个人简介
Overall I am interested in sustainable chemistry. Asking questions like “What is actually there?” which relates to an assessment of either a product or a resource in addition to establishing background concentrations. Another angle is “What happens during manufacturing or after completed use?” this is addressing the environmental fate of resources such as phosphorus or petroleum. The foundation is analytical chemistry to identify what elements and species are present and in what quantities. This information is used to, for example, assess ecological processes.
Previous Career History
2005-2006 Teaching Fellow Environmental Chemistry, Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
2002-2005 Post-Doc Chemical Ecology, The Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland
2001 Post-Doc Chemical Ecology, Institute of Vegetation Ecology, University of Umeå, Sweden
2000-2001 Self-employed Environmental Consultant
1998-2000 Lectureship Environmental Chemistry, jointly between the School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and the Department of Chemistry, University of Wales, Bangor, UK
1995-1998 PhD “Chemical Characterisation of Dissolved Organic Matter” University of Wales, Bangor with Prof. M. S. Baird and Dr. M. A. Lock
1988-1994 Diplom-Chemikerin “Aluminium Toxicity under Plant Physiological Conditions”, University of Hanover, Germany
1991-1992 Imperial College International Diploma “Ringopenings of Cyclopropenes”, Imperial College, London, UK
研究领域
Plants are the centre point of my research interests from their chemical make-up, via their interactions with other ecosystem components toward the use of plants as a resource for day-to-day goods. The most challenging research is phytochemistry, which describes the isolation and structural characterisation of natural products. This is often combined with an assessment of their biological activity and done in collaboration with other scientists. However, it is often not necessary to quantify every individual compound, rather compounds are groups such as fatty acids or phenolics or monoterpenes, for example. The publication and group list gives details on plants researched and their interaction of specific groups of metabolites with other ecosystem components. Plant oils have been researched in great detail and are sometimes found as jetsam and the finder hopes it may be ambergris (for info see https://theconversation.com/ambergris-how-to-tell-if-youve-struck-gold-with-whale-vomit-or-stumbled-upon-sewage-57834). Highly degraded or weathered plants is another way to describe petroleum, another research interest. As no plant grows without a nutrient supply, recently the phosphorus cycle in plants and soil was thoroughly researched. Dead plant material is termed organic matter and previous research assessed this in dissolved form in freshwater and also in compost related research. My favourite plant though is the British bluebell.
Currently active research projects:
Bracken and Bluebell Climax Vegetation
Since 2007 we actively research an upland site that is dominated by bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and bracken (Pteridium aquilinum). The site represents a late successional ecosystem and unless it is manipulated, no other plant species establish, hence climax vegetation. We have looked at the chemistry of the dominant plant species. Background was to investigate whether the plants contain allelochemicals that suppress other growth. We found that bluebell seeds can be used as an oil source. In addition, a pigment can be extracted, as shown on BBC Countryfile (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04d7cll).
A biologically active saponin was also characterised. However, we did not identify any specific allelopathic compound, rather bluebell bulbs were rich in phytate that transfers into the soil and thus may suppress bracken emergence because it is not easily accessible. For bracken, a similar approach was taken and its pterosins and pterosides were identified. There was an unusually rich structural variation, thought to derive from ptaquiloside degradation products. These were present in traces into the soil, however, again the concentrations determined were deemed insufficiently high to affect other plant. The phosphorus link described above is a more likely cause.
Both plants show a high carbohydrate content, necessary to survive in the Welsh uplands. The effect that these carbohydrates have on soil is the next aspect to be investigated.
Applied Analytical Chemistry
The current funding situation is supportive of research linking businesses and academia. Working with Dr Zigs (https://www.drzigs.com/), we have been researching the chemistry of bubbles. While many scientists looked at bubbles from a light reflection point and considered them spheres, we are trying to assess the molecular orientation that allows big bubbles to form. In addition we are also interested in using sustainable ingredients and assessing the fate of bubbles that have popped where they were left in the environment.
We also work with Halen Mon (http://www.halenmon.com/) to understand the processes occurring during sea salt manufacturing. Applying sustainable chemistry, we have been assessing all parts of the process in order to know what was present in the seawater to start with and what might be suitable to use as commercial products. In parallel I am also involved in a PhD study that assesses the background concentration in the river Conwy, from its source to the estuary, as determined through sediment analysis.
Petroleum chemistry
Humans are still relying heavily on petroleum and its refined products. Accidental spillages do occur and are often in hard-to-reach areas or are deemed too small for a clean-up operation. We are investigating the interactions between hydrocarbons, sand and surfactants to assess background concentration in sand and how to best remove the excess using surfactants. Previously different complex hydrocarbon mixtures have been assessed including asphaltenes and the oil derived from used car tires.
近期论文
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Usman, A., Thoss, V., Darko, G. and Itoko, A. U. (2016) Determination of Triacylglycerocomposition of Trichilea emetica Seed Oil using GC-MS and 1H-NMR. Advances in Analytical Chemistry 6: 10-16.
Usman, A., Thoss, V. and Nur-e-Alam, M. (2016) Isolation of (-)-epicatechin from Trichilea emetica whole seeds. American Journal of Organic Chemistry 6: 81-85.
Usman, A., Thoss, V. and Nur-e-Alam, M. (2016) Isolation of taxifolin from Trichilea emetica whole seeds. American Journal of Organic Chemistry 6: 81-85.
Adebiyi, F. M., Ogunlaja, O. T., Santoro, A. and Thoss, V. (2016) Spectroscopic characterization of the maltene fraction of Nigerian bitumen for potential health-risk assessment. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects 38 (16): 2397-2405.
Ebuele, V. O., Santoro, A. and Thoss, V. (2016) Characterisation of Plant Seeds by Phosphorus-31 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Analytical Letters in press
Ebuele, V. O., Santoro, A. and Thoss, V. (2016) Phosphorus speciation by 31P NMR spectroscopy in bracken (Pteridium aquilinum (L/) Kuhn) and bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) Chourd ex Rthm.) dominated semi-natural upland soil. Science of the Total Environment 566-567: 1318-1328.
Warrilow, A., Price, C., Parker, J., Rolley, N., Smyrniotis, C., Hughes, D., Thoss, V., Nes, W., Kelly, D., Holman, T. & Kelly, S. (2016). Azole Antifungal Sensitivity of Sterol 14α-Demethylase (CYP51) and CYP5218 from Malassezia globosa. Scientific Reports 6: 27690
Raheem, D. and Thoss, V. (2016) Seasonal variation of mono-, di- and polysaccharides in British bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) Journal of Plant Chemistry and Ecophysiology 1 (1): 1005.
Mohammad, R. M., Nur-e-Alam, M., Lahmann, M, Parveen, I., Tizzard, G. J., Coles, S. J., Fowler, M., Drake, A. F., Heyes, D. and Thoss, V. (2016) Isolation and characterization of 13 pterosins and pterosides from bracken (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn) rhizome. Phytochemistry 128: 82-94.
Hama, J. R., Omer, R. A., Rashid, R. S. M., Nur-e-Alam, M. and Thoss, V. (2016) The diversity of phenolic compounds along defatted kernel, green husk and leaves of walnut (Juglans regia L.). Analytical Chemistry Letters
Santoro, A. Thoss, V., Ribeiro Guevara, S., Urgast, D., Raab, A., Mastrolitti, S. and Feldmann, J. (2016) Assessing rare earth elements in quartz rich geological samples. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 107: 323-329.
Adebiyi, F. M. and Thoss, V. (2015) Spectrocopic characterisaion of asphaltene fraction of Nigerian bitumen Petroleum Science and Technology 33: 245-255
Adebiyi, F. M. and Thoss, V. (2014) Organic and elemental elucidation of asphaltene fraction of Nigerian crude oils Fuel 118: 426-431
Amponsah, IK, Fleischer, TC, Dickson, RA, Annan, K and Thoss, V (2013) Evaluation of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of Furanocoumarins and Sterolin from the stem bask of Ficus exasperate Vahl (Moracea) Journal or Scientific and Innovative Research 2: 880-887.
Thoss, V., Murphy, P. J., Marriott, R. and Wilson, T. (2012) Triacylglycerol Composition of British Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) Seed Oil. RSC Advances 2: 5314-5322.
Varshney, V. K, Pandey, A., Thoss, V., Kumar, A. and Ginwal, H. S. (2012) Foliar chemical attributes of the hybrid bred from Eucalyptus citriodora x E. torelliana and its parental taxa, and implications for fungal resistance Annals of Forest Research 55:53-60.
Müller-Schwarze, D and Thoss, V (2008) Defense on the rocks: Low monoterpenoid levels in plants on pillars without mammalian herbivory Journal of Chemical Ecology 34: 1377-1381
Cooper, R., Thoss, V. and Watson, H. (2007) Factors influencing the release of dissolved organic carbon and dissolved forms of nitrogen from a small upland headwater during autumn runoff events. Hydrological Processes, 21:622-633.
Stutter, M.I., Lumsdon, D.G. and Thoss, V. (2007) Physico-chemical and biological controls on dissolved organic matter in peat aggregate soil columns. European Journal of Soil Science 58: 646-657.
Thoss, V., O’Reilly-Wapstra, J. and Iason, G. R. (2007) Intra-specific and phenological variability in monoterpenes of Scots pine (pinus sylvestris) foliage: implications for ecological research. Journal of Chemical Ecology 33:477-491.
O’Reilly, J., Iason, G. R. and Thoss, V. (2007) The role of genetic and chemical variation of Pinus sylvestris seedlings influencing slug herbivory. Oecologia 152: 82-91.
Kennedy S., Cameron, A., Thoss, V. and Wilson, M. (2006) Role of monoterpenes in Hylobius abietis damage levels between cuttings and seedlings of Picea sitchensis. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 21: 340-344.
Pakeman, R.J., Beaton, J.K., Thoss, V., Lennon, J.J., Campbell, C.D.,
White, D. & Iason, G.R. (2006) The extended phenotype of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) structures the understorey assemblage. Ecography 29: 451-457.
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