ACS agricultural science & technology最新文献

Pheromone dispensers are essential tools in integrated pest management (IPM) to reduce chemical pesticide use, particularly in food storage environments. Silicone-based dispensers (SD) are a gold standard due to their low cost and controlled pheromone release, but pose environmental/health risks related to plastic/chemicals pollution. Oleogel-based dispensers (OD) represent a biodegradable alternative, offering the advantage of pheromone incorporation during material preparation, ensuring uniform dispersion, controlled release kinetics, and reduced production steps. This study compared the performance of OD and SD over a 90-day period (at three time points: T0, T45, and T90) in attracting Plodia interpunctella. Both dispensers experienced efficacy reduction over time, but no statistically significant differences emerged between SD and OD. These results highlight OD as a promising, sustainable alternative to SD, with future work needed to optimize its formulation and validate its real-world applications.

The immobilization of beneficial bacteria using innovative techniques such as JetCutter has garnered attention in agriculture due to its high efficiency and production rate. This study focused on immobilizing Bacillus pumilus using alginate hydrogels with JetCutter to enhance water retention in soil and plant biostimulant properties. Key operational parameters, bacterial viability, auxin production, and microparticle effects were evaluated. Operating at 445 rpm and a flow of 6.55 g s^–1 was critical for optimal matrix formation. The resulting dried microparticles ranged from 0.52 to 0.99 mm in size, with a water retention capacity of 67% w/w. After 180 days, the cell viability was 2.61 × 10⁹ CFU mL^–1, with average auxin production of 162.02 and 208.94 μg g^–1 with and without l-tryptophan, demonstrating the effectiveness of this technique in maintaining bacterial activity. This study aimed at developing a biofertilizer based on natural polymers using the JetCutter tool, specifically in the context of sustainable agriculture for enhancing plant resilience to water-deficit conditions, and the optimization of microbial formulations. The innovative approach of utilizing the JetCutter technology for producing agricultural biofertilizers represents a novel application that could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of biofertilizer production.

Aleurocanthus spiniferus is an important tea plant pest globally. The effective chemical control of the whitefly is challenging due to its overlapping generations of a large individual number of minuscule wax-covered nymphs and pupae inhabiting the underside of mature leaves within shaded tea bushes. Moreover, the pandemic of tea sooty mold always occurs with its outbreaks. After emergence, whitefly adults engage in mating, ovipositing, excreting honeydew, piercing, and sucking on tea shoots. Our study showed that whitefly adults highly preferred the jasmine yellow sticky boards, each baited with a tea plant volatiles-based 6-component attractant lure (60 mg loading) consisting of benzaldehyde, 1-hexanol, methyl salicylate, trans-2-hexenal, cis-3-hexen-1-ol, and linalool at a 1:2:4:4:7:12 ratio, denoted as the Aleurocanthus spiniferus attractant with a sticky jasmine yellow board (ASASJYB). The effective trapping distance of ASASJYBs was determined to be 12 m, with whitefly adult catches on each board ranging from dozens to 40,000 individuals within several days. Trapping by ASASJYBs could accurately predict the beginning, peak, and ending periods of the emergence and also catch significant numbers of the gravid females. From end March to early April, application of ASASJYBs at a rate of 225 traps per ha in tea plantations could catch the most overwintering-generation adults and consequently suppress the whole year’s whitefly nymph and pupal populations below the control threshold. In main Chinese tea-growing regions, ASASJYBs have been widely used to control the whiteflies efficiently and in an eco-friendly manner.

Glass fertilizers (GF) appear promising for use in agriculture since they can be “constructed” according to the demands of crops in the necessary quantities of macro and micronutrients in a single product. In the design of a GF, the different growth stages of a crop can be contemplated by considering the soil pH, irrigation regime, and composition. In this study, a multicomponent oxide glass is formulated for the nutritional Palisade grass (cv Piatã), used as a model for nutrients released in greenhouse experiments. The GF composition, which included P₂O₅–SiO₂–B₂O₃–CaO–K₂O–MgO–MnO₂–MoO₃–ZnO, was melted, cooled into a glass, and comminuted into grains with a particle size distribution between 0.85 and 2.0 mm in diameter. The GF solubility was previously evaluated through immersion in deionized water and citric acid-sodium citrate buffer solutions at different pH levels at 25 °C for 64 h. The undissolved glass fractions were analyzed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman. The nutrient release rates, solubility, and results from five sequential harvests of Palisade grass were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The previous study reveals a slow release of nutrients through two dissolution mechanisms, ion exchange and hydrolysis reactions. Greenhouse experiments showcased the gradual release of nutrients and highlighted GF’s efficiency in providing a continuous nutrient supply from a single fertilization. Compared with experiments using soluble salts in the same amount of the GF, it consistently produced a higher dry matter yield (DMY) than the control. It was observed that yields for five cuts presented approximately 70% greater agronomic efficiency for the experiment with GF. Standard ecotoxicological tests were also conducted. It was performed with Allium cepa and Lactuca sativa, and no genotoxic or phytotoxic effects were observed for the various concentrations and sizes of particles employed. These results represented a significant stride toward developing environmentally friendly glass fertilizers for prolonged nutrient release and tuned for precision farming.

Fenitrothion is one of the most commonly used organophosphorus pesticides to combat pest invasion and increase crop yields. However, since the toxicity of fenitrothion residues after its use poses a serious threat to the surrounding environment, rapid and sensitive detection of the pesticide fenitrothion will help prevent pesticide poisoning and its overspray. In this study, CeO₂/NiCo(OH)_x nanomaterials were synthesized in situ by a two-step reflux method using a cobalt(II)-based metal–organic framework ZIF-67 as a precursor. Nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) was then combined with it by ultrasonic treatment to prepare CeO₂/NG/NiCo(OH)_x composites. This composite can be used for the direct detection of the insecticide fenitrothion. The study extensively characterized the composites using SEM, XRD, and EDS, confirming their unique nanostructures and elemental compositions. The experimental results showed that the CeO₂/NG/NiCo(OH)_x/GCE sensing electrode exhibited a linear response in the concentration ranges of 0.1–1.0 and 1.0–10.0 μM, respectively, with a detection limit of 5.0 nM and recoveries ranging from 97.8 to 106.7% for fenitrothion, which makes it suitable for the ultrasensitive detection of fenitrothion in real environmental samples. The sensor shows ultrasensitive detection of fenitrothion, which will be of significant impact and wide interest to users and farmers in agricultural safeguarding and environmental protection.

Liquid fertilizers with a high plant uptake and low energy consumption have aroused wide attention in the world for the agriculture industry. However, the slow release of liquid fertilizers remains a challenge because the molecules with an angstrom scale (e.g., urea) in water are easy to pass through the nanopores even in the hydrophobic encapsulating materials. In this study, a Pickering emulsion slow-release strategy is for the first time developed for the delivery of liquid nitrogen fertilizer. In the whole process, the Pickering emulsifier concentration and oil/water ratio are used to regulate the emulsion stability, leading to the slow release of liquid fertilizer in calcium alginate capsules encapsulated with urea-loaded water-in-oil Pickering emulsions (CUPEs), allowing for a rate of release to be achieved at 81.30% in 96 days in soil with a release curve that follows the “S” curve of plant growth, which is higher than the previous literature. More importantly, the CUPE-treated maize plants exhibit favorable growth conditions. Overall, this work presents an effective slow-release method and mechanism for delivering liquid nutrients, which is expected to open a new avenue for the effective use of agrochemicals to address population and environmental crises.

Polyvinyl chloride microplastics (PVC-MPs) pollution is drawing increasing attention, especially due to concerns about the environmental safety of the diverse additives that they contain. To date, few ecotoxicity data are available for PVC MP-derived chemicals. Here, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedling roots were used to comparatively evaluate the toxicity of three commonly studied PVC MP-derived chemicals (2,4-dimethyl-6-s-hexadecylphenol─Irganox 1076 and tris (2,4-ditert-butylphenyl) phosphate─Irgafos 168-ox, and erucamide─Eru). These chemicals were evaluated individually and in combination. Exposure to these chemicals caused dose-dependent reductions in root dry weight (0.39%–19.29%) and root length (0.11%–8.15%). While Irganox 1076 and Eru had minimal impact on root activity and the antioxidant system, Irgafos 168-ox and its mixture induced significant elevations of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and APX) activities and antioxidants (AsA and GSH) concentrations in the roots, enhancing the antioxidant level. Our findings indicate that the coexposure of PVC MP-derived chemicals exerts an additive effect on antioxidant response inhibition. Irgafos 168-ox showed stronger effects with the maximum toxic concentration of 10 mg L^–1, whether alone or in additive mixtures, due to its higher potential for root accumulation and oxidative stress induction. These results highlight the need for further research into ecological risks of PVC MP-derived chemicals, particularly under combined exposure scenarios.

The rapid development of industry and medicine in modern society has produced a group of emerging contaminants (ECs) that are harmful to the ecosystem and difficult to remove from the environment. In this study, several graphitic carbon nitrides (GCNs) have been successfully synthesized by the calcination method, and their efficiency in the photocatalytic degradation of tetracyclines (TCs) was evaluated under the irradiation of visible light (λ = 420 nm). CNU achieved the highest TC degradation efficiency by completely degrading tetracycline within 90 min. The best degradation rate constant of 18.9 × 10^–3 min^–1 was obtained at pH 7, which is 17-fold and 1.5-fold than that at pH 3 and pH 5, respectively. Above pH 7, the degradation rate sharply rose due to the alkaline hydrolysis of TCs. The addition of common electrolytes has been shown to reduce the photocatalytic degradation rate as a result of photocatalyst aggregation. The results of EPR, scavenging tests, and LC-QTOF/MS analysis showed that the photogenerated holes and •O₂^– produced by CNU upon photoirradiation degrade TC into small organic molecules such as 1-tetralone and 3-formyl propanoic acid. This study demonstrated the ease of environmentally friendly GCN preparation and their potential for the removal of ECs from the environment.

Phalaris minor, a notorious weed commonly found in wheat fields, exhibits an aggressive growth rate that makes it a persistent threat to wheat crops. Complicating matters, the weed and wheat share phenotypic similarities during their early growth stages, making manual weeding challenging. As a result, herbicide application has become the primary method for controlling P. minor infestations. However, the excessive use of herbicides has led to the evolution of resistant P. minor biotypes, rendering many commercially available herbicides less effective. This pressing issue underscores the need for developing novel herbicides, which are the central focus of our study. A computational structure-based virtual screening approach has been employed on ZINC15, CHEMBL, and DrugBank databases to identify herbicide-like compounds. The filtered candidates have been evaluated for their binding affinity, benchmarked against the widely used herbicides diclofop (aryloxyphenoxypropionates, i.e., FOP) and tepraloxydim (cyclohexanediones, i.e., DIM), which have inhibiting activity against acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase). Subsequently, molecular dynamics simulations for 100 ns were conducted on the filtered compounds complexed with the modeled ACCase protein of P. minor. Simulated trajectory analysis revealed the interaction dynamics and stability of the selected candidate compounds (CID 44331977, CID 118061654, CID 25783158, and CID 136016466). Simulated trajectories have also been analyzed for their binding free energies to stipulate the stability and strength of interactions. A deeper insight into the dynamics of simulated complex principal component analysis of the trajectories has been analyzed followed by mapping of Gibbs free energy on the free energy landscape plot, which ensured the stability of selected molecules. The in silico analysis proved these compounds possess herbicide-like properties with possible activity against the ACCase protein of P. minor.