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.
2017
Authors
Annelene Pengerud Marie-France Dignac Giacomo Certini Line Tau Strand Claudia Forte Daniel RasseAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Helminthosporium solani causes silver scurf, which affects the quality of potato. The biocontrol agent Clonostachys rosea greatly limited the severity of silver scurf symptoms and amount of H. solani genomic DNA in laboratory experiments. Transcriptomic analysis during interaction showed that H. solani gene expression was highly reduced when coinoculated with the biocontrol agent C. rosea, whereas gene expression of C. rosea was clearly boosted as a response to the pathogen. The most notable upregulated C. rosea genes were those encoding proteins involved in cellular response to oxidative stress, proteases, G-protein signaling, and the methyltransferase LaeA. The most notable potato response to both fungi was downregulation of defense-related genes and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinases. At a later stage, this shifted, and most potato defense genes were turned on, especially those involved in terpenoid biosynthesis when H. solani was present. Some biocontrol-activated defense-related genes in potato were upregulated during early interaction with C. rosea alone that were not triggered by H. solani alone. Our results indicate that the reductions of silver scurf using C. rosea are probably due to a combination of mechanisms, including mycoparasitism, biocontrol-activated stimulation of plant defense mechanisms, microbial competition for nutrients, space, and antibiosis.
Abstract
This study describes the first Norwegian microbial source tracking (MST) approach for water quality control and pollution removal from catchment run-off in a nature-based treatment system (NBTS) with a constructed wetland. The applied MST tools combined microbial analyses and molecular tests to detect and define the source(s) and dominant origin(s) of faecal water contamination. Faecal indicator bacteria Escherichia coli and host-specific Bacteroidales 16 s rRNA gene markers have been employed. The study revealed that the newly developed contribution profiling of faecal origin derived from the Bacteroidales DNA could quantitatively distinguish between human and non-human pollution origins. Further, the outcomes of the MST test have been compared with the results of both physicochemical analyses and tests of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). A strong positive correlation was discovered between the human marker and PPCPs. Gabapentin was the most frequently detected compound and it showed the uppermost positive correlation with the human marker. The study demonstrated that the NBTS performs satisfactorily with the removal of E. coli but not PPCPs. Interestingly, the presence of PPCPs in the water samples was not correlated with high concentrations of E. coli. Neither has the latter an apparent correlation with the human marker.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Green roofs are used increasingly to alleviate peaks of water discharge into the sewage systems in urban areas. Surface runoff from roofs contain pollutants from dry and wet deposition, and green roofs offer a possibility to reduce the amounts of pollutants in the water discharged from roofs by degradation and filtering. These pollutants would otherwise enter wastewater treatments plants and ultimately end up in sewage sludge that is spread on agricultural soils. The most common substrates used in green roofs have limited capacity for filtration and sorption. Also, more sustainable alternatives are sought, due to the high carbon footprint of these materials. Biochar is a carbon-rich material produced by pyrolysis of biomass, and several types of biochar have been described as good sorbents and filter materials. Biochar is also a light and carbon negative material, which may fulfill other desired criteria for new green roof substrates. We here report on an experiment where two types of biochar, produced from olive husks at 450 °C or from forest waste at 850 ° C were mixed with volcanic rock or peat, and tested for retention capacity of phenanthrene and six heavy metals in a column experiment with unsaturated gravimetric water flow lasting for 3 weeks. The results suggest that biochar as a component in green roof substrates perform better than traditional materials, concerning retention of the tested pollutants, and that different types of biochar have different properties in this respect.
Authors
Lampros LamprinakisAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Hana Šillerová Vladislav Chrastný Martina Vitková Anna Francová Jan Jehlička Marissa R. Gutsch Jana Kocourková Paul Eric Aspholm Lars Ola Nilsson Tore Flatlandsmo Berglen Henning K.B. Jensen Michael KomárekAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
During the past two decades, significant spread of the perennial weeds Juncus effusus (soft rush) and Juncus conglomeratus (compact rush) in coastal parts of Norway seems to have coincided with an observed rise in winter temperatures. This study investigated the frost tolerance (LT50) and effects of moderate frost exposure on rush plant regrowth over time during the period late November to late winter/spring, and photosynthetic activity in late winter/spring. Juncus effusus and J. conglomeratus of physiologically young age (seedlings) displayed similar high frost tolerance (LT50) and did not differ significantly in regenerative ability following prolonged frost exposure. Regrowth capacity generally increased during winter and when stress conditions increased, shoot formation was prioritised over total biomass production. Maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) and performance index of photosystem II (PI) were high in late winter/spring, with J. effusus showing higher values than J. conglomeratus. Green, photosynthetically active shoots, which facilitate accumulation of carbohydrates during autumn and even in winter, may provide Juncus spp. with substantial competitiveness in late winter and spring. The results revealed that the dominance of J. effusus over J. conglomeratus in pastures and leys is not due to major differences in winter survival parameters, but probably the higher photosynthetic efficiency observed in J. effusus. Generally higher temperatures during winter and lower frost kill may be contributing to the current increase in rush infestation.
Abstract
This work presents the outcomes from two independent studies evaluating the chemical quality of groundwater in agricultural areas irrigated with wastewater from sugar and yeast industries. The evaluation was determined using chemical parameters representing typical contaminants of sugar industry wastewater (SIWW) and yeast industry wastewater (YIWW), and characterising the content of organic matter (BOD5), nutrients (NH4-N, NO3-N, TN and TP) and salts (Cl, SO4, Na and K). The studies reveal that food industry wastewater constitutes a valuable water-nutrient-rich medium that can be reused in agricultural applications as an alternative water resource for irrigation and nutrients for fertilisation. Furthermore, the reuse facilitates the sustainable discharge of wastewater through a soil-aquifer zone to the natural environment. This does not affect chemical quality of groundwater, which was comparable in areas irrigated and non-irrigated with SIWW and YIWW. Although some parameters (NO3-N, NH4-N, SO4, Cl and Na) displayed higher concentrations in groundwater from the fields irrigated with wastewater, these contents were within recommended healthbased guideline limits defined in either the groundwater quality standards or the drinking water quality norms. Only the contents of K revealed an exclusive groundwater impact from wastewater irrigation. This was confirmed in statistical tests employing theWard’s hierarchical clustering method, which exposed excessive amounts of K introduced into groundwater through irrigation with both SIWW and YIWW. However, this parameter is not considered to pose any health risk to humans or the environment, and its content is not restricted by quality guideline values for either groundwater or drinking water.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered