Echtzeitregelung der Applikationsmenge bei der Herbizidanwendung mit Hilfe eines Kamerasensors

Am Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit den Firmen SYMACON Bildverarbeitung GmbH Barleben und Müller-Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG Salzkotten ein sensorgesteuertes Feldspritzensystem zur Applikation von Pflanzenschutzmitteln entwickelt.Bei engstehenden Reihenkulturen wie Getreide erfolgt die Unkrauterfassung in der Fahrspur. Systembedingt wird nicht zwischen Unkraut und Kulturpflanze unterschieden. Dadurch ist ein langer Einsatzzeitraum des Systems gegeben, zumal eine Unterscheidung von Kulturpflanze und Unkraut je nach Überlappungsgrad im fortgeschrittenen Wachstumsstadium äußerst schwierig bzw. nicht mehr möglich ist. Situationsbedingt können als Regelparameter die Unkrautanzahl (frühe Wachstumsstadien des Unkrautes) oder der Unkrautdeckungsgrad (späte Wachstumsstadien) verwendet werden. Auf Grund der mechanischen Trägheit der Feldspritze beim Erreichen des Sollwertes der Applikationsmenge (Druckanpassung innerhalb des Regelbereiches der Düsen) ist ein gewisser Abstand zwischen dem Sensor und dem Spritzbalken notwendig. Daher ist der Kamerasensor am Frontdreipunkt des Traktors positioniert. Feldspritzen mit einer schnellen kontinuierlichen Regelung der Applikationsmenge, die eine Sensorpositionierung am Spritzbalken erlauben, werden zurzeit nicht produziert.Im Unterschied zu anderen am Markt verfügbaren bzw. in Entwicklung befindlichen sensorgestützten Applikationssystemen, wo Düsen bzw. Teilbreiten an- und abgeschaltet werden, wird entsprechend einer definierten Regelfunktion während der Fahrt die Applikationsmenge entsprechend dem Sensorsignal variiert. In Feldbereichen, in denen die Verunkrautung einen bestimmten Schwellenwert übersteigt, wird mit der betriebsüblichen Menge gespritzt, während in Bereichen ohne Unkraut bis zu 50 % reduziert wird. Zwischen 50 % bis 100 % erfolgt eine proportionale Anpassung der Applikationsmenge. Im Gegensatz zu einer Düsenbzw. Teilbreitenschaltung „an/aus“ bleiben bei einer kontinuierlichen Regelung keine Feldbereiche unbehandelt. Die Gefahr einer ungehinderten Unkrautentwicklung bis hin zur Samenbildung ist nicht gegeben.Im Herbst 2009 wurde mit dem sensorgesteuerten Spritzensystem in einem 26 ha großen Wintergerstenfeld eines Landwirtschaftsbetriebes eine Herbizidapplikation durchgeführt. Die Mitteleinsparung belief sich auf 20 %.Stichwörter: Multispektralkamera, präzise Unkrautkontrolle, Unkrautsensor, variable AufwandmengenOnline variable rate herbicide application using a camera sensorIn cooperation with the two companies SYMACON Bildverarbeitung GmbH Barleben and Müller-Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG Salzkotten a sensor controlled field sprayer for precise plant protection was developed at the Leibniz-institute for Agricultural Engineering.In narrow seeded field crops like cereals, the weed detection is done within the tramlines. Because of the way the system operates, there is no discrimination between cultivated crops and weeds. In later growth stages, crop and weed are overlapping and discrimination within the plant stand becomes difficult or even impossible. Situational, the weed number (early growth stages) or the weed coverage level (late growth stages) can be used as parameter to control the field sprayer. The sensor is positioned at the front three point linkage of the tractor. Field sprayers with a fast adaption of the application rate are not yet commercially available.In contrast to other “on/off” sensor controlled application systems which are on the market or under development, the application rate in the presented technology is in- or decreased according to the sensor signal. At heavy weed infested sites of the field, the customary application rate is sprayed. It is reduced up to 50 % at sites with low weed pressure. Between the volume of 50 % and 100 %, the application rate is proportional adapted to the weed infestation. In contrast to the “on/off” switching of single nozzles or boom sections, no sites are left unsprayed using the variable rate approach. There is no risk of unobstructed weed development or seed setting.In autumn 2009, a 26 ha winter barley field on a farm was sprayed against weeds with the sensor controlled field sprayer. The product Falkon® was used with the dosage of 1 l/ha. The spray volume was varied between 100 and 200 l/ha. The product savings were on average 20 %. Keywords: Multispectral camera, precise weed control, sensor-controlled sprayer, weed sensor

Fimbrial ghf Gene Cluster of Genital Strains of Haemophilus spp.

We analyzed the LKP fimbrial gene clusters of six piliated strains of a cryptic genospecies of Haemophilus isolated from the genital tracts of adult patients (five strains) and from an infected neonate. In a group of 19 genital strains, LKP-like genes have been found in only these 6 strains. In addition to the ghfA, ghfD, and ghfE genes previously described, we characterized two genes, designated ghfB and ghfC, encoding the putative chaperone and assembly platform proteins. All six strains had a complete and unique LKP-like gene cluster consisting of the five genes ghfA to ghfE, homologous to genes hifA to hifE of Haemophilus influenzae. The sequences of the coding and intergenic regions of the ghf clusters of the six strains were remarkably homologous. Unlike hif clusters, which are inserted between purE and pepN, the ghf cluster was inserted between purK and pepN on the chromosome. Analysis of the flanking regions of the ghf cluster identified a large deletion, identical in the 5′ end regions of all strains, including the whole purE gene and much of the purK gene. Ultrastructural observations, an attempt at enriching LKP fimbriae, and hemagglutination experiments demonstrated that none of the strains had LKP-type fimbriae. Nevertheless, reverse transcription (RT)-PCR showed that ghf genes were transcribed in four of the six strains. Sequencing of the intergenic ghfA-ghfB regions, including the ghf gene promoters, showed that the absence of transcripts in the remaining two strains was due to a decrease in the number of TA repeats (4 or 9 repeats rather than 10) between the −10 and −35 boxes of the two overlapping and divergent promoters. The other four strains, which had ghf transcripts, had the optimal 10 TA repeats (one strain) or 5 repeats associated with putative alternative −35 boxes (three strains). The absence of 10 repeated palindromic sequences of 44 or 45 nucleotides upstream of ghfB induces an increased instability of mRNA, as quantified by real-time RT-PCR, and may explain why the LKP fimbrial gene cluster is not expressed in these strains

Typing of Nonencapsulated Haemophilus Strains by Repetitive-Element Sequence-Based PCR Using Intergenic Dyad Sequences

Intergenic dyad sequences (IDS) are short repeated elements that have been described for several Haemophilus genomes and for only two other bacterial genera. We developed a repetitive-element sequence-based PCR using an IDS-specific primer as a typing method (IDS-PCR) for nonencapsulated Haemophilus strains and compared this technique with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of DNA restricted with SmaI. IDS-PCR was rapid, easy to perform, and reproducible, with a high discriminatory capacity for nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) strains. The 69 NTHI strains tested generated 65 different banding patterns. Epidemiologically related strains gave similar or identical fingerprints, and all of the unrelated strains except two showed different patterns. These results were in agreement with those obtained by PFGE. For 20 genital strains usually identified as being biotype IV NTHI and belonging to a cryptic genospecies of Haemophilus with remarkable genetic homogeneity, four bands were significantly present and six bands were significantly absent from the fingerprints. The 20 strains were gathered in 11 closely related profiles, whereas PFGE provided no band when DNA was treated with SmaI. IDS-PCR improved the differentiation previously obtained within this species by ribotyping and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. Our findings suggest that IDS-PCR is a rapid, reliable, and discriminatory method for typing NTHI strains and is currently the most efficient method for distinguishing strains within the cryptic genospecies of Haemophilus

Loss of Catabolic Function in Streptococcus agalactiae Strains and Its Association with Neonatal Meningitis

The abilities of 151 Streptococcus agalactiae strains to oxidize 95 carbon sources were studied using the Biolog system. Two populations were constituted: one with a high risk of causing meningitis (HR group; 63 strains), and the other with a lower risk of causing meningitis (LR group; 46 strains). Strains belonging to the HR group were significantly less able to use four carbon sources, i.e., α-d-glucose-1-phosphate, d-ribose, β-methyl-d-glucoside, and d,l-α-glycerol phosphate, than strains from the LR group (P ≤ 0.004). Moreover, strains in the HR group significantly more frequently possessed one of several mobile genetic elements or genome deletions previously shown to be associated with strains responsible for neonatal meningitis than strains in the LR group (P < 0.001). These findings suggest that genetic disruption might have occurred in virulent clones of S. agalactiae. Fifteen biotypes (B1 to B15) were identified from the results of oxidation of the four carbon sources, of which six (B1 to B6) included 92% of the isolates belonging to the HR group. Strains of biotypes B1 to B6 are thus 13 times more likely to be able to invade the central nervous system of neonates than strains of biotypes B7 to B15. In addition, 86% of strains recently associated with neonatal meningitis (42 strains studied) were identified as being of biotypes B1 to B6. Identification of particular S. agalactiae biotypes may therefore be one of the criteria to assist clinicians in assessing the level of risk of neonatal meningitis when a mother and/or her neonate is colonized with S. agalactiae