Isolation, characterization and electron microscopic single particle analysis of the NADH : ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) from the hyperthermophilic eubacterium Aquifex aeolicus

The proton-translocating NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) has been purified from Aquifex aeolicus, a hyperthermophilic eubacterium of known genome sequence. The purified detergent solubilized enzyme is highly active above 50 degreesC. The specific activity for electron transfer from NADH to decylubiquinone is 29 U/mg at 80 degreesC. The A. aeolicus complex I is completely sensitive to rotenone and 2-n-decyl-quinazoline-4-yl-amine. SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows that it may contain up to 14 subunits. N-terminal amino acid sequencing of the bands indicates the presence of a stable subcomplex, which is composed of subunits E, F, and G. The isolated complex is highly stable and active in a temperature range from 50 to 90 degreesC, with a half-life of about 10 h at 80 degreesC. The activity shows a linear Arrhenius plot at 50-85 degreesC with an activation energy at 31.92 J/mol K. Single particle electron microscopy shows that the A. aeolicus complex I has the typical L-shape. However, visual inspection of averaged images reveals many more details in the external arm of the complex than has been observed for complex I from other sources. In addition, the angle (90degrees) between the cytoplasmic peripheral arm and the membrane intrinsic arm of the complex appears to be invariant.

延安燕沟流域次降雨泥沙来源分析

延安燕沟流域属于水土流失治理的重点区,退耕还林(草)措施引起的生态环境改善和经济发展带动的山区道路建设压力对本地区侵蚀环境和侵蚀动力机制产生了巨大影响,坡面水土流失与道路水土流失对比关系发生了新变化。在坡面侵蚀得到初步治理的新环境下,道路侵蚀则上升为主要地位。依据燕沟流域2005年7月2日的5年一遇暴雨引起的不同土地利用类型下的侵蚀产沙监测结果,结合流域卡口站测得的流域产沙总量,分析各土地利用类型产沙量对流域总产沙量的贡献,并依据流域土地利用的演变,反演林草植被恢复与道路建设对流域泥沙来源的作用。研究结果表明:在次降雨条件下,道路的产沙强度为支道山路500 t/km2、干道山路3 163 t/km2、运油道路1万3500 t/km2,而农、林、草地的产沙强度为6~184 t/km2;道路产沙强度远大于农、林、草地的产沙强度:占流域面积1%的道路产沙量占总产沙量的42.3%,占流域面积70.5%的草地、灌木林地产沙量仅占流域的26.7%。退耕还林(草)措施使流域坡面产沙量大为降低,流域产沙量减少41.2%,但由于道路产沙量增加,抵消了减沙效益的58.0%,因此,黄土丘陵区植被恢复后,应将水土流失治理重点放在防止...

Biochemical and electron microscopic characterization of the F1F0 ATP Synthase from the hyperthermophilic eubacterium Aquifex aeolicus

The F1F0 ATP synthase has been purified from the hyperthermophilic eubacterium Aquifex aeolicus and characterized. Its subunits have been identified by MALDI-mass spectrometry through peptide mass fingerprinting and MS/MS. It contains the canonical subunits alpha, beta, gamma, delta and epsilon of F-1 and subunits a and c of F-0. Two versions of the b subunit were found, which show a low sequence homology to each other. Most likely they form a heterodimer. An electron microscopic single particle analysis revealed clear structural details, including two stalks connecting F-1 and F-0. In several orientations the central stalk appears to be tilted and/or kinked. It is unclear whether there is a direct connection between the peripheral stalk and the 6 subunit. (c) 2006 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diversity of Both the Cultivable Protease-Producing Bacteria and Their Extracellular Proteases in the Sediments of the South China Sea

Protease-producing bacteria are known to play an important role in degrading sedimentary particular organic nitrogen, and yet, their diversity and extracellular proteases remain largely unknown. In this paper, the diversity of the cultivable protease-producing bacteria and their extracellular proteases in the sediments of the South China Sea was investigated. The richness of the cultivable protease-producing bacteria reached 10(6) cells/g in all sediment samples. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the predominant cultivated protease-producing bacteria are Gammaproteobacteria affiliated with the genera Pseudoalteromonas, Alteromonas, Marinobacter, Idiomarina, Halomonas, Vibrio, Shewanella, Pseudomonas, and Rheinheimera, with Alteromonas (34.6%) and Pseudoalteromonas (28.2%) as the predominant groups. Inhibitor analysis showed that nearly all the extracellular proteases from the bacteria are serine proteases or metalloproteases. Moreover, these proteases have different hydrolytic ability to different proteins, reflecting they may belong to different kinds of serine proteases or metalloproteases. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of the diversity of bacterial proteases in deep-sea sediments.

Characteristics of clay minerals in the northern South China Sea and its implications for evolution of East Asian monsoon since Miocene

Clay mineral assemblages, crystallinity, chemistry, and micromorphology of clay particles in sediments from ODP Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea (SCS) were analyzed, and used to trace sediment sources and obtain proxy records of the past changes in the East Asian monsoon climate since the Miocene, based on a multi-approach, including X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS). Clay minerals consist mainly of illite and smectite, with associated chlorite and kaolinite. The illite at ODP Site 1146 has very well-to-well crystallinity, and smectite has moderate-to-poor crystallinity. In SEM the smectite particles at ODP Site 1146 often appear cauliflower-like, a typical micromorphology of volcanic smecites. The smectite at ODP Site 1146 is relatively rich in Si element, but poor in Fe, very similar to the smectite from the West Philippine Sea. In contrast, the chemical composition of illite at ODP Site 1146 has no obvious differences from those of the Loess plateau, Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Pearl River. A further study on sediment source indicates that smectite originates mainly from Luzon, kaolinite from the Pearl River, and illite and chlorite from the Pearl River, Taiwan and/or the Yangtze River. The clay mineral assemblages at ODP Site 1146 were not only controlled by continental eathering regimes surrounding the SCS, but also by the changing strength of the transport processes. The ratios of (illite+chlorite)/smectite at ODP Site 1146 were adopted as proxies for the East Asian monsoon evolution. Relatively higher ratios reflect strongly intensified winter monsoon relative to summer monsoon, in contrast, lower ratios indicate a strengthened summer monsoon relative to winter monsoon. The consistent variation of this clay proxy from those of Loess plateau, eolian deposition in the North Pacific, planktonic, benthic foraminifera, and black carbon in the SCS since 20 Ma shows that three profound shifts of the East Asian winter monsoon intensity, and aridity in the Asian inland and the intensity of winter monsoon relative to summer monsoon, occurred at about 15 Ma, 8 Ma, and the younger at about 3 Ma. The phased uplift of the Himalaya-Tibetan plateau may have played a significant role in strengthening the Asian monsoon at 15 Ma, 8 Ma, and 3 Ma.

松辽盆地古龙地区葡萄花油层组沉积成岩相研究

The sediment and diagenesis process of reservoir are the key controlling factors for the formation and distribution of hydrocarbon reservoir. For quite a long time, most of the research on sediment-diagenesis facise is mainly focusing on qualitative analysis. With the further development on exploration of oil field, the qualitative analysis alone can’t meet the requirements of complicated requirements of oil and gas exploreation, so the quantitative analysis of sediment-diagenesis facise and related facies modling have become more and more important. On the basis of the research result from stratum and sediment on GuLong Area Putaohua Oil Layer Group, from the basic principles of sedimentology, and with the support from the research result from field core and mining research results, the thesis mainly makes the research on the sediment types, the space framework of sands and the evolution rules of diagenesis while mainly sticking to the research on sediment systement analysis and diagenetic deformation, and make further quantitative classification on sediment-diageneses facies qualitatively, discussed the new way to divide the sediment-diagenesis facies, and offer new basis for reservoir exploration by the research. Through using statistics theory including factor analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis, the thesis devided sediment-diagenesis facies quantitatively. This research method is innovative on studying sediment-diagenesis facies. Firstly, the factor analysis could study the main mechanism of those correlative variables in geologic body, and then could draw a conclusion on the control factors of fluid and capability of reservoir in the layer of studying area. Secondly, with the selected main parameter for the cluster analysis, the classification of diagenesis is mainly based on the data analysis, thus the subjective judgement from the investigator could be eliminated, besides the results could be more quantitative, which is helpful to the correlative statistical analysis, so one could get further study on the quantitative relations of each sediment-diagenesis facies type. Finally, with the reliablities of discriminant analysis cluster results, and the adoption of discriminant probability to formulate the chart, the thesis could reflect chorisogram of sediment-diagenesis facies for planar analysis, which leads to a more dependable analytic results.According to the research, with the multi-statistics analysis methods combinations, we could get quantitative analysis on sediment-diagenesis facies of reservoir, and the final result could be more reliable and also have better operability.

Characterizing Particle Dispersion by Image Analysis in ICFB

A new particle image technique was developed to analyze the dispersion of tracer particles in an internally circulating fluidized bed (ICFB). The movement course and the concentration distribution of tracer particles in the bed were imaged and the degree of inhomogeneity of tracer particles was analyzed. The lateral and axial dispersion coefficients of particles were calculated for various zones in ICFB. Results indicate that the lateral diffusion coefficient in the fluidized bed with uneven air distribution is significantly higher than that in uniform bubbling beds with even air distribution. The dispersion coefficients are different along bed length and height.

Stratification by solid particle suspensions

Turbulence was generated by an oscillating grid above a bed of sediment of spherical glass beads. As expected, part of the sediment was lifted up by the grid action and a suspension layer of depth D formed above the grid. This depth was found remaining independent of grid action but varying with the sediment layer depth when the grid action was kept constant. Volume concentration measurements show the existence of only weak concentration gradients over the layer depth with a rapid fall off in concentration at the outer edge. The theoretical analysis based on a concentration flux model is in good qualitative agreement with observations.

Modification to the Hardisty equation, regarding the relationship between sediment transport rate and particle size

Bagnold-type bed-load equations are widely used for the determination of sediment transport rate in marine environments. The accuracy of these equations depends upon the definition of the coefficient k(1) in the equations, which is a function of particle size. Hardisty (1983) has attempted to establish the relationship between k(1) and particle size, but there is an error in his analytical result. Our reanalysis of the original flume data results in new formulae for the coefficient. Furthermore, we found that the k(1) values should be derived using u(1) and u(1cr) data; the use of the vertical mean velocity in flumes to replace u(1) will lead to considerably higher k(1) values and overestimation of sediment transport rates.

Analysis on suspended sediment deposition rate for muddy coast of reclaimed land

A new expression for calculating suspended fine-sediment deposition rate is developed based on theoretic analysis and experiments. The resulting equation is applied to simulation of fine sediment deposition in the reclaimed land in the Hangzhou Bay, China. The hydrodynamic environment in this area is solved by use of a long wave model, which gives the 2D-velocity field and considers bathymetric changes due to fine sediment deposition. The expression is proved convenient to use in engineering practice, and the predicted deposition rate agrees with the annual data available from field measurements from the first year to the third year after the construction of the long groin as a reclaiming method.

Prediction of marine sediment corrosion by fuzzy clustering analysis

Along with the development of marine industries, especially marine petroleum exploitation, more and more pipelines are buried in the marine sediment. It is necessary and useful to know the corrosion environment and corrosiveness of marine sediment. In this paper, field corrosion environmental factors were investigated in Liaodong Bay marine sediment containing sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and corrosion rate of steel in the partly sediment specimens were determined by the transplanting burying method. Based on the data, the fuzzy clustering analysis (FCA) was applied to evaluate and predict the corrosiveness of marine sediment. On that basis, the influence factors of corrosion damage were discussed.

Analysis of corrosive environmental factors of seabed sediment

The corrosivity of seabed sediment at spots at different distances from seashore was studied based on in situ investigations in the northern sea area of the Yellow River mouth. The results show that there is close relation between distance from seashore and corrosivity of seabed sediment.