Glucosinolate content and isothiocyanate evolution--two measures of the biofumigation potential of plants.

A total of 570 lyophilised Brassica root and shoot tissue samples were hydrolyzed, and the liberated isothiocyanates (ITCs) were analyzed by gas chromatography-flame photometric detection (GC-FPD). Glucosinolates (GSLs) were extracted from samples of the same tissues and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The concentrations of six GSLs/ITCs (2-propenyl, 3-butyl, 4-pentenyl, benzyl, 4-methylthiobutyl, and 2-phenylethyl) as determined by the two techniques were compared. In 79% of the samples, the concentration of GSLs in the tissues was greater than that of the ITCs released on hydrolysis. Several possible reasons for the difference are proposed, including the effect of tissue storage time, hydrolysis of GSLs may be less efficient than the GSL extraction procedure, or some of the ITCs formed reacted with plant proteins and amino acids in the sample and were therefore not detected in the extract. GSL concentration in plant tissues is used to estimate the biofumigation potential of the plant tissue, whereas the actual biofumigation effect is thought to be due to the ITCs formed by hydrolysis of the plant-based GSLs. The variation between ITC and GSL values therefore has implications for the assessment of the biofumigation potential of the plant tissue.     

A simple and precise method for total chlorophyll analysis in tropical foliage plants 1

Methods currently in use for total chlorophyll analysis of plant tissue were reviewed. Storage of leaf tissue before analysis, filtration methods during analysis and extract longevity were investigated. The final procedure includes the use of leaf area cores and extraction with 100% acetone with results reported by area and oven dry weight. A simple and precise composite method was adopted.     

A sensitive method for measuring cyanide and cyanogenic glucosides in sand culture and soil

Summary Sensitive methods for measuring cyanide and cyanogenic glucosides in soil and sand culture have been developed. A microdiffusion technique is described which depends on the enzymic conversion of linamarin and lotaustralin to HCN, its release following acidification and incubation, and its detection in NaOH. Conditions for hydrolysis and HCN recovery have been optimised. The cyanide content of a silt loam soil (under non-cyanogenic wheat) was 5.47 nmol cyanide g^–1 air-dried soil whilst that in an organic soil under the cyanogenic bracken, Pteridium aqgilinum, was 12.2 nmol g^–1. Exudation of cyanogenic glucosides by linseed, Linum usitatissimum, was measured in plant growth tubes containing sand and a nutrient medium. Sterile plants exuded an average of 6.88 nmol glucosides plant^–1 week^–1 whilst, in contaminated tubes, the level fell to 4.72 nmol. Analysis of plant roots on each sampling occasion showed that 6.88 nmol was, on average, equivalent to 16.15% of the total root content of cyanogenic glucosides. There was a low but positive correlation between fresh weight of plant roots and the level of exuded glucosides. There was no evidence that plant roots produced free HCN.     

A simple and accurate method for determining wheat grain fructan content and average degree of polymerization

An improved method for the measurement of fructans in wheat grains is presented. A mild acid treatment is used for fructan hydrolysis, followed by analysis of the released glucose and fructose with high performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). Not only the amount of fructose set free from fructans but also the released glucose can be quantified accurately, allowing determination of the average degree of polymerization of fructans (DP(av)). Application of the mild acid treatment to different grain samples demonstrated that a correction should be made for the presence of sucrose and raffinose, but not for stachyose or higher raffinose oligosaccharides. The fructan content and DP(av) of spelt flour, wheat flour, and whole wheat flour were 0.6%, 1.2%, and 1.8% of the total weight and 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Validation experiments demonstrate that the proposed quantification method is accurate and repeatable and that also the DP(av) determination is precise.     

福建省农业资源可持续利用综合评估方法研究

本文在分析福建省农业资源的特点和可持续利用制约因素的基础上,构建了农业资源可持续利用综合评价指标体系,该体系充分考虑了指标选取的全面性、主导性、区域性、差异性、动态性和可操作性,分别在土地资源、农业气候资源、水资源、林业资源、畜牧资源、水产资源、农村能源、生产条件、农业效益9个方面选取34个因子作为评价指标;根据评价指标因子对农业资源可持续利用的影响类型进行归类,归纳出土地利用现状指数、土壤状况指数、气候资源指数、气象灾害指数、农村能源指数、生产条件指数和效益指数,并确定每一指数的计算方法,最后将7个单项的评价指数进行加权计算,成为综合评价指数,对福建省各县农业资源可持续利用进行评估.评估结果表明,福建省80.6%的县(市)农业资源可持续利用状况达到优良等级.     

Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in red paprika for retail sale in Spain: occurrence and evaluation of a simultaneous analytical method

Aflatoxins are the only mycotoxins with legal limits for spices in the European Union. A further limit for ochratoxin A is expected to be adopted soon. Thus, rapid simultaneous methods for quantifying the five mycotoxins are sought. Liquid extraction, immunoaffinity column cleanup, and HPLC-FD with a wavelength program were optimized for the analysis of the five mycotoxins in paprika, a complex fatty matrix. The limits of detection ranged from 0.3 to 0.6 microg/kg. Repeatability (RSDr) ranged from 7.9 to 13.4%, and recoveries were between 61.4 and 77.8%, in both cases at the lower spike level. Aflatoxins, when found, were far below the two legal limits of 5 microg/kg for aflatoxin B 1 and 10 microg/kg for total aflatoxins. Ochratoxin A was more frequently found, with a mean of 11.8 microg/kg, and in a more varied range (SD = 18.9 microg/kg). When an automation of the precolumn derivatization step was attempted, the procedure proved to be unfeasible, but experience derived from this trial and from the general employment of this reaction enables some comments on the possibilities and limitations of this procedure and on research for an alternative one to be made.     

A simple and inexpensive method for counting anaerobic bacteria

Abstract

A serum bottle method for counting anaerobic bacteria in soil is described.     

Biological characteristics of newly cultivated fodder plants for pastures of the arid zone in Uzbekistan

Summary Haloxylon aphyllum, Kochia prostrata, Salsola orientalis, Ceratoides eversmanniana, and Artemisia ferganensis have been shown to be the most suitable species for establishing artificial pastures or for improving degenerated pastures in the deserts and semi-deserts of the Republic of Uzbekistan. These species are here characterized both ecologically and agronomically, and their adaptations to extremely arid conditions are described.     

A simple and inexpensive method for chromium speciation in soil extracts

Abstract

Chromium (Cr) appears in two stable forms in nature as Cr(III) and Cr(VI). Hexavalent chromium (CrO₄ ^2‐; Cr₂O₇ ^2‐) is very toxic and carcinogenic, while inorganic Cr(III), however, is essential for mammals. Only two methods, atomic absorption and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission (ICP) spectrometry, provide information on the total amount of Cr in a test solution. This is the reason that several efforts have been made with regard to Cr speciation. Either an acidic or a basic activated aluminum oxide and a reversed phase C‐18 column or an ion exchanger column are used for the separation of chromium(III) from chromium(VI) in FIA and HPLC analyses. In our experiments, acidic‐activated aluminum oxide was used for separation. This alumina was placed into a silicon tube and connected to an ICP spectrometer between the nebulizer and peristaltic pump. The average grain size of the alumina was large enough that the solution could be pumped through the micro column. Acidic‐activated aluminum oxide in the 2.0 to 8.0 pH range adsorbs the chromate anion but not the Cr(III) cation. During this stage, the Cr(III) content of a sample is measurable. The adsorbed chromate can be eluted with a strong acid. The height or area of the elution peak can be used for the calibration of Cr(VI). Detection limits of 4 μg/kg and 0.5 μg/kg were obtained for Cr(III) and Cr(VI), respectively. The effects of sulphate and phosphate anions on the surface of the alumina on chromate adsorption were also evaluated. This method was used for the measurement of Cr(VI) concentration by 0.01M CaCl₂ extraction of soil.     

A simple method for generating daily rainfall data

In recent years, agricultural scientists have developed considerable interest in modeling and simulation of rainfall as new ways of analyzing rainfall data and assessing its impact on agriculture. Among the proposed methods, a combination of Markov chain and gamma distribution function is recognized as a simple approach and is demonstrated to be effective in generating daily rainfall data for many environments. Unfortunately, this method requires that many years of daily weather records be available for estimating the model parameters. Thus the availability of the weather data limits the applicability of the simulation method. When these model parameters are evaluated over time and at different places, however, certain general characteristics are revealed. First, the transitional probability of a wet day followed by a wet day tends to be greater but parallel to the transitional probability of a dry day followed by a wet day. This phenomenon leads to a linear relationship of the transitional probabilities to the fraction of wet days per month. Second, the beta parameter in a gamma distribution function, which is used to describe the amount of rainfall, is closely related to the amount of rain per wet day owing to the positive skewness of the rainfall distribution. Based on these relationships, a simple method is introduced, by which model parameters can be estimated from monthly summaries instead of from daily values. The suggested method, therefore, provides a convenient vehicle for applying weather simulation models to areas in which its use had been impossible because of the unavailability of long series of daily weather data.     

A simple method for detection of lipolytic microorganisms in soils

Media selective for the isolation of bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi were amended with 0.1% sunflower oil emulsified with 0.01% Tween 80. Lipase-producing microorganisms produced clear zones on these media. When lipase-producing bacteria were cultured on a polycarbonate membrane laid on the selective medium for bacteria, clear zones were produced on the medium when the membrane along with bacteria was removed. The agar disc cut from the clear zone also produced a clear zone when placed on the fresh medium, indicating that clear zone formation is the result of the activity of extracellular lipases. The largest population of lipase-producing microorganisms in an agricultural soil was actinomycetes followed by bacteria and fungi. Ranging from 12 to 75% of bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi isolates from soils collected from three different locations were capable of producing lipases. In general, relatively small percentages of soil bacteria were lipase producers, and lipase producers were more common among soil actinomycetes and fungi. These three groups of microorganisms appear to be all important in decomposition of oils in organic matters in soils.     

区域雨水资源化潜力计算方法与利用规划评价

 雨水资源化潜力是雨水利用规划的基础,也是半干旱地区水资源开发和生态建设的基础,研究其计算方法十分必要。讨论并定义了雨水和雨水资源化潜力的概念,提出了影响雨水资源化潜力的地形特征因子、降水特征因子和利用方式因子的计算模型,建立了雨水资源化潜力、雨水利用程度的计算模型和计算步骤,并进行了雨水利用规划分析评价。     

A simple method for quantitative determination of ATP in soil

A simple method to measure soil ATP by the luciferin-luciferase system is described. The ATP is extracted from the soil by vigorous shaking with a sulfuric acid-phosphate solution for 15 min. An aliquot of the soil suspension is neutralized with a Tris-EDTA solution and mixed with a special ATP releasing reagent (NRB). ATP is measured after a 10 s exposure to the NRB reagent, followed by addition of luciferin-luciferase and integration over 10 s in a Lumacounter M 2080. The ATP content in soils which had been stored at 5°C for 90 days and then incubated at 25°C for 5 days, ranged from 0.37 to 7.52 μg ATP g^?1 dry wt, with standard deviations less than 10%. There was a close (r = 0.96) linear relationship between ATP content and biomass C determinated by fumigation for this group of soils. The soil biomass contained 4.2–7.1 μg ATP mg^?1 biomass C. The ATP content of the biomass declined during storage at 5°C for 210 days.     

Comparison between analytical results of plant sap analysis and the dry ashing method for tomato plants cultured hydroponically

Tomato plants (Lycopersicon. esculentum Mill cv. Momotaro) were cultured in nutrient solutions of varying concentrations or of varying nitrate (NO₃) levels. The leaf blades and the main petioles including rachis were collected from the mixture of three successive leaves below each fruit truss at two growth stages. Comparisons were made between the nutrient concentration in the leaf blade and the petiole determined by plant sap analysis, and that in the leaf blade determined by the dry ashing method. Closely correlated relationships were found to exist between the phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) concentrations in the leaf blade and the petiole determined by plant sap analysis, and those in the leaf blade determined by the dry ashing method at two growth stages. For the concentration of potassium (K), there was no correlation between results of plant sap analysis and those determined by the dry ashing method at either growth stage.     

Selection of cultivars to reduce the concentration of cadmium and thallium in food and fodder plants

Pot and field experiments were carried out from 1994 to 1997 to investigate Cd and Tl uptake by various genotypes of maize, spring rape and kale on soils contaminated with i) Cd by the addition of river sediments (aqua regia-extractable Cd: 24 mg kg^—1 soil) and ii) with Tl by deposits from a cement plant (HNO₃-extractable Tl:1.4 mg kg^—1 soil). In field experiments on the Cd-contaminated soil, Cd concentrations in shoots and kernels of fifty maize inbred lines differed by a factor of about twenty (from < 1 to 15 mg Cd kg^—1 DM in shoots and from 0.02 to 0.5 mg Cd kg^—1 DM in kernels). After crossing inbred lines having high and low Cd concentration, Cd concentration of the resulting hybrids decreased, mainly as a result of a higher dry matter production (a dilution effect). In pot and field experiments on the Tl-contaminated soil, the selected cultivars of spring rape showed only small differences in Tl uptake, whereas Tl concentration in shoots of the kale cultivars differed more than twenty-fold (in the pot experiment from < 1 to 24 mg Tl kg^—1 DM and in the field experiment from 0.5 to 11.7 mg Tl kg^—1 shoot DM). Two groups of cultivars with low and high Tl concentrations could be distinguished. A nutrient solution experiment with radioactively labeled Tl showed that higher Tl concentration of kale in comparison to white cabbage can be attributed mainly to a higher uptake rate in kale (about 30-fold) with subsequent root-to-shoot translocation. The results show that, depending on plant species, selection and growing of cultivars with low heavy metal uptake on contaminated soils can substantially contribute to reduce the concentration of Cd and Tl in food and fodder plants.     

A simple method for fitting average diurnal temperature curves

A simple heat transfer model is presented for estimating the diurnal variation in temperature of air, water and leaf surfaces. It is based on a sinusoidal heat input, modelling the influence of the sun, and a linear heat loss, modelling the cooling process. The model parameters were estimated by least squares fitting of average hourly temperatures. The predictions of the model were acceptable for all data sets resulting in root mean square values of 0.78°C or less. The use of the model in agricultural and biological modelling, as a method of fitting diurnal temperature curves in any media is discussed.     

A fast and simple method for classification of soil bacterial populations

A simple method is described for a rough classification of soil bacterial populations. The method makes use of a commercially available biochemical test system and the test results are analysed in a multivariate classification program on a microcomputer. The method was used for classification of bacteria from rape rhizosphere.     

A geochemical analytical approach for the evaluation of heavy metal distribution in lagoon sediments

Background, Aim, and Scope  Italian lagoon environments are of great importance due either to their frequency and distribution along the coasts or to their management. Agriculture, urban and industrial activities in lagoon catchments can be sources of heavy metal (HM) pollution by direct waste dumping, atmospheric deposition of fumes or, simply, as a consequence of a lack of natural water recharge. HM concentration in lagoon sediments is a tool of HM monitoring in the surrounding environment. Application of sequential extraction procedures (SEP) to sediments makes it possible to study the HM distribution among the main geochemical phases and to assess their potential mobilization as a consequence of environmental condition variations. In the present study, the three-step SEP (0.11 m HOAc; 0.1 m NH₂OH·HCl; 8.8 m H₂O₂ and then 1 m NH₄OAc), developed by the Measurement and Testing Programme of the European Commission (BCR), was combined with information on the chemical and mineralogical properties of the sediments in order to assess the level and risk of mobility of HM (Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn) in sediments from the Fusaro volcanic coastal lagoon of southern Italy. The effect of sediment air drying and physico-chemical properties on the metal distribution in various geochemical forms and fractions was considered. Materials and Methods  Surface (5 cm depth) sediment samples were collected from twenty-one sites on the Fusaro lagoon. Moisture, pH, organic carbon, carbonates, particle-size distribution and HM total content were determined on the dried sediment samples. The mineralogy of the clay fraction was determined at room temperature on random and oriented samples. The different forms of Al, Si and Fe in the bulk sediment (< 2 mm) were analyzed after oxalate, dithionite-citrate and pyrophosphate extractions. The BCR-SEP was used to fractionate trace element chemical forms in nine selected sediment samples. Effects of sediment air-drying on HM fractionation were analyzed. Results  Middle (Cu, Cr) and low (Cd, Pb, Zn) concentrations of heavy metals in sediment samples from the deeper central part of the lagoon were observed. Cadmium resulted in mainly being associated with carbonate forms (∼60%), whereas Cr and Ni occurred primarily as residual mineral phases (>50%). Zn appeared uniformly distributed among the main geochemical forms. Considerable presence of Cr, Cu and Pb was found in the oxidizable fraction (∼50%), indicating organic matter and/or sulphides major sinks for these metals. Differences of heavy metal distribution among sediment samples were observed, depending on the total metal content and on sediment properties. Modifications in metal speciation induced by sediment air drying mainly consist of a transfer of the actual and potentially mobile fractions towards immobile fractions (mineral residue) by oxidation and formation of Fe and Mn oxides. Discussion  Both total content and sequential extraction results did not show an environmental critical situation: the only possible risk, associated with heavy element mobility, could occur in consequence of a drastic pH and redox equilibria variation at the water-sediment interface. Conclusions  Despite all limitations, the BCR-SEP combined with information on the chemical and mineralogical properties of the sediment solid matrix provides a valuable approach to describe the risks related to the potentially toxic HM occurring in sediments (in this paper the case of the Fusaro lagoon is examined). HM distribution among the sequentially extracted geochemical forms is affected by sediment properties, such as pH (Zn), clay (Cd), Fe easily reducible oxides (Pb) and organic matter (Cu) content. Recommendations  Political managers, usually facing limitations of time and resources, have to optimize the cognitive phases, selecting the most useful information to make ‘effective and correct decisions’ in the environmental field. Therefore, although conscious of the limits of the adopted quality assessment, we believe it represents a good compromise between time and resource availability (i.e. type and quality of information). Outlook  The complementary use of the simple and rapid European fractionation scheme with information on the chemical and mineralogical properties of the sediments provides more awareness about the nature of the sediment components involved and offers a more reliable way for studying HM speciation in sediments.     

A simple and rapid method for labelling earthworms with N and C

A simple, rapid and cost-effective laboratory method was developed for labelling soil-feeding earthworms simultaneously with ¹⁵N and ¹³C. The method circumvents the production of labelled plant material and can be adapted to devise pulse-labelling or long-term labelling protocols. Soil was amended with ¹⁵NH₄⁺ and incubated for 7 days. Then, U-¹³C-glucose was added and endogeic earthworms, Aporrectodea caliginosa (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae), were provided individually with 4 g of this pre-incubated soil. The labelling period was 4 days. The labelling efficiency (percentage of tracer retained in earthworm tissues) was estimated to be 15.8% for ¹⁵N and 10.3% for ¹³C. The loss of ¹⁵N and ¹³C label from tissue and mucus was traced for 21 days post-labelling. Label loss from mucus was best described by a two-term exponential function, whereas the label loss in body tissue followed a single-term exponential function. Half-life estimates for the ¹⁵N and ¹³C tracers in body tissue were 16 and 37 days, respectively.