Mouse spermatozoa were treated with trypaflavine, toluidine blue or nitrogen mustard before fertilization in attempts to destroy the sperm chromosomes and so induce haploid gynogenetic development of the egg. High concentrations of either chemical decreased the activity of spermatozoa. Trypaflavine and toluidine blue had a photodynamic action on spermatozoa and lowered the fertilization rate; n...

Fertilization has a large impact on the soil microbial communities, which play pivotal roles in soil biogeochemical cycling and ecological processes. While the effects of changes in nutrient availability due to fertilization on the soil microbial communities have received considerable attention, specific microbial taxa strongly influenced by long-term organic and inorganic fertilization, their ...

Ionomics is the study of elemental accumulation in living organisms using high-throughput elemental profiling. In the present study, we examined the ionomic responses to nutrient deficiency in maize grown in the field in long-term fertilizer trials. Furthermore, the available elements in the field soils were analyzed to investigate their changes under long-term fertilizer treatment and the iono...

The concentration of carbon-based anti-herbivore defence compounds is key to herbivore utilization of forage. Production of phenolics and condensed tannins in boreal woody plants is known to reduce grazing pressure. Their production depends, among other things, on the availability of nutrient resources, especially nitrogen, relative to the availability of assimilates. The carbon-nutrient balanc...