Summer monsoon intensity controls C-4/C-3 plant abundance during the last 35 ka in the Chinese Loess Plateau: Carbon isotope evidence from bulk organic matter and individual leaf waxes

IEECAS SKLLQG

Influence of Laser Wavelength on Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Applied to Semi-Quantitative Analysis of Trace-Elements in a Plant Sample

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as a powerful analytical technique is applied to analyze trace-elements in fresh plant samples. We investigate the LIBS spectra of fresh holly leaves and observe more than 430 lines emitted from 25 elements and molecules in the region 230-438 nm. The influence of laser wavelength on LIBS applied to semi-quantitative analysis of trace-element contents in plant samples is studied. The results show that the UV laser has lower relative standard deviations and better repeatability for semi-quantitative analysis of trace-element contents in plant samples. This work may be helpful for improving the quantitative analysis power of LIBS applied to plant samples.

Towards manipulation of post-biosynthetic events in secondary metabolism of plant cell cultures

Plant cell cultures have been suggested as a feasible technology for the production of a myriad of plant-derived metabolites. However, commercial application of plant cell culture has met limited success with only a handful of metabolites produced at the pilot- and commercial-scales. To improve the production of secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures, efforts have been devoted predominantly to the optimization of biosynthetic pathways by both process and genetic engineering approaches. Given that secondary metabolism includes-the synthesis. metabolism and catabolism of endogenous compounds by the specialized proteins, this review intends to draw attention to the manipulation and optimization of post-biosynthetic events that follow the formation of core metabolite structures in biosynthetic pathways. These post-biosynthetic events-the chemical and enzymatic modifications, transport, storage/secretion and catabolism/degradation have been largely unexplored in the past. Potential areas are identified where further research is needed to answer fundamental questions that have implications for advanced bioprocess design. Anthocyanin production by plant cell cultures is used as a case study for this discussion, as it presents a good example of compounds for which there are extensive research publications but still no commercial bioprocess. It is perceived that research on post-biosynthetic processes may lead to future opportunities for significant advances in commercial plant cell cultures. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Starch grains from dental calculus reveal ancient plant foodstuffs at Chenqimogou site, Gansu Province

National Natural Science Foundation of China [40771205]; National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [40625002]; Chinese Academy of Sciences [KZCX2-YW-315]

Changes in individual plant traits and biomass allocation in alpine meadow with elevation variation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Plant traits and individual plant biomass allocation of 57 perennial herbaceous species, belonging to three common functional groups (forbs, grasses and sedges) at subalpine (3700 m ASL), alpine (4300 m ASL) and subnival (>= 5000 m ASL) sites were examined to test the hypothesis that at high altitudes, plants reduce the proportion of aboveground parts and allocate more biomass to belowground parts, especially storage organs, as altitude increases, so as to geminate and resist environmental stress. However, results indicate that some divergence in biomass allocation exists among organs. With increasing altitude, the mean fractions of total biomass allocated to aboveground parts decreased. The mean fractions of total biomass allocation to storage organs at the subalpine site (7%+/- 2% S.E.) were distinct from those at the alpine (23%+/- 6%) and subnival (21%+/- 6%) sites, while the proportions of green leaves at all altitudes remained almost constant. At 4300 m and 5000 m, the mean fractions of flower stems decreased by 45% and 41%, respectively, while fine roots increased by 86% and 102%, respectively. Specific leaf areas and leaf areas of forbs and grasses deceased with rising elevation, while sedges showed opposite trends. For all three functional groups, leaf area ratio and leaf area root mass ratio decreased, while fine root biomass increased at higher altitudes. Biomass allocation patterns of alpine plants were characterized by a reduction in aboveground reproductive organs and enlargement of fine roots, while the proportion of leaves remained stable. It was beneficial for high altitude plants to compensate carbon gain and nutrient uptake under low temperature and limited nutrients by stabilizing biomass investment to photosynthetic structures and increasing the absorption surface area of fine roots. In contrast to forbs and grasses that had high mycorrhizal infection, sedges had higher single leaf area and more root fraction, especially fine roots.

Identification of Phenylethanoid Glycosides in Plant Extract of Plantago asiatica L. by Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The present work describes a liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) method for rapid identification of phenylethanoid glycosides in plant extract from Plantago asiatica L. By using a binary mobile phase system consisting of 0.2% acetic acid and acetonitrile under gradient conditions, a good separation was achieved on a reversed-phase C-18 column. The [M-H](-) ions, the molecular weights, and the fragment ions of phenylethanoid glycosides were obtained in the negative ion mode using LC-ESI-MS. The identification of the phenylethanoid glycosides (peaks 1-3) in the extract of P. asiatica L. was based on matching their retention time, the detection of molecular ions, and the fragment ions obtained by collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments with those of the authentic standards and data reported in the literature.

Layer-by-layer electrodeposition of redox polymers and enzymes on screen-printed carbon electrodes for the preparation of reagentless biosensors

Layer-by-layer electrodeposition of redox polymer/enzyme composition films on screen-printed carbon electrodes for fabrication of reagentless enzyme biosensors has been proposed and the resulting films were found to be very stable and rigid.

Immobilization and direct electrochemistry of copper-containing enzymes on active carbon

Two typical and important copper-containing enzymes, laccase (Lac) and tyrosinase (Tyr), have been immobilized on the surface of active carbon with simple adsorption method. The cyclic voltammetric results indicated that the active carbon could promote the direct electron transfer of both Lac and Tyr and a pair of well-defined and nearly symmetric redox peaks appeared on the cyclic voltammograms of Lac or Tyr with the formal potential, E-0', independent on the scan rate. The further experimental results showed that the immobilized copper-containing oxidase displayed an excellent electrocatalytic activity to the electrochemical reduction of O-2. The immobilization method presented here has several advantages, such as simplicity, easy to operation and keeping good activity of enzyme etc., and could be further used to study the direct electrochemistry of other redox proteins and enzymes and fabricate the catalysts for biofuel cell.

Rapid identification of saponins in plant extracts by electrospray ionization multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Electrospray ionization multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn) and liquid chromatography coupled with on-line mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) were applied to characterize saponins in crude extracts from Panax ginseng. The MSn data of the [M - H](-) ions of saponins can provide structural information on the sugar sequences of the saccharide chains and on the sapogins of saponins. By ESI-MSn, non-isomeric saponins and isomeric saponins with different aglycones can be determined rapidly in plant extracts. LC/MS/MS is a good complementary analytical tool for determination of isomeric saponins. These approaches constitute powerful analytical tools far rapid screening and structural assignment of saponins in plant extracts. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Studies on plant extracellular calmodulin by lanthanide luminescence probe

Plant extracellular calmodulin (CaM) has been purified from cauliflower and identified with NAD kinase(NADK) activation and inhibition effect of CaM antagonist W7, Tb-3.1 fluorescence titration showed that extracellular CaM contained four metal-binding sites, The excitation spectrum and emission specturm indicated that extracellular CaM contained one tyrosine residue which could transfer energy to bound Tb3+. Based on Forster type nonradiative energy transfer theory, the distances of Tyr-->sites III, IV have been determined, these are 1. 104 nm(Tyr --> III, site) and 1. 056 nm(Tyr --> N, site). By studing the effect of CaM antagonist W7 and CaM antibody on Tb3+-sensitized fluorescence, it was found that the binding sites of W7 and antibody were located on the c-terminal part of plant extracellular CaM which contains domain III and domain IV.