New Technologies in Management of Soil Processes and Nutrient Cycling

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 1952

Special Issue Editors

Department of Soil and Water Science, College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: soil fertility management; composting technology; biochar application
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: soil disinfection; soil health restoration; soil pollution remediation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The continuous and rapid development of science and technology is inescapable, including in the subject of soil processes and nutrient cycling. New concepts and technologies have emerged and developed in this subject, interweaving with new areas such as nanotechnology, material science, and advanced making. These developments have promise and provide hope for our ability to face the pressing challenges of food security, environmental sustainability, and ecological adaption.

These changes are ongoing, and many researchers are working to develop even more important changes. Thus, at this time, a short summary of these changes is needed, both for fruitful retrospection and for a hopeful prospect. In this Special Issue, the new technologies used in the management of soil processes and nutrient cycling will be discussed. The topics of interest for this Special Issue include but are not limited to the following:

  • Improvement of soil water holding capacity and soil physical properties;
  • Improvement of soil cation exchange capacity and soil chemical properties;
  • Enhancing soil nitrogen supply in non-chemical fertilizer cropping systems;
  • Microbial improvement of soil P and K supply;
  • Improving soil health by plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR);
  • New technologies in waste composting;
  • New ways to improve organic fertilizer value;
  • New material used in soil pollution remediation;
  • New industrial tools in fertilization and irrigation;
  • New information tools in land resource management.

Prof. Dr. Guitong Li
Dr. Qiuxia Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • soil water holding capacity
  • soil cation exchange capacity
  • soil nitrogen supply
  • PGPR
  • composting
  • soil pollution remediation
  • fertilization irrigation
  • information tools
  • land resource management

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 1309 KiB  
Article
A Novel Application of Laser in Biocontrol of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria
by Nermin El Semary, Haifa Al Naim and Munirah F. Aldayel
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 4933; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12104933 - 13 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1509
Abstract
The effect of laser radiation has never been tested on the antimicrobial activity of cyanobacterial extracts. In order to investigate this, aqueous extracts from three cyanobacterial strains identified as Thermoleptolyngbya sp., Leptolyngbya sp., and Synechococcus elongatus were exposed to laser radiation. The aqueous [...] Read more.
The effect of laser radiation has never been tested on the antimicrobial activity of cyanobacterial extracts. In order to investigate this, aqueous extracts from three cyanobacterial strains identified as Thermoleptolyngbya sp., Leptolyngbya sp., and Synechococcus elongatus were exposed to laser radiation. The aqueous extracts both directly exposed to the laser and those derived from pre-exposed biomass were tested for their antimicrobial activity to select the most active extracts under different exposure times and distances from the laser source. Methods: A fixed weight of one-month old cyanobacterial biomass was used in extraction. Another similar biomass was exposed to laser before aqueous extraction. The laser treatment was performed using two distances, 5 and 10 cm, with three exposure times, 4, 16, and 32 min. The antimicrobial assay was performed against the bacterial plant pathogen, whose identity was confirmed by molecular analysis and cell wall structure by a Gram stain. Results: The pathogenic bacterium was identified as Gram-negative Pantoae vagans. The aqueous extract that was not exposed to laser treatment (control) was mostly ineffective against the pathogenic bacterium, whereas a significant increase in the antimicrobial effect was observed for the extract directly exposed to the laser followed by the extract derived from laser-pre-exposed cyanobacterial biomass. In the case of Synechococcus elongatus extracts, the extract that was directly exposed to the laser showed the highest statistically significant antimicrobial activity against Pantoea vagans, with an inhibition zone of 15.5 mm, at 10 cm and 4 min of laser treatment. Conclusions: This is the first report on the effect of laser on enhancing the antimicrobial profile of cyanobacterial extracts. The direct exposure of cyanobacterial extracts to the laser was more effective and biologically safer than exposing the biomass itself prior to extraction. The laser used was a monochromatic red light within the visible range. This radiation increased the antimicrobial activity of cyanobacterial extracts and can be used as an eco-friendly biocontrol strategy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Technologies in Management of Soil Processes and Nutrient Cycling)
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