Distribution and ecological effect of mercury in Laogang landfill,Shanghai,China

Laogang landfill near Shanghai is the largest landfill in China, and receives about 10000 t of daily garbage per day, Samples of topsoil and plants were analyzed to evaluate mercury pollution from the landfill. For topsoil samples, there were significant correlations among total mercury （HgT）, combinative mercury （Hgc） and gaseous mercury （HgG）, and content of total organic carbon （TOC）, but, no significantly relationship was found between Hg content and filling time. Hg content changes in vertical profiles with time showed that the average Hgv of profiles 1992, 1996, and 2000 was similar, but their average HgG was quite different. HgT was significantly correlated with Hgc in profile 1992 and 2000, and Hgv was significantly correlated with Hg6 in profile 1996. HgG/Hgv ratio in profile samples decreased in the order of （HgG,/HgT）1992〉（HgG/HgT）1996〉〉（HgG/HgT）2000. A simple outline of Hg release in landfill could be drawn： with increasing of filling time, degradation undergoes different biodegradation, accordingly, gaseous mercury goes through small, more, and small proportion to total mercury. Distribution of Hg in plants was inhomogeneous, following the order of leaf〉root〉stem. The highest value of leaf may be associated with higher atmospheric Hg from landfill. Ligneous plants （e.g. Phyllostachys glanca, Prunus salicina and Ligustrum lucidum） are capable of enriching more Hg than herbaceous plants.

^(226)Ra and ^(228)Ra in the Seawater of the Western Yellow Sea

Radium isotopes 226Ra and 228Ra in seawater of the western Yellow Sea were measured by using the Mn-fiber adsorption-HPGe γ spectrum method. The distribution features of the two isotopes have been studied. The activities of 226Ra and 228Ra are 2.72-5.57 Bq m -3 and 7.51-34.3 Bq m -3, respectively. The activities of 226Ra and 228Ra from surface to bottom for each depth profile station are comparable within the experimental error, but the mean activities decrease with distance from the shore. From the distribution data of 228Ra, the horizontal eddy diffusion coefficient was estimated at 29×106 cm2 s -1.

The satellite reversion of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) based on the analysis of the mixing behavior of DOC and colored dissolved organic matter: the East China Sea as an example

The retrieval of dissolved organic carbon （DOC） distribution by remote sensing is mainly based on the em- pirical relationship of DOC concentration and colored dissolved organic matter （CDOM） concentration in many literatures. To investigate the nature of this relationship, the distributions and mixing behaviors of DOC and CDOM are reviewed in the world＇s major estuaries and bays. It is found that, generally, the C- DOM concentration is well correlated with the salinity in most estuaries, while DOC usually shows a non- conservative behavior which leads to a weak correlation between the DOC concentration and the CDOM concentration. To establish a good satellite reversion of the DOC concentration, the East China Sea（ECS） was taken as an example, and the mixing behavior of DOC and CDOM as well as the influence of biogeo- chemical processes were analyzed except for the physical mixing process with the data from late autumn （November, 2010） and winter （December, 2009） cruises. In the two ECS cruises, the CDOM concentration was found to be tightly correlated with the salinity, influenced little by the photochemical or biological pro- cesses. The data from the winter cruise show that DOC followed a conservative mixing along the salinity gradient, while in the late autumn cruise it was significantly affected by the biological activities, resulting in a poor correlation between the DOC and the CDOM. Accordingly, an improved DOC algorithm （CSDM） was proposed： when the biological influence was significant （Chl a greater than 0.8 μg/dm3）, DOC was retrieved by the conservative and biological model, and if the conservative mixing was dominant （Chl a less than 0.8 μg/dm3）, the direct DOC concentration and CDOM concentration relationship was used. Based on the pro- posed algorithm, a reasonable DOC distribution for the ECS from satellite was obtained in this study, and the proposed method can be applied to the other large river-dominant marginal sea.

Impacts of CO_2-driven seawater acidification on survival,egg production rate and hatching success of four marine copepods

Ecological experiments were conducted to examine the effects of seawater containing elevated par- tial pressure of carbon dioxide （p CO2 800 × 10 -6 , 2 000 × 10 -6 , 5 000 × 10 -6 and 10 000 × 10 -6 ） on the survival and reproduction of female Acartia pacifica, Acartia spinicauda, Calanus sinicus and Centropages tenuiremis, which are the dominant copepods in the southern coastal waters of China. The results show that the effects of elevated p CO2 on the survival rates of copepods were species-specific. C. sinicus, which was a macro-copepod, had a higher survival rate （62.01%–71.96%） than the other three species （5.00%–26.67%） during the eight day exposure. The egg production rates of C. sinicus, A. spinicauda and C. tenuiremis were significantly inhibited by the increased p CO2 and the exposure time duration. There were significantly negative impacts on the egg hatching success of A. spinicauda and C. tenuiremis in the p CO2 2 000 × 10 -6 and 10 000 × 10 -6 groups, and, in addition, the exposure time had noticeably impacts on these rates too. This study indicates that the reproductive performances of copepods were sensitive to elevated p CO2 , and that the response of different copepod species to acidified seawater was different. Furthermore, the synergistic effects of seawater acidification and climate change or other pollutant stresses on organisms should be given more attention.

Distribution characteristics of total mercury and methylmercury in the topsoil and dust of Xiamen, China

The levels and distribution of mercury （Hg） species, including total mercury （THg） and methylmercury （MeHg） in the topsoil and dust collected from twenty sampling stations located in different land function areas of Xiamen, China, were investigated. The THg concentrations in topsoil ranged from 0.071 to 1.2 mg/kg, and in dust ranged from of 0.034 to 1.4 mg/kg. For stations where the THg of dust was less than 0.31 mg/kg, THg concentrations in the topsoil were significantly correlated to those in the corresponding dust （r = 0.597, n = 16, P = 0.014）. The MeHg concentrations in topsoil were varied between 0.14 and 5.7 μg/kg. The ratios of MeHg/THg in the topsoil ranged from 0.069% to 0.74%. The range of MeHg concentration in the dust were 0.092-2.3 μg/kg. The ratios of MeHg/THg in the dust were at the same level as those in the topsoil. The MeHg concentrations in both topsoil and dust were linked to corresponding THg concentrations and soil organic matter. Neither THg nor MeHg concentration in the topsoil and dust was obviously linked to the land function.

Composition and ecological distribution of ichthyoplankton in eastern Beibu Gulf

Surveys were conducted in four seasons in the eastern Beibu Gulf from July 2006 to November 2007, to determine the ichthyoplankton composition, abundance, as well as environmental factors impacted on their spatiotemporal distributions. The fish eggs and larvae were sorted from 303 zooplankton quantitative samples, in which at least 1 order, 60 families, 31 genera and 61 species of fish eggs and larvae were identified. The species number was highest in summer whereas lowest in winter. With the most abundant fish egg （the average density was 2.41 ind./m3）, spring was the main spawning season, while the greatest mean density of fish larva was 1.35 ind./m3 in summer. In the whole year around, fish eggs had the trends to aggregate in the nearshore of Guangxi coast, fish larvae were more abundant in the northern water. Relationships between fish eggs and larvae abundance and environmental factors were analyzed by using the Yield-Density model. The spatio- temporal distribution of ichthyoplankton in eastern Beibu Gulf was closely related to the Chl a concentration, and the optimal temperature, salinity and Chl a were 19.4-21.7℃, 31.8-33.1 and 1.5-4.8 mg/m3, respectively. Additionally, the distribution of fish larvae could be effected by ocean currents in summer and autumn.

The study on three-dimensional numerical model and fronts of the Jiulong Estuary and the Xiamen Bay

Applying the methods of on-site observation and dynamic model, the research on the fronts at the Jiulong Estuary has been carried out, during which spatial and temporal distribution, dynamic characteristics and formation mechanism of salinity fronts are analyzed and discussed. The research shows that the estuarine fronts mainly lie in the area from the Jiyu Islet to the Haimen Island, outside of Yuweizai to Hulishan cross-section, the near coast of Yuweizai and the south of the Songyu-Gulangyu Channel. The fronts in the former two regions are formed directly by plume, while the one near the coast of Yuweizai is a tidal intrusion front caused by flood current and the one at the south of the Songyu-Gulangyu Channel is the result of current shear transformation. Under normal circumstances, fresh water of the Jiulong River mainly influences the inside of the Xiamen Bay, and when it is in typhoon seasons, plume front can affect the Taiwan Strait and has an effect on the biogeochemical Drocesses in the strait.

Transferrin and Its Isoforms from Normal Human Serum Revealed by Several Analytical Techniques

Transferrin（TF） and its isoforms have been widely reported via various analytical techniques, including a noticeable increased number of isoforms with low content of sialic acid（asialo-, monosialo-, and disialo-transferrin） and asialo-TF as well as disialo-TF, with one or several oligosaccharides released in human serum transferrin（hTf）. Here, hTf has been purified by native gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis（PAGEso） before use. The hTf extracted with the electron-transfer approach showed a single subunit band（77.1 Da） in the SDS-PAGE gel, but it exhibited two bands in the native and denatured isoelectric focusing（IEF） gels, namely, hTf-2Fe^3＋ and apo-hTf, without finding any other transferrin isoforms. A reversed phase HPLC（RP-HPLC） equipped with a C18 column effectively separated hTf and its polymers and combined off-line techniques, including peptide mass fingerprinting（PMF）, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry（MALDI-TOF-MS） and database search, and identified the high homology among hTf, apo-hTf, and their isoforms. Moreover, the elution solution consisting of acetonitrile and formic acid could easily denature both hTf and apo-hTf to form various isoforms during separation with HPLC, indicating that chemical factors lead to the formation of various isoforms in transferrin, artificially, during extraction and separation. The authors claimed that only two transferrin isoforms existed in the NHS, namely, hTf-2Fe^3＋ and apo-hTf, which could be employed in biomarkers, to distinguish the healthy population from many disease sufferers, such as, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin（CDT）

Effects of iron electrovalence and species on growth and astaxanthin production of Haematococcus pluvialis

To increase the cell concentration and the accumulation of astaxanthin in the cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis, effects of different iron electrovalencies (Fe2+-EDTA and Fe3+-EDTA) and species (Fe-EDTA, Fe(OH) 3x2xand FeC6H5O7) addition on cell growth and accumulation of astaxanthin were studied. Results show that different iron electrovalencies have various effects on cell growth and astaxanthin accumulation of H. pluvialis. Compared with Fe3+-EDTA, Fe2+-EDTA stimulate more effectively the formation of astaxanthin. The maximum astaxanthin content (30.70 mg/g biomass cell) was obtained under conditions of 18 μmol/L Fe2+-EDTA, despite the lower cell density (2.3×105 cell/ml) in such condition. Fe3+-EDTA is more effective than Fe2+-EDTA in improving the cell growth. Especially, the maximal steady-state cell density, 2.9×105 cell/ml was obtained at 18 μmol/L Fe3+-EDTA addition. On the other hand, all the various species of iron (EDTA-Fe, Fe(OH) 3x2x, FeC6H5O7) are capable to improve the growth of the algae and astaxanthin production. Among the three iron species, FeC6H5O7 performed the best. Under the condition of a higher concentration (36 μmol/L) of FeC6H5O7, the cell density and astaxanthin production is 2 and 7 times higher than those of iron-limited group, respectively. The present study demonstrates that the effects of the stimulation with different iron species increased in the order of FeC6H5O7, Fe(OH) 3x2x and EDTA-Fe.

Annual and interannual variations of sea-level anomaly in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea

Annual and interannual variations of sea-level anomaly （SLA） in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea are investigated using altimeter - derived SLA data from 1993 to 2003. It is found that the SLA annual variation in the study area can be divided into three phases with distinctive patterns. During the southwest monsoon （May -September）, positive SLA presents in the equatorial region and extends northward along the eastern boundary of the bay, and the SLA distribution in the interior bay appears to be high in the east and low in the west with two cyclonic ceils developing in the north and south of the western bay respectively, between which an anticyclonic cell exists. During the early northeast monsoon （ October - December） , the whole bay is dominated by a large cyclonic cell with the pattern of high SLA in the east and low in the west still retained, and the SLA distribution outside the bay is changed in response to the reversal of the Indian Monsoon Current （IMC） in November. During the late northeast monsoon （January -April） , a large anticyclonic cell of SLA develops in the bay with negative SLA prevailing in the equatorial region and extending northward along the eastern boundary of bay. Therefore, the SLA distribution in the interior bay reverses to be high in the west and low in the east. It is suggested that the SLA annual variation in the bay is primarily driven by the local wind stress curl, involving Sverdrup balance while the abrupt SLA variation during the peak of northeast monsoon may be partly caused by the semiannual fluctuation of wind in the equatorial region. This fast adjustment in the interior bay is induced by the upwelling coastal Kelvin wave excited by the decay of Wyrtki jet during December through January. Besides the annual variation, in the bay, there are obvious SLA fluctuations with the periods of 2 and 3 - 7 a, which are driven by the interannual variability of large - scale wind field in the equatorial region. The coastal Kelvin wave also provides an important link for the SLA interannual variation between the equatorial region and the interior bay. It is found that the E1 Nino -Southern Oscillation （ENSO） -induced influence on the SLA interannual variation in the interior bay is stronger than the Indian Ocean dipole （IOD） with the associated pattern of low sea-level presenting along the periphery of the bay and high sea-level in the northeast of Sri Lanka.

Phylogenetic diversity of TypeⅠpolyketide synthase genes from sediments of Ardley Island in Antarctica

The diversity of modular polyketide synthase （PKS） genes in sediments of Ardley Island in Antarctica, was studied by restriction fragment length polymorphism （RFLP） analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of 14 amino acid （AA） sequences indicates that the identified ketosynthase （KS） domains were clustered with those from diverse bacterial groups, including Cyanobacteria, γ-Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and some unidentified microorganisms from marine sponge, bryozoan and other environmental samples. The obtained KS domains showed 43%–81% similarity at the AA level to reference sequences in GenBank. Six identified KS domains showed diverse sequences of the motif （VQTACSTS） that was used to identify the hybrid PKS/nonribosomal peptide synthetase （NRPS） enzyme complex, and formed a new branch. These results reveal a high diversity and novelty of PKS genes in antarctic sediments.

Distribution of general aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in sediment core taken from the Canadian basin and the Chukchi Sea

The occurrence percentage and abundance of General Aerobic Hetero- trophic Bacteria （GAB） were determined by using the method of MPN for 182 sub- samples from 10 sediment cores taken from the Canadian basin and the Chukchi Sea at two different culturing temperatures. The results showed that the general occurrence percentage of GAB was quite high, average abundanees of GAB at cultured temperatares of 4℃ and 25℃ were 4.46 ×10^7 and 5.47×10^7 cells·g^-1（wt）, respectively. The highest abundance of GAB occurred at 20 -22 cm section in the sediment. GAB abundances changed among the section of sediments, but there is a trend ： the a-bundances at the middle or lower sections were lower than those at upper section. Cultivation at 25℃ could improve the occurrence percentage and abundances of GAB, which suggests that the increasing of temperature may change the living circum-stances of GAB. The differences of GAB among the latitudes areas indicated that occurrence percentage and abundances of GAB in middle latitude areas were higher than those in the higher or lower latitude areas, and were more obvious at 4℃ than those at 25℃. The GAB abundances in sediment under the shallower water seemed to be low- er than those in sediments under the deeper water and this status was more obvious at 25℃ than that at 4℃.

cDNA cloning and expression of a collectin from red-spotted grouper(Epinephelus akaara)

Lectins play a crucial role in the innate immunity of invertebrates and vertebrates by recognizing and disposing of pathogens.We obtained the complete cDNA of a C-type lectin(EALec1) from Epinephelus akaara using RACE.The complete EALec1 cDNA sequence was 827 bp.The 5-UTR and 3-UTR were 28 bp and 151 bp,respectively,in length.The sequence also contained a polyadenylation signal AATAAA and a poly(A) tail.The EALec1 cDNA encodes polypeptides with 215 amino acids,including a signal peptide of 31 amino acids.The protein has a cysteine-rich region at the N terminal,a collagenous region characterized by G-X-Y repeats,a neck region,and a typical carbohydrate-recognition domain(CRD),indicating that EALec1 is a collectin.The key recognition positions of this CRD are EPD,isolated for the first time in fish.These are likely the interim types,between mannan-binding lectin and galactose-binding lectin.We evaluated the expression pattern of EALec1 in 12 different tissues using RT-PCR.EALec1 was expressed in all tissues,though at different levels.In addition,we inserted EALec1 into an expression vector(pET-28a) for transformation into the BL21 engineering bacteria.Based on enzyme digestion and sequencing of the positive clone,we successfully constructed the EALec1 recombinant expression vector.

Coextraction of microbial metagenomic DNA and RNA from deep-sea sediment

A protocol to coextract the microbial metagenomic DNA and RNA from deep-sea sediment was developed for the microbiological study of environmental samples. The obtained pure metagenomic DNA with the size larger than 23 kb and stable RNA could be used directly for PCR and reverse transcription - PCR （ RT - PCR） respectively. The direct lysis including the treatments of SDS, proteinase and lysozyme was applied to acquiring the metagenomic DNA and RNA furthest. Prior to the lysis treatment, the glass bead and denaturing solution were added to enhance the lysis efficiency and keep the integrity of RNA respectively. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE） was applied in accessing the microbial 16S rRNA diversity by PCR and RT -PCR amplification from a single extraction. The pattern obtained by this analysis revealed some differences between them, indicating the efficiency of the protocol in extracting the metagenomic DNA and total RNA from deep-sea sediment.

Screening of Lectins in Crab and Shrimp from Fujian Coast of China

Twelve species of crustacean from Fujian coast were examined for lectins with different animal erythrocytes. Serum extracts froma ll of 12 species showed agglutinating activity against at least two types of the erythrocytes used, which revealed the existence of lectins in these species. There were five species ( Penaeus japonicus , Lophosquilla costata, Charybdis feriatus, Portunus pelagicus, Scylla serrata ) whose serums could agglutinate all the erythrocytes tested. The lowest serum protein concentration required to produce erythrocytes agglutination varied remarkably, ranging from 0.7μ g/mL to 8 080μ g/mL. The strongest activity was shown in the agglutination of rabbit erythrocyte by serum of Penaeus vanaminas. Inhibition assays performed with seven mono- and bisaccharides showed that agglutination of quail erythrocytes by serums of three species (Portunus pelagicus, Scylla serrata and Sesarma sp. ) were not inhibited by any sugars, while others were inhibited by at least three types of sugars. The assay of temperature influence on agglutinating activity showed that only Penaeus japonicus retained activity when the serum was heated to 90 ℃, and other serums lost their activity at 40 ℃, 50 ℃, 60 ℃, 70 ℃, 80 ℃ for 10 minutes, respectively.

TIDAL FEATURES IN THE CHINA SEAS AND THEIR ADJACENT SEA AREAS AS DERIVED FROM TOPEX/POSEIDON ALTIMETER DATA

Some important tidal features of 8 major tidal constituents ( M 2, S 2, K 1, O 1, P 1, Sa, N 2 and K 2 ) in the China Seas and their adjacent sea areas were obtained using six years’ TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data. The results showed that the obtained co tidal and co range charts for these major tidal constituents agreed well with those of previous researches using observational data from coastal tidal gauge stations and numerical models.

Evolution of a coastal upwelling event during summer 2004 in the southern Taiwan Strait

A coastal upwelling event in the southern Taiwan Strait （STWS） was investigated using intensive cruise surveys （four repeated transects in a month） and satellite data in July and early August 2004. The extensive upwelling-associated surface cold water was first observed in early July （-2.0×10a km2） along the STWS coast. Then, the cold surface water reduced in size by -50% with decreased chlorophyll concentrations after 15 days, indicating the weakening of the upwelling event. At the end of July, the cold surface water disappeared. The temporal variations of the surface cold water and the 3-D hydrography around Dongshan Island are thought to be mainly attributed to the weakened upwelling-favorable southwestern wind, the asymmetric spatial structure of the wind field and the intrusion of warm water from the northern South China Sea.

Three-dimensional structure of a low salinity tongue in the southern Taiwan Strait observed in the summer of 2005

Cruise observations with CTD （conductivity-temperature-depth） profiler were carried out in the southern Taiwan Strait in the summer of 2005. Using the cruise data, two-dimensional maps of salinity and temperature distributions at depths of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 m were generated. The maps show a low salinity tongue sandwiched by low temperature and high salinity waters on the shallow water side and high temperature and high salinity waters on the deep water side. The further analysis indicates that the low salinity water has a nature of river-diluted water. A possible source of the diluted water is the Zhujiang （Pearl） Estuary. Meanwhile, the summer monsoon is judged as a possible driving force for this northeastward jet-like current. The coastal upwelling and the South China Sea Warm Current confine the low salinity water to flow along the central line of the strait. Previous investigations and a numerical model are used to verify that the upstream of the low salinity current is the Zhujiang Estuary. Thus, the low salinity tongue is produced by four major elements： Zhujinag Estuary diluted water, monsoon wind driving, coastal upwelling and South China Sea Warm Current modifications.

Secondary Production of Macrobenthos in Mangrove Area of Tong'an Bay,China

Studies on secondary production lead to a better understanding of the functions of the macrobenthic ecosystem.Basedon the macrobenthic data obtained at 6 sampling stations from April 2006 to January 2007,Brey's(1990)empirical formula wasapplied to calculate the secondary production of macrobenthos in the mangrove area of Tong'an Bay.The results showed that themean annual secondary production of macrobenthos was 13.24 gAFDWm-2-a-1.The mean secondary production in the mangrovehabitat was 12.22 gAFDWm-2-a-1,lower than that in the non-mangrove habitat,which was 15.29 gAFDWm-2-a-1.Two possible rea-sons existed for this difference.First,mollusk and crustacean,which contribute more to the secondary production,probably benefitfrom longer inundation period in the non-mangrove habitat.Second,the higher organic matter in the mangrove habitat results in hy-poxia in the bottom sediment,which may decrease the secondary production.The annual mean production-to-biomass(P/B)ratio inTong'an Bay was 1.17,with a ratio of 1.27 in the mangrove habitat and 0.96 in the non-mangrove habitat,which was coincident withthe much higher density of Limnodriloides sp.and Corophium sp.in the mangrove habitat than in the non-mangrove habitat.Themaximum secondary production and P/B ratio of macrobenthos both appeared at sampling station FL2 in April,2006(namelyApril-FL2)with values of 31.38 gAFDWm-2-a-1and 2.20,respectively.The macrobenthic secondary production in Tong'an Bay islower than those in other intertidal studies except that in Haitan Strait,the reason being the different sediment properties.The P/Bratio in Tong'an Bay was the lowest due to the high proportion of crustaceans in the macrobenthic community.