Looking inside phytoplasma-infected sieve elements: A combined microscopy approach using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model plant

Phytoplasmas are phloem-inhabiting plant pathogens that affect over one thousand plant species, representing a severe threat to agriculture. The absence of an effective curative strategy and the economic importance of many affected crops make a priority of studying how plants respond to phytoplasma infection. Nevertheless, the study of phytoplasmas has been hindered by the extreme difficulty of culturing them in vitro and by impediments to natural host plant surveys such as low phytoplasma titre, long plant life cycle and poor knowledge of natural host-plant biology. Stating correspondence between macroscopic symptoms of phytoplasma infected Arabidopsis thaliana and those observed in natural host plants, over the last decade some authors have started to use this plant as a model for studying phytoplasma-plant interactions. Nevertheless, the morphological and ultrastructural modifications occurring in A. thaliana tissues following phytoplasma infection have never been described in detail. In this work, we adopted a combined-microscopy approach to verify if A. thaliana can be considered a reliable model for the study of phytoplasma-plant interactions at the microscopical level.The consistent presence of phytoplasma in infected phloem allowed detailed study of the infection process and the relationship established by phytoplasmas with different components of the sieve elements. In infected A. thaliana, phytoplasmas induced strong disturbances of host plant development that were mainly due to phloem disorganization and impairment. Light microscopy showed collapse, necrosis and hyperplasia of phloem cells. TEM observations of sieve elements identified two common plant-responses to phytoplasma infection: phloem protein agglutination and callose deposition.     

X‐ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ni?K edge in Stackhousia tryonii Bailey hyperaccumulator

Young plants of Stackhousia tryonii Bailey were exposed to 34 mM Ni kg^?1 in the form of NiSO₄· 6H₂O solution and grown under controlled glasshouse conditions for a period of 20 days. Fresh leaf, stem and root samples were analysed in vivo by micro x‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Ni? K edge. Both x‐ray absorption near edge structure and extended x‐ray absorption fine structure spectra were analysed, and the resulting spectra were compared with spectra obtained from nine biologically important Ni‐containing model compounds. The results revealed that the majority of leaf, stem and root Ni in the hyperaccumulator was chelated by citrate. Our results also suggest that in leaves Ni is complexed by phosphate and histidine, and in stems and roots, phytate and histidine. The XAS results provide an important physiological insight into transport, detoxification and storage of Ni in S. tryonii plants. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高光谱的矿区植物异常信息提取

白茎绢蒿是一种广泛分布于新疆富蕴县各个矿区的一种植物。在矿区进行矿产勘查时，由于植物等障碍信息的存在，传统的勘查方法已经难以发挥作用，急需一些新方法、新思路。遥感植物地球化学方法可以巧妙地利用植物这一天然的信息源，把植物从障碍信息转换为了有用信息。帮助人们快速、经济地获取植物屏障下的矿产有用信息。由于其具有大面积、快速、无损性等优点，受到了越来越多学者的关注，成为当下的研究热点。近些年虽然有学者综合考虑“吸收系数”和“衬度系数”这两个指标，证明了白茎绢蒿是对隐伏矿床的勘查具有较好指示性作用的植物，生在在矿床上部的植物可以较好的吸收土壤中的成矿元素，在其体内形成地球化学异常，相比于其他植物异常信息更加清晰可见。但是目前没有人研究是否可以从光谱的角度来发现白茎绢蒿体内的地球化学异常，进而为隐伏矿床的勘查提供参考。因此，本研究首次尝试从白茎绢蒿的光谱信息中寻找出与地球化学异常密切相关的特征波段或者特征值, 然后构建基于植物光谱的隐伏矿床预测模型。采取的方法是首先利用ASD FieldSpec3 型光谱仪分别对生长在矿床上部和背景区的植物进行光谱测定，然后从原始光谱、一阶导数光谱、二阶导数光谱、一阶导数的分形维数、二阶导数的分形维数五个层面对生长在这两个区域的植物光谱进行对比分析，最终优选出了10个差异显著的特征波段，分别为：R′₈₂₄，R′₈₃₄，R′_{1 533}，R′_{1 573}，R′_{1 633}，R′_{1 643}，R″_{1 284}，R″_{1 703}，一阶导数的分形维数以及二阶导数的分形维数。这些特征波段可以作为植物地区寻找隐伏矿床的植物地球化学标志。以优选出的10个特征波段作为输入参数，分别用随机森林 (RF)和偏最小二乘-支持向量机(PLS-SVM)构建了基于植物光谱数据的隐伏矿床预测模型。结果表明：(1)两种模型均可以取得较好的效果，但是相比于随机森林模型，偏最小二乘-支持向量机模型具有更好的鲁棒性，泛化能力也更强；(2)利用植物的光谱异常寻找隐伏矿床具有较大的潜力，因为相比于传统方法，更加简单、快速。课题组已经利用动力三角翼和HySpex成像高光谱传感器构建了“超低空探测平台”，可以实现对地“亚米级”的观测。但是如何有效的解决“空间尺度”和“光谱尺度”问题，如何把地面试验场建立的模型更好的应用于超低空探测平台，实现研究区大面积地、快速地植物异常信息提取将是我们下一步的研究重点。     

Synthesis, characterization and analytical applications of Ni(II)-ion imprinted polymer

Ion recognition-based separation techniques have received much attention because of their high selectivity for target ions. In this study, we have prepared a novel ion imprinted polymer (IIP) to remove nickel ions with high selectivity. The imprinted polymer was prepared by copolymerization of 2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate (HEMA) with nickel vinylbenzoate complex in the presence of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a crosslinker. The polymerization was carried out in bulk with free radical initiation using 2-methoxy ethanol as a solvent and porogen. The adsorbed nickel was completely eluted with 15 mL of 1 M HCl. Control polymer was also prepared by similar experimental conditions without using imprint ion. The above synthesized polymers were characterized by surface area measurements, FT-IR, microanalysis and SEM analysis. The adsorption capacity of IIP and CP was found to be 1.51 and 0.65 mmol g⁻¹, respectively. The optimal pH for quantitative enrichment was 6.5. Nature of eluent, eluent concentration and eluent volume were also studied. The relative selectivity factor (α_r) values of Ni(II)/Zn(II), Ni(II)/Cu(II) and Ni(II)/Co(II) were 78.6, 111.1 and 91.6, respectively. Five replicate determinations of 30 μg L⁻¹ of Ni(II) gave a mean absorbance of 0.067 with a relative standard deviation of 1.06%. The lowest concentration determined by GTA-AAS below which the recovery becomes non-quantitative is 6 μg L⁻¹. IIP was tested for removal of Ni(II) from sea water sample.     

Bestimmung der 63Ni-Aktivität in Pflanzenmaterial

A sensitive and simple method for the ⁶³Ni determination in plant material is needed to investigate the Ni uptake by plants and legume nodules, respectively. It could be shown that the liquid scintillation counting after a wet oxidation of the dry matter and resolving the residue in diluted HCl is suitable for this purpose. The method developed is demonstrated using two different ⁶³Ni labelled plant materials. The detection limit amounts to 80 Bq. g^?1 dry matter assuming a counting time of 10 min and a standard deviation of ±3% (95 confidence level).     

PIXE‐based detection of elemental accumulation during direct organogenesis in Blepharispermum subsessile DC.: An endangered medicinal plant of Odisha,India

Particle‐induced X‐ray emission was used to investigate mineral accumulation during different developmental stages of direct organogenesis from cotyledon explants of Blepharispermum subsessile beginning from shoot bud initiation and formation to in vitro regenerated roots. Mineral uptake and accumulation appeared selective and varied between different stages of shoot bud initiation and formation (Stage 1), proliferation of leafy shoots (Stage 2), and in vitro regenerated roots (Stage 3). The concentrations of 2 macro elements, K and Ca, were found in higher quantity during proliferation of shoot buds to leafy shoots stage suggesting their role in cell division, bud formation, and multiplication of the plant. Most of the micronutrients such as Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn were found to be accumulated in higher quantities in in vitro regenerated roots, as they provide the plant with a larger surface area and hence a greater potential for mineral uptake. The results of particle‐induced X‐ray emission test suggest that the information on the accumulation of elements during developmental stages in vitro could be useful for formulating a media for the induction of high‐frequency regeneration of in this important endangered medicinal plant species for its ex situ conservation.     

Application of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry in plant science: Solutions,threats, and opportunities

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is a nondestructive, rapid, simultaneous multi-elemental imaging methodology for plant materials. Its applications are broad and cover most of the elements with varying concentration below the parts per million (ppm). XRF is a well-established atomic spectrometric technique that is also being used as a field portable instrumentation. In recent decades, XRF has been considered a very versatile tool for plant nutrition diagnosis due to its fast and multi-elemental analytical imaging response directly from a solid sample. In this review, we have mainly focused on the recent developments and advancements in XRF spectrometry to analyze plant materials. We have also included the fundamental aspects and instrumentation for XRF spectrometry for its use in plants imaging. We have also covered the use of XRF for vegetal tissues and plant leaves. Mainly, we have briefly focused on some features of sampling procedures and calibration strategies regarding the use of XRF for plant tissues. Microchemical imaging applications by XRF, μ-XRF, μ-SRXRF, and TXRF have been covered for a wide variety of plant tissues such as leaves, roots, stems, and seeds.     

Effect of Pt and Ti on Ni/Ag/(Pt or Ti)/Au p-ohmic contacts of GaN based flip-chip LEDs

In this paper, we report the dependence of Ni/Ag/diffusion barrier (D.B)/Au p-ohmic contact on Pt^D.B and Ti^D.B for GaN based flip-chip light emitting diodes (FC LEDs). It is shown that D.B metals have strongly influenced on the reflectance and contact resistivity of contacts. We present these results are caused by the variation of the morphology and atomic distribution due to D.Bs. The roles of Pt^D.B and Ti^D.B on Ni/Ag/D.B/Au p-GaN ohmic contacts are analyzed using the confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) measurement and the secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) profiles in details.     

Nanocomposites with fumed silica/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) prepared at a low content of solvents

Highly disperse nanocomposites with fumed silica/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) prepared using different methods were studied by infrared spectroscopy, adsorption, and quantum chemistry methods. Low amounts of water or ethanol (30 wt.% with respect to the silica content) promote appropriate distribution of PVP on silica particles. The use of ethanol leads to a smaller loss of the specific surface area (S_BET) than in the case of water used as a solvent. On PVP distribution on a silica surface, treatment of the system in a pseudo-liquid state reactor (PLSR) provides slightly better results (a lower loss in S_BET) in comparison with mechanochemical activation (MCA) in a ball mill at the PVP monolayer coverage. An increase in the activation time to 6-9 h leads to an increase in the |ΔS_BET/S_BET| value to 0.29-0.35 for both treatment methods.     

Effects of gamma irradiation on morphological changes and biological responses in plants

This review discusses the morphological changes and biological responses of plants irradiated with gamma rays. Seedlings exposed to relatively low doses of gamma rays (1-5 Gy) developed normally, while the growth of plants irradiated with a high dose gamma ray (50 Gy) was significantly inhibited. Based on TEM observations, chloroplasts were extremely sensitive to gamma irradiation compared to other cell organelles, particularly thylakoids being heavily swollen. In addition, some portions of the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum were structurally altered, for example, distortion and swelling. The cerium perhydroxide deposition, as a maker for H(2)O(2) deposition, was typically manifest on the plasma membranes and cell walls of the tissues from both the control and irradiated plants. However, the intensities of cerium perhydroxide deposits (CPDs) were remarkably increased in the plasma membranes and cell walls of pumpkin tissues such as petiole, cotyledon, hypocotyl and especially leaf after gamma irradiation. These observations are in good agreement with the results of H(2)O(2) content in all tissues. The immuno-localization analysis for peroxidase (POD) on the tissues from pumpkin plant showed the same pattern between the control and irradiated plants, but the density of gold particles as indication of POD localization was significantly increased on the cell corner middle lamellae of parenchyma cells, especially in the petiole after gamma irradiation. However, accumulation and localization of H(2)O(2) and POD in vessels were not significantly different between both plants. The accumulation and localization of both H(2)O(2) and POD were differentially affected by gamma irradiation depending on the different tissue types. The deposition of both H(2)O(2) and POD in parenchyma cells appeared much higher than in vessels, suggesting that the former is more sensitive than the latter against gamma rays.     

Low power resistive random access memory using interface-engineered dielectric stack of SiOx/a-Si/TiOy with 1D1R-like structure

In this study, we report a resistive random access memory (RRAM) using trilayer SiO_x/a-Si/TiO_y film structure. The low switching energy of <10 pJ, highly uniform current distribution (<13% variation), fast 50-ns speed and stable cycling endurance for 10⁶ cycles are simultaneously achieved in this RRAM device. Such good performance can be ascribed to the use of interface-engineered dielectric stack with 1D1R-like structure. The SiO_x tunnel barrier in contact with top Ni electrode to form diode-like rectifying element not only lowers self-compliance switching currents, but also improves cycling endurance, which is favorable for the application of high-density 3D memory.     

微波消解-火焰原子吸收光谱法测定钢铁厂废旧除尘布袋中重金属

采用微波消解—火焰原子吸收光谱法(FAAS)测定某钢铁公司五种废旧除尘布袋中Cu,Zn,Pb,Cd,Cr,Ni六种重金属元素总量,在国内首次研究了六种消解酸体系对废旧除尘布袋样品中重金属的消解效果。该方法的相对标准偏差(RSD)为1.02%～4.35%,平均回收率为87.7%～105.6%。研究表明,该方法操作简便、快速、准确、重复性好,适合于废旧除尘布袋中重金属含量的测定。试验分析结果表明,应根据不同布袋的特性差异,采用不同的消解体系;不同工序废旧除尘布袋样品中重金属含量差异较大,其中Pb、Zn元素含量最高,Cu,Ni,Cd,Cr等元素的含量相对较低。该测定结果为废旧除尘布袋的进一步处理处置研究提供了科学依据。     

北京城市彩叶系植物秋季高光谱特征研究及差异性分析

北京持续推进增彩延绿科技示范工程,彩叶植物在城市园林建设和人居环境改善方面发挥着越来越重要的作用.如果能够利用高光谱技术实现快速、无损地观测城市彩叶植物区域分布特点及其生长特征变化,可为进一步优化城市彩叶植物布局,加快城市彩叶植物系统建设提供重要理论依据和数据支撑.高光谱遥感技术的快速发展,不仅提供了大量地被植物光谱信...     

Application of Synchrotron X‐Ray Microbeam Spectroscopy to the Determination of Metal Distribution and Speciation in Biological Tissues

Abstract

Resolving the distribution and speciation of metal(loid)s within biological environmental samples is essential for understanding bioavailability, trophic transfer, and environmental risk. We used synchrotron x‐ray microspectroscopy to analyze a range of samples that had been exposed to metal(loid) contamination. Microprobe x‐ray fluorescence elemental mapping (µSXRF) of decomposing rhizosphere microcosms consisting of Ni‐ and U‐contaminated soil planted with wheat (Triticum aestivum) showed the change in Ni and U distribution over a 27‐day period, with a progressive movement of U into decaying tissue. µSXRF maps showed the micrometer‐scale distribution of Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, and U in roots of willow (Salix nigra L.) growing on a former radiological settling pond, with U located outside of the epidermis and Ni inside the cortex. X‐ray computed tomography (CMT) of woody tissue of this same affected willow showed that small points of high Ni fluorescence observed previously are actually a Ni‐rich substance contained within an individual xylem vessel. µSXRF and x‐ray absorption near‐edge spectroscopy (XANES) linked the elevated Se concentrations in sediments of a coal fly ash settling pond with oral deformities of bullfrog tadpoles (Rana catesbeiana). Se distribution was localized within the deformed mouthparts, and with an oxidation state of Se (?II) consistent with organo‐Se compounds, it suggests oral deformities are caused by incorporation of Se into proteins. The range of tissues analyzed in this study highlight the applicability of synchrotron X‐ray microspectroscopic techniques to biological tissues and the study of metal(loid) bioavailability.     

环境扫描电镜及其应用

叙述了环境扫描电镜（ＥＳＥＭ）的成像原理———电子信号气体放大原理及其与常规扫描电镜（ＳＥＭ）的区别，介绍了我国第一台带高温台的ＥＳＥＭ．综述了近年来国外学者应用ＥＳＥＭ开展的一些研究工作．介绍了中国科学院化工冶金研究所应用ＫＹＫＹ１５００型ＥＳＥＭ对金属表面氧化反应中晶须／晶粒生长过程的研究     

Room-temperature magnetic properties of SiC based nanowires synthesized via microwave heating method

Two kinds of ferromagnetic SiC based nanowires with and without Ni catalyst were successfully synthesized by employing microwave heating method. The comprehensive characterizations and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) have been applied to investigate the micro-structures and magnetic properties of as-grown nanowires. For the nanowires synthesized without using Ni catalyst, the diameters and lengths are in the range of 20–60 nm and dozens of micrometers, respectively. Particularly, the results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that the nanowires consist of SiC core and SiO_x shell. The SiC/SiO_x coaxial nanowires exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetism with saturation magnetization (Ms) of 0.2 emu/g. As to the nanowires obtained using Ni catalyst, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicate that the Ni catalyzed nanowires have a nano-particle attached on the tip and a uniform diameter of approximately 50 nm. The vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism can be used to explain the formation of the Ni catalyzed nanowires. The detection result of VSM indicates that the Ni catalyzed nanowires possess the paramagnetism and the ferromagnetism, simultaneously. The enhancement of the ferromagnetism, compared with the SiC/SiO_x coaxial nanowires, could be attributed to the Ni₂Si and NiSi phases.     

Catalytic dechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol by Ni/Fe nanoparticles prepared in the presence of ultrasonic irradiation

In this study, nickle/iron (Ni/Fe) nanoparticles were synthesized by liquid phase reductive method in the presence of 20 kHz ultrasonic irradiation to improve nanoparticles’ disparity and avoid agglomeration. The characterized results showed that this method has obviously modified most of the particles in term of sizes and specific surface areas. Meanwhile, the improved nanoscale Ni/Fe particles were employed for the reductive dechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) as a function of some influential factors (Ni content, Ni/Fe nanoparticles dosage, reaction temperature and initial pH values) and degradation path. Experimental results showed that 2,4-DCP was first adsorbed by Ni/Fe nanoparticles, then quickly reduced to o-chlorophenol (o-CP), p-chlorophenol (p-CP), and finally to phenol (P). The application of ultrasonic irradiation for Ni/Fe nanoparticles synthesis was found to significantly enhance the removal efficiency of 2,4-DCP. Consequently, the phenol production rates increased from 68% (in the absence of ultrasonic irradiation) to 87% (in the presence of ultrasonic irradiation) within 180 min. Nearly 96% of 2,4-DCP was removed after 300 min reaction with these optimized conditions: Ni content over Fe⁰ 3 wt%, initial 2,4-DCP concentration 20 mg L⁻¹, Ni/Fe dosage 3 g L⁻¹, initial pH value 3.0, and reaction temperature 25 °C. The degradation of 2,4-DCP followed pseudo-first-order kinetics reaction and the apparent pseudo-first-order kinetics constant was 0.0737 min⁻¹. This study suggested that the presence of ultrasonic irradiation in the synthesis of nanoscale Ni/Fe particles could be a promising technique to enhance nanoparticle’s disparity and avoid agglomeration.     

Sonoactivated polycrystalline Ni electrodes for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction

The development of cost-effective and active water-splitting electrocatalysts is an essential step toward the realization of sustainable energy. Its success requires an intensive improvement in the kinetics of the anodic half-reaction of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which determines the overall system efficiency to a large extent. In this work, we designed a facile and one-route strategy to activate the surface of metallic nickel (Ni) for the OER in alkaline media by ultrasound (24 kHz, 44 W, 60% acoustic amplitude, ultrasonic horn). Sonoactivated Ni showed enhanced OER activity with a much lower potential at + 10 mA cm⁻² of + 1.594 V vs. RHE after 30 min ultrasonic treatment compared to + 1.617 V vs. RHE before ultrasonication. In addition, lower charge transfer resistance of 11.1 Ω was observed for sonoactivated Ni as compared to 98.5 Ω for non-sonoactivated Ni. In our conditions, ultrasound did not greatly affect the electrochemical surface area (A_ecsa) and Tafel slopes however, the enhancement of OER activity can be due to the formation of free OH^• radicals resulting from cavitation bubbles collapsing at the electrode/electrolyte interface.     

A Gabor subband decomposition ICA and MRF hybrid algorithm for infrared image reconstruction from subpixel shifted sequences

An image blind reconstruction, as a blind source separation problem, has been solved recently by independent component analysis (ICA). Based on ICA theory, in this paper, a high resolution image is reconstructed from low resolution and subpixel shifted sequences captured by infrared microscan imaging system. The algorithm has the attractive feature that neither the prior knowledge of the blur kernel nor the value of subpixel misregistrations between the input channels is required. The statistical independence in the image domain is improved by the multiscale Gabor subband decompositions, which are designed for the best ability to cover the whole spatial frequency and to avoid overlapping between the subbands. The mutual information is employed to locate a subband with the least dependent components. In terms of MAP estimator, we combine the super-Gaussian with Markov random field to form a hybrid image distribution. This strategy helps to estimate the separating matrix reasonable to extract the sources with the image properties, that is, sharp enough as well as correlative in local area. The proposed algorithm is capable of performing high resolution image sources which are not strictly independent, and its viability is proved by the computer simulations and real experiments.     

污水厂出水颗粒态与溶解态有机物的红外和荧光光谱特征

城市污水处理厂出水作为再生水的主要水源,其迥异的物质组成给受纳水体带来潜在环境风险。全面掌握污水厂出水水体中有机物组成及结构信息,将为污水厂提标改造及有毒有害物质排放标准的制定提供理论支撑。采用傅里叶变换红外光谱和三维荧光光谱技术,结合二阶导数光谱及区域积分分析方法,对4个典型城镇污水处理厂(W1,W2,W3,W4)出水水体中颗粒态有机物(POM)与溶解态有机物(DOM)的物质组成及结构差异特征进行了分析。结果显示： 污水处理厂出水中POM主要组分为脂肪类、芳香类、糖类及矿物盐,而DOM主要由有机酸、蛋白质、多肽、糖类及芳香类物质组成。各污水处理厂出水水体POM中,W1芳香类物质较多而矿物盐类等颗粒较少,W2较W1含有更多的糖类物质,W3含较多脂类、蛋白类及糖类,而W4含有芳香类及羧酸物质的有机物较多。水体DOM组成中,W1和W2成分较为类似,主要为芳香性较高的大分子有机酸,其含量分别占总有机物的73.9%和67.7%;W3与W4组成中蛋白、多肽及糖类含量较高,其中类蛋白物质分别占DOM总量的71.3%和53.5%。研究结果表明,采用傅里叶变换红外光谱结合二阶导数分析能很好识别不同污水处理厂出水水体中POM与DOM主要物质组成及结构差异,同时利用区域积分方法对样品三维荧光光谱进行解析,能更进一步定量分析不同来源样品物质组成特征。