Distributions of photosynthetic traits, shoot growth, and anti-herbivory defence within a canopy of Quercus serrata in different soil nutrient conditions

The hypothesis of the present study is that not only distributions of leaf photosynthetic traits and shoot growth along light gradient within a canopy of forest trees, but also that of leaf anti-herbivory defence capacities are influenced by soil nutrient condition. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the distributions of photosynthetic traits, shoot growth, anti-herbivory defence and leaf herbivory rate throughout the canopy of Quercus serrata grown in two sites with different soil nutrient conditions. In both sites, photosynthetic traits, shoot growth, and anti-herbivory defence were greater in the upper canopy. The overall defence and herbivory rate in the lower nutrient condition were higher and lower than those in the higher nutrient condition, respectively. Although differences in leaf traits between upper and lower canopies in the higher nutrient condition were smaller than those in the lower nutrient condition, no difference was found for anti-herbivory defence. These results suggest that soil nutrient condition does not affect the distributions of leaf anti herbivory defence along light gradient within a canopy of Q. serrata.

Advances in understanding plant root growth regulators

Global food production needs to increase by more than 60% by 2050 while concurrently reducing fertiliser applications to crops to reduce greenhouse emissions, production costs and environmental pollution. This chapter explores the role of hormones on nitrogen and phosphate uptake and responses. In particular it focuses on auxin, cytokinin and strigolactones in each nutrient condition and how they interact with each other to control root architectural responses. Past success with stay-green crop varieties, modified in cytokinin regulation of nitrogen remobilisation, demonstrates the real-world significance of a detailed understanding of hormone networks. The chapter also highlights current limitations in our understanding and exciting directions for the future.

Biodegradation of crude oil by Ralstonia pickettii under high salinity medium

Bacterium Ralstonia pickettii has ability to survive and thrive in low nutrient condition as well as a capability to remediate some pollutants and using them as carbon and energy source. In this study, the ability of R. pickettii on biodegradation of crude oil under high salinity medium was investigated. R. pickettii was pre-incubated in nutrient broth (NB) medium and then, washed and transferred to artificial seawater medium. Crude oil was added to each culture and incubated for 7 and 14 days. The biodegradation of crude oil was analysed using Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The result showed that R. pickettii had successfully degraded the crude oil in the high salinity artificial seawater. The incubation on 7 and 14 days did not show a significant effect on the number of the degraded compounds. The optimum recovery percent was obtained from the derivation of 2,6,10,14-tetramethyl hexadecane with the recovery percentage of 12.7% and 16.0% for 7 and 14 days respectively. This study indicates that R. picketti can be potentially used for bioremediation of crude oil under high salinity environments.

Rancang Bangun Sistem Pengukur Massa Tubuh dan Panjang Badan Elektronik Terintegrasi untuk Evaluasi Gizi Balita

ABSTRAKPada saat ini, monitoring gizi balita dievaluasi berdasarkan perkembangan massa tubuh dan panjang badan balita setiap bulan menggunakan 2 buah alat ukur dan memasukkan data pengukuran secara manual pada grafik Kartu Menuju Sehat (KMS). Proses pengukuran ini relatif lama dilakukan. Untuk mempercepat proses monitoring, maka pada studi ini dilakukan rancang bangun sistem pengukur massa tubuh dan panjang badan elektronik terintegrasi berbasis Personal Computer (PC). Sistem ini memanfaatkan sensor strain gauge dan transducer ultrasonik untuk mengukur massa tubuh dan panjang badan balita. Kedua alat ukur tersebut diintegrasikan dalam sebuah box bayi kayu. Data hasil pengukuran diolah dengan Arduino Nano dan dikirimkan ke PC untuk proses evaluasi, penyimpanan dan penampilan kondisi gizi balita secara otomatis. Dari hasil pengujian, sistem telah berhasil mengukur massa tubuh dan panjang badan dengan nilai kepresisian secara berturut-turut adalah 150 gr dan 0,12 cm. Sistem juga telah dapat mengevaluasi dan menampilkan gizi balita di PC dalam bentuk digital KMS.Kata kunci: gizi balita, massa tubuh, panjang badan, strain gauge, terintegrasi, transducer ultrasonik.ABSTRACTRecently, the toddler’s nutrient is evaluated based on a monthly body weight and length progress which are measured by two different devices and analyzed manually from Kartu Menuju Sehat (KMS), toddler’s health curve standard. These producers indeed take a time much longer. In order to speed up the monitoring procedures, we designed and implemented a Personal Computer (PC) based integrated body weight scale and body length measurement device system. The system utilized four strain gauge sensors and an ultrasonic transducer module to measure body weight and length, respectively. Both devices were integrated in a toddler wood box. The measurement data was processed using an Arduino Nano and subsequently transmitted to a PC for further automatic evaluating, recording and displaying the toddler’s nutrient condition. The experiment results showed that the system has been successful to measure the body weight and length with precision of 150 gr and 0,12 cm, respectively. The system has been able to evaluate and display the toddler nutrient condition on the PC in digital KMS format.Keywords: body length, body weight, integrated system, strain gauge, toddler’s nutrient, ultrasonic transducer.

Phenotypic plasticity and ecology of three species of Podostemaceae Rich. Ex C. Agardh

The members of Podostemaceae, commonly called river-weeds, are with very peculiar vegetative form; revealing many unique morphological, anatomical and ecological characters from other angiosperms. They undergo an annual cycle of colonization, establishment of a canopy of mature plant, and dies back when the water level drops. The annual pattern is dictated by high and low water periods. Physico-chemical analysis showed that the largest population of the species occupied an area of full sunlight. Water samples from the two study sites viz. Janiaw and Umtienger localities, both from East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, India, showing high pH indicated less human activities of different kind. It is also determined that the species inhabits clean rivers, thus, they serve as an indicator of clean water. They occur primarily in low nutrient condition. Further, it was also observed that dissolved oxygen is the most essential factor for successful establishment of these plants, rather than other nutrients and pH. Toxic discharge of effluents from industries and agrochemical residues are serious threat to podostemads that has unique ecological requirement.

Effects of Different Concentrations of Nitrogen and Phosphate on Growth of Sargassum thunbergii Germlings (Phaephyta)

In the present study, the germlings shortly released from fertile thalli of <em>S. thunbergii</em> were collected and cultured in the laboratory. The stress resistances of germlings to adverse conditions of different nutrient concentrations and N:P ratios on growth of germingling sporophyte and rizoids were analyzed. Results showed that different concentrations of nitrogen and phosphate could significanly affect the relative grwoth rate and the most obvious growth inhibition was observed in group I which stood for the heavily eutrophicated nutrient condition. Moreover, the negative nutrient condition exerted more serious inhibition on germling sporophyte compared to that on the rizoid, and this might be a suvival strategy for the sustainability of <em>S. thunbergii</em> population.