Actividad biológica y enzimática en suelos afectados por sales del Alto Valle de Río Negro y Neuquén / Biological and enzymatic activities in salts affected soils from Alto Valle de Río Negro and Neuquén

En el presente trabajo se estudiaron los cambios que provocó el lavado de cinco suelos afectados por sales sobre la actividad biológica (número de bacterias g-1y producción de CO2) y enzimática (catalasa, deshidrogenasa, ureasa y fosfotriesterasa) de los mismos. El lavado disminuyó la conductividad eléctrica (CE) y modificó el tipo de sales dominantes en los suelos. La producción de CO2 y la actividad de la fosfotriesterasa fue significativamente mayor (p<0,05) en un suelo lavado (Torrifluventes Típicos Centenario); el incremento fue del 88% y 71%, respectivamente. Los resultados demostraron que la disminución de la salinidad por lavado no ocasionó comportamientos significativamente diferentes, en la mayoría de los parámetros bióticos estudiados, bajo las condiciones en que se realizó este estudio.

Changes in the biological activity (number of bacteria g-1and CO2 production) and in the enzymatic activity (catalase, deshidrogenase, urease and phosphotriesterase) caused by the leaching of five soils affected by salts have been studied. The leaching decreased the electric conductivity (CE) and modified the type of dominant salts in the soils. Production of CO2and the activity of the phosphotriesterase was significantly higher (p<0,05) in a leached soil (Torrifluventes Typical Centennial); the increment were 88% and 71%, respectively. The results showed that the decrease of the salinity by leaching did not produce significantly different results in most of the biotic parameters analised.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria in soils of La Pampa province (Argentina)

The presence of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) was investigated in forty soil samples belonging to the four physiographic regions (Eastern, Central, Southern and Western) that constitute La Pampa province. The presence of NTM in 67.5 of these soil samples was determined. The density of mycobacteria ranged 25-4,500 mycobacteria g-1 dry soil (mean = 516 CFU g-1). Significant differences were found in relation to both the investigated regions (p < 0.01) and the soil pH (r = 0.44*) (P = 0.02). The mycobacteria represented less than 0.00001 of the total aerobic bacteria found in the soils. Twenty-seven isolated mycobacteria were classified according to the culture, biochemical, enzymatic characteristics and antibiotic sensitivity. Mycobacterium fortitium was the dominant mycobacterium and was detected in 63 of the positive soils. This species showed ability for living in sandy to sandy loam soils, within a wide pH range (6.5-9.7) and organic matter (4.15-83.63 g kg-1). Two other species were M. phlei (range = 50-4,500 CFU g-1) and M. kansasii (range = 50-500 CFU g-1).

Contaminación bacteriana y presencia de Sinorhizobium meliloti en aguas de los canales de riego del río Neuquén / Bacterial contamination and presence of Sinorhizobium meliloti in irrigation canal water from the NeuquÚn River

A survey of the changes in populations of heterotrophic bacteria, coliform microorganisms and S. meliloti was conducted in samples taken from the water irrigation channels of the NeuquÚn River (Argentina). Fifty-six water samples were collected during the spring-summer seasons of 1997-1999 years. Both the heterotrophic plate count bacterial and the number of coliforms oscillated between 110-5050 CFU/ml and 8-1400 CFU/100 ml, respectively, during the period this study was carried out. Fecal coliforms were detected in 91.1 of the water samples investigated. Moreover, the results showed that S. meliloti capable of nodulating alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Cuf 101 were present in 68 of the water samples and in effectiveness studies, no isolate out of 25 evaluated could be classified as superior N fixers. That is, they did not produce plants equal in weight to nitrate-grown plants (KNO3 0.05). All the S. meliloti strains were resistant to novobiocin and bacitracin, while 72 of the microsymbionts demonstrated resistance to between seven and ten antibiotics. Results presented in this study showed that irrigation waters of the NeuquÚn river could act as dispersal agents of both ineffective S. meliloti strains and thermotolerant coliform bacteria.

Efecto de pesticidas sobre cepas de Bacillus thuringiensis bajo condiciones controladas / Effect of pesticides on Bacillus thuringiensis strains under controlled conditions

Little is known about native populations of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) isolated from soils of Argentina. We undertook this study to determine the resistance to different pesticides of two commercial and fourteen native strains of Bt under in vitro conditions. An agar plate bioassay test conducted with ten pesticides and sixteen strains of Bt showed that Basagran, Scepter, Fungoxan and Decis were not toxic for the bioinsecticide bacteria at recommended application rates (RAR). In contrast, low concentrations (3.2 RAR) of Agil, Select and Isomero showed a deleterious effect on the bacteria investigated. Simultaneously, four of the pesticides were able to produce phenotypical changes on the Bt colonies grown on nutrient agar. Moreover, in a greenhouse experiment, seven pesticides applied at 1.6, 12.5 and 100 RAR on soybean leaves were not as inhibitory as under in vitro conditions for two Bt strains (HD-1 and A61). However, survival of these strains in the phyllosphere of soybean differed significantly between untreated leaves and leaves treated with pesticides after 20 days of study (P < 0.05). Finally, and from an ecological point of view, these findings suggest that the addition of some pesticides to soybean leaves in lower concentrations than those recommended could be favourable for the persistence of Bt in this environment.

Influence of pH on the toxicity and survival of total cells and spores of Bacillus thuringiensis

Entre los grupos de microorganismos que se estudian por su potencial entomopatógeno, B. thuringiensis (Bt) es sin lugar a dudas la bacteria de mayor importancia en el control de insectos, plagas y vectores. En este trabajo se estudió la patogenicidad y sobrevivencia de células totales y de esporas de tres cepas de B. thuringiensis autóctonas de suelos argentinos (A61, A27 y A68) y una cepa comercial HD-1, a distintas concentraciones de ión hidrógeno (pH=4,4; 5,4;7,4; 8,4; 9,4 y 10,4), bajo condiciones de laboratorio. No se observó disminución de la toxicidad de las cepas desarrolladas a distintos valores de pH en bioensayos contra Cydia pomonella. El mayor efecto antimicrobiano sobre el número de esporas y células totales se detectó a pH 4,4. El pH 5,4 fue el que permitió un mayor índice de sobrevivencia en los serotipos investigados. Tres cepas de Bt (A61,A27,HD-1) mostraron alta toxicidad contra C. pomonella. El serotipo sotto, sin embargo, no produjo ese efecto