Effect of plant materials on microbial transformation of amino sugars in three soil microcosms

Amino sugars, being predominantly of microbial origin, can help elucidate the role of microbes in carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils. However, little is known about the microbial degradation and synthesis of soil amino sugars as affected by plant-derived organic materials. We conducted a 30-week microcosm study using three soils amended with soybean leaf or maize stalk to investigate changes in the amounts and patterns of amino sugars over time. The total soil amino sugar content initially increased during the incubation, but later decreased. Amino sugar content of soil amended with maize stalk peaked at an earlier time than it did for soybean leaf, suggesting nutrient quantity and substrate composition influence microbial transformation. Temporal dynamics of the proportion of total soil amino sugar to organic matter after plant material addition conformed to parabolic models (r > 0.8; p < 0.01), which tended to converge over time. The models predicted that the proportions would ultimately approach the initial values as determined before amendment. These findings suggest that soil organic matter has the ability to maintain a baseline steady-state level of amino sugars, and support the interpretation of soil amino sugar reservoir as two components: the Stable Pool (SP) and the Transition Pool (TP).     

Meeting the challenge of scaling up processes in the plant–soil–microbe system

The scaling up of processes in the plant–soil–microbe system represents one of the greatest challenges facing environmental scientists and yet is essential for sustainable land management worldwide. The latter encompasses, for example, the mitigation of and adaptation to anthropogenic climate change, the bioremediation of industrially contaminated sites, catchment management of human pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157 and integrated crop management on the farm. Scaling up is also essential for the regional and global biogeochemical modelling that will inform policy-makers of the critical environmental factors driving climate change. Despite increasing understanding of the links between gene expression and process on a microscale, there is still much progress to be made when relating this to processes at the macroscale. In this paper, we explore the challenges this poses and examine key case studies of successful up-scaling.

Effects of season and agro-ecological zone on the microbial quality of raw milk along the various levels of the value chain in Uganda

Dairy production in Uganda is pasture-based and traditional Ankole cattle make up 80% of the cattle herd, reared in both pastoral and agro-pastoral ecological zones. Regardless of the zone, milk quality is lowest in production basin during the dry season when ambient temperatures are highest and water is scarce. Poor hygiene and quality management contributed to the deterioration of raw milk quality during its storage and delivery to the final consumer, and concealed the seasonal effect when milk reached urban consumption areas. Poor milk quality is a challenge for the Ugandan Dairy Development Authorities who wish to make the milk value chain safe. This study provides baseline information for the implementation of an HACCP-based system to ensure the hygienic quality of milk from the farm to the market place.     

长期免耕秸秆还田对寒地土壤有机碳及大豆产量的影响

为了优化寒地免耕覆盖栽培技术,利用长期定位试验,研究免耕条件下0%、30%、60%和100%秸秆覆盖还田量对土壤有机碳及微生物生物量碳含量的影响。结果表明,免耕秸秆还田具有显著的固碳效应,有助于提高土壤总有机碳（4.1%~22.3%）、土壤活性有机碳（52.5%~75.5%）及土壤微生物生物量碳含量（14.6%~44.7%）;随秸秆覆盖还田量增加,表层土壤有机碳、土壤活性有机碳和土壤微生物生物量碳含量呈上升趋势,60%秸秆覆盖还田量处理的亚表层土壤总有机碳含量最高,60%和100%处理的亚表层土壤微生物生物量碳含量较高;30%处理的大豆产量最高,60%处理次之。在本试验寒地免耕9年条件下,60%秸秆覆盖还田量对土壤整体有机碳固持及大豆产量提升作用显著。     

两地区投入产出模型的构造——以河南省为例

以河南省和全国2007年投入产出表为基础,利用MRIO模型,提出一种构建两地区投入产出模型的简单方法,研究了河南省省产业与其他地区的经济联系。在此基础上对该方法的特点进行了总结:多(两)地区投入产出模型在研究地区之间的经济联系时具有明显的优越性,而利用地区区位商可以对多地区投入产出模型进行初步估计。     

微生物工程课程教学改革

针对微生物工程课程中存在的问题,从课程体系优化、教学内容安排、教学方法和手段改革、多元化考核制度建立以及实习基地建设等方面,对该课程进行了改革与探索,以提高教学质量,培养综合型高素质人才。     

吉林省食品工业优势产业选择的实证分析

综合采用区位商和市场占有率2项指标对2006—2010年吉林省食品工业中主要产业的比较优势和竞争优势进行测算分析。结果表明,农副食品加工业具有极强的比较优势和竞争优势,是吉林省食品工业中的优势产业;而食品制造业、饮料制造业及烟草制品业不符合优势产业的选择标准。     

Factors affecting soil microbial community structure in tomato cropping systems

Soil and rhizosphere microbial communities in agroecosystems may be affected by soil, climate, plant species, and management. The management and environmental factors controlling microbial biomass and community structure were identified in a three-year field experiment. The experiment consisted of a tomato production agroecosystem with the following nine treatments: bare soil, black polyethylene mulch, white polyethylene mulch, vetch cover crop, vetch roots only, vetch shoots only, rye cover crop, rye roots only, and rye shoots only. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) Temperature and moisture differences between polyethylene-covered and cover-cropped treatments are partly responsible for treatment effects on soil microbial community composition, and (2) Different species of cover crops have unique root and shoot effects on soil microbial community composition. Microbial biomass and community composition were measured by phospholipid fatty acid analysis. Microbial biomass was increased by all cover crop treatments, including root only and shoot only. Cover cropping increased the absolute amount of all microbial groups, but Gram-positive bacteria decreased in proportion under cover crops. We attribute this decrease to increased readily available carbon under cover-cropped treatments, which favored other groups over Gram-positive bacteria. Higher soil temperatures under certain treatments also increased the proportion of Gram-positive bacteria. Vetch shoots increased the amount and proportion of Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere of tomato plants. The imposed treatments were much more significant than soil temperature, moisture, pH, and texture in controlling microbial biomass and community structure.     

The microbial PLFA composition as affected by pH in an arable soil

The influence of soil pH on the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition of the microbial community was investigated along the Hoosfield acid strip, Rothamsted Research, UK - a uniform pH gradient between pH 8.3 and 4.5. The influence of soil pH on the total concentration of PLFAs was not significant, while biomass estimated using substrate induced respiration decreased by about 25%. However, the PLFA composition clearly changed along the soil pH gradient. About 40% of the variation in PLFA composition along the gradient was explained by a first principal component, and the sample scores were highly correlated to pH (R² = 0.97). Many PLFAs responded to pH similarly in the Hoosfield arable soil compared with previous assessments in forest soils, including, e.g. monounsaturated PLFAs 16:1ω5, 16:1ω7c and 18:1ω7, which increased in relative concentrations with pH, and i16:0 and cy19:0, both of which decreased with pH. Some PLFAs responded differently to pH between the soil types, e.g. br18:0. We conclude that soil pH has a profound influence on the microbial PLFA composition, which must be considered in all applications of this method to detect changes in the microbial community.     

Stability of hydrolytic enzyme activity and microbial phosphorus during storage of tropical rain forest soils

Storage can markedly influence microbial and biochemical properties in soils, yet recommendations for sample storage are based on studies of temperate soils that regularly experience extended cold periods. We assessed the influence of storage conditions on microbial phosphorus and the activity of four hydrolytic enzymes (phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase, β-glucosidase, and N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase) in three lowland tropical forest soils from the Republic of Panama that experience a constant warm temperature. The soils spanned a strong rainfall gradient and contained contrasting physical and chemical properties (pH 3.6-5.9; total carbon 26-50 g C kg⁻¹; clay 33-62%; total phosphorus 0.30-0.60 g P kg⁻¹). Storage treatments were: (i) room temperature (22 °C in the dark), (ii) refrigerated (4 °C in the dark), (iii) air-dried (10 d, 22 °C), and (iv) frozen (−35 °C). There were significant changes in enzyme activities and microbial phosphorus during refrigerated and room temperature storage, although changes were relatively small during the first two weeks. An initial marked decline in enzyme activities for one soil analyzed within 2 h of sampling was attributed to a flush of activity caused by sampling and soil preparation (sieving, etc.). For longer-term storage (>2 weeks), ambient laboratory temperature appeared preferable to freezing and cold storage, because one month of storage caused a marked decline in enzyme activities and microbial phosphorus in one soil. Freezing preserved the activities of some enzymes in some soils at rates comparable to cold or room temperature storage, but caused a marked decline in microbial phosphorus in two soils. Air-drying caused a marked decline in microbial phosphorus and the activity of all enzymes. We therefore conclude that enzyme assays and microbial phosphorus should be determined in tropical forest soils after no more than two weeks storage in the dark at ambient laboratory temperature.