Flowering time (FTi) genes play a key role as regulators of complex gene expression networks, and the influence of these networks on other complex systems means that FTi gene expression triggers a cascade of regulatory effects with a broad global effect on plant development. Hence, allelic and expression differences in FTi genes can play a central role in phenotypic variation throughput the plant lifecycle. A prime example for this is found in Brassica napus, a phenotypically and genetically diverse species with enormous variation in vernalisation requirement and flowering traits. The species includes oilseed rape (canola), one of the most important oilseed crops worldwide. Previously we have identified QTL clusters related to plant development, seed yield and heterosis in winter oilseed rape that seem to be conserved in diverse genetic backgrounds. We suspect that these QTL are controlled by global regulatory genes that influence numerous traits at different developmental stages. Interestingly, many of the QTL clusters for yield and biomass heterosis appear to correspond to the positions of meta-QTL for FTi in spring-type and/or winter-type B. napus. Based on the hypothesis that diversity in FTi genes has a key influence on plant development and yield, the aim of this study is a detailed analysis of DNA sequence variation in regulatory FTi genes in B. napus, combined with an investigation of associations between FTi gene haplotypes, developmental traits, yield components and seed yield.
Electrical conductivity is a key parameter in models of magnetic field generation in planetary interiors through magneto-hydrodynamic convection. Measurements of this key material parameter of liquid metals is not possible to date by experiments at relevant conditions, and dynamo models rely on extrapolations from low pressure/temperature experiments, or more recently on ab-initio calculations combining molecular dynamics and linear response calculations, using the Kubo-Greenwood formulation of transport coefficients. Such calculations have been performed for Fe, Fe-alloys, H, He and H-He mixtures to cover the interior of terrestrial and giant gas planets. These simulations are computationally expensive, and an efficient accurate scheme to determine electrical conductivities is desirable. Here we propose a model that can, at much lower computational costs, provide this information. It is based on Ziman theory of electrical conductivity that uses information on the liquid structure, combined with an internally consistent model of potentials for the electron-electron, electron-atom, and atom-atom interactions. In the proposal we formulate the theory and expand it to multi-component systems. We point out that fitting the liquid structure factor is the critical component in the process, and devise strategies on how this can be done efficiently. Fitting the structure factor in a thermodynamically consistent way and having a transferable electron-atom potential we can then relatively cheaply predict the electrical conductivity for a wide range of conditions. Only limited molecular dynamics simulations to obtain the structure factors are required.In the proposed project we will test and advance this model for liquid aluminum, a free-electron like metal, that we have studied with the Kubo-Greenwood method previously. We will then be able to predict the conductivities of Fe, Fe-light elements and H, He, as well as the H-He system that are relevant to the planetary interiors of terrestrial and giant gas planets, respectively.
Ziel: The objective of our project is to investigate the impact of different natural and anthropogenic environmental and climatic parameters (CO2, ozone, UV-B, drought, nanoparticles, soil and airborne pollutants) on the potentiality for increases of allergenic components in Ragweed pollen. Methode: Acquisition of the complete transcriptome/proteome under constant and the different climatic parameters listed above will be carried out. In addition secondary metabolite analyses and electron microscopy will be performed. In addition secondary metabolite analyses and electron microscopy will be performed.
Iron(III) (hydr)oxide-organic associations in soils have been recognized to play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of iron, carbon, and of nutrients like phosphate. In temporarily moist or water-logged soils such associations can form via the coprecipitation of dissolved organic matter (OM) with Fe(III) (hydr)oxides (FHOs). At present, it is generally unknown which factors control the formation and composition of Fe(III)-OM coprecipitates and how the structural properties translate into the cycling of the FHO and OM component involved. The objectives of the project are thus to elucidate (i) the structural properties of Fe(III)- OM coprecipitates under different environmental conditions, (ii) the subsequent stability of Fe(III)-OM coprecipitates against dissolution under both oxic as well as anoxic conditions, (iii) the changes in Fe(III)-OM coprecipitate composition upon redox oscillations, and (iii) their cumulative effects on oxyanion sorption. To achieve these goals, various batch experiments will be conducted. By using multiple analytical tools, this project will gain a fundamental understanding of the abiotic and biotic controls on the formation, structure, and biogeochemical reactivity of Fe(III)-OM coprecipitates in acidic and neutral temporarily moist soils and soils subject to redox oscillations.
The formation of biogeochemical interfaces in soils is controlled, among other factors, by the type of particle surfaces present and the assemblage of organic matter and mineral particles. Therefore, the formation and maturation of interfaces is studied with artificial soils which are produced in long-term biogeochemical laboratory incubation experiments (3, 6, 12, 18 months. Clay minerals, iron oxides and charcoal are used as major model components controlling the formation of interfaces because they exhibit high surface area and microporosity. Soil interface characteristics have been analyzed by several groups involved in the priority program for formation of organo-mineral interfaces, sorptive and thermal interface properties, microbial community structure and function. Already after 6 months of incubation, the artificial soils exhibited different properties in relation to their composition. A unique dataset evolves on the development and the dynamics of interfaces in soil in the different projects contributing to this experiment. An integrated analysis based on a conceptual model and multivariate statistics will help to understand overall processes leading to the biogeochemical properties of interfaces in soil, that are the basis for their functions in ecosystems. Therefore, we propose to establish an integrative project for the evaluation of data obtained and for publication of synergistic work, which will bring the results to a higher level of understanding.
Due to the often practised uncontrolled disposal into the environment, olive oil production wastewater (OPWW) is presently a serious environmental problem in Palestine and Israel. The objectives of this interdisciplinary trilateral research project are (i) to understand the mechanisms of influence of the olive oil production wastewater on soil wettability, water storage, interaction with organic agrochemicals and pollutants; (ii) monitor short-term and long-term effects of OPWW land application in model laboratory and field experiments; (iii) identify the components responsible for unwanted changes in soil properties and (iv) analyse the mechanisms of association of OPWW OM with soil, the interplay between climatic conditions, pH, presence of multivalent cations and the resulting effects of land application. Laboratory incubation experiments, field experiments and new experiments to study heat-induced water repellency will be conducted to identify responsible OPWW compounds and mechanisms of interaction. Samples from field experiments and laboratory experiments are investigated using 3D excitation-emission fluorescence spectroscopy, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis-mass spectrometry (TGA-DSC-MS), LC-MS and GC-MS analyses. We will combine thermal decomposition profiles from OPWW and OPWW-treated soils in dependence of the incubation status using TGA-DSC-MS, contact angle measurements, sorption isotherms and the newly developed time dependent sessile drop method (TISED). The resulting process understanding will open a perspective for OPWW wastewater reuse in small-scale and family-scale olive oil production busi-nesses in the Mediterranean area and will further help to comprehend the until now not fully un-ravelled effects of wastewater irrigation on soil water repellency.
We are currently facing the urgent need to improve our understanding of carbon cycling in subsoils, because the organic carbon pool below 30 cm depth is considerably larger than that in the topsoil and a substantial part of the subsoil C pool appears to be much less recalcitrant than expected over the last decades. Therefore, small changes in environmental conditions could change not only carbon cycling in topsoils, but also in subsoils. While organic matter stabilization mechanisms and factors controlling its turnover are well understood in topsoils, the underlying mechanisms are not valid in subsoils due to depth dependent differences regarding (1) amounts and composition of C-pools and C-inputs, (2) aeration, moisture and temperature regimes, (3) relevance of specific soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilisation mechanisms and (4) spatial heterogeneity of physico-chemical and biological parameters. Due to very low C concentrations and high spatio-temporal variability of properties and processes, the investigation of subsoil phenomena and processes poses major methodological, instrumental and analytical challenges. This project will face these challenges with a transdisciplinary team of soil scientists applying innovative approaches and considering the magnitude, chemical and isotopic composition and 14C-content of all relevant C-flux components and C-fractions. Taking also the spatial and temporal variability into account, will allow us to understand the four-dimensional changes of C-cycling in this environment. The nine closely interlinked subprojects coordinated by the central project will combine field C-flux measurements with detailed analyses of subsoil properties and in-situ experiments at a central field site on a sandy soil near Hannover. The field measurements are supplemented by laboratory studies for the determination of factors controlling C stabilization and C turnover. Ultimately, the results generated by the subprojects and the data synthesized in the coordinating project will greatly enhance our knowledge and conceptual understanding of the processes and controlling factors of subsoil carbon turnover as a prerequisite for numerical modelling of C-dynamics in subsoils.
Bestandteile in Ensembles. Unterschutzstellung als Teil von Mehrheiten unbeweglicher Sachen, die aufgrund eines übergeordneten Bezugs Kulturdenkmäler sind, ohne dass jeder einzelne Bestandteil die Voraussetzungen des Satzes 1 erfüllen muss (Ensembles), wie Orts-, und Platzgefüge, Siedlungen oder Straßenzüge (§ 2 Absatz 2 Nr. 2 DSchG).
Dieser Darstellungsdienst (WMS) stellt Daten zum INSPIRE-Thema Schutzgebiete in der Freien Hansestadt Bremen (FHB) dar. Der Dienst umfasst die Einzeldenkmäler, die Ensembles und die Bestandteile in Ensembles. - Dieser Dienst ist in der Bearbeitung und zurzeit nicht funktionstüchtig. -
Ziel des Projektes ist eine Bestandsaufnahme der Wassermassenverteilung und der Zirkulation im Arktischen Ozean. Stabile Sauerstoffisotopen (delta18O) des Wassers ist ein konservativer Tracer und werden zusammen mit hydrochemischen Daten dazu verwendet das vom Schelf stammende Süßwasser (Flusswasser und Meereis-Schmelze oder Bildung) und die aus dem Pazifik stammende Komponente zu untersuchen. Auf diese Weise wird der Einfluss dieser Wassermassen in der arktischen Salzgehaltsschichtung (Halokline), dem Atlantischen Zwischenwasser und dem Tiefen- und Bodenwasser des Arktischen Ozeans quantifiziert werden. Es ist bekannt, dass die Verteilung der Pazifischen Komponente starken Veränderungen auf dekadischen Zeitskalen unterliegt aber auch in den Süßwasserverteilungen im Transpolaren Drift Strom wurden 2007 starke Variationen beobachtet welche somit auf zusätzliche jährliche Variationen hinweisen. Es ist nicht bekannt ob die 2007 beobachteten Variationen ein permanentes Phänomen sind und ob diese mit dem weitgehenden Fehlen des Pazifischen Wassers in diesem Zeitraum zusammenhängen. Die geplante flächendeckende und quantitative Erfassung der Süßwasserverteilung und des Pazifischen Wassers werden daher dazu beitragen, den Einfluss und die möglichen Rückkopplungsmechanismen der arktischen Hydrographie auf den arktischen und globalen Klimawandel weitergehend zu verstehen.