A critical parameter affecting the economic feasibility of lignocellulosic bioconversion is the production of inexpensive and highly active cellulase enzymes in bulk quantity. A promising approach to reduce enzyme costs is to genetically transform plants with the genes of these enzymes, thereby producing the desired cellulases in the plants themselves. Extraction and recovery of active proteins...

Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate concentrations and pH were measured in 5-mm increments of sail over a 50-mm distance from decomposing layers of corn plants (Zea mays L.) and barley straw (Hordeum vulgare L.) that contained from 1.00 to 2.10% N. During 16 days of incubation, corn plants containing 2.05% N produced an ammonia concentration of 1.3 meq/100 g of soil in the layer near the plant materi...

Plant health can be augmented by plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that confer biofertilizer, phytostimulation, and biocontrol activities. Herein, we provide the high-quality draft genome sequence of Serratia fonticola strain AU-AP2C, a Gram-negative motile PGPR of the pea plant, conferring phosphate solubilization, ammonia production, and antifungal activity against Fusarium sp. The ...

Ammonia oxidation by microorganisms is a rate-limiting step of the nitrification process and determines the efficiency of fertilizer utilized by crops. Little is known about the dynamic response of ammonia-oxidizers to different fertilization regimes in a wheat-rice rotation system. Here, we examined ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) communities across eight representative stag...

The effects of heavy metals and phytoextraction practices on a soil microbial community were studied during 12 months using a hyperaccumulating plant (Thlaspi caerulescens) grown in an artificially contaminated soil. The 16S ribosomal RNA genes of the Bacteria and the beta-Proteobacteria and the amoA gene (encoding the alpha-subunit of ammonia monooxygenase) were PCR-amplified and analysed by d...

Addition of ammonia or urea to the combustion zone of a boiler has been shown to reduce the formation (and thus emissions) of oxides of nitrogen. However, under certain conditions, some of the ammonia will “slip” by and may be emitted to the atmosphere. Several states are interested in monitoring such ammonia “slip” emissions and other sources of ammonia. Industries are interested in using ammo...

nitrate is one of the major sources of nitrogen for the growth of plants. it is taken up by plant roots and transported to the leaves where it is reduced to nitrite in the. the main objective of this research was to investigate stimulatory effects of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, ammonia and urea on the production/generation of the nitrate reductase mrna in triticum aestivum plants. the pl...

Anhydrous ammonia has higher concentrations of nitrogen (82% N) than urea (46% N), is usually more economical, has lower labour requirements for application and is less prone to volatilisation. It has also been shown that ammonia has nematicidal properties. It would be of great benefit to the sugar industry if anhydrous ammonia could be applied as both a fertiliser and as a nematicide for the s...

Deammonification represents a short-cut in the N-metabolism pathway and comprises 2 steps: about half the amount of ammonia is oxidised to nitrite and then residual ammonia and nitrite is anaerobically transformed to elementary nitrogen. Implementation of the pH-controlled DEMON process for deammonification of reject water in a single-sludge SBR system at the WWTP Strass (Austria) contributed e...