Lithium and aluminium carbamato derivatives of the utility amide 2, 2, 6, 6- tetramethylpiperidide

Insertion of CO2 into the metal-N bond of a series of synthetically-important alkali-metal TMP (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide) complexes has been studied. Determined by X-ray crystallography, the molecular structure of the TMEDA-solvated Li derivative shows a central 8-membered (LiOCO)2 ring lying in a chair conformation with distorted tetrahedral lithium centres. While trying to obtain crystals of a THF solvated derivative, a mixed carbonato/carbamato dodecanuclear lithium cluster was formed containing two central (CO3)2- fragments and eight O2CTMP ligands with four distinct bonding modes. A bisalkylaluminium carbamato complex has also been prepared via two different methods (CO2 insertion into a pre-formed Al-N bond and ligand transfer from the corresponding lithium reagent) which adopts a dimeric structure in the solid state

Understanding the distribution of marine megafauna in the English channel region: identifying key habitats for conservation within the busiest seaway on earth.

Published onlineJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThis is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.The temperate waters of the North-Eastern Atlantic have a long history of maritime resource richness and, as a result, the European Union is endeavouring to maintain regional productivity and biodiversity. At the intersection of these aims lies potential conflict, signalling the need for integrated, cross-border management approaches. This paper focuses on the marine megafauna of the region. This guild of consumers was formerly abundant, but is now depleted and protected under various national and international legislative structures. We present a meta-analysis of available megafauna datasets using presence-only distribution models to characterise suitable habitat and identify spatially-important regions within the English Channel and southern bight of the North Sea. The integration of studies from dedicated and opportunistic observer programmes in the United Kingdom and France provide a valuable perspective on the spatial and seasonal distribution of various taxonomic groups, including large pelagic fishes and sharks, marine mammals, seabirds and marine turtles. The Western English Channel emerged as a hotspot of biodiversity for megafauna, while species richness was low in the Eastern English Channel. Spatial conservation planning is complicated by the highly mobile nature of marine megafauna, however they are important components of the marine environment and understanding their distribution is a first crucial step toward their inclusion into marine ecosystem management.The INTERREG IV A France (Channel) – England cross-border European cooperation programme, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the CHannel integrated Approach for marine Resource Management (CHARM) Phase III project provided funding for the meta-analysis presented in this manuscript through EU postdoctoral fellowships to C. McClellan and S. Patrick. R. Deaville provided the UK cetacean strandings data, which together with the marine turtle data was co-funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and by the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales. G. Bradbury and J. Darke provided data from the UK's Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, which was funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. T. Dunn provided the Joint Cetacean Database and the European Seabirds at Sea data. P.S. Hammond provided the SCANS and SCANS-II data funded by EU LIFE Nature projects LIFE 92-2/UK/027 and LIFE04NAT/GB/000245, respectively. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Intrinsic Bioremediability of an aromatic hydrocarbon-polluted groundwater : diversity of bacterial population and toluene monooxygenase genes

The functional and phylogenetic biodiversity of bacterial communities in a benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX)-polluted groundwater was analysed. To evaluate the feasibility of using an air sparging treatment to enhance bacterial degradative capabilities, the presence of degrading microorganisms was monitored. The amplification of gene fragments corresponding to toluene monooxygenase (tmo), catechol 1,2-dioxygenase, catechol 2,3-dioxygenase and toluene dioxygenase genes in DNA extracted directly from the groundwater samples was associated with the presence of indigenous degrading bacteria. Five months of air injection reduced species diversity in the cultivable community (as calculated by the Shannon-Weaver index), while little change was noted in the degree of biodiversity in the total bacterial community, as characterised by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis. BTEX-degrading strains belonged to the genera Pseudomonas, Microbacterium, Azoarcus, Mycobacterium and Bradyrhizobium. The degrading capacities of three strains in batch liquid cultures were also studied. In some of these microorganisms different pathways for toluene degradation seemed to operate simultaneously. Pseudomonas strains of the P24 operational taxonomic unit, able to grow only on catechol and not on BTEX, were the most abundant, and were present in the groundwater community at all stages of treatment, as evidenced both by cultivation approaches and by DGGE profiles. The presence of different tmo-like genes in phylogenetically distant strains of Pseudomonas, Mycobacterium and Bradyrhizobium suggested recent horizontal gene transfer in the groundwater

Metal resistant PGPR in rhizosphere communities of an italian warter meadow studied by DGGE analysis.

FEMS Congress of European Microbiologists, 29 june-3 Jul

Improvement of Brassica napus growth under cadmium stress by cadmium-resistant rhizobacteria

This study focuses on the characterization of four bacterial isolates from heavy metal-polluted rhizosphere in order to examine their plant growth promoting (PGP) activity. The PGP activity on the canola (Brassica napus) of the strains which showed cadmium resistance and multiple PGP traits was assessed in the presence and in the absence of Cd2+. The strains, Pseudomonas tolaasii ACC23, Pseudomonas fluorescens ACC9, Alcaligenes sp. ZN4 and Mycobacterium sp. ACC14 showed 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase (ACCD) activity. They also synthesized ACCD enzyme in vitro when 0.4 mM Cd2+ was added to the growth medium. The presence of the metal, however, reduced the ACCD activity in Alcaligenes sp. ZN4 and Mycobacterium sp. ACC14, while it did not affect the ACCD activity of P. tolaasii ACC23 and P. fluorescens ACC9. ACC9 and ACC23 produced indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophores, while ACC14 produced only IAA. IAA and siderophores were produced more actively under Cd-stress. Root elongation assays conducted on B. napus under gnotobiotic conditions demonstrated increases (from 34% up to 97%) in root elongation of inoculated canola seedlings compared to the control plants. Subsequently, the effect of inoculation with these strains on growth and uptake of Cd2+ in roots and shoots of canola was studied in pot experiments using Cd-free and Cd-treated (15 \u3bcg Cd2+ g 121 dw) soil. Inoculation with P. tolaasii ACC23, P. fluorescens ACC9 and Mycobacterium sp. ACC14 promoted the growth of plants at concentrations of 0 and 15 \u3bcg Cd2+ g 121 soil. The maximum growth was observed in the plants inoculated with P. tolaasii ACC23. The strains did not influence the specific accumulation of cadmium in the root and shoot systems, but all increased the plant biomass and consequently the total cadmium accumulation. The present observations showed that the bacterial strains used in this study protect the plants against the inhibitory effects of cadmium, probably due to the production of IAA, siderophores and ACCD activity