Effect of high temperature on growth,nitrogen fixation,and chlorophyll content of five species of Azolla Anabaena symbiosis

Summary Cultures of Azolla sp. ST-SI, A. microphylla BR-GI, A. mexicana BR-GL, A. caroliniana WT-V, and A. filiculoides BR -H were grown in N-free International Rice Research Institute growth medium in the glasshouse at 38±1 °C (day) and 25±1 °C (night) under a light intensity of 350 Em²s^–1 for 27 days. Biomass, chlorophyll contents and nitrogenase activity (acetylene reduction assay) were recorded on the 19th and 27th day. For comparison the same parameters were studied in Azolla spp. under normal growth conditions at 26±1 °C (day) and 19±1 °C (night). Azolla sp. STSI and A. microphylla BR-GI had produced a larger biomass by the 19th and the 27th day of incubation than A. caroliniana WTV and A. filiculoides which showed poor growth. Under normal growth conditions A. caroliniana WTV and A. filiculoides BRH produced less biomass than the other Azolla spp. cultures tested. A. mexicana BR-GL had a higher total chlorophyll content in both incubation periods than A. caroliniana WT-V and A. filiculoides BR-H. The N content was high in Azolla sp. ST-SI, A. microphylla BR-GI, and A. mexicana BR-GL compared with the low N content of A. filiculoides BR-H and A. caroliniana WT-V. At the higher temperature (38±1 °C/25±1 °C) Azolla sp. ST-SI and A. microphylla BR-GI consistently showed a higher growth rate than A. filiculoides BR-H and A. caroliniana WTV, while the growth rate of A. mexicana BR-GL was intermediate.The study was carried out at C.F. Kettering Research Laboratory, Yellowsprings, OH - 45387, USA     

Estimation of associative nitrogen fixation in relation to water regime and plant nutrition in a long-term pot experiment with rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Summary The contribution of associative N₂ fixation to the N nutrition of lowland rice was estimated in a long-term pot experiment with ten consecutive crops of rice. The experiment comprised two N and two K levels with wet (WF) and dry fallow (DF) between the cropping seasons. Growth of N₂-fixing cyanobacteria was prevented. Greatest yields were obtained in the high NK fertilizer treatment, but with continuation of the experiment yields responsed more to DF than to WF. Nitrogenase activity, however, was favoured by WF. Higher K application increased and higher N application decreased nitrogenase activity. Under WF treatments the organic C and total N contents of the soil remained unchanged during the experimental period, but alternate drying and flooding in DF treatments caused a decline. Lower N fertilizer rates in the second five-crop period did not affect yields, but increased the ratio of N removed to N applied. For the ten-crop period the estimated N balance was positive in the low-N and negative in the high-N treatments. N balances were also established separately for both the first and the second halves of the ten-crop period. In the first period N losses were higher, and the N balance was mostly negative. In the second period only high-N combined with low-K fertilization resulted in a negative N balance. DF favoured N losses in the first but not in the second period. The highest N gain in the second period was found in the DF treatment with low-N and high-K application. In this treatment, nearly one-quarter of the N taken up by the above-ground parts of the plants could be ascribed to associative N₂ fixation. In the corresponding treatment with the higher N level and a 49% higher yield, the contribution of fixed N declined to less than 5%. When harvested straw contained more than 10 mg N g^–1, the N balance was mostly negative, while at N contents less than 10 mg N g^–1, the N balance was generally positive.     

Nitrogen fixation by Azospirillium brasilense in soil and the rhizosphere under controlled environmental conditions

Summary Acetylene reduction activity by Azospirillum brasilense, either free-living in soils or associated with wheat roots, was determined in a sterilised root environment at controlled levels of O₂ tension and with different concentrations of mineral N. In an unplanted, inoculated soil nitrogenase activity remained low, at approximately 40 nmol C₂H₄ h^-1 per 2kg fresh soil, increasing to 300 nmol C₂H₄ h^-1 when malic acid was added as a C source via a dialyse tubing system. The N₂ fixation by A. brasilense in the rhizosphere of an actively growing plant was much less sensitive to the repressing influence of free O₂ than the free-living bacteria were. An optimum nitrogenase activity was observed at 10 kPa O₂, with a relatively high level of activity remaining even at an O₂ concentration of 20 kPa. Both NO _inf3 ^sup- and NH _inf4 ^sup+ repressed nitrogenase activity, which was less pronounced in the presence than in the absence of plants. The highest survival rates of inoculated A. brasilense and the highest rates of acetylene reduction were found in plants treated with azospirilli immediately after seedling emergence. Plants inoculated at a later stage of growth showed a lower bacterial density in the rhizosphere and, as a consequence, a lower N₂-fixing potential. Subsequent inoculations with A. brasilense during plant development did not increase root colonisation and did not stimulate the associated acetylene reduction. By using the ¹⁵N dilution method, the affect of inoculation with A. brasilense in terms of plant N was calculated as 0.067 mg N₂ fixed per plant, i.e., 3.3% of the N in the root and 1.6% in the plant shoot were of atmospheric origin. This ¹⁵N dilution was comparable to that seen in plants inoculated with non-N₂-fixing Psudomonas fluorescens.     

水稻土中铁氧化物的厌氧还原及其对微生物过程的影响

采用厌氧泥浆恒温培养实验 ,测定了添加 6种外源氧化铁后土壤中Fe(Ⅱ )和Fe(Ⅲ )浓度的变化 ,探讨了不同氧化铁的还原能力及其对土壤产H2 、产CO2 、产乙酸和产CH4 过程的影响。结果表明 :无定形氧化铁和纤铁矿易于被还原 ,两者的最终还原程度大体相同 ,但无定形氧化铁存在还原滞后现象 ;针铁矿、赤铁矿、Al取代针铁矿和Al取代赤铁矿难以被还原 ,表现出与对照相同的还原特征 ;铁还原能导致土壤中H2 和乙酸稳态浓度的降低 ,有效抑制了甲烷产生 ;添加Fe(OH) 3和纤铁矿后 ,Fe(Ⅲ )还原占总电子传递的贡献率由对照的 1 8.3 0 %增至 63 .3 2 %和 46.90 % ,而形成甲烷的电子传递贡献率由对照的 80 .92 %降至 3 5 .85 %和 5 2 .3 2 % ,Fe(Ⅲ )还原对电子的竞争消耗 ,使土壤产甲烷过程被强烈抑制     

Modelling impact sound reduction in floating wood floors

Abstract

The transmission of footfall-excited impact sound is commonly reduced using floating wood floors. These constructions contain three layers: a load-bearing wood floor, a resilient material and a floating wood slab. For wood construction excited by transient load (e.g. footsteps), sound reduction estimations may contain uncertainties due to inadequate modelling of footsteps and floor components. This paper presents a multiple degree-of-freedom system model using Working Model 2D® (WM2D). The model includes orthotropic behavior of wood and equivalent spring stiffness determination of the resilient layer. Sound reduction is determined and it is shown that larger reductions are possible through the inclusion of floating wood slabs in the load-bearing floor.     

我国农业机械能耗现状分析及节能减排技术

现代农业必须依靠机械化才能实现大面积作业和规模化生产。农业机械的高油耗、效率低严重制约了农业的机械化进程。为此,通过对目前我国农机高耗能现状的分析,并与国外农机耗能进行比较,找出农机高耗能的原因,提出相应的措施以解决农机节能减排问题。     

Evaluation of Commercial Fe(III)‐Chelates Using Different Methods

Abstract

A collaborative assay among three laboratories was made in order to compare both the ion (CEN. EN 13368‐2:2001 E. Determination of chelating agents in fertilizers by ion chromatography. Part 2: EDDHA and EDDHMA, 2001a) and the ion‐pair (Lucena, J.J.; Barak, P.; Hernandez‐Apaolaza, L. Isocratic ion‐pair high‐performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of various iron(III) chelates. J. Chromatogr. A 1996, 727, 253–264) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods as well as the soluble and complexed Fe (CEN. EN 13366:2001 E. Treatment with a cation exchange resin for the determination of the chelated micronutrient content and of the chelated fraction of micronutrients, 2001b) methods. Fifteen and ten samples of commercial fertilizers of Fe‐EDDHA, Fe‐EDDHMA, respectively were analysed by three laboratories using these methods. No significant differences were observed between the results obtained for the Fe‐EDDHA content using the Lucena et al. or CEN method. The first method makes it possible to distinguish between the meso and DL‐racemic diasteroisomers of Fe‐o, o‐EDDHA. For the Fe‐EDDHMA formulations, the CEN method gives higher values than the ion‐pair method, since in the first one Fe‐EDDH4,6MA coelutes with FeEDDHMA. Also the CEN method does not makes it possible to distinguish between Fe‐EDDHMA and Fe‐EDDH5MA products. The variability among laboratories was larger for the CEN method than for the Lucena et al. method.     

Does the Sulfur Assimilation Pathway Play a Role in the Response to Fe Deficiency in Maize (Zea mays L.) Plants?

Abstract

The finding that the methionine is the sole precursor of the mugineic acid family phytosiderophores induced us to evaluate whether sulfur assimilation pathway has a role in plant response to Fe deficiency. Maize plants were grown for 10 days in nutrient solution (NS) containing 80 µM Fe in the presence (+S) or absence (?S) of sulfate. After removing the root extraplasmatic iron pool, half of the plants of each treatment (+S and ?S) were transferred to a new Fe deficient NS (0.1 µM final Fe concentration) (?Fe). The remaining plants of each pre‐culture condition (+S and ?S) were transferred to a new NS containing 80 µM Fe (+Fe). Leaves were collected 4 and 24 hours from the beginning of Fe deprivation period and used for chemical analysis and enzyme assays. Results showed that iron content in the leaves was lower in plants grown in S‐deficiency than in those grown in the presence of the macro‐nutrient. Iron deprivation produced an increase in the level of SH compounds in both nutritive conditions (+S and ?S). These observations are suggestive of some relationship between S nutrition and Fe uptake. For this reason, we next investigated the influence of Fe availability on S metabolism through the evaluation of changes in ATPs and OASs activity, the first and the last enzyme of S assimilation pathway respectively. Results showed that S‐starvation increased the activity of both enzymes, but this effect disappeared in plants upon Fe deficiency suggesting that S metabolism is sensitive to Fe availability. Taken together these evidences suggest that S metabolism is sensitive to soil Fe‐availability for plant nutrition and support the hypothesis of S involvement in plant response to Fe deprivation.     

Effects of Iron Deficiency on Thylakoid Membrane Structure and Composition in the Alga Dunaliella salina

Abstract

The unicellular green alga Dunaliella was previously proposed as a model photosynthetic organism for adaptation to iron deficiency. The purpose of this study was to find out how iron limitation affects the structure and composition of the photosynthetic system of Dunaliella salina. Iron deprivation did not retard proliferation of D. salina cells, but was associated with a decrease in cell volume and chlorophyll content, and with a four‐fold reduction in iron content and a two‐fold increase in Cu content. Electron microscopic analysis revealed shrinkage of the chloroplast and decrease in stacked thylakoid membranes. Measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence induction in the presence of DCMU and of 77 K chlorophyll fluorescence emission spectra indicated gross changes in the photosynthetic efficiency of reaction centers and in the organization of their associated light harvesting antenna. Differential analysis of protein composition led to the identification of a major thylakoid membrane protein (Tidi), that was specifically induced under iron deprivation. Partial sequencing suggests that Tidi is a novel type of a chlorophyll a/b binding protein. These results clearly show that iron limitation is associated with extensive reorganization of the photosynthetic system in Dunaliella.     

Effect of sulphur in the prevention of incipient iron chlorosis in corn

Abstract

Results of a field experiment, comprising elemental S and three commercial preparations of Fe, applied with and without several other factors showed that the application of S was significantly better than that of Fe supplying materials in preventing the incipient chlorosis of corn leaves on the alkaline calcareous soils. Prevention of chlorosis in corn due to sulphur application increased the grain yield of corn 25–31%.

Leaf samples from plants raised with Fe supplying materials were chlorotic even though they contained significantly higher amounts of Fe. Persistence of chlorosis in spite of high Fe content of leaves, vis a vis freedom from chlorosis in spite of low Fe content, suggest that deficiency of Fe was not a factor in chlorosis. Freedom from chlorosis accompanied by significant increases in corn yields due to S application, on the contrary, show that it was the lack of S rather than Fe as the cause of Chlorosis.

When the supply of S is low, Fe seems to be subjected to a great deal of chemical inactivation and under conditions of stress more and more absorption of Fe is necessitated. In all probability the rate of inactivation exceeds the rate of absorption and chlorosis develops. In this situation either the plant's ability to utilize iron is affected or the physiological availability of absorbed iron is very low. Increased S seems to arrest the process of Fe inactivation by providing a better nutritional environment.