BIOREMEDIATION OF SALINIZED SOILS BY THE LICHEN CLADONIA SUBSTELLATA FOMENTED BY A NITROGEN SOURCE AND GAMMA RADIATION

Inadequate management of irrigation techniques has caused salinization of soils in the semiarid region of Pernambuco. With this in mind, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the capacity of the lichen Cladonia substellata, associated with a nitrogen source or gamma radiation, as a possible bioremediator of Fluvic Neosols, salinized by unsupervised irrigation on Assunção Island, Cabrobó County, Pernambuco. Collections of the lichen and soil were carried out to elaborate the experiments, under laboratory conditions. A laboratory control was designed and five treatments, submitted to gamma radiation, or a nitrogen source (urea) at different concentrations, in three sampling groups, in triplicate. Fifteen, transparent glass domes were used, where soil samples (500 g) were placed and lichen thalli (8 g) superimposed. Sample collections were performed every 60 days, for 11 months. Chemical analyses for the quantification of phenolics produced by the lichen and percolated into the soil were developed through spectrophotometry and reaction with FeCl3. At the beginning and end of experiments, the chemical fertility of soils from different treatments was evaluated. It was evidenced that gamma radiation causes more effects on the lichen, singly, than in association with urea. Hyperproduction of lichen phenolics, with percolation to the substrate was achieved, which caused chemical modification of the soil, such as an increase of Ca, Mg, P and Na content, as well as pH. It is possible to affirm that C. substellata,in association or not with an exogenous nitrogen source, is capable of, in the short term, chemically altering soils degraded by salinization, increasing the bioavailability of elements essential to plants and soil organisms

Biologically-active compounds from Brazilian lichens and their affinity with ether

It can be obtained from lichens biologically-active extracts and pure substances, many of them of phenolic nature. They are usually obtained by using organic solvents, such as diethyl ether. In this paper the usefulness of ether for the obtainment of crude extracts and the subsequent purification of pure substances from Brazilian lichen is reviewed, as well as alternatives to their production through cells or thallus immobilization in bioreactors and their entrapment in inert matrix

PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY POTENTIAL OF EIGHT STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS UNDER HIGH TEMPERATURE

O morangueiro requer mão-de-obra qualificada e bastantes cuidados em seu manejo. O cultivo dessa fruta no Brasil ocorre, principalmente nos estados do Sul e Sudeste do país. Na região Nordeste do país pouco se planta, principalmente em Pernambuco, devido principalmente ao clima. Esta fruta que apresenta grande retorno financeiro gerando empregos e divisas para estados e municípios. A descoberta de locais propícios ao cultivo poderá gerar maior desenvolvimento local. Visando expansão da fronteira agrícola do morango, neste trabalho objetivou-se avaliar a cultivar mais adaptada a Região Metropolitana do Recife. Foram testadas 8 cultivares de morangueiro com 8 repetições. Avaliou-se a emissão de estolhos e produtividade para a seleção da cultivar mais adaptada ao clima quente e úmido. As estimativas de produtividade de todos os tratamentos estiveram abaixo da média nacional para o cultivo do morangueiro, fator que se deve ao plantio em época quente