[en] Under conditions of normal (equivalent to 5 ppm in the soil) and higher (equivalent to 10 ppm in the soil) field application rates, the soil pesticides aldicarb, disulfoton and fensulfothion inhibited the in vitro growth of the free-living, nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium Azotobacter chroococcum Beij., whereas the lower rate (is identical to 2 ppm) did not. The growth inhibition was expressed not only in a suppressed rate of respiration (glucose oxidation), but also in a reduced ¹⁴C-glucose assimilation, extracellular polysaccharides and indole acetic acid (IAA) production, and in terms of the in vitro nitrogen fixation by the organism. (author)

[en] The two organophosphorus insecticides, commonly applied to soil, viz., disulfoton (0,0-diethyl S-2-ethyl thio ethyl phosphorodithioate) and fensulfothion (0,0-diethyl 0-4-methyl sulphinyl phenyl phosphorothioate) did not affect the in vitro growth of Azotobacter chroococcum Beij., the free-living, nitrogen fixing soil bacterium, at 2 ppm (lower level), while the normal dose (5 ppm) and the higher level (10 ppm) suppressed the growth. Respiration of the organism (glucose oxidation) was adversely affected by the insecticides in the growth medium and the inhibition increased with the concentration of the chemical. Both the insecticides suppressed the assimilation of (¹⁴C)-glucose in the cold-TCA soluble, hot-TCA soluble fractions and insoluble residue of the cells whereas the ¹⁴C-incorporation in the alcohol soluble and alcohol-ether soluble fractions was enhanced indicating that the insecticides considerably altered the glucose metabolism of the bacterium. (author)

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[en] Using carbon 14 radioisotope an in-vitro study of the effect of insecticides, carbofuran, on the metabolic and symbiotic activities of Rhizobium sp. cowpea group, was carried out. The study indicated that at 10 ppm carbofuran inhibited the in-vitro growth of the bacterium, suppressed the oxidation of all the Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, significantly reduced glucose oxidation and translocation and affected the growth and symbiotic activities of the cowpea as reflected by a reduction in the dry matter production and total nitrogen content. The insecticide was itself degraded by the Rhizobium sp. within 30 days of incubation

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[en] Addition of aldicarb (2 methyl-2(methyl thio) propionaldehyde-O-methyl carbamoyl oxime) in the growth medium enhanced the growth of Rhizobium sp. (cowpea group) at 2ppm level while an inhibition was observed at the normal (5 ppm) and higher (10 ppm) concentrations. Respiration of the cells was also inhibited by 5 and 10 ppm levels of the chemical eventhough a stimulation was observed at 2 ppm (lower) concentration. The insecticide, when incorporated at 5 and 10 ppm levels in the medium increased the ¹⁴C-glucose incorporation and considerably altered the assimilation of the radioactive carbon in different fractions of rhizobium cells. Soil application of this insecticide (Temik 10 G) reduced the number of nodules formed and the total nitrogen content in cowpea plants inoculated with the Rhizobium sp. but enhanced the dry matter production of cowpea plants. (Auth.)

[en] The superconductivity in the YBaCuO system can be explained in terms of the superconducting percolation of 90 K orthorhombic microdomain. Kubo et al. have studied the percolation behaviour of the 123 system and estimated the total critical oxygen occupancy P_c to be 0.75 for the orthorhombic I structure using at 150x180 lattice model. In this paper, we report our work on the percolative behaviour of the 123 system, using a Monte Carlo method. We have studied the effect on P_c of increasing the lattice dimension up to 500x500. For P_c≤0.60 no percolative behaviour was observed, suggesting the tetragonal phase. Few times percolation was observed for 0.60≤P≤0.65 indicating the phase transformation from tetragonal to orthorhombic. For 0.65≤P≤0.77 (or 0.230≤δ≤0.35) weak percolative behaviour was observed suggesting the formation of orthorhombic II structure, which is in good agreement with the value observed by Cava et al. For 0.77≤P≤1.0 strong percolation was exhibited indicating the formation of orthorhombic I phase. We have explained the weak link region observed for 0.60≤P≤0.77. We estimated the total critical oxygen occupancy P_c=0.766 for an orthorhombic I structure for the lattice. (orig.)

[en] In vitro studies on the effect of aldicarb (2-methyl-2-(methyl thio) propionaldehde-o-methyl carbamoyl oxime), a soil applied systemic insecticide, on Rhizobium japonicum revealed that the chemical (at 1,2 and 5 ppm levels) stimulated the growth of the organism initially upto 48 hr which declined thereafter upto 72 hr. The incorporation of ¹⁴C-glucose by the cells considerably reduced due to the insecticide treatment. The production of extracellular, water-soluble slime (polysacchardes) was also reduced considerably with increased concentrations of the chemical. However, the incorporation of ¹⁴C-radio-activity in the extracellular slime generally enhanced due to the treatment, upto 6 hr after injection of the radioactivity, which declined significantly later at 15 hr, indicating a qualitative difference in the extracellular polysaccharides produced by the insecticide treated cells. The insecticide treatment drastically reduced the incorporation of ³²P-disodium hydrogen phosphate into Rhizobium cells, but enhanced the specific activity of the extracellular polysacchrides. (author)