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On electrostatic interactions of adenosine triphosphate–insulin-degrading enzyme revealed by quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics
Get PDFThe insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) plays a significant role in the degradation of the amyloid beta (Aβ), a peptide found in the brain regions of the patients with early Alzheimer’s disease. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) allosterically regulates the Aβ-degrading activity of IDE. The present study investigates the electrostatic interactions between ATP-IDE at the allosteric site of IDE, including thermostabilities/flexibilities of IDE residues, which have not yet been explored systematically. This study applies the quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) to the proposed computational model for exploring electrostatic interactions between ATP and IDE. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations are performed at different temperatures for identifying flexible and thermostable residues of IDE. The proposed computational model predicts QM/MM energy-minimised structures providing the IDE residues (Lys530 and Asp385) with high binding affinities. Considering root mean square fluctuation values during the MD simulations at 300.00 K including heat-shock temperatures (321.15 K and 315.15 K) indicates that Lys530 and Asp385 are also the thermostable residues of IDE, whereas Ser576 and Lys858 have high flexibilities with compromised thermostabilities. The present study sheds light on the phenomenon of biological recognition and interactions at the ATP-binding domain, which may have important implications for pharmacological drug design. The proposed computational model may facilitate the development of allosteric IDE activators/inhibitors, which mimic ATP interactions
Warming drives dissolved organic carbon export from pristine alpine soils
Get PDFDespite decades of research, the influence of climate on the export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from soil remains poorly constrained, adding uncertainty to global carbon models. The limited temporal range of contemporary monitoring data, ongoing climate reorganisation and confounding anthropogenic activities muddy the waters further. Here, we reconstruct DOC leaching over the last ∼14,000 years using alpine environmental archives (two speleothems and one lake sediment core) across 4° of latitude from Te Waipounamu/South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. We selected broadly comparable palaeoenvironmental archives in mountainous catchments, free of anthropogenically-induced landscape changes prior to ∼1200 C.E. We show that warmer temperatures resulted in increased allochthonous DOC export through the Holocene, most notably during the Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO), which was some 1.5–2.5 °C warmer than the late pre-industrial period—then decreased during the cooler mid-Holocene. We propose that temperature exerted the key control on the observed doubling to tripling of soil DOC export during the HCO, presumably via temperature-mediated changes in vegetative soil C inputs and microbial degradation rates. Future warming may accelerate DOC export from mountainous catchments, with implications for the global carbon cycle and water quality
Impact of mobile payment adoption on household expenditures and subjective well-being
Get PDFPublished versionThis paper estimates the effects of mobile payment adoption on household expenditures and people's subjective well-being. We consider four categories of household expenditures (that on clothes, durable goods, consumer goods, and cultural and leisure activities) and four indicators (life satisfaction, contentment, income satisfaction, and depression) of subjective well-being. We use the Augmented Inverse Probability Weighting estimator to analyze the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey data while accounting for the selection bias inherent in mobile payment adoption. The empirical results show that people's decisions to adopt mobile payment are positively associated with their educational levels, car ownership, social interaction, internet penetration rate, and residential location. Mobile payment adoption significantly increases household expenditures on consumer goods and cultural and leisure activities but not on expenditures on clothes and durable goods. Moreover, mobile payment adoption significantly decreases people's contentment while increasing depression. We also find that mobile payment adoption significantly decreases the contentment of urban people but significantly increases the depression of rural people
Nodule occupancy of effective rhizobia vary between historical and modern cultivars of white clover
No full textThe ability of plants to select effective symbiotic partners is crucial for optimum plant growth. In New Zealand, breeding programmes for white clover (Trifolium repens) have made selections largely based on above-ground characteristics, with little direct attention given to the ability of cultivars to form effective below-ground associations. The ability of three pairs of historical (1930s–1950s), and modern (2000s) cultivars of white clover, to form associations with effective strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum (rhizobia) from a mixture of strains was tested in vitro. First, the efficacy of six individual strains of rhizobia was ranked against all six clover cultivars with shoot biomass used as a direct measure of symbiotic effectiveness for each strain × cultivar combination. Next, each cultivar was inoculated with a mixture of all rhizobia strains at the same cell concentration to examine the identity and frequency of strains found on each host. There was a positive relationship between nodule occupancy and strain effectiveness for historical but not modern cultivars. Cultivars Grasslands Huia and Louisiana (both historical) had nodule occupancy increase with strain effectiveness. This study provides some evidence that historical cultivars may be better able to form associations with effective strains of rhizobia compared with modern cultivars
Effects of winery wastewater to soils on mineral properties and soil carbon
No full textWinery wastewater (WW) is a high-volume biowaste and, in the context of Marlborough and New Zealand wineries, there is a growing recognition of the need to improve current WW disposal systems to mitigate negative environmental impacts. The application of WW to land is a low-cost method of disposal, that could significantly reduce the environmental risk associated with WW directly entering surface and groundwater bodies. This study analysed elemental concentrations in WW and soils from three Marlborough vineyards across their annual vintage to determine the loading rates of nutrients into WW and the subsequent accumulation effects of WW irrigation on receiving soils. The findings showed loading rates of approximately 1.8 t ha‾¹ yr‾¹ of sodium within WW and a significant increase in soil sodium concentration and pH, attributed to sodium-based cleaning products. A loading rate of approximately 4 t ha‾¹ yr‾¹ of total organic carbon was also identified within WW, however, significant losses in soil carbon, nitrogen, magnesium and calcium concentrations were identified. Focusing efforts to retain key nutrients from WW within soils could provide benefits to New Zealand’s wine industry, facilitating increased biomass production in irrigation plots, thereby increasing biodiversity and potentially generating incentives for vineyard owners to contribute to increasing biomass carbon stocks and offset agricultural greenhouse gas emissions
Rethinking the importance of food tourism to destination sustainability: A supply-side discussion of noodle experiences in Suzhou
No full textFood tourism arguably offers a means of supporting destination sustainability. This chapter critically examines the importance of food tourism to the destination of Suzhou, China, focusing on noodle-based tourism experiences. The analysis is based on a series of interviews with food suppliers and tourism providers, supplemented by secondary documents. Results suggest that local supply-side stakeholders have shared perceptions of the cultural significance of Suzhou noodles to local tourism experiences; however, there is a discrepancy between stakeholders regarding their economic importance. Though noodle tourism contributes financially to the Suzhou economy, this form of tourism benefits individual stakeholders to a lesser degree because of the challenges of protecting intellectual property rights and building networks with other tourist stakeholders. From these findings and discussions, a sociocultural lens is prioritised, and a call is made for further research to consider “who benefits and why” in future explorations of food tourism
Report and recommendation of the review panel: Severe Weather Emergency Recovery (Hawke's Bay Rural Recovery Works) Order 2024
No full textThe draft Order to be made under the Severe Weather Event Recovery Legislation Act 2023 proposes to reclassify certain activities (defined as ‘rural recovery works’) which would otherwise require a resource consent, as permitted activities under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) if the landowner meets the notification requirements and complies with the permitted activity standards. This report provides an analysis of the draft Order and whether it is necessary or desirable
Key grazing behaviours of beef cattle identify specific genotypes of the glutamate metabotropic receptor 5 gene (GRM5)
No full textGenotype-phenotype associations between the bovine genome and grazing behaviours measured over time and across contexts have been reported in the past decade, with these suggesting the potential for genetic control over grazing personalities in beef cattle. From the large array of metrics used to describe grazing personality behaviours (GP-behaviours), it is still unclear which ones are linked to specific genes. Our prior observational study has reported associations and trends towards associations between genotypes of the glutamate metabotropic receptor 5 gene (GRM5) and four GP-behaviours, yet the unbalanced representation of GRM5 genotypes occurring in observational studies may have limited the ability to detect associations. Here, we applied a subsampling technique to create a genotypically-balanced dataset in a quasi-manipulative experiment with free ranging cows grazing in steep and rugged terrain of New Zealand’s South Island. Using quadratic discriminant analysis, two combinations of eleven GP-behaviours (and a total of fifteen behaviours) were selected to build an exploration model and an elevation model, respectively. Both models achieved ∼ 86% accuracy in correctly discriminating cows’ GRM5 genotypes with the training dataset, and the exploration model achieved 85% correct genotype prediction of cows from a testing dataset. Our study suggests a potential pleiotropic effect, with GRM5 controlling multiple grazing behaviours, and with implications for the grazing of steep and rugged grasslands. The study highlights the importance of grazing behavioural genetics in cattle and the potential use of GRM5 markers to select individuals with desired grazing personalities and built herds that collectively utilize steep and rugged rangelands sustainably
Regenerative tourism: The perspectives of visitors
No full textThe rhetoric of regenerative tourism is increasing in academic literature and in the strategic documents of governments and tourism agencies, but there is less knowledge about whether this concept resonates with, or is understood by, tourists. To address this issue, a survey conducted with visitors to Akaroa [Aotearoa, New Zealand] explored international and domestic visitors’ knowledge about regenerative tourism, the importance of regenerative principles to their tourist experiences in New Zealand, and the extent to which their experiences in Akaroa met regenerative objectives. Findings reveal that a minority of tourists have a good understanding of what ‘regenerative tourism’ means, but the principles behind the term are generally recognised as important elements of a New Zealand tourist experience. In relation to the tourism system in Akaroa, while a substantial proportion of tourists felt unable to assess whether local tourism fufilled regenerative principles, those that did reported higher achievement of regenerative principles relating to the environment, than those relating to culture or the economy
Copper contamination of fruit orchards soils: Biotic Impacts : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University
No full textExtensive use of fungicide copper (Cu) has a more recent history in New Zealand than in many other parts of the world where long-lasting Cu accumulation in soil has become a major environmental issue. However, Cu is extensively applied in New Zealand orchards, including organic orchards, with some awareness that the consequences of its current and future accumulation on soil health are relatively unknown and under-explored. This doctoral study aimed to investigate the impact on soil functional processes and plants of soil copper contamination associated with cherry, apple and kiwifruit orchards, vineyards and hops. The research encompassed experimental work on soil respiration, plant growth, earthworms, soil microbial activity, root growth and plant cell culture through a combination of fieldwork, glasshouse and laboratory studies. The central hypothesis of this study was that accumulation and persistence of Cu in orchard soils are likely to adversely affect critical aspects of soil biology and functionality.
Following a detailed survey of accumulation and spatial variability of soil Cu across different fruit orchards up to 73 years old, practical investigations involved soil respirometry, analysis of microbial carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and rhizobox and pot plant growth assays, as much as possible using in-situ field measurements or soils collected from orchards and transferred to the glasshouse and laboratory. In an earthworm behavioural and Cu-uptake study, a native anecic species was exposed to soils from the same orchard with differing histories of fungicide use. Three hop varieties (Cascade, Nelson Sauvin and Riwaka) were used for plant growth trials on the same soils. Plant stress responses were investigated using callus incubation trials on cell lines isolated from three apple cultivars (Braeburn, Fuji, and Cripps Pink) grown on a Cu-spiked growth medium. All practical work was carried out from 2020 to 2023.
The results showed that soil Cu concentrations in orchards frequently and substantially exceeded most published threshold limits. Whilst soil Cu concentrations could largely be explained by modelling the age of the orchards, fruit type and soil organic matter (SOM) also had a large role in Cu retention. When SOM and existing Cu concentrations were amended in four soils from different blocks of the same cherry orchard, the ecotoxicological impact differed, and it was found that SOM could be a more powerful determinant than Cu of the biotic responses. Earthworm survivorship and growth in these soils were significantly determined by both SOM and Cu; earthworms exhibited a preference for soils with concentrations of Cu elevated substantially above background (to 160 mg kg-1), where SOM content was also high. A variable impact of Cu contamination on soil microbial activity was recorded across soils with elevated Cu concentrations (from 195 to 405 mg kg-1). Only a weak correlation was found between soil total Cu concentration and soil respiration when data for all orchards were combined, but the impact of Cu was more evident when each type of fruit orchard was evaluated separately. Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) analyses similarly provided only a weak or negligible correlation with soil Cu, but artificially spiked soils provided a more consistent response to elevated Cu. Confounding factors appeared to relate to vegetation cover within and between rows and the amount of cultivation of the soils used to manage weeds (and bronze beetle in apples). The influence of management variables requires a more detailed study. Root growth in hop varieties was negatively affected at Cu concentrations exceeding 263 mg kg-1, whilst best growth was observed at 160 mg kg-1 in conjunction with abundant SOM. In callus culture assays, Cu negatively impacted the growth of Braeburn and Fuji apple varieties at concentrations exceeding 15 mg kg-1, while Cripps Pink had higher Cu tolerance.
The value of using biological and ecological indices to assess the impacts of agricultural chemicals and contaminated soils is discussed. The findings have identified detrimental biotic impacts of soil Cu concentrations that already exist in orchards, which are probably reflected in a negative influence on soil health. Transfer rates of Cu to fruits through uptake from soil or from foliar absorption are negligible, but stress responses in plants and soil fauna and impacts on soil biology and ecology have been detected. Currently, the deleterious impact of elevated Cu is largely mitigated by SOM content in combination with the avoidance of low pH in orchard soils. Whilst this implies there is a potential avenue for amelioration of toxicity and maintenance or restoration of soil health, residual fungicide Cu will not significantly dissipate and is likely to continue to accumulate. Sustainable soil health management in New Zealand's orchards is not viable with longer-term continued usage of Cu fungicides