Month: September 2015

Soil Classification: Synthetic Soils

These soils con­ tain significant populations of microorganisms which are able to fix atmos­pheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide into complex molecules such as amino acids, proteins and carbohydrates. Such micro­ organisms include photosynthetic bacteria which perform incomplete photosynthesis anaerobically, ce1tain Phycomycetes (fungi that resemble algae), and both green algae and blue-green algae which function aero­bically. […]

Disease-Suppressive Soils

The microflora of disease-suppressive soils is usually dominated by antagonistic mi­croorganisms that produce copious amounts of antibiotics. These include fungi of the genera Penicillium, Tricho­ derma, and Aspergillus, and actinomyce­tes of the genus Streptomyces. The anti­biotics they produce can have biostatic and biocidal effects on soil-borne plant pathogens, including Fusarium which would have an incidence […]