Triagem de hidrolases por metagenômica de solos agrícolas do Norte do Paraná.

Hidrolases englobam um grupo de enzimas que catalisam a quebra de ligações covalentes em reação com água; entre elas estão as proteases, amilases, lipases, pectinases, celulases e catalases. Essas enzimas são muito importantes, com ampla utilização na indústria em geral. O solo é um ambiente muito rico e diverso em microrganismos, sendo considerado a maior fonte para obtenção de substâncias, enzimas e antibióticos, por exemplo. Com a metagenômica, passou a ser possível acessar melhor esse potencial microbiano, permitindo a descoberta de novos genes e biomoléculas. Neste estudo foram coletadas amostras de solos (0-10 cm de profundidade) do norte do Paraná visando buscar hidrolases microbianas funcionais. Foi realizada a extração do DNA de um Latossolo Vermelho Eutroférrico sob quatro manejos de solo e de culturas distintos e as amostras foram submetidas ao sequenciamento utilizando a plataforma 454 (Applied Science). As sequências de DNA foram comparadas com o banco de dados não redundante (NR) do NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) e KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) para busca de similaridade com proteases, amilases, lipases, pectinases, celulases e catalases. A partir do DNA total foram realizadas reações de PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) com primers degenerados direcionados para a amplificação de pectinases, celulases e lacases e os produtos de PCR foram purificados com Purelink kit (Invitrogen®) e sequenciados (ABI 3500xL, Aplied Biosystems®). A comparação com as sequências do NCBI e KEGG resultou na identificação de 1.137 sequências com grande similaridade com a enzima lacase; 16.883 sequências para celulase; 2.001 para pectinase; 1.006 para amilase; e 3.725 para lipase. Esses resultados mostram que esses solos agrícolas representam uma fonte importante de recursos biológicos para aplicação industrial, principalmente de enzimas celulases. Até o presente momento, o sequenciamento de 26 produtos amplificados por PCR apresentou identidade para uma amostra, que foi identificada como a enzima celulase.

Climate seasonality limits leaf carbon assimilation and wood productivity in tropical forests.

The seasonal climate drivers of the carbon cy- cle in tropical forests remain poorly known, although these forests account for more carbon assimilation and storage than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Based on a unique combina- tion of seasonal pan-tropical data sets from 89 experimental sites (68 include aboveground wood productivity measure- ments and 35 litter productivity measurements), their asso- ciated canopy photosynthetic capacity (enhanced vegetation index, EVI) and climate, we ask how carbon assimilation and aboveground allocation are related to climate seasonal- ity in tropical forests and how they interact in the seasonal carbon cycle. We found that canopy photosynthetic capacity seasonality responds positively to precipitation when rain- fall is < 2000 mm yr-1 (water-limited forests) and to radia- tion otherwise (light-limited forests). On the other hand, in- dependent of climate limitations, wood productivity and lit- terfall are driven by seasonal variation in precipitation and evapotranspiration, respectively. Consequently, light-limited forests present an asynchronism between canopy photosyn- thetic capacity and wood productivity. First-order control by precipitation likely indicates a decrease in tropical forest pro- ductivity in a drier climate in water-limited forest, and in cur- rent light-limited forest with future rainfall < 2000 mm yr-1.

Effect of nitrogen fertilization on soil microbial biomass in an Oxisol cultivated with irrigated barley in the Brazilian Cerrado.

Abstract:The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different nitrogen doses and five period of sample collection, on soil microbial biomass - nitrogen (SMB-N), total nitrogen (total N) and percentual ratio of the microbial biomass and total N (SMB-N/total N) in a Oxisol cultivated with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). The experiment was installed in June, 2005, in an area located at Embrapa Cerrados, Federal District. The experimental design was a randomized block, with three replicates. The plots received doses of nitrogen: 20 - 40 - 80 kg ha-1 N and a control without it and the subplots were period of soil sample. Three applications of N were realized: 10 kg ha-1 on the 5th day (06/14) after sowing; the rest of N was parceled in two applications with fertigation, on tillage, on the 27th (07/08) DAP, e no 43rd (07/22) DAP. Soil samples layer (0 - 10 cm deep) were collected for (SMB-N) determination and total N in six periods: 02 days before of the first fertigation; 02 days after of the first fertigation; 04 days before of the last fertigation and 04 days after of the last fertigation; on flowering stage and after harvesting. There was effect of the doses of N and the period of soil collection on the SMB-N, total N and in the ratio SMB-N/total N. The average values of total N revealed steadier in short-term (cycle of the culture) and this was not a good parameter to evaluate the behavior and N transformations in the soil-plant system. Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el efecto de diferentes dosis de nitrógeno y cinco período de muestreo en la biomasa microbiana del complejo suelo - nitrogeno (BMS-N), nitrógeno total (N total) y la relación porcentual de la biomasa microbiana y N total (BMS-N/N total) en un Oxisol cultivado con cebada (Hordeum vulgare L.). El estudio se inició en junio de 2005 en la estación experimental de la Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (Embrapa-Cerrados), Distrito Federal, Brazil. El experimento se dispuso en bloques al azar con tres repeticiones. Las parcelas recibieron dosis de nitrógeno: 20 - 40 - 80 kg/ha de N más un control sin N, y las subparcelas fueron el periodo de muestro. Las aplicaciones de N se realizaron de la forma siguiente: cinco días después de la siembra (dds) se aplicaron 10 kg/ha y el resto de la dosis se aplicó con fertirrigación en dos dosis 27 y 43 dds. Las muestras de suelo (0-10 cm de profundidad) para determinar BMS-N y N total fueron tomadas, 2 días antes e igual número de días después de la primera fertirrigación y 4 días antes y después de la última, en floración y después de la cosecha. No se encontró efecto de las dosis de N y el período de muestreo en el BMS-N, N total y en la relación BMS-N/N total. Los valores medios de N total fueron más estable en el corto plazo (ciclo de la cultivo) lo que indica que éste no es un buen parámetro para evaluar la dinámica del N y sus transformaciones en el sistema suelo-planta.