Uso de vermicomposto favorece o crescimento de mudas de gravioleira (Annona muricata L. 'Morada') associadas a fungos micorrízicos arbusculares Use of earthworm manure improves growth of soursop seedlings (Annona muricata L. 'Morada') associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

A gravioleira, cujos frutos apresentam elevado potencial para exportação, é de fácil adaptação ao Semi-Árido nordestino, e a sua produção, economicamente importante, vem sendo estimulada. O uso de adubos orgânicos associados à inoculação com fungos micorrízicos arbusculares (FMA) pode ser útil na formação de mudas frutíferas, porém o efeito da adição de adubo na simbiose com gravioleira (Annona muricata L. 'Morada') não é conhecido. Foi investigado o efeito de FMA multiplicado em substrato com resíduo orgânico na formação de mudas de gravioleira mantidas em substratos com fertilizante. O delineamento foi inteiramente casualizado, em fatorial de 2×5: 2 substratos (solo sem ou com 10% de vermicomposto) e cinco tratamentos de inoculação (Acaulospora longula Spain & Schenck e Gigaspora albida Schenck & Smith produzidos em substratos com ou sem resíduo orgânico e controle não inoculado), com quatro repetições. Após 102 dias, avaliou-se: massa seca da parte aérea e radicular, altura, diâmetro do caule, taxa de crescimento, produção de esporos de FMA e de glomalina, atividade enzimática do solo, respiração microbiana, colonização micorrízica total, arbuscular e hifálica. Em geral, a inoculação com FMA estimulou o crescimento, mas no tratamento adubado as mudas em simbiose com G. albida não foram beneficiadas pela associação. O uso de vermicomposto estimulou a colonização micorrízica, a respiração microbiana, a atividade enzimática e a produção de glomalina no solo, porém reduziu a esporulação de A. longula. A utilização de FMA e vermicomposto pode constituir alternativa na produção de mudas de gravioleira, pois reduziu à metade o tempo de formação das mudas e pode reduzir em 75% a dose de adubo a ser aplicada. No entanto, a escolha de FMA compatíveis com o hospedeiro é indispensável para garantir respostas positivas. A aplicação conjunta de FMA e adubo orgânico também pode melhorar a qualidade do solo, contribuindo para a produção sustentável de mudas desta e de outras fruteiras.<br>Annona muricata L. (soursop) easily adapts to irrigation in the semiarid Northeast. The economically important fruits have high exportation potential, so production has been encouraged. The use of organic amendments, together with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may be useful for production of seedlings. However, the effect of such amendments on the symbiosis established between AMF and soursop remains unknown. The effect of AMF multiplied in a substrate with earthworm manure on the formation of A. muricata seedlings maintained in fertilized substrate was investigated. The experimental design was entirely random, in a factorial of 2×5 = 2 substrates (with or without 10% organic manure) and five inoculation treatments (Acaulospora longula Spain & Schenck and Gigaspora albida Schenck & Smith, produced in substrates with or without organic residue and an uninoculated control), with four replicates. After 102 days, dry mass of shoots and roots, height, growth rate, production of AMF spores and glomalin, soil enzymatic activity, microbial respiration, total, arbuscular and hyphal colonization were evaluated. In general, seedling growth was stimulated by the inoculation with AMF, but in the fertilized soil, growth of seedlings in symbiosis with G. albida was not benefited. The use of organic fertilizer stimulated mycorrhizal colonization, microbial respiration, enzymatic activity and glomalin production, but inhibited A. longula sporulation. The application of AMF and organic manure may constitute an alternative for production of Annona muricata, since it reduced by half the period for seedling formation, and can reduce by 75% the dose of fertilizer to be applied. However, the choice of AMF compatible with the host is needed to assure positive results. The combination of both, AMF and organic amendment, can also improve soil quality, thus contributing to sustainable production of seedlings of A. muricata and other fruit trees

Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers

The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 BC). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect's biochemistry. Thus, the chemical 'fingerprint' of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal BC, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process

Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early neolithic farmers

The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 BC)(1). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art(2) in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site(3). However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown(4). One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect's biochemistry. Thus, the chemical 'fingerprint' of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal BC, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process