Geogenic metal mobility in a coastal inlet impacted by cannery discharge, Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Magdalena Bay is an important habitat for marine organisms, some of which have been the subject of metal bioaccumulation studies. Cannery waste is discharged into the bay providing a plausible source of contamination but this study finds that some metals occur geogenically. Bay sediments and rocks (n=59) were analyzed for total metals and clustered (HCA) into two distinct groups with PCA indicating concentrations of Cr, Cu, Mn, and Ni influenced samples near ophiolite outcrops, which reported some metal concentrations exceeding averages in the crust by an order of magnitude (up to 4450ppm Cr and 1269ppm Ni). Metals at the cannery are rarely elevated above crustal averages except Zn (max. 160ppm), however, acid-extracted Zn was below recommended sediment quality guidelines in contrast to 80% of ophiolitic samples reporting Ni extractability exceeding such guidelines. This study raises awareness of geogenic metals when considering sources of contamination in marine environments.

Heterogeneous arsenic enrichment in meta-sedimentary rocks in central Maine, United States.

Arsenic is enriched up to 28 times the average crustal abundance of 4.8 mg kg(-1) for meta-sedimentary rocks of two adjacent formations in central Maine, USA where groundwater in the bedrock aquifer frequently contains elevated As levels. The Waterville Formation contains higher arsenic concentrations (mean As 32.9 mg kg(-1), median 12.1 mg kg(-1), n=38) than the neighboring Vassalboro Group (mean As 19.1 mg kg(-1), median 6.0 mg kg(-1), n=38). The Waterville Formation is a pelitic meta-sedimentary unit with abundant pyrite either visible or observed by scanning electron microprobe. Concentrations of As and S are strongly correlated (r=0.88, p<0.05) in the low grade phyllite rocks, and arsenic is detected up to 1944 mg kg(-1) in pyrite measured by electron microprobe. In contrast, statistically significant (p<0.05) correlations between concentrations of As and S are absent in the calcareous meta-sediments of the Vassalboro Group, consistent with the absence of arsenic-rich pyrite in the protolith. Metamorphism converts the arsenic-rich pyrite to arsenic-poor pyrrhotite (mean As 1 mg kg(-1), n=15) during de-sulfidation reactions: the resulting metamorphic rocks contain arsenic but little or no sulfur indicating that the arsenic is now in new mineral hosts. Secondary weathering products such as iron oxides may host As, yet the geochemical methods employed (oxidative and reductive leaching) do not conclusively indicate that arsenic is associated only with these. Instead, silicate minerals such as biotite and garnet are present in metamorphic zones where arsenic is enriched (up to 130.8 mg kg(-1) As) where S is 0%. Redistribution of already variable As in the protolith during metamorphism and contemporary water-rock interaction in the aquifers, all combine to contribute to a spatially heterogeneous groundwater arsenic distribution in bedrock aquifers.

A comprehensive toolkit of plant cell wall glycan-directed monoclonal antibodies.

A collection of 130 new plant cell wall glycan-directed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was generated with the aim of facilitating in-depth analysis of cell wall glycans. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based screen against a diverse panel of 54 plant polysaccharides was used to characterize the binding patterns of these new mAbs, together with 50 other previously generated mAbs, against plant cell wall glycans. Hierarchical clustering analysis was used to group these mAbs based on the polysaccharide recognition patterns observed. The mAb groupings in the resulting cladogram were further verified by immunolocalization studies in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) stems. The mAbs could be resolved into 19 clades of antibodies that recognize distinct epitopes present on all major classes of plant cell wall glycans, including arabinogalactans (both protein- and polysaccharide-linked), pectins (homogalacturonan, rhamnogalacturonan I), xyloglucans, xylans, mannans, and glucans. In most cases, multiple subclades of antibodies were observed to bind to each glycan class, suggesting that the mAbs in these subgroups recognize distinct epitopes present on the cell wall glycans. The epitopes recognized by many of the mAbs in the toolkit, particularly those recognizing arabinose- and/or galactose-containing structures, are present on more than one glycan class, consistent with the known structural diversity and complexity of plant cell wall glycans. Thus, these cell wall glycan-directed mAbs should be viewed and utilized as epitope-specific, rather than polymer-specific, probes. The current world-wide toolkit of approximately 180 glycan-directed antibodies from various laboratories provides a large and diverse set of probes for studies of plant cell wall structure, function, dynamics, and biosynthesis.