PCR-DGGE Fingerprinting Analysis of Plankton Communities and Its Relationship to Lake Trophic Status

Plankton communities in eight lakes of different trophic status near Yangtze, China were characterized by using denatured gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Various water quality parameters were also measured at each collection site. Following extraction of DNA from plankton communities, 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes were amplified with specific primers for prokaryotes and eukaryotes, respectively; DNA profiles were developed by DGGE. The plankton community of each lake had its own distinct DNA profile. The total number of bands identified at 34 sampling stations ranged from 37 to 111. Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes displayed complex fingerprints composed of a large number of bands: 16 to 59 bands were obtained with the prokaryotic primer set; 21 to 52 bands for the eukaryotic primer set. The DGGE-patterns were analyzed in relation to water quality parameters by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Temperature, pH, alkalinity, and the concentration of COD, TP and TN were strongly correlated with the DGGE patterns. The parameters that demonstrated a strong correlation to the DGGE fingerprints of the plankton community differed among lakes, suggesting that differences in the DGGE fingerprints were due mainly to lake trophic status. Results of the present study suggest that PCR-DGGE fingerprinting is an effective and precise method of identifying changes to plankton community composition, and therefore could be a useful ecological tool for monitoring the response of aquatic ecosystems to environmental perturbations.

Determination of PAH, PCB, and OCP in water from the Three Gorges Reservoir accumulated by semipermeable membrane devices (SPMD)

Bioavailable water concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and organochlorine pesticides (OCP) were measured in the water column from Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) collected in May 2008 using semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs). The sampling sites spanned the whole reservoir from the upstream Chongqing to the great dam covering more than 600 km long distance with water flow velocities ranging from <0.05 to 1.5 m s(-1). This is the first experience of SPMD application in the biggest reservoir in the world. The results of water sampling rates based on performance reference compounds (PRC) were tested to be significantly correlated with water flow velocities in the big river. Results of back-calculated aqueous concentrations based on PRC showed obvious regional variations of PAH, PCB and OCP levels in the reservoir. Total PAH ranged from 13.8 to 97.2 ng L-1, with the higher concentrations occurring in the region of upstream and near the dam. Phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene and chrysene were the predominant PAH compounds in TGR water. Total PCB ranged from 0.08 to 0.51 ng L-1, with the highest one occurring in the region near the dam. PCB 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, 180, 118 were the most abundant PCB congeners in the water. The total OCP ranged from 2.33 to 3.60 ng L-1 and the levels showed homogenous distribution in the whole reservoir. HCH, DDT and HCB, PeCB were the major compounds of OCP fingerprints. Based on water quality criteria, the TGR water could be designated as being polluted by HCB and PAH. Data on PAH, PCB and OCP concentrations found in this survey can be used as reference levels for future POP monitoring programmes in TGR. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatiotemporal heterogeneity of plankton communities in Lake Donghu, China, as revealed by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and its relation to biotic and abiotic factors

The 16S and 18S rRNA genes of planktonic organisms derived from five stations with nutrient gradients in Lake Donghu, China, were studied by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting, and the relationships between the genetic diversity of the plankton community and biotic/abiotic factors are discussed. The concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), NH4-N and As were found to be significantly related (P < 0.05) to morphological composition of the plankton community. Both chemical and morphological analyses suggested that temporal heterogeneity was comparatively higher than spatial heterogeneity in Lake Donghu. Although the morphological composition was not identical to the DGGE fingerprints in characterizing habitat similarity, the two strongest eutrophic stations (I and II) were always initially grouped into one cluster. Canonical correspondence analysis suggested that the factors strongly correlated with the first two ordination axes were seasonally different. The concentrations of TN and TP and the densities of rotifers and crustaceans were generally the main factors related to the DGGE patterns of the plankton communities. The study suggested that genetic diversity as depicted by metagenomic techniques (such as PCR-DGGE fingerprinting) is a promising tool for ecological study of plankton communities and that such techniques are likely to play an increasingly important role in assessing the environmental conditions of aquatic habitats.

Genetic diversity of plankton community as depicted by PCR-DGGE fingerprinting and its relation to morphological composition and environmental factors in lake donghu

To collect information about the genetic diversity of the plankton community and to study how plankton respond to environmental conditions, plankton samples were collected from five stations representing different trophic levels in a shallow, eutrophic lake (Lake Donghu), and investigated by PCR-DGGE fingerprinting. A total of 100 bands (61 of 16S rDNA bands and 39 of 18S rDNA bands) were detected. The DGGE bands unique to any single station accounted for 38% of the total bands, whereas common bands detected at all five stations accounted for only 11%. Using UPGMA clustering and MDS ordination of DGGE fingerprints, stations I and II were found to initially group together into one cluster, which was later joined by station V. Stations III and IV were isolated into two separate groups of one station each. Some differences in grouping relationships were found when analysis was completed on the basis of chemical characteristics and morphological composition, with zooplankton composition showing the greatest variability. However, the most similar stations (I and II) were always initially grouped into one cluster. Moreover, stations that exhibited the same or similar trophic level (stations III and IV), but different concentrations of heavy metals, were further differentiated by the DGGE method. Results of the present study indicated that PCR-DGGE fingerprinting was more sensitive than the traditional methods, as other studies suggested. Additionally, PCR-DGGE appears to be more appropriate for diversity characterization of the plankton community, as it is more canonical, systematic, and effective. Most importantly, fingerprinting results are more convenient for the comparative analyses between different studies. Therefore, the use of the described fingerprinting analysis may provide an operable and sensitive biomonitoring approach to identify critical, and potentially negative, stress within an aquatic ecosystem.

Identification, cloning, and characterization of microsatellite DNA in Euglena gracilis

Microsatellite DNA has been developed into one of the most popular genetic markers. We have identified and cloned microsatellite loci in the genome of a free-living protozoan Euglena gracilis FACHB-848, using the random amplified microsatellites method (RAMS). The digoxigenin-labelled oligonucleotides(CT)(10) and (GT)(10) served as probes to detect complementary sequences in the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints produced by means of Southern blotting. Subsequently, positive RAPD fragments were cloned. From a total of 31 RAPD primer profiles, eight microsatellite loci of E. gracilis were detected and characterized. Further, six sites (i.e. EGMS1, EGMS3, EGMS4, EGMS5, EGMS6, and EGMS7) showed polymorphisms. We found a GT or CT microsatellite every 10.5 kb in the genome of E. gracilis, and similar to animal genomes, the (GT)(n) motif was much more abundant than the (CT)(n) motif. These polymorphic microsatellite DNA will serve as advantageous molecular markers for studying the genetic diversity and molecular ecology of Euglena.

几种中药材的化学成分及其定性定量检测方法研究

本论文由四部分组成。第一部分报道了佛手参提取物的化学成分研究，建立了活性成分含量测定的高效液相测定和指纹图谱研究，采用液质联用技术鉴定了主要色谱峰；第二部分报道了丹参及其复方制剂的特征图谱研究；第三部分探讨了两面针生物碱的电喷雾质谱裂解规律，并采用液质联用技术分离鉴定了提取物中的多种生物碱。第四部分概述了液质联用在药物代谢研究中的运用。 第一部分包括第一、第二和第三章。第一章针对佛手参（Gymnadeniaconopsea）块茎的甲醇提取物，采用大孔树脂和反相硅胶柱层析等各种分离方法，共分离鉴定出4 个化合物，通过波谱分析将它们的结构确定为dactylorhin B (1)、loroglossin (2)、dactylorhin A (3)和militarine (4)。这4 个化合物均是首次从佛手参中分离得到的琥珀酸葡萄糖苷类成分。第二章采用高效液相色谱法对西藏、四川、河北、青海和尼泊尔等不同地区产的十个佛手参样品进行腺嘌呤核苷和对羟基苯甲醇的定量分析，结果表明这2 个成份可视为佛手参的特征成分，但也注意到产地不同该2 个特征成分的含量也有所不同。第三章采用标准中药指纹图谱相似度计算软件，以10 个佛手参样品HPLC 图谱的平均值为相似性评价对照模板，对10 个样品进行了相似度评价，并经液质联用分析指认了7 个共有峰，分别为腺嘌呤核苷(1)、对羟基苯甲醇(2)、对羟基苯甲醛(3) 、dactylorhin B(4) 、loroglossin(5)、dactylorhin A(6)和militarine(7)。 第二部分包括第四、第五、第六和第七章。第四章运用电喷雾质谱检测了对照药材和五个不同产地的丹参药材中脂溶性和水溶性成分，系统地探讨了多种成分的电喷雾质谱规律，并以对照药材为标准建立了特征指纹图谱。五个产地的药II材通过与对照药材相对比，采用聚类分析的方法，得到了定性的鉴别与判断。并采用液质联用技术对丹参药材提取液中的化学成份进行分析，推测了九个特征峰，并对六样品的液相色谱图进行了聚类分析。第五章探讨了三七皂苷的电喷雾质谱电离和裂解规律，并采用电喷雾质谱法对三七标准药材，血通片中的皂苷成分进行了分析。第六章运用电喷雾质谱研究复方丹参片提取液的特征图谱，并和单味药材丹参和三七的特征图谱进行了对比研究。并运用HPLC-ESI MSn 分析鉴定了复方丹参片提取液中的化学成分，推测了12 个色谱峰。第七章总结了电喷雾质谱和液质联用技术在丹参药材，三七药材及复方丹参制剂中的运用的优势和局限性。 第三部分（第八章）研究了两面针生物碱中二氢白屈菜红碱(1)、二氢两面针碱(2)、8-酮基二氢白屈菜红碱(3)、8-丙酮基二氢两面针碱(4)、两面针碱(5)、和1,3-二(8-二氢两面针碱)丙酮(6)等六个苯并菲啶型生物碱的电喷雾质谱裂解规律，其中二氢两面针碱和二氢白屈菜红碱，8-丙酮基二氢两面针碱和8-酮基二氢白屈菜红碱是两对二个甲氧基分别在C-9 和C-10，C-10 和C-11 的同分异构体。实验结果表明，在相同的碰撞能下，这类位置异构体的ESI MS2 质谱二级碎片离子的相对峰度存在很大差异，这可以用于区分该类同分异构体，采用液-质联用可以对两面针的总生物碱提取物中的这些同分异构体加于区分。同时在本实验采用的液相色谱条件下，多种生物碱得到较好的分离，通过和对照品的保留时间，紫外吸收光谱及电喷雾质谱图对照，鉴定了11 个主要色谱峰。 第四部分（第九章）对液质联用技术在药物代谢中的运用进行了综述。 This dissertation consisted of four sections. The first two sections elaborated thephytochemical investigation of the rhizomes Gymnadenia conopsea R. Br., methoddevelopment for rapid identifying and qutifying the chemical condtituent of thistibetant medicine, and the chemical fingerprint analysis of rhizomes of G. conopsea,Salviae miltiorrhiza and P. notoginseng. The third section studied the fragmentationmechanism of six alkaloids from Zanthoxylum nitidium and method development forrapid identifying varieties of alkaloids from the extract of this herbal medicine. Thefourth section reviewed HPLC- MS method in drug metabolism studies. The first section consisted of chapters 1, 2, 3. Chapter 1 elaborated the phytochemicalinvestigation of Gymnadenia conopsea R. Br. Four succinate derivative esters wereisolated from the methanol extract of the rhizomes of G. conopsea through repeatedcolumn chromatography on normal and reversed phase silica gel, their structures weredetermined by ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR evidence. They were firstly discoveredfrom this species. In chapter 2, a high-performance liquid chromatography.diodearray detection (HPLC-DAD) method has been firstly developed for quantitation oftwo characteristic constituents, adenosine and 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, from theextract of rhizomes of G. conopsea. All 10 samples of G. conopsea contained differentamount of adenosine and 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol. Adenosine and the4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol can be applied in identification and quality control for theroots of G. conopsea. In chapter 3, a high-performance liquid chromatography.diodearray detection.tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MSn) method has been firstly developed for chemical fingerprint analysis of rhizomes of G. conopsea andrapid identification of major compounds in the fingerprints. Comparing the UV andMS spectra with those of authentic compounds, seven main peaks in the fingerprintswere identified as adenosine, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, 4-hydroxybenzyl aldehyde,dactylorhin B, loroglossin, dactylorhin A and militarine. The Computer AidedSimilarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of TraditionalChinese Medicine (CASES) was employed to evaluate the similarities of 10 samplesof the rhizomes of G. conopsea collected from Sichuan, Qinghai and Hebei provincesand Tibet autonomous region of China, and Nepal. These samples from differentsources had similar chemical fingerprints to each other. The second section consisted of chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7. In chapter 4，both thecharacteristic spectra of liposoluble tanshinones and aqueous-soluble salvianolic acidswere established by the electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS)technique and the differences between standard and crude rhizomes of Salviaemiltiorrhiza Bge. from 5 sources were analyzed. The law of electrospray ion trap mass(ESI ITMS) of typical tanshinones and salvianolic acids is studied.The analysis of the chemical constituent of rhizomes of Salviae miltiorrhiza Bge. byliquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrum (LC/MS) technique wasestablished，and the distances among standard herb and crude herb from 5 sourceswere calculated by clustering analysis. According the DAD spectra and MS2 data，9tanshinones could be speculated. In chapter 5, the character spectra of total saponinsin P. notoginseng extracts were established by ESI ITMS and selective ion monitoring(SIM) technology. The law of notoginsenosides by ESI MS2 was studied. In chapter 6,the characteristic spectra of Compound Danshen Tablet established and compared byESI-MS and HPLC/DAD/MS, 6 known tanshinones and 3 saponins were speculated.In chapter 7, the advantage and disadvantage of the strategy, using the ESI ITMS andLC/MS techniques for study of characteristic spetra of danshen and Compound Danshen Tablet, were summerized. The third section (chapter 8) studied the fragmentation mechanism of six alkaloids,dihydronitidine, dihydrochelerythrine, 8-acetonyl dihydronitidine,8-acetonyldrochelerythrine, nitidine and 1,3-bis (8-dihydronitidinyl)-acetone, by ESIMSn. Tandem mass spectrometry experiments indicated that different substitutionsites of the methoxyl groups at C-9 and C-10 or at C-10 and C-11 determined thedifferent abundances of the MS2 fragmentation ions using the same collision energy.According to the different abundances of MS2 product ions, positional isomericbenzo[c] phenanthridine alkaloids can be differentiated. Moreover, ten constituents inthe crude alkaloids extract from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidium were rapidlyidentified by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem massspectrometry (HPLC-MSn), through comparing the retention times and ESI MSn spectra with the authentic standards. The fourth section (chapter 9) is a review on HPLC-MS method development in drug metabolism studies.

基于第二代Curvelet变换的指纹预处理算法

An algorithm for the enhancement of fingerprints was presented;an algorithm for realizing the foreground/background segmentation was also discussed,based on a new mathematical transform,namely, the second generation curvelet transform.The result shows that the algorithm is effective and the transform is attractive.分析了现有的一些增强、分割算法的不足,提出了基于第二代Curvelet变换的指纹图像预处理算法.实验结果表明提出的算法简单有效,能够实现指纹图像增强的要求.

Soil microbial community analysis using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

The most biological diversity on this planet is probably harbored in soils. Understanding the diversity and function of the microbiological component of soil poses great challenges that are being overcome by the application of molecular biological approaches. This review covers one of many approaches being used: separation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicons using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Extraction of nucleic acids directly from soils allows the examination of a community without the limitation posed by cultivation. Polymerase chain reaction provides a means to increase the numbers of a target for its detection on gels. Using the rRNA genes as a target for PCR provides phylogenetic information on populations comprising communities. Fingerprints produced by this method have allowed spatial and temporal comparisons of soil communities within and between locations or among treatments. Numerous samples can be compared because of the rapid high throughput nature of this method. Scientists now have the means to begin addressing complex ecological questions about the spatial, temporal, and nutritional interactions faced by microbes in the soil environment.

Soil microbial community analysis using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-fingerprinting method that is commonly used for comparative microbial community analysis. The method can be used to analyze communities of bacteria, archaea, fungi, other phylogenetic groups or subgroups, as well as functional genes. The method is rapid, highly reproducible, and often yields a higher number of operational taxonomic units than other, commonly used PCR-fingerprinting methods. Sizing of terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) can now be done using capillary sequencing technology allowing samples contained in 96- or 384-well plates to be sized in an overnight run. Many multivariate statistical approaches have been used to interpret and compare T-RFLP fingerprints derived from different communities. Detrended correspondence analysis and the additive main effects with multiplicative interaction model are particularly useful for revealing trends in T-RFLP data. Due to biases inherent in the method, linking the size of T-RFs derived from complex communities to existing sequence databases to infer their taxonomic position is not very robust. This approach has been used successfully, however, to identify and follow the dynamics of members within very simple or model communities. The T-RFLP approach has been used successfully to analyze the composition of microbial communities in soil, water, marine, and lacustrine sediments, biofilms, feces, in and on plant tissues, and in the digestive tracts of insects and mammals. The T-RFLP method is a user-friendly molecular approach to microbial community analysis that is adding significant information to studies of microbial populations in many environments.

Development of SSR primers from EST sequences and their application in germplasm identification of Porphyra lines (Rhodophyta)

This paper reports the development of SSR markers from EST data and their utilization in germplasm identification of Porphyra. The publicly available EST (expressed sequence tag) sequences of Porphyra were searched from the Internet (www.kazura.or.jp/en/plant/porphyra/EST/). From a total of 20,779 obtained EST sequences, 391 SSRs (simple sequence repeats) were analysed with SSRIT software (www.gramene.org/db/searches/ssrtool). From those, 48 SSR primer-pairs were designed and tested by commonly used SSR reaction conditions using 22 Porphyra DNA samples as templates. Results showed that 41 SSR primer-pairs gave good amplification patterns. These were used to conduct SSR analyses of genetic diversity and variety identification of the 22 Porphyra lines. A dendrogram and the DNA fingerprints of the Porphyra lines were developed based on the obtained SSR data.

Identification of Porphyra lines (Rhodophyta) by AFLP DNA fingerprinting and molecular markers

Twenty-seven Porphyra lines from 5 classes, including lines widely used in China, wild lines, and lines introduced to China from abroad in recent years, were screened by means of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) with 24 primer pairs. From the generated AFLP products, 13 bands that showed stable and repeatable AFLP patterns amplified by primer pairs M-CGA/E-AA and M-CGA/E-TA were scored and used to develop the DNA fingerprints of the 27 Porphyra lines. Moreover, the DNA fingerprinting patterns were converted into computer language expressed with digitals 1 and 0, which represented the presence (numbered as 1) or absence (numbered as 0) of the corresponding band. On the basis of these results, computerized AFLP DNA fingerprints were constructed in which each of the 27 Porphyra lines has its unique AFLP,fingerprinting pattern and can be easily distinguished from others. Software called PGI-AFLP (Porphyra germplasm identification-AFLP) was designed for identification of the 27 Porphyra lines. In addition, 21 specific AFLP markers from 15 Porphyra lines were identified; 6 AFLP markers from 4 Porphyra lines were sequenced, and 2 of them were successfully converted into SCAR (sequence characterized amplification region) markers. The developed AFLP DNA fingerprinting and specific molecular markers provide useful ways for the identification, classification, and resource protection of the Porphyra lines.

Identification of 27 Porphyra lines (Rhodophyta) by DNA fingerprinting and molecular markers

Twenty-seven Porphyra lines, including lines widely used in China, wild lines and lines introduced to China from abroad in recent years, were screened by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique with 120 operon primers. From the generated RAPD products, 11 bands that showed stable and repeatable RAPD patterns amplified by OPC-04, OPJ-18 and OPX-06, respectively were scored and used to develop the DNA fingerprints of the 27 Porphyra lines. Moreover, the DNA fingerprinting patterns were converted into computer language expressed with two digitals, 1 and 0, which represented the presence (numbered as 1) or absence (numbered as 0) of the corresponding band, respectively. Based on the above results, computerized DNA fingerprints were constructed in which each of the 27 Porphyra lines has its unique fingerprinting pattern and can be easily distinguished from others. Software named PGI (Porphyra germplasm identification) was designed for identification of the 27 Porphyra lines. In addition, seven specific RAPD markers from seven Porphyra lines were identified and two of them were successfully converted into SCAR (sequence characterized amplification region) markers. The developed DNA fingerprinting and specific molecular markers provide useful ways for the identification, classification and resource protection of the Porphyra lines.

Molecular identification of 16 Porphyra lines using sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) is a novel molecular marker technique designed to amplify open reading frames (ORFs). The SRAP analytic system was set up and applied to Porphyra germplasm identification in this study for the first time. Sixteen Porphyra lines were screened by SRAP technique with 30 primer combinations. In the analysis, 14 primer combinations produced stable and reproducible amplification patterns in three repetitive experiments. Among the total 533 amplified fragments, 522 (98%) were polymorphic, with an average of 38 fragments for each primer combination, ranging in size from 50 to 500 bp. The 533 fragments were visually scored one by one and then used to develop a dendrogram with Unweighted Pair-Group Method Arithmetic Average (UPGMA), and the 16 Porphyra lines were divided into two major groups at the 0.68 similarity level. From the total 533 fragments, I I amplified by two primer combinations, ME1/EM1 and ME4/EM6, were used to develop the DNA fingerprints of the 16 Porphyra lines. The DNA fingerprints were then converted into binary codes, with I and 0 representing presence and absence of the corresponding amplified fragment, respectively. In the DNA fingerprints, each of the 16 Porphyra lines has its unique binary code and can be easily distinguished from the others. This is the first report on the development of SRAP technique and its utilization in germplasm identification of seaweeds. The results demonstrated that SRAP is a simple, stable, polymorphic and reproducible molecular marker technique for the classification and identification of Porphyra lines. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rare earth elements in bottom sediments of major rivers around the Yellow Sea: implications for sediment provenance

Rare earth elements (REEs) of 91 fine-grained bottom sediment samples from five major rivers in Korea (the Han, Keum, and Yeongsan) and China (the Changjiang and Huanghe) were studied to investigate their potential as source indicator for Yellow Sea shelf sediments, this being the first synthetic report on REE trends for bottom sediments of these rivers. The results show distinct differences in REE contents and their upper continental crust (UCC)-normalized patterns: compared to heavy rare earth elements (HREEs), light rare earth elements (LREEs) are highly enriched in Korean river sediments, in contrast to Chinese river sediments that have a characteristic positive Eu anomaly. This phenomenon is observed also in primary source rocks within the river catchments. This suggests that source rock composition is the primary control on the REE signatures of these river sediments, due largely to variations in the levels of chlorite and monazite, which are more abundant in Korean bottom river sediments. Systematic variations in I LREE pound/I HREE pound ratios, and in (La/Yb)-(Gd/Yb)(UCC) but also (La/Lu)-(La/Y)(UCC) and (La/Y)-(Gd/Lu)(UCC) relations have the greatest discriminatory power. These findings are consistent with, but considerably expand on the limited datasets available to date for suspended sediments. Evidently, the REE fingerprints of these river sediments can serve as a useful diagnostic tool for tracing the provenance of sediments in the Yellow Sea, and for reconstructing their dispersal patterns and the circulation system of the modern shelf, as well as the paleoenvironmental record of this and adjoining marginal seas.

A preliminary study on fingerprinting approach in marine sediment dynamics with the rare earth elements

Locating the quantitized natural sediment fingerprints is an important work for marine sediment dynamics study. The total of 146 sediment samples were collected from the Shelf of the East China Sea and five rivers, including Huanghe (Yellow), Changjiang (Yangtze), Qiantang, Ou and Min River. The sediment grain size and the contents of rare earth elements (REEs) were measured with laser particle size analyzer and ICP-MS technology. The results show that absolute REE content (Sigma REE) and the concentration ratio of light REEs to heavy REEs (L/HREE) are different in the sediments among those rivers. There are higher REE contents in being less than 2 m and 2-31 mu m fractions in the Changjiang Estuary surface sediments. The REE contents of bulk sediment are dominated by the corresponding values of those leading size-fractions. Sigma REE of sediment is higher close to the estuaries and declines seaward on the inner shelf of the East China Sea (ECS). The L/HREE ratio has a tendency of increase southward from 28 degrees N. Hydrodynamic conditions plays a predominate role on spacial distributions of the surficial sediment's REE parameters. In some situations, the currents tend to remove the coarser light grains from initial populations, as well as the deposit of the finer heavy mineral grains. In other situations, the currents will change the ratio of sediment constituents, such as ratio between silts and clays in the sediments. As a result, the various values of Sigma REE or L/HREE ratio in different bulk sediments are more affected by the change of size-fractions than source location. Under the long-term stable hydrodynamic environment, i.e., the East China Sea Shelf, new sediment transport model based on the size and density gradation concept may help to understand the spatial distribution patterns of REE parameters.