Applying enzymatic biocatalysts based on hexahistidine-containing organophosphorus hydrolase (His₆-OPH) is suggested for the decomposition of chlorpyrifos, which is actively used in agriculture in many countries. The application conditions were optimized and the following techniques was suggested to ensure the highest efficiency of the enzyme: first, the soil is alkalinized with hydrated calcit...

Chlor-alkali plants are known to be an important source of Hg emissions to the atmosphere and related contamination of soils in their vicinity. In the present study, the results of Hg speciation and mobility of Hg in soils affected by Hg emissions from three chlor-alkali plants are compared. Solid phase mercury speciation analyses was carried out using a mercury-thermo-desorption technique with...

Problem statement: For a number of geological reasons a proportion of the present coastal plains in the Malay Peninsula were inundated by seawater in the past when pyrite in some of the soils is believed to have been mineralized. Random survey of these sites showed a unique distribution and depth of pyritic layer in the soils along the coastal plains. A study was conducted in order to explain t...

BACKGROUND Identifying organism-environment interactions at the molecular level is crucial to understanding how organisms adapt to and change the chemical and molecular landscape of their habitats. In this work we investigated whether relative amino acid compositions could be used as a molecular signature of an environment and whether such a signature could also be observed at the level of the ...

Until recently, the scientific consensus has been that acid-rain-watershed interactions are those of processes which predominate in deep, well-drained mineral soil and the waters derived from them. In such watersheds alkaline minerals dissolve to naturally impart alkalinity to surface waters and normally acid components in rain would be neutralized. Furthermore, the sulfate of the sulfuric acid...

Streptomyces albulus PD-1, a productive strain for epsilon-poly-l-lysine and poly-l-diaminopropionic acid, was isolated from soils. We present the genome sequence of S. albulus PD-1, which may provide abundant information regarding the production of epsilon-poly-l-lysine and poly-l-diaminopropionic acid.

BACKGROUND Speciation analysis is essential when evaluating risks from arsenic (As) exposure. In an oral exposure scenario, the importance of presystemic metabolism by gut microorganisms has been evidenced with in vivo animal models and in vitro experiments with animal microbiota. However, it is unclear whether human microbiota display similar As metabolism, especially when present in a contami...

Subtropical ecosystems are often characterized by high N cycling rates, but net nitrification rates are often low in subtropical acid soils. NO3(-)-N immobilization into organic N may be a contributing factor to understand the observed low net nitrification rates in these acid soils. The effects of Fe oxide and organic matter on soil N transformations were evaluated using a (15)N tracing study....

Decades of acid rain have acidified forest soils and freshwaters throughout montane forests of the northeastern United States; the resulting loss of soil base cations is hypothesized to be responsible for limiting rates of forest growth throughout the region. In 1999, an experiment was conducted that reversed the long-term trend of soil base cation depletion and tested the hypothesis that calci...

The aluminum (Al) cation Al(3) (+) is highly rhizotoxic and is a major stress factor to plants on acid soils, which cover large areas of tropical and boreal regions. Many woody plant species are native to acid soils and are well adapted to high Al(3) (+) conditions. In tropical regions, both woody Al accumulator and non-Al accumulator plants occur, whereas in boreal regions woody plants are non...