Planktonic microbial community and biological metabolism in a subtropical drinking water river-reservoir system.

To understand the dynamics of planktonic microbial community and its metabolism processes in subtropical drinking water river-reservoir system with lower man-made pollution loading, this study selected Dongzhen river-reservoir system in Mulan Creek as object to investigate spatial-temporal characteristics of community profile and functional genes involved in biological metabolism, and to analyze the influence of environmental factors. The results indicated that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the most diverse phyla with proportion ranges of 9%-80% in target system, and carbohydrate metabolism (5.76-7.12 × 10-2), amino acid metabolism (5.78-7.21 × 10-2) and energy metabolism (4.07-5.17 × 10-2) were found to be the dominant pathways of biological metabolism. Although there were variations in biological properties both spatially and temporally, seasonal variation had a greater influence on microbial community and biological metabolism, than locational differences. Regarding the role of environmental factors, this study revealed that microbial diversity could be affected by multiple abiotic factors, with total organic carbon, total phosphorus and temperature being more influential (absolute value of standardized regression weights >2.13). Stochastic processes dominated the microbial community assembly (R2 of neutral community model = 0.645), while niche-based processes differences represented by nutrients, temperature and pH level played secondary roles (R > 0.388, P < 0.01). Notably, the synergistic influences among the environmental factors accounted for the higher percentages of community variation (maximum proportion up to 17.6%). Additionally, pH level, temperature, and concentrations of dissolved oxygen, carbon and nitrogen were found to be the significant factors affecting carbon metabolism pathways (P < 0.05), yet only total organic carbon significantly affected on nitrogen transformation (P < 0.05). In summary, the microbial profile in reservoir is not completely dominated by that in feeding river, and planktonic microbial community and its metabolism in subtropical drinking water river-reservoir system are shaped by multiple abiotic and biotic factors with underlying interactions.

[Pollution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in Lianhua Reservoir].

Thirteen typical antibiotics in surface water of the Lianhua Reservoir were analyzed using HPLC/MS/MS to assess the pollution characteristics and risk levels. Ten antibiotics except for erythromycin, sulfadiazine, and sulfamethoxazole were detected in surface water and the total concentration of antibiotics varied between non-detectable (n.d.) and 925.26 ng ·L-1. Azithromycin had the highest concentration (n.d.-232.61 ng ·L-1) with the detection frequency of 75%, followed by enrofloxacin (n.d.-187.69 ng ·L-1), tetracycline (n.d.-155.05 ng ·L-1), and ciprofloxacin (n.d.-83.66 ng ·L-1) with the detection frequencies over 60%. The spatial distribution of antibiotics was as follows: total concentration of upstream (sampling point 1) > Aoxi River stream tributary (sampling point 2) > reservoir downstream (sampling point 3) > reservoir entrance (sampling point 4) > reservoir area (sampling point 5). The seasonal variations in the concentrations of antibiotics were evident; total concentrations in the dry season were significantly higher than those in the wet and normal seasons. The results of the environmental risk assessment indicated that ofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin pose significant risks to the environment. In the Lianhua Reservoir, ciprofloxacin showed high potential risk to the ecological environment, while the environmental risks of other antibiotics in the reservoir were below the medium level. The combined risk value of the antibiotics in the dry season was higher than that in the wet and normal seasons.

[Performance of an Aerobic Granular Reactor Treating Biogas Slurry from Pig Farm].

This research investigated the performance of an aerobic granular reactor treating biogas slurry from pig farm. Results indicated that the granular structure of aerobic sludge was not affected by the high pollution concentrationsin the biogas slurry. Although a low removal rate of phosphate was found in this study (about 16%±2%), organic matter and ammonia nitrogen showed stable removal and transformation in the granular system, and the effluent concentrations of those components were (267±81)mg·L-1 and(62±12)mg·L-1, respectively. In addition, the removal rate of sulfamethazine and tetracycline was 98%±2% and 65%±16%, respectively. During the process biogas slurry treatment, bacterial communities in the aerobic granular reactor remained stable, and Comamonadaceae was the dominant bacteria (relative abundance ofapproximately 16.66%).

Design, synthesis, cytotoxicities and DNA cleavage activities of dibenzoxepine and isoquinoline derivatives starting from dehydroabietylamine.

A series of novel hexahydrodibenzoxepine and quinazoline derivatives were designed and synthesized starting from dehydroabietylamine. The cytotoxicities of the compounds against L02 and HepG2 cell lines were investigated. Meanwhile, the plasmid DNA (Escherichia coli) cleavage of several heterocyclic derivatives was studied. These compounds exhibit remarkable activities on plasmid DNA pBR322. Our study provides useful information for developing new and more potent antitumor agents.

Behavior of tetracycline and sulfamethazine with corresponding resistance genes from swine wastewater in pilot-scale constructed wetlands.

Four pilot-scale constructed wetlands (free water surface, SF; horizontal subsurface flow, HSF; vertical subsurface flows with different water level, VSF-L and VSF-H) were operated to assess their ability to remove sulfamethazine (SMZ) and tetracycline (TC) from wastewaters, and to investigate the abundance level of corresponding resistance genes (sulI, sulII, tetM, tetW and tetO) in the CWs. The results indicated that CWs could significantly reduce the concentration of antibiotics in wastewater, and the mass removal rate range of SMZ and TC were respectively 11%-95% and 85%-95% in the four systems on the basis of hydraulic equilibrium; further relatively high removal rate was observed in VSF with low water level. Seasonal condition had a significant effect on SMZ removal in the CWs (especially SMZ in SF), but TC removal in VSFs were not considered to have statistically significant differences in winter and summer. At the end period, the relative abundances of target genes in the CWs showed obvious increases compared to initial levels, ranging from 2.98 × 10(-5) to 1.27 × 10(-1) for sul genes and 4.68 × 10(-6) to 1.54 × 10(-1) for tet genes after treatment, and those abundances showed close relation to both characteristic of wastewater and configuration of CWs.

[Removal and accumulation of the tetracycline resistance gene in vertical flow constructed wetland].

This paper investigated the efficiency and accumulation of vertical flow constructed wetland on removing tetracycline resistance (tet) genes (tetM, tetO, and tetW) from swine wastewater. The result indicated that all three tet genes were detected in raw wastewater, average absolute abundances of tetW, tetM, and tetO were 1.07 x 10(10), 4.03 x 10(10) and 4.92 x 10(10) gene copies per litre, respectively. Vertical flow constructed wetland could significantly reduce the content of wastewater antibiotics resistance genes, and average elimination rates were 95.73%, 92.21% and 95.05%, respectively. Compare to the content of antibiotics resistance genes in unpolluted soil, the content of that in soil of the system had an obvious increase at the end stage of this study. Meanwhile, absolute abundances and relative abundances of three tet genes in surface layer of soil were higher than that in basement soil. The control condition and structure of construct wetlands would affect the accumulation of tetracycline resistance genes in the system.

Antitumor and scavenging radicals activities of some polyphenols related to dehydroabietylamine derivatives.

A novel series of polyphenols 4-9 were synthesized by the reaction of catechol with dehydroabietylamine derivatives. The antitumor activities of these compounds against L02 and HepG2 cells were investigated. Among them, compounds 4, 5, and 9 can inhibit HepG2 cells viability, but have lower inhibitory effect on L02 cells in the same concentration, indicating their potential for further development. Meanwhile, the novel series of polyphenols exhibited stronger radical-scavenging activities than the control groups.

A comparative study of antitumor activities and DNA cleavage on a class of dehydroabietylamine derivatives.

A series of novel dehydroabietylamine derivatives containing tricyclic diterpene structures were synthesized. The antitumor activities of these compounds against L02, Hey-1B and HepG2 cells were investigated. Significant activity was discovered forfourteen analogs. Meanwhile these compounds exhibit DNA cleavage activities on plasmid DNA (Escherichia coli), which depend on the Schiff base structure and the substituent of the aromatic moiety. Our findings present further information on the relationship between the chemical structure, biological function and DNA cleavage characteristics.

[Study on phosphorus removal capability of constructed wetlands filled with broken bricks].

Physico-chemical properties of broken bricks (BB) were determined, as well as its phosphorus adsorption ability. The results showed that BB was appropriate for enrichment of microorganisms and growth of plants as filter medium in CWs, in addition, BB had high phosphorus adsorption ability. A vertical subsurface flow constructed wetland (VSSF) filled with BB was constructed in order to investigate the phosphorus removal effect of domestic sewage, and the phosphorus removal mechanism of VSSF was also explored. The results showed that the phosphorus removal rate of VSSF was more than 90%, which remained stable when the hydraulic loading rate was 5 cm x d(-1) and the running time was 1 a; adsorption and precipitation within BB played the greatest role in phosphorus removal; distribution characteristics of total phosphorus in the filter media were attributed to the vertical flow state of wastewater in the system, besides, the contents and chemical forms of elements which could precipitate with phosphorus should be principal factors for the phosphorus removal processes of BB. Therefore, BB might be an ideal filter medium used in CWs.

Fermentative hydrogen production from soybean protein processing wastewater in an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) using anaerobic mixed consortia.

Fermentative H(2) production from soybean protein processing wastewater (SPPW) was investigated in a four-compartment anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) using anaerobic mixed cultures under continuous flow condition in the present study. After being inoculated with aerobic activated sludge and operated at the inoculants of 5.98 gVSS L(-1), COD of 5000 mg L(-1), HRT of 16 h and temperature of (35 ± 1) °C for 22 days, the ABR achieved stable ethanol-type fermentation. The specific hydrogen production rate of anaerobic activated sludge was 165 LH(2)kg MLVSS(-1) day(-1), the substrate conversion rate was 600.83 LH(2)kg COD(-1)and the COD removal efficiency was 44.73% at the stable operation status. The ABR system exhibited a better stability and higher hydrogen yields than continuous stirring tank reactor under the same operational condition. The experimental data documented the feasibility of substrate degradation along with molecular H(2) generation utilizing SPPW as primary carbon source in the ABR system.

Influence of packing media on nitrogen removal in a subsurface infiltration system.

Influence of packing media on nitrogen removal in a subsurface infiltration system was studied. System A was filled with loamy soil and system B was filled with mixed soil of 75% red clay with 25% cinder. Both systems were fed with sewage at the same hydraulic loading of 2 cm/d at continuous operation mode. The same excellent removal performances of COD and T-P could be achieved in both infiltration systems with removal rates about 85% and 98%, respectively. In system A, NH4+ -N removal rate was as high as 96.5% and T-N removal rate was relatively much lower as 55.7%. And in system B, NH4+ -N removal rate was as low as 75.4% and T-N removal rate was relatively much higher as 75.5% . The difference was attributed to different soil oxidation-reduction condition that was greatly influenced by soil texture in subsurface infiltration system. Loamy soil led to oxidative condition that was favorable to nitrification and disadvantageous to denitrification. The results were just adverse to the system filled with clay. Intermittent operation was adopted to improve nitrogen removal in system B. NH4+ -N removal rate could be increased to about 95% and T-N removal rate could be increased to about 90% at intermittent operation mode in system B. Analysis of nitrogen removal mechanisms indicated that nitrification-denitrification was the primary nitrogen removal path in subsurface infiltration system and crop uptake was another important nitrogen removal way. It was the key to improve the total N removal performance that a suitable packing soil was available to present favorable oxidation-reduction condition for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.