Radiochemoecological Monitoring of the Salt Lakes of the Crimea

1 Introduction The salt lakes of the Crimea contain the practically inexhaustible sources of salts of sodium,magnesium,bromine and other chemical elements(Ponizovskii,1965),being the potential powerful raw materials base for the

Methodological approach to the isolation of functionally active proteins from the tissues of marine hydrobionts: an example of Adamussium colbecki

Enzymes from cold-adapted organisms have significant application potential. Because of their unique properties they have been found to be useful in various industries. Despite indisputable practical interest, cold active enzymes also represent a valuable model for fundamental research into protein folding and catalysis. Many investigators have focused their attention on marine hydrobionts, which are growing in importance as a promising source of enzymes. The nature of the source not only determines the availability and the cost of biomolecules of interest but also determines the choice of method for their extraction. A simple and convenient methodological approach of two-stage extraction of proteins has been tested on the Antarctic marine hydrobiont--Adamussium colbecki. This method extracts enough effective protein directly from primary raw materials, as well as when using leftover crude precipitates. The electrophoretic pattern of proteins showed the presence of molecules in a wide range of molecular weights in the samples of A. colbecki after the first and the second stage of extraction. The general proteolytic activity in the first and the second extracts were examined using a zymogram technique. Our experiments revealed that the second extract of A. colbecki contained thermo stable protease exhibiting a molecular weight of 95 kDa in a gelatin zymogram. Further biochemical assays, using different substrates, were conducted to partially identify the types of hydrolases present in the first and the second extracts. Our results revealed the presence of enzymes with collagenolytic and some amylolytic activities preserved in the second extracts. But no esterase or amidase trypsin-like activities were found in the second extract, in contrast to the first extract where this type of activity was significant.

Biogeochemistry of Lake Baikal Stony Littoral

The problem of biogenic income from rocks into a water ecosystem and of their use by hydrobionts is considered by the example of Lake Baikal biogeocenoses. A complex interreaction of stony material and Baikal water occurs on the stony littoral of Lake Baikal with an active participation of benthic and planktonic hydrobionts. Biogeochemical processes enable income of biophile elements providing productivity of stony littoral and hydrobionts biodiversity. A particular role in the littoral zone belongs to symbiotic organisms: lichens and sponges. They extract from the tocks a wide spectrum of macro- and micro- elements including phosphorus, fixe nitrogen and consume carbon. Biodiversity and bioproductivity of stony littoral depend on the diversity of petrographic composition of the rocks and on their geochemical peculiarities. Increase of anthropogenic impact onto the stony littoral manifested by income of biogenic elements and alien microbial cenosis flow results in degradation of primary aquatic biogeocenoses.

Diclofenac sodium aqueous systems at low concentrations: Interconnection between physicochemical properties and action on hydrobionts

Diclofenac sodium(DS) is a widely used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug(NSAIDs).NSAIDs are poorly removed during standard wastewater treatment.The consequences of the presence of NSAIDs in rivers and lakes at 10-11–10-8 mol/L are not yet established;therefore, ecotoxicologists have focused their efforts on studying the effect of lowconcentration NSAIDs on fish and hydrobionts, and also on predicting the potential risks to humans.Literature provides some information about the bioeffects of some NSAID solutions in low concentrations but there is no physicochemical explanation for these phenomena.Studying the physicochemical patterns of DS solutions in the low range of concentrations and establishing an interconnection between the solutions’ physicochemical properties and bioeffects can provide a conceptually new and important source of information regarding the unknown effects of DS.The physicochemical properties and action of DS solutions on Ceriodaphnia affinis cladocerans,Paramecium caudatum infusoria, Chlorella vulgaris unicellular green algae, as well as on the growth of the roots of Triticum vulgare wheat seeds, were studied in the calculated concentration range of 1 × 10-3–1 × 10-18 mol/L.The relationship between these phenomena was established using the certified procedures for monitoring the toxicity of natural water and wastewater.It was shown for the first time that water solutions of DS are dispersed systems in which the dispersed phase undergoes a rearrangement with dilution, accompanied by changes in its size and properties, which affects the nonmonotonic dependences of the system’s physicochemical properties and could cause nonmonotonic changes in action on hydrobionts in the low concentration range.