Qiang Li

‘Albedo bluing’ of fruits occurs in many varieties of citrus, resulting in a significant reduction in their commercial value. We first presented a breakthrough method for successfully extracting and purifying the ‘albedo bluing’ substance (ABS) from citrus fruits, resulting in the attainment of highly purified ABS. Then, HPLC and UPLC-QTOF-MS were used to prove that ABS in the fruits of three citrus varieties (Citrus reticulate Blanco cv. ‘Gonggan’, ‘Orah’, and ‘Mashuiju’) are identical. However, the chemical structure of ABS remains elusive for many reasons. Fortunately, a more stable derivative of ABS (ABS-D) was successfully obtained. Through various analytical techniques such as HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, and chemical shift calculation, ABS-D was identified as 2,4-dihydroxy-6-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)phenyl(5,6-dihydroxy-7-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)methanone, indicating that both ABS and its derivative belong to a rare category of benzothiazole glucosides. Furthermore, both ABS and ABS-D demonstrated potent antioxidant abilities. These findings lay the groundwork for further elucidating the chemical structure of ABS and the causative mechanism of the ‘albedo bluing’ phenomenon in citrus fruits.

Acorus calamus L. is a common kind of wetland plant species in the Three Gorges Reservoir. In this study, we investigated the influence of perennial flooding on growth restoration of A. calamus in the lightless conditions and the drought stress on this plant species' growth after flooding. Our research provided the scientific basis for the selection of candidate species for vegetations restoration in water-level-fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir. A. calamus plants were exposed to waters in the lightless conditions in September 2009 and September 2010 respectively and taken away from the waters and grew in natural conditions in the following March, April and May (named as S1, S2, S3). All plants in the control, S1 and S2 groups were challenged with drought stress in May for 20 days. During the experiment, the plant number and leaf number were recorded regularly, as well as leaf length and leaf width. The results showed that flooding restrained the germination of the plants with much less plant in flooding groups than the control, and the plant germination rate had inverse relation to the flooding time. Flooding promoted formation and elongation of the leaves in S1 and S2 groups, which showed higher leaf growth parameters, such as leaf length, leaf number, total leaf length of one plant and total leaf length of all plants than the control. However, all of these growth parameters in S3 group had significantly lower values compared to the control. The survival rate of the plants after flooding decreased significantly with longer flooding time. Besides, the leaf length and leaf width in S1 and S2 groups increased significantly but with decreased leaf number. Additionally, all growth parameters (leaf length, leaf width, leaf number, total leaf number, total leaf length of one plant, total leaf length of all plants) in S3 group decreased remarkably. Furthermore, drought decreased the values of all growth parameters and the plant number in the control, S1 and S2 groups notably. When drought stress was removed for 25 days, the leaf number in the control, S1 and S2 groups increased by 67.0% (P < 0.05), 66.7% (P < 0.05) and 36.2% (P < 0.05), respectively, and the total leaf length of one plant, total leaf length of all plants and total leaf number in S1 and S2 groups increased by 48.2%, 18.1%, 66.7%, 35.0%, 75.0% and 64.3%, respectively (P < 0.05). Therefore, A. calamus exhibited not only strong adaption and tolerance to flooding,but also robust growth restoration ability after flooding, as well as good restoration ability to the drought stress. In summary, A. calamus could be used as one kind of restoration or reconstruction species in water-level-fluctuation zone (especially not exposed to flooding in March or April) of the Three Gorges Reservoir.

Turions of Potamogeton crispus were planted in several turbid waters. Some parameters of growth, reproduction and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured. The results were as follows: (1) Sprouting rates in all groups reached to 100.0% on the 17^th day. (2) The parameters of the growth (stem and leaf) and chlorophyll fluorescence (Φ_PSII, qP and qN) in 120 and 150NTU waters were inhibited heavily 60 days later, and their survival time was only 140 days. However, the plants in 30 to 90NTU waters could grow near water surface, their survival time was about 190 days. (3) After 150 days, the saturating irradiance intensity and rETR_max of the leaves in 30 to 90NTU waters markedly decreased with an increase in the amount of attached silts, and the number and fresh mass of turions (propagula) in 60 and 90NTU waters were significantly lower than the control. In summary, P. crispus in 0.7-metre-deep turbid water with suspended silts (not more than 90NTU) could sprout and grow normally, and produce the turions.