-containing functional groups (-OH, CO, or C-O), a weakening of surface negative charges, an enhancement in aromatic functional groups, and an increase in specific surface area of the MRCs. The adsorption performance of MO on MRCs was significantly improved with the introduction of AEMs as well. Among them, MR pre-treated with 5 mmol/g MgCl2 (MR-MgCl2-5) shows the lowest temperature corresponding to the maximum weight loss rate and the lowest activation energy of 278.52 °C and 4.28 kJ/mol, respectively. The biochar prepared from MR-MgCl2-5 under 400 °C (MR-MgCl2-5-400C) has the weakest surface negative charge and the highest adsorption capacity for MO. The adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics, and thermodynamic analysis results showed that the adsorption of MO on MR-MgCl2-5-400C was a spontaneous, chemically dominant monolayer adsorption, with a theoretical maximum adsorption capacity of 81.30 mg/g. This study suggests that AEMs treatment, especially with 5 mmol/g MgCl2, can readily transform edible fungi residue into a low-cost, high-efficient dyeing wastewater adsorbent.

Performance and mechanism of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions' adsorption via modified antibiotic residue-based hydrochar.

This study investigated the hydrochar-based porous carbon prepared by combining the technical route of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) + chemical activation. The hydrochar morphology was adjusted by changing the activation reaction conditions and adding metal salts. Experiments showed that the activation of KHCO3 significantly increased the specific surface area and pore size of the hydrochar. Besides, oxygen-rich groups on the surface of the activated hydrochar interacted with heavy metal ions to achieve efficient adsorption. The activated hydrothermal carbon adsorption capacity for Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions reached 289 and 186 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption mechanism study indicated that the adsorption of Pb2+ and Cd2+ was related to electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, and complexation reactions. The "HTC + chemical activation" technology was environmentally friendly and effectively implemented antibiotic residues. Carbon materials with high adsorption capacity can be prepared so that biomass resources can be utilized with excessive value, as a consequence presenting technical assistance for the comprehensive disposal of organic waste in the pharmaceutical industry and establishing a green and clean production system.

Effects of Land Use on the Soil Microbial Community in the Songnen Grassland of Northeast China.

Land use change obviously changes the plant community composition and soil properties of grasslands and thus affects multiple functions and services of grassland ecosystems. However, the response mechanisms of soil microorganisms, key drivers of the nutrient cycle and other soil functions during changes in grassland use type and associated vegetation are not well understood. In this study, Illumina high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the changes in the soil microbial community structure of four grassland use types: exclosure (EL), mowed land (ML), grazed land (GL), and farmland (FL) in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China. The results showed that the FL and EL had significantly higher soil total nitrogen (TN) and lower soil electrical conductivity (EC) and pH than GL and ML. In contrast, the GL and ML had higher soil bulk density (BD) and organic matter, respectively, than the other land use types. In addition, the values of the Shannon diversity and Pielou's evenness indexes were highest in the EL of all the land use types. Based on the high-throughput sequencing results, we observed high levels of α diversity in the FL for both bacteria and fungi. A structural equation model (SEM) revealed that pH and EC had a direct and positive effect on the bacterial community structure and composition. In addition, plant taxonomic diversity (according to the Shannon diversity and Pielou's evenness indexes) indirectly affected the bacterial community composition via soil pH and EC. Notably, fungal composition was directly and positively correlated with soil nutrients and the value of Pielou's evenness index changed with land use type. In conclusion, soil properties and/or plant diversity might drive the changes in the soil microbial community structure and composition in different grassland use types.

Non-utilization Is Not the Best Way to Manage Lowland Meadows in Hulun Buir.

Carex meyeriana lowland meadow is an important component of natural grasslands in Hulun Buir. However, in Hulun Buir, fewer studies have been conducted on C. meyeriana lowland meadows than on other grassland types. To determine the most appropriate utilization mode for C. meyeriana lowland meadows, an experiment was conducted in Zhalantun city, Hulun Buir. Unused, moderately grazed, heavily grazed and mowed meadow sites were selected as the research objects. The analysis of experimental data from 4 consecutive years showed that relative to the other utilization modes, mowing and moderate grazing significantly increased C. meyeriana biomass. Compared with non-utilization, the other three utilization modes resulted in a higher plant diversity, and the moderately grazed meadow had the highest plant community stability. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) showed that among the meadow sites, the mowed meadow had the most stable plant community and soil physicochemical properties. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that grazing pressure was less than 0.25 hm2/sheep unit and that plant biomass in C. meyeriana lowland meadow increases with increasing grazing intensity, temperature and precipitation.

Temperature sensitivity of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) performance of Ce-TiO2 in the presence of SO2.

Cerium titanate catalyst (Ce-TiO2) is competitive as a substitute for the commercial SCR (selective catalytic reduction) catalysts VO5-WO2/TiO2 due to its high SCR activity and excellent redox performance. The reaction mechanisms of Ce-TiO2 at 180 °C, 240 °C, and 300 °C in the presence of SO2 were systematically studied regarding the evolution of the SCR activity, quantitative analysis of sulfate compounds, and comprehensive identification of the fresh and poisoned catalysts. The results demonstrated that NO conversion at 180 °C in the presence of SO2 is highly sensitive to the formation of cerium sulfates/sulfites, limiting the reactivity of NH4+ adsorbed on SO Brønsted acid sites and inhibiting the E-R reaction pathway. At 240 °C, the degradation of NO conversion was commenced by the cumulative influence of cerium sulfates/sulfites. With the increase of the reaction temperature to 300 °C, the NO conversion is gradually immune to the formation of cerium sulfates in spite of the great amount of cerium sulfates deposited on the deeper interior of CeO2. The high SCR activity of the Ce-TiO2 catalyst in the presence of SO2 at a higher reaction temperature might be ascribed to the synergistic catalysis between surface cerium sulfates and bulk CeO2, where surface cerium sulfates act as acid sites for the adsorption of NH3 and the bulk CeO2 acts as the redox sites. The reaction mechanisms of the Ce-TiO2 catalyst in the presence of SO2 at different temperatures are proposed as the two reaction routes.

Sulfation effect of Ce/TiO2 catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO x with NH3: mechanism and kinetic studies.

Ceria-based catalysts are competitive substitutes for the commercial SCR catalysts due to their high SCR activity and excellent redox performance. For a better understanding of the SO2 poisoning mechanism over ceria-based catalysts, the sulfation effect of the Ce/TiO2 catalyst on the SCR activity over a wide reaction temperature range was systematically studied via comprehensive characterizations, in situ DRIFT studies and kinetic studies. The results demonstrated that the NO conversion at 150 °C is significantly inhibited by the formation of cerium sulfites/sulfates due to the inhibited redox properties and excessive adsorption of NH3, which restrict the dissociation of NH3 to NH2, resulting in a much lower reaction rate of E-R reaction over the sulfated Ce/TiO2 catalyst. With the increase in the reaction temperature, the reaction rate of the E-R reaction significantly increased due to the improved redox properties and weakened adsorption of NH3. Moreover, the rate of the C-O reaction over the sulfated Ce/TiO2 catalysts is obviously lower than that of the fresh Ce/TiO2 catalyst. The promotion of NO conversion over the sulfated catalyst at 330 °C is attributed to both the increase in the reaction rate of E-R reaction and the inhibition of the C-O reaction.

A New Primer to Amplify pmoA Gene From NC10 Bacteria in the Sediments of Dongchang Lake and Dongping Lake.

Nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-damo) is catalyzed by the NC10 phylum bacterium "Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera" (M. oxyfera). Generally, the pmoA gene is applied as a functional marker to test and identify NC10-like bacteria. However, it is difficult to detect the NC10 bacteria from sediments of freshwater lake (Dongchang Lake and Dongping Lake) with the previous pmoA gene primer sets. In this work, a new primer cmo208 was designed and used to amplify pmoA gene of NC10-like bacteria. A newly nested PCR approach was performed using the new primer cmo208 and the previous primers cmo182, cmo682, and cmo568 to detect the NC10 bacteria. The obtained pmoA gene sequences exhibited 85-92% nucleotide identity and 95-97% amino acid sequence identity to pmoA gene of M. oxyfera. The obtained diversity of pmoA gene sequences coincided well with the diversity of 16S rRNA sequences. These results indicated that the newly designed pmoA primer cmo208 could give one more option to detect NC10 bacteria from different environmental samples.

An ultrasensitive detection of 17ß-estradiol using a gold nanoparticle-based fluorescence immunoassay.

A novel ultrasensitive amplification immunoassay for the determination of 17ß-estradiol (E2) is reported based on the nanoparticle signal amplification platform. It involves two types of particles: magnetic microparticles (MMPs) functionalized with an anti-E2 antibody produced in rabbit as a capture probe; double-codified gold nanoparticles (DC-AuNPs) modified with both goat anti-rabbit antibody and SH-dsDNA-biotin as a signal amplifier; and avidin-FITC was added to link to the SH-dsDNA-biotin as a tracer. The competitive reaction of the anti-E2 antibody immobilized on magnetic microparticles with estradiol in the sample solution and with the goat anti-rabbit antibody on double-codified gold nanoparticles results in a complex involving the DC-AuNPs and MMPs. Under optimized conditions, the linear range of E2 is from 1.0 × 10(-5) to 1.0 ng mL(-1), and the detection limit of the assay could reach up to 6.37 × 10(-6) ng mL(-1). It was applied to determine E2 in human urine, with mean percent recoveries in the range of 96.5%-107.4%, and relative standard deviations were below 8.1%.

A time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay for the ultrasensitive determination of diethylstilbestrol based on the double-codified gold nanoparticles.

An ultrasensitive and selective method is presented for the determination of diethylstilbestrol (DES) using time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) based on double-codified gold nanoparticles (DC-AuNPs). In this system, the DC-AuNPs, that are gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) modified with anti-DES antibody and SH-dsDNA-biotin, was regarded as signal amplifier. A competitive immunoreaction was performed on polystyrene microtitration plates, where the DES compete with the immobilized DES-ovalbumin on polystyrene microtitration plates to bind to anti-DES antibodies on DC-AuNPs, and the europium(III)-labeled streptavidin was added to link to the SH-dsDNA-biotin as a tracer. Fluorescence signal was amplified via the AuNPs and the biotin-streptavidin double amplification systems. Under the optimized condition, DES can be quantified by TRFIA. The linear range and the limit of detection of DES were 1.0×10(-6)-10ngmL(-1) and 0.4fgmL(-1), respectively. This method was applied to determine DES in beef sample, with the recoveries ranging from 88% to 105%.

[Effect of BYDV-MP nuclear localization signal on the movement of PVX].

Abstract:By using PVX derived vector pGR107, the effect of BYDV-MP nuclear localization signal on the movement of PVX was studied. BYDV-MP was cloned into pGR107 using GFP as an indicator. BYDV-MP was then shown to induce the systemic infection and exacerbate the symptom of PVX through infecting Nicotiana benthamiana. When the PVX gene encoding 25kD protein, which functioned as a systematic movemnet protein,was deleted and the above experiment was repeated, the result showed that BYDV-MP could compensate the systemic movement of PVX. A serial mutants with substitutions on the fifth, sixth and seventh amino acids of BYDV-MP nuclear localization signal was further constructed. It was found that the mutants at the fifth, sixth amino acids in BYDV-MP nuclear localization signal could only delay or weaken systemic movement of PVX whereas the mutant at seventh amino acid could entirely inhibit systemic movement of PVX.