The event of partly grain-free ear is a crucial problem which can result in severe reductions in corn yield. In a two year field investigation, during 2003-2004, an experiment was conducted to determine the effect of  boron (B) and zinc (Zn) application on yield and yield components of corn (Zea mays L.) plants grown in a B and Zn-deficient calcareous soil (fine, carbonatic, thermic, Typic Hapl...

Nickel was established as an essential micronutrient for the growth of temperate cereal crops. Grain from barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv ;Onda'; containing 40 to 80 nanograms of Ni per gram dry weight) grown in solution culture with negligible Ni concentrations (< 30 nanograms of Ni per liter) exhibited greatly reduced germination rates (i.e. 50% less than grain from Ni-adequate plants) and seed...

Mycorrhizal fungi are key mediators of soil-to-plant movement of mineral nutrients, including essential and non-essential metals. In soil conditions that facilitate mobilization of metal ions, potentially toxic metals can interfere with nitrogen metabolism in both plants and microorganisms. Less is known about possible relationships between nitrogen metabolism and responses to heavy metals. Aim...

The increase of environmental pollutants especially heavy metals derives from human industrial communities. Zinc is one of the natural elements that exist in biotic environment, plants body, and animals in different forms. Zinc has toxic and lethal effects in high concentrations on plants. Also some plants are introduced as accumulators of this element. Therefore, an investigation was carried o...

OBJECTIVE Little is known about the nutritional adequacy and feasibility of breastmilk replacement options recommended by WHO/UNAIDS/UNICEF. The study aim was to explore suitability of the 2001 feeding recommendations for infants of HIV-infected mothers for a rural region in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa specifically with respect to adequacy of micronutrients and essential fatty acids, cost, and ...

BACKGROUND Zinc supplementation decreases morbidity from infections and increases growth of stunted children, but there is little information on functional responses to zinc delivered in fortified foods. OBJECTIVE The aim was to examine the effects of zinc fortification on the growth, morbidity from infections, and plasma zinc concentrations of young children. DESIGN We compared the physica...

introduction dehydration is one of the limiting factors of crop production. it results from increasing the amount of water losses from leaf or inadequate water absorption rate or combination of both. zinc used in many enzymes of the plant tissues and have catalytic role in activation of some enzymes. zinc is involved in the synthesis and degradation of proteins and is an essential micronutrien...

Trace elements such as zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se) play an important role in maintaining the metabolic homeostasis in elderly people and the risk of de®ciency seems to increase in proportion to the age. Zn and Se concentrations, as indices of the micronutrient status in healthy subjects over 90 years, are scarcely analyzed and could represent a model for studying the physiology of successful ag...