Organic Substance Metabolism in Seeds of Sophora japonica during Germination

The metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates and the change of enzyme activity in sceds of Sophora japonica during germination were studied by methods of Soxhlet's extraction, flow injection and colorimctric analysis of speetrophotometer for providing theoretical basis for germination and storage of seeds of forest trees. The results arc as follows:(1)The activity of enzymes in the seeds does not always coincide with the increase or deercase of their corresponding substances during germination of the seeds of Sophora japonica.(2)Proteins were first utilized during germination of the seeds.(3)The fatty acids reducing sugar and amino acids in the radiele+plumular axis were used pseedcntly over all others when the embryos grew.(4)excessive small-molecular substances produced by hydrolysis would accumulate in tissres and sometimes they were stored temporarily in the form of storage substances and finally used for embryo growth.

Seed Borne Fungal Organisms Associated with Germination Success of Terminalia brownii (Fresen) in Kenya

Terminalia brownii is an indigenous tree species highly valued in the Kenyan drylands for its products such as timber for wood curving, medicine, and charcoal production, among others. Due to this high value followed by overutilization, its population in the drylands is dwindling. Concern about the species’ low regeneration as shown by low germination has been raised. This research was conducted on the seed borne fungal organisms that are associating with the germination of this species. T. brownii seeds were collected from cluster patches of the species in Kendu Bay, Kimose and Ndumoni in Homabay, Baringo and Kitui counties of Kenya respectively. The seeds were harvested for fruit probing for maturity confirmation. Random sampling was used in selecting thirty trees, 50 meters apart, from which fresh fruits were uniformly collected from the crowns. The research adopted a complete block experimental design where one hundred seeds each from the three sites, were subjected to a germination test, seed borne fungal organisms’ presence, identified organisms cultured and DNA and DNA sequencing carried out for identification. Fungal organisms associated with germination success of T. brownii were Fusarium equiseti, Pestalotia sp, and Alternaria alternata. Paired t test run between germinants versus the number of sown seeds gave N = 12, p-value of 0.000, t = 16.29. On the other hand, paired t test run between fungal infected seeds with the number of germinants gave N = 12, p-0.000, t = 8.78. Fungi associated with germinants included Penicillium sp, and the data analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test run showed significant difference at a p value of 0.000. Identified organisms associating with none germination and germination success on the other hand were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Fungal organisms associating with germination success of T. brownii significantly affect germination of freshly extracted seeds from the field, hence, for maximum germination achievement, seeds should be sown while still fresh.

Characterization of particulate products for aging of ethylbenzene secondary organic aerosol in the presence of ammonium sulfate seed aerosol

Aging of secondary organic aerosol（SOA） particles formed from OH– initiated oxidation of ethylbenzene in the presence of high mass（100–300 μg/m^3） concentrations of（NH_4）_2SO_4seed aerosol was investigated in a home-made smog chamber in this study.The chemical composition of aged ethylbenzene SOA particles was measured using an aerosol laser time-of-flight mass spectrometer（ALTOFMS） coupled with a Fuzzy C-Means（FCM） clustering algorithm.Experimental results showed that nitrophenol,ethyl-nitrophenol,2,4-dinitrophenol,methyl glyoxylic acid,5-ethyl-6-oxo-2,4-hexadienoic acid,2-ethyl-2,4-hexadiendioic acid,2,3-dihydroxy-5-ethyl-6-oxo-4-hexenoic acid,1H-imidazole,hydrated N-glyoxal substituted1H-imidazole,hydrated glyoxal dimer substituted imidazole,1H-imidazole-2-carbaldehyde,N-glyoxal substituted hydrated 1H-imidazole-2-carbaldehyde and high-molecular-weight（HMW） components were the predominant products in the aged particles.Compared to the previous aromatic SOA aging studies,imidazole compounds,which can absorb solar radiation effectively,were newly detected in aged ethylbenzene SOA in the presence of high concentrations of（NH_4）_2SO_4seed aerosol.These findings provide new information for discussing aromatic SOA aging mechanisms.

Hygroscopicity of particles generated from photooxidation of α-pinene under diferent oxidation conditions in the presence of sulfate seed aerosols

Smog chamber experiments were conducted to investigate the hygroscopicity of particles generated from photooxidation of α-pinene/NOx with different sulfate seed aerosols or oxidation conditions. Hygroscopicity of particles was measured by a tandem differential mobility analyzer （TDMA） in terms of hygroscopic growth factor （Gf）, with a relative humidity of 85%. With sulfate seed aerosols present, Gf of the aerosols decreased very fast before notable secondary organic aerosols （SOA） formation was observed, indicating a heterogeneous process between inorganic seeds and organic products might take place as soon as oxidation begins, rather than only happening after gas-aerosol partition of organic products starts. The final SOA-coated sulfate particles had similar or lower Gf than seed-free SOA. The hygroscopicity of the final particles was not dependent on the thickness but on the hygroscopicity properties of the SOA, which were influenced by the initial sulfate seed particles. In the two designed aging processes, Gf of the particles increased more significantly with introduction of OH radical than with ozone. However, the hygroscopicity of SOA was very low even after a long time of aging, implying that either SOA aging in the chamber was very slow or the Gf of SOA did not change significantly in aging. Using an aerosol composition speciation monitor （ACSM） and matrix factorization （PMF） method, two factors for the components of SOA were identified, but the correlation between SOA hygroscopicity and the proportion of the more highly oxidized factor could be either positive or negative depending on the speciation of seed aerosols present.