When supplemented with a nutrient source and moisture, sterile finely ground vermiculite can be used to directly ferment bacterial cultures to prepare bacterial inoculants. All tested bacterial species, including Rhizobium japonicum, R. phaseoli, R. meliloti, R. leguminosarum, Bacillus megaterium, and several Pseudomonas strains, grew at least 10,000-fold in 1 week at room temperature. The fina...

Aquaporins, major intrinsic proteins (MIPs) present in the plasma and intracellular membranes, facilitate the transport of small neutral molecules across cell membranes in higher plants. Recently, progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of aquaporin subcellular localization, transport selectivity, and gating properties. Although the role of aquaporins in maintaining the plant wat...

Soil samples were collected in six South American countries in a total of 71 different 1 ha forest plots across the Amazon Basin as part of the RAINFOR project. They were analysed for total and exchangeable cations, C, N, pH with various P fractions also determined. Physical properties were also examined and an index of soil physical quality proposed. A diverse range of soils was found. For the...

Fresh allograft valves stored in a nutrient medium at +4 degrees C have a limited storage time of eight weeks. Dura mater has been stored in glycerol for longer periods, and this paper presents work on the glycerol storage of allograft heart valves. The elastic properties of the valve cusps showed a fall during storage in glycerol that was associated with an altered histological appearance of t...

Developing integrated farming systems is critical to reducing the environmental impact of animal production. Traditionally, this has been through integrating animal and feed or plant production. But that has become increasingly difficult as agricultural production has become regionally specialized leading to the spatial separation of animal and feed production. This spatial separation has led t...

Unlike the trace minerals iron, copper and zinc, the semiconductor silicon has not had its organoleptic properties assessed. Nanostructured silicon provides the nutrient orthosilicic acid through hydrolysis in the gastrointestinal tract and is a candidate for oral silicon supplements. Mesoporous silicon, a nanostructured material, is being assessed for both oral drug and nutrient delivery. Here...

Drought is a serious environmental stress limiting growth and productivity in peanut and other crops. Nutrient uptake of peanut is reduced under drought condition, which reduces yield. The objectives of this study were to investigate nutrient uptake of peanut genotypes in response to drought and to estimate the relationship between nutrient uptake and peanut yield under different water regi...

Unicellular algae such as phytoplankton and benthic microalgae have an elemental ratio of carbon to nitrogen to phosphorus (C/N/P) of approximately 106:16:1, known as the Redfield ratio. Benthic plants, including benthic macroalgae and seagrass, have a significantly different and more variable C/N/P ratio, with a median of 550:30:1, herein called the Atkinson ratio. In this paper, the implicati...

Leaf nutrients of sugarcane variety N16 are discussed and reasons for certain trends put forward. The fertilised versus non-fertilised treatment comparison showed that although where fertiliser was applied that leaf N, P and K were higher, Mn was also higher but Ca, Mg, Si, Zn and Fe were all lower. The trashed versus burnt treatments had a less drastic effect on leaf nutrient levels and it was...

Lake Tanganyika’s many endemic species are under threat by impacts from human development and land use changes. Anthropogenic sediment inputs into the lake have increased, with a suite of negative effects on the benthic fauna. Sedimentation reduces habitat heterogeneity, alters cycling of nutrients, interferes with visibility, and interferes with photosynthesis. For fauna of the rocky benthos, ...