Soil microorganisms have a primary catabolic role in the environment through degradation of plant and animal residues. The activities of microorganisms in soil are thus, essential to the global cycling of nutrients. As these pesticides are designed to be biologically active, their continuous use might affect soil microflora either by changing their properties or their numbers, which may lead to...

Co-inoculations of the alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plants with the associativeand/or the obligate nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Azospirillum brasilense, S; Rhizobium meliloti, R) and/or the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza fungus (Glomus fasciculatum, M) were evaluated in a pot experiment under controlled conditions. The effect of these beneficial microbes, as single(M, R, S), dual(MR, MS) or multi...

Every organism on earth relies on associations with its neighbors to sustain life. For example, plants form associations with neighboring plants, microflora, and microfauna, while humans maintain symbiotic associations with intestinal microbial flora, which is indispensable for nutrient assimilation and development of the innate immune system. Most of these associations are facilitated by chemi...

Analysis of microbial communities associated with plants, insects and soil has been a significant challenge for plant protection researchers, because of the lack of techniques with which to access these populations. A new molecular community profiling technique, 16S rRNA gene-based PCR followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), has been used to analyse microbial communities in ...

The development of genetically engineered animals has brought with it increasing concerns about biosafety issues. We therefore evaluated the risks of growth hormone from transgenic goats, including the probability of horizontal gene transfer and the impact on the microbial community of the goats' gastrointestinal tracts, feces and the surrounding soil. The results showed that neither the GH nor...

1 2 An avoidance test using the soil springtail Folsomia candida was used to assess 3 changes in contamination levels at low doses of PAHs following incubation with 4 indigenous microflora. A soil from a former coke site was diluted to 1% in an unpolluted 5 soil from the same site, which was used as a control, then both substrates were 6 remoistened to 80% field capacity. The diluted soil was p...