The Influence of Silicon on the Components of Resistance to Gray Leaf Spot in St. Augustinegrass

ABSTRACT

Soil fertilization with silicon (Si) has been shown to reduce the severity of gray leaf spot, caused by Magnaporthe grisea, in St. Augustinegrass. However, to understand how Si reduces gray leaf spot, it is necessary to study the effects of Si on the components of host resistance. In a greenhouse, six rates (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 t ha^?1) of calcium silicate were evaluated for their ability to affect the components of resistance to gray leaf spot in the susceptible (‘Floratam’) and resistant (‘FX-10’) St. Augustinegrass cultivars. Components of resistance assessed were incubation period, latent period, lesion number, lesion area, daily rate of lesion expansion, and number of conidia per lesion. Percent leaf area diseased, a result of the components of resistance, was also evaluated. In this study, the only component of resistance affected by Si was lesion number. Silicon application significantly reduced the number of lesions 26 to 61% when compared to the untreated control in the susceptible cultivar ‘Floratam’. In the resistant cultivar ‘FX-10’, as the rate of calcium silicate increased the number of lesions decreased significantly from 43 to 57%. The percent leaf area diseased in ‘Floratam’ was significantly reduced (18–57%) by increasing rates of silicon when compared to the control. Silicon was the only element to increase significantly in the plant tissue from the amendment of soil with calcium silicate. Integrated disease management strategies for reducing gray leaf spot in both sod production and home lawn settings can be augmented by using Si fertilization to increase plant resistance to gray leaf spot, especially in soils deemed to be low in plant available Si.     

Antifungal agents of use in animal health--chemical,biochemical and pharmacological aspects

A limited number of antifungal agents is licensed for use in animals, however, many of those available for the treatment of mycoses in humans are used by veterinary practitioners. This review includes chemical aspects, spectra of activity, mechanisms of action and resistance, adverse reactions and drug interactions of the antifungals in current use.     

Distributions of microbial activities in deep subseafloor sediments

Diverse microbial communities and numerous energy-yielding activities occur in deeply buried sediments of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Distributions of metabolic activities often deviate from the standard model. Rates of activities, cell concentrations, and populations of cultured bacteria vary consistently from one subseafloor environment to another. Net rates of major activities principally rely on electron acceptors and electron donors from the photosynthetic surface world. At open-ocean sites, nitrate and oxygen are supplied to the deepest sedimentary communities through the underlying basaltic aquifer. In turn, these sedimentary communities may supply dissolved electron donors and nutrients to the underlying crustal biosphere.