Sites co-contaminated with organic and metal pollutants are common and considered to be a more complex problem as the two components often causes a synergistic effect on cytotoxicity. Phytoremediation has been proposed as a cost-effective technology for treating heavy metal or organic contamination and may be suitable for remediation of co-contaminated soil. This study investigated the concurre...

Negative feedback between plant and soil microbial communities can be a key determinant of vegetation structure and dynamics. Previous research has shown that negative feedback between black cherry (Prunus serotina) and soil pathogens is strongly distance dependent. Here, we investigate the temporal dynamics of negative feedback. To examine short-term changes, we planted successive cycles of se...

Seeds of 'Coker 68-15' wheat and 'Maton' rye were immersed for 5 min in acetone solutions of oxamyl, carbofuran, or phenamiphos containing 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.25, 2.5, or 5.0% (w/v) nematicide; after drying, seeds were planted in pots containing 500 gm of sandy loam naturally infested with Hoplolaimus galeatus and Tylenchorhynchus claytoni. In sterilized soil, only the 5% concentrations of all nema...

BACKGROUND Although plant diversity is postulated to resist invasion, studies have not provided consistent results, most of which were ascribed to the influences of other covariate environmental factors. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To explore the mechanisms by which plant diversity influences community invasibility, an experiment was conducted involving grassland sites varying in their spe...

Contamination of soil / water resources by petroleum products poses severe threats to underground water and soil quality. In the present study biosurfactant producing bacterial cultures were used to degrade petrol engine oil under in situ conditions in the plant rhizosphere system. Two bacterial isolates used in this study were recovered from Haldia oil refinery sites and identified as Pseudomo...

The nematicidal activity of the fungicide ethazole was studied under greenhouse conditions in which a nematode-infested, Norfolk sandy loam was planted to cotton (var. = 'Rowden'). At planting time, the fungicide was incorporated in the soil at rates of 0-100 mg/kg soil. When assayed 4 weeks after planting, plant-parasitic nematodes in soil and roots occurred in decreasing numbers with increasi...

Microplot experiments were conducted over two years (four growing seasons) to evaluate Meloidogyne incognita resistance in rootstocks used for grafted tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), muskmelon (Cucumis melo), and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus). Three tomato rootstocks; 'TX301', 'Multifort', and 'Aloha', were tested in addition to the nongrafted scion, 'Florida-47'. Two muskmelon rootstocks; Cucu...

We tested whether the presence of plant roots would impair the uptake of ammonium ([Formula: see text]), glycine, and glutamate by microorganisms in a deciduous forest soil exposed to constant or variable moisture in a short-term (24-h) experiment. The uptake of (15)NH4 and dual labeled amino acids by the grass Festuca gigantea L. and soil microorganisms was determined in planted and unplanted ...