Ammonia-oxidizing communities in agricultural soil incubated with organic waste residues

The impact of organic compounds present in different kinds of organic fertilizers, i.e., anaerobically digested household waste, composted organic household waste, swine manure, and cow manure, on microbial communities in arable soil was investigated using microcosms. Soil was amended with dried residues or organic extracts of the residues and incubated for 12 weeks at 25°C. The microbial community composition was investigated by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, and the community of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was assessed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rDNA fragments, followed by sequencing. All dried residues increased the AOB activity, determined as potential ammonia oxidation, whereas the organic extracts from the thermophilically digested waste and the swine manure caused a decreased potential activity. However, no differences in the DGGE banding patterns were detected, and the same AOB sequences were present in all samples treated with the residue extracts. Moreover, the PLFA composition showed that none of the residue additions affected the overall microbial community structure in the soil. We conclude that the AOB community composition was not affected by the organic compounds in the fertilizers, although the activity in some cases was.     

Variation in 15N natural abundance of soil, humic fractions and plant materials in a disturbed and an undisturbed grassland

The natural abundance of δ¹⁵N in disturbed and undisturbed pasture soils was examined. From the disturbed soil, the top 10 cm of the profile was examined and the soil split into fractions based on particle size. Plant shoot and root material contained similar low enrichments in ¹⁵N, whereas recently deposited shoot residues were highly enriched. Differences between the soil fractions in observed total N did not reflect similar ¹⁵N variation. However, the enrichment of humic material extracted from the largest soil fraction was considerably lower in ¹⁵N relative to that from the smaller fractions. The complexity of the humic material from the larger fractions was less according to the E ₄ /E ₆ ratio. Analysis of the profile from the undisturbed soil showed increasing ¹⁵N enrichment with depth which corresponded well with visible soil horizons and showed an inverse relationship with total soil N. This ¹⁵N enrichment was mirrored by the enrichment in humic materials down the profile and also corresponded with an increasing chemical complexity as shown by the E ₄ /E ₆ ratio. Received: 15 March 1996     

Interpretation of commercial production information: A case study of lulo (Solanum quitoense), an under-researched Andean fruit

Every time a farmer plants and harvests a crop represents a unique event or experiment. Our premise is that if it were possible to characterize the production system in terms of management and the environmental conditions, and if information on the harvested product were collected from a large number of harvesting events under varied conditions, it should be possible to develop data-driven models that describe the production system. These models can then be used to identify appropriate growing conditions and improved management practices for crops that have received little attention from researchers. The analysis and interpretation of commercial production data in the context of naturally occurring variation in environmental and management, as opposed to controlled experimental data, requires novel approaches. Information was available on both variation in commercial production of the tropical fruit, lulo (Solanum quitoense), and the associated environmental conditions in Colombia. This information was used to develop and evaluate procedures for the interpretation of the variation in commercial production of lulo. The most effective procedures depended on expert guidance: it was not possible to develop a simple effective one step procedure, but rather an iterative approach was required. The most effective procedure was based on the following steps. First, highly correlated independent variables were evaluated and those that were effectively duplicates were eliminated. Second, regression models identified those environmental factors most closely associated with the dependent variable of fruit yield. The environmental factors associated with variation in fruit yield were then used for more in depth analysis, and those environmental variables not associated with yield were excluded from further analysis. Linear regression and multilayer perceptron regression models explained 65-70% of the total variation in yield. Both models identified three of the same factors but the multilayer perceptron based on a neural network identified one location as an additional factor. Third, the three environmental factors common to both regression models were used to define three Homogeneous Environmental Conditions (HECs) using Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). Fourth, yield was analyzed with a mixed model with the categorical variables of HEC, location, as a proxy for cultural factors associated with a geographic region, and farm as proxy for management skills. The mixed model explained more than 80% of the total variation in yield with 61% associated with the HECs and 19% with farm. Location had minimal effects. The results of this model can be used to determine the appropriate environmental conditions for obtaining high yields for crops where only commercial data are available, and also to identify those farms that have superior management practices for given environmental conditions.     

Follicle Wave Growth in Cattle

Ovarian follicle growth in cattle culminates in the selection of a single dominant follicle which attains the ability for final maturation and ovulation once or twice during the luteal phase and at the end of the oestrous cycle, as well as during other reproductive states. This review will describe in detail the first follicle wave of the cycle leading to selection of the first wave dominant follicle, indicating the specific gonadotrophin dependencies of cohort and dominant follicles, and relating follicle fate to steroidogenesis. As a differential gonadotrophin response of growing antral follicles during the follies‐stimulating hormone (FSH) decline may determine which follicle becomes selected, first wave follicles are also characterized in relation to intrafollicular growth factors, which may modify the gonadotrophin response, such as inhibins and members of the insulin‐like growth factor (IGF) family. Subsequently, the follicular control of the transient FSH rise and decline so crucial to dominant follicle selection will be discussed. It is concluded that successful hormonal manipulation of follicle wave growth and dominant follicle selection will depend on our detailed understanding of the gonadotrophin requirements of differentiating wave follicles.     

The textural analysis of cooked potato. 3. Simple methods for determining texture

Summary Separate methods were developed for measuring softness, i.e. ease of cutting, and dryness, i.e. the tendency to cell separation. Pieces of potato tissue 30 mm long and 10 mm square were cooked in boiling water for 5, 10 or 15 min. To measure softness, the force required to cut the tissue with a thin stainless steel wire, inserted into a razor cut 1 mm deep, was recorded. To measure dryness, the tuber segments were crushed between two plates to half their original thickness and the crushed tissue separated on a 1 mm sieve. The <1 mm fraction consisted largely of single cells and was measured by its packed volume. Both softness and dryness increased with cooking time in a range of six cultivars. There was some correlation between them, and a closer correlation between dryness and specific gravity. The results agreed with previous organoleptic texture determinations.     

The textural analysis of cooked potato. 1. Physical principles of the separate measurement of softness and dryness

Summary The texture of cooked potatoes was described by two physical parameters: softness, resulting from both cell cleavage and cell separation, and dryness, depending on the ratio of cell separation to cell cleavage. The softness of potato tissue was measured by determining its resistance to cutting with a thin stainless steel wire. Softness increased rapidly with cooking time, particularly when the cultivar was predicted tobe soft in texture by published taste panel trials. Raw potato tissue released intercellular fluid from fractured surfaces due to cell cleavage. After cooking less fluid was released, i.e. the texture became drier, as cell separation increased. The erosion of cells from cooked potato tissue by a high-pressure jet of water was used to measure dryness quantitatively. Erosion increased during cooking. Carrot tissue, whose cells do not separate on cooking, did not erode, but anomalous results with apple tissue suggested that measurement of dryness in this way might not be fully independent of softness.     

Wound healing in potato tuber tissue. 1. Effects of maturity at harvest

Summary Potatoes of cvs Record (maincrop) and Red Craigs Royal (second early) were harvested at intervals from 22 August to 14 October. Half of the plots were mechanically defoliated on 22 August, by which date haulms of cv. Red Craigs Royal were largely dead. Tubers of cv. Record were immature at the first lifting date and matured thereafter, particularly after defoliation. Wound healing rates were assessed from the ability of discs of tuber tissue, cut the day after harvest, to become resistant to the loss of water vapour as suberization progressed at high relative humidity. Cv. Red Craigs Royal showed little variation in wound healing rate. Wound healing in cv. Record became more rapid with increasing maturity, particularly after defoliation when it reached a maximum by 1 October. After storage until March in the following year, the effect of maturity at lifting on wound healing rate was no longer evident.

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Zusammenfassung Zweck dieser Versuche war herauszufinden ob die Intensit?t der Wundheilung unmittelbar nach der Ernte bei unreifen Knollen beeintr?chtigt war und ob irgendwelche Effekte nach Lagerung erhalten blieben. Knollen der mittelfrühen Sorte Red Craigs Royal und der sp?ten Sorte Record wurden um 22. August bis zum 14. Oktober 1979 in Intervallen geerntet. Am 22. August wurde die H?lfte der Parzellen mechanisch abget?tet, der Rest starb auf natürliche Weise ab. Das natürliche Absterben war bei der Sorte Red Craigs Royal am 22. August und bei Record am l. Oktober fast komplett. Am Tage nach jeder Ernte wurden 11×4 mm starke Scheiben aus dem Mark entnommen, nach 10 Tagen die Entwicklung der internen Widerstandsf?higkeit gegen Wasserverlust durchgeführt. Diese Massnahme stellt ein Mass der Suberinisierung der Schnittfl?che dar (Jarvis & Duncan, 1975). Die Knollen von Red Craigs Royal waren zum ersten Erntetermin reif und zeigten danach wenig ?nderungen in der Wundverheilungsrate. Die Knollen von Record hatten unreif eine langsame Wundverheilungs-Rate, bei sp?teren Ernteterminen wurde das Wundverheilen progressiv schneller, haupts?chlich bei Knollen aus den abget?teten Parzellen, und erreichte zum l. Oktober ein Maximum (Abb. 1). Abbildung l basiert auf über 10 Tage Wundheilung summierter interner Widerstandsf?higkeit, aber die Unterschiede zwischen den Behandlungen über die Wundheilperiode hinweg waren durchweg einheitlich (Abb. 2). Nach 5–7 Monaten Lagerung bei 10°C entwickelte sich interne Resistenz schneller als nach der Ernte, und blieb bei Record schneller als bei Red Craigs Royal. Die Unterschiede zwischen den Erntezeitpunkten waren jedoch nicht mehr eindeutig (Tabelle 1). Folglich ist die langsame Wundheilung bei unreif geernteten Knollen nur ein Kurzzeiteffekt. Beim Gewicht der Scheiben w?hrend der Wundheilung ergaben sich keine betr?chtlichen ?nderungen (Tabelle 2). Dies zeigt dass sich der Wassergehalt, welcher die Wundheilrate beeinflussen kann, nicht ?nderte.

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Résumé Le but de cette étude est d'étudier l'influence du niveau de maturité des tubercules sur le taux de cicatrisation des blessures immédiatement qprès récoltés à différentes dates, entre le 22 ao?t et le serve également après conservation. Des tubercules de la variété demi-précoce Red Craigs Toyal et de la variété principale Record ont été récoltés à différentes dates, entre le 22 ao?t et le 14 octobre 1979. Sur la moitié des parcelles, un défanage mécanique a été réalisé le 22 ao?t et le reste a été maintenu jusqu'à maturité. La senescence naturelle était pratiquement atteinte au 22 ao?t pour la variété Red Craigs Royal et au ler octobre pour la variété Record. Des lamelles de 11 mm × 4 mm dans le tissu médullaire des tubercules sont réalisées un jour après prélèvement et l'évolution de la résistance interne à la perte en eau, comme mesure de la subérisation à la surface des la melles, a été observée pendant 10 jours (Jarvis & Duncan, 1979). Les tubercules de la variété Red Craigs Royal étaient m?rs à la première date de récolte, et par conséquent, peu de différence dans le taux de cicatrisation a été observé. Les tubercules de la variété Record ont un faible taux de cicatrisation lorsqu'ils sont immatures, mais aux dernières dates d'arrachage la cicatrisation s'accélère, notamment pour les tubercules des parcelles défanées, quiatteint un taux maximal de cicatrisation vers le ler octobre (fig. 1). La figure l donne le total de la résistance interne pour 10 jours de cicatrisation, mais la différence entre les traitements est demeurée nette tout au long de cette période (fig. 2). Après une conservation de 5 à 7 mois à 10°C, la résistance interne à la perte d'eau s'effectue, plus rapidement qu'après la récolte et elle demeure plus forte avec la variété Record qu'avec Red Craigs Royal, mais la différence observée entre les dates d'arrachage ne para?t plus évidente (tableau 1). Donc, la lente cicatrisation des blessures pour les tubercules non m?rs n'est qu'un effet à court terme. Aucune modification substancielle n'est apparue dans le poids des lamelles pendant la période de cicatrisation (tableau 2), ceci montre que la teneur en eau qui peut influencer le taux de cicatrisation n'a pas évolué.

     

Bird Island,Lamberts Bay,South Africa: An attempt at conservation

Visitors formerly constituted a threat to the breeding success of bird populations on Bird Island, Lamberts Bay. Their activity also reduced the numbers of transient birds roosting on the island. Thus, guano production was depressed. Conservation measures were therefore implemented to protect breeding birds and to avoid disturbance to the nightly arrival of transients, while allowing human visitors to view nests at close quarters. The measures resulted in a vast increase in the non-breeding transient bird population and in the breeding population, as well as an increase in guano production. Adjacent islands showed no increase in guano production; consequently that of Lamberts Bay is attributable to the success of conservation measures.     

Water loss from potato tuber discs: a method for assessing wound healing

Summary A rapid and simple method for assessing wound healing in dises of potato tuber tissue has been developed. The rate of water loss is measured when batches of six dises are briefly exposed in a stream of air. The rate of water loss shows little change during the early stages of wound healing but decreases rapidly later.