The pursuit of isotopic and molecular fire tracers in the polar atmosphere and cryosphere

We present an overview of recent multidisciplinary, multi-institutional efforts to identify and date major sources of combustion aerosol in the current and paleoatmospheres. The work was stimulated, in part, by an atmospheric particle \u27sample of opportunity\u27 collected at Summit, Greenland in August 1994, that bore the 14C imprint of biomass burning. During the summer field seasons of 1995 and 1996, we collected air filter, surface snow and snowpit samples to investigate chemical and isotopic evidence of combustion particles that had been transported from distant fires. Among the chemical tracers employed for source identification are organic acids, potassium and ammonium ions, and elemental and organic components of carbonaceous particles. Ion chromatography, performed by members of the Climate Change Research Center (University of New Hampshire), has been especially valuable in indicating periods at Summit that were likely to have been affected by the long range transport of biomass burning aerosol. Univariate and multivariate patterns of the ion concentrations in the snow and ice pinpointed surface and snowpit samples for the direct analysis of particulate (soot) carbon and carbon isotopes. The research at NIST is focusing on graphitic and polycyclic aromatic carbon, which serve as almost certain indicators of fire, and measurements of carbon isotopes, especially 14C, to distinguish fossil and biomass combustion sources. Complementing the chemical and isotopic record, are direct \u27visual\u27 (satellite imagery) records and less direct backtrajectory records, to indicate geographic source regions and transport paths. In this paper we illustrate the unique way in which the synthesis of the chemical, isotopic, satellite and trajectory data enhances our ability to develop the recent history of the formation and transport of soot deposited in the polar snow and ice

Synthetic redesign of plant lipid metabolism

Plant seed lipid metabolism is an area of intensive research, including many examples of transgenic events in which oil composition has been modified. In the selected examples described in this review, progress towards the predictive manipulation of metabolism and the reconstitution of desired traits in a non-native host is considered. The advantages of a particular oilseed crop, Camelina sativa, as a flexible and utilitarian chassis for advanced metabolic engineering and applied synthetic biology are considered, as are the issues that still represent gaps in our ability to predictably alter plant lipid biosynthesis. Opportunities to deliver useful bio-based products via transgenic plants are described, some of which represent the most complex genetic engineering in plants to date. Future prospects are considered, with a focus on the desire to transition to more (computationally) directed manipulations of metabolism

Benthic Microalgal Production at Stellwagen Bank, Massachusetts Bay, USA

Benthic microalgal chlorophyll a and production were measured at 3 sites at Stellwagen Bank, a cold temperate continental shelf habitat in Massachusetts Bay, USA, during August 1991. Benthic microalgal chlorophyll a averaged 39.8 Mg M-2, vs average integrated phytoplankton chlorophyll a of 25.9 mg m-2. Gross benthic microalgal production, measured by oxygen exchange in clear and opaque benthic chambers, averaged 20.9 mg C m-2 h-1. This production was supported by average daily light fluxes to the bottom that never exceeded 1 % of surface incident radiation and were as low as 4.7 μE M-2 s-1. These results indicate that benthic microalgal production can be spatially extensive and quantitatively important in continental shelf ecosystems

Sediment transport-based metrics of wetland stability

© The Author(s), 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 42 (2015): 7992–8000, doi:10.1002/2015GL065980.Despite the importance of sediment availability on wetland stability, vulnerability assessments seldom consider spatiotemporal variability of sediment transport. Models predict that the maximum rate of sea level rise a marsh can survive is proportional to suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and accretion. In contrast, we find that SSC and accretion are higher in an unstable marsh than in an adjacent stable marsh, suggesting that these metrics cannot describe wetland vulnerability. Therefore, we propose the flood/ebb SSC differential and organic-inorganic suspended sediment ratio as better vulnerability metrics. The unstable marsh favors sediment export (18 mg L−1 higher on ebb tides), while the stable marsh imports sediment (12 mg L−1 higher on flood tides). The organic-inorganic SSC ratio is 84% higher in the unstable marsh, and stable isotopes indicate a source consistent with marsh-derived material. These simple metrics scale with sediment fluxes, integrate spatiotemporal variability, and indicate sediment sources.U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program; Global Change and Land Use Progra

The Origin and Biosynthesis of the Benzenoid Moiety of Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q) in \u3ci\u3eArabidopsis\u3c/i\u3e

It is not known how plants make the benzenoid ring of ubiquinone, a vital respiratory cofactor. Here, we demonstrate that Arabidopsis thaliana uses for that purpose two separate biosynthetic branches stemming from phenylalanine and tyrosine. Gene network modeling and characterization of T-DNA mutants indicated that acyl-activating enzyme encoded by At4g19010 contributes to the biosynthesis of ubiquinone specifically from phenylalanine. CoA ligase assays verified that At4g19010 prefers para-coumarate, ferulate, and caffeate as substrates. Feeding experiments demonstrated that the at4g19010 knockout cannot use para-coumarate for ubiquinone biosynthesis and that the supply of 4-hydroxybenzoate, the side-chain shortened version of para-coumarate, can bypass this blockage. Furthermore, a trans-cinnamate 4-hydroxylase mutant, which is impaired in the conversion of trans-cinnamate into para-coumarate, displayed similar defects in ubiquinone biosynthesis to that of the at4g19010 knockout. Green fluorescent protein fusion experiments demonstrated that At4g19010 occurs in peroxisomes, resulting in an elaborate biosynthetic architecture where phenylpropanoid intermediates have to be transported from the cytosol to peroxisomes and then to mitochondria where ubiquinone is assembled. Collectively, these results demonstrate that At4g19010 activates the propyl side chain of para-coumarate for its subsequent β-oxidative shortening. Evidence is shown that the peroxisomal ABCD transporter (PXA1) plays a critical role in this branch. Includes supplementary files

Understanding and manipulating plant lipid composition: metabolic engineering leads the way

The manipulation of plant seed oil composition so as to deliver enhanced fatty acid compositions suitable for feed or fuel has long been a goal of metabolic engineers. Recent advances in our understanding of the flux of acyl-changes through different key metabolic pools such as phosphatidylcholine and diacylglycerol have allowed for more targeted interventions. When combined in iterative fashion with further lipidomic analyses, significant breakthroughs in our capacity to generate plants with novel oils have been achieved. Collectively these studies, working at the interface between metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, demonstrate the positive fundamental and applied outcomes derived from such research

Fruit crops, 1980: a summary of research

Performance of selected apple cultivars on semi-standard rootstocks in southern Ohio / David C. Ferree, Donald A. Chandler, and John C. Schmid -- Influence of summer pruning and alar on growth, flowering, and fruit set of Jerseymac apple trees / D. C. Ferree and E. J. Stang -- Influence of promalin on Delicious in Ohio / D. C. Ferree, E. J. Stang and R. C. Funt -- The effects of overtree misting for bloom delay on soil water status, net photosynthesis, transpiration, and carbohydrate levels of apple trees / R. M. Crassweller and D. C. Ferree -- Effect of orchard heaters on vertical temperature profiles / R. D. Fox, R. D. Brazee, and D. C. Ferree -- The effect of orchard heaters on air movement and temperature / R. D. Fox, R. D. Brazee, and D. C. Ferree -- Organotins and mite control on apples in Ohio / Franklin R. Hall -- Model of the air sprayer / R. D. Fox, R. D. Brazee, D. L. Reichard and F. R. Hall -- Effects of application equipment variables on spray deposition by orchard air sprayers / D. L. Reichard, F. R. Hall and H. R. Krueger -- Fungi associated with moldy-core of apple and their location within fruit / Michael A. Ellis -- Nutrient content of twelve french and american hybrid grape cultivars grown under a wide range of soil conditions / Garth A. Cahoo

Highlights of recent progress in plant lipid research

Raw fossil material reserves are not inexhaustible and as prices continue to raise it is necessary to find new sources of alternative and renewable energy. Oils from oleaginous field crops (sunflower and rape) with properties close to those of fossil fuel could constitute an alternative source of energy for the production of raw materials. This is the context in which the 18th International Symposium on Plant lipids (ISPL) was held in Bordeaux from 20th to 25th July 2008 at “La Cité Mondiale”. The 18th ISPL gathered 270 researchers from 33 countries. Sixty nine oral communications and 136 posters were presented during the 12 sessions of the Symposium. The sessions have covered all the different aspects of the Plant Lipid field including: Surface lipids: suberin, cutin and waxes, Fatty acids, Glycerolipids, Plant lipids as renewable sources of energy, Seed oils and bioengineering of metabolic pathways, Lipid catabolism, Models for lipid studies: lower plants, micro-organisms and others, Modifications of proteins by lipids, Sphingolipids, sterols and isoprenoids, Lipid signaling and plant stress responses, Lipid trafficking and membrane dynamics, New methods and technologies: functional lipidomics, fluxome, modelling

Precision Measurement of the Weak Mixing Angle in Moller Scattering

We report on a precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (Moller) scattering: A_PV = -131 +/- 14 (stat.) +/- 10 (syst.) parts per billion, leading to the determination of the weak mixing angle \sin^2\theta_W^eff = 0.2397 +/- 0.0010 (stat.) +/- 0.0008 (syst.), evaluated at Q^2 = 0.026 GeV^2. Combining this result with the measurements of \sin^2\theta_W^eff at the Z^0 pole, the running of the weak mixing angle is observed with over 6 sigma significance. The measurement sets constraints on new physics effects at the TeV scale.Comment: 4 pages, 2 postscript figues, submitted to Physical Review Letter