Source: University of Oregon
Science Daily
June, 6 2007
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070606042112.htm
Many farmers applying pesticides to boost crop yields may instead be contributing to growth problems, scientists report in a new study
According to years of research both in the test tube and, now, with real plants, a team of scientists reports that artificial chemicals in pesticides — through application or exposure to crops through runoff — disrupt natural nitrogen-fixing communications between crops and soil bacteria. The disruption results in lower yields or significantly delayed growth.
In a paper appearing online this week ahead of the regular publication by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the five-member team reports that agrichemicals bind to and block connections to specific receptors (NodD) inside rhizobia bacteria living in root nodules in the soil. Rotation legume crops such as alfalfa and soybeans require such interaction to naturally replace nitrogen levels that, in turn, benefit primary market crops like corn grown after legume rotations.
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