Novel genetic loci associated with hippocampal volume

The hippocampal formation is a brain structure integrally involved in episodic memory, spatial navigation, cognition and stress responsiveness. Structural abnormalities in hippocampal volume and shape are found in several common neuropsychiatric disorders. To identify the genetic underpinnings of hippocampal structure here we perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 33,536 individuals and discover six independent loci significantly associated with hippocampal volume, four of them novel. Of the novel loci, three lie within genes (ASTN2, DPP4 and MAST4) and one is found 200 kb upstream of SHH. A hippocampal subfield analysis shows that a locus within the MSRB3 gene shows evidence of a localized effect along the dentate gyrus, subiculum, CA1 and fissure. Further, we show that genetic variants associated with decreased hippocampal volume are also associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (rg =-0.155). Our findings suggest novel biological pathways through which human genetic variation influences hippocampal volume and risk for neuropsychiatric illness

The importance of long‐term experiments in agriculture: their management to ensure continued crop production and soil fertility; the Rothamsted experience

Summary Long‐term field experiments that test a range of treatments and are intended to assess the sustainability of crop production, and thus food security, must be managed actively to identify any treatment that is failing to maintain or increase yields. Once identified, carefully considered changes can be made to the treatment or management, and if they are successful yields will change. If suitable changes cannot be made to an experiment to ensure its continued relevance to sustainable crop production, then it should be stopped. Long‐term experiments have many other uses. They provide a field resource and samples for research on plant and soil processes and properties, especially those properties where change occurs slowly and affects soil fertility. Archived samples of all inputs and outputs are an invaluable source of material for future research, and data from current and archived samples can be used to develop models to describe soil and plant processes. Such changes and uses in the Rothamsted experiments are described, and demonstrate that with the appropriate crop, soil and management, acceptable yields can be maintained for many years, with either organic manure or inorganic fertilizers. Highlights Long‐term experiments demonstrate sustainability and increases in crop yield when managed to optimize soil fertility. Shifting individual response curves into coincidence increases understanding of the factors involved. Changes in inorganic and organic pollutants in archived crop and soil samples are related to inputs over time. Models describing soil processes are developed from current and archived soil data

Soil management of sugarcane fields affecting CO2 fluxes

ABSTRACT The harvesting system of green sugarcane, characterized by mechanized harvesting and no crop burning, affects soil quality by increasing the remaining straw left on the soil surface after harvesting, thus, contributing to the improvement of physical, chemical, and microbiological soil attributes, influencing CO2 fluxes. This study aimed to evaluate CO2 fluxes and their relation to soil properties in sugarcane crops under different harvesting managements: burned (B), Green harvesting for 5 years (G-5) and Green harvesting for ten years (G-10). For this, a 1 ha sampling grid with 30 points was installed in each area, all located in the Northeast of São Paulo State, Brazil. In each point, CO2 fluxes were measured and the soil was sampled to analyze the microbial biomass, physical (soil moisture and temperature, mean weight diameter, bulk density, clay, macroporosity and microporosity) and chemical characterization (pH, organic C, base saturation and P). The CO2 fluxes were divided into four quantitative criteria: high, moderate, low and very low from the Statistical Division (mean, first quartile, median and third quartile) and the other data were classified according this criterion. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify the main soil attributes that influence CO2 fluxes. The results showed that G-10 CO2 fluxes were 28 and 41 % higher than those in the G-5 and B treatments, respectively. The PCA analysis showed that macroporosity was the main soil attribute that influenced the high CO2 fluxes

Liberação de CO2, biomassa microbiana e fósforo disponível em solo adicionado de matéria seca de poaia-branca

O presente experimento, inteiramente casualizado, foi desenvolvido em condições de laboratório no Departamento de Defesa Fitossanitária, FCA/UNESP - Botucatu, entre julho e setembro de 1992. Amostras de Areia Quartzosa equivalentes à 40 g de terra seca à 105 oC ± 2 com ou sem adição de 1,9 g de matéria seca de plantas de poaia-branca (Richardia brasiliensis), 0,19 g de nitrogênio (NH4)2SO4 e 0,88 g de apatita de Araxá, foram incubadas no escuro a 25 o C ± 2 , com umidade mantida a 60% da capacidade de retenção de água. Durante a incubação, determinou-se o CO2 liberado, utilizando-se o método de retenção em NAOH seguida de titulometria com HCl; a biomassa microbiana, método de fumigação-incubação; o pH e a quantidade de fósforo extraído por resina. A maior liberação de CO2 ocorreu durante os dez primeiros dias de incubação, com 77% do total de carbono liberado nos tratamentos com adição de poaia, e 37% nos tratamentos sem adição da mesma. A liberação de CO2 foi 57 vezes maior nos tratamentos com poaia em relação ao controle. A poaia também provocou aumentos na biomassa microbiana (média de 8 vezes a biomassa do tratamento controle), e a adição de nitrogênio e/ou fosfato de rocha junto à poaia antecipou os picos de formação de biomassa de 20 para 10 dias de incubação. Os níveis de fósforo disponível foram maiores no tratamento com adição de fosfato de rocha apenas. A poaia também alcalinizou o sistema, não permitindo desta forma, observar-se relação significativa entre pH e teor de fósforo disponível.The present experiment, totally randomized, was carried out under laboratory conditions at the Departamento de Defesa Fitossanitária, FCA/UNESP-Botucatu, between July and September, 1992. Fresh air-dry samples of quartz sand representing 40g of dry soil each, at 105 o C ± 2, with or without addition of 1.90g of dry matter of "poaia-branca" (Richardia brasiliensis) plants, 0.19g of nitrogen (NH4)2SO4 and 0.88g of Araxá apatite, were incubated under dark conditions at 25 oC ±2,with moisture held at 60% water retention capacity. During incubation, CO2-liberation was determined by means of the method of retention in NaOH followed by titration with HCl; microbial biomass was determined through the fumigation-incubation method, while pH and phosphorus extract by resin. CO2-liberation was high during the first ten days of incubation, with 77% of total carbon released in treatments with "poaia" addition, and 37% in treatments without addition. CO2-liberation was 57 times higher in the "Poaia" treatments compared to the control