The combined use of plants and associated microorganisms has great potential for cleaning up soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. Apart from environmental conditions the physicochemical properties of the soil are the main factors influencing the survival and activity of an inoculated strain as well as the growth of plants. This study examined the effect of different soil types (sandy...

*Correspondence: Vimala D. Nair, Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida, PO Box 110290, 2181 McCarty Hall A, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA e-mail: [email protected] The risk of phosphorus loss from agricultural soils can have serious implications for water quality. This problem has been noted particularly in sandy soils in several parts of the world including Europe (e.g., the Netherla...

Applying enzymatic biocatalysts based on hexahistidine-containing organophosphorus hydrolase (His₆-OPH) is suggested for the decomposition of chlorpyrifos, which is actively used in agriculture in many countries. The application conditions were optimized and the following techniques was suggested to ensure the highest efficiency of the enzyme: first, the soil is alkalinized with hydrated calcit...

Conjugal transfer from Escherichia coli to Alcaligenes eutrophus of the A. eutrophus genes coding for plasmid-borne resistance to cadmium, cobalt, and zinc (czc genes) was investigated on agar plates and in soil samples. This czc fragment is not expressed in the donor strain, E. coli, but it is expressed in the recipient strain, A. eutrophus. Hence, expression of heavy metal resistance by cells...

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of soil moisture content on the absorbance spectra of sandy soils with different phosphorus (P) concentrations using ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and near-infrared (NIR) absorbance spectroscopy. Sieve sizes were 125, 250, and 600 m for fine, medium, and coarse, respectively. The medium size of the samples was used for the study. Investigat...

712 Soil physical conditions can aff ect diff usion, environmental fate, and effi cacy of fumigants in soil disinfestation treatments. Water seals (applying water using sprinklers to soil following fumigation) can eff ectively reduce fumigant emissions from sandy loam soils. Soil column studies compared the eff ectiveness of water seals in reducing cis-1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D) emissions from...

Decreased additions of sulfur to the atmosphere through low sulfur diesel fuel and reductions in industrial emissions have lead to a decrease in incidental deposition of sulfur for crops. This has left some to question if sulfur needs to be supplied to most crops as fertilizer. Current recommendations for sulfur fertilizer applications in Minnesota are limited to sandy soils with low organic ma...