Corrigendum to ‘Vermiculations from karst caves: The case of Pertosa-Auletta system (Italy)’. (Catena (2019) 182 (104178) (S0341816219303200), (10.1016/j.catena.2019.104178))

The authors regret the presence of incomplete information in the author affiliations (reported correctly above) and in the acknowledgments of the original article (provided in the amended version below). The authors are obliged to Mr. Vincenzo Manisera, speleologist of the MIdA Foundation, for sharing his experiences and for his invaluable help in all the field activities, to Dr. Sacha A. Berardo (University of Salerno, Italy) for the language editing, and to the two anonymous reviewers, who provided helpful comments and suggestions. Funding was provided by the Spanish project MINECO CGL2016-75590-P with ERDF funds, by the MIdA Foundation, which generously supported the whole project, and by the University of Salerno, which provided facilities for carrying out the research. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused

Geomicrobiology of a seawater-influenced active sulfuric acid cave.

Fetida Cave is an active sulfuric acid cave influenced by seawater, showing abundant microbial communities that organize themselves under three main different morphologies: water filaments, vermiculations and moonmilk deposits. These biofilms/deposits have different cave distribution, pH, macro- and microelement and mineralogical composition, carbon and nitrogen content. In particular, water filaments and vermiculations had circumneutral and slightly acidic pH, respectively, both had abundant organic carbon and high microbial diversity. They were rich in macro- and microelements, deriving from mineral dissolution, and, in the case of water filaments, from seawater composition. Vermiculations had different color, partly associated with their mineralogy, and unusual minerals probably due to trapping capacities. Moonmilk was composed of gypsum, poor in organic matter, had an extremely low pH (0\u20131) and low microbial diversity. Based on 16S rRNA gene analysis, the microbial composition of the biofilms/deposits included autotrophic taxa associated with sulfur and nitrogen cycles and biomineralization processes. In particular, water filaments communities were characterized by bacterial taxa involved in sulfur oxidation and reduction in aquatic, aphotic, microaerophilic/anoxic environments (Campylobacterales, Thiotrichales, Arenicellales, Desulfobacterales, Desulforomonadales) and in chemolithotrophy in marine habitats (Oceanospirillales, Chromatiales). Their biodiversity was linked to the morphology of the water filaments and their collection site. Microbial communities within vermiculations were partly related to their color and showed high abundance of unclassified Betaproteobacteria and sulfur-oxidizing Hydrogenophilales (including Sulfuriferula), and Acidiferrobacterales (including Sulfurifustis), sulfur-reducing Desulfurellales, and ammonia-oxidizing Planctomycetes and Nitrospirae. The microbial community associated with gypsum moonmilk showed the strong dominance (>60%) of the archaeal genus Thermoplasma and lower abundance of chemolithotrophic Acidithiobacillus, metal-oxidizing Metallibacterium, Sulfobacillus, and Acidibacillus. This study describes the geomicrobiology of water filaments, vermiculations and gypsum moonmilk from Fetida Cave, providing insights into the microbial taxa that characterize each morphology and contribute to biogeochemical cycles and speleogenesis of this peculiar seawater-influenced sulfuric acid cave

Wilson Disease Protein ATP7B Utilizes Lysosomal Exocytosis to Maintain Copper Homeostasis

SummaryCopper is an essential yet toxic metal and its overload causes Wilson disease, a disorder due to mutations in copper transporter ATP7B. To remove excess copper into the bile, ATP7B traffics toward canalicular area of hepatocytes. However, the trafficking mechanisms of ATP7B remain elusive. Here, we show that, in response to elevated copper, ATP7B moves from the Golgi to lysosomes and imports metal into their lumen. ATP7B enables lysosomes to undergo exocytosis through the interaction with p62 subunit of dynactin that allows lysosome translocation toward the canalicular pole of hepatocytes. Activation of lysosomal exocytosis stimulates copper clearance from the hepatocytes and rescues the most frequent Wilson-disease-causing ATP7B mutant to the appropriate functional site. Our findings indicate that lysosomes serve as an important intermediate in ATP7B trafficking, whereas lysosomal exocytosis operates as an integral process in copper excretion and hence can be targeted for therapeutic approaches to combat Wilson disease

Improved isolation of cadmium from paddy soil by novel technology based on pore water drainage with graphite-contained electro-kinetic geosynthetics

Novel soil remediation equipment based on electro-kinetic geosynthetics (EKG) was developed for in situ isolation of metals from paddy soil. Two mutually independent field plot experiments A and B (with and without electric current applied) were conducted. After saturation using ferric chloride (FeCl3) and calcium chloride (CaCl2), soil water drainage capacity, soil cadmium (Cd) removal performance, energy consumption as well as soil residual of iron (Fe) and chloride (Cl) were assessed. Cadmium dissolved in the soil matrix and resulted in a 100% increase of diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) extracted phyto-available Cd. The total soil Cd content reductions were 15.20% and 26.58% for groups A and B, respectively, and electric field applications resulted in a 74.87% increase of soil total Cd removal. The electric energy consumption was only 2.17 kWh/m3 for group B. Drainage by gravity contributed to > 90% of the overall soil dewatering capacity. Compared to conventional electro-kinetic technology, excellent and fast soil water drainage resulted in negligible hydrogen ion (H+) and hydroxide ion (OH−) accumulation at nearby electrode zones, which addressed the challenge of anode corrosion and cathode precipitation of soil metals. External addition of FeCl3 and CaCl2 caused soil Fe and Cl residuals and led to 4.33–7.59% and 139–172% acceptable augments in soil total Fe and Cl content, correspondingly, if compared to original untreated soils. Therefore, the novel soil remediation equipment developed based on EKG can be regarded as a promising new in situ technology for thoroughly isolating metals from large-scale paddy soil fields

Phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated sites: Eco-environmental concerns, field studies, sustainability issues and future prospects

Environmental contamination due to heavy metals (HMs) is of serious ecotoxicological concern worldwide because of their increasing use at industries. Due to non-biodegradable and persistent nature, HMs cause serious soil/water pollution and severe health hazards in living beings upon exposure. HMs can be genotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic in nature even at low concentration. They may also act as endocrine disruptors and induce developmental as well as neurological disorders and thus, their removal from our natural environment is crucial for the rehabilitation of contaminated sites. To cope with HM pollution, phytoremediation has emerged as a low-cost and eco-sustainable solution to conventional physico-chemical cleanup methods that require high capital investment and labor alter soil properties and disturb soil microflora. Phytoremediation is a green technology wherein plants and associated microbes are used to remediate HM-contaminated sites to safeguard the environment and protect public health. Hence, in view of the above, the present paper aims to examine the feasibility of phytoremediation as a sustainable remediation technology for the management of metals-contaminated sites. Therefore, this paper provides an in-depth review on both the conventional and novel phytoremediation approaches, evaluate their efficacy to remove toxic metals from our natural environment, explore current scientific progresses, field experiences and sustainability issues and revise world over trends in phytoremediation research for its wider recognition and public acceptance as a sustainable remediation technology for the management of contaminated sites in 21st century

Plant-mediated coupling between karst hydrogeology and element dynamics in groundwater dependent ecosystems

Imbalances between fluxes entering and exiting ecosystem components induce complex ecological dynamics and differential allocations of matter - a process exemplified by plants with their accumulation capabilities, affecting the dynamics of elements and their redistribution across trophic levels. At the interface between different ecosystems, such as underground and groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), their role as integrators and reservoirs of elements may affect system coupling, with the emergence of unique behaviours. Through the study of 19 nutrients and non-essential elements in water, sediments and plants of two pristine freshwater ecosystems of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano (southern Italy), we shed light on the unique interaction between complex karst systems and their GDEs. Indeed, karst flushing and piston-flow effects induce the release of short pulses of water with high concentrations of several elements, especially Cd, Cr, Ni and Zn. Pulses are undetectable in water and do not induce variations in total and bioavailable concentrations in sediments, but elements are accumulated by plants resulting in concentrations several-fold higher than in heavily contaminated rivers. Transient changes in element concentrations can thus affect, through element transfer in trophic webs, GDEs ecological dynamics at longer temporal and spatial scales

Occurrence of Chara spp. in the Bussento and Calore rivers of the “Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni” National Park (Salerno, southern Italy)

Charophyte are freshwater algae constituting the monophyletic clade in which land plants evolved (1). The Italian flora, according to the most recent revision (2), includes 33 species belonging to 6 genera: Chara, Lamprothamnium, Lycnothamnus, Nitella, Nitellopsis and Tolypella. Species distributional data, however, are often incomplete and outdated, especially for the Campania region, where only 3 species (Chara intermedia A.Braun, Ch. braunii C.C.Gmel., Lamprothamnium papulosum J.Groves) were historically reported (2). With the aim to contribute to the understanding of the Charophyte flora of the “Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni” National Park, the largest protected area in Campania and one of the largest in Italy, extensive field surveys were carried out during the years 2016-2018 on the two main river systems of the area: the Bussento and the Calore Salernitano. Overall, 8 populations belonging to 4 taxa were observed, encompassing 3 species new for the Campania region (Ch. vulgaris L., Ch. gymnophylla A. Braun, Ch. globularis Thuill.) and one new infraspecific taxon for the Italian flora (Ch. vulgaris var. papillata K.Wallroth). Detailed analyses of each population, involving morphological (number of branches and branch segments, cortication, size of internodes, branch segments, spines, stipuloides, oogonia), biochemical (photosynthetic pigments, nitrogen balance index), and physiological (fluorescence parameters, carbonate encrustation) traits were performed in order to evaluate population variability and differentiation. The occurrence of most of the observed taxa in rivers, instead of the lentic systems usually colonized, further expands our understanding of the ecology of this peculiar and evolutionary pivotal group of algae. 1) J. De Vries, J.M. Archibald (2018) New Phytol., 217, 1428-1434 2) G. Bazzichelli, N. Abdelahad (2008) Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mar

The Unravelled Voting Algorithm: a novel framework to investigate the spatial organization of ecological systems

The identification of spatial scales is a fundamental topic in ecology, commonly addressed through multiscale analyses like the Moran's Eigenvector Maps (MEMs). This technique entails the derivation of scales through the definition of a model of spatial organization, i.e. of the spatial relationships among the elements of ecological systems. Defining the spatial organization model is highly nontrivial, but has fundamental implications for both the technical implementation of the analysis and, most importantly, the ecological understanding of the system. To address this issue, we developed the Unravelled Voting Algorithm (UVA), a novel paradigm and analytical framework based on MEMs, to investigate the spatial organization and scales of ecological systems. UVA revolves on three key points: i) consensus in moving from the univariate to the multivariate domain, ii) post-selection inference, iii) rank-based techniques. Its performances were evaluated, through simulations and real data, in terms of accuracy in identifying the spatial organization model and scales, computational costs and flexibility. UVA demonstrated an outstanding accuracy in recognizing both the spatial organization model and the spatial scales, and can be used with signal-to-noise ratios as low as ≈ 0.5. The current implementation for the R programming language can already attain ×50 faster computation time than related procedures, with far superior accuracy. The generation of novel non-spatial attributes, coding the relative preference of each element of the ecological system toward different spatial organization models, allows exploring the relative variations in spatial patterns. UVA defines a modular framework setting new standards in the investigation of spatial organization and scales of ecological systems. Its flexibility makes it adaptable to any analytical requirement, open to large improvements and future-proof. On top of its outstanding accuracy, it paves the way to the analysis of the variations in patterns and scales among the elements of ecological systems