Earthworms promote the transfer of 15N-urea to lettuce while limit appreciably increase 15N losing to environment.

Earthworm activities not only increase nitrogen (N) uptake by crops, but also lead to N losing to environment. Thus, the present study examined the transformation of 15N-labeled urea with and without earthworms (Metaphire guillelmi) in a soil-lettuce system. We evaluated lettuce 15N uptake, 15N losses including N2O emission, NH3 volatilization and leaching, as well as 15N remaining in soil. Results showed that 15N-urea uptakes by lettuce significantly increased from 33.07% to 42.72% with earthworm presence. However, little difference was found on the total amounts of leaching and gaseous losses (N2O emission and NH3 volatilization) from 15N-urea between the treatment with and without earthworms (4.04 and 5.38%, respectively). Most of the 15N-urea remained in the soil, accounting for 48.44% and 60.65% of the 15N-urea in soil with and without earthworm presence. We conclude that earthworms enhanced the transfer of 15N-urea to lettuce without appreciably increasing the 15N-urea loss from soil to the environment.

Appraisal of MsepCSP14 for chemosensory functions in Mythimna separata.

Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) have great contributions in performing diverse functions in insects. However, physiological appraisal of chemosensory protein genes still remains elusive in insects. We studied expression patterns and binding affinities of MsepCSP14, a chemosensory protein, in Mythimna separata. The distinct functions of MsepCSP14 were validated by employing different molecular techniques. The MsepCSP14 had high resemblance of sequence with chemosensory proteins of other insect family members. The MsepCSP14 expression was higher in antennal tissues of females than other tissues. Fluorescence binding assay validated that binding of nine out of 21 ligands to MsepCSP14 was higher at pH 7.4 than at pH 5.0. Three dimensional modeling (3D) and docking analysis predicted that amino acid residues of MsepCSP14 were involved in binding of compounds, and behavior assay displayed that adults of M. separata considerably responded to four volatiles from compounds demonstrating strong binding ability to MsepCSP14. Results of the present study suggest that MsepCSP14 is likely to mediate chemosensory functions in M. separata.

Expression Profiles and Biochemical Analysis of Chemosensory Protein 3 from Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

Insects have evolved highly sensitive olfactory sensory systems to detect plant hosts and mates, with plant volatiles playing an important role in informing insect behavior. Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are thought to play a key role in this process, but in this respect, there is limited information on brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, one of the most destructive pests of rice. To expand our understanding of CSP function in N. lugens we explored expression profiles and binding characteristics of NlugCSP3. The ligands with higher binding affinity were also validated by molecular docking and behavioral assays. NlugCSP3 mRNA was expressed at relatively higher levels in antennae and abdomen of 3-day-old unmated macropterous males as well as in antennae of 3-day mated macropterous and brachypterous females. Fluorescence competitive binding assays revealed that 5 out of 25 candidate volatiles are strong binders (Ki < 10 µM). Behavioral assays revealed that nonadecane and 2-tridecanone, which have high binding affinities in fluorescence competition-binding assays, displayed strong attractiveness to N. lugens. Pursuing this further, molecular docking analysis identified key amino acid residues involved in binding volatile compounds. Overall, our data provide a base for further investigation of the potential physiological functions of CSP3 in Nilaparvata lugens, and extend the function of NlugCSP3 in chemoreception of N. lugens.

The role of chemosensory protein 10 in the detection of behaviorally active compounds in brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens.

Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) play important roles in insects' chemoreception, although their specific functional roles have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we conducted the developmental expression patterns and competitive binding assay as well as knock-down assay by RNA interference both in vitro and in vivo to reveal the function of NlugCSP10 from the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), a major pest in rice plants. The results showed that NlugCSP10 messenger RNA was significantly higher in males than in females and correlated to gender, development and wing forms. The fluorescence binding assays revealed that NlugCSP10 exhibited the highest binding affinity with cis-3-hexenyl acetate, eicosane, and (+)-ß-pinene. Behavioral assay revealed that eicosane displayed attractant activity, while cis-3-hexenyl acetate, similar to (+)-ß-pinene significantly repelled N. lugens adults. Silencing of NlugCSP10, which is responsible for cis-3-hexenyl acetate binding, significantly disrupted cis-3-hexenyl acetate communication. Overall, findings of the present study showed that NlugCSP10 could selectively interrelate with numerous volatiles emitted from host plants and these ligands could be designated to develop slow-release mediators that attract/repel N. lugens and subsequently improve the exploration of plans to control this insect pest.

Mitigation of N2O emissions from urine treated acidic soils by liming.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a devastating greenhouse gas mainly released from soils to the atmosphere. Pasture soils, particularly acidic in nature, are large contributors of atmospheric N2O through deposition of urine-N. Devising strategies for reducing N2O emissions in acidic soils are the utmost need of the time. Therefore, the present study was carried out to investigate the possible efficacy of dolomite application to reduce N2O emissions from urine treated acidic soil. Application of urine to soil enlarged the production of NH4+-N, NO3--N, microbial biomass C (MBC) and dissolved organic C (DOC), resulting in higher N2O emissions as compared to the control (soil only). The highest N2O emission rate (1.35 µg N2O-N kg-1 h-1) and cumulative flux (408 µg N2O-N kg-1) occurred in urine only treated soil. Dolomite addition, especially higher application dose, greatly reduced N2O emissions through improved soil pH. The results suggest that increasing pH of acidic soils is a good applicable approach for reducing N2O emissions from urine-treated soils.

Restoring effect of soil acidity and Cu on N2O emissions from an acidic soil.

Heavy metals are believed to impact soil processes by influencing microbial communities, nutrient cycling or exchanging for essential plant nutrients. Soil pH adjustment highly influences the bio-availability of nutrients and microbial processes. We examined the effect of soil pH manipulation and copper (Cu as CuCl2.2H2O) application on nitrogen (N) cycling and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from an acid soil. Increasing amounts of Cu (0, 250, 500 and 1000 mg kg-1) were added to an acidic soil (pH = 5.44) that was further amended with increasing amounts of dolomite [CaMg(CO3)2] to increase soil pH. Dolomite increased soil pH values, which reached a maximum without Cu application (-Cu) at day 42 of the experiment. The soil pH values decreased with increasing dose of Cu, and remained low as compared with both control and dolomite amended soil. Ammonium (NH4+-N) concentrations were higher in Cu contaminated soil as compared with the control and dolomite treated soil. Nitrate (NO3--N) concentrations increased in dolomite treated soil when compared with the +Cu alone treatments and control. Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) contents were higher in dolomite treated soil as compared with the +Cu treatments and control. The application of increasing amounts of Cu progressively decreased soil MBC and MBN. Nitrous oxide emissions were higher (p ≤ 0.01) in +Cu soil as compared with the control, and increased with increasing Cu concentration in soil. Application of dolomite highly suppressed soil N2O emissions in both +Cu and -Cu soils. The results indicate that the effects of heavy metal contamination (specifically Cu contamination) can increase N2O emissions, but this can be effectively mitigated through increasing soil pH, also decreasing potential toxic effects on soil microorganisms.

A chemosensory protein MsepCSP5 involved in chemoreception of oriental armyworm Mythimna separata.

Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) have been suggested to perform several functions in insects, including chemoreception. To find out whether MsepCSP5 identified from Mythimna separata shows potential physiological functions in olfaction, gene expression profiles, ligand-binding experiments, molecular docking, RNA interference, and behavioral test were performed. Results showed that MsepCSP5 was highly expressed in female antennae. MsepCSP5 showed high binding affinities to a wide range of host-related semiochemicals, and displayed that 26 out of 35 candidate volatiles were highly bound (Ki < 10 µM) at pH 5.0 rather than pH 7.4. The binding sites of MsepCSP5 to candidate volatiles were well predicted by three-dimensional structure modeling and molecular docking experiments. Pursuing further, biological activities of M. separata to highly bound compounds elicited strong behavioral responses, such as alcoholic compounds displayed strong attractiveness whereas terpenes showed repellency to M. separata. The transcript expression level of MsepCSP5 gene significantly decreased after injecting target dsRNAs, and resulted in non-significant preference responses of M. separata to semiochemicals, such as 3-pentanol and 1-octene-3-ol. In conclusion, MsepCSP5 may involve in semiochemical reception of M. separata.

A concise review of biochar application to agricultural soils to improve soil conditions and fight pollution.

Application of biochar to soil can play a significant role in the alteration of nutrients dynamics, soil contaminants as well as microbial functions. Therefore, strategic biochar application to soil may provide agronomic, environmental and economic benefits. Key environmental outcomes may include reduced availability of toxic metals and organic pollutants, reduced soil N losses and longer-term storage of carbon in soil. The use of biochar can certainly address key soil agronomic constraints to crop production including Al toxicity, low soil pH and may improve nutrient use efficiency. Biochar application has also demerits to soil properties and attention should be paid when using a specific biochar for a specific soil property improvement. This review provides a concise assessment and addresses impacts of biochar on soil properties.

Functional Analysis of the Chemosensory Protein MsepCSP8 From the Oriental Armyworm Mythimna separata.

Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) play important roles in chemosensation in insects, but their exact physiological functions remain elusive. In order to investigate the functions of CSPs in the oriental armyworm Mythimna separata, in the present study we explored expression patterns and binding characteristics of the CSP, MsepCSP8. The distinctive functions of MsepCSP8 were also validated by RNAi. The results showed that MsepCSP8 shares high sequence similarity with CSPs of other insect family members, including the characteristic four-cysteine signature motif. MsepCSP8 mRNA was specifically expressed in antennae of females at levels well above those in other tissues. Competitive binding assays confirmed that 20 out of 56 ligands bound more strongly to MsepCSP8 at pH 7.4 than at pH 5.0. Protein structure modeling and molecular docking analyses identified amino acid residues involved in binding volatile compounds, and behavioral response experiments showed that M. separata elicited significant responses to five volatiles from compounds displaying high binding affinity to MsepCSP8. MsepCSP8 transcript abundance was decreased by dsMsepCSP8 injection, which affected the behavioral responses of M. separata to representative semiochemicals. Our findings demonstrate that MsepCSP8 likely contributes to mediating responses of M. separata adults to plant volatiles.

Silencing of Chemosensory Protein Gene NlugCSP8 by RNAi Induces Declining Behavioral Responses of Nilaparvata lugens.

Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) play imperative functions in chemical and biochemical signaling of insects, as they distinguish and transfer ecological chemical indications to a sensory system in order to initiate behavioral responses. The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), has emerged as the most destructive pest, causing serious damage to rice in extensive areas throughout Asia. Biotic characteristics like monophagy, dual wing forms, and annual long-distance migration imply a critical role of chemoreception in N. lugens. In this study, we cloned the full-length CSP8 gene from N. lugens. Protein sequence analysis indicated that NlugCSP8 shared high sequence resemblance with the CSPs of other insect family members and had the typical four-cysteine signature. Analysis of gene expression indicated that NlugCSP8 mRNA was specifically expressed in the wings of mated 3-day brachypterous females with a 175-fold difference compare to unmated 3-day brachypterous females. The NlugCSP8 mRNA was also highly expressed in the abdomen of unmated 5-day brachypterous males and correlated to the age, gender, adult wing form, and mating status. A competitive ligand-binding assay demonstrated that ligands with long chain carbon atoms, nerolidol, hexanal, and trans-2-hexenal were able to bind to NlugCSP8 in declining order of affinity. By using bioinformatics techniques, three-dimensional protein structure modeling and molecular docking, the binding sites of NlugCSP8 to the volatiles which had high binding affinity were predicted. In addition, behavioral experiments using the compounds displaying the high binding affinity for the NlugCSP8, revealed four compounds able to elicit significant behavioral responses from N. lugens. The in vivo functions of NlugCSP8 were further confirmed through the testing of RNAi and post-RNAi behavioral experiments. The results revealed that reduction in NlugCSP8 transcript abundance caused a decrease in behavioral response to representative attractants. An enhanced understanding of the NlugCSP8 is expected to contribute in the improvement of more effective and eco-friendly control strategies of BPH.

Reduction in soil N2O emissions by pH manipulation and enhanced nosZ gene transcription under different water regimes.

Several studies have been carried out to examine nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils in the past. However, the emissions of N2O particularly during amelioration of acidic soils have been rarely studied. We carried out the present study using a rice-rapeseed rotation soil (pH 5.44) that was amended with dolomite (0, 1 and 2 g kg-1 soil) under 60% water filled pore space (WFPS) and flooding. N2O emissions and several soil properties (pH, NH4+N, NO3--N, and nosZ gene transcripts) were measured throughout the study. The increase in soil pH with dolomite application triggered soil N transformation and transcripts of nosZ gene controlling N2O emissions under both water regimes (60% WFPS and flooding). The 60% WFPS produced higher soil N2O emissions than that of flooding, and dolomite largely reduced N2O emissions at higher pH under both water regimes through enhanced transcription of nosZ gene. The results suggest that ameliorating soil acidity with dolomite can substantially mitigate N2O emissions through promoting nosZ gene transcription.

The efficacy of Beauveria bassiana, jasmonic acid and chlorantraniliprole on larval populations of Helicoverpa armigera in chickpea crop ecosystems.

BACKGROUND: A robust integrated pest management (IPM) programme is needed to reduce the use of insecticides in controlling Helicoverpa armigera. Therefore, a 2 year field study was conducted to evaluate the use of alternative control measures (biochemical use) for H. armigera relative to exclusively using chemical insecticides. The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, jasmonic acid and the insecticide chlorantraniliprole were each applied twice during the chickpea growing season. RESULTS: All three applied materials (either alone or combined) significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced the larval population of H. armigera and pod infestation. Effects increased with time, and the maximum difference was observed 7 days after the second application in each year. The lowest numbers of larvae per plant and pod infestation were in the B. bassiana 3.21 × 106 + chlorantraniliprole treatment in both 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 year. The reduction in the larval population and pod infestation increased chickpea yield and the highest yield in both seasons, and the maximum yield was obtained in the B. bassiana 3.21 × 106 + chlorantraniliprole treatment. The populations of natural enemies were highest in the jasmonic acid treatment. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that B. bassiana, jasmonic acid and chlorantraniliprole may be useful components for the H. armigera IPM strategy. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.