Fly ashes as an emendment in cultivated soils

The effect of different percentages of two fly ashes, derived from the combustion of coals from Poland (PO) and South Africa (SA), on organic N mineralization and nitrification in two different soils, was investigated. Following the addition of 2, 5, and 10% (w/w) PO and SA, the N mineralization constant K ₁ decreased in the soil low in organic matter content. The addition of the same percentages of the two fly ashes to the soil higher in organic matter content gave contrasting results. When nitrification was taken into account, the nitrification constant K₂ increased, following the addition of 2, 5, and 10% (w/w) PO and SA to the two soils. The most noticeable exception was the addition of 10% SA to the soil low in organic matter content, where K ₂ decreased.     

Use of 0·1 m pyrophosphate to extract urease from a podzol

Sodium pyrophosphatc (0·1 m) at pH 7.1 and 37°C extracted a significant fraction of urease from a podzol. Maximum extraction values were obtained after 18 h. The yields of soil organic matter and urease activity during the extraction show a different pattern: the extraction of non-specific organic matter precedes and may facilitate the following extraction of an active urease organo-complex. The urease extracted by pyrophosphate is about 30 40 per cent of the total urease activity, as shown by plotting the urease activity against the population changes of ureolytic microorganisms, both in the original and extracted soil. The number of ureolytic microorganisms is unaffected by pyrophosphate, and the extracted urease is assumed to be extracellular.     

Alkaline phosphatase inhibition by vinyl phosphate insecticides

The widespread use of vinyl phosphate insecticides and their interaction with soil organic phosphorus mineralization by phosphatases necessitates investigating their relationships. All insecticides investigated (dichlorvos, tetrachlorvinphos, crotoxyphos and phosphamidon) are competitive inhibitors of alkaline phosphatase. The inhibition constants depend on the substituents on the vinyl group and on their electronic influence on P atom.     

Anthracene influence on (15NH4)2SO4 fertilization of wheat seedlings

The influence of the addition of anthracene (1 μg anthracene g^?1 soil) in N transformations following (¹⁵NH₄)₂SO₄ fertilization (200 mg N g^?1 soil) was investigated in wheat pots by quadrapole mass-spectrometry. The dry matter yield at harvesting (after 16 days) was not statistically affected (P=0.05) by anthracene addition. The total amount of N from the fertilizer taken up by wheat seedings in 16 days was 29 and 26.8% of the added N in the absence and in the presence of anthracene, respectively, but the difference was not significantly different at level P=0.05. In order to investigate more deeply the effect of anthracene on the N cycle in the soil-plant system, the first-order rate constants of N mineralization, N immobilization, nitrification and N plant uptake have been determined according to a ¹⁵N + ¹⁴N soil-plant model. The comparison of the constants showed that organic N mineralization, nitrification and plant uptake proceeded at the same rate, while a small different rate (P=0.05) was shown by N immobilization. In fact, the N immobilization constant increased from 0.14±0.012 to 0.21±0.014 day^?1 as a consequence of anthracene addition.     

Fractionation of humus-urease complexes

Some techniques commonly used for enzyme purification were unsuitable to purify urease extracted by pyrophosphate from soil. An all-or-none behaviour seemed to be a prominent feature of such experiments but in some instances slight increases of specific activity were observed.The most effective purification of soil urease was achieved by exhaustively ultrafiltrating the soil extract against 0.1 m pyrophosphate at pH 7.1, separating the retained material into fractions of mol. wt. higher (A_I) and lower (A_II) than 10⁵, followed by gel chromatography.Increases in total activities were observed both after ultrafiltration and gel chromatography. Ultra-filtration increased the total activity of the extracted urease by about 8%. The specific activity of fraction A_I increased four fold, that of fraction A_II by more than three fold. Fractions obtained by gel chromatography accounted in toto for only 13.5% of the organic-C of the soil extract. Total urease activity increased by 45.6%. Specific activities increased to 6.9–18 times that of the soil extract.     

Heavy metal uptake by wheat seedlings grown in fly ash-amended soils

A bioassay technique was used to investigate heavy metals uptake by wheat seedlings grown in fly ash-amended soils. No negative effect of fly ash on the growth of wheat seedlings was found. The addition of the fly ash generally decreased the heavy metal concentration in the wheat seedlings. The total accumulation largely depended on the soil characteristics. The variation in the soil pH induced by the fly ash treatment could be considered the most important parameter that influenced heavy metals uptake. In the soil with a higher increase of pH (2 units) total accumulation of heavy metals decreased with increasing fly ash addition. In the other soils where the pH variation was lower (0.4 units), total accumulation of some heavy metals increased. These obtained data provide useful information which is required before the agronomic use of fly ash can be recommended in Italian soils.     

Hydrolases extracted from soil: Kinetic parameters of several enzymes catalysing the same reaction

The kinetic parameters (K_m and V_max) of ureases, phosphatases, casein and benzoylargininae-mide-hydrolysing proteases extracted from two different soils were determined. The Eadie-Scatchard plot, which is the most sensitive graphical technique for detecting deviations from Michaelis-Menten kinetics, was used. In the case of phosphatases extracted from two soils and of the benzoylarginineamide hydrolysing protease extracted from one soil the relationship between V/S and V produced two straight lines. The presence of at least two enzymes (or two forms of the same enzyme) catalysing the same reaction and characterized by markedly different K_m and V_max values, was indicated. A procedure to determine the true constants was reported. The conclusion was that the presence in soil of high and low-affinity enzymes permits an efficient reaction at either low or high substrate concentration.     

A two-year experience on 15N-urea fertilization of a corn field amended with fly ash

Soybean seedlings (Glycine max) were exposed to simulated acid rain containing sulfate ion only or a mixture of sulfate, nitrate and chloride anions, using a continuous rain generating system in a side opened glasshouse. Plants were subjected to acid rain treatment twice a week, for a 1 or 3 hr period at a rate of 2.2 or 5.0 mm hr^?1, respectively. Dry seed yield in plants treated with simulated acid rain at pH 2.0, in the three of 4 experiments conducted over a 3 yr period, was significantly less than that at pH 3.0 or higher. Simulated acid rain treatment at pH 3.0 or higher did not significantly affect yield compared to pH 5.6; however, plants exposed to simulated acid rain at pH 4.0 tended to yield more than those treated with pH 5.6 rain. Based on the current 3 years of research in which results from 4 experiments were combined, rain acidity at current levels in Japan would not directly affect seed production of selected cultivars of soybean.     

AFLP-based genetic relationships in the Mediterranean myrtle (Myrtus communis L.)

Myrtle is an important plant species of the Mediterranean maquis, and is widely exploited for its aromatic properties. It is used in Italy for the production of a typical liqueur, for cut foliage and as an ornamental pot plant. We report the use of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) profiling to estimate genetic similarities within myrtle germplasm collected from six Italian regions, and from the Botanical Gardens of six other Mediterranean countries (including the outgroup Myrtus communis subsp. tarentina). Five AFLP primer combinations identified 122 polymorphic fragments analysing 92 individual samples, most of them (56%) were informative in discriminating among the populations. The AFLP patterns indicated that the majority of the variation occurs among rather than within populations (G_ST = 0.61). A neighbour-joining (NJ) tree separated the populations into two main branches: the first one grouped some of the Italian populations with those from Spain and Portugal; the second one included a Southern Italian subcluster together with samples from Greece, Israel, France and Croatia. A principal coordinate analysis supported the two major branches identified in the NJ analysis and showed the separation of Western and Eastern Mediterranean populations along the first axis. The Italian populations did not cluster in a single clade, but rather form distinct regional groups. The present analysis suggests that Italy represents a botanical transition zone between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean region in Myrtus communis.     

Jack bean urease inhibition by substituted ureas

The increased use of urea fertilizer and substituted ureas herbicides, the implication of soil urease in the effectiveness of urea applied as fertilizer, makes necessary to investigate their relationship.All herbicides investigated, fenuron, monuron, diuron, linuron, siduron and neburon are urease inhibitors. The inhibition constant value depends on molecular groups on the urea skeleton. There is a linear relationship between the Hammett sigma values and log Ki for fenuron, monuron and diuron.The presence of a large hydrophobic group and of one or two chlorine—an electron withdrawing group—on the phenyl ring of the herbicides molecule influences the Ki value.The hypothesis is proposed that the enzyme molecule reacts with inhibitors by means of the oxygen atom of the carboxyl group in the substituted ureas.