Zeolite influences on nitrate leaching,nitrogen-use efficiency,yield and yield components of canola in sandy soil

With regard to the low cation-exchange capacity and large saturated hydraulic conductivity of sandy soils, a field experiment was carried out in 2006–2007 to determine the impact of zeolite on nitrogen leaching and canola production. Four nitrogen (N) rates (0, 90, 180, and 270 kg ha^–1) and three zeolite amounts (3, 6 and 9 t ha^?1) were included as treatments. The results demonstrated that the highest growth parameters and seed yield were attained with 270 kg N ha^?1 and 9 t zeolite ha^?1. However, the highest and the lowest seed protein percentage and oil content were obtained with 270 kg N ha^?1 accompanied by 9 t zeolite ha^?1, respectively. Nitrate concentration in drained water was affected by nitrogen and zeolite. The lowest and highest leached nitrate values were found in control without N and zeolite (N₀Z₀) and in treatments with the highest N supply without zeolite (N₂₇₀Z₀), respectively. In general, nitrogen-use efficiency decreased with an increase in N supply. Application of 9 t zeolite ha^?1 showed higher nitrogen use efficiency than other zeolite amounts. Also, application of more N fertilizer in soil reduced nitrogen uptake efficiency. In total, application of 270 kg N ha^?1 and 9 t zeolite ha^?1 could be suggested as superior treatment.     

The Effects of Lithology on Water Pollution: Natural Radioactivity and Trace Elements in Water Resources of Eskisehir Region (Turkey)

The high radioactivity and trace elements in drinking water are common concerns for human health. The aim of this study was to investigate the eligibility of groundwater for drinking purpose in terms of both radioactivity and trace element contents in Eskisehir Region (Turkey). The study area is located in a highly populated residential area where water supply is mostly met from groundwater. The area is about 20,000 km², where igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks are exposed. The 209 water samples collected from 84 water resources (including thermal waters) were analyzed with respect to major ions, trace elements, and radioactivity (gross alpha and gross beta) during both in wet and dry seasons. Based on the analysis results, trace elements in 49 samples of 84 water resources were over the limits of Code TS 266 1997 (Turkish Drinking Water Standards) and WHO 1993 standards. Particularly, Fe, Mn, Al, As, Ba, Zn, Cr, Cu, and B ion concentrations exceeded the limits. The gross alpha values in 18 locations and gross beta values in three locations also exceeded the limits of aforementioned standards in terms of radioactivity (gross alpha?=?0.1 Bq L^?1; gross beta?=?1 Bq L^?1). Furthermore, water radioactivity levels were close to the allowable limits in 33 water resources. The obtained results explicitly indicate that there is a strong relationship between the higher radioactivity–trace element contents and geochemical composition of rocks, which controls the radioactivity and trace element concentrations present in the aquifer.     

Effects of legal regulations on land use change: 2/B applications in Turkish forest law

For the countries struggling with climate change, sustainable forestry is one of the greatest challenges and is difficult to define, implement, and to measure. According to the scientific community’s consensus on climate change, forests are one of the major sinks and sustainable forest management (SFM) is needed to prevent deforestation and its negative effects on natural ecosystems. Despite being a party to many international treaties/agreements related to land use policies (LUP) that are promoting SFM to protect and develop forest resources, the 2/B application in Turkish forest legislation has been causing deforestation in Turkey since the 1970s.

In this study, 2/B applications–political and legal process–causing deforestation by land use change (LUC) are investigated by carrying out a legal analysis. About 500.000 ha of forests have been lost due to the 2/B application and as a LUP directly affects SFM, carbon sequestration capacities (CSC), and therefore, climate change. To exemplify this pre and post-LUC change and effect, the amount of carbon that was prevented from being absorbed as 176,7 tonnes/ha on average in a given forest area for the year 2016. There is a vital need to address the negative effects of ill-defined forest legislation to achieve SFM.     

Genetic analysis of Turkish apple germplasm using peroxidase gene-based markers

Plant peroxidases belong to a multigene family and posses highly conserved domains allowing to design oligonucleotide primers to amplify DNA sequences coding for peroxidases from plants with unsequenced genomes. Peroxidase gene-based polymorphism among Malus species, and correlation between peroxidase markers were deduced in this study. Turkish apple germplasm was evaluated using 14 peroxidase specific primers. Targeted-PCR amplification of genomic DNA from 192 apple genotypes available in the Turkish genetic resources yielded polymorphisms giving a similarity range from 0.56 to 0.98 with a mean of 0.77. Based on the POGP gene polymorphism, two distinct clusters were detected among the apple accessions, suggesting different evolutionary pathway. Correlation estimates as an indication of linkage disequilibrium between POGP markers ranged from −0.22 to 0.90, suggesting that few POGP markers were clustered and the remaining POGP markers evenly distributed throughout the apple genome. These results demonstrate that primers targeting the peroxidase gene family can be used to study genotypic diversity and evolutionary relationships on an intra- and inter-specific basis.     

Role of Phosphatases,Iron Reducing,and Solubilizing Activity on the Nutrient Acquisition in Mixed Cropped Peanut and Barley

The effect of interspecific complementary and competitive root interactions and rhizosphere effects on primarily phosphorus (P) and iron (Fe) but also nitrogen (N), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), and manganese (Mn) nutrition between mixed cropped peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). In order to provide more physiological evidence on the mechanisms of interspecific facilitation, phosphatase activities in plant and rhizosphere, root ferric reducing capacity (FR), Fe-solubilizing activity (Fe-SA), and rhizosphere pH were determined. The results of the experiment revealed that biomass yield of peanut and barley was decreased by associated plant species as compared to their monoculture. Rhizosphere chemistry was strongly and differentially modified by the roots of peanut and barley and their mixed culture. In the mixed cropping of peanut/barley, intracellular alkaline and acid phosphatases (AlPase and APase), root secreted acid phosphatases (S-APase), acid phosphatases activity in rhizosphere (RS-APase), and bulk soil (BS-APase) were higher than that of monocultured barley. Regardless of plant species and cropping system, the rhizosphere pH was acidified and concomitantly to this available P and Fe concentrations in the rhizosphere were also increased. The secretion Fe-solubilizing activity (Fe-SA) and ferric reducing (FR) capacity of the roots were generally higher in mixed culture relative to that in monoculture treatments which may improve Fe and Zn nutrition of peanut. Furthermore, mixed cropping improved N and K nutrition of peanut plants, while Ca nutrition was negatively affected by mixed cropping.     

Antifungal and herbicidal properties of essential oils and n-hexane extracts of Achillea gypsicola Hub-Mor. and Achillea biebersteinii Afan. (Asteraceae)

The chemical composition of essential oils isolated by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Achillea gypsicola Hub-Mor., Achillea biebersteinii Afan. and n-hexane extracts obtained from the flowers of A. gypsicola and A. biebersteinii Afan. was analyzed by GC and GC–MS. Camphor (40.17–23.56%, respectively), 1,8-cineole (22.01–38.09%, respectively), piperitone (11.29–0.37%, respectively), borneol (9.50–5.88%, respectively) and α-terpineol (1.56–5.15%, respectively) were found to be the main constituents in A. gypsicola and A. biebersteinii essential oils. Furthermore, hexane extracts of A. gypsicola and A. biebersteinii consist of mainly camphor (37.78–27.88%, respectively), 1,8-cineole (13.43–24.78%, respectively), piperitone (15.57%-tr, respectively), n-eicosane (1.61–9.68%, respectively), n-heneicosane (2.56–9.55%, respectively), n-tricosane (3.46–10.04%, respectively), linoleic acid (6.19–3.17%, respectively) and borneol (5.66–5.58%, respectively). Although the oils and extracts were characterized relatively by high content of oxygenated monoterpenes, hexane extracts of the plant samples relatively rich in n-alkanes, fatty acids and fatty acid esters as compared with the oil. The oils and hexane extracts were also tested against 12 phytopathogenic fungi and the oils found to be more toxic as compared with hexane extracts of the plant samples. A. gypsicola oil only did not inhibit the growth of Fusarium graminearum. The extracts also strongly increased the growth of Fusarium equiseti and F. graminearum. Therefore, the antifungal activity of the oils can be attributed to their relatively high content of oxygenated monoterpenes. The results of herbicidal assays of the essential oils and hexane extracts of the plant samples against five important weeds in cultivated areas, Amaranthus retroflexus L., Chenopodium album L., Cirsium arvense L. (Scop.), Lactuca serriola L. and Rumex crispus L. showed that, in particular, the oils had inhibitory effects on the seed germination and seedling growth of A. retroflexus, C. arvense and L. serriola. The hexane extracts also showed lower herbicidal effect against the weeds in comparison to that of the oils. The findings of the present study suggest that the essential oils have a potential to be used as herbicide as well as fungicide.     

Peroxidase gene-based estimation of genetic relationships and population structure among Citrus spp. and their relatives

Many stress-related interactions such as pathogen infection, insect tolerance, salt tolerance, auxin degradation, cell wall lignification, tissue suberization, and plant senescence involve various isoforms of peroxidases. Peroxidase gene polymorphism (POGP) markers have been used to estimate diversity, relationships and population structure among 80 Citrus and their relatives in Aurantioideae by using unweighted pair group method arithmetic average (UPGMA) and bayesian substructuring analysis. Fourteen primers produced a total of 148 fragments and 147 of them were polymorphic. The UPGMA analysis demonstrated that the accessions had a similarity range from 0.27 to 0.98 and were distinguished. The results of this study were mostly consistent with previous reports of different marker systems, but few different findings were also detected. The subtribe Clauseninae (tribe Clauseneae) did not clearly separate from the subtribes of the tribe Citreae. Substructuring analysis indicated that there were six subpopulations among the accessions studied. This study revealed that the POGP markers can be utilized to estimate genetic diversity, relationships and population structure in Citrus and related species in the Aurantioideae subfamily.     

Investigation of Bartonella henselae in cats in Ankara, Turkey

The purpose of this study was to determine Bartonella henselae prevalance in cats in Ankara. Whole bloods and sera collected from 256 cats were investigated for the presence feline Bartonella species by culture and sera were tested for the presence of antibodies against B. henselae IgG using immunofluorescence assay. Bartonella species were isolated by blood culture from 24 (9.4%) cats. Bartonella isolates were subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) by using TaqI and HhaI endonucleases to identify species. Twenty-one isolates were determined as B. henselae and three of 24 isolates were determined as Bartonella clarridgeiae with RFLP. The bacteraemia prevalence and seroprevalence of B. henselae IgG antibodies in cats was detected as 8.2% and 18.6% respectively. This is the first report on B. henselea and B. clarridgeiae in cats in Turkey.