We discuss the physical and enzymatic bases of carbone isotope discrimination during photosynthesis, noting how knowledge of discrimination can be used to provide additional insight into photosynthetic metabolism and the environmental influences on that process

Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis

Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals

The influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition. 
The isotopic composition of the nitrogen in an animal reflects the nitrogen isotopic composition of its diet. The δ^(15)N values of the whole bodies of animals are usually more positive than those of their diets. Different individuals of a species raised on the same diet can have significantly different δ^(15)N values. The variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different species raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets. Different tissues of mice are also enriched in ^(15)N relative to the diet, with the difference between the δ^(15)N values of a tissue and the diet depending on both the kind of tissue and the diet involved. The δ^(15)N values of collagen and chitin, biochemical components that are often preserved in fossil animal remains, are also related to the δ^(15)N value of the diet. 
The dependence of the δ^(15)N values of whole animals and their tissues and biochemical components on the δ^(15)N value of diet indicates that the isotopic composition of animal nitrogen can be used to obtain information about an animal's diet if its potential food sources had different δ^(15)N values. The nitrogen isotopic method of dietary analysis probably can be used to estimate the relative use of legumes vs non-legumes or of aquatic vs terrestrial organisms as food sources for extant and fossil animals. However, the method probably will not be applicable in those modern ecosystems in which the use of chemical fertilizers has influenced the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in food sources. 
The isotopic method of dietary analysis was used to reconstruct changes in the diet of the human population that occupied the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico over a 7000 yr span. Variations in the δ^(15)C and δ^(15)N values of bone collagen suggest that C_4 and/or CAM plants (presumably mostly corn) and legumes (presumably mostly beans) were introduced into the diet much earlier than suggested by conventional archaeological analysis.

Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals

Fundamental features of microbial cellulose utilization are examined at successively higher levels of aggregation encompassing the structure and composition of cellulosic biomass, taxonomic diversity, cellulase enzyme systems, molecular biology of cellulase enzymes, physiology of cellulolytic microorganisms, ecological aspects of cellulase-degrading communities, and rate-limiting factors in nature. The methodological basis for studying microbial cellulose utilization is considered relative to quantification of cells and enzymes in the presence of solid substrates as well as apparatus and analysis for cellulose-grown continuous cultures. Quantitative description of cellulose hydrolysis is addressed with respect to adsorption of cellulase enzymes, rates of enzymatic hydrolysis, bioenergetics of microbial cellulose utilization, kinetics of microbial cellulose utilization, and contrasting features compared to soluble substrate kinetics. A biological perspective on processing cellulosic biomass is presented, including features of pretreated substrates and alternative process configurations. Organism development is considered for "consolidated bioprocessing" (CBP), in which the production of cellulolytic enzymes, hydrolysis of biomass, and fermentation of resulting sugars to desired products occur in one step. Two organism development strategies for CBP are examined: (i) improve product yield and tolerance in microorganisms able to utilize cellulose, or (ii) express a heterologous system for cellulose hydrolysis and utilization in microorganisms that exhibit high product yield and tolerance. A concluding discussion identifies unresolved issues pertaining to microbial cellulose utilization, suggests approaches by which such issues might be resolved, and contrasts a microbially oriented cellulose hydrolysis paradigm to the more conventional enzymatically oriented paradigm in both fundamental and applied contexts.

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Microbial cellulose utilization: fundamentals and biotechnology.

Carbon and hydrogen isotope systematics of bacterial formation and oxidation of methane

The Environmental Isotopes Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology Stable Isotopes: Standards and Measurement Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Radioisotopes Isotope Fractionation Isotope Fractionation (a), Enrichment (e), and Separation (D) Tracing the Hydrological Cycle Craig's Meteoric Relationship in Global Fresh Waters Partitioning of Isotopes Through the Hydrological Cycle Condensation, Precipitation, and the Meteoric Water Line A Closer Look at Rayleigh Distillation Effects of Extreme Evaporation Precipitation The T - d18O Correlation in Precipitation Local Effects on T - d18O Ice Cores and Paleotemperature Groundwater Recharge in Temperate Climates Recharge in Arid Regions Recharge from River-Connected Aquifers Hydrograph Separation in Catchment Studies Groundwater Mixing Tracing the Carbon Cycle Evolution of Carbon in Groundwaters Carbonate Geochemistry Carbon-13 in the Carbonate System Dissolved Organic Carbon Methane in Groundwaters Isotopic Composition of Carbonates Chapter 6. Groundwater Quality Sulphate, Sulphide and the Sulphur Cycle Nitrogen Cycles in Rural Watersheds The "Fuhrberger Feld" Study Source of Chloride Salinity Landfill Leachates Degredation of Chloro-organics and Hydrocarbon Sensitivity of Groundwater to Contamination Summary of Isotopes in Contaminant Hydrology Identifying and Dating Modern Groundwaters The "Age" of Groundwater Stable Isotopes Tritium in Precipitation Dating Groundwaters with Tritium Groundwater Dating with 3H -3He Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Thermonuclear 36Cl Detecting Modern Groundwaters with 85Kr Submodern Groundwater Age Dating Old Groundwaters Stable Isotopes and Paleogroundwaters Groundwater Dating with Radiocarbon Correction for Carbonate Dissolution Some Additional Complications to 14C Dating 14C Dating with Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) Case Studies for 14C dating with DOC and DIC Chlorine-36 and Very Old Groundwater The Uranium Decay Series Water-Rock Interaction Mechanisms of Isotope Exchange High Temperature Systems Low Temperature Water-Rock Interaction Strontium Isotopes in Water and Rock Isotope Exchange in Gas-Water Reactions High pH Groundwaters-The Effect of Cement Reactions Field Methods for Sampling Groundwater Water in the Unsaturated Zone Precipitation Gases Geochemistry References Index Each chapter has Problems sections.

Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology

1. Mathematical Models for the Interpretation of Environmental Radioisotopes in Groundwater Systems (A. Zuber). 2. Isotopes in Cloud Physics: Multiphase and Multistage Condensation Processes (J. Jouzel). 3. Environmental Isotopes in Lake Studies (R. Gonfiantini). 4. Environmental Isotope and Anthropogenic Tracers of Recent Lake Sedimentation (W.R. Schell, R.S. Barnes). 5. Stable Isotope Geochemistry of Travertines (B. Turi). 6. Isotope Geochemistry of Carbonates in the Weathering Zone (W. Salomons, W.G. Mook). 7. Geochronology and Isotopic Geochemistry of Speleothems (H.P. Schwarcz). 8. Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotope Geochemistry of Deep Basin Brines (Y.K. Kharaka, W.W. Carothers). 9. Isotope Effects of Nitrogen in the Soil and Biosphere (H. Hubner). 10. Chlorine-36 in the Terrestrial Environment (H.W. Bentley, F.M. Phillips, S.N. Davis). 11. Radioactive Noble Gases in the Terrestrial Environment (T. Florkowski, K. Rozanski). 12. Isotopes and Food (C. Hillaire-Marcel). Subject Index. Index of Geographical Names.

The Terrestrial environment

Methane, a common trace constituent of groundwaters, occasionally makes up more than 20% of the total carbon in groundwaters1,2. In aerobic environments CH4–rich waters can enable microbial food chain supporting a mixed culture of bacteria with methane oxidation as the primary energy source to develop3. Such processes may influence the isotopic composition of the residual methane and because 13C/12C analyses have been used to characterize the genesis of methanes found in different environments, an understanding of the magnitude of such effects is necessary. In addition, carbon dioxide produced by the methane-utilizing bacteria can be added to the inorganic carbon pool of affected groundwaters. We found carbon dioxide experimentally produced by methane-utilizing bacteria to be enriched in 12C by 5.0–29.6‰, relative to the residual methane. Where methane-bearing groundwaters discharged into aerobic environments microbial methane oxidation occurred, with the residual methane becoming progressively enriched in 13C. Various models have been proposed to explain the 13C/12C and 14C content of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of groundwaters in terms of additions or losses during flow in the subsurface4,5. The knowledge of both stable carbon isotope ratios in various pools and the magnitude of carbon isotope fractionation during various processes allows geochemists to use the 13C/12C ratio of the DIC along with water chemistry to estimate corrected 14C groundwater ages4,5. We show here that a knowledge of the carbon isotope fractionation between CH4 and CO2 during microbial methane-utilization could modify such models for application to groundwaters affected by microbial methane oxidation.

Peter Fritz

Papers

Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology

The Terrestrial environment

Carbon isotope fractionation during microbial methane oxidation

Water-rock interaction and chemistry of groundwaters from the Canadian Shield

Geochemistry of brachiopods: Oxygen and carbon isotopic records of Paleozoic oceans☆