Biology subjects

Pitre, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Pitre, F..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Fertilisation of agricultural soils with municipal biosolids: Part 1- Glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid inputs to Quebec field crop soils

Municipal biosolids (MBS) are suggested to be abundant, sustainable, inexpensive fertilisers, rich in phosphorus and nitrogen. However, MBS can also contain glyphosate and phosphonates that can degrade to AMPA. Glyphosate-based herbicides (HBG) are used in field crops all over the world. Most glyphosate generally degrades within a few weeks, mainly as aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). AMPA is more persistent than glyphosate, and can accumulate from one crop year to the next. AMPA is phytotoxic even to glyphosate-resistant crops. The aims of this study were to assess whether applications of MBS significantly contribute to: 1) glyphosate and AMPA contents of agricultural soils, 2) trace metal elements contents, and 3) partial replacement of mineral fertilisation while maintaining similar yields. To this end, four experimental agricultural sites were selected in Quebec (Canada). Soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected to estimate the as yet unmeasured contribution of BSM application to glyphosate and AMPA inputs in agricultural soils. MBS applied in 2021 and 2022 had mean concentrations of 0.69 {+/-} 0.53 {micro}g glyphosate/dry g and 6.26 {+/-} 1.93 {micro}g AMPA/dry g. Despite the presence of glyphosate and AMPA in MBS, monitoring of these two compounds in corn and soybean crops over two years showed no significant difference between plots treated with and without MBS applications. For the same site, yields measured at harvest were similar between treatments. MBS application could thus represent a partial alternative to mineral fertilisers for field crops, while limiting the economic and environmental costs associated with their incineration and landfilling. It is also an economic advantage for agricultural producers given the possibility of using fewer mineral fertilisers and therefore reducing the environmental impact of their use. HighlightsMunicipal biosolids (MBS) offer significant potential for fertilising field crops MBS contain significant amounts of both glyphosate and AMPA Soil chemistry and crop yields were followed in MBS treated and untreated plots Glyphosate and AMPA contents in soil do not increase with MBS treatment MBS are a good substitute for mineral fertilisers leading to similarly crop yields Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=78 SRC="FIGDIR/small/571753v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (29K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c77e75org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@13f483dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19fbe42org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@83f04c_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Fertilisation of agricultural soils with municipal biosoilds: Part 2- Site properties, environmental factors, and crop identify influence soil bacterial communities more than municipal biosolid application

Reducing the environmental impact of Canadian field crop agriculture, including the reliance on conventional synthesised fertilisers, are key societal targets for establishing long-term sustainable practices. Municipal biosolids (MSB) are an abundant, residual organic material, rich in phosphate, nitrogen and other oligo-nutrients, that could be used in conjunction with conventional fertilisers to decrease their use. Though MBS have previously been shown to be an effective fertiliser substitute for different crops, including corn and soybean, there remain key knowledge gaps concerning the impact of MBS on the resident soil bacterial communities in agro-ecosystems. We hypothesised that the MBS fertiliser amendment would not significantly impact the structure or function of the soil bacterial communities, nor contribute to the spread of human pathogenic bacteria, in corn or soybean agricultural systems. In field experiments, fertiliser regimes for both crops were amended with MBS, and compared to corn and soybean plots with standard fertiliser treatments. We repeated this across four different agricultural sites in Quebec, over 2021 and 2022. We sampled MBS-treated, and untreated soils, and identified the composition of the soil bacterial communities via 16S rRNA metabarcoding. We found no indication that the MBS fertiliser amendment altered the structure of the soil bacterial communities, but rather that the soil type and crop identities were the most significant factors in structuring the bacterial communities. Moreover, there was no evidence that the MBS-treated soils experienced a shift in functions, nor contributed potential human bacterial pathogens over the two years of our study. Our analysis indicates that not only can MBS function as substitutes for conventional, synthesised fertilisers, but that they also do not disrupt the structure, or function, of the resident soil bacterial communities in the short term. Finally, we suggest that the use of MBS in agro-ecosystems poses no greater concern to the public than existing soil bacterial communities. HighlightsO_LIMunicipal biosolids may represent a sustainable fertiliser substitute C_LIO_LIBut, the impact of biosolids on soil bacteria in agricultural fields is unknown C_LIO_LIUsing 16S rRNA metabarcoding we analysed community structure and functions C_LIO_LIWe found no disruption of soil bacterial communities fertilised with biosolids C_LIO_LIBiosolids are safe, sustainable fertilisers with little impact on soil bacteria C_LI Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=115 SRC="FIGDIR/small/571735v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (35K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1b9ca2corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@8818d2org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1158864org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@ad952f_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

ePlant in 2021: New Species, Viewers, Data Sets, and Widgets

ePlant was introduced in 2017 for exploring large Arabidopsis thaliana data sets from the kilometre to nanometre scales. In the past four years we have used the ePlant framework to develop ePlants for 15 agronomically-important species: maize, poplar, tomato, Camelina sativa, soybean, potato, barley, Medicago truncatula, eucalyptus, rice, willow, sunflower, Cannabis sativa, wheat and sugarcane. We also updated the interface to improve performance and accessibility, and added two new views to the Arabidopsis ePlant - the Navigator and Pathways viewers. The former shows phylogenetic relationships between homologs in other species and their expression pattern similarities, with links to view data for those genes in the respective ePlants. The latter shows Plant Reactome metabolic reactions. We also describe new Arabidopsis data sets including single cell RNA-seq data from roots, and how to embed ePlant eFP expression pictographs into any web page.

bioinformatics↗