越毒越美丽——记《有毒生物》

翻开《有毒生物》这本书，如果不阅读前言和目录，会觉得这是一本美丽的书，书中图片色彩鲜艳，自然真实，漂亮得让人感觉愉悦。可是静下心来仔细看看，原来这些美丽的生物们都是有毒的，小小地惊讶了一下，不禁让人想起“越毒越美丽”这句古老的话。

Mechanisms of Lung Cancer Caused By Cooking Fumes Exposure： A Minor Review

Cooking fumes （CFs） are mixtures of many toxic components, such as aldehydes, heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fat aerosols and particulate matters. CFs exposure has been proven to be associated with many diseases. Lung cancer takes the leading place among the diseases being reported caused by CFs exposure. Molecular and biochemical studies have found that CFs exposure may lead to lung cancer by gene damage, formation of reactive oxygen species, blockage of related proteins’ function, and even cell death. However, reviews about the mechanisms of how CFs exposure leads to lung cancer are still lacking. Elucidation of the mechanisms of lung cancer caused by CFs exposure may provide a new insight into the prevention of lung cancer caused by CFs exposure, as well as laying the foundation for the toxicity study of CFs. In this minor review, the mechanisms of how CFs exposure leads to lung cancer were summarized and discussed.

Physical and chemical processes promoting dominance of the toxic cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii

The freshwater cyanobacterium, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii （Woloszyflska） Seenayya and Subba Raju is a common species in lakes and reservoirs globally. In some areas of the world it can produce cytoand hepatotoxins （cylindrospermopsins, saxitoxins）, making blooms of this species a serious health concern for humans. In the last 10 15 years, there has been a considerable body of research conducted on the ecology, physiology and toxin production of this species and this paper reviews these studies with a focus on the cylindrospermopsin （CYN）-producing strains. C. raciborskii has low light requirements, close to neutral buoyancy, and a wide temperature tolerance, giving it the capacity to grow in many lentic waterbodies. It also has a flexible strategy with respect to nitrogen （N） utilisation; being able to switch between utilising fixed and atmospheric N as sources of N fluctuate. Additionally this species has a high phosphate （DIP） affinity and storage capacity. Like many cyanobacteria, it also has the capacity to use dissolved organic phosphorus （DOP）. Changes in nutrient concentrations, light levels and temperature have also been found to affect production of the toxin CYN by this species. However, optimal toxin production does not necessarily occur when growth rates are optimal. Additionally, different strains of C. raciborskii vary in their cell quota of CYN, making it difficult to predict toxin concentrations, based on C. raciborskii cell densities. In summary, the ecological flexibility of this organism means that controlling blooms of C. raciborskii is a difficult undertaking. However, improved understanding of factors promoting the species and toxin production by genetically capable strains will lead to improved predictive models of blooms.

A Multi-Generation Schmakeria poplesia Culturing System for Use in Ecotoxicological Study

Crustacean zooplankton form the keystone link between primary producers and fish stocks in marine and estuary, ecosystems. We have established a multi-generation cultivation system for zooplankton ruth which future experiments on the biological effects of pollutants in marine and estuary environments can be better performed. A population of calanoid copepod, Sehmakeria poplesia, was collected in December 2003 and maintained in a static system through all stages （eggs to adults）. The population ex- hinted an average developmental time of 13.6 d in conditions corresponding to the natural environment （water temperature 20~C salinity 15）. A series of experiments were performed to examine copepod egg production and hatching success as functions of food type and feeding concentration. Results in our study showed that Isoehrysis galbana was more favored for the reproduction of cope- pods than Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and 10xl0%ellsmL-1 was the most practical algae concentration. We have demonstrated that the Schmakeria poplesia population can be maintained in the laboratory through multiple generations. In addition, methods to control egg production through changes in food concentration have been established, making it feasible to control the start date of exposure experiments or the timing of the collection of oftspring to initiate a new generation.

Potential of Fermentation in Detoxifying Toxic Cassava Root Tubers

Quantitative determination of hydrogen cyanide （HCN） content in a toxic local cassava variety ＂Rutuga＂ with an initial total HCN of 16.65%, free HCN of 9.19% and bound HCN （cyanoglycosides） of 7.46% in the fresh peeled root tubers was done to assess the effectiveness of aquatic and terrestrial （heap） fermentation in detoxifying cassava root tubers for obtaining dried product used in making flour. This was indirectly done by getting the difference in HCN content that remained after processing the root tubers using some traditional processing techniques. The findings indicated that aquatic fermentation in water from river Rwizi for 4 days only removed 1.23% of total HCN, 0.05% of free HCN and 2.68% of Cyanoglycosides （bound HCN） while terrestrial （heap） fermentation for 4 days removed 50.33% of total HCN, 20.84% of free HCN and 86.66% of Cyanoglycosides （bound HCN）. Therefore, terrestrial （heap） fermentation has a higher potential in removing total HCN, free HCN and cyanoglycosides （bound HCN） than aquatic fermentation, especially in water from river Rwizi.

Advances in environmental behaviors and effects of dissolved organic matter in aquatic ecosystems

Dissolved organic matter(DOM) is a group of compounds that have complex chemical structures and multiple interactions with their surrounding materials. More than one trillion tons of DOM are stocked in the world's aquatic ecosystems. DOM is a very important part of aquatic ecosystem productivity and plays a crucial role in global carbon cycling. DOM has rich environmental behaviors and effects such as influencing the bioavailability of contaminants, serving as an important inducer of reactive oxygen species(ROS), and protecting aquatic organisms from the harm of dangerous ultraviolet radiation. There have been many systematic studies on the composition, structure, and sources of DOM because such studies are much easier to conduct than studies on the environmental behaviors and effects of DOM. Due to many factors, the research systems of DOM's environmental behaviors and effects are still being developed and have become a hotspot of environmental science. This review paper focuses on some critical progress, problems, and trends of DOM's environmental behaviors and effects in aquatic ecosystems, including mutual exchange mechanisms between DOM and particulate organic matter(POM) with influencing factors, photochemical behaviors of DOM especially inducing ROS, binding interactions between DOM and anthropogenic organic contaminants(AOC), interactions between DOM and microorganisms, effects of DOM on pollutants' bioavailability, ecotoxicity, and ecological risks. Hopefully, this paper will contribute to a more systematic understanding of the DOM environmental behaviors and effects and to promoting further relevant studies.

EFFECT OF TOXIC METAL ON THE STRUCTURAL DRY WEIGHT OF A PLANT： A MODEL

A two compartment mathematical model for the individual plant growth under the stress of toxic metal is studied. In the model it is assumed that the uptake of toxic metal by the plant is through root compartment. The toxic metal present in the soil interfere with the uptake and distribution of essential nutrients in plant causing decrease in the nutri- ent uptake eventually damaging the root structure. In the model it is further assumed that the resistance to nutrient transport from root to shoot compartment increases and nutrient use efficiency decreases due to the presence of toxic metal. In order to visualize the effect of toxic metal on plant growth, we have studied two models, that is, model for plant growth with no toxic effect and model for plant growth with toxic effect. From the analysis of the models the criteria for plant growth with and without toxic effects are derived. The numerical simulation is done using Matlab to support the analytical results.