The Impact of Pesticides on the Microbial Community of Agrosoddy-Podzolic Soil

Eurasian Soil Science - The impact of three types of pesticides (herbicide metribuzin, insecticide imidacloprid, and fungicide benomyl) on the structure of microbial complexes and indicators of...     

Specificity and stability in topology of protein networks

Molecular networks guide the biochemistry of a living cell on multiple levels: Its metabolic and signaling pathways are shaped by the network of interacting proteins, whose production, in turn, is controlled by the genetic regulatory network. To address topological properties of these two networks, we quantified correlations between connectivities of interacting nodes and compared them to a null model of a network, in which all links were randomly rewired. We found that for both interaction and regulatory networks, links between highly connected proteins are systematically suppressed, whereas those between a highly connected and low-connected pairs of proteins are favored. This effect decreases the likelihood of cross talk between different functional modules of the cell and increases the overall robustness of a network by localizing effects of deleterious perturbations.     

Biological Activity of Soils in Mountain Tundra Ecosystems under Postpyrogenic Restoration

The dynamics of the content and microbiological transformation of carbon and nitrogen compounds in the surface horizons of mountain tundra soils are considered in the postpyrogenic succession. The contents of total and labile carbon and nitrogen increase in the course of postpyrogenic soil evolution. At the same time, in the surface organic horizons, the carbon reserves, as compared to the nitrogen ones, are restored faster. The aerobic transformation of carbon compounds prevails at all the stages of the succession. The tolerance of soil organic matter toward mineralization increases as the ecosystem recovers after fire. However, this parameter reaches the values characteristic of the control soils no earlier than 60 years after the fire. The microbial communities of the podburs (Folic Podzols, Haplic Podzols) restore their functional activity fast enough after the fire (about three years). In the remote future, the effect of fire leads to an increase in the availability of soil nitrogen and in the soil ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Despite the temporary increase in the availability of mineral nitrogen (including nitrates) at early stages of the postpyrogenic restoration of soil systems, denitrification does not play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen.     

Stocks of phytomass and organic carbon in tundra ecosystems of northern Fennoscandia

This article considers carbon stocks in the tundra ecosystems of northern Fennoscandia with different meso- and macrorelief features in relation with the value and structure of the phytomass of these ecosystems and their volume weight of fine-grained soil. The basic stocks of ecosystem carbon (60–97%) are concentrated in shallow soils. The value of the soil pool of carbon is influenced not only by its concentration but also by the thickness and level of stoniness of soil horizons. Phytomass is the second most significant carbon pool. It was established that most of the tundra ecosystems have stocks of this element largely in belowground phytomass, which, on the whole, reflects the correlation between its aboveground and belowground parts. The carbon stocks in the mortmass of tundra ecosystems are comparable with or slightly exceed the carbon stocks in the live phytomass.     

Changes in the Pools of Total and Labile Soil Organic Carbon during Post-Fire Succession in the Khibiny Mountain Tundra Ecosystems

Eurasian Soil Science - The changes in the total soil carbon storage and the pools of labile and potentially mineralizable organic matter in Entic Folic Podzols of the Khibiny Mountains (Murmansk...     

Comparison of acetate tape impression with squeezing versus skin scraping for the diagnosis of canine demodicosis

This study compared the sensitivity of acetate tape impression and skin squeezing with that of deep skin scraping for the diagnosis of demodicosis in dogs. Demodex canis was detected in 100% of acetate tape impressions obtained after skin squeezing and in 90% of deep skin scrapings. There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) between the techniques in the total number of mites detected. Acetate tape impression with skin squeezing was found to be more sensitive than deep skin scraping and is an alternative diagnostic method for canine demodicosis.