Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2021
Authors
Jan-David WackerAbstract
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Authors
Dmitry KechasovAbstract
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Abstract
In regions with intensive agricultural production, large amounts of organic waste are produced by livestock animals. Liquid digestate from manure-based biogas production could potentially serve as fertilizer if integrated with closed horticultural irrigation systems. The aim of this experiment was to investigate how fertilizer based on liquid biogas by-products of pig manure digestion can affect the growth and production of tomato plants. Integration of a nitrification bioreactor presumes a significantly lower concentration of nutrient solutions and a higher level of oxygenation than classical mineral cultivation. Therefore, additional controls were included. We compared plant growth and fruit quality traits of tomato plants grown in a hydroponic solution with organic fertilizer with two levels of mineral fertilizer. The tomatoes grown with organic waste-based liquid fertilizer showed reduced growth rates but increased mean fruit size, resulting in no significant change in total yield compared with high-mineral cultivation. The growth rate was similarly reduced in plants cultivated with low-mineral fertilizer. Plants cultivated with organic waste-based fertilizer had high Cl− concentration in xylem sap, leaves, and, ultimately, fruits. The leaves of plants cultivated with organic waste-based fertilizer contained higher concentrations of starch and soluble carbohydrate and low concentrations of phosphorous (P) and sulfur (S). The plants grown with organic waste-based or low-mineral medium showed significantly poorer fruit quality than the plants cultivated with the high-mineral solution. The low-mineral treatment increased xylem sap contribution to fruit weight because of higher root power. The organic waste-based fertilization did not change the root power but increased fruit size. In conclusion, organic waste-based cultivation is a possible solution for sustainable plant production in greenhouses. However, additional adjustment of nutrient supply is required to improve fruit quality.
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Authors
Karin Juul HesselsøeAbstract
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Authors
Vibeke LindAbstract
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Abstract
While interspecific variation in microbiome composition can often be readily explained by factors such as host species identity, there is still limited knowledge of how microbiomes vary at scales lower than the species level (e.g., between individuals or populations). Here, we evaluated variation in microbiome composition of individual parasites among infrapopulations (i.e., populations of parasites of the same species living on a single host individual). To address this question, we used genome-resolved and shotgun metagenomic data of 17 infrapopulations (balanced design) of the permanent, bloodsucking seal louse Echinophthirius horridus sampled from individual Saimaa ringed seals Pusa hispida saimensis. Both genome-resolved and read-based metagenomic classification approaches consistently show that parasite infrapopulation identity is a significant factor that explains both qualitative and quantitative patterns of microbiome variation at the intraspecific level. This study contributes to the general understanding of the factors driving patterns of intraspecific variation in microbiome composition, especially of bloodsucking parasites, and has implications for understanding how well-known processes occurring at higher taxonomic levels, such as phylosymbiosis, might arise in these systems.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Darius KviklysAbstract
Winter hardiness is the main factor limiting pear growing and the use of quince rootstocks under northeastern European climate conditions. Therefore, several cultivar and rootstock trials were performed from 1997 until 2015 at the Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. Investigations of pear cultivars were conducted in 2005-2015. Twelve cultivars on QS1 rootstock were tested with the goal of finding an optimal replacement for cultivar ‘Conference’, which is not sufficiently winter hardy in the Baltic countries. The cultivar ‘Mramornaja’ showed desirable characteristics based on winter hardiness, productivity and fruit quality. Rootstock breeding was based on a winter hardy Cydonia × oblonga population and resulted in 3 registered rootstocks of K series in Lithuania. K series rootstocks were compared with QMA, QMC, Sydo, QS1, and Pyrus × communis. According to tree growth control and productivity only K11 was equal to QMA and the same as QS1. Other rootstock testing included Cydonia and Pyrus clonal and seedling rootstocks. ‘Pyrodwarf’ and OH×F333 rootstocks were too vigorous. QMC, Sydo and BA29 exhibited poor winter hardiness. The search for both pear cultivars and rootstocks adapted to northeastern European climatic conditions must be continued.