Establishment of inoculatedAzospirillum spp. in the rhizosphere and in roots of field grown wheat and sorghum

Summary Four field experiments were carried out with wheat or sorghum in different regions of Brazil. The aim was to study the establishment of inoculatedAzospirillum strains, marked with resistance to various antibiotics, in the rhizosphere and in roots. The levels of the various antibiotics were chosen according to the resistance of the indigenousAzospirillum population.Azospirillum brasilense strains Sp 107 and Sp 245 could be established in all three wheat experiments and predominated within theAzospirillum population in washed, and especially in surface sterilized, roots. Strains Sp 7 and Cd established poorly in wheat roots.Azospirillum lipoferum Sp S82 represented 72% of the root isolates from sorghum inoculated with this strain. This strain and naturalAzospirillum infection became concentrated in the upper parts of the root system. Improved methods for root surface sterilization in which the absence ofAzospirillum on the root surface was established by pre-incubating roots with paraffin-capped ends in NFb medium confirmed the establishment of inoculatedAzospirillum strains within sorghum roots in the field.     

Seasonal fluctuations of photosynthesis and its pigments in 1-year mycorrhized spruce seedlings

Specimens of spruce Picea abies (L.) Karsten were inoculated with the fungi Laccaria laccata, Pisolithus tinctorius and Lactarius piperatus in a nursery at the time of sowing. The 1-year seedlings were then tested in two growth periods for their photosynthesis, chlorophyll and carotenoid levels, and water potential; their roots were examined with a scanning electron microscope. Increased photosynthetic activity was determined at the start of the growth season in only those seedlings inoculated with the fungus Laccaria laccata. The levels of chlorophyll and carotenoids measured in September in the needles of all three mycorrhized groups of plants were higher than in the controls.     

南方根结线虫初始接种密度对生姜生长的影响

在盆栽条件下,研究了南方根结线虫不同初始接种密度对生姜生长的影响.结果表明,南方根结线虫的侵染,降低生姜株高、茎粗、分枝数、茎叶鲜重和根系鲜重,最终降低生姜的产量,且随着接种密度的增加,生姜生长所受到的危害也随之增加.每100 g干土接种0、100和200个卵,可使生姜分别减产27.91%、37.73%和42.14%.初始接种密度对南方根结线虫繁殖速率也有很大影响.一般初始接种密度低时繁殖速率高,接种密度高时繁殖速率低,其在生姜上的平衡密度为每100 g干土746.20个.     

影响微生物接种剂发挥作用的因素

大量施用化肥不仅造成了环境污染, 而且也是一个能源消耗的问题。在生态农业中, 通过向土壤中接种有益微生物部分替代化肥已是科学家研究的热点。微生物通过活化土壤养分、抑制病原菌、降解有毒污染物等方式发挥作用, 然而, 微生物要发挥功效必须在土壤中能够定殖。本文主要针对国内外在影响微生物根际定殖的因素以及影响引入微生物活性的因素两方面的研究进行综述, 同时强调对接种剂引入所引起的生物种群及生态环境变化应予以重视。     

Successful inoculation of mature pine with Tricholoma matsutake

Our finding demonstrates, for the first time, that the roots of mature pine trees can be successfully inoculated with a symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungus, the valuable matsutake mushroom. Long root segments (ca. 5–10 mm in diameter, ca. 50 cm in length) of 50-year-old Pinus densiflora trees were excavated, washed, auxin-treated (2–5 mg indole butyric acid, IBA, per root) and incubated in moist Spagnum moss. Twelve months later, short roots were regenerated, of which approximately 90% were free of mycorrhizae. Mycorrhiza-free short roots were inoculated with mycelial pieces of Tricholoma matsutake and incubated further in a sterilized substrate. Four-and-a-half months later, roots putatively colonized by Matsutake were sampled near the inoculation points. A T. matsutake-specific ITS-rDNA fragment was amplified by nested PCR from approximately 80% of the root samples analyzed, whereas approximately 66% of the root samples processed for staining with Chlorazol black E displayed characteristic T. matsutake Hartig net structures. These results confirm the symbiotic infection of mature P. densiflora roots by matsutake.     

Effect of yeast inoculation rate on the metabolism of contaminating lactobacilli during fermentation of corn mash

Two separate 4 (bacterial concentrations)×6 (yeast concentrations) full factorial experiments were conducted in an attempt to identify a novel approach to minimize the effects caused by bacterial contamination during industrial production of ethanol from corn. Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus paracasei, commonly occurring bacterial contaminants in ethanol plants, were used in separate fermentation experiments conducted in duplicate using an industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Allyeast Superstart. Bacterial concentrations were 0, 1×10⁶, 1×10⁷ and 1×10⁸ cells/ml mash. Yeast concentrations were 0, 1×10⁶, 1×10⁷, 2×10⁷, 3×10⁷, and 4×10⁷ cells/ml mash. An increased yeast inoculation rate of 3×10⁷ cells/ml resulted in a greater than 80% decrease (P<0.001) and a greater than 55% decrease (P<0.001) in lactic acid production by L. plantarum and L. paracasei, respectively, when mash was infected with 1×10⁸ lactobacilli/ml. No differences (P>0.25) were observed in the final ethanol concentration produced by yeast at any of the inoculation rates studied, in the absence of lactobacilli. However, when the mash was infected with 1×10⁷ or 1×10⁸ lactobacilli/ml, a reduction of 0.7–0.9% v/v (P<0.005) and a reduction of 0.4–0.6% v/v (P<0.005) in the final ethanol produced was observed in mashes inoculated with 1×10⁶ and 1×10⁷ yeast cells/ml, respectively. At higher yeast inoculation rates of 3×10⁷ or 4×10⁷ cells/ml, no differences (P>0.35) were observed in the final ethanol produced even when the mash was infected with 1×10⁸ lactobacilli/ml. The increase in ethanol corresponded to the reduction in lactic acid production by lactobacilli. This suggests that using an inoculation rate of 3×10⁷ yeast cells/ml reduces the growth and metabolism of contaminating lactic bacteria significantly, which results in reduced lactic acid production and a concomitant increase in ethanol production by yeast.     

Premiers résultats de recherches sur la compétitivité des champignons ectomycorhiziens

Resumé Les premiers résultats d'un modèle expérimental visant à quantifier le comportement de différents champignons ectomycorhiziens sur différents sols sont décrits. Ils mettent en évidence que l'intensité de l'inoculation par une souche introduite est un facteur décisif pour la mycorhization par cette souche. La photopériode et le temps sont également très importants à prendre en compte pour la définition de la capacité d'accueil d'un sol. Les deux sols testés ont des comportements très différents. La microflore du sol n'est pas toujours l'obstacle principal à l'infection mycorhizienne et à son extension.

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First results of research on the competitivity of ectomycorrhizal fungi

Summary The first results of an experimental model for quantifying the behaviour of different ectomycorrhizal fungi on different soils are described. They show that the inoculation intensity of the introduced strain is a decisive factor for the mycorrhization by this strain. Photoperiod and time are very important too for the definition of the soil receptivity. The two tested soils have very different behaviours. The soil microflora is not always the main obstacle to the mycorrhizal infection and to its extension.

     

First report of heteroecism in Stereostratum corticioides,the causal agent of bamboo culm rust

An aecidium-type rust fungus, which causes rust disease in Choerospondias axillaris (Anacardiaceae), was found on Kyusyu Is., Japan. A sequence analysis of genomic ribosomal DNA showed that this rust fungus genetically matches Stereostratum corticioides, a causal agent of culm rust disease of bamboos and broadleaf bamboos. Inoculation experiments and further nucleotide sequence analyses that included additional fungal material showed that the aecidium-type rust fungus is conspecific with S. corticioides, a species whose spermogonial and aecial stages were previously unknown. Thus, we demonstrated heteroecism in S. corticioides for the first time. We also propose that the binomial Puccinia corticioides should be revived to replace S. corticioides.     

Growth and survival of container-grownPinus caribaea infected with various ectomycorrhizal fungi

Summary Young pine seedlings were inoculated with mycelial cultures of 8 fungi, and basidiospore cultures of 4 fungi. Four months later distinctive mycorrhizas had been formed by all 4 spore cultures and by 5 of the mycelial cultures.At 10 months one further mycelial culture had given rise to distinctive mycorrhizas. However, by that time contamination between treatments, or from outside, was at a higher level.Survival of outplanted seedlings after 6 months was generally poor, but was slightly greater in some treatments.