The response of soil respiration to acid rain in forests, especially in forests of different maturity, is poorly understood in southern China despite the fact that acid rain has become a serious environmental threat in this region in recent years. Here, we investigated this issue in three subtropical forests of different maturity [i.e. a young pine forest (PF), a transitional mixed conifer and ...

Drought affects yield of peanut, but its effect on oleic and linoleic acids that influence its oil quality of peanut genotypes with different levels of drought resistance has not been clearly investigated. Therefore, the aims of this research were to determine whether soil water levels could affect oil quality by changes in fatty acid compositions of peanut, and to investigate the changes i...

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) production is dramatically reduced in acidic, Al-rich soil. Transgenic plants of several species overexpressing organic acid synthesis and/or organic acid transporter genes have shown enhanced tolerance to Al. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of the citrate synthase (CS) and the Daucus carota L. plasma membrane H+-transporting adenosine trip...

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of mineral fertilization on the activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase and content of available phosphorus in soil under winter wheat cultivation. The fi rst factor of experiment was the fertilization with P, K, Mg, Ca and S in six levels: 1 (P, K, Mg, Ca and S), 2 (K, Mg, Ca and S), 3 (P, Mg, Ca and S), 4 (P, K, Ca and S), 5 (P, K, Mg, Ca), ...

-Plant roots and soil organisms increase phosphorus availability by releasing acid and alkaline phosphatase. Organic phosphorus compounds are hydrolysed into plant-available forms through the action of these enzymes. Phosphatase is of particular importance under conditions of low phosphorus availability which is commonly found in pinon-juniper soils. Acid and alkaline phosphatase activities (mg...

Observing changes in soil organic matter (SOM) is a fundamental part of defining the carbon cycle in natural and cultivated environments. However, relying on changes in the mass of soil C over short periods often produces conflicting results because of errors associated with sampling and analysis. In addition, C mass balance studies provide little interpretation of processes or turnover of spec...

BACKGROUND The low survival rate of in vitro regenerated Panax ginseng plantlets after transfer to soil is the main obstacle for their successful micropropagation and molecular breeding. In most cases, young plantlets converted from somatic embryos are transferred to soil. METHODS In vitro thickened taproots, which were produced after prolonged culture of ginseng plantlets, were transferred t...

refers to molecular-level characteristics such as elemental composition, functional groups, and molecular conFormation of chemically resistant humic substances might be an formation that influence the inherent biodegradability important process controlling recycling of soil C to the atmosphere. of the molecule. Interactions refers to the intermolecular Humic substances are believed to be resist...

Plants can influence the soil they grow in, and via these changes in the soil they can positively or negatively influence other plants that grow later in this soil, a phenomenon called plant-soil feedback. A fascinating possibility is then to apply positive plant-soil feedback effects in sustainable agriculture to promote plant growth and resistance to pathogens. We grew the cut flower chrysant...

Biosurfactants have recently gained attention as "green" agents that can be used to enhance the remediation of heavy metals and some organic matter in contaminated soils. The overall objective of this paper was to investigate rhamnolipid, a microbial produced biosurfactant, and its ability to leach uranium present in contaminated soil from an abandoned mine site. Soil samples were collected fro...