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Results for “Soil biological quality”

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12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2026

Urban soil multifunctionality and seasonal variability of carbon-linked soil traits.

Urban soils can play a significant role in climate change mitigation due to their capacity to store carbon (C) and support microbial biodiversity. In this context, this study evaluated the effects of different fertilization strategies on soil quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and microbial communities in two urban green areas located in the Campania region (Southern Italy) over a three-year period. Mineral fertilization (MIN), micronized vermicompost (CMP), micronized biochar (BCH), vermicompost plus biochar (CMP + BCH) were compared to an unfertilized control (CNT). The results showed that soil physicochemical properties were mainly influenced by site-specific conditions and temporal variability, whereas cation exchange capacity was the soil parameter most responsive to fertilization treatments. The QBS-ar index, used as an indicator of soil biological quality based on soil arthropods, was primarily affected by seasonality, with higher values recorded during spring-summer and no significant effects attributable to fertilization treatments. Vermicompost, BCH, and their combination were associated with lower net soil-vegetation CO2 fluxes and smaller temporal increases in the measured flux compared with the control and mineral fertilization treatments. All treatments exhibited a negative estimated annualized net C balance, indicating that, under the adopted temporal upscaling procedure, the estimated gaseous exchanges exceeded the annual increase in soil organic carbon stocks. Nevertheless, BCH showed the least negative estimated annualized balance. Analyses of microbial diversity revealed that bacterial and fungal communities were mainly shaped by temporal and seasonal factors, while fertilization treatments had limited effects on microbial diversity and community composition. Overall, the findings indicate that biochar showed the most favorable estimated carbon balance and the lowest measured net CO2 fluxes under the conditions investigated. However, its effects on soil biological and microbial properties were limited in the short term, and none of the tested treatments achieved net carbon sequestration. These results suggest that biochar may contribute to climate change mitigation as part of long-term, site-specific management strategies rather than as a standalone solution for improving soil multifunctionality.

Biochar↗
PubMed1979

[Aquatic myxobacteria as indicators in the evaluation of drinking water quality (author's transl))].

Aquatic myxobacteria were shown to be good indicators of surface contamination of drinking water, or water filtered by an inadequate soil profile, both in experiments with sterilized or biologically active soil profiles, resp., and in actual comparison data obtained in practical drinking water analyses. In experimental investigations with artificial profiles, aquatic myxobacteria were retained to a considerably greater degree than E. coli or P. fluorescens due to stronger forces of adhesion. In a number of bacteriological drinking water analyses, this property was confirmed insofar as aquatic myxobacteria could regularly be demonstrated when inspecting hygienically deficient wells or springs. The confirmed presence of E. coli, on the other hand, showed a considerably lesser correlation with the results of on the spot evaluations of hygienic conditions. It must be urgently advised to include the search for aquatic myxobacteria in bacteriological drinking water analyses, since, contrary to the demonstration of E. coli, not only the actual but, in addition, the potential hazard of contamination of drinking water with bacteria present in superficial soil strata is indicated.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Biological value of Mironovskaya-808 winter wheat grown using the herbicide simazine].

The biological value of spring wheat Mironovskaya-808 grown with the use of simazine which was introduced into soil prior to appearance of shoots at doses of 0.5 and 1.0 kg/ha has been studied. The organoleptic parameters evaluated by the method of closed testing and physicochemical parameters characterizing the corn quality (protein fat, gluten and ash content, moisture, acidity) of experimental samples did not differ from those of the reference sample. Relative biological value of wheat grown with the use of simazine at a dose of 1.0 kg/ha evaluated by the test-object Tetrahymena pyriformis was slightly higher as compared to the control. The effect of test wheat samples on some parameters of protein metabolism was also studied in male rats (the content of protein and its fractions in blood serum, liver and brain as well as activity of enzymes participating in protein metabolism regulation: aminotransferases of blood serum and liver, catepsins, histidase and tryptophan oxygenase of the liver). According to the data obtained no adverse effect of spring wheat Mironovskaya-808 grown with the use of simazine on the above parameters of protein metabolism was recorded in test animals.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1979

[On the importance of the steam trap to the efficient sterilization of solutions in stored blood bottles by saturated steam under pressure (author's transl)].

Biological tests with soil samples were performed to fix the sterilization time for a new steam sterilizer. These tests yielded repeatedly positive spore findings despite modifications of the conditions of sterilization. Having excluded a series of possible sources of trouble, the authors stated that the quality of the steam was the assignable cause. After restoration of the functionality of the steam traps, the biological tests yielded negative results also under normal conditions of sterilization.

Drug Packaging↗
PubMed2026

Potato Black Scurf and Stem Canker: Pathogen Biology, Global Distribution, and Traditional and Modern Diagnostics.

Rhizoctonia solani is a soil- and seed-borne fungal pathogen of potatoes. It is a persistent threat to potato production worldwide. The symptoms appear as black scurf on tubers and stem canker, causing severe yield and quality losses of potatoes. The pathogen reproduces asexually via hyphae and sclerotia. Its genetic diversity is organized into anastomosis groups (AGs), with AG3-PT being the predominant group on potato. The global trade of seed potatoes is very important for agricultural development; however, it has facilitated the dissemination of the pathogen across regions. Moreover, disease development is affected by environmental and agronomic factors, causing variable symptom severity and differential economic impacts. Given the pathogen's genetic complexity, accurate diagnosis is very important, necessitating a transition from traditional culture-based and biochemical methods toward molecular, genomic, and emerging digital technologies. Methods such as PCR, isothermal amplification, sequencing, sensor-based biosensing, and artificial intelligence-driven imaging have improved the detection, quantification, and noninvasive monitoring of the pathogen. Combining these diagnostic methods into a tiered framework will be helpful for precision disease surveillance, informed disease management decision-making, and the development of sustainable potato production systems.

black scurf↗
PubMed2026

Concurrent ecological and evolutionary processes contribute to mutualism breakdown between legumes and rhizobia.

Though they jointly shape community responses to environmental perturbations, ecology and evolution are often examined separately, even in microorganisms where both occur over short timescales. Here we examine ecological and evolutionary responses to 33 years of nitrogen fertilization using the legume-rhizobium mutualism. Pairing a manipulative inoculation study with full-length 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and structural equation modeling allows us to synthesize across biological scales: whole bacterial community, genus Rhizobium, Rhizobium ASVs, and symbiosis plasmids. Clover's preferred partner decreases in N-addition soils, limiting host growth, while a diverse and largely uncharacterized Rhizobium community increases. This ecological change is compounded by a concurrent evolutionary degradation of symbiont partner quality via changing frequencies of symbiotic plasmids. Ecological (rarer symbionts) and evolutionary (inferior symbionts) processes each accounted for roughly half of this loss of host benefit, revealing that ecology and evolution jointly shape mutualism breakdown over the short timescales typical of microbial systems.

ecology↗
PubMed2026

Fantastic microbes and where to find them: evaluating learning-by-doing outcomes in a crowdfunded metagenomics workshop.

Metagenomics offers a powerful framework for authentic, interdisciplinary learning, yet it remains underrepresented in undergraduate education due to technical and infrastructural barriers. We hypothesized that a research-based, learning-by-doing metagenomics workshop supported by accessible bioinformatics tools could enhance students' perceived skills, self-efficacy, and conceptual understanding of metagenomic analysis. To test this hypothesis, we designed and evaluated a hybrid hands-on workshop in which undergraduate and postgraduate students analyzed real environmental shotgun metagenomic datasets generated from soil samples collected during a citizen science initiative. Using the graphical workflow platform KBase, participants completed an end-to-end metagenomic analysis, from quality control and assembly to genome reconstruction, taxonomic classification, functional annotation, and scientific presentation of results. Educational outcomes were assessed through validated retrospective pre-post questionnaires, self-efficacy scales, and an open-ended conceptual understanding task. Participants showed significant increases in perceived metagenomic skills and confidence in performing metagenomic analyses, while gains in perceived learning showed a positive trend. Conceptual understanding improved across educational levels, particularly among participants with limited prior experience. Together, these findings demonstrate that authentic, data-driven metagenomics activities can effectively lower barriers to computational biology and foster meaningful learning through hands-on research experiences.

Metagenomics↗
PubMed2024

Effects of initial corncob particle size on the short-term composting for preparation of cultivation substrates for Pleurotus ostreatus.

The short-term composting based on corncob for preparing Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation medium originated from agricultural production practices and so lacked systematic investigation. In this study, the influences of a Dafen (15 mm, DFT) and Xiaofen (5 mm, XFT) initial particle size (IPS) of corncob on the microbial succession and compost quality were examined. Results demonstrated that XFT compost was better suited for mushroom cultivation due to its high biological efficiency of 70 % and the absence of contamination. The composting microbes differed significantly between the DFT and XFT composts. During composting, the genera of Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Lactobacillus, Streptomyces, and Paenibacillus were majorly found in the DFT compost, while Acinetobacter, Lactobacillus, Puccinia, Bacteroides, and Bacillus genera dominated the XFT compost. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that throughout the thermophilic phase, XFT compost had much greater relative abundances of sequences relevant to energy, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolism than DFT compost. Analysis of network correlations and Mantel tests indicated that IPS reduction could increase microbial interactions. Overall, adjusting the IPS of corncob to 5 mm increased microbial interactions, improved compost quality, and thereby boosted the P. ostreatus yield. These findings will be pertinent in optimizing the composting process of cultivation medium for P. ostreatus.

Composting↗
PubMed2026

Isolation of rhizobia from Ontario soils that are effective at fixing nitrogen with common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris).

UNLABELLED: Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an important crop in Canada and globally. Like other legumes, common bean establishes symbiotic interactions with nitrogen-fixing bacteria called rhizobia. However, nitrogen fixation by rhizobia in association with common bean is often suboptimal, constraining its productivity and necessitating the application of nitrogen fertilizer. To support the development of high-performing, locally adapted rhizobial inoculants for Ontario common bean growers, we isolated 216 common bean-nodulating rhizobia from southern Ontario soils using a nodule trapping approach with four common bean cultivars. Whole genome sequencing followed by phylogenomic analyses of all rhizobial isolates revealed substantial diversity, assigning them to 11 Rhizobium species, including two novel species. Nearly all isolates belong to the symbiovar phaseoli, spanning the nodC γ-a, γ-b, and α alleles, with four isolates belonging to the symbiovar gallica. Soil origin had a significant impact on the species-level community composition recovered during the nodule trapping experiments. In contrast, host trapping cultivar had only a minor influence on the recovered Rhizobium population. Greenhouse assays demonstrated that one of the novel Rhizobium species exhibited the highest average symbiotic effectiveness, although high-quality isolates were found across multiple species. Together, these results revealed a diverse and genomically variable Rhizobium community capable of forming effective symbioses with common bean in southern Ontario soils. Importantly, our genome-sequenced Rhizobium collection will serve as a valuable resource for identifying competitive and high-quality strains for the development of inoculants tailored to Ontario common bean production. IMPORTANCE: Common bean is a globally important food crop, yet its productivity is often limited by suboptimal nitrogen fixation, forcing growers to rely on synthetic fertilizers. Consequently, identifying high‑performing, locally adapted inoculant strains is essential for reducing dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and improving the sustainability of temperate agroecosystems. Our study provides a genome‑sequenced collection of common bean-nodulating Rhizobium from southern Ontario, revealing substantial species and genomic diversity across sampling locations. Greenhouse studies allowed us to identify multiple isolates that consistently fix nitrogen with, and enhance the growth of, common bean plants. Our findings highlight strong biogeographical structuring of the effective and competitive subpopulations of rhizobial communities and demonstrate that Ontario soils already harbor strains with high symbiotic potential. In addition, our Rhizobium collection represents a foundational resource to support future inoculant development and enables future work on the ecology, evolution, and applied optimization of legume-rhizobium symbioses.

Nanopore↗
PubMed2026

Systematic mining and characterization of metal transporter families regulating zinc homeostasis provide insights into metal homeostasis in Camellia sinensis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Zinc is essential for tea plant growth and quality formation, yet its homeostatic mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study identified metal transporter families regulating zinc homeostasis, analyzed their evolution, structure, and expression, and clarified zinc uptake, transport, detoxification networks, and their links to metabolism. METHODS: This study identified zinc homeostasis-related metal transporter families in the tea plant genome, characterized their structural features and expression profiles across tissues and developmental stages through integrative bioinformatics and transcriptomic analyses, and delineated the molecular mechanisms underlying zinc uptake, translocation, and detoxification by systematically integrating published evidence. RESULTS: This study identified 74 metal transporter genes from six families: 13 CsZIPs, 12 CsNRAMPs, 10 CsHMAs, 10 CsYSLs, 14 CsMTPs, and 15 CsCAXs in the 'Shuchazao2' genome, revealing closer affinity to woody species than to Arabidopsis. These proteins exhibit conserved domains, diverse subcellular localizations (cell membrane, vacuole, chloroplast, and Golgi apparatus), and tissue-specific expression with abundant stress/hormone-responsive cis-elements. At the plant-soil interface, tea plants mobilize rhizospheric zinc via proton and organic acid secretion; CsYSLs, CsNRAMPs, and CsZIPs mediate zinc uptake, aided by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that expand root absorption zones. Xylem CsHMAs and phloem CsYSLs coordinate root-to-shoot zinc translocation, and vacuolar transporters (CsMTPs, CsCAXs), cell wall immobilization, and antioxidant systems alleviate high-zinc stress injury. CONCLUSIONS: These findings collectively delineate an integrated zinc "acquisition-distribution-buffering" network in tea plants, offering a repertoire of candidate genes with potential utility in zinc biofortification breeding and improving acid soil adaptation. Further experimental validation, including tea transgenesis, zinc-stress qRT-PCR, and heterologous functional complementation, is essential to substantiate their biological roles.

Camellia sinensis↗
PubMed1976

Review of the chemical elements and environmental chemistry--strategies and tactics.

Inspite of advanced technology and the availability of adequate basic analytical instrumentation there is a need to improve the quality of data obtained in many programmes of environmental monitoring. Really new approaches are required based upon interdisciplinary, as distinct from pluridisciplinary cooperation; during the early stages individual disciplines need to extend some degree of charity. Scientists have to acknowledge the social implications of many of their studies and face up to controversial issues particularly in relation to pollution of the environment. Today we do not know the significance of levels of most contaminants and pollutants found in the environment, and many have not even been identified. Besides large releases of pollutants, a fundamental problem concerns man's biological response to low doses of various substances over long periods of time; the interval between an initial insult and the detection of detrimental effects for many physical and chemical agents can amount to between 10-30 years. In the absence of an objective interdisciplinary approach the expertise developed in an individual discipline is not available to others in which it may be of value. Many types of instrumentation and techniques developed in one discipline are unknown, or untried, in another; centralised facilities provide an adequate spectrum of tools and skills which are essential in tackling current problems. This approach has been shown to be rewarding in industry and in several private research organisations. In this paper the versatility of some types of modern instrumentation is illustrated in several fields of environmental chemistry and some of the substantial problems are discussed.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2025

Metagenomic analysis of microbial community dynamics in konjac rhizosphere during soft rot disease progression.

Amorphophallus konjac, the sole glucomannan-rich species in the Araceae family, faces significant yield and quality losses due to soft rot disease. Understanding the relationship between soil microbial communities and soft rot incidence is critical for sustainable konjac production. Metagenomic profiling was employed to systematically characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of rhizosphere microbiomes during disease progression. Microbial alpha diversity (Chao1 index) exhibited a significant peak in the rhizosphere of diseased plants at the mature stage, contrasting with stable diversity patterns in healthy and latently infected groups, indicating dysbiosis-associated richness inflation during disease progression. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed significant divergence in rhizosphere microbial structures between diseased and healthy/latently infected groups, with higher compositional variability observed in diseased samples. At the phylum level, Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria abundances in healthy mature plants exceeded those in diseased plants by 11.54% and 4.6%, respectively, while pathogenic Rhizopus arrhizus and Rhizopus microsporus were significantly enriched in diseased mature plants. Correlation analyses demonstrated predominantly negative associations between bacterial species and soil factors, contrasting with positive fungal correlations. KEGG pathway annotation identified carbohydrate metabolism and amino acid synthesis as core microbial functions in the konjac rhizosphere. Collectively, Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria were validated as putative biocontrol agents, while Rhizopus spp. emerged as key drivers of soft rot development. These findings provide mechanistic insights for designing microbiome-based biocontrol strategies to mitigate konjac soft rot, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional agrochemical reliance. KEY POINTS: • Diseased konjac microbial richness peaks; healthy plants enrich Chloroflexi/Acidobacteria. • Rhizopus pathogens drive soft rot; bacteria and fungi show opposing soil factor links. • Lays groundwork for microbiome approaches to cut agrochemicals in konjac rot control.

Rhizosphere↗