Wheat archive links long-term fungal pathogen population dynamics to air pollution
We used the PCR to study the presence of two plant pathogens in archived wheat samples from a long-term experiment started in 1843. The data were used to construct a unique 160-yr time-series of the abundance of Phaeosphaeria nodorum and Mycosphaerella graminicola, two important pathogens of wheat. During the period since 1970, the relative abundance of DNA of these two pathogens in the samples has reflected the relative importance of the two wheat diseases they cause in U.K. disease surveys. Unexpectedly, changes in the ratio of the pathogens over the 160-yr period were very strongly correlated with changes in atmospheric pollution, as measured by SO2 emissions. This finding suggests that long-term, economically important, changes in pathogen populations can be influenced by anthropogenically induced environmental changes.
In order to make clear of the diversity and the change of microbes in the cellar of Strong Aromatic Spirits during fermenting, a cellar of Quanxing spirit brewery is used as trial cellar. The samples were taken by using a special implement, and the microbes in the different positions of cellar were analyzed during fermentation. Finally, the amount and spread of microbes were made clear, and some major microbe strains were classified and identified based on comparison results with their morphology, physiological characteristics and 16S rDNA or 18S rDNA analysis.