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.
2009
Academic – Threshold facilitations of interacting species
Bjørn Økland, Olav Skarpaas, Kyrre Kausrud
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Ole Martin Eklo Randi Bolli Jens Kværner Tore Sveistrup Frauke Hofmeister Eivind Solbakken Nicolas Jarvis Fredrik Stenemo Eirik Romstad Borghild Glorvigen Tor Anton GurenAbstract
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Denitrification is a key ecosystem process which is essential to avoid massive enrichment of nitrate in surface and ground water. A rather narrow group of bacteria are able to carry out denitrification, and they are known to be sensitive to environmentally toxic pollutants like e.g. heavy metals. Since these microorganisms carry out a key ecosystem function, they are strong candidates for testing and monitoring environmental effects of toxic substances likely to reach the soil environment. We conducted a series of experiments where either a pure strain of a denitrifying bacterium (Paracoccus denitrificans) or intact soil microbial communities containing indigenous denitrifiers were subjected to different types of silver nanoparticles (average particle size 20 and 1 nm) at a wide range of concentrations. The results showed that the smallest particles were far more toxic than the larger ones on a mass basis and completely killed off denitrifying bacteria in vitro at concentrations as low as 100 ppb. When soil was present, this concentration had no effect on respiration and even the far more sensitive process of denitrification, measured as production of the gases NO, N2O and N2, was unaffected. Results from experiments that are under way will also be presented. Here threshold levels for inhibition of denitrification by P. denitrificans and intact microbial communities are established for the two types of silver nanoparticles and where toxicity is compared when expressed on a mass basis vs. a surface area basis. Also the sensitivity of the different steps in the denitrification process will be compared and related to corresponding data for dissolved metals. The perspectives for using denitrification impediment as a way to assess ecotoxicity at a functional level will be discussed.
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Silver nanoparticles constitute one of the most common nanomaterials used in consumer products today, and the volumes used are increasing dramatically. Silver is an element known for its acute toxicity to both prokaryotes and a range of aquatic organisms. While ecotoxicity studies on nano-sliver is being studied at species level for some aquatic organisms, corresponding studies on terrestrial organisms are lagging behind. Also, studies targeting functional endpoints rather than purely physiological aspects are lacking. We have compared two types of nano-silver differing in average particle size (1 and 20 nm) with respect to their inhibitory effects on a pure strain of the soil bacterium Paracoccus sp. Which is an efficient denitrifyer capable of transforming NO3 into N2. This process is an important step in the biogeochemical cycling of N, and one that may potentially produce large amounts of the potent green house gas N2O if impeded by environmental pollutants. The results show that nano-silver is highly toxic to denitrifying bacteria and that low amounts severely affect the process of denitrification. Studies using indigenous denitrifying bacterial communities incubated in the presence of different concentrations of nano-silver in soil slurries are under way and will provide data where soil constituents affect the bioavailability nano-silver in a close to realistic exposure scenario. The implications of the relationship between toxicity levels in pure cultures and soil slurries will be discussed regarding the bioavailability of nanoparticles as pollutants in terrestrial environments.
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Authors
Nadeem Yaqoob Jan Karlsson Benedicte Riber Albrectsen Halvor Solheim Carl Gunnar FossdalAbstract
In natural conditions plants are continuously exposed to number of pathogens both biotrophs and necrotrophs. To understand their defense response at the transcript level two clones C72 and C23 with differential level of resistance from the SwAsp collection were inoculated with a biotroph (Melampsora magnusiana Wagnar) and necrotroph (Ceratocysis spp.) and compared to wounded and healthy controls. Samples were collected in leaves and areas some distance away from the inoculation site to examine the long distance (systemic) defense responses at day, day3 and day14 post treatments. We performed microarray experiments on the necrotrophic and biothrophic interaction compared with the healthy controls and found that the two clones respond in widely different fashions to the treatments applied. Clone C23 showed almost no response to biotroph and necrotroph inoculations after 24 hours while clone 72 gave a clear defense response to both pathogens. We are now in the process of verifying these results and looking at additional time-points using qRT-PCR.
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Tree and understorey fine root growth and longevity was determined by minirhizotrone research in northern Finland. The study was made in a 70-year-old Norway spruce stand, growing on a mesic mineral soil site in the Kivalo experimental forest. Three replicate plots were established, and three vertical minirhizotron tubes installed in June 2003 in soil of each of the three plots. The images were taken at monthly intervals (altogether 11 sessions) during the growing seasons 2004, 2005 and 2006. The lengths, diameters and status (new, living, dead, disappeared) of Norway spruce and understorey (mainly shrub) fine roots were recorded. Our data indicates that there were more new roots growing in the upper soil depths (the organic layer) than in the lower soil depths (mineral soil). Roots in the organic layer, however, elongated less than roots in the upper mineral soil. The growth rate was highest in late summer and early autumn. Regarding root longevity, both trees and understorey showed the same trends by root order and soil depth; the average longevity was 14-16 months. The time from death to disappearance was 6-8 months for trees and 2-7 months for understorey. Furthermore, monthly trends of new roots born versus their death and/or disappearance by soil depth are also presented.