Abstract: The electrochemical behaviour of 254 SMO super austenitic stainless steel in natural seawater collected from river mouth of French Guiana was investigated. A comparative study of samples immersed during 22 days in this environment was made including influences of scraped biofilm introduced in experiments and of stirring. Electrochemical measurements – open circuit potential (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear polarisation (LP) – are used to characterize the metal/medium interface included biofilms adhesion. The EDX analysis (EDAX system) shows that the chemical composition of adhered biofilm consists mostly of iron, oxygen, silicon and aluminium and seem preferentially bind on metal defects. © 2013 by ESG.

Abstract: Corrosion inhibition effect of alkaloids extract from Palicourea guianensis plant (AEPG) on C38 tell in 1 M HCl medium has been investigated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The polarization studies that AEPG acts as mixed-type inhibitor. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the charge transfer resistance increases and the double layer capacitance decreases on increasing plant extract concentration. The inhibition efficiency of the extract obtained from impedance and polarization measurements was in a good agreement and was found to increase with increasing concentration of the extract. Inhibition efficiency of 89% was achieved with 100 mg L-1 of AEPG at 25 degrees C. The obtained results showed that, the Palicourea guianensis extract could serve as an effective inhibitor for the corrosion of steel in acid media. The adsorption of AEPG obeys the Langmuir adsorption isotherm.

Abstract: Leaf traits of tropical tree species display an important inter-specific diversity, as detected for instance in the large range of values of leaf mass : area ratio (LMA). They also demonstrate a large irradiance-elicited plasticity, but there is still debate whether this plasticity differs among species. To address this question, leaf traits were recorded on saplings from 12 rainforest tree species in French Guiana, grown under approximately 5, 10 and 20% relative irradiance. Fifteen structural and physiological leaf traits related to photosynthesis were measured. The irradiance-elicited plasticity was quantified using a relative distance plasticity index. A large inter-specific diversity was detected for all leaf traits. A principal component analysis opposed species with a large mass-based photosynthesis, respiration, N content and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency, to species with a large leaf mass : area ratio, LMA. The two pioneer species used in this study displayed the largest photosynthetic capacity (and lowest LMA) and ranked at one end of the species continuum. Relative irradiance affected almost all traits with the exception of mass-based photosynthesis. A weak interaction was found between species and relative irradiance and the species ranking was maintained among relative irradiance treatments for the majority of the traits. A principal component analysis of the values of relative-distance plasticity index failed to reveal any consistent patterns of traits or species. We concluded that irradiance-elicited plasticity of leaf traits was similar among species irrespective of LMA and successional status, despite the occurrence of a large inter-specific diversity for the investigated traits.

Abstract: Intimate partnership: Knowledge of the biocatalytic cascades in different cellular compartments is limited, but deciphering these systems in nature can be used to inspire synthetic strategies. Two studies report new insights into the biosynthesis of alkaloids and sesterterpenoids in plants. This highlight presents these novel biotransformations to illustrate how tandem biocatalysis can impact the future of natural product production.

Abstract: The tank bromeliads Aechmea aquilega (Salisb.) and Catopsis berteroniana (Schultes f.) coexist on a sun-exposed Neotropical inselberg in French Guiana, where they permit conspicuous freshwater pools to form that differ in size, complexity and detritus content. We sampled the algal communities (both eukaryotic and cyanobacterial taxa, including colourless forms) inhabiting either A. aquilega (n = 31) or C. berteroniana (n = 30) and examined differences in community composition and biomass patterns in relation to several biotic and abiotic variables. Chlorella sp. and Bumilleriopsis sp. were the most common taxa and dominated the algal biomass in A. aquilega and C. berteroniana, respectively. Using a redundancy analysis, we found that water volume, habitat complexity and the density of phagotrophic protozoa and collector-gatherer invertebrates were the main factors explaining the distribution of the algal taxa among the samples. Hierarchical clustering procedures based on abundance and presence/absence data clearly segregated the samples according to bromeliad species, revealing that the algal communities in the smaller bromeliad species were not a subset of the communities found in the larger bromeliad species. We conclude that, even though two coexisting tank bromeliad populations create adjacent aquatic habitats, each population hosts a distinct algal community. Hence, bromeliad diversity is thought to promote the local diversity of freshwater algae in the Neotropics. © 2014 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.