Bioslurry phase reactor augmented with ETP microflora was studied for the degradation of pendimethalin contaminated soil. The effect of substrate concentration on the process performance was evaluated in the slurry phase reactor operated in sequence batch mode under anoxic-aerobic-anoxic microenvironment with a total cycle period of 120 h. The performance of augmented slurry phase system was fo...

Field weathering of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) produces soluble compost leachate that percolates into underlying soils and may adversely impact groundwater. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate movement and retention of SMS leachate solutes in subsurface soil columns. Spent mushroom substrate leachate with high concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and inorganic s...

Nitrogen (N) enrichment of tropical ecosystems is likely to increase with rapid industrial and agricultural development, but the ecological consequences of N additions in these systems are not well understood. We measured soil Noxide emissions and N transformations in primary rain forest ecosystems at four elevations and across two substrate types on Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo, before and after short...

The effects of Bt corn (Zea mays L.) residue on soil microbial communities and rates of C mineralization were investigated. The Bt corn residue had a higher lignin content (12%) and lignin/N (9.9) ratio compared with its non-Bt near-isoline (10% lignin; lignin/N = 8.6). We examined the relationships among the Bt/non-Bt residue properties, residue component, soil texture, sampling time, and till...

High molecular weight, linear polyacrylamide (PAM) with anionic charge is added to agricultural soils as an anti-erosion additive. Research indicates that soil microorganisms are able to utilize PAM as a source of N and that inorganic N pools are altered in some PAM-treated soils. The potential role of hydrdlytic amidase activity in the microbial utilization of PAM for N was investigated. Intra...

The diversity of Ochrobactrum anthropi, Ochrobactrum intermedium, Ochrobactrum tritici and Ochrobactrum grignonense in agricultural soil and on the wheat rhizoplane was investigated. O. anthropi was isolated both from soil and from the rhizoplane, O. intermedium and grignonense only from bulk soil, and O. tritici only from the wheat rhizoplane. On the genetic level, the immunotrapped isolates a...

A method with the combined advantages of soil particle washing, selective inhibitors, and an indicator substrate was developed to isolate saprophytic basidiomycetes from soil. Organic particles were washed from soil and plated on a medium containing lignin, guaiacol, and benomyl, which reduced mold growth and allowed detection of basidiomycetes producing laccase or peroxidase. The 64 soil sampl...

Microbial communities that inhabit environments such as soil can contain thousands of distinct taxa, yet little is known about how this diversity is maintained in response to environmental perturbations such as changes in the availability of carbon. By utilizing aerobic substrate arrays to examine the effect of carbon amendment on microbial communities taken from six distinct environments (soil...

The roles of substrate availability and quality in determining temperature sensitivity (Q10) of soil carbon (C) decomposition are still unclear, which limits our ability to predict how soil C storage and cycling would respond to climate change. Here we determined Q10 in surface organic layer and subsurface mineral soil along an elevation gradient in a temperate forest ecosystem. Q10 was calcula...