Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: V. Pavlovic Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: M. Pavlovic Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia Author-Workplace-Name: Slovenian Institute for Hop Research and Brewing, Zalec, Slovenia Author-Name: A. Cerenak Author-Workplace-Name: Slovenian Institute for Hop Research and Brewing, Zalec, Slovenia Author-Name: I.J. Kosir Author-Workplace-Name: Slovenian Institute for Hop Research and Brewing, Zalec, Slovenia Author-Name: B. Ceh Author-Workplace-Name: Slovenian Institute for Hop Research and Brewing, Zalec, Slovenia Author-Name: C. Rozman Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: J. Turk Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: K. Pazek Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: K. Krofta Author-Workplace-Name: Hop Research Institute, Zatec, Czech Republic Author-Name: G. Gregoric Author-Workplace-Name: Slovenian Environment Agency, Ljubljana, Slovenia Title: Environment and weather influence on quality and market value of hops Abstract: The paper analyses the influence of four main weather parameters on alpha-acid contents for the main hop variety Aurora (Super Styrian Aurora) in Slovenian production for the time period 1994-2009. Through inspection of correlation coefficients, it tries to find specific times of the year when the weather conditions affect the alpha-acid content with a view to prediction in Slovenia. The most significant time periods of weather that influenced the alpha-acid contents of the Aurora variety during the growing season are identified as attributes of temperatures calculated from the interval from 25th to 30th week (T2530, r = -0.88, P < 0.01), as attributes of rainfall and sunshine from the interval from 25th to 29th week (R2529, r = 0.85, P < 0.01 and S2529, r = -0.75, P < 0.01) and attributes of relative humidity from the interval from 27th to 32nd week (RH2732, r = 0.71, P < 0.01). The attribute T2530 represents the sum of active temperatures from June 18 to July 29 of that year. Similarly, the attribute R2529 corresponds to the rainfall (in mm or L/m2) that fell during the June 18 to July 22 etc. Keywords: hop quality, alpha-acids, cv. Aurora, forecasting, weather attributes, hop market Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 155-160 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/499/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/499/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:499-2011-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: J.Y. Shen Author-Workplace-Name: College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China Author-Name: D.D. Zhao Author-Workplace-Name: College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China Author-Name: H.F. Han Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China Author-Name: X.B. Zhou Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China Author-Name: Q.Q. Li Author-Workplace-Name: College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China Title: Effects of straw mulching on water consumption characteristics and yield of different types of summer maize plants Abstract: To develop rainfed agriculture in northern China, we conducted field experiments with three straw mulching rates (0, 6, and 12 t/ha) on two plant types (a compact type, Chaoshi1, and a flat type, Danyu86) during the summer maize-growing season in 2009 and 2010 to study soil moisture content, evapotranspiration, grain yield, and water-use efficiency (WUE). The results indicated that straw mulching could significantly (LSD, P < 0.05) improve soil moisture content at a depth of 20-80 cm below the ground surface during the anthesis-silking stage; however, at maturity, straw mulching decreased the soil moisture content at a depth of 0-60 cm below the ground surface. In 2009, straw mulching at the rate of 12 t/ha significantly (LSD, P < 0.05) increased the evapotranspiration in Chaoshi1 and Danyu86. In 2010, straw mulching at the rate of 6 t/ha significantly (LSD,P < 0.05) increased evapotranspiration in Danyu86 alone. The grain yields of Danyu86 in 2009 and Chaoshi1 in 2010 were significantly (LSD, P < 0.05) higher with straw mulching at the rate of 12 t/ha than on the application of other treatments. Irrespective of whether precipitation was concentrated during the beginning or the latter half of the summer maize growing stage, straw mulching increased the WUE of Chaoshi1, but not of Danyu86. These results indicated that under rainfed conditions in northern China, straw mulching could increase the grain yield and WUE of compact-type maize. Keywords: variety, rainfed, plant type, soil-profile depletion, zero tillage Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 161-166 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/404/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/404/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:404-2011-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: P. Šrek Author-Workplace-Name: Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: M. Hejcman Author-Workplace-Name: Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: E. Kunzová Author-Workplace-Name: Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Effect of long-term cattle slurry and mineral N, P and K application on concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in peeled potato tubers and peels Abstract: Little information is available on how fertilizer application affects concentration of many elements in peeled potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers and peels. We analyzed how long-term application of cattle slurry and mineral N, P and K fertilizers affects the yield of tubers, their dry matter content and concentrations of elements. In 2009, potatoes tubers were collected in control, cattle slurry (CS), mineral N4P2K2 and combined CSN4P2K2 treatment of the Ruzyně Fertilizer and Crop Rotation Experiment established on Illimerized Luvisol in Prague (Czech Republic) in 1955. Amount of N, P and K supplied by CS was 138, 30 and 172 kg/ha and the amount supplied by N4P2K2 was 110, 31 and 186 kg/ha. Yield of fresh potatoes ranged from 20.6 in the control up to 31.2 t/ha in CSN4P2K2 treatment. Dry matter content of unpeeled tubers, peeled tubers and potato peels was not significantly affected by fertilizer treatments probably because of not excessive N application. Normal cropping practices with application of CS and mineral N, P and K fertilizers did not significantly increase concentrations of trace elements in peeled tubers or potato peels on neutral soil with low trace elements availability. Concentrations of many elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn) were higher in potato peels than in peeled tubers, but the differences in the case of trace elements were relatively small. Keywords: copper, fertilizer and crop rotation experiment, macro and trace elements, Solanum tuberosum, zinc Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 167-173 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/610/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/610/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:610-2011-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Y.J. Qiao Author-Workplace-Name: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Z.Z. Li Author-Workplace-Name: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: X. Wang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: B. Zhu Author-Workplace-Name: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Y.G. Hu Author-Workplace-Name: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Z.H. Zeng Author-Workplace-Name: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China Title: Effect of legume-cereal mixtures on the diversity of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere Abstract: Aboveground plant diversity is known to influence belowground diversity and ecosystem processes. However, there is little knowledge of soil microbial succession in legume-grass mixtures. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the effect of oat and common vetch binary mixtures at three seeding rates on soil bacterial communities. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rDNA fragments was used to profile the structure of the bacterial community in the rhizosphere. Compared with a monoculture of common vetch and oat, the Shannon-Weaver index and species richness of the mixtures were increased. Thirteen cloned monocultures and mixtures of oat and common vetch soil 16S rDNA sequences were deposited to NCBI. Based on the sequencing results, the bands could be identified as related to Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria. Common vetch did not have some bacteria relatives to Sphingomonas spp. Some bacterial taxa could be detected in the ratio of 1:1 and 1:2, but not in the ratio of 1:3, e.g. Myxococcales. The results suggested that the belowground diversity could be promoted by mixed cropping systems. Keywords: intercropping mixtures, rhizosphere microorganism, DGGE, 16S rDNA, biodiversity Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 174-180 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/351/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/351/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:351-2011-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: A. Bano Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan Author-Name: F. Ullah Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan Author-Name: A. Nosheen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan Title: Role of abscisic acid and drought stress on the activities of antioxidant enzymes in wheat Abstract: The effect of drought stress and abscisic acid (ABA) applied at tillering stage (55 days after sowing) was compared in 2 wheat cultivars differing in drought tolerance. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) and contents of endogenous ABA in plants were measured at 3 days of drought stress in cv. Chakwal-97 (drought tolerant) and cv. Punjab-96 (drought susceptible). ABA was applied at 10-6 mol/L as presowing seed treatment for 18 h. Drought tolerant cultivar has a more efficient mechanism to scavenge reactive oxygen species as shown by a significant increase in the activity of antioxidant enzyme SOD. Under drought stress, ABA significantly increased the activities of SOD and POD, showing a significant decline on rewatering. The relative water content was significantly increased by ABA priming under drought stress in both wheat cultivars. The sensitive cultivar exhibiting lower endogenous ABA content was more responsive to ABA priming. On rewatering, the magnitude of recovery from drought stress was greater in tolerant cultivar. ABA was highly effective in improving grain weight of tolerant cultivar under drought stress. Keywords: water stress, phytohormone, plant defense system Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 181-185 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/210/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/210/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:210-2011-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: X.C. Zhu Author-Workplace-Name: KeyLaboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, P.R. China Author-Name: F.B. Song Author-Workplace-Name: KeyLaboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, P.R. China Author-Name: S.Q. Liu Author-Workplace-Name: KeyLaboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, P.R. China Author-Name: T.D. Liu Author-Workplace-Name: KeyLaboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: X. Zhou Author-Workplace-Name: KeyLaboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China Title: Arbuscular mycorrhizae improves photosynthesis and water status of Zea mays L. under drought stress Abstract: The influences of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus on growth, gas exchange, chlorophyll concentration, chlorophyll fluorescence and water status of maize (Zea mays L.) plants were studied in pot culture under well-watered and drought stress conditions. The maize plants were grown in a sand and black soil mixture for 4 weeks, and then exposed to drought stress for 4 weeks. Drought stress significantly decreased AM colonization and total dry weight. AM symbioses notably enhanced net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate, but decreased intercellular CO2 concentration of maize plants regardless of water treatments. Mycorrhizal plants had higher stomatal conductance than non-mycorrhizal plants under drought stress. The concentrations of chlorophyll were higher in mycorrhizal than non-mycorrhizal plants under drought stress. AM colonization significantly increased maximal fluorescence, maximum quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry and potential photochemical efficiency, but decreased primary fluorescence under well-watered and droughted conditions. Mycorrhizal maize plants had higher relative water content and water use efficiency under drought stress compared with non-mycorrhizal plants. The results indicated that AM symbiosis alleviates the toxic effect of drought stress via improving photosynthesis and water status of maize plants. Keywords: Keywords: chlorophyll concentration, chlorophyll fluorescence, gas exchange, maize, water status Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 186-191 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/23/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/23/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:23-2011-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Š. Matějková Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biomathematics and Databases, Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: T. Šimon Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Biology, Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Application of FTIR spectroscopy for evaluation of hydrophobic/hydrophilic organic components in arable soil Abstract: The main aim of this study was to determine the intensity of hydrophobic/hydrophilic components of the soil's organic matter as well as its hydrophobicity. Non-destructive Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used for the diagnosis and characterization of the basic classes of the chemical groups (hydrophilic and hydrophobic components) from which the organic matter in the soils is formed. Soil samples (depth 0-30 cm) were taken from the topsoil of the 70 sampling sites from the experimental field at Prague-Ruzyne (Czech Republic) during 2007-2009, where a conventional soil tillage technology was used. It was found that the variability of the intensity of the hydrophobic components is greater (27.6%) than that of the intensity of the hydrophilic components (6.2%), which correlated significantly with the Corg (r = 0.58; P < 0.05) and Nt (r = 0.65; P < 0.05) in the soil. It was proven that the soil samples with a higher proportion of coarse grains are more hydrophobic than those with higher proportions of clay. Data about soil hydrophobicity can help to evaluate the soil quality parameters as well as the soil fertility. Keywords: organic carbon, soil organic matter, hydrophobic component, hydrophilic component, soil hydrophobicity Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 192-195 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/317/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/317/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0007.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:317-2011-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: V. Dvořáček Author-Workplace-Name: Crop Research Institute, Prague-Ruzyně, Czech Republic Author-Name: A. Prohasková Author-Workplace-Name: Crop Research Institute, Prague-Ruzyně, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Chrpová Author-Workplace-Name: Crop Research Institute, Prague-Ruzyně, Czech Republic Author-Name: L. Štočková Author-Workplace-Name: Crop Research Institute, Prague-Ruzyně, Czech Republic Title: Near infrared spectroscopy for deoxynivalenol content estimation in intact wheat grain Abstract: Non-invasive determination of deoxynivalenol (DON) still presents a challenging problem. Therefore, the present study was aimed at a rapid determination of DON in whole wheat grain by means of FT-NIR spectroscopy, with a wide range of concentrations for potential applications in breeding programs and common systems of quality management using partial least square calibration (PLS) and discriminant analysis technique (DA). Using a set of artificially infected wheat samples with a known content of DON, four PLS models with different concentration range were created. The broadest model predicting DON in the concentration range of 0-90 mg/kg possessed the highest correlation coefficients of calibration and cross validation (0.94 and 0.88); but also possessed the highest prediction errors (SEP = 6.23 mg/kg). Thus the subsequent combination of DA as the wide range predictive model and the low-range PLS model was used. This technique gave more precise results in the samples with lower DON concentrations - below 30 mg/kg (SEP = 2.35 mg/kg), when compared to the most wide-range PLS model (SEP = 5.95 mg/kg).Such technique enables to estimate DON content in collections of artificially infected wheat plants in Fusarium resistance breeding experiments. Keywords: FT-NIR, Triticum aestivum, Fusarium, DON, discriminant analysis, PLS regression Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 196-203 Volume: 58 Issue: 4 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/684/2011-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/684/2011-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201204-0008.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:58:y:2012:i:4:id:684-2011-PSE