The Hertz Corporation

About: The Hertz Corporation is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Soil water. The organization has 9562 authors who have published 11044 publications receiving 447929 citations. The organization is also known as: Hertz Rental Car & Hertz Rent-a-Car.

Studies on the Relationships Between Earthworms and Soil Fertility

Abstract: Observations on earthworm populations in the Carse of Stirling indicate that there are definite differences according to soil type both in total population numbers and in the relative numbers of each species present. The light and medium loams appear to carry higher total populations than the heavier clay types or the more open gravelly sand or alluvial types. Within and between the respective soil-type populations, species numbers are variable, but the actual numbers present on a soil type do not necessarily indicate the relative importance of each species. In all cases Allolobophora caliginosa is the dominant species, being more numerous on the light loam than elsewhere. A. longa is subdominant and forms a substantial percentage on the medium loam and clay. On the light loam A. longa is high in number, but forms a smaller percentage of the total population because of the abundance of A. caliginosa. A. longa is also of reduced importance on the open soils—gravelly sand and alluvium. This species does not differ very much from Lumbricus rubellus and L. terrestris, as a percentage of the population on these two later soils and the light loam. The percentages of these two species are similar within populations, though much lower on the clay than on the other soils, and the total Lumbricus population number is highest on the light loam and lowest on the clay. There is a fair similarity between the two populations on the two open-textured soils, in both numbers and percentages. Areas of acid, natural pastures contain earthworm populations low in number and species variety. Some of the species typical of these areas are small active species, e.g. Dendrobaena rubida, D. octaedra and Bimastus eiseni, which are not found in well-established field populations. When agricultural treatment improves an area the acid-pasture species eventually decrease in relative number and importance as the species normally associated with good pasture land become established and build up their populations.

Analysis of HMW glutenin subunits encoded by chromosome 1A of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) indicates quantitative effects on grain quality.

Abstract: A gene encoding the high-molecular-weight (HMW) subunit of glutenin 1Ax1 was isolated from bread wheat cv Hope. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with that previously reported for an allelic subunit, 1Ax2*, showed only minor differences, which were consistent with both subunits being associated with good bread-making quality. Quantitative analyses of total protein extracts from 22 cultivars of bread wheat showed that the presence of either subunit 1Ax1 or 1Ax2*, when compared with a null allele, resulted in an increase in the proportion of HMW subunit protein from ca. 8 to 10% of the total. It is suggested that this quantitative increase in HMW subunit protein may account for the association of 1Ax subunits with good quality.

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Potyviridae.

Abstract: The Potyviridae is the largest family of RNA plant viruses, members of which have single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genomes and flexuous filamentous particles 680–900 nm long and 11–20 nm wide. There are eight genera, distinguished by the host range, genomic features and phylogeny of the member viruses. Genomes range from 8.2 to 11.3 kb, with an average size of 9.7 kb. Most genomes are monopartite but those of members of the genus Bymovirus are bipartite. Some members cause serious disease epidemics in cultivated plants. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the taxonomy of the Potyviridae, which is available at www.ictv.global/report/potyviridae.

Influence of sorghum residues and tillage on soil organic matter and soil microbial biomass in an australian vertisol

Abstract: Short- and medium-term changes in soil organic matter content following a change in soil management or land use are often difficult to measure because they occur slowly against a large background of soil organic matter which can have considerable spatial variability. Results from an experiment with grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) on a vertisol in sub-tropical Australia demonstrate the usefulness of two techniques for detecting trends in surface soil organic matter before they can be assessed by conventional methods. Firstly, using soil microbial biomass C as a sensitive indicator of changes in soil organic matter. Secondly, by using initial values of soil organic C or total N, measured before imposition of treatments, as a covariate in an analysis of variance. The combination of these techniques provided the most sensitive approach for detecting changes. The above-ground residues of sorghum (41 dry matter ha−1) were either retained or removed from plots that received conventional or zero tillage for 6 yr. Averaged over tillage treatments, soil organic C in the surface 0–10 cm layer was 8% greater in the residue-retained than in the residue-removed treatment, a difference equivalent to 16% of the C added as residues. The trend to increased soil total N was not significant. Residue retention caused larger percentage increases in microbial biomass C, measured by the chloroform fumigation-incubation method, than in total organic C and total N. The increase in biomass C was 12%, biomass N 23% and biomass P 45%, equivalent to 0.7% of the C, 7% of the N and 32% of the P added in residues. Residue retention decreased the biomass C-to-P ratio from 48 to 35, but these values were still much wider than those previously measured in U.K. soils. Residue retention increased respiration by about 45% (measured by CO2 evolution during a 30-day incubation) but had little effect on biomass C-to-N ratio or mineralization of N. Averaged over the two residue management treatments, soil organic C in the surface 10 cm layer was 7% greater under zero tillage than under conventional tillage. The corresponding increase in biomass C was 14–21%, but there were no differences in biomass N or biomass P. CO2 evolution and specific respiration by the biomass (μ g CO2-C evolved g−1 biomass C day−1) were less in zero-tilled than in conventionally tilled soils. The combined effects of residue retention and zero tillage caused increases of 15% in surface soil organic C, 18% in soil total N and 31% in biomass C.