Innate Root Exudates Contributed to Contrasting Coping Strategies in Response to Ralstonia solanacearum in Resistant and Susceptible Tomato Cultivars.

Tomato cultivars with contrasting resistance to pathogens regulate root exudates differentially in response to Ralstonia solanacearum attacks. However, strategies using innate root exudates against infection remain unknown. This study analyzed the innate root exudates of two tomato cultivars and their functions in regulating R. solanacearum infection. The innate root exudates differed between the two cultivars. Astaxanthin released from resistant plants inhibited colonization by R. solanacearum but promoted motility, while neferine released from susceptible plants suppressed motility and colonization. The secretion of astaxanthin in resistant tomatoes promoted the growth of biocontrol fungi in soil and reduced the abundance of pathogenic fungi. Neferine secreted by the susceptible cultivar inhibited the relative abundance of the bacterial-biocontrol-related Bacillus genus, indirectly reducing the soil's immune capacity. This study revealed contrasting strategies using root exudates in resistant and susceptible tomato cultivars to cope with R. solanacearum infection, providing a basis for breeding disease-resistant cultivars.

[Bio-inspired Recovery of Platinum Nanoparticle and Its Mechanism].

This paper illustrated an approach of using a self-isolated bacterium Enterococcus faecalis Z5(CCTCC M2012445) to recover platinum nanoparticles from aqueous solution, and exploring its possibility under the condition of providing an exogenous electron donor. At the same time, the impacts of initial Pt concentration, biomass, temperature and pH on recovery process were researched to explore the possible mechanism of recovery process. The results showed that Enterococcus faecalis Z5 could recover platinum nanoparticles and there were two steps:bio-sorption and bio-reduction. And the initial Pt concentration 286.46 mg·L-1, biomass 3.2 g·L-1, temperature 50℃ and pH 6 for biorecovering were optimized. The TEM and XRD results indicated that the reduction products were platinum nanoparticles, of which most were distributed on the periplasm and the diameters were about 5 nm. Moreover, as shown by XPS figures, Pt (Ⅳ) was firstly reduced to Pt (Ⅱ), then further reduced to Pt (0) and nanoparticles were formed. The reduction of Pt (Ⅱ) to Pt (0) was a rate-limiting step. And the FTIR result showed the corresponding peaks of hydroxyl and amide group changes on the bacterium before and after reduction, probably playing an important role in the reduction process.

Water quality monitoring of Jialing-River in Chongqing using advanced ion chromatographic system.

The water quality monitoring operation to evaluate the water quality of polluted river is an extremely important task for the river-watershed management/control based on the environmental policy. In this study, the novel, simple and convenient water quality monitoring of Jialing-River in Chongqing, China was carried out using an advanced ion chromatography (IC) consisting of ion-exclusion/cation-exchange chromatography (IEC/CEC) with conductivity detection for determining simultaneously the common anions such as SO4(2-), Cl(-), and NO3(-) and the cations such as Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+, the ion-exclusion chromatography (IEC) with visible detection for determining simultaneously the nutrient components such as phosphate and silicate ions, and the IEC with the enhanced conductivity detection using a post column of K+-form cation-exchange resin for determining HCO3(-)-alkalinity as an inorganic-carbon source for biomass synthesis in biological reaction process under the aerobic conditions. According to the ionic balance theory between the total equivalent concentrations of anions and cations, the water quality evaluation of the Jialing-River waters taking at different sampling sites in Chongqing metropolitan area was carried out using the advanced IC system. As a result, the effectiveness of this novel water quality monitoring methodology using the IC system was demonstrated on the several practical applications to a typical biological sewage treatment plant on Jialing-River of Chongqing.

Enhanced conductivity detection of common inorganic anions in electrostatic ion chromatography using water eluent.

To enhance the conductivity detection sensitivity of common anions (Na-anions) in electrostatic ion chromatography (EIC) by elution with water, a conductivity enhancement column packed with strong acid cation exchange resin in the H-form was inserted between an octadecyl silane (ODS)-silica separation column modified with zwitterionic surfactant (CHAPS: 3-{(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio} propanesulfonate) and a conductivity detector. Specifically, the Na-anion pairing is converted to H-anion pairing after the EIC separation and then detected sensitively by the conductivity detector. The effects of conductivity enhancement and suppression in the EIC by the enhanced conductivity detection were characterized for the common strong acid anions such as SO4(2-), Cl(-), NO3(-), I(-) and ClO4(-) and weak acid anions such as F(-), NO2(-), HCOO(-), CH3COO(-) and HCO3(-). For the conductivity enhancement effect in the EIC, it is found that the conductivity of measured for all strong acid anions (Na-anions) was enhanced according to the theoretical conductivity predicted for H-anions and that of the measured for weak acid anions was suppressed depending on their pKa of H-anions. For the calibration linearity in the EIC, the strong acid anions were linear (r2 = 0.99 - 1.00) because the degree of dissociation is almost 1.0 over all the concentration range and that of the weak acid anions was non-linear because the degree of dissociation decreased by increasing the concentration of the weak acid anions. In conclusion, the EIC by enhanced conductivity detection was recognized to be useful only for the strong acid anions in terms of conductivity detection and calibration linearity.