Opportunities and barriers to on-farm composting and compost application: A case study from northwestern Europe.

Maintaining and increasing soil quality and fertility in a sustainable way is an important challenge for modern agriculture. The burgeoning bioeconomy is likely to put further pressure on soil resources unless they are managed carefully. Compost has the potential to be an effective soil improver because of its multiple beneficial effects on soil quality. Additionally, it fits within the bioeconomy vision because it can valorize biomass from prior biomass processing or valorize biomass unsuitable for other processes. However, compost is rarely used in intensive agriculture, especially in regions with high manure surpluses. The aim of this research is to identify the barriers to on-farm composting and the application of compost in agriculture, using a mixed method approach for the case of Flanders. The significance of the 28 identified barriers is analyzed and they are categorized as market and financial, policy and institutional, scientific and technological and informational and behavioral barriers. More specifically, the shortage of woody biomass, strict regulation, considerable financial and time investment, and lack of experience and knowledge are hindering on-farm composting. The complex regulation, manure surplus, variable availability and transport of compost, and variable compost quality and composition are barriers to apply compost. In conclusion, five recommendations are suggested that could alleviate certain hindering factors and thus increase attractiveness of compost use in agriculture.

Procainamide-DNA interaction.

The interactions of procainamide with DNA were studied by neutral and alkaline sucrose gradient sedimentation and sequential action of 2 enzymes: a mammalian repair endonuclease and bacterial DNA polymerase I. Sucrose gradient sedimentation shows that in the absence of photosensitization, the interaction of procainamide with DNA did not modify DNA sedimentation in alkaline or neutral sucrose gradients. In contrast, when a photosensitized DNA procainamide mixture was placed on sucrose gradients, the peak appearing on alkaline sucrose gradient after treatment with endonuclease was shifted toward the lower molecular weights, indicating that strand breaks had developed in the photosensitized procainamide DNA. Incubation of a [32P] labeled photosensitized procainamide-DNA complex with a repair endonuclease and DNA polymerase I released the label in the acid soluble fraction, indicating that only the photosensitized procainamide-DNA complex was susceptible to the endonucleolytic attack. There was only negligible release of the label in the acid soluble fraction without exposure of the DNA-procainamide mixture to light. The incorporation into DNA of [3H]-TTP (tritium labeled triphosphates) in presence of DNA polymerase I was inhibited when the photosensitized procainamide-DNA complex was used as substrate. However, after treatment of the photosensitized DNA complex with the repair endonuclease, the incorporation of [3H]-TTP was increased and reached values close to that observed with DNA unexposed to light, suggesting that the endonuclease functions as a repair enzyme.

Endonuclease activity on damaged DNA in rat regenerating liver.

The activity of an endonuclease(s) acting on double-stranded, ultraviolet-irradiated, and 2-acetylaminofluorene-bound DNA but not on double-stranded undamaged DNA triples within two hr after partial hepatectomy. Although the activity drops between four and six hr after operation, it remains above levels measured in livers of nonhepatectomized rats until 36 hr after operation. Between 36 and 48 hr after operation, the enzyme activity drops below the levels in liver of nonhepatectomized rats and then rises slowly to reach levels observed in nonhepatectomized animals between 48 hr and seven days after the operation. Studies on the effect of actinomycin on the activity of crude enzyme and on the incorporation of [14C]leucine and [14C]valine on the purified enzyme indicate that the increase in enzyme activity results from de novo synthesis. Eight % of endonucleolytic activity detectable in the crude homogenate is inhibited by an hyperimmune serum prepared against the purified enzyme. By adjusting the time of injection of 2-[14C]acetylaminofluorene with respect to the levels of enzyme activity after partial hepatectomy, an inverse correlation between binding and enzyme activity was demonstrated.

The action of a mammalian endonuclease on psoralen-bound DNA.

The sequential actions of two enzymes believed to be involved in DNA repair, namely a mammalian endonuclease and the bacterial DNA polymerase I on psoralen bound 32P-labeled DNA, was studied. When ultraviolet-irradiated DNA is exposed to the sequential action of the endonuclease, the formation of single-strand breaks prepares the DNA for the exonucleolytic excision of thymine dimers. The mammalian endonuclease purified from rat liver to electrophoretic homogeneity is inactive on normal DNA, DNA irradiated at 360 nm or DNA mixed with psoralen without irradiation. Incubation of psoralen-bound DNA labeled with 32P with the endonuclease releases the isotope in the acid soluble indicating that psoralen-bound DNA is susceptible to the endonucleolytic attack. Sedimentation of DNA on sucrose gradients indicates that there is no collapse of the DNA molecule after treatment with the endonuclease. Moreover, there is no release of the adduct in the acid soluble after treatment with DNA polymerase, indicating that the 5--3 min exonucleolytic activity of that enzyme is impaired by the remaining crosslinks. The crosslinks also inhibit the incorporation of [3H] dATP in presence of DNA polymerase I.

The effect of a mammalian repair endonuclease on x-irradiated DNA.

DNA was extracted from rat liver of non-irradiated animals, and was irradiated in vitro, and from animals which received whole body doses of X-radiation. Sedimentation on neutral and alkaline sucrose gradients as well as measurements of 32P release after sequential treatment with endonuclease and alkaline phosphatase and determination of triphosphate incorporation after the sequential treatment with endonuclease, alkaline phosphatase and DNA polymerase indicated that DNA irradiated in vivo and in vitro were effective substrates for the mammalian repair endonuclease. The experiments suggest that in addition to strand breaks, X-radiation causes base damage and they have provided a plausible explanation for the formation of double strand breaks in DNA irradiated in vivo.

Alterations of liver DNA after x-irradiation. Reassociation and hybridization with nuclear RNA.

When RNA is extracted either from irradiated or unirradiated rat livers, no difference in its ability to hybridize with DNA is detectable. In contrast, the ability of DNA extracted from irradiated animals to hybirdize with RNA is decreased, probably as a result of DNA fragmentation. Sedimentation of X-irradiated DNA on sucrose gradients separates a small (low molecular weight) from a large peak (high molecular weight). The hybridization capacity for RNA of the large molecular weight DNA is similar to that of unirradiated DNA, but that of the small molecular weight is DNA reduced. After irradiation of the denatured DNA in vitro, the reassociation of DNA is inhibited, which suggests that DNA strands have lost part of their complementariness.