Two soil samples were collected on April 18–20, 2011 at Namie town and Tomioka town, which are located 26 km northwest and 11 km south of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, respectively. A 0–1 cm soil layer was used for analysis to determine the presence of radiostrontium. The soil was ashed, acid-digested, and strontium was separated from interference with use of an extraction chromato...

Undisturbed natural wetlands are important carbon sinks due to their low soil respiration. When compared with inland alpine wetlands, estuarine wetlands in densely populated areas are subjected to great pressure associated with environmental pollution. However, the effects of water pollution and eutrophication on soil respiration of estuarine and their mechanism have still not been thoroughly i...

Dehydrogenase and catalase activities were measured in a Eutric Histosol irrigated with municipal wastewaters (Lublin, Poland) purified by a two-step (mechanical and biological) treatment. Soil enzyme activity was used to test the biochemical status of the soil-plant system, the last step of wastewater purification. Three experimental fields, each of 1 ha area, were planted with Populus nigra, ...

Antibiotics are one of the most important commercially exploited secondary metabolites produced by the bacteria and employed in a wide range. Most of the antibiotic producers used today are the soil microbes. Fungal strains and Streptomyces members are extensively used in industrial antibiotic production. Bacteria are easy to isolate, culture, maintain and to improve their strains. Although tho...

Interest in the determination and screening of pesticide residues in soil is caused by widespread use of chemical pesticides in agriculture, which increase soil contamination. Two extraction techniques, matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) and liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) of residual pesticides (acaricides, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides) from soil were compared. Advantages and disa...

An analytical method has been developed for the quantification of two herbicides (ethidimuron and methabenzthiazuron) and their two main soil derivatives. This method involves fluidized-bed extraction (FBE) prior to cleanup and analysis by reverse-phase liquid chromatography with UV detection at 282 nm. FBE conditions were established to provide efficient extraction without degradation of the f...

In this study, we employed a modified method to extract DNA from forest topsoil that was suitable for construction of large insert soil metagenomic library. The DNA extraction method used produced considerable DNA yield with DNA fragments ranging from 48 kb up to 290 kb. The recovery of soil DNA suitable for PCR and metagenomic library construction is difficult because soil DNA is often co-puri...

In order to determine soil inhabitant fungi of Mazandaran and Golestan provinces (N Iran), some soil samples from arable and non-arable areas were collected. After the isolation, purification and identification of fungi, 61 isolates, belonging to Absidia, Actinomucor, Cunninghamella, Lichtheimia, Mucor, Syncephalastrum and Rhizopus were identified. After DNA extraction, all genera were subjecte...

An increasing human population is placing greater demand on soil resources, and as a result degradation is taking place in many regions of the world. This is critical because soils perform a number of essential processes including supporting food and fiber production, influencing air quality through interaction with the atmosphere, and serving as a medium for storage and purification of water. ...

Metagenomic analyses can provide extensive information on the structure, composition, and predicted gene functions of diverse environmental microbial assemblages. Each environment presents its own unique challenges to metagenomic investigation and requires a specifically designed approach to accommodate physicochemical and biotic factors unique to each environment that can pose technical hurdle...