Bacillus aciditolerans sp. nov., isolated from paddy soil.

A Gram-stain-positive, motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain, YN-1T, was isolated from a rice field in the town of Jietou, Yunnan Province, PR China. Colonies were circular, 1-2 mm in diameter, creamy white, with slightly irregular margins. The isolate grew optimally at 37 °C, pH 7.0 and with 1.0 % (w/v) NaCl. On the basis of the results of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity comparisons, YN-1T clustered together with other species of the genus Bacillus and showed highest similarities with Bacillus onubensis 0911MAR22V3T (98.0 %), Bacillus humi LMG22167T (97.5 %), 'Bacillus timonensis' 10403023 (97.4 %) and 'Bacillussinesaloumensis' P3516 (97.1 %). However, the DNA-DNA hybridization values between YN-1T and closely related strains of species of the genus Bacillus were well below 47 %, indicating that they represent different taxa. The average nucleotide identity and the Genome-to-Genome Distance Calculator also revealed low relatedness (below 95 and 70 %, respectively) between YN-1T and type strains of closely related species of the genus Bacillus. The DNA G+C content of the strain was 40 mol%. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, and C16 : 0. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, two unidentified phospholipids, three unidentified aminophospholipids and two other unidentified lipids. Physiological and biochemical test results were also different from those of the most closely related species. On the basis of the phenotypic, genetic and chemotaxonomic data, strain YN-1T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillusaciditolerans sp. nov. is proposed, with strain YN-1T (=CCTCC AB 2017280T=JCM 32973T) as the type strain.

Calibration transfer of near-infrared spectroscopy by canonical correlation analysis coupled with wavelet transform.

Calibration model transfer has played a prominent role in the practical application of NIR spectral analysis. The change of instruments and sample physical states may lead to variation of the NIR spectrum, which results in the applicability of the model in judicatory practice being unsatisfactory. Therefore, a transfer for the calibration model considering both the variation of instruments and sample states is a necessity to ensure its availability. In this paper, a novel approach, namely canonical correlation analysis coupled with wavelet transform (WTCCA), was proposed for calibration transfer between two near infrared spectrometers (a portable and a laboratory instrument), and simultaneously, among three physical states (tobacco powder, tobacco filament and intact leaf) to determine the content of total sugars, reducing sugars, and nicotine in tobacco leaf samples, respectively. Wavelet transform (WT) is introduced to reduce noise and deduct background shifts from the spectra by compression, and then, calibration transfer by canonical correlation analysis (CTCCA) extracts the compressed spectral similarities using canonical scores for spectra correction. Three similar standardization algorithms, including piecewise direct standardization (PDS), piecewise direct standardization with wavelet transform (WTPDS), and CTCCA were compared with WTCCA to evaluate its relative performance. The obtained results showed that the employment of WTCCA yielded the lowest root mean standard error of prediction (RMSEP) on the three analytes in three physical states. For the tobacco powder dataset, the RMSEP values had a reduction of 25.83%, 13.96%, and 14.22% compared with the values of direct prediction without spectra transfer, respectively. For the tobacco filament dataset, the corresponding values were decreased by 18.06%, 14.90%, and 13.61% and for the intact leaf dataset, the values had dropped by 10.70%, 18.21%, and 28.21%, respectively. In summary, the comprehensive investigation carried out in the present work shows that WTCCA is very appropriate for correcting the variations caused by the change of machines and sample states. Furthermore, WTCCA is a promising calibration transfer method which can be recommended for on-line/in-line application.

[Application of Intelligent Optimization Algorithms to Wavelength Selection of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy].

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a kind of indirect analysis technology, whose application depends on the setting up of relevant calibration model. In order to improve interpretability, accuracy and modeling efficiency of the prediction model, wavelength selection becomes very important and it can minimize redundant information of near infrared spectrum. Intelligent optimization algorithm is a sort of commonly wavelength selection method which establishes algorithm model by mathematical abstraction from the background of biological behavior or movement form of material, then iterative calculation to solve combinatorial optimization problems. Its core strategy is screening effective wavelength points in multivariate calibration modeling by using some objective functions as a standard with successive approximation method. In this work, five intelligent optimization algorithms, including ant colony optimization (ACO), genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), random frog (RF) and simulated annealing (SA) algorithm, were used to select characteristic wavelength from NIR data of tobacco leaf for determination of total nitrogen and nicotine content and together with partial least squares (PLS) to construct multiple correction models. The comparative analysis results of these models showed that, the total nitrogen optimums models of dataset A and B were PSO-PLS and GA-PLS models. GA-PLS and SA-PLS models were the optimums for nicotine, respectively. Although not all predicting performance of these optimization models was superior to that of full spectrum PLS models, they were simplified greatly and their forecasting accuracy, precision, interpretability and stability were improved. Therefore, this research will have great significance and plays an important role for the practical application. Meanwhile, it could be concluded that the informative wavelength combination for total nitrogen were 4 587~4 878 and 6 700~7 200 cm(-1), and that for tobacco nicotine were 4 500~4 700 and 5 800~6 000 cm(-1). These selected wavelengths have actually physical significance.

[Effects of interaction of genotypes with environments on major latently fragrant substances of flue-cured tobacco in Baoshan of Yunnan, Southwest China].

To study the stability of major latently fragrant substances of flue-cured tobacco of different varieties in Baoshan of Yunnan, three tobacco cultivars (K326, Y87 and Y99) in two soil types at three test sites with different altitudes were tested. The contents of major latently fragrant substances were measured and the effects of genotypes, environments and their interactions were analyzed by AMMI model. The results showed that genotypes, environments and their interactions had significant effects on the contents of lutein, ß-carotene, and chlorogenic acid. The rutin content was mainly influenced by genotypes while the major latently fragrant substances and their stability were affected significantly by the interactions of genotypes and environments. The contents of lutein, ß-carotene, and chlorogenic acid increased remarkably with altitude, and their stabilities were strengthened to different extents. K326 adapted well to middle-lower altitude, while Y87 and Y99 adapted well to middle-higher altitude.

[Soil nutrients spatial variability and soil fertility suitability in Qujing tobacco-planting area].

By adopting GPS technique, 2088 sampling sites were installed in the tobacco-planting area of Qujing City, Yunnan Province, with 0-20 cm soil samples collected to determine their main nutrients contents. The overall characteristics and spatial variability of the tobacco soil nutrients were analyzed by classic statistics and geo-statistics, and the soil fertility suitability in planting tobacco was evaluated by the methods of fuzzy mathematics. In the study area, soil pH and soil organic matter, available S, and water-soluble Cl contents were appropriate, soil total N and alkalihydrolyzable N contents were too high, soil available K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mo, and Mn contents were abundant, soil available P content was at medium level, while soil total P and K and available B contents were insufficient. All the nutrient indices presented anisotropic distribution, among which, the spatial variability of soil available P and B was mainly caused by random factors, and that of other nutrients was caused by the co-effects of structural and random factors. The spatial distribution map of soil fertility suitability index (SFI) showed that there was no the excellent grade region for tobacco-planting, good grade region accounted for 8.0%, general grade region accounted for 51.6%, moderate grade region accounted for 39.0%, and low grade region accounted for 1.4%.

[Effects of soil, climate, and their interaction on some neutral volatile aroma components in flue-cured tobacco leaves from high quality tobacco planting regions of Hunan Province].

A pot experiment with the soils from Yongzhou, Liuyang, and Sangzhi, the high-quality tobacco planting regions of Hunan Province, was conducted to study the effects of climate, soil, and their interaction on some neutral volatile aroma components in flue-cured tobacco leaves. The contents of test neutral volatile aroma components in the flue-cured tobacco leaves were of medium variation, and the variation intensity was decreased in the order of dihydroactinolide, damascenone, furfural, total megastigmatrienone, and beta-ionone. Climate, soil, and their interaction affected the neutral volatile aroma components in different degrees. The furfural content was most affected by climate, the damascenone content was most affected by climate and by soil, the total megastigmatrienone and beta-ionone contents were most affected by the interaction of soil and climate, while the dihydroactinolide content was less affected by soil, climate, and their interaction. The contribution of climate, soil, and their interaction to the contents of the five aroma components was 40.82%, 20.67%, and 38.51%, respectively. During different growth periods of tobacco, different climate factors had different effects on the neutral volatile aroma components. The rainfall, cloudiness, and mean air temperature at rooting stage, the diurnal temperature amplitude, sunshine time, and evaporation at vigorous growth stage, and the rainfall, evaporation, and mean air temperature at maturing stage were the top three climate factors affecting the contents of the neutral volatile aroma components in flue-tobacco leaves. For the soil factors, the available potassium, available phosphorus, and pH were the top three factors affecting the contents of the five components.

[Regional characteristics of sulfur contents in flue-cured tobacco in Hunan Province and their influence to smoking quality].

A total of 559 flue-cured tobacco samples with 3 grades (B2F, C3F and X2F) were collected from the main tobacco-growing areas in Hunan Province, and their sulfur contents were determined to study the regional characteristics of the sulfur contents and their quantitative correlations with the evaluation indices of smoking quality. The results showed that the sulfur content in the flue-cured tobacco was 0.100%-2.106% , with a mean of 0.884%. The samples with sulfur content above 0.7% accounted for 71.56% of the total. The sulfur content decreased gradually from the high sulfur content area of Central Hunan to South Hunan and Northwest Hunan. With increasing sulfur content in tobacco leaf, the aroma quality, aftertaste, combustibility and ash color went to bad, offensive odor and irritation property increased, and aroma taste, eat-taste and total smoking quality score fell down. Under the influence of applying larger amount sulfate potassium and of sulfur-type acid precipitation, the sulfur content in tobacco leaf was somewhat higher in partial areas of Hunan Province, and gave negative impact on tobacco quality, being one of key factors limiting the improvement of tobacco quality and ought to be attached enough importance in tobacco production.