scholarly journals Ozone damage, detoxification and the role of isoprenoids – new impetus for integrated models

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Supriya Tiwari ◽  
Rüdiger Grote ◽  
Galina Churkina ◽  
Tim Butler

High concentrations of ozone (O3) can have significant impacts on the health and productivity of agricultural and forest ecosystems, leading to significant economic losses. In order to estimate this impact under a wide range of environmental conditions, the mechanisms of O3 impacts on physiological and biochemical processes have been intensively investigated. This includes the impact on stomatal conductance, the formation of reactive oxygen species and their effects on enzymes and membranes, as well as several induced and constitutive defence responses. This review summarises these processes, discusses their importance for O3 damage scenarios and assesses to which degree this knowledge is currently used in ecosystem models which are applied for impact analyses. We found that even in highly sophisticated models, feedbacks affecting regulation, detoxification capacity and vulnerability are generally not considered. This implies that O3 inflicted alterations in carbon and water balances cannot be sufficiently well described to cover immediate plant responses under changing environmental conditions. Therefore, we suggest conceptual models that link the depicted feedbacks to available process-based descriptions of stomatal conductance, photosynthesis and isoprenoid formation, particularly the linkage to isoprenoid models opens up new options for describing biosphere-atmosphere interactions.

2002 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 475-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHARLES KELLY

The linkages between disaster and environmental damage are recognized as important to predicting, preventing and mitigating the impact of disasters. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures are well developed for non-ndisaster situations. However, they are conceptually and operationally inappropriate for use in disaster conditions, particularly in the first 120 days after the disaster has begun. The paper provides a conceptual overview of the requirements for an environmental impact assessment procedure appropriate for disaster conditions. These requirements are captured in guidelines for a Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (REA) for use in disasters. The REA guides the collection and assessment of a wide range of factors which can indicate: (1) the negative impacts of a disaster on the environment, (2) the impacts of environmental conditions on the magnitude of a disaster and, (3) the positive or negative impacts of relief efforts on environmental conditions. The REA also provides a foundation for recovery program EIAs, thus improving the overall post disaster recovery process. The REA is designed primarily for relief cadres, but is also expected to be usable as an assessment tool with disaster victims. The paper discusses the field testing of the REA under actual disaster conditions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elie Dhivert ◽  
François Gibon ◽  
Karine Hochart ◽  
Bertrand Devillers

<p>In application of the EU Water Framework Directive, many actions have been undertaken in order to reduce pollution levels in river systems. However, for certain catchments, the resilience process is not occurring as expected. In the Bienne River basin, metals discharge has plummeted since the 1990s, following the implementation of a better industrial waste management, as well as an important industrial restructuring. Nevertheless, this river has been regularly affected by massive fish mortality over the 2012-2019 period. This phenomenon, never identified before, is becoming recurrent. Organic tissues sampled in dead fish contained high concentrations of metals in association with other toxics. In this context, this study introduces a transdisciplinary approach in order to: (i) analyse spatial and temporal evolutions of pollutions in the Bienne River, (ii) evaluate potential ecotoxicological impacts associated, (iii) identify interactions with local hydro-climatic changes. Metallic and organic pollutants were analysed over different stations and at multi-temporal scales, associating sedimentary archives, suspended matters and passive water samplers. These analyses highlight the impact on the river quality of both current and legacy pollutions, particularly during prolonged low-water periods and high discharge events. Ecotoxicological analyses emphasize a severe risk level in the case of polluted sediments remobilization, especially because of heavy metals and PAH contamination. Geochemical evidence of such remobilization events has been recorded over the last decade in a sedimentary core sampled in the downstream part of the Bienne River. Hydrological data recorded in the Bienne River gauging stations since 1971 attests of an important year-to-year variability, although changes in the river discharge distribution are ongoing. Data has shown a higher frequency of both the lowest and the highest outflows over the 2012-2019 period compared to the rest of the hydrological recording. Hydro-climatic variables coming from in-situ measurements and satellite data (GPM-IMERG6) has also shown significant modifications in the rainfall regime over this period, especially in the augmentation of dry spells and heavy rainfall episodes. Those modifications agree well with the discharge change observations. This study brings out knock-on impacts of combined geochemical, ecotoxicological and hydro-sedimentary issues on the fate of aquatic ecosystems, especially under the influence of local hydro-climatic changes and their implications on hydrological regimes. Those results aim at reducing uncertainties concerning the evolution of the river quality by highlighting such a tipping point for environmental conditions. In addition, such a study helps us to grasp the complexity of local stakes regarding the multiple interests of a wide range of stakeholders and policy makers involved on the field.</p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 951-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Schwarzauer-Rockett ◽  
Safaa H. Al-Hamdani ◽  
James R. Rayburn ◽  
Nixon O. Mwebi

Schwarzauer-Rockett, K., Al-Hamdani, S. H., Rayburn, J. R. and Mwebi, N. O. 2013. Utilization of kudzu as a lead phytoremediator and the impact of lead on selected physiological responses. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 951–959. This study was carried out to evaluate kudzu [Pueraria montana var. lobata (Willd.)] in lead phytoremediation. The impact of lead (PbNO3) concentrations of 100 and 200 mg L−1 on plant growth, photosynthetic pigments, photosynthesis, and stomatal conductance were evaluated. Additionally, concentrations of phenolic compounds and anthocyanin were determined. The lead was dissolved in 0.142 g L−1 ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and an EDTA control treatment was added to evaluate the impact of EDTA on the above selected plant responses. Root accumulation of lead was significantly higher than in the shoot. Kudzu growth in response to the presence of lead and EDTA in the Hoagland's solution was similar to that of the EDTA control, except for plants growing at 200 mg L−1, which showed significantly lower root dry weight. Total phenolic compounds increased with the presence of EDTA and lead in the Hoagland's solution. Photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, carotenoids, and anthocyanin were not different (P≤0.05) among the treatments, with the exception that carotenoids were significantly higher in plants growing in the presence of EDTA without lead compared with 200 mg L−1 lead concentration. Kudzu accumulated most of the lead in the root and therefore can be considered as a rhizofiltrator. As kudzu was able to accumulate 1.02% (wt/wt) of lead it can be considered a hyper-accumulator.


2021 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 534-541
Author(s):  
Vladimir Zubov ◽  
Dmitrii Golubev

Spontaneous combustion of coal remains an important problem for coal mines, which can lead to an explosion of methane and coal dust. Accidents associated with spontaneous combustion of coal can cause significant economic losses to coal mining companies, as well as entail social damage – injuries and loss of life. Accidents are known at the Kuzbass mines, which occurred as a result of negligent attitude to the danger of spontaneous combustion of coal, the victims of which were dozens of people. The analysis of emergency situations associated with spontaneous combustion of coal shows that the existing wide range of means of preventing endogenous fires does not provide complete safety when working out coal seams prone to spontaneous combustion, therefore, spontaneous combustion places continue to occur in mines. The consequences that may arise as a result of a methane explosion initiated by a self-ignition place indicate the need to improve the used technologies. The purpose of the work is to determine the impact of modern technological solutions used in functioning mines during underground mining of flat-lying coal seams prone to spontaneous combustion, and to develop new solutions that reduce endogenous fire hazard. Conclusions on the influence of leaving coal pillars in the developed space, isolated air removal from the stoping face through the developed space, the length of the stoping face and the excavation pillar, and other factors on the danger of the formation of spontaneous combustion places are presented. Conclusions about the possibility of using modern technological solutions in future are also drawn.


Plant Disease ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (7) ◽  
pp. 1189-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Mondello ◽  
Aurélie Songy ◽  
Enrico Battiston ◽  
Catia Pinto ◽  
Cindy Coppin ◽  
...  

Grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) represent one of the most important problems for viticulture worldwide. Beyond the original causes of this outbreak in some countries like France, the lack of efficient control protocols and the prohibition of using active ingredients such as sodium arsenite and benzimidazoles, until recently used to reduce the impact of some GTDs but deleterious for humans and the environment, have probably worsened the impact of the diseases, leading to increasing economic losses. Since 1990, searches have been made to find efficient tools to control GTDs, testing a wide range of active ingredients and biocontrol agents. This review provides readers with an overview of the results reported in the scientific literature over the last 15 years. In particular, the review focuses on the trials carried out applying chemicals or microorganisms to control Esca complex diseases, Botryosphaeria dieback, and Eutypa dieback, the most widespread GTDs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (13) ◽  
pp. 3803-3815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Begoña Renau-Morata ◽  
Laura Carrillo ◽  
Jose Dominguez-Figueroa ◽  
Jesús Vicente-Carbajosa ◽  
Rosa V Molina ◽  
...  

Abstract In terrestrial environments, water and nutrient availabilities and temperature conditions are highly variable, and especially in extreme environments limit survival, growth, and reproduction of plants. To sustain growth and maintain cell integrity under unfavourable environmental conditions, plants have developed a variety of biochemical and physiological mechanisms, orchestrated by a large set of stress-responsive genes and a complex network of transcription factors. Recently, cycling DOF factors (CDFs), a group of plant-specific transcription factors (TFs), were identified as components of the transcriptional regulatory networks involved in the control of abiotic stress responses. The majority of the members of this TF family are activated in response to a wide range of adverse environmental conditions in different plant species. CDFs regulate different aspects of plant growth and development such as photoperiodic flowering-time control and root and shoot growth. While most of the functional characterization of CDFs has been reported in Arabidopsis, recent data suggest that their diverse roles extend to other plant species. In this review, we integrate information related to structure and functions of CDFs in plants, with special emphasis on their role in plant responses to adverse environmental conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Rienth ◽  
Nicolas Vigneron ◽  
Robert P. Walker ◽  
Simone Diego Castellarin ◽  
Crystal Sweetman ◽  
...  

The grapevine is subject to high number of fungal and viral diseases, which are responsible for important economic losses in the global wine sector every year. These pathogens deteriorate grapevine berry quality either directly via the modulation of fruit metabolic pathways and the production of endogenous compounds associated with bad taste and/or flavor, or indirectly via their impact on vine physiology. The most common and devastating fungal diseases in viticulture are gray mold, downy mildew (DM), and powdery mildew (PM), caused, respectively by Botrytis cinerea, Plasmopara viticola, and Erysiphe necator. Whereas B. cinerea mainly infects and deteriorates the ripening fruit directly, deteriorations by DM and PM are mostly indirect via a reduction of photosynthetic leaf area. Nevertheless, mildews can also infect berries at certain developmental stages and directly alter fruit quality via the biosynthesis of unpleasant flavor compounds that impair ultimate wine quality. The grapevine is furthermore host of a wide range of viruses that reduce vine longevity, productivity and berry quality in different ways. The most widespread virus-related diseases, that are known nowadays, are Grapevine Leafroll Disease (GLRD), Grapevine Fanleaf Disease (GFLD), and the more recently characterized grapevine red blotch disease (GRBD). Future climatic conditions are creating a more favorable environment for the proliferation of most virus-insect vectors, so the spread of virus-related diseases is expected to increase in most wine-growing regions. However, the impact of climate change on the evolution of fungal disease pressure will be variable and depending on region and pathogen, with mildews remaining certainly the major phytosanitary threat in most regions because their development rate is to a large extent temperature-driven. This paper aims to provide a review of published literature on most important grapevine fungal and viral pathogens and their impact on grape berry physiology and quality. Our overview of the published literature highlights gaps in our understanding of plant-pathogen interactions, which are valuable for conceiving future research programs dealing with the different pathogens and their impacts on grapevine berry quality and metabolism.


1989 ◽  
Vol 237 (1288) ◽  
pp. 347-362 ◽  

In the digestive glands of gastropod molluscs, metals are metabolized in the sense that they are subject to inorganic biochemical processes within the epithelial cells and lumen of the digestive tubules and the pore cells in the intervening connective tissue. These systems have been examined in the tower shell Cerithium vulgatum Bruguieres, a sediment feeder, the top shell Monodonta articulata Lam., a grazing herbivore, and in the whelk Murex trunculus L., a carnivore whose prey includes Cerithium . These animals were taken from a Mediterranean environment polluted by heavy metals. In all three species the metals are compartmentalized within mineralized granules as phosphates and within lysosomal residual bodies in association with sulphur. However, the extent to which a particular metal is accumulated and the relative proportions that are bound within the different compartments are factors that are primarily determined by the species and not the concentration available in the environment. Thus Cerithium accumulates high concentrations of a wide range of metals from the ingested sediment and these are rendered insoluble and non-toxic in the digestive gland. This unavailability is transferred to Murex when it eats Cerithium because Murex does not accumulate the full range of metals from its prey. Indeed, for some metals there appears to be bioreduction rather than bioamplification. The grazing herbivore Monodonta articulata accumulates a third distinct spectrum of metals. The accumulations in each species do not reflect the levels of all the metals in the environment. The presence of metals in the digestive glands is associated with the removal of magnesium from the phosphate granules but also with an increase in the concentration of magnesium in the tissue. It is proposed that metals induce the formation of magnesium phosphate as a source of metal-binding phosphate ions.


Author(s):  
Viera S. Mackievic ◽  
Siarhej M. Zvanarou ◽  
Artur A. Shyker ◽  
Oksana A. Turovets ◽  
Ihar I. Smolich ◽  
...  

Globally, about 30 % of all soils are damaged by salinity. Salinity leads to lower productivity of agro- and biocenosis, a decline in biodiversity and, as a result, significant economic losses. For the most important oil culture – sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), primary reactions to salt stress are almost unexplored. This paper analyzes the impact of a wide range of NaCl concentrations on the growth of the main root of sunflower sprouts and the development of programmed cell death processes in trichoblasts. Experiments have shown that sunflower plants are relatively resistant to salinity (NaCl). They were able to grow at the level up to NaCl 250 mmol/L in the environment. Significant symptoms of programmed cell death were detected only at high concentrations of NaCl 250 –500 mmol/L. Previously undescribed in the literature, the reaction of reducing the number of symptoms of programmed cell death under150 mmol/L NaCl treatment (medium salt stress level for sunflower) was determined. An inhibitory analysis of the NaCl-induced potassium flux showed that it was only 15 % inhibited by specific potassium channel antagonists (Ba2+ ). This indicates a low proportion of potassium channels and the dominant role of non-selective cation channels in providing NaCl-induced potassium loss in Helianthus annuus L. plants.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
David Soba Hidalgo

The leguminosae are second to cereal crops in agricultural importance based on area and total production, covering 14% of the cultivated land. Within the current and near future context, legume production is threatened by various abiotic stresses associated with climate change, which are expected to increase in number and severity during the following decades. Due to the important challenge to food security, it is important to understand how future legume crops can be bred to withstand adverse environmental conditions. The overall aim of this thesis is to gain further insights on the mechanisms involved in legume response to environmental conditions ([CO2], drought and temperature) through the integrated investigation of biomass, physiological and biochemical processes and the levels of metabolites and other compounds of the plants.


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