Soil organisms

Volatilization. The susceptibility of a herbicide to loss through volatilization has received much attention, due in part to the realization that herbicides in the vapor phase may be transported large distances from the point of application. Volatilization losses can be as high as 80—90% of the total applied herbicide within several days of application. The processes that control the amount of herbicide volatilized are the evaporation of the herbicide from the solution or soHd phase into the air, and dispersal and dilution of the resulting vapor into the atmosphere (250). These processes are influenced by many factors including herbicide application rate, wind velocity, temperature, soil moisture content, and the compound s sorption to soil organic and mineral surfaces. Properties of the herbicide that influence volatility include vapor pressure, water solubility, and chemical stmcture (251). 

Considerable research has been conducted to investigate the soil sorption and mobiUty of dinitroaniline herbicides. In general, these herbicides are strongly sorbed by soil (354), and sorption has been correlated to both soil organic matter and clay content (355). Dinitroaniline herbicides are not readily leached in most soils (356), although leaching of triduralin is enhanced by addition of surfactants (357). 

Acid amide herbicides are nonionic and moderately retained by soils. The sorption of several acid amide herbicides has been investigated (369). Acetochlor [34256-82-1] is sorbed more than either alachlor or metolachlor, which are similarly sorbed by a variety of soils. Sorption of all the herbicides is well correlated to soil organic matter content. In a field lysimeter study, metolachlor has been found to be more mobile and persistent than alachlor (370) diphenamid [957-51-7] and napropamide [15299-99-2] have been found to be more readily leached (356). 

Pyridine herbicides are not strongly sorbed to soils and ate readily leached. The mobiUty of flutoxypyt [69377-81-7] has been found to decrease with increasing incubation time (399) this is attributed to entrapment of the herbicide within the soil organic matter. 

Sulfonylurea herbicides ate weak acids and, in general, ate not strongly sorbed to soils. Sorption of chlotsulfuton and metsulfuron—methyl is inversely related to soil pH (407) and is positively correlated to soil organic matter (408). 

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer incorporates nitrogen in both of the forms taken up by crops ammonia and nitrate ion. Fertilizers (qv) containing only ammoniacal nitrogen are often less effective, as many important crops tend to take up nitrogen mainly in the nitrate form and the ammonium ions must be transformed into nitrate by soil organisms before the nitrogen is readily available. This transformation is slow in cool, temperate zone soils. Thus, ammonium nitrate is a preferred source of fertilizer nitrogen in some countries. 

Persistence of pesticides in the environment is controlled by retention, degradation, and transport processes and their interaction. Retention refers to the abihty of the soil to bind a pesticide, preventing its movement either within or outside of the soil matrix. Retention primarily refers to the sorption process, but also includes absorption into the soil matrix and soil organisms, both plants and microorganisms. In contrast to degradation that decreases the absolute amount of the pesticide in the environment, sorption processes do not affect the total amount of pesticide present in the soil but can decrease the amount available for transformation or transport. 

Indirect methods of estimating sorption have been used when actual measurement of sorption isotherm is impossible (44). For instance, sorption coefficients have been estimated from soil organic carbon and a specific surface of soil, and from semiempidcal equations using pesticide properties. 

Preferential flow through root-mediated soil pores has been demonstrated for chloride, nitrate, and other ions that are not sorbed onto soil organic matter and clays. However, pesticide sorption onto soil affects both mobiUty of the pesticide as well as its residual life in the soil. Pesticide sorption onto root organic matter or organic linings of worm burrows may also slow transport of pesticides relative to water (72), thus countering the effects of increased permeabihty caused by roots. 

The first tetracycline discovered was produced by a soil organism, Streptomyces aureofiaciens and is now known as chlortetracycline [57-62-5] (2),... 

The fertilizer nitrogen in the soil organic matter was assumed to be remineralized in subsequent years according to the following pattern 10% in the first year, 3% of the remainder in the second year, and 1% of the remainder in each of all subsequent years. 

Remineralized from soil organic matter, then leached 7 2... 

Important intermedia transfer mechanisms affecting soil contaminants include volatilization or resuspension to the atmosphere and biouptake by plants and soil organisms. These, in turn, introduce contaminants into the food chain. 

Batcho indole synthesis is a useful tool for synthesis of naniral products. As oudined in Scheme 10.6, the Batcho indole synthesis is used for total synthesis of the slime mold alkaloid arcyriacyanin. Such indolocarbazole alkaloids represent a growing number of naniral products isolated from soil organism, slime molds, and marine sources. They are important as andnimor compounds and protein kinase C and topoisomerase inhibitors. 

Interrelated with change in particle size and changes in type and kind of soil minerals present, organic matter is formed and accumulates as an integral part of the soil. Organic-matter content varies from practically none in sands to almost 100%, as exemplified by peat formations. The amount of organic matter present thus reflects the interaction of all environmental... 

By 1945, Stacey speculated about the possibility of a structural relationship between Pneumococcus capsular polysaccharides and those produced by other organisms. With Miss Schliichterer, he had examined the capsular polysaccharide of Rhizobium radicicolum. This polysaccharide gave a precipitin reaction in high dilution, not only with Type III Pneumococcus antiserum, but also mixed with antisera from other Pneumococcus types. The chemical evidence indicated that the polysaccharide resembled the specific polysaccharides of Types I and II Pneumococcus. A decade later, the acidic capsular polysaccharide from Azoto-bacter chroococcum, a soil organism, was studied. It, too, produced serological cross-reactions with certain pneumococcal specific antisera. Although the molecular structure of the polysaccharide was not established, adequate evidence was accumulated to show a structural relationship to Type III Pneumococcus-specific polysaccharide. This was sufficiently close to account for the Type III serological cross-relationship. 

Some Physico-chemical Interactions of Paraquat with Soil Organic Materials and Model Compounds. I. Effects of Temperature, Time and Absorbate Degradation on Paraquat Adsorption, I. G. Bums, M. H. B. Hayes, and M. Stacey, Weed Res., 13 (1973) 67 -78. 

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