Effect of NaCl on growth and ion relations in two salt-tolerant strains of Paxillus involutus

The effect of NaCl on growth, biomass and ion relations of two salt-tolerant isolates of Paxillus involutus, MAJ and NAU were investigated. The two Paxillus strains were exposed to the following concentrations of NaCl： 0, 100, 200 and 500 mmol·L^-1. Growth of MAJ and NAU was enhanced by 100 mmol·L^-1 NaCl but severely inhibited at the concentration of 500 mmol·L^-1. NAU exhibited a greater capacity to exclude Na^＋ and Cl^- under all salinity levels, whereas the salt-includer MAJ had a higher capacity in nutrient uptake under salt stress. The ratios Na^＋/K^＋, Na^＋/Ca^2＋ and Na^＋/Mg^2＋ in NaCl-treated MAJ and NAU did not increase at levels of 100 and 200 mmol·L^-1 NaCl but markedly increased at 500 mmol·L^-1. This suggests that the two strains, especially MAJ, enhanced nutrient uptake corresponding to the increased Na^＋ influx at moderate salinity. We conclude that both MAJ and NAU are able to tolerate 500 mmol·L^-1 NaCl but there are species-specific differences in retaining ionic homeostasis in the two Paxillus strains. NAU is a salt-excluder, MAJ is a salt-includer but retains a high capacity in nutrient selectivity under saline conditions. Their definite mechanisms to enhance salt tolerance of mycorrhizal hosts need further study.

Effects of elevated CO_2 levels on root morphological traits and Cd uptakes of two Lolium species under Cd stress

This study was conducted to investigate the combined effects of elevated CO2 levels and cadmium (Cd) on the root morphological traits and Cd accumulation in Lolium multiflorum Lam.and Lolium perenne L.exposed to two CO2 levels (360 and 1000 μl/L) and three Cd levels (0,4,and 16 mg/L) under hydroponic conditions.The results show that elevated levels of CO2 increased shoot biomass more,compared to root biomass,but decreased Cd concentrations in all plant tissues.Cd exposure caused toxicity to both Lolium species,as shown by the restrictions of the root morphological parameters including root length,surface area,volume,and tip numbers.These parameters were significantly higher under elevated levels of CO2 than under ambient CO2,especially for the number of fine roots.The increases in magnitudes of those parameters triggered by elevated levels of CO2 under Cd stress were more than those under non-Cd stress,suggesting an ameliorated Cd stress under elevated levels of CO2.The total Cd uptake per pot,calculated on the basis of biomass,was significantly greater under elevated levels of CO2 than under ambient CO2.Ameliorated Cd toxicity,decreased Cd concentration,and altered root morphological traits in both Lolium species under elevated levels of CO2 may have implications in food safety and phytoremediation.

Adsorptive removal of hydrophobic organic compounds by carbonaceous adsorbents:A comparative study of waste-polymer-based,coal-based activated carbon,and carbon nanotubes

Adsorption of the hydrophobic organic compounds （HOCs） trichloroethylene （TCE）, 1,3-dichlorobenzene （DCB）, 1,3-dirdtrobenzene （DNB） and y-hexachlorocyclohexane （HCH） on five different carbonaceous materials was compared. The adsorbents included three polymer-based activated carbons, one coal-based activated carbon （F400） and multiwalled carbon nanotubes （MWNT）. The polymer- based activated carbons were prepared using KOH activation from waste polymers： polyvinyl chloride （PVC）, polyethyleneterephthalate （PET） and tire rubber （TR）. Compared with F400 and MWNT, activated carbons derived from PVC and PET exhibited fast adsorption kinetics and high adsorption capacity toward the HOCs, attributed to their extremely large hydrophobic surface area （2700 m2/g） and highly mesoporous structures. Adsorption of small-sized TCE was stronger on the tire-rubber-based carbon and F400 resulting from the pore-filling effect. In contrast, due to the molecular sieving effect, their adsorption on HCH was lower. MWNT exhibited the lowest adsorption capacity toward HOCs because of its low surface area and characteristic of aggregating in aqueous solution.

Using DGT to Assess Cadmium Bioavailability to Ryegrass as Influenced by Soil Properties

A generally accepted method for predicting the bioavailability and transfer of cadmium(Cd) from soil to plants has not yet been established. In this study, the diffusive gradients in thin films(DGT) and conventional extraction methods for metal fractions were used to investigate how effective these methods were at predicting Cd bioavailability to ryegrass(Lolium perenne) and to assess whether these holistic variables were independent of the soil property variables. The influences of soil properties on the predictive capabilities of the different methods were evaluated using multivariate statistics. The Cd concentrations in the shoots and roots of ryegrass correlated more closely with the effective Cd concentration measured by DGT(CE), compared with those with soil total Cd, pore water Cd, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt(Na2EDTA)- and acetic acid(HOAc)-extractable Cd. When soil properties were included in a stepwise multiple linear regression, Cd transfer to L. perenne was negatively influenced by p H and positively influenced by organic matter(OM). The multivariate statistics showed that the adjusted correlation coefficients for the plots involving soil total Cd, pore water Cd, and Na2EDTA- and HOAc-extractable Cd had been significantly improved after considering the influences of soil properties, which suggested that these methods were p H and OM dependent. For CE, the relationship was p H independent or only dependent in strongly acidic soils. These results suggested that the main soil factors affecting bioavailability had the lowest impact on the DGT technique. Therefore, the DGT technique provided significant advantages over conventional methods when assessing Cd bioavailability.