IRRIGATION STATION EQUIPMENT FOR PREVENTING THE USE OF LOW WATER QUALITY

In Romania the economically efficient irrigated area is estimated at 3.5 million hectares. On national scale there is nointegrated approach for monitoring the quantity and quality of the irrigation water, using adequate equipment at thepumping station. On international scale, in many countries the pumping stations are provided with equipment formonitoring, on real time, the quality or the pumped water and for warning about critical situations (emergencies).This paper describes a technical solution consisting of equipment which monitors the following parameters of waterpumped in irrigation systems: turbidity, pH, CE at 25 o C, Na+, Cl-. The lapse of time for monitoring is of 10 to 60 min.The main components are the following: the sampling pump (submersible) the monitoring board, the repression pipe ofthe analyzed water. Warnings are made about values exceeding the programmed level for each monitored parameter,about the fact that the pump and agitator do not work or about any other source of damage.The technical solution and equipment were tested at a pumping station which uses water from Danube, in most casesmixed with water originating from drainage. Results showed a reduction of the total content of soluble salts from soiland of their negative impact upon the crops, a reduction of the degree of river alluvial deposits within the irrigationsystem and reduction of the energetic consumption required for pumping

Application of Nanotechnology Solutions in Plants Fertilization

Post-modern society is viewed nowadays as a technologized society, where the great solutions to human problems can be solved by the progress of technology in economics from classical industry to communications. In the last years, nanotechnology is called to play an important part in the global food production, food security and food safety in the sense that the use of nanoscale micronutrients conduced to suppressing crop disease and the relationship between nutritional status and plant diseases is investigated. Nanomaterials are capable to penetrate into cells of herbs; they can carry DNA and other chemical compounds in the cells extending the possibility in plant biotechnology to target special gene manipulation. It is important to note that the concentration, plant organ or tissue, exposure rate, elemental form, plant species, and exposure dosage (chronic/acute) affect the plant response and in particular the distinct stress response. The complex process of utilization nanoparticles in agriculture has to be monitored to a level that avoids further environmental contamination. The present and future use of nanoparticles as micronutrients is affected by different risks related to nanotoxicity of micronutrients, a problem to be solved by an appropriate and safe circuit of nanoparticles in soil, water, plants and at last in human organism

Properties of Basil and Lavender Essential Oils Adsorbed on the Surface of Hydroxyapatite

The research conducted in this study presented for the first time results of physico-chemical properties and in vitro antimicrobial activity of hydroxyapatite plant essential oil against Gram-positive bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and S. aureus 0364) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922). The samples were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine the morphology and structure of the nanocomposites of hydroxyapatite coated with basil (HAp-B) and lavender (HAp-L) essential oils (EOs). The values of the BET specific surface area (SBET), total pore volume (VP) and pore size (DP) were determined. The results for the physico-chemical properties of HAp-L and HAp-B revealed that lavender EOs were well adsorbed on the surface of hydroxyapatite, whereas basil EOs showed a poor adsorption on the surface of hydroxyapatite. We found that the lavender EOs hydroxyapatite (HAp-L) exhibited a very good inhibitory growth activity. The value of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) related to growth bacteria was 0.039 mg/mL for MRSA, 0.02 mg/mL for S. aureus and 0.039 mg/mL E. coli ATCC 25922. The basil EO hydroxyapatite (HAp-B) showed poor inhibition of bacterial cell growth. The MIC value was 0.625 mg/mL for the HAp-B sample in the presence of the MRSA bacteria, 0.313 mg/mL in the presence of S. aureus and 0.078 mg/mL for E. coli ATCC 25922

Assessment of the Geographic Origin of Romanian Common Bean (<i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i> L.) Landraces Using Molecular Markers and Morphological Traits

The extreme weather that humanity has been confronting in recent years is the result of climate change. All over the world, unknown plant species are disappearing daily, which humankind has not discovered and will never know. Since 1900, the angiosperms and gymnosperms have been disappearing at a frequency of three species per year, but it is worrying that this rate of disappearance is up to 500 times higher currently. These data, correlated with the information provided by the United Nations (the world population will reach 10 billion by the year 2050) and FAO (food insecurity and the decrease of feedstock) lead to a crucial need to conserve and study plant germplasm. Therefore, plant germplasm conserved, especially in gene banks, can represent an important source for the development of varieties with an increased resistance to abiotic stress factors. Considering the origin of the current species of Phaseolus vulgaris L. as being in two distinct centers with different gene pools (Andean and Mesoamerica), the aim of the article is to infer the ancestry of 27 landraces according to their sampling geographical origin and morphological and molecular traits based on DNA sequences of three genes associated with abiotic stress tolerance (drought and thermal stress): PvREB5A, PvDREB6B, and PvRPS4. Phaseolus vulgaris L. has two different centers of origin: the Mesoamerican and the Andean basins. In this research, 27 landraces were evaluated from different counties in Romania. Three genes, PvREB5A, PvDREB6B, and PvRPS4, were amplified by the PCR reaction, sequenced by the Sanger technique, and the data obtained were analyzed using MEGA XI software. For morphological data, the GraphPad Prism 9 software was used. According to PvDREB5A, 81.5% of all studied landraces belong to the Mesoamerican gene pool and 18.5% belong to the Andean. PvDREB6B revealed a high nucleotide and amino acid diversity between the Andean and Mesoamerican genotypes compared to the other evaluated genes. Also, the PvRPS4 gene from the chloroplast genome showed one SNP within its coding region, different for those two gene pools, which is directly involved in a nonsynonymous substitution. The morphological characteristics, such as weight for 100 seeds, length, height, width, weight, seed flatness, flatness index, seed elongation, and eccentricity index were determined. European landraces of Mesoamerican origin indicated a large seed size compared to Andean genotypes. This work can be a foundation for the identification of interesting traits that establish plant adaptation to abiotic stress and conserve landraces of common beans from genetic depletion

Preparation and Characterization of Dextran Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Thin Layers

In the present study, we report the synthesis of a dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles (DIO-NPs) thin layer on glass substrate by an adapted method. The surface morphology of the obtained samples was analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), optical, and metallographic microscopies. In addition, the distribution of the chemical elements into the DIO-NPs thin layer was analyzed by Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry (GDOES). Furthermore, the chemical bonds formed between the dextran and iron oxide nanoparticles was investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, the HepG2 viability incubated with the DIO-NPs layers was evaluated at different time intervals using MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The goal of this study was to obtain a DIO-NPs thin layer which could be used as a coating for medical devices such as microfluidic channel, microchips, and catheter. The results of the surface morphology investigations conducted on DIO-NPs thin layer suggests the presence of a continuous and homogeneous layer. In addition, the GDOES results indicate the presence of C, H, Fe, and O signal intensities characteristic to the DIO-NPs layers. The presence in the IR spectra of the Fe-CO metal carbonyl vibration bonds prove that the linkage between iron oxide nanoparticles and dextran take place through carbon–oxygen bonds. The cytotoxicity assays highlighted that HepG2 cells morphology did not show any noticeable modifications after being incubated with DIO-NPs layers. In addition, the MTT assay suggested that the DIO-NPs layers did not present any toxic effects towards HEpG2 cells

Genoprotective, antioxidant, antifungal and anti-inflammatory evaluation of hydroalcoholic extract of wild-growing Juniperus communis L. (Cupressaceae) native to Romanian southern sub-Carpathian hills

Abstract Background Juniperus communis L. represents a multi-purpose crop used in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industry. Several studies present the possible medicinal properties of different Juniperus taxa native to specific geographical area. The present study aims to evaluate the genoprotective, antioxidant, antifungal and anti-inflammatory potential of hydroalcoholic extract of wild-growing Juniperus communis L. (Cupressaceae) native to Romanian southern sub-Carpathian hills. Methods The prepared hydroethanolic extract of Juniperus communis L. was characterized by GC-MS, HPLC, UV-Vis spectrometry and phytochemical assays. The antioxidant potential was evaluated using the DPPH assay, the antifungal effect was studied on Aspergillus niger ATCC 15475 and Penicillium hirsutum ATCC 52323, while the genoprotective effect was evaluated using the Allium cepa assay. The anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated in two inflammation experimental models (dextran and kaolin) by plethysmometry. Male Wistar rats were treated by gavage with distilled water (negative control), the microemulsion (positive control), diclofenac sodium aqueous solution (reference) and microemulsions containing juniper extract (experimental group). The initial paw volume and the paw volumes at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 24 h were measured. Results Total terpenoids, phenolics and flavonoids were estimated to be 13.44 ± 0.14 mg linalool equivalent, 19.23 ± 1.32 mg gallic acid equivalent, and 5109.6 ± 21.47 mg rutin equivalent per 100 g of extract, respectively. GC-MS characterization of the juniper extract identified 57 volatile compounds in the sample, while the HPLC analysis revealed the presence of the selected compounds (α-pinene, chlorogenic acid, rutin, apigenin, quercitin). The antioxidant potential of the crude extract was found to be 81.63 ± 0.38% (measured by the DPPH method). The results of the antifungal activity assay (for Aspergillus niger and Penicillium hirsutum) were 21.6 mm, respectively 17.2 mm as inhibition zone. Test results demonstrated the genoprotective potential of J. communis undiluted extract, inhibiting the mitodepressive effect of ethanol. The anti-inflammatory action of the juniper extract, administered as microemulsion in acute-dextran model was increased when compared to kaolin subacute inflammation induced model. Conclusion The hydroalcoholic extract obtained from wild-growing Juniperus communis native to Romanian southern sub-Carpathian hills has genoprotective, antioxidant, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties