Mineral nutrition of vegetable crops: XXV - Mineral nutrition of new zealand spinach plant (Tetragonia expansa Murr.)

The present work was carried out in order to study: a - the effect of omission and presence of the macronutrients and boron on the growth of the plants; b - deficiency symptoms of macronutrients, as well of boron; c - the effect of the deficiency of each nutrient on the chemical composition of the plants. Young spinach plants were grown in pots containing pure quartz sand. Several times a day the plants were irrigated by percolation with nutrient solutions. The treatments were: complete solution and deficient solution, in which each one of the macronutrients was omitted as well boron. Soon as the malnutrition symptoms appered, the plants were harvested and analysed chemically. - symptoms of malnutrition are easily observed for N, K, Ca and B. - symptoms of malnutrition for P, S and Mg are not easily identified. - the nutrient content, in dry matter, in deficient leaves and healthy leaves is:O trabalho teve como objetivo estudar alguns aspectos da nutrição mineral do espinafre (Tetragonia expansa Murr.) no que concerne: 1 - Efeitos da omissão dos macronutrientes e do boro, na obtenção de um quadro sintomatológico; 2 - Efeitos das carências na produção de matéria seca e composição química da planta. Mudas com trinta dias de idade foram transplantadas para soluções nutritivas carentes nos macronutrientes e/ou em boro. A coleta das plantas foi realizada quando os sintomas de deficiência se tornaram evidentes. No material seco procedeu-se a análise química. Os dados mostram que: 1 - os sintomas visuais de deficiência de N, K, Ca e B apresentam-se bem definidos; sendo que os de P, Mg e S são de difícil caracterização ; 2 - os teores dos nutrientes em plantas sadias e deficientes são

Enzymology of biological nitrogen fixation

Two genes involved in the regulation of nitrogenase activity, draT and draG, were cloned and found to be contiguous on the Azospirillum brasilense chromosome. The nifH gene, encoding dinitrogenase reductase, is near to draT with an intervening gap of 1.9 kb. The organization of these genes in Azospirillum lipoferum and Rhodosprillum rubrum is similar, but nifH and draT are separated by only 400 bp in the organisms. A. brasilense draTG is very similar to draTG in R. rubrum with 91.8% similarity and 85.3% identity at the amino acid level. Apparently A. brasilense uses the normal ATG initiation codon for draT, and draG. The genes for A. brasilense were able to restore function to appropriate mutants of R. rubrum. The heterologous expression of A. brasilense draTG in R. rubrum was not fully normal, as it responded more slowly to darkness and more quickly to ammonia than wild type cells. Our mutational analysis of the draTG region of A. brasilense confirms the function of these genes in the regulation of nitrogenase activity, but it also revealed minor but demonstrable differences in the control systems of R. rubrum and A. brasilense

Manometric & biochemical techniques

V+387hlm.;26c

Mannometric techniques: a manual describing methods applicable to the study of tissue metabolism

iii+305hlm.;29c

Occurrence of diazotrophic bacteria in Araucaria angustifolia Ocorrência de bactérias diazotróficas em Araucaria angustifolia

Araucaria angustifolia is an environmentally threatened tree and the whole biota of the Araucaria Forest should be investigated with the aim of its preservation. Diazotrophic bacteria are extremely important for the maintenance of ecosystems, but they have never been studied in Araucaria Forests. In this study, diazotrophic bacteria were isolated from Araucaria roots and soil, when grown in semi-specific, semi-solid media. The diazotrophic character of some recovered isolates could be confirmed using the acetylene reduction assay. According to their 16S rRNA sequences, most of these isolates belong to the genus Burkholderia.<br>Araucaria angustifolia é uma espécie arbórea ameaçada de extinção e toda a comunidade viva das Florestas de Araucária deve ser estudada com a finalidade de sua preservação. Bactérias diazotróficas apresentam grande importância para a manutenção de ecossistemas, mas sua ocorrência nunca foi pesquisada em araucária. Neste estudo foi demonstrada a associação de bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio com A. angustifolia. Amostras de solo e raízes de araucária apresentaram a ocorrência de bactérias diazotróficas, quando inoculadas em meios semi-sólidos semi-específícos. O caráter diazotrófico de alguns isolados recuperados foi confirmado através da análise de redução do acetileno. De acordo com a análise das seqüências do 16S rRNA, estes isolados são na sua maioria pertencentes ao gênero Burkholderia