Utility of on- and off-farm weather records for studies in genetics of heat tolerance

Utility of weather information from on-farm and weather stations was evaluated for the application in studies on the genetics of heat stress. Daily milk yield of 31 primiparous Holstein cows was collected at Tifton, GA, from April 28 to July 19, 1993. Weather information was recorded on-farm and was available from weather stations in Georgia. Analyses used daily average of temperature–humidity index (THI). Effects of threshold of heat stress and the rate of decline in milk after the threshold were estimated. With on-farm weather data, threshold was at THI = 22 and rate of decline was − 1.12 kg of milk per unit of THI measured 2 days before milking. At the Tifton weather station, 3 km away from the farm, the threshold was THI = 20 and the rate was the same. With data from Macon, Columbus, Atlanta, and Athens stations, the threshold was at 20, 21, 20, and 20, respectively, and the rate of decline with a 2 day lag was − 0.88, − 1.02, − 0.90, and − 0.97 kg of milk per unit of THI. Subsequent analysis included 2260 test day records from the same farm from 1993 to 2003 and weather data from Tifton station. The highest rate of decline on milk yield of − 0.22 kg per unit of THI occurred at the threshold of 20 and no lag. For data restricted to 1999–2003, the threshold increased to 22 and the rate to − 0.46 kg per THI unit. Public stations provide satisfactory information for national genetic evaluation for heat stress. Critical parts in such an evaluation are modeling of test days and accounting for changes among farms and weather stations over time.     

Nutritive evaluation of the seed,germinated seed,and string bean of Erythrina americana and the detoxification of the material by boiling

The nutritive and toxicological values of the dry seeds, germinated seeds, and string beans of Erythrina americana were studied using raw and boiled samples. Raw germinated seeds had a higher protein content and lower fiber content than dry seeds. The whole string bean had lower protein content and higher fiber content. However, the seeds of the green pod showed the same protein concentration as the dry seeds (dry basis). Boiling and elimination of broth was beneficial in diminishing the alkaloid concentration in all the samples. The trypsin inhibitors, lectins, and tannins were also diminished as was expected. The raw string bean showed the lowest LD(50). Although the total essential amino acids content of the boiled germinated seeds was increased, the quality of protein, protein efficiency ratio (PER), was lower than in boiled dry seeds, and in these, the PER was similar to the control (casein). The present results suggest that for the protein quality and low alkaloid content, the boiled dry seeds and string beans could be used for animal feeding. It could be interesting to test the raw string beans in ruminants since in this stage E. americana showed the lowest toxicity.     

BORON NUTRITION OF PEANUT GROWN IN BORON-DEFICIENT CALCAREOUS SOILS: GENOTYPIC VARIATION AND PROPOSED DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA

Field studies were conducted to assess boron (B) requirement, critical concentrations in diagnostic parts based on yield response curves and genotypic variation by growing three peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars (‘Golden’, ‘BARD-479’, ‘BARI-2000’) on two B-deficient calcareous soils. Boron application significantly increased pod yield of all the cultivars over control. Maximum pod yield increases were: ‘Golden’, 16?23%; ‘BARD-479’, 21?27%; and ‘BARI-2000’, 25?31%. The cultivars varied in B efficiency and cv. ‘Golden’ was the most B efficient (81?86%) while cv. ‘BARI-2000’ was the least efficient (76?80%). Boron requirements for near-maximum (95%) dry pod yield were 0.65 kg ha^?1 for ‘Golden’, 0.75 kg ha^?1 for BARD-479 and 0.80 kg ha^?1 for BARI-2000. Critical B concentrations in shoots and seeds were: ‘Golden’, 33 mg kg^?1 and 26 mg kg^?1; ‘BARD-479’, 38 mg kg^?1 and 31 mg kg^?1; and ‘BARI-2000’, 42 mg kg^?1 and 33 mg kg^?1.     

Assessment of the Extent to Which Intensively-studied Lakes are Representative of the Adirondack Region and Response to Future Changes in Acidic Deposition

Many lakes in the Adirondack Mountains, New York, have acidified over the past century due to acidic atmospheric deposition. More recently, most monitored lakes have shown signs of chemical recovery (increase in acid neutralizing capacity) as sulfur deposition levels have declined in response to the Clean Air Act and other emissions control legislation. We used measured and modeled trends in past lakewater acidification and projections of future recovery from acidification to extrapolate results from judgment samples of intensively studied lakes to the population of acid-sensitive Adirondack lakes. Simulations were developed for 70 watersheds using the Model of Acidification of Groundwater in Catchments (MAGIC) to classify lakes according to their sensitivity to change in atmospheric S and N deposition. MAGIC simulations suggested that the modeled Adirondack Long-Term Monitoring Project (ALTM) and Adirondack Effects Assessment Project (AEAP) lakes were largely among the lakes in the population that had acidified most between 1850 and 1990. Most of the modeled ALTM/AEAP lakes were within the top 36% of acid sensitivity, based on model projections of past acidification and future chemical recovery, compared with the 1,829 Adirondack lakes in EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) statistical frame. Results of this research will allow fuller utilization of data from on-going chemical and biological monitoring and process-level studies by providing a basis for regionalization of findings and developing/refining relationships among watershed characteristics, chemical change, and biological responses to changing levels of acidic deposition.     

Conversion of the mycotoxin patulin to the less toxic desoxypatulinic acid by the biocontrol yeast Rhodosporidium kratochvilovae strain LS11

The infection of stored apples by the fungus Penicillium expansum causes the contamination of fruits and fruit-derived products with the mycotoxin patulin, which is a major issue in food safety. Fungal attack can be prevented by beneficial microorganisms, so-called biocontrol agents. Previous time-course thin layer chromatography analyses showed that the aerobic incubation of patulin with the biocontrol yeast Rhodosporidium kratochvilovae strain LS11 leads to the disappearance of the mycotoxin spot and the parallel emergence of two new spots, one of which disappears over time. In this work, we analyzed the biodegradation of patulin effected by LS11 through HPLC. The more stable of the two compounds was purified and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance as desoxypatulinic acid, whose formation was also quantitated in patulin degradation experiments. After R. kratochvilovae LS11 had been incubated in the presence of (13)C-labeled patulin, label was traced to desoxypatulinic acid, thus proving that this compound derives from the metabolization of patulin by the yeast. Desoxypatulinic acid was much less toxic than patulin to human lymphocytes and, in contrast to patulin, did not react in vitro with the thiol-bearing tripeptide glutathione. The lower toxicity of desoxypatulinic acid is proposed to be a consequence of the hydrolysis of the lactone ring and the loss of functional groups that react with thiol groups. The formation of desoxypatulinic acid from patulin represents a novel biodegradation pathway that is also a detoxification process.     

Full-Scale Remediation of a Jet Fuel-Contaminated Soil: Assessment of Biodegradation, Volatilization, and Bioavailability

Here, we addressed biodegradation vs. volatilization processes, and also bioavailability limitations during biopile remediation of soil initially contaminated by more than 5,000 mg/kg of hydrocarbons. In order to select bioremediation strategies, we first conducted a biotreatability study, which included geochemical, textural, and microbiological characterization of the soil matrix. Next, we implemented five bioremediation approaches onsite in real-scale biopiles. In order to monitor hydrocarbon depletion and to distinguish between biological and non-biological processes, we analyzed chemical biomarkers by means of gas chromatography?Cmass spectrometry. In addition, a comprehensive study of soil grain size and its implications on bioavailability were studied. Furthermore, the evolution of microbial populations was also examined. Two of the strategies implemented in the biopiles (the combination of a slow-release fertilizer and a surfactant, and the use of an oleophilic fertilizer respectively) reduced the soil hydrocarbon content to under 500 mg/kg in 5 months. Additional results from this study indicate that volatilization was the predominant degradation process for light hydrocarbons (below 12 carbon atoms), whereas heavier compounds were mainly biodegraded. However, even in the most favorable situation, a residual concentration of hydrocarbons linked to the finer fraction of the soil was found.     

Biological mineralization of organic matter in the modern virgin and plowed chernozems,buried chernozems,and fossil chernozems

The phenomenon of mineralization (biological mineralization) of organic matter in chernozems has been studied. A decrease in the content of C_org with time can be considered an index of the organic matter mineralization. It is suggested that the humus horizons of modern chernozems contain the pools of organic matter of different ages: easily decomposable organic matter, labile biologically active humus, stable biologically active humus, and relatively inert humus. The composition and mean residence times of these pools and their contribution to the total organic matter content have been estimated. The particular types of the biological mineralization have been determined on the basis of the comparison between the velocities of mineralization (M) and humification (H) processes: total unidirectional mineralization (M ≫ H), equilibrium mineralization (M ∼ H), nonequilibrium mineralization (M> <H), and zero mineralization. The separation of subtypes is based on data on the relative rates (%) of the organic matter mineralization. On the basis of available experimental data on chernozems buried under kurgans and in loess sediments (with the age of up to 800 ka), the quantitative relationship of the humus content in the buried soils on their age has been found; it has an exponential shape. During the first 100 ka after the soil burial, the soil humus content gradually (with a slowing intensity) decreases from 100–75 to 6.5% of its content in the virgin chernozems. Then, 100–1000 ka after the soil burial, the soil humus content remains approximately constant (6.5% of the initial level, or 0.3% of the soil mass). The rates of mineralization have been estimated. It is shown that the elemental composition (C, H, N, O) of humic acids remains relatively stable for a long time due to the regeneration of the chemical structure of humus (matric restoration of humus). It is suggested that several different forms of humus related to pedogenesis should be distinguished in the biosphere. The renewable humus in the equilibrium state with the environment is typical of the open biospheric (soil) systems. The fossil humus, whose content decreases with time, and whose composition remains stable, is typical of the semiclosed and closed systems. With time, it transforms into residual humus, whose content and composition remain stable. The fossilized organic matter in the fossil soils and sediments of the past geological epochs (Mesozoic and Paleozoic) considerably differs from the renewable, fossil, and residual humus.     

Plant microcosm studies demonstrating bioremediation of cyanide toxicity by Trichoderma and Fusarium spp.

The biodegradation of cyanide by Trichoderma and Fusarium spp. growing in association with plant roots in microcosms was investigated with CN^– at 50 or 100 mg/kg. Pea and wheat seeds germinated and plants grew only when seeds were inoculated with the fungi, probably because the plant/fungal association was capable of promoting cyanide catabolism. Inoculation by fungi also increased plant shoot lengths and the biomass of shoots and root compared with control plants without CN^– and fungi. Such plant/fungal association shows potential as a land remediation system.     

Species-specific earthworm population responses in relation to flooding dynamics in a Dutch floodplain soil

Earthworms dominate the animal biomass in moist floodplain soils. They are known to survive long periods in aerated water, but little is known about earthworm population dynamics in floodplain systems with changing inundation frequencies. This study determined earthworm population dynamics in a floodplain system, in relation to frequency and duration of flooding events. From October 2000 to May 2003 earthworms were hand sorted in the ‘Afferdensche en Deestsche Waarden’, a floodplain on the south bank of the river Rhine, near Druten, The Netherlands. Earthworm numbers and biomasses per age class (adult, subadult, juvenile) were recorded. Numbers and biomasses tend to decrease during flooding. Lumbricus terrestris was found in high numbers (>10/m²) only at the end of a flooding period. Allolobophora chlorotica was hardly affected by flooding; their biomass remained stable during the year. Aporrectodea caliginosa showed fluctuating numbers and biomasses during the sampling period that did not correlate with flooding frequency. Numbers and biomasses of Lumbricus rubellus were strongly reduced at the end of each flooding event, but their population densities fully recovered until next flooding event. Earthworm populations in floodplains fluctuate in time, depending on the season and on the time, duration and frequency of flooding. Different earthworm species react differently towards these flooding dynamics.