Effect of pesticides on the growth and secreted chymotrypsin-like activity of a biocontrol strain of bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Biocontrol is an alternative approach to reduce the harmful effects of pathogen species in the agriculture. Pesticide-tolerant biocontrol agents are preferred in the integrated pest management because they can be applied together with different fungicides, herbicides and insecticides. A potent biocontrol agent, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SZMC 22206 strain was isolated and studied previously. It was revealed, that the extracellular chymotrypsin-like protease and fengycin secretion of the strain resulted its antagonistic effect. The aim of our present study was to analyse the effect of different pesticides on the growth and activity of the extracellular chymotrypsin-like proteases of this Bacillus strain. The tested pesticides were a fungicide (carbendazim), and three frequently used herbicides (linuron, chlortoluron and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). The tested Bacillus strain was able to grow in the presence of the pesticides, but the activities of the extracellular chymotrypsin-like proteases were significantly reduced in some cases

Design of a New Chemical Injection Pump System for Gas Hydrate Inhibition

In this study the main feature of chemical injection systems used in gas industry are detailed. The two main energy sources of these systems are air and electric power source. The general structure and main properties of these injection systems are discussed. Examples for a pneumatic commercial and a newly developed, electric system are compared

Magnetic field measurement possibilities in flooded mines at 500 m depth

The main target of the UNEXMIN project is to develop a fully autonomous submersible robot (UX-1) which can map flooded underground mines, and also deliver information about the potential raw materials of the mines. There are ca. 30 000 abandoned mines in Europe, from which many of them still could hold significant reserves of raw materials. Many of these mines are nowadays flooded and the latest information about them could be more than 100 years old. Although it is giving limited information, magnetic measurement methods, which detecting the local distortions of the Earth’s magnetic field can be very useful to identify raw materials in the mines. The source of the magnetic field which is independent of any human events comes from the Earths own magnetic field. The strength of this field depends by the magnetic materials in the near environment of the investigated point. The ferromagnetic materials have powerful effect to influence the magnetic field. In the nature, iron containing minerals, magnetite and hematite have the most powerful effect usually. The magnetic measurement methods are rapid and affordable techniques in geophysical engineering practice. For magnetic field strength and direction measurement FGM-1 sensors (manufactured by Speake & Co Llanfapley) were selected for the UX-1 robot. The sensor heads overall dimension are very small and their energy consumption is negligible. The FGM-1 sensor was placed and aligned in a plastic cylinder to ensure that the magnetic-axis aligned with the mechanical axis of the tube for more accurate measurement. There are 3 pairs of FGM-1 sensors needed for the proper determination of the current magnetic field (strength and direction). The position of sensor pairs need to be perpendicular compared to each other. The 3 pairs of FGM-1 sensors generate an arbitrary position Cartesian coordinate system. We further developed / had installed temperature sensors to all FGM-1 probes, to compensate the temperature dependency even though it has small effect. The UX-1 robot also contains the electronic block, which controls the three FGM-1 magnetic field sensor pairs, and store the measured data. The block contains the power module, the sensor interface modules with temperature compensation, the microcontroller module and the RS485 communication module also. The output data is a temperature compensated frequency value for each sensor pair. The measured magnetic signal from the local XYZ coordinate system (local for the UX-1) should be converted to a universal coordinate system during post processing of the data. The exact position, facing and inclination of the robot must be known in the whole dive time to be able to do the above conversion. The measured magnetic signal will be placed into the measured mine map, reconstructed from the delivered 3D point cloud, thus the exact location of the magnetic anomalies can be identified. Not much magnetic source is estimated in the operating environment of the robot, but its own generated magnetic noise can be significant. There will be many cooling fans, micro-controllers and multiple thrusters inside the pressure-hull of the UX-1, which generate magnetic field. The constant magnetic noise coming from the cooling fans can be compensated, but the varying fields caused by eg. the different thrusters’s speed is problematic. We design a calibration method, where the effect of the main thrusters (even with changing speed) and the effect of the constant cooling fans could be compensated. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690008

Distribution and conservation status of fairy shrimps (Crustacea: Anostraca) in the astatic soda pans of the Carpathian basin: the role of local and spatial factors

The distribution of Branchinecta orientalis, B. ferox and Chirocephalus carnuntanus was assessed in the natural and semi-natural astatic soda pans of the Carpathian basin. In Europe, these habitats are exclusively restricted to Hungary (Great Hungarian Plain), Austria (Seewinkel) and Serbia (Vojvodina). The present research is the first comprehensive large-scale study – covering an area of approximately 125,000 km2 – on these three fairy shrimp species in the region, and it is important especially in the case of Branchinecta spp., due to former taxonomical uncertainties. The local, land use and spatial effects on the species distribution were also analysed. The three anostracans were found to adopt different strategies, mainly according to the salinity of the pans. The apparently halophilous B. orientalis tolerated higher salinities than the other species, which can be regarded as habitat-generalist halotolerants, showing a high preference for soda waters in Central Europe. The density of the species was significantly affected only by local factors, while their occurrence was influenced also by pan isolation. Land use did not explain a significant amount of variation in either case. In conclusion, soda pans with a wide range of different salinities constitute a suitable habitat for all the three species. Also, protected areas with high number of pans – as Seewinkel (in Austria) or Kiskunság (in Hungary) – can play an essential role in the long-term conservation of these anostracans. Finally, we suggest that these species should be legally protected, primarily because the number of their habitats in the basin is seriously declining

Antioxidant aand antimicrobial activity of herbal teas made from Hungarian medicinal plants

Total phenol content and antioxidant activity of herbal teas made from different Hungarian medicinal plants, chamomile (Matricaria recutita), rose hip (Rosa canina), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and yarrow (.Achillea millefolium) were determined. Total phenol content and ferric reducing power was highest in rose hip samples (6216 mg GAE/100 g and 1984 mg AE/100 g) followed by yarrow, chamomile and stinging nettle. Radical scavenging activity of some rose hip and yarrow samples were very similar (78.5 and 77.8%). There were significant differences in the measured values of the same teas from different producers. We found strong correlation between total phenol content and ferric reducing power, and also good correlation between phenol content and DPPH radical scavenging activity, indicating that heat resistant phenolics were mainly responsible for the antioxidant activity of herbal teas. According to our results, herb teas with the highest phytochemical content and antioxidant activity were purchased from the same producer indicating the importance of adequate handling of the herbs

Antioxidant aand antimicrobial activity of herbal teas made from Hungarian medicinal plants

Total phenol content and antioxidant activity of herbal teas made from different Hungarian medicinal plants, chamomile (Matricaria recutita), rose hip (Rosa canina), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and yarrow (.Achillea millefolium) were determined. Total phenol content and ferric reducing power was highest in rose hip samples (6216 mg GAE/100 g and 1984 mg AE/100 g) followed by yarrow, chamomile and stinging nettle. Radical scavenging activity of some rose hip and yarrow samples were very similar (78.5 and 77.8%). There were significant differences in the measured values of the same teas from different producers. We found strong correlation between total phenol content and ferric reducing power, and also good correlation between phenol content and DPPH radical scavenging activity, indicating that heat resistant phenolics were mainly responsible for the antioxidant activity of herbal teas. According to our results, herb teas with the highest phytochemical content and antioxidant activity were purchased from the same producer indicating the importance of adequate handling of the herbs

Extracellular enzyme systems of antagonistic Bacillus strains isolated from tomato rhizosphere

Chitinolytic, proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes could be important in the biological control of soil borne plant-pathogenic microorganisms by antagonistic microbes and in this way besides antibiotic production, the secretion of certain extracellular enzymes also could have great importance in the effectiveness of biocontrol bacilli. Some of these enzymes could directly promote the inhibition processes, while others could help the competition of the bacilli against other rhizosphere microbes. In case of five Bacillus strains, which showed excellent antagonistic effects against phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria, the secretion of some components of the protease, chitinase, cellulase, lipase and β-1,3-glucanase enzyme systems were investigated under inductive and non-inductive circumstances. Enzyme activities were measured both with classical methods and with other experimental approaches based on chromogenic enzyme substrates. The best biocontrol strains constitutively secreted chymotrypsin-like proteases and/or trypsin-like proteases, and lipases. On the contrary, the chitinase components were only secreted in chitin containing media. Cellulases and β-1,3- glucanases were produced only at very low level either in inductive media

Effect of pesticides on the growth and secreted chymotrypsin-like activity of a biocontrol strain of bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Biocontrol is an alternative approach to reduce the harmful effects of pathogen species in the agriculture. Pesticide-tolerant biocontrol agents are preferred in the integrated pest management because they can be applied together with different fungicides, herbicides and insecticides. A potent biocontrol agent, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SZMC 22206 strain was isolated and studied previously. It was revealed, that the extracellular chymotrypsin-like protease and fengycin secretion of the strain resulted its antagonistic effect. The aim of our present study was to analyse the effect of different pesticides on the growth and activity of the extracellular chymotrypsin-like proteases of this Bacillus strain. The tested pesticides were a fungicide (carbendazim), and three frequently used herbicides (linuron, chlortoluron and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). The tested Bacillus strain was able to grow in the presence of the pesticides, but the activities of the extracellular chymotrypsin-like proteases were significantly reduced in some cases