Regulation of urease production in soil by microbial assimilation of nitrogen

Summary Studies of the effects of different forms of N on urease production in soils amended with organic C showed that although microbial activity, as measured by CO₂ production, was stimulated by the addition of NH₄ ⁺ or NO₃ ^- to C-amended soils (200 mol glucose-C g^–1 soil), urease production was repressed by these forms of N. The addition of L-methionine sulfoximine, an inhibitor of inorganic N assimilation by microorganisms, relieved the NH₄ ⁺ and NO₃ ^- repression of urease production in C-amended soil. The addition of sodium chlorate, an inhibitor of NO₃ ^- reduction to NH₄ ⁺ by microorganisms, relieved the NO₃ ^- repression of urease production, but did not eliminate the repression associated with NH₄ ⁺. These observations indicate that microbial production of urease in C-amended soils is not directly repressed by NH₄ ⁺ or NO₃ ^-, but by products formed by microbial assimilation of these forms of N. This conclusion is supported by our finding that the biologically active L-isomers of alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartate, and glutamine, repressed urease production in C-amended soil, whereas the D-isomers of these amino acids had little or no influence on urease production. This work suggests that urease synthesis by soil microorganisms is controlled by the global N regulon.     

平原沙土区不同林分类型下土壤有机碳库特征及其影响因子

目的 明晰不同林分类型下土壤有机碳库特征,以期为平原沙土区土壤碳库的提高和生态恢复提供理论依据。 方法 以江苏省平原沙土区丰县16年生杨树纯林、柳树纯林、杨柳混交林3种林分类型及相邻的撂荒地（对照）为对象,测定0～20、20～40、40～60、60～80、80～100 cm等5个土壤层次有机碳及活性组分和土壤酶活性,计算土壤碳库管理指数,并对土壤有机碳库特征和环境因子进行相关性分析。 结果 （1）3种林分类型及对照各土层有机碳含量和储量范围分别为1.03～5.88 g·kg−1和3.53～17.55 t·hm−2。与对照相比,0～100 cm土层,3种林分类型土壤有机碳含量增加了45.2%～82.2%。杨树纯林0～100 cm土层有机碳储量分别是柳树纯林、杨柳混交林和对照的1.23、1.24、1.83倍。（2）与对照相比,0～100 cm土层,3种林分类型的土壤易氧化有机碳、可溶性有机碳和微生物生物量碳含量分别提高了28.6%～48.0%、6.8%～9.7%和21.6%～33.4%。3种林分类型土壤碳库管理指数显著高于100%（P<0.05）。（3）林分类型显著影响土壤蔗糖酶和多酚氧化酶活性（P<0.05）,杨柳混交林0～100 cm土层多酚氧化酶活性显著高于杨树纯林和对照（P<0.05）。（4）相关性分析表明,土壤有机碳库特征受多酚氧化酶和β-葡萄糖苷酶活性显著影响,有机碳含量和储量、易氧化有机碳含量及碳库管理指数受蔗糖酶、过氧化物酶活性显著影响,微生物生物量碳受蔗糖酶活性显著影响。冗余分析表明,土壤碳氮比和细根生物量是土壤有机碳库特征的主要影响因素。 结论 平原沙土区营造人工林提高了土壤有机碳及活性组分和有机碳库稳定性,杨树纯林提高土壤有机碳储量效果最好。     

Short term soil priming effects and the mineralisation of biochar following its incorporation to soils of different pH

The aim of this work was to determine the magnitude of the priming effect, i.e. short-term changes in the rate (negative or positive) of mineralisation of native soil organic carbon (C), following addition of biochars. The biochars were made from Miscanthus giganteus, a C4 plant, naturally enriched with ¹³C. The biochars were produced at 350 °C (biochar350) and 700 °C (biochar700) and applied with and without ryegrass as a substrate to a clay-loam soil at pH 3.7 and 7.6. A secondary aim was to determine the effect of ryegrass addition on the mineralisation of the two biochars.After 87 days, biochar350 addition caused priming effects equivalent to 250 and 319 μg CO₂-C g⁻¹ soil, in the low and high pH soil, respectively. The largest priming effects occurred at the start of the incubations. The size of the priming effect was decreased at higher biochar pyrolysis temperatures, which may be a way of controlling priming effects following biochar incorporation to soil, if desired. The priming effect was probably induced by the water soluble components of the biochar. At 87 days of incubation, 0.14% and 0.18% of biochar700 and 0.61% and 0.84% of biochar350 were mineralized in the low and high pH soil, respectively. Ryegrass addition gave an increased biochar350 mineralisation of 33% and 40%, and increased biochar700 at 137% and 70%, in the low and high pH soils, respectively. Certainly, on the basis of our results, if biochar is used to sequester carbon a priming effect may occur, increasing CO₂-C evolved from soil and decreasing soil organic C. However, this will be more than compensated for by the increased soil C caused by biochar incorporation. A similar conclusion holds for accelerated mineralisation of biochar due to incorporation of fresh labile substrates. We consider that our results are the first to unequivocally demonstrate the initiation, progress and termination of a true positive priming effect by biochar on native soil organic C.     

复合有机铁对母猪繁殖性能及其抗氧化能力的影响

为研究复合有机铁对母猪繁殖性能、血液理化指标及抗氧化能力的影响,试验选用体重接近、胎次接近、预产期一致的健康“长×白”二元杂母猪30头,随机分为3组,每组10个重复,每个重复1头母猪,3个处理组分别在基础日粮中补充硫酸亚铁、甘氨酸亚铁、复合有机铁。结果显示:较硫酸亚铁组,复合有机铁组产程缩短23.57%、胎产健仔数增加14.00%、初生窝重增加14.14%(P < 0.05);母猪血红蛋白含量、红细胞数和红细胞压积分别提高19.88%、10.53%、8.33%(P < 0.05);母猪抗氧化酶活性和机体抗氧化能力提高47.33%(P < 0.05),丙二醛含量降低37.05%(P < 0.05)。综上所述,母猪日粮中额外补充复合有机铁源能提高母猪繁殖性能,改善血液理化指标,增强母猪抗氧化能力。     

Effects of feeding fermented fish on egg cholesterol content in hens

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding fermented fish (FF) to layers on laying performance, and polyunsaturated fatty acid and cholesterol levels in eggs and plasma. A total of 96, 13-week-old Babcock B380 pullets were used in this study. They were randomly assigned to four numerically equal groups with eight replicates per treatment, three birds per replicate. All the birds were housed in individual cages. The dietary treatments were: Control diet, without FF; FF3 diet containing 3% (w/w) FF, FF6 diet containing 6% (w/w) FF and FF9 diet containing 9% (w/w) FF. The study was carried out for 16 weeks inclusive of two weeks of adjustment. Weekly feed intake and egg production were recorded. Blood plasma cholesterol and fatty acid profiles were assayed at the end of the experiment. FF did not enhance ( P  > 0.05) egg mass but ( P  < 0.05) decreased egg weight slightly. However, egg yolk cholesterol and plasma cholesterol concentrations were reduced ( P  < 0.05) by FF. The n-6:n-3 fatty acids ratio in the egg yolk (Control = 7.9, FF9 = 6.2) and plasma (Control = 10.6, FF9 = 6.2) were decreased by feeding FF. Moreover, FF was able to increase ( P  < 0.05) the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrations in egg yolk and plasma. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that FF increased DHA and reduced egg yolk cholesterol in poultry eggs.     

Metabolism of microbial nitrogen in ruminants with special reference to nucleic acids

Characteristically the metabolism of microbial nitrogen (N) compounds in ruminants involves the degradation of dietary N and synthesis of microbial protein (MP), compounds including a small amount of peptides and free amino acids, which may account for 75–85% of total N and the remainder are nucleic acids (NA: DNA and RNA). Generally rumen microbes contain 10–25% NA‐N of the total N while 70–80% is in the form of RNA. This paper describes the degradation and synthesis of NA in the rumen and their fate in the lower digestive tracts. Their physiological and nutritional significance in different types of ruminant animals is also discussed. The research works on NA metabolism in ruminants has been mainly on metabolism of purines after rumen microbial digestion and absorption in the lower gut. Subsequently, the fate of absorbed purines has been intensively investigated to assess the extent of MP synthesis in the rumen. The method for predicting ruminal synthesized MP and subsequently digested MP has been proposed using urinary purine derivative (PD) excretion in sheep and cattle fed on ordinary feed. The latter approach has now been adopted for calculation of protein supply in some feeding standards, although there are still difficulties in predicting representative samples of rumen microbes, and also uncertainties in variations of non‐renal and endogenous purine losses.     

Amino acid profile during exercise and training in Standardbreds

The objective of this study is to assess the influence of acute exercise, training and intensified training on the plasma amino acid profile.In a 32-week longitudinal study using 10 Standardbred horses, training was divided into four phases, including a phase of intensified training for five horses. At the end of each phase, a standardized exercise test, SET, was performed. Plasma amino acid concentrations before and after each SET were measured.Training significantly reduced mean plasma aspartic acid concentration, whereas exercise significantly increased the plasma concentrations of alanine, taurine, methionine, leucine, tyrosine and phenylalanine and reduced the plasma concentrations of glycine, ornithine, glutamine, citrulline and serine. Normally and intensified trained horses differed not significantly. It is concluded that amino acids should not be regarded as limiting training performance in Standardbreds except for aspartic acid which is the most likely candidate for supplementation.