Nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) in nonheterocystous cyanobacterial mats from the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia

1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
EI Paling ◽  
AJ McComb ◽  
JS Pate

Discs punched from non-heterocystous cyanobacterial mats, one containing Microcoleus chthonoplastes, Oscillatoria sp. and Phormidium sp., the other Phorrnidium sp. and Aphanocapsa sp., were incubated for 23 days in artificial sea-water of salinity 0 to 140 g L-1. The chlorophyll a content of both mats increased over this salinity range, with lower increases above 100 g L-1. There was little change in the species composition of mats at salinities 240 g L-1; ≥ 40 g L-1, mats produced essentially monospecific thalli containing small quantities of the other species. Acetylene reduction ranged from zero at the highest salinity to a maximum of 1100-1500 pmol C2H2 reduced m-2 h-1 at 20-60 g L-1. Maximum fixation rates were two orders of magnitude higher than in situ measurements (8-60, mean 16 pmol C2H2 reduced m-2 h-1). The salinity range observed in the field was 40-60 g L-1, but maximum fixation rates in the field (60 Fmol C2H2 reduced m-2 h-1) were much lower than those observed in the laboratory.

1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1853-1860 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Brownlee ◽  
T. P. Murphy

Nitrogen fixation by Aphanizomenon flos-aquae in a prairie lake in southwestern Manitoba was dependent on the light intensity and in situ oxygen concentrations. The mean molar ratio of acetylene reduction to nitrogen reduction was 5.8:1. High external ammonium concentrations did not appear to inhibit nitrogen fixation over the short term. Nitrogen fixation was not directly initiated by the bloom collapse. We propose that the coupled sequence of ammonia volatilization and nitrogen fixation was triggered by the bloom collapse and that the bloom collapse was caused by coprecipitation of orthophosphate with carbonates. 32PO4 turnover was most rapid during periods when the lake was opalescent, presumably due to carbonate precipitaton.


1975 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry N. Vanderhoef ◽  
Paul J. Leibson ◽  
Robert J. Musil ◽  
Chi-Ying Huang ◽  
Robert E. Fiehweg ◽  
...  

Science ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 158 (3800) ◽  
pp. 536-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. D. P. Stewart ◽  
G. P. Fitzgerald ◽  
R. H. Burris

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (12) ◽  
pp. 2419-2423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy A. Eckardt ◽  
David D. Biesboer

The acetylene-reduction technique was used on soil–root cores to examine the three species of Typha (Typhaceae) found in Minnesota for differences in rates of nitrogen fixation by associated rhizosphere diazotrophs. In 20 cattail stands sampled in 1985, Typha angustifolia showed a tendency for lower acetylene-reduction activity per ramet, with an average of 2.9 μmol∙ramer−1∙d−1, than T. latifolia and T. ×glauca, with averages of 6.5 and 7.1 μmol∙ramet−1∙d−', respectively. Regression analysis showed no significant differences in these values due to the variability within as well as between stands, and fixation rates were uncorrelated with the pH, soil percent carbon, and soil moisture of the study stands. In 1986, in situ assays of soil–root cores of ramets of T. angustifolia and T. latifolia from adjacent monospecific stands produced average acetylene-reduction rates of 1.4 for T. angustifolia and 1.8 μmol∙ramet−1∙d−1 for T. latifolia, with a substantial reduction in variability within stands over the 1985 data. It is estimated that, contrary to previously published reports, populations of Typha may receive as little as 1–2% of their annual nitrogen requirement from nitrogen fixation.


Author(s):  
J. I. Bennetch

In a recent study of the superplastic forming (SPF) behavior of certain Al-Li-X alloys, the relative misorientation between adjacent (sub)grains proved to be an important parameter. It is well established that the most accurate way to determine misorientation across boundaries is by Kikuchi line analysis. However, the SPF study required the characterization of a large number of (sub)grains in each sample to be statistically meaningful, a very time-consuming task even for comparatively rapid Kikuchi analytical techniques.In order to circumvent this problem, an alternate, even more rapid in-situ Kikuchi technique was devised, eliminating the need for the developing of negatives and any subsequent measurements on photographic plates. All that is required is a double tilt low backlash goniometer capable of tilting ± 45° in one axis and ± 30° in the other axis. The procedure is as follows. While viewing the microscope screen, one merely tilts the specimen until a standard recognizable reference Kikuchi pattern is centered, making sure, at the same time, that the focused electron beam remains on the (sub)grain in question.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Leoni ◽  
Mariateresa Volpicella ◽  
Bruno Fosso ◽  
Caterina Manzari ◽  
Elisabetta Piancone ◽  
...  

Microorganisms inhabiting saline environments are an interesting ecological model for the study of the adaptation of organisms to extreme living conditions and constitute a precious resource of enzymes and bioproducts for biotechnological applications. We analyzed the microbial communities in nine ponds with increasing salt concentrations (salinity range 4.9–36.0%) of the Saltern of Margherita di Savoia (Italy), the largest thalassohaline saltern in Europe. A deep-metabarcoding NGS procedure addressing separately the V5-V6 and V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene of Bacteria and Archaea, respectively, and a CARD-FISH (catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization) analysis allowed us to profile the dynamics of microbial populations at the different salt concentrations. Both the domains were detected throughout the saltern, even if the low relative abundance of Archaea in the three ponds with the lowest salinities prevented the construction of the relative amplicon libraries. The highest cell counts were recorded at 14.5% salinity for Bacteria and at 24.1% salinity for Archaea. While Bacteria showed the greatest number of genera in the first ponds (salinity range 4.9–14.5%), archaeal genera were more numerous in the last ponds of the saltern (salinity 24.1–36.0%). Among prokaryotes, Salinibacter was the genus with the maximum abundance (~49% at 34.6% salinity). Other genera detected at high abundance were the archaeal Haloquadratum (~43% at 36.0% salinity) and Natronomonas (~18% at 13.1% salinity) and the bacterial “Candidatus Aquiluna” (~19% at 14.5% salinity). Interestingly, “Candidatus Aquiluna” had not been identified before in thalassohaline waters.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Markéta Mejdová ◽  
Jiří Dušek ◽  
Lenka Foltýnová ◽  
Lenka Macálková ◽  
Hana Čížková

AbstractThe study estimates the parameters of the photosynthesis–irradiance relationship (PN/I) of a sedge-grass marsh (Czech Republic, Europe), represented as an active “green” surface—a hypothetical “big-leaf”. Photosynthetic parameters of the “big-leaf” are based on in situ measurements of the leaf PN/I curves of the dominant plant species. The non-rectangular hyperbola was selected as the best model for fitting the PN/I relationships. The plant species had different parameters of this relationship. The highest light-saturated rate of photosynthesis (Asat) was recorded for Glyceria maxima and Acorus calamus followed by Carex acuta and Phalaris arundinacea. The lowest Asat was recorded for Calamagrostis canescens. The parameters of the PN/I relationship were calculated also for different growth periods. The highest Asat was calculated for the spring period followed by the summer and autumn periods. The effect of the species composition of the local plant community on the photosynthetic parameters of the “big-leaf” was addressed by introducing both real (recorded) and hypothetical species compositions corresponding to “wet” and “dry” hydrological conditions. We can conclude that the species composition (or diversity) is essential for reaching a high Asat of the “big-leaf ”representing the sedge-grass marsh in different growth periods.


2000 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 591-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virpi V. Smith ◽  
Amanda J. Williams ◽  
Vas Novelli ◽  
Marian Malone

We report two infants with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and rectal bleeding due to cytomegalovirus (CMV) ileitis and colitis with minimal focal mucosal ulceration but with extensive leiomyolysis of the muscularis propria. Immunostaining and in situ hybridization for CMV showed numerous viral inclusions in the myocytes of the muscularis propria and vascular endothelium/smooth muscle with only occasional inclusions present in the muscularis mucosae. Colectomy was curative in one patient; in the other the bowel was only examined at postmortem.


2000 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 171-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben A. LePage ◽  
Hermann W. Pfefferkorn

When one hears the term “ground cover,” one immediately thinks of “grasses.” This perception is so deep-seated that paleobotanists even have been overheard to proclaim that “there was no ground cover before grasses.” Today grasses are so predominant in many environments that this perception is perpetuated easily. On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine the absence or lack of ground cover prior to the mid-Tertiary. We tested the hypothesis that different forms of ground cover existed in the past against examples from the Recent and the fossil record (Table 1). The Recent data were obtained from a large number of sources including those in the ecological, horticultural, and microbiological literature. Other data were derived from our knowledge of Precambrian life, sedimentology and paleosols, and the plant fossil record, especially in situ floras and fossil “monocultures.” Some of the data are original observations, but many others are from the literature. A detailed account of these results will be presented elsewhere (Pfefferkorn and LePage, in preparation).


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