ALBERT

Description: Meiobenthos densities and higher taxon composition were studied in an active gas seepage area at depths from 182 to 252 m in the submarine Dnieper Canyon located in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. The meiobenthos was represented by Ciliata, Foraminifera, Nematoda, Polychaeta, Bivalvia, Gastropoda, Amphipoda, and Acarina. Also present in the sediment samples were juvenile stages of Copepoda and Cladocera which may be of planktonic origin. Nematoda and Foraminifera were the dominant groups. The abundance of the meiobenthos varied between 2397 and 52,593 ind.·m−2. Maximum densities of Nematoda and Foraminifera were recorded in the upper sediment layer of a permanent H2S zone at depths from 220 to 250 m. This dense concentration of meiobenthos was found in an area where intense methane seeps were covered by methane-oxidizing microbial mats. Results suggest that methane and its microbial oxidation products are the factors responsible for the presence of a highly sulfidic and biologically productive zone characterized by specially adapted benthic groups. At the same time, an inverse correlation was found between meiofauna densities and methane concentrations in the uppermost sediment layers. The hypothesis is that the concentration of Nematoda and Foraminifera within the areas enriched with methane is an ecological compromise between the food requirements of these organisms and their adaptations to the toxic H2S.

Description: Diosmetin, 5,7,3′-trihydroxy-4′-methoxyflavone shows chemopreventive, antimutagenic, and antiallergic effects. On the other hand, chrysoeriol, 5,7,4′-trihydroxy-3′-methoxyflavone induced nodABC-lacZ in Rhizobium meliloti. Both of them belong to hydroxymethoxy- flavones. One major difference between diosmetin and chrysoeriol is the substituted position of hydroxyl and methoxyl groups. In order to elucidate the relationships between their structures and activity, one of the first things to be done is the determination of their structures. However, most flavones occur widely in nature, and thus it is difficult to obtain in sufficient amounts from natural sources to identify their structures. Assignments of NMR data of several hydroxymethoxyflavones may help us to identify novel flavonoid compounds isolated from natural sources based on their NMR experiments. Therefore, we report here the complete assignments of 1H and 13C NMR data of 13 hydroxymethoxyflavones.

Description: Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a high spatial resolution analytical method which has been applied to the analysis of silicic tephras. With current instrumentation, around 30 trace elements can be determined from single glass shards as small as ∼ 40 µm, separated from tephra deposits. As a result of element fractionation during the ablation process using a 266 nm laser, a relatively complex calibration strategy is required. Nonetheless, such a strategy gives analyses which are accurate (typically within ±5%) and have an analytical precision which varies from ∼ ±2% at 100 ppm, to ∼ ±15% at 1 ppm. Detection limits for elements used in correlation and discrimination studies are well below 1 ppm. Examples of the application of trace element analysis by LA-ICP-MS in tephra studies are presented from the USA, New Zealand and the Mediterranean. Improvements in instrumental sensitivity in recent years have the potential to lower detection limits and improve analytical precision, thus allowing the analysis of smaller glass shards from more distal tephras. Laser systems operating at shorter wavelengths (e.g. 193 nm) are now more widely available, and produce a much more controllable ablation in glasses than 266 nm lasers. Crater sizes of 〈10 µm are easily achieved, and at 193 nm many of the elemental fractionation issues which mar longer wavelengths are overcome. By coupling a short wavelength laser to a modern ICP-MS it should be possible to determine the trace element composition of glass shards as small as 20 µm and, providing sample preparation issues can be overcome, the determination of the more abundant trace elements in glass shards as small as 10 µm is within instrumental capabilities. This will make it possible to chemically fingerprint tephra deposits which are far from their sources, and will greatly extend the range over which geochemical correlation of tephras can be undertaken.

Description: Metabolomics offers great potential for understanding the metabolic consequences of exposure to chemicals and other stressors in the environment. Biological systems encompass humans exposed to chemicals in the environment as well as the diverse organisms inhabiting an ecosystem and exposed to environmental contaminants. An overall goal of environmental metabolomics is to understand what is metabolomically “normal” or adaptive and what constitutes a threat to human health and the environment.

Description: Natural communities are constantly changing due to a variety of interacting external processes and the temporal occurrence and intensity of these processes can have important implications for the diversity and structure of marine sessile assemblages. In this study, we investigated the effects of temporal variation in a disturbance regime, as well as the specific timing of events within different regimes, on the composition and diversity of marine subtidal fouling assemblages. We did this in a multi-factorial experiment using artificial settlement tiles deployed at two sites on the North East coast of England. We found that although there were significant effects of disturbances on the composition of assemblages, there were no effects of either the variation in the disturbance regime or the specific timing of events on the diversity or assemblage composition at either site. In contrast to recent implications we conclude that in marine fouling assemblages, the variability in disturbance regimes (as a driving force) is unimportant, while disturbance itself is an important force for structuring robust ecosystems.

Description: Anthecularin (1), a minor sesquiterpene lactone with a novel ring system was isolated from Greek Anthemis auriculata (Asteraceae). Its structure was elucidated by means of NMR, HRMS, and X-ray crystallography. Anthecularin showed antitrypanosomal (IC50 = 10.1 μg/mL) and antiplasmodial activity (IC50 = 23.3 μg/mL) and inhibited two key enzymes of the plasmodial type II fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, PfFabI and PfFabG (IC50 values = 14 and 28.3 μg/mL, respectively). A probable biogenesis of 1 is also proposed and discussed.

Description: The water-soluble part of the methanolic extract from the aerial parts of Scrophularia crypthophila, through chromatographic methods, yielded three new resin glycosides, crypthophilic acids A−C (1−3). Compounds 1−3 are tetraglycosides of (+)-3S,12S-dihydroxypalmitic acid. The structures of these and 10 known compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical means. All natural resin glycosides known so far have been obtained from Convolvulaceae plants; this is the first report of such glycosides from another, taxonomically unrelated family (Scrophulariaceae).

Description: Significant changes have occurred in the anthropogenic emissions of many compounds related to the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols within the past 20 years and many of their atmospheric abundances have responded dramatically. Additionally, there are a number of related natural compounds with underdetermined source or sink budgets. A new instrument, Medusa, was developed to make the high frequency in situ measurements required for the determination of the atmospheric lifetimes and emissions of these compounds. This automated system measures a wide range of halocarbons, hydrocarbons, and sulfur compounds involved in ozone depletion and/or climate forcing, from the very volatile perfluorocarbons (PFCs, e.g., CF4 and CF3CF3) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs, e.g., CH3CF3) to the higher-boiling point solvents (such as CH3CCl3 and CCl2CCl2) and CHBr3. A network of Medusa systems worldwide provides 12 in situ ambient air measurements per day of more than 38 compounds of part per trillion mole fractions and precisions up to 0.1% RSD at the five remote field stations operated by the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE). This custom system couples gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MSD) with a novel scheme for cryogen-free low-temperature preconcentration (−165 °C) of analytes from 2 L samples in a two-trap process using HayeSep D adsorbent.