THE PRODUCTION OF ANTIBIOTICS IN SOIL

Antibiotic production in and around particles of plant debris in soil was studied. High yields of an antibiotic, shown by bioassay methods to be similar to gliotoxin, were obtained from wheat straws buried in a normal, unautoclaved; acid podsoc from Wareham Heath which had been inoculated with a strain of Trichoderma viride known to produce gliotoxin in culture media. Only a little of the antibiotic was produced in the soil immediately surrounding the straws. Much less was produced in straws buried in John Innes potting compost and none at all in straws buried in a Kettering loam. In no case was an antibiotic detected in straws from un-inoculated soils.
If, however, the Kettering loam was acidified or, alternatively, the straws themselves were acidified and then buried in untreated Kettering loam, good yields of the antibiotic were obtained from straw extracts. Conversely, when the pH of Wareham Heath soil was raised by addition of calcium hydroxide to the soil no antibiotic activity could be detected in the straws. This suggests that the pH of the soil and of the food substrate has a profound effect on production of an antibiotic, assumed to be gliotoxin, by T. viride. The results obtained suggested that increased production of gliotoxin after autoclaving the straws was due to a decrease in the pH of the straws rather than to a release of nutrients.     

高寒草甸土壤生态系统的结构及昆虫群落的某些特性

自1881年达尔文报道蚯蚓对土壤的作用以来,人们对土壤动物的研究做了许多工作,Kevan(1955)和Murphy(1962)先后发表了这方面的专著。70年代初,国际生物学规划(IBP)选择了苔原、草原、森林等典型地区,开展了较为系统的土壤动物调查研究工作。随着人类对土地利用和土壤改良的重视,土壤生态系统的研究正趋向于成为一个专门的研究领域。 土壤动物的研究对象,大多属于土壤昆虫,我国草原土壤昆虫的研究,至今仍属薄弱环     

THE PRODUCTION OF ANTIBIOTICS IN SOIL

Extracts of the coats of seeds inoculated with Trichoderma viride, Penicillium frequentans or P. gladioli and sown in soil contained antibiotics, identified by paper chromatography as gliotoxin, frequentin and gladiolic acid respectively. Three actinomycetes, Streptoniyces griseus, S. venezuelae and S. nureofaciens failed to produce an antibiotic in the coats of seeds sown in either John Innes potting compost or a calcareous soil.
When uninoculated pea seeds were sown in a soil in which an unintroduced gliotoxin-producing strain of Trichoderma viride was growing vigorously, gliotoxin was detected in the seed coats.     

THE PRODUCTION OF ANTIBIOTICS IN SOIL

Conditions affecting the production of gliotoxin by a strain of Trichoderma viride , known to produce this antibiotic in synthetic culture media, were studied in two types of soil, a highly acid, sandy podsol from Wareham Heath and a less acid garden soil. High yields of an antibiotic substance, which results from bioassays showed to be similar to gliotoxin, were obtained from both inoculated soils when autoclaved and supplemented with organic material. The autoclaved soils behaved differently when unsupplemented; Wareham soil supported production of the antibiotic but little or none was produced in the garden soil. No antibiotic activity could be demonstrated in soil which had not been inoculated with T. viride.
Acidification of unsupplemented garden soil by addition of sulphuric acid had a favourable effect on production of the antibiotic, but raising the pH of Wareham soil by addition of calcium hydroxide also increased the yield. These effects, therefore, cannot be due simply to the change in pH of the soil.
The beneficial effect of autoclaving the soil on production of the antibiotic assumed to be gliotoxin was analysed and separated into three distinct effects, elimination of the microflora, increase in availability of nitrogen compounds and increase in available carbon compounds. The last effect was considered to be of greatest significance.
The antibiotic was produced in normal Wareham soil if supplemented with additional carbon compounds, but not in garden soil unless this had also been acidified before inoculation. A chromatographic method of bioassay used in the later work gave more substantial evidence that the antibiotic produced in the soil was, in fact, gliotoxin.     

THE SOIL FUNGI OF THE DOVEY SALT MARSHES

In this investigation of the fungi of the soil of the Dovey Salt Marshes (Ynyslas) 48 fungi were isolated.
Twelve of the species found do not appear to have been recorded before for the British Isles.
The area investigated is a badly aerated, stiff, tenacious clay, alkaline in reaction ( p H 8), with a high water content, due mainly to periodical inundations by tidal salt water.
Method of investigation consisted in taking samples of soil from a depth of 11/2 and 31/2 inches and either planting portions of this directly on to specially prepared media, or first shaking up a portion in water and then inoculating the prepared media with some of the suspension.
Three fungi– Torula allii, Penicillium hyphomycetis and Fusarium oxysporium var. resupinatum —were almost invariably present in every sample of soil: almost equally common were Trichoderma lignorum, T. Köningi, Hormodendron cladosporoides, Mucor circinelloides and Periconia felina .
Most of the fungi found are species found above ground as saprophytes, and may have been introduced into the soil by drainage, etc.
The writer considers fungi are active only in association with organic material.
The vegetation covering this marsh shows marked zonation: soil samples were chiefly taken from the Glycerietum and Aimerietum.
The same species of fungi were common to the two associations.
Glyceria maritima is a most effective silt binder, because the stele of its rhizomes and roots consists almost entirely of lignified tissue which does not yield to the activities of the soil fungi; Armeria maritima is not so effective a silt binder because the stele of its rhizomes and roots contains very little lignified tissue—at a depth of a foot, the tap roots of Armeria are little more than hollow tubes, the interiors having been removed by fungi and bacteria.     

THE PRODUCTION OF ANTIBIOTICS IN SOIL V. BREAKDOWN OF GRISEOFULVIN IN SOIL

When griseofulvin (I; R = Cl, R '= OCH₃), a chlorine-containing antibiotic produced by Penicillium nigricans , was added to fresh garden loam, after an initial lag it disappeared rapidly. When further griseofulvin was added it was inactivated from the start and at rates which increased with each successive addition, suggesting that it was degraded biologically. The numbers of one organism, a Pseudomonas sp., increased in the soil steadily after adding griseofulvin.
When a little soil was added to a solution (pH 7·0) containing inorganic salts and griseofulvin as the sole carbon source, bioassays showed that the griseofulvin disappeared within 5 days. An organism isolated from the broth was identified as the Pseudomonas sp. thought to break down griseofulvin in soil. Griseofulvin also disappeared from a broth at pH 5·0 inoculated with soil, but at this lower pH value a dematiaceous fungus was responsible for its breakdown.
The Pseudomonas sp. also degraded two derivatives of griseofulvin, dechlorogriseofulvin (I; R = H, R'= OCH₃) and the amine (I; R = Cl, R '= NH₂). Cl^– was detected in the solutions after breakdown of griseofulvin by the Pseudomonas ; the amount present agreed well with that calculated on the assumption that all the chlorine in the griseofulvin supplied was liberated as Cl^–. Spectrophotometric examination of the solutions showed no metabolites with the aromatic ring intact, and confirmed the complete breakdown of griseofulvin suggested by the liberation of Cl-.     

微鞘藻胞外多糖在沙漠土壤成土中的作用

研究了沙坡头藻结皮中的优势物种——微鞘藻的胞外多糖对沙漠表层土壤水分分布状况的影响及其光合特性。随着胞外多糖浓度的升高 ,土壤持水量增大 ,土壤水分蒸发速率降低 ,水分在土壤中运动的速率被延缓。藻总水溶性多糖产率为 2 8.82 % ,胞外水溶性多糖产率为 1 6 .0 9% ;多糖产量在稳定期生物量最大时增长最快。微鞘藻光合作用最适温度为 2 5℃ ,最适光强为 40 0 μE.m- 2 .s- 1,在 0 .3 mol/ L Na Cl浓度下其光合作用活性被强烈抑制 ;微鞘藻的吸收光谱表明它比生长在湿润地区的藻类含有更多的胡萝卜素成分 ;叶绿素 a荧光 (Fv/ Fm)分析表明在失水约为初始湿重的 5 6 %时 Fv/ Fm值恢复到水培养的 96 % ;其光合作用特性有利于对逆境的适应和生物量的积累。表明微鞘藻胞外多糖可影响沙漠表层土壤水分分布状况 ,并可作为一种潜在的生物肥料 ,在荒漠原始成土过程中扮演着重要角色。     

影响三叶草根瘤菌生存条件的研究和分析

对影响三叶草根瘤菌生存的土壤酸度、含水量、养分和作物的根际效应等进行了研究和分析。     

高寒草甸土壤脲酶活性的研究

高寒草甸是青藏高原分布广、面积大的主要草场类型。我们于1984年6—10月在海北高寒草甸生态系统定位站,对四种植被类型土壤的脲酶活性进行了测定,数据列于表1。试验结果表明:(1)脲酶活性有明显的季节性动态,脲酶活性出现的高峰期均在7月和8月份,9月以后随温度的下降而逐渐降低;(2)脲酶活性也有明显的层次性差异,0—10厘米深土壤脲酶活性最高,并随土壤深度的加深而递减;(3)脲酶活性与某些氮素代谢微生物的数量有不同程度的相关性;(4)脲酶活性与某些氮素代谢微生物的生化活性也有一定的相关性;(5)脲酶活性与土壤温度具有一定的相关性;(6)脲酶活性与月降水量也相关,高寒草甸的不同植被类型土壤脲酶活性的季节性变化有所不同,并且与氮素代谢微生物的数量及活性的相关性也有差异,与土壤温度和降水量的相关程度也不一样。 关于土壤脲酶活性的研究,国外已有不少报道。在国内也有一些学者对土壤脲酶活性进行过研究。但对青藏高原高寒草甸土壤的脲酶活性的研究,目前尚未见报道,因为脲酶是氮循环的一种关键酶,与土壤肥力有关。本文对高寒草甸四种植被类型土壤的脲酶活性进行了初步的研究。