Improving global integration of crop research

Field laboratories in realistic crop environments are needed

Bacterial indicator taxa in soils under different long-term agricultural management

AIMS

In this study, the species indicator test was used to identify key bacterial taxa affected by changes in the soil environment as a result of conservation agriculture or conventional practices.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Soils cultivated with wheat (Triticum spp. L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) under different raised bed planting systems for 20 years, that is, varying crop residue and fertilizer management, were used. Taxonomic- and divergence-based 16S-metagenomics, and IndVal analysis were used to study the bacterial communities and identify indicator taxa (genus and OTU97 ) affected by agricultural practices. Although, some phyla were affected significantly by different treatments, the taxonomic assemblages at phylum level were similar. Bacterial taxa related to different processes of the N-cycle were indicators of different fertilization rates, for example, Azorhizobium, Nostoc and Nitrosomonas. A large number of OTU97 were indicators for conventionally tilled beds and their distribution was defined by soil organic carbon. IndVal analysis identified different taxa in each of the residue management systems. This suggests that although the same organic material remains in the field, crop residue management affects specific taxa. The taxa indicator of the burned residues belonged mainly to the order SBR1031 (Anaerolineae, Chloroflexi), and the genera Bacillus and Alicyclobacillus.

CONCLUSIONS

N-fertilizer application rates affected N-cycling taxa. Tillage affected Actinobacteria members and organic matter decomposers. Although the same crop residue was retained in the field, organic material management was important for specific taxa.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

In this study, we report that agricultural practice affected soil bacterial communities. We also identified distinctive taxa and related their distribution to changes in the soil environment resulting from different agricultural practices.

Fate of atrazine in a soil under different agronomic management practices

Agricultural management affects the movement of atrazine in soil and leaching to groundwater. The objective of this study was to determine atrazine adsorption in a soil after 20 years of atrazine application under agronomic management practices differing in tillage practice (conventional and zero tillage), residue management (with and without residue retention) and crop rotation (wheat-maize rotation and maize monoculture). Atrazine sorption was determined using batch and column experiments. In the batch experiment, the highest distribution coefficient Kd (1.1 L kg(-1)) at 0-10 cm soil depth was observed under zero tillage, crop rotation and residue retention (conservation agriculture). The key factor in adsorption was soil organic matter content and type. This was confirmed in the column experiment, in which the highest Kd values were observed in treatments with residue retention, under either zero or conventional tillage (0.81 and 0.68 L kg(-1), respectively). Under zero tillage, the fact that there was no soil movement helped to increase the Kd. The increased soil organic matter content with conservation agriculture may be more important than preferential flow due to higher pore connectivity in the same system. The soil's capacity to adsorb 2-hydroxyatrazine (HA), an important atrazine metabolite, was more important than its capacity to adsorb atrazine, and was similar under all four management practices (Kd ranged from 30 to 40 L kg(-1)). The HA adsorption was attributed to the type and amount of clay in the soil, which is unaffected by agronomic management. Soils under conservation agriculture had higher atrazine retention potential than soils under conventional tillage, the system that predominates in the study area.

The transfer of a LC-UV method for the determination of fenofibrate and fenofibric acid in Lidoses: Use of total error as decision criterion

Two new statistical approaches to assess the validity of the transfer of a LC-UV method for the determination of fenofibrate and fenofibric acid were investigated and compared to the conventional approaches generally used in this domain. These new approaches, namely the Tolerance Interval and the Risk approaches, are based on the simultaneous evaluation of the systematic (or trueness) and random (or precision) errors of the transfer into a single criterion called total error (or accuracy). The results of the transfer showed that only the total error based approaches fulfilled the objective of an analytical method transfer, i.e. to give guarantees that each future measurement made by the receiving laboratory will be close enough to the true value of the analyte in the sample. Furthermore the Risk approach was the most powerful one and allowed the estimation of the risk to have future measurements out of specification in the receiving laboratory, therefore being a risk management tool.

Morphometric and physical investigations of segmental cortical bone autografts and allografts in canine ulnar defects

Cortical bone grafts were implanted for six months in mature dogs using an osteoperiosteal 3-cm defect in the ulna to evaluate their respective morphometric and physical values compared with autografts. The bone-grafting material included fresh auto- and allografts, frozen and thimerosal preserved allografts, and partially demineralized bone allografts. The grafts were evaluated by roentgenograms, microradiograms, photon absorptiometry, porosity, fluorescence labeling measurements, and torsional loading at failure. Autografts achieved a better union score than the allografts, but intracortical bone porosity, percentage of cumulative new bone, and mineral apposition rate were not variables with statistical significance. Lamellar bone was found earlier and in greater quantity in autografts. Within the graft, new bone was deposited at a slower rate than in the recipient bone. Autografts showed less peripheral resorption and a greater torsional resistance than allografts. Photon absorptiometry demonstrated that nondemineralized allografts underwent a substantial loss of peripheral bone. This marked reduction in the outer diameter of the graft had more influence on torsional resistance than did the intracortical porosity of the graft. Demineralized allografts were osteoinductive in only 28% of the cases and appeared to respond in an all-or-nothing pattern. Frozen and thimerosal preserved allografts were the most acceptable substitutes to autografts.