Influence Of Physicochemical Factors Research Articles

Influence of physicochemical factors on the specific activity of proteases used in cheesemaking biotechnology

The formation of a clot under the influence of proteolytic enzymes is an essential stage in cheesemaking technology. Depending on their composition, milk-clotting enzyme preparations have a different effect on the quality characteristics of the clot, whey separation, and yield of the finished product. At present, the Russian market offers a wide range of domestic and imported milk-clotting enzyme preparations. In this connection, the choice of a milk coagulant by cheese makers should be carried out in accordance with the cheese group produced by the enterprise. The milk-clotting activity of enzyme preparations depends not only on the active acidity of the mixture, but also on the temperature of the solution used to obtain them. It is the solution temperature that has a determining effect on the duration of the coagulation process and, therefore, the quality of the formed clot. Research into the specific activity of milk-clotting enzyme preparations, obtained in a working solution with different active acidity (pH from 4.0 to 8.0), showed their milk-clotting activity to decrease significantly upon pH shifting to the alkaline region. Application of solutions with a pH of 4.0 led to an increase in the milk-clotting activity of bovine pepsin, VNIIMS SG-50 rennet-bovine preparation, and rennet enzyme by 94, 72, and 36%, respectively, relative to the control. Bovine pepsin demonstrated the highest sensitivity to fluctuations in active acidity. A study into the effect of substrate temperature in the range from 30 to 40 °C established rennet to be the most sensitive preparation to temperature changes. It is concluded that a properly selected enzyme composition is an effective means for affecting the quality of cheese products.

Modeling and Optimizing Biocontrol in Wines: pH as a Modulator of Yeast Amensalism Interaction

The control of spoilage yeasts in wines is crucial to avoid organoleptic deviations in wine production. Traditionally, sulfur dioxide (SO2) was used to control them; nevertheless, SO2 influence on human health and its use is criticized. Biocontrol emerges as an alternative in wine pre-fermentation, but there is limited development in its applicability. Managing kinetics is relevant in the microbial interaction process. pH was identified as a factor affecting the interaction kinetics of Wickerhamomyces anomalus killer biocontrol on Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. Mathematical modeling allows insight into offline parameters and the influence of physicochemical factors in the environment. Incorporating submodels that explain manipulable factors (pH), the process can be optimized to achieve the best-desired outcomes. The aim of this study was to model and optimize, using a constant and a variable pH profile, the interaction of killer biocontrol W. anomalus vs. Z. rouxii to reduce the spoilage population in pre-fermentation. The evaluated biocontrol was W. anomalus against the spoilage yeast Z. rouxii in wines. The kinetic interactions of yeasts were studied at different pH levels maintained constant over time. The improved Ramón-Portugal model was adopted using the AMIGO2 toolbox for Matlab. A static optimization of a constant pH profile was performed using the Monte Carlo method, and a dynamic optimization was carried out using a method based on Fourier series and orthogonal polynomials. The model fit with an adjusted R2 of 0.76. Parametric analyses were consistent with the model behavior. Variable vs. constant optimization achieved a lower initial spoilage population peak (99% less) and reached a lower final population (99% less) in a reduced time (100 vs. 140 h). These findings reveal that control with a variable profile would allow an early sequential inoculation of S. cerevisiae. The models explained parameters that are difficult to quantify, such as general inhibitor concentration and toxin concentration. Also, the models indicate higher biocontrol efficiency parameters, such as toxin emission or sensitivity to it, and lower fitness of the contaminant, at pH levels above 3.7 during biocontrol. From a technological standpoint, the study highlights the importance of handling variable profiles in the controller associated with the pH management actuators in the process without incurring additional costs.

Influence of Physicochemical Factors on Adsorption of Ten Shigella flexneri Phages.

Bacterial viruses known as bacteriophages have been demonstrated to be effective in killing foodborne pathogens such as Shigella flexneri. Adsorption is the first step in the phage-host interaction. In the present work, 10 Shigella phages were used to characterize the adsorption process on Shigella flexneri ATCC12022 in several physicochemical conditions related to food and in a food matrix. One-step growth curves were drawn for all the Shigella-phages evaluated. Furthermore, the adsorption rate for each of the 10 phages was determined. In addition, the influence of temperature, Na+, Mg2+, pH, sucrose and glycerol on phage adsorption was investigated. Two phages (Shi22 and Shi30) showed higher burst sizes values (67 and 64 PFU cell-1, respectively) and burst times of 25 min to 30 min, while the other eight phages exhibited burst sizes ranging from 14 to 17 PFU cell-1 with slower burst times. Furthermore, most phages achieved a high adsorption rate, and the adsorption constants (k) ranged from ~10-9 to 10-10 mL min-1. Regarding the influence of temperature, cations and pH, a high or moderate percentage of adsorption was observed for most of the phages evaluated. The adsorption decreased at increasing concentrations of Na+, sucrose and glycerol, although at different levels, since adsorption was more affected by sucrose than by glycerol and Na+ for most phages. The adsorption obtained in Triptein soy broth (TSB) for most of the phages/strain systems evaluated was moderate or high, as well as those observed in a food matrix. Thus, our phages could potentially be used to improve food safety under a wide range of environmental conditions against foodborne pathogens.

The Influence of Selected Physico-Chemical Factors on Physico-Mechanical Properties of Studied Vulcanizates

The focus of the presented study was set on the influence of physico-chemical factors on the physico-mechanical properties of the investigated vulcanizates containing carbon black filler substitution by mixing alternative fillers. Relating to the alternative partial substituents of fillers, the fine fractions of bentonite, polylactide, polypropylene and coffee grounds have been chosen. The prepared vulcanizates were exposed to various environment conditions which were based namely on DCSBD, plasma discharge (Diffuse Coplanar Surface Barrier Discharge), organic solvent and fungus extract of Piptoporus betulinus. The main objective of the study was to investigate the influence of the selected environment conditions on the physico -mechanical as well as dynamical and mechanical properties of the studied vulcanizates. The effect of chosen alternative fillers and physico-chemical factors on the physico-mechanical properties (elongation, tensile strength and hardness) was evaluated for the studied vulcanizates. Taking into account the chosen environment conditions, the viscoelastic behaviour of the prepared vulcanizates with alternative fillers and reference vulcanizate were evaluated on the basis of the results of the dynamical and mechanical analysis which was resulting from measurements. The measured results show that selected physico-chemical factors in combination with selected alternative fillers affect the physico-mechanical as well as dynamical and mechanical properties of the studied vulcanizates.

Influence of physicochemical factors on water exchange in cotton leaves under the moisture deficit conditions

Presowing treatment of cotton seeds with a physical factor (low-frequency electromagnetic field - LF EMF) and a chemical compound (glycyrrhizic acid - GzA) and sowing them under conditions of optimal and limited water supply showed that different varieties of cotton, depending on their biological peculiarities and the method of seed treatment, had different parameters of water exchange in plants. The experiments were carried out in laboratory, greenhouse, lysimetric and field conditions, the indicators of the electrical resistance of leaf tissues (ERLT) of cotton plants depended on the conditions of water supply. According to this indicator, the varieties Ishonch, Gulbahor-2 and Navbahor-2 showed greater resistance to soil moisture deficiency, in comparison with the variety Tashkent-6. The plant varieties from seeds, treated with LF EMF and GzA, to a greater or lesser extent, are in the range with the lowest ERLT values, in comparison with the varieties from untreated seeds.

Distribution, vertical migration, and trophic ecology of lanternfishes (Myctophidae) in the Southwestern Tropical Atlantic

Lanternfishes (Myctophidae) are among the most abundant, widespread, and diverse fish groups in the world ocean. They account for a significant part of oceanic fish biomass and play crucial roles in various ecosystem processes, including carbon sequestration and nutrient recycling. However, despite the increasing risks they face (e.g. global warming, plastic pollution, and exploitation of deep-sea resources), many aspects of the lanternfishes ecology still remain poorly known. Here, we investigate the species composition, vertical migration, and trophic ecology of lanternfishes in the Southwestern Tropical Atlantic (SWTA) and the influence of physicochemical factors on their horizontal structuring. We show that lanternfishes are a highly diverse and an abundant fish family of the SWTA, comprising at least 33 species and contributing 40% of all fish collected (in number). We reveal that some of these species may differ in their patterns of prey composition and migratory behaviour, leading to multidimensional niches, underestimated trophic links (e.g. gelatinous organisms), and several mechanisms to avoid competitive exclusion. At least 73% of the lanternfish species reported here seem to migrate to the surface to feed at night. Additionally, they are a central food source for mesopelagic and bathypelagic predators, thereby connecting shallow and deep-sea ecosystems. Finally, we show that the structure of lanternfish assemblages is not strongly affected by environmental conditions analysed here (i.e., throughout the thermohaline structure and current systems), leading to weak horizontal assemblage separation.

Influence of Physicochemical Factors on Radionuclide Leaching from Soil

The degree of radionuclide leaching from soil in the region of the Atomic Lake (Kazakhstan) was determined. The 3H and 90Sr concentrations in aqueous extracts increase with increasing time of interaction of the soil with the leaching solution. A decrease in the 239+240Pu transfer into the solution with time may be due to the formation of colloids in the course of leaching, followed by their deposition or sorption onto soil components. Despite relatively high initial content of γ-emitting radionuclides (137Cs, 241Am, 152,154Eu, 60Co) on the level from n × 102 to n × 104 Bq kg−1 in the soil, in leaching experiments the content of these radionuclides in aqueous extracts was below the detection limit of the procedure used (<1 Bq L−1). The influence exerted on the leaching by the grain-size distribution of soil, pH of the medium, degree of mineralization, and chemical composition of water was determined. The tests performed suggest that the transfer of artificial radionuclides from the soil into water by leaching is one of the main mechanisms of radioactive contamination of the Atomic Lake water.

The study of the influence of exogenous factors on Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA spheroplast

The possibility of fixing genotoxic changes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast under the influence of physicochemical factors was evaluated using the DNA-comet assay. Peripheral blood leukocytes of mice subjected to similar effects were used as an object of comparison. The data obtained showed that under the action of both the alkylating agent and X-ray irradiation, the changes were more pronounced in experiments with leukocytes of the blood of mice. At a methyl-methane sulphonate concentration of 10 mM, the comet tail length in mouse peripheral blood leukocytes was about 40 μm, while the yeast spheroplasts tail length of a comet was 0.16 μm. The DNA content in the tail of the comet did not exceed 5 % for yeast after treatment with an alkylating agent at a concentration of 40 mM, which is 10 times less than in peripheral blood leukocytes of mice under similar conditions. Under the action of X-ray radiation, the length of the comet’s tail and the DNA content in it for spheroplasts of yeast also differed significantly from the leukocytes of the peripheral blood of the mouse. Thus, the comet test allows to register a significant increase in the level of DNA damage in yeast spheroplasts under the action of physicochemical factors in relatively high doses.

Influence of physicochemical factors on environmental availability and distribution of semiochemicals that affect Varroa destructor and phylogenetically close organisms: classification by VHWOC PCA-clustering

Varroa destructor parasites Apis mellifera larvae following the interception of the semiochemicals involved in bee communication; thus, the semiochemical availability and distribution pathways take place within different physicochemical environments. The structure of 172 molecules with semiochemical activity on Varroa destructor was used to compute the representative physicochemical descriptors of the thermodynamic partition among different physicochemical environments: vapor pressure (V), Henry's coefficient (H), water solubility constant (W), octanol-water partition coefficient (O) and organic carbon partition coefficient (C); VHWOC. The principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering of VHWOC descriptors allowed us to establish the trend in availability and distribution of the semiochemicals resulting in a 4 classes model of physicochemical environments: Class 1, Soluble/Volatile; Class 2, Soluble; Class 3, Contact; Class 4, Adsorbed/Volatile. Our results suggest that semiochemicals can transit between different thermodynamic equilibrium phases depending on environment conditions. The classification prediction of the model was tested on 6 new molecules obtained from ketonic extracts of L5 Apis mellifera drone larvae; locating them in class 4, which was consistent with their molecular structure. This study can be the starting point for the design of synthetic semiochemicals or for the control of Varroa destructor. In addition, the method can be used in the analysis of other semiochemical groups.

Study of the interaction kinetics of apatite ore with nitric acid by independent analytical methods

With the help of ionometric and photometric methods of analysis, the kinetics of the interaction of a low-grade enrichment product of apatite ore with nitric acid was investigated. Presents the results of changes in the concentration of the ion H+ and P2O5 in the reaction mixture during the reaction. The influence of physicochemical factors on the decomposition rate is shown.

The estimation of effects of food crioprotectors on quality indicators of semi-fragrances

A prerequisite for the preservation of quality indices of truncated semi-finished products after defrosting is compliance with the recommended conditions of refrigeration. However, it is not always possible to maintain high consumer properties of frozen semi-finished products, as the degree of destructive influence of low minus temperatures on muscle fibers of meat raw materials also depends on its quality. In world practice, the issue of the use of physico-chemical methods of treating biotechnological objects is often discussed with the use of substances of cryoprotective action. In order to stabilize the functional and technological properties of low-grade meat raw material and protect frozen brooded semifinished products from the negative influence of physico-chemical factors, protein-hydrocarbon compositions of cryoprotective action were developed. According to the results of the research, the use of Vepro 75 PSC, sodium caseinate and vegetable fiber (wheat, flax, plantain) as part of semi-finished products helps to obtain high quality products with stable consumer properties. Stabilizing effect of protein-polysaccharide mixtures ... in the model samples, the cutlet manifests itself in improving their consistency, increasing juicing and other quality indicators. The most effective composition of the complex cryoprotective protein-polysaccharide mixture containing the blood plasma protein, sodium caseinate, plantain fiber and flaxseed was determined in equal proportions. It was established that the use of developed cryoprotective complex mixtures in the model of meat minced meat systems in the amount of 2% reduces the cryoscopic temperature by 2.09–2.81 ºС, reduces the mass fraction of frozen moisture by 0.9% and increases the moisture content capable of 9.7–15.3%, in comparison with the control sample, which positively affects the quality indices of finished products. According to the results of the conducted research, it was found that the use of protein-carbohydrate compositions in the half-finished semifinished products can preserve the dense structure and succulence of the semi-finished products after 30 days of storage in the frozen state. It is confirmed that the mechanism of cryoprotective action of the developed protein-polysaccharide compositions is associated with a decrease in water activity, the formation of an amorphous structure within the product and a decrease in the number of crystallization centers.

Influence of Physicochemical Factors on Bacterial Communities Along the Lower Mekong River Assessed by Illumina Next-Generation Sequencing

The relationship between land use and microbial community structure at seven sites along the Lower Mekong River, between Thailand and the Loa People’s Democratic Republic, was investigated using Illumina next-generation sequencing of the V5–V6 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. In total, 14,470 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed. Community composition was significantly different between sampling years. Moraxellaceae and Comamonadaceae were the predominant bacterial families in upstream sites, which included agricultural and urban areas in the Loei and Nong Khai provinces of Thailand. Members of the family Comamonadaceae were prevalent in agricultural and urban sites in Bueng Kan Province, while Moraxellaceae and Burkholderiaceae were the major families in a site downstream of an urban area in the Nakhon Phanom Province of Thailand. The bacterial community observed from a forested area of Patam National Park in Thailand showed greatest diversity, and several major bacterial families including Comamonadaceae, Moraxellaceae, and Pseudomonadaceae were more dominant than other sites. The diversity of fecal indicator bacteria, determined by ERIC-PCR DNA fingerprinting, indicated the presence of 29 strains of Escherichia coli and 21 strains of Enterococcus, while TP-RAPD patterns represented six species of Enterococcus. Results of this study indicated that although the difference in the distribution of bacterial phyla and families was found among sampling sites, the bacterial community composition, based on the presence of OTUs, continuously retained its signature across approximately 758 km along the Lower Mekong River, regardless of the type of land use. Water parameters, including temperature, turbidity, DO, and air temperature, also differentially affected the abundance of bacterial families along the Mekong River.

Influence of physical chemical water parameters on abundance and presence of the arbovirus vector Aedes Albopictus (Dipteria: Culicidae) in Larval habitats of forest fragments

Introduction The species Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) is a mosquito of great epidemiological importance because it carries several arboviruses that cause diseases in humans, including the dengue virus. In Brazil, this species was introduced in mid-1986 and nowadays is found in almost the whole country cities, developing in natural or artificial breeding sites in peri-urban and urban areas. For aquatic insects living in lentic environments, such as immature forms of mosquitoes, the physicochemical environment factors represent important constraints that can influence the development, survival and adaptation of the organism. Despite this, few studies have sought to investigate the influence of physicochemical factors on the incidence and abundance of vector mosquitoes. In this study we investigated the influence of pH, practical salinity unit (PSU), water temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) and oxygen dissolved in parts per million (DO ppm) on the incidence and abundance of Aedes albopictus collected in larval habitats found in four urban green spaces in the city of Sao Paulo. Methods Natural breeding sites (bromeliads, bamboos, trees holes, and puddles) and artificial ones were explored (water boxes, plant pots, tires, etc.) during 12 months of collection. The physicochemical parameters were measured using a multiparameter device Hanna-HI-9828. The predictive relationship between the measured physicochemical factors and the incidence and abundance of A. albopictus was evaluated by generalized additive models (GAM). Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small samples was used to select the model with the best fit and explanatory power. For a better understanding of the non-linearity of relationship between the variables, a tree regression analysis was made from the selected model. Results A total of 4212 specimens of A. albopictus were collected in 142 positive samples from both natural and artificial breeding sites. In relation to the positive samples the variation in the physicochemical parameters was: pH 2.3 to 9.8, PSU 4.8 and PSU > 0.175. The abundance was better explained by pH, salinity and temperature, with higher average abundance (151 individuals/mean) in PSU > 0.335, pH Conclusions The mosquito A. albopictus showed to be adapted to wide variations in physicochemical conditions of larval habitats, which in part explains its wide ecological valence and worldwide dispersion. The predictive models proposed in this study may be useful to help understand the relationship of A. albopictus and other vector mosquitoes with abiotic environment constraints.

Effects of clay mineral and physico-chemical variables on sandstone rock permeability

In this paper we highlighted the effect of clay mineralogy and the influence of physico-chemical factors on coagulation- dispersion processes and the rate of pore throat bridging by clays. In particular, we describe the effect of different pH (acidic 2.5 and alkaline 9.5) and the effect of salinity (NaCl) on the stability of clay particles in siliciclastic rocks and their influence on the rock permeability which are often ignored in reservoir engineering literature. We conducted the first experiments on powder (0.05-0.1 mm grain size) samples for tracking mineral reactions and core plugs for permeability. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was run for whole-rock and clay fraction by diagnostic treatments to specify types of clay minerals and to calculate the percentage of each type. The composition of starting material is quartz dominant, with carbonates (dolomite, calcite), feldspars (albite, microcline), chlorite, kaolinite, illite, muscovite, with traces of 14 Å smectite and illite/smectite randomly interstratified structure. In strongly acidic solution, according to XRD, smectite is altered (14 Å peak vanishing), chlorite being also partly reduced, while kaolinite is stable. Carbonates are not involved in reactions. In basic solution, smectite was less affected, but chlorite peaks indicate structural transformation. The shape and broadening of 10 Å peak shows changes in illite and illite/smectite interstratified structures. Altogether, mineralogical changes indicate reactions which lead to fines mobilization. Based on experimental work, in the case injection with pH 2.5 and pH 9.5, there has been a rapid and substantial reduction in permeability as an average 38.54% and 73.72% for acidic and basic solutions respectively. The results confirmed that the reason of the reduction in permeability is due to the non- swelling clay minerals which are dispersed and migrated during the changes in pH, salinity and time. Novelty of these experiments is the tracking of changes in mineralogy by Rietveld refinement on XRD, coupled with diagnostic clay mineral investigation.

Influence of Physico-Chemical Factors of Gharana Wetland Soil on the prevalence of Keratinophilic Fungal Inhabitants.

Influence of Physico-Chemical Factors of Gharana Wetland Soil on the prevalence of Keratinophilic Fungal Inhabitants.

Seasonal dynamics of microcystin-degrading bacteria and toxic cyanobacterial blooms: Interaction and influence of abiotic factors

Massive proliferations of cyanobacteria coexist and have different interactions with other microorganisms, including microcystin (MC)-degrading bacteria. Despite their relevance in the environment for the removal of MCs, this bacterial community has been scarcely studied. The influence of physicochemical factors and the seasonal dynamics of toxic cyanobacteria on the relative abundance and seasonal dynamics of the MC-degrading bacterial community with mlr genes (mlr+) were investigated during a two-year study at a water reservoir in central Spain. The capacity of the total bacterial community on the degradation of MCs during the whole period of study was also evaluated. The results showed that the relative abundance of mlr+ bacteria started to increase after the increase in the relative abundance of toxic cyanobacteria and MC concentrations in the water, indicating a related seasonal dynamic and an important interaction between the two communities. The correspondence of several peaks of mlr+ bacteria with decreases in the relative abundance of toxic cyanobacteria and vice versa may also suggest a possible antagonistic relationship that deserves an in-depth study. The lack of a significant relationship between the physicochemical factors and the temporal shifts of both MC producers and degraders also supports the notion that the interaction of the two communities is an important driver of their seasonal dynamics in nature. Regarding the capacity of the total bacterial community for the degradation of MCs, this capacity was only observed during the toxic cyanobacterial bloom episodes, highlighting the importance of the pre-exposure to MCs in the reservoir for triggering the MC biodegradation process.

Strong impact of anthropogenic contamination on the co-occurrence patterns of a riverine microbial community.

Although the health of rivers is threatened by multiple anthropogenic stressors with increasing frequency, it remains an open question how riverine microbial communities respond to emerging micropollutants. Here, by using 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing of 60 water samples collected during different hydrological seasons, we investigated the spatio-temporal variation and the co-occurrence patterns of microbial communities in the anthropogenically impacted Jiulong River in China. The results indicated that the riverine microbial co-occurrence network had a nonrandom, modular structure, which was mainly shaped by the taxonomic relatedness of co-occurring species. Fecal indicator bacteria may survive for prolonged periods of time in river water, but they formed an independent module which had fewer interactions with typical freshwater bacteria. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that nutrients and micropollutants [i.e., pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)] exerted combined effects in shaping α- and β-diversity of riverine microbial communities. Remarkably, we showed that a hitherto unrecognized disruptive effect of PPCPs on the abundance variations of central species and module communities was stronger than the influence of physicochemical factors, suggesting the key role played by micropollutants for the microbial co-occurrence relationships in lotic ecosystems. Overall, our findings provide novel insights into community assembly in aquatic environments experiencing anthropogenic stresses.

Selection of Species for the Laboratory-Reared Algal Community by Their Hydrobiological and Biophysical Features

Phytoplankton communities can serve as bioindicators of the water system state. It is necessary to select the appropriate species of microalgae to develop a model of a natural ecosystem that will allow performing multifactor experiments on the influence of physicochemical factors on the biophysical and hydrobiological characteristics of phytoplankton. This study has allowed selecting six species from those available in a museum to establish a model algal community. We have found that similar conditions are required for their optimal growth (light, temperature, and medium nutrients' supply). A medium with low nitrogen content is proposed to be used as a basal medium. Under these conditions, the cells function in a proper way and the cultures show satisfactory growth, while the duration of reaching the stationary stage of growth (10–15 days) allows having more experiments for a limited time. The cells of the selected species have morphological differences that are sufficient for the automated identification within the polyculture. We have obtained the geometric characteristics of cells for the computer counting of each species in the community on the microphotographs.

The self-association of HMGB1 and its possible role in the binding to DNA and cell membrane receptors.

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a chromatin protein, interacts with DNA and controls gene expression. However, when HMGB1 is released from apoptotic or damaged cells, it triggers proinflammatory reactions by interacting with various receptors, mainly receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) and toll-like receptors (TLRs). The self-association of HMGB1 has been found to be crucial for its DNA-related biological functions. It is influenced by several factors, such as ionic strength, pH, specific divalent metal cations, redox environment and acetylation. This self-association may also play a role in the interaction with RAGE and TLRs and the concomitant inflammatory responses. Future studies should address the potential role of HMGB1 self-association on its interactions with DNA, RAGE and TLRs, as well as the influence of physicochemical factors in different cellular environments on these interactions.

Миграционные процессы тяжелых металлов и нефтепродуктов в системе «почвенный покров – поверхностные воды» на урбанизированной территории

The seasonal dynamics of the content of heavy metals and petroleum products in the soil and aqueous ecosystems within urbanized territory of Ulyanovsk has been examined. With the application of statistical methods of analysis the influence of physicochemical factors on migratory processes of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb) has been investigated in the soil cover – surface water ecosystem.