Can immunogenetics illuminate the diverse manifestations of respiratory infections?

Improved technologies for high-throughput genotyping and the establishment of well-defined cohorts prompted hope that polymorphisms would be discovered that define a patients' risk of respiratory disease or aid in diagnosis. Genetic pitfalls encountered in this quest include genotyping errors, ethnic differences and linkage dysequilibrium. Differences in the definition of the disease phenotype also create discrepancies, so immunogenetic testing has not yet reached the clinic. However, associations between a polymorphism and a disease phenotype place the gene or one in linkage dysequilibrium on the path to the disease. Here we review studies of immune-related genes that are illuminating the immunopathogenesis of community-acquired pneumonia and mycobacterial infections. © 2010 The Author(s)

NITROGÊNIO E POTÁSSIO NA FIXAÇÃO SIMBIÓTICA DE N2 POR SOJA CULTIVADA NO INVERNO NITROGEN AND POTASSIUM IN THE BIOLOGICAL N2 FIXATION BY WINTER SOYBEAN

O efeito do nitrogênio e do potássio sobre a nodulação, fixação simbiótica do nitrogênio, teor de N nos grãos e produtividade de soja, foi avaliado no inverno em experimentos conduzidos nas Estações Experimentais de Mococa, Ribeirão Preto e Votuporanga, do Instituto Agronômico de Campinas, SP, em solos podzólico vermelho-escuro, latossolo roxo e latossolo vermelho-escuro, respectivamente. Doses de nitrogênio na forma de uréia (0, 50 e 100 kg.ha-1 de N), de potássio na forma de cloreto de potássio (0, 30 e 60 kg.ha-1 de K2O) e cultivares de soja (IAC-8 e IAC-14), foram arranjados em fatorial e dispostos no campo, em blocos ao acaso, com três repetições. As sementes foram tratadas com inoculante comercial turfoso na dose de 8 g.kg-1 de semente. No florescimento, plantas foram amostradas para avaliações da nodulação e da atividade da nitrogenase. No final do ciclo, avaliou-se a produtividade e o teor de N dos grãos. Os resultados mostraram que apenas a inoculação não forneceu nitrogênio nas quantidades exigidas para maximizar a produtividade da soja. A adubação nitrogenada prejudicou a nodulação e a fixação simbiótica do nitrogênio mas aumentou a produtividade e o teor de N dos grãos de soja nas três localidades. A adubação potássica não prejudicou a nodulação, a fixação simbiótica do nitrogênio e o teor de N dos grãos. A cultivar IAC-14 apresentou nodulação e produtividade de grãos maiores quando foi adicionado potássio.<br>The objective of these experiments was to study the effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizations on the response to nodulation, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen seed content and yield of two soybean cultivars planted during the winter season. They were installed on the following soils: Eutric Lixisol (Mococa) and Rhodic Ferralsol (Ribeirão Preto and Votuporanga, SP, Brazil). The treatments consisted of three rates of nitrogen (0, 50 and 100 kg.ha-1 of N) as urea, three of potassium (0, 30 and 60 kg.ha-1 of K2O) as chloride and two soybean cultivars (IAC-8 and IAC-14). The experimental design was a random factorial with four replications. Soybean seeds of all treatments were inoculated with a commercial inoculant. At flowering, plants were sampled to evaluate nodulation and nitrogenase activity. At maturity, plants were harvest and seeds weighed.The results showed that inoculation did not provide the amount of nitrogen required to maximize soybean yield in the winter. The nitrogen treatment reduced nodulation and nitrogen fixation, but increased seed yield at the three localities. Potassium fertilization did not have any significant effect on nodulation, nitrogen fixation and yield of soybeans. Increased however dry matter weight and number of nodules of the cultivar IAC-14

Intercropping of wheat and pea as influenced by nitrogen fertilization

Abstract The effect of sole and intercropping of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on crop yield, fertilizer and soil nitrogen (N) use was tested on a sandy loam soil at three levels of urea fertilizer N (0, 4 and 8 g N m À2 ) applied at sowing. The 15 N enrichment and natural abundance techniques were used to determine N accumulation in the crops from the soil, fertilizer and symbiotic N 2 fixation. Intercrops of pea and wheat showed maximum productivity without the supply of N fertilizer. Intercropping increased total dry matter (DM) and N yield, grain DM and N yield, grain N concentration, the proportion of N derived from symbiotic N 2 fixation, and soil N accumulation. With increasing fertilizer N supply, intercropped and sole cropped wheat responded with increased yield, grain N yield and soil N accumulation, whereas the opposite was the case for pea. Fertilizer N enhanced the competitive ability of intercropped wheat recovering up to 90% of the total intercrop fertilizer N acquisition and decreased the proportion of pea in the intercrop, but without influencing the total intercrop grain yield. As a consequence, Land Equivalent Ratios calculated on basis of total DM production decreased from a maximum of 1.34 to as low as 0.85 with increased fertilizer N supply. The study suggests that pea-wheat intercropping is a cropping strategy that use N sources efficiently due to its spatial self-regulating dynamics where pea improve its interspecific competitive ability in areas with lower soil N levels, and vice versa for wheat, paving way for future option to reduce N inputs and negative environmental impacts of agricultural crop production