Publications by authors named "Michaela Reay"
The differential soil microbial assimilation of common nitrogen (N) fertilizer compounds into the soil organic N pool is revealed using novel compound-specific amino acid (AA) 15N-stable isotope probing. The incorporation of fertilizer 15N into individual AAs reflected the known biochemistry of N assimilation-e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMass spectral characterisation of cyclic oligoesters in a biodegradable mulch film.
Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom
May 2024
Article Synopsis
- Plastic mulch film helps manage weeds and moisture in crops, but the chemical makeup of these films raises concerns about contributing to environmental chemical burden due to unknown substances.
- Researchers used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to analyze extracts from a specific plastic mulch to identify its additive components and unknown substances (NIASs), which weren't easily identified through standard methods.
- The study discovered several unknown NIASs as cyclic oligoesters derived from the polymer structure, revealing unexpected components and emphasizing the need for systematic chemical analyses of plastics used in agriculture.
Article Synopsis
- The shift from foraging to farming in the ancient Northeast Baltic reveals significant complexities and regional differences that are not fully understood.
- This study combines multiple scientific analyses to provide a comprehensive view of early farming practices in the 3rd millennium cal BCE, emphasizing the coexistence of different dietary habits among communities.
- Rather than a straightforward transition to farming, a diverse system emerged with local hunter-gatherers maintaining their lifestyles while newcomers practiced mixed economies, indicating a long-lasting interaction between these groups without full adoption of agriculture.
Over the last 50 years, the intense use of agricultural plastic in the form of mulch films has led to an accumulation of plastic in soil, creating a legacy of plastic in agricultural fields. Plastic often contains additives, however it is still largely unknown how these compounds affect soil properties, potentially influencing or masking effects of the plastic itself. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pure plastics of varying sizes and concentrations, to improve our understanding of plastic-only interactions within soil-plant mesocosms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicro and macroplastics are emerging contaminants in agricultural settings, yet their impact on nitrogen (N) cycling and partitioning in plant-soil-microbial systems is poorly understood. In this mesocosm-scale study, spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was exposed to macro or microplastic produced from low density polyethylene (LDPE) or biodegradable plastic at concentrations equivalent to 1, 10 and 20 years of plastic mulch film use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Scientists studied how nitrogen (N) moves from white clover plants to ryegrass plants in a shared field to see if clover could help ryegrass get enough nitrogen.
- They found that only a little nitrogen actually transferred to the ryegrass, mostly from the clover's roots releasing it and from decomposing plant parts.
- The amount of nitrogen that did transfer was affected by things like soil bugs, which can help or hurt the process, and how the land was managed, like whether animals grazed there.
Amino sugars can be used as indices to evaluate the role of soil microorganisms in active nitrogen (N) cycling in soil. This paper details the assessment of the suitability of gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) for the analysis of N-enriched amino sugars as alditol acetate derivatives prior to application of a novel N stable isotope probing (SIP) approach to amino sugars. The efficient derivatization and cleanup of alditol acetate derivatives for GC was achieved using commercially available amino sugars, including glucosamine, mannosamine, galactosamine, and muramic acid, as laboratory standards.
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