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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

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Division of Sustainable Resources Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University Associate Professor Masami Fukushima

Effect of humic substances on plant tissue accumulations of reactive oxygen species produced by heavy-metal stress

Research grant

Project Description

Restoring vegetation in an area polluted by heavy metals is an important aspect of soil preservation and forest protection. Most plants wither and die under heavy-metal stress, and so it is important to develop a method to alleviate such stress. In this research, which we target at the utilization of humic substances to restore vegetation in areas polluted by heavy metals, we assess the influence of humic substances built up within plant tissue as a result of heavy metal stress.

Fields
Preservation of surface soil and forestsPreservation of biodiversity and ecosystem
Grant year
FY2009 Research Grants
Grant term
2 years
April 2010 - March 2012
Grant amount
4,090,000 yen
Activity region
Hokkaido, Japan
Producing humic substances (right) by heating rice bran (left)

Overview of the Organization

Associate Professor Masami Fukushima
Representative
Associate Professor Masami Fukushima
Profile
Specialty field
Environmental chemistry
Affiliated academic societies
The Chemical Society of Japan; the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry; the Mining and Materials Processing Institute of Japan; American Chemical Society; International Humic Substances Society
Background
In 1993 obtained a Ph.D. (science) from the Division of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University. In 1994 became a Guest Researcher at the Institute of Applied Energy. In 1997 took the post of Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. In 2006 became an Associate Professor at the Graduate School, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University. In 1994 was the recipient of the Encouragement Awar from the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry
WEB site
http://www.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/faculty/
Research record
Functional elucidation of humic substances, application of same to environmental technologies
  • (1) Effect of an allophanic soil on humification reactions between catechol and glycine: spectroscopic investigations of reaction products, Journal of Molecular Structure, 917,142-147 (2009).
  • (2) Effects of the maturity of wood-waste compost on the structural features of humic acids, Bioresource Technology, 100, 791-797 (2009).
  • (3) Role of humic acid fraction with higher aromaticity in enhancing the activity of a biomimetic catalyst, tetra(psulfonatophenyl)porphineiron(III), Biomacromolecules, 8,386-391 (2007).