Synthetic Strategies to Terpene Quinones/Hydroquinones

The cytotoxic and antiproliferative properties of many natural sesquiterpene-quinones and -hydroquinones from sponges offer promising opportunities for the development of new drugs. A review dealing with different strategies for obtaining bioactive terpenyl quinones/hydroquinones is presented. The different synthetic approches for the preparation of the most relevant quinones/hydroquinones are described

Large-scale river flow archives: importance, current status and future needs

Time-series for river gauging stations are core blue-skies and applied research resources for understanding impacts of climate and anthropogenic change on basin hydrology. River flow archives hold vital information for evidence-based assessment of past hydrological variability, and support hydrological modelling of future changes. River discharge is an integration of basin input, storage and transfer processes to the gauging point. It is important to set basin outlet data in regional to global and long-term contexts: to better understand nested scales of variability; to pinpoint locations and time periods most sensitive to climate and human impacts; to make predictions for ungauged basins; and to inform decision makers on water security issues, and where and when to take measures to mitigate water hazards and stress, including floods and droughts (Dai et al., 2009; Bonnell et al., 2006; Feyen & Dankers, 2009; Haddeland et al., 2006; Hannah et al., 2005). Thus, there is clear rationale for supporting large-scale (i.e. regional to continental to global) river flow archives. Notable examples of such databases include that held by the WMO Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) and the UNESCO Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (FRIEND) European Water Archive (EWA). For large-scale river flow archives to be valuable research resources, they must be fit for purpose. However, these databases are at risk due to a possible decline in network coverage, associated time-series truncation, growing human impact on (near-) natural flows, and increasingly restricted access to national-scale data. This commentary aims: (1) to demonstrate largescale river flow datasets are crucial to advance hydrological science and solve operational issues; (2) to assess the current status of large-scale river flow datasets; and (3) to propose ways forward to consolidate historical data and secure future river flow data

Occurrence and community composition of fast-growing Mycobacterium in soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Fast-growing mycobacteria are considered essential members of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) degrading bacterial community in PAH-contaminated soils. To study the natural role and diversity of the Mycobacterium community in contaminated soils, a culture-independent fingerprinting method based on PCR combined with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was developed. New PCR primers were selected which specifically targeted the 16S rRNA genes of fast-growing mycobacteria, and single-band DGGE profiles of amplicons were obtained for most Mycobacterium strains tested. Strains belonging to the same species revealed identical DGGE fingerprints, and in most cases, but not all, these fingerprints were typical for one species, allowing partial differentiation between species in a Mycobacterium community. Mycobacterium strains inoculated in soil were detected with a detection limit of 106 CFU g−1 of soil using the new primer set as such, or approximately 102 CFU g−1 in a nested PCR approach combining eubacterial and the Mycobacterium specific primers. Using the PCR-DGGE method, different species could be individually recognized in a mixed Mycobacterium community. This approach was used to rapidly assess the Mycobacterium community structure of several PAH-contaminated soils of diverse origin with different overall contamination profiles, pollution concentrations and chemical-physical soil characteristics. In the non-contaminated soil, most of the recovered 16SrRNA gene sequence did not match with previous described PAH-degrading Mycobacterium strains. In most PAH-contaminated soils, mycobacteria were detected whic