Ratite eggshells from lanzarote, canary islands

Struthious and aepyornithoid eggshells from Tertiary calcareous sediments on Lanzarote prove the presence, until about 12 million years ago, of large flightless birds. The calcarenite horizon is recognized as an old land surface. Mesozoic sedimentary rocks in the basement of the volcanic islands of Lanzarote and neighboring Fuerteventura indicate that at least part of the Canary Archipelago is underlain by continental crust. Separation of the eastern Canaries from Africa raight have been by rifting, and a land connection might still have existed in the lower Pliocene.     

Effects of nitrogen supply on growth and nitrogen uptake by Miscanthus sinensis during establishment

The effect of nitrogen (N) supply on growth and N uptake of Miscanthus sinensis during the establishment was determined. Seven different N addition regimes were compared in a nutrient solution experiment. In the treatments N111 (severe deficient), N222 (moderate deficient), N333 and N444 (optimal for maximum growth) different N concentration ranges were held constant during the entire growing season. In the treatments N144, N414 and N441 plants were subjected to low (1) N concentration in one of three experimental periods, whereas the N concentration was high (4) in the other two periods. Depending on the N demand of the plants, N concentrations were adjusted to 250–500 μM (N1), 500–1000 μM (N2), 1250–2500 μM (N3) and 2500–5000 μM (N4) when the N concentration in the N222 treatment had dropped below 100 μM. The other elements in the solution were replenished according to the estimated element ratios in the plants. As a reference the potassium concentration in the solution was measured regularly. During the first year plants with a non-limited N supply (N444) produced new tillers and increased the length of individual tillers until the end of the growing season. This resulted in a 48% shoot dry matter increase late in the growing season between August and October and a linear increase of cumulative N uptake between July and October. Limited N supply during the entire growing season (N111, N222) caused lower shoot yields but rhizome and particularly root dry weights were less affected. Significant final yield losses were also observed when the N supply was limited only during the first 7 weeks of growth (N144). By contrast, final shoot yield was hardly affected when the plants were exposed to limited N supply over a period of 9 weeks at the end of the growing season (N441). In the second year regrowth of shoots in spring was affected by the previous year's N supply, since five weeks after the beginning of regrowth, shoot dry matter was significantly positively correlated with N contents in rhizomes and shoots in the previous October. Our results show, that N supply at the beginning of the growing season has a major effect on final yield in the first establishment year of M. sinensis. However, from the second year on, the capacity of N reserves in rhizomes and roots affects spring growth much more than current N supply.     

Soluble organic nitrogen in temperate forest soils

Very few studies have been related to soluble organic nitrogen (SON) in forest soils. However, this nitrogen pool could be a sensitive indicator to evaluate the soil nitrogen status. The current study was conducted in temperate forests of Thuringia, Germany, where soils had SON (extracted in 0.5 M K₂SO₄) varying from 0.3 to 2.2% of total N, which was about one-third of the soil microbial biomass N by CFE. SON in study soils were positively correlated to microbial biomass N and soil total N. Multiple regression analysis also showed that mineral N negatively affected SON pool. The dynamics of the SON was significantly affected by mineralization and immobilization. During the 2 months of aerobic incubation, the SON were significantly correlated with net N mineralization and microbial biomass N. SON extracted by two different salt solution (i.e. 1 M KCl and 0.5 M K₂SO₄₎ were highly correlated. In mineral soil, SON concentrations extracted by 1 M KCl and 0.5 M K₂SO₄ solutions were similar. In contrast, in organic soil layer the amount of KCl-extractable SON was about 1.2-1.4 times higher than the K₂SO₄-extractable SON. Further studies such as the differences of organic N form and pool size between SON and dissolved organic N (DON) are recommended.     

Influence of measuring angle,nitrogen fertilization,and variety on spectral reflectance of winter oilseed rape canopies

A field experiment with winter oilseed rape was conducted near Göttingen (northern Germany) in the growing season 1998–99. Twelve varieties were compared at two nitrogen (N) application rates (0, 206 kg N ha^–1) regarding shoot dry matter production, shoot N content, shoot N uptake (beginning of shooting, beginning of flowering), and seed yield. Canopy reflectance was measured one week before the beginning of shooting and one week before flowering at different wavelengths between 550 and 940 nm using a spectral reflectance sensor, type FAL II. The vegetation indices red edge inflection point (RIP), soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and normalized vegetation index (NDVI) introduced in literature as indicators of growth parameters were calculated from the reflectance values and compared with growth parameters. The results showed that the measuring angle (–45° to 45°) had a significant influence on the calculated vegetation indices. Therefore, the measuring angle should be kept constant during the measurements. Nitrogen fertilization led to an increase of all vegetation indices. The results revealed significant differences between the tested varieties, indicating problems regarding an accurate estimation of the N status of the crop. Consistent differences in the vegetation indices appeared between varieties with extremely different growth parameters. However, no general relationship between growth parameters and vegetation indices of the 12 varieties could be found. Therefore, variety‐specific calibrations are necessary. The indices RIP and SAVI resulted in similar statements and seem to be good parameters regarding N effects and variety differences, whereas NDVI could resolve variety differences in the fertilized treatments only imperfectly.     

Masked mycotoxins: determination of a deoxynivalenol glucoside in artificially and naturally contaminated wheat by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Conjugated mycotoxins, in which the toxin is usually bound to a more polar substance like glucose, are referred to as masked mycotoxins, as these substances escape routine detection methods but can release their toxic precursors after hydrolysis. This is the first report on the natural occurrence of a glucoside of deoxynivalenol (DON) in Fusarium-infected wheat and maize. To obtain appropriate standards, we chemically synthesized deoxynivalenol-3-beta-D-glucopyranoside (DON-3-glucoside) and deoxynivalenol-15-beta-D-glucopyranoside (DON-15-glucoside). The synthesis products were characterized by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The DON-glucosides showed different collision-induced dissociation (CID) fragmentation behaviors and could therefore be distinguished. Wheat plants were either treated with DON (n = 52) or with Fusarium spp. (n = 4) at anthesis, and after harvest, wheat ears were analyzed for DON and DON-glucosides. All 56 treated wheat samples contained DON and a DON-glucoside with the same retention time, molecular mass, and CID fragmentation behavior as the synthetic DON-3-glucoside. Moreover, the DON-glucoside was also found in two out of three analyzed naturally DON-contaminated maize and in five out of five naturally contaminated wheat samples, in a range from 4 to 12% of the DON concentration. To further confirm the identity of the DON-glucoside, the compound was isolated from wheat extracts and characterized as DON-3-glucoside with NMR. The results of this study indicate the importance to consider both DON and DON-3-glucoside with regard to food and feed safety.     

Inheritance of the sesquiterpenes longipinenone and hydroxy-longipinenone within the Achillea millefolium complex (Compositae)

Three selfing and 13 crossing experiments between tetraploid individuals of Achillea ceretanica, Achillea collina, Achillea distans ssp.‘styriaca’ Saukel (ined.), and Achillea pratensis (Achillea millefolium complex, Compositae), five F₁ crosses, three backcrosses and one further selfing experiment were carried out in order to study the inheritance of longipinenone (1) and its hydroxyl derivative (2). From these crossings, 1294 plants were studied by qualitative thin layer chromatography. Progenies from parent and F₁ plants without longipinenones (0‐type, ll) uniformly contained none of these two sesquiterpenes. All other crossing experiments showed typical segregation patterns of 0‐type, L‐type (longipinenone (1) without hydroxylongipinenone, L.hh) and H‐type (hydroxy‐longipinenone (2) and occasionally longipinenone, L.H.) in the ratio of 1 : 1 and 1 : 3. According to these results both derivatives are under dominant genetic control regulated by genes L and H, whereby hydroxylation takes place after synthesis of longipinenone (1).