Plants require nitrogen (N) to make proteins, nucleic acids and other biological molecules. It is widely accepted that plants absorb inorganic forms of N to fill their needs. However, recently it has become clear that plants also have the capacity to absorb organic N from soils. In this paper we describe a new kind of symbiosis involving seed-vectored rhizobacteria and grasses that is targeted ...

ABSTRACT Soil erosion on slopes demands the use of techniques that promote soil cohesion, increasing its shear strength, while contributing to foristic-landscape recovery. This study aimed analyze morphological characteristics vetiver and paspalum grasses, in order understand their contribution stabilization, under greenhouse conditions. The following parameters were evaluated: plant height; nu...

The present study was aimed at assessing the ingestive behavior of ¾ Zebu × Holstein heifers confined to different levels of substitution of sorghum silage by marandu grass silage. Twenty heifers were used with initial average weight of 346.25 kg, divided into completely randomized experimental design with 5 repetitions and the following treatments: treatment 1) roughage fraction of the diet co...

Adhesion sites on grass roots for Klebsiella strains carrying type 3 or type 1 fimbriae or both were determined. Adhesion of the strains to the roots of Poa pratensis and Festuca rubra was highly localized; the bacteria adhered strongly to root hairs and with a markedly lower efficiency to the surface of the zone of elongation and to the root cap mucilage. No adhesion to the epidermal cells bet...

The sequestration in soil of organic carbon (SOC) derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) by replacing arable crops with leys, has been measured over 70 years on a sandy loam soil. The experiment was designed initially to test the effect of leys on the yields of arable crops. A 3-year grazed grass with clover (grass + clover) ley in a 5-year rotation with arable crops increased percentage...

Ten cultivars of seashore paspalum, Paspalum vaginatum Swartz, were compared for their response to Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, larval root feeding. Cultivars of Bermuda grass, Cynodon sp., and zoysiagrass, Zoysia sp., also were included for comparison. Turf grown in pots in the greenhouse was infested with second and third instars in this 2-yr study. Grub survival and weight gain...

A priority in many crop improvement programs for a long time has been to enhance the tolerance level of plants to both abiotic and biotic stress. Recognition that the root system is the prime determinant of a plant's ability to extract both water and minerals from the soil implies that its architecture is an important variable underlying a cultivar's adaptation. The density and/or length of the...