Performance of wheat quality characteristics impacted by precrop and plant nutrition

L

Performance of wheat quality characteristics impacted by precrop and plant nutrition

Our field researches took place on the test farm of KIT Látókép of University of Debrecen, Centre for Agricultural and Applied Economic Sciences, in growing seasons 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, after previous cropping of sunflower with control, N60+PK and N120+PKfertilizer treatments, with varieties Mv Csárdás and Mv Toldi, on chernozem soil, in long-term experiment. According to our data, variety and the effect of the crop year strongly affected the values of the leaf area index (LAI) and the yield. Due to the mild winter in growing season 2013/2014 varieties had much larger assimilative surface, which caused increase in LAI and in the yield. Therefore the natural nutrient utilization capability of the varieties significantly increased. Compared to the previous year, in control treatment we measured 250.0-270.2% higher yield due to the favourable effect of the crop year. Maximum yield (8.21 t ha-1) was measured with N60+PK fertilizer treatment with variety Mv Toldi. According to our results, in the more favourable crop year of 2013/2014, differences of the SPAD values between the N60+PK and N120+PK treatments were minimum (changed between 2.8-6.3 units). It means that the effect of fertilization on SPAD values has reached its optimum level according to our yield results

Examination of nutrient reaction of winter wheat after sunflower forecrop

We tested the fertilizer reaction of four different winter wheat varieties in three different crop years, on chernozem soil, in long-term experiment. We examined the optimum fertilizer requirements and the maximum yield of the varieties. According to our results there were significant differences among the years: the yield of the winter wheat varieties changed between 1.4–6.1 t ha-1 in 2013, 3.8–8.6 t ha-1 in 2014 and 3.2–8.6 t ha-1 in 2015. The yield increasing effect of fertilization was significantly different in the tested years. The optimum level of fertilization was determined by, besides the genetic differences among the varieties, the crop year and the extent of fertilization. In milder winter months, due to the higher average temperatures, yields of winter wheat increased compared to an average crop year

Evolution of the division of labor between genes and enzymes in the RNA world

The RNA world is a very likely interim stage of the evolution after the first replicators and before the advent of the genetic code and translated proteins. Ribozymes are known to be able to catalyze many reaction types, including cofactor-aided metabolic transformations. In a metabolically complex RNA world early division of labor between genes and enzymes could have evolved, where the ribozymes would have been transcribed from the genes more often than the other way round, benefiting the encapsulating cells through this dosage effect. Here we show, by computer simulations of protocells harboring unlinked RNA replicators that the origin of replicational asymmetry producing more ribozymes from a gene template than gene strands from a ribozyme template is feasible and robust. Enzymatic activities of the two modeled ribozymes are in trade-off with their replication rates, and the relative replication rates compared to those of complementary strands are evolvable traits of the ribozymes. The degree of trade-off is shown to have the strongest effect in favor of the division of labor. Although some asymmetry between gene and enzymatic strands could have evolved even in earlier, surface-bound systems, the shown mechanism in protocells seems inevitable and under strong positive selection. This could have preadapted the genetic system for transcription after the subsequent origin of chromosomes and DNA

Every Start is Challenging: Fitting A New Artificial Lake Into the Landscape, Zalakaros, Hungary

The aim of this study is to conclude the experiences of the maintenance practice of an artificial thermal lake. The first years (2015-2017) of the development of the lake were analysed and evaluated along the following questions: a) What kind of design processes and maintenance interventions are related to the process of fitting the lake into the landscape? b) How have the ecological conditions of the lake evolved in the past period (zonation, succession, plantation and colonization)? c) Which general experiences could be gained from the operation of this artificial thermal lake this far? The authors of the present study were already engaged in the planning process, participating in the preparation of four different design documentations. The planting design and the maintenance instructions were based on a physico-chemical monitoring, phytoplankton, zooplankton and macroinvertebrate sampling, and machrophyte assessment. The significant processes during the three years of the lake are presented by functional groups of biota, separately assessing the characteristics of the changes of macrophytes. In 2017 an individual macroinvertebrate assessment was done, moreover a fish die-off occurred in August 2017, which are mentioned separately as well. The data in total suggested that the water of the lake is highly hypertrophic, further machrophyte introduction can prevent the plant nutriments to be absorbed by algae. Partly the algal growth but also the unlucky coincidence of other factors (e.g. high water temperature, cold weather front, maintenance problems) led to the die-off of the spontaneously overpopulated fish stock in 2017