A non-destructive cultivation system was developed to study the dynamics of phosphorus (Pi) uptake by mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal maize plantlets. The system consisted of a plant container connected via silicon tubes to a glass bottle containing a nutrient solution supplemented with Pi. The nutrient solution is pumped with a peristaltic pump to the upper part of the container via the silico...

While few publications have documented the uptake of nanoparticles in plants, this is the first study describing uptake and distribution of the ultrasmall anatase TiO(2) in the plant model system Arabidopsis. We modified the nanoparticle surface with Alizarin red S and sucrose and demonstrated that nanoconjugates traversed cell walls, entered into plant cells, and accumulated in specific subcel...

BACKGROUND Hydrolysates of plant biomass used for the production of lignocellulosic biofuels typically contain sugar mixtures consisting mainly of D-glucose and D-xylose, and minor amounts of L-arabinose. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the preferred microorganism for the fermentative production of ethanol but is not able to ferment pentose sugars. Although D-xylose and L-arabinose fermen...

Two maize hybrids were grown under growth chamber conditions on solution or vermiculite medium that contained 2.5, 7.5, or 15 millimolar nitrate. The objectives were to determine: (a) the effect of nitrate supply on N metabolism and growth and (b) the interrelationship between nitrate uptake, flux, and reduction on the accumulation of reduced N and nitrate by the various plant parts and for the...

Linkages between detritus-based ("brown") food webs and producer-based ("green") food webs are critical components of ecosystem functionality, but these linkages are hard to study because it is difficult to measure release of nutrients by brown food webs and their subsequent uptake by plants. In a three-month greenhouse experiment, we examined how the detritus-based food web inhabiting rain-fil...

Effects of the mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices on establishment of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) seedlings in saline conditions were studied in a glasshouse experiment. Growth and nutrient uptake were determined 10, 20 and 30 days after transplanting of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal matched seedlings into soils with five different levels of salinity. Mycorrhizal plants...

Subalpine grasslands are highly seasonal environments and likely subject to strong variability in nitrogen (N) dynamics. Plants and microbes typically compete for N acquisition during the growing season and particularly at plant peak biomass. During snowmelt, plants could potentially benefit from a decrease in competition by microbes, leading to greater plant N uptake associated with active gro...

In 2012 L. Zhang et al. presented the hypothesis that plant miRNAs are transferred into blood and then tissue from dietary sources. Not only did the authors report detection of plant miRNA in animals, they also provided evidence that one specific, abundant plant miRNA, miR168, regulated the expression of low-density lipoprotein receptor-associated protein 1 (LDLRAP1) in mice. Plant miRNAs, then...

One of the crucial elements for livestock and human nutrition is selenium and its deficiency or toxicity can harm human and livestock health. The present study is designed with the aim of studying the effect of different levels of selenium fertilizer (Selcote-Ultra) and cow manure on the uptake of selenium in tall fescue. For this purpose, a pot experiment with complete randomized block design ...