This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Tropical maize hybrid, a single cross of flint and dent inbred lines, is an important crop throughout the Americas and Africa. Crop yield, however, is highly dependent on nitrogen availability, and fertilizers are therefore often necessary to increase production. Developing more nitrogen-efficient maize would not only cut costs for farmers, it would also increase crop yield and reduce environmental impacts. But how do you make a plant more nitrogen efficient? The performance and production of crops can be improved by selectively crossing individuals with desired traits. When such plants are crossed, they produce hybrids that are often bigger, stronger, and more vigorous than either of the parent plants. By carefully choosing which individuals are used in creating these hybrids, specific traits, such as nitrogen efficiency, can be selected for..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Diazotrophs, microorganisms that “fix” atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia that plants can use, are important members of mangrove ecosystems. Diazotrophic community structure and nitrogen fixation rates are strongly regulated by the environment, but how they change with sediment depth remains unclear. To find out, a new study investigated biological nitrogen fixation in sediment cores taken from a mangrove ecosystem in China. The results showed that diazotroph diversity decreased with depth, and salinity was the main factor that influenced the diazotrophic community structure. Communities above vs. below 50 cm were markedly different. In sediments shallower than 50 cm, Anaeromyxobacter, Rubrivivax, Methylocystis, Dickeya and Methylomonas dominated, while Agrobacterium and Azotobacter dominated from 50 to 100 cm. The nitrogen fixation rate and the abundance of nitrogen fixation genes increased with depth, while the abundance of genes related to nitrification and denitrification decreased..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Nitrogen is vital to aquatic ecosystems. But too much nitrogen, which can build up from fertilizer use or wastewater discharge, can be deadly. A recent study examined how two groups of nitrogen-removing bacteria interact in the hopes of discovering a synergy that can help remediate over-nitrified lakes. The two groups consisted of anammox bacteria, which feed on ammonium and release nitrogen gas and denitrifying bacteria, which do the same but feed on nitrates instead. Researchers locked the bacteria in bioreactors and monitored their activity for over a year as they fed on sediments from a nitrogen-rich lake. Findings revealed high nitrogen removal efficiencies of up to 86% for ammonium and 95% for nitrites with denitrifying and anammox bacteria showing signs of cooperation. For example, certain denitrifiers may provide amino acids and vitamins that support anammox bacteria..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Common elemental building blocks of biological molecules: Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Phosphorus.

Students learn about the periodic table and how pervasive the elements are in our daily lives. After reviewing the table organization and facts about the first 20 elements, they play an element identification game. They also learn that engineers incorporate these elements into the design of new products and processes. Acting as computer and animation engineers, students creatively express their new knowledge by creating a superhero character based on of the elements they now know so well. They will then pair with another superhero and create a dynamic duo out of the two elements, which will represent a molecule.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Plants are shaped by the many microbes they host. But scientists are only beginning to understand how, especially in underexplored plant structures like aerial roots. A new study shows that the mucilage secreted by these roots can create a microbiome unlike that found in underground roots and nurture an environment that caters to beneficial, nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Researchers made these discoveries by examining the aerial roots of pink lady shrubs—a fast-growing invasive plant. Metabolite profiling of aerial root mucilage revealed a rich cocktail of nutrients that would be expected to support an equally rich variety of microbes. But genomic analyses suggested a mucilage community dominated by nitrogen-fixing diazotrophs. This homogeneous community structure was linked to the presence of the fungus C. raphigera. The antibacterial activity of this fungus was such that only diazotrophs were allowed to thrive, to the benefit of the pink lady shrubs..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Fundamentals of Ammonia Synthesis is a meticulously designed resource that was written to provide both students and educators with an amazing learning experience.The topic is structured into five captivating lessons, each carefully designed to understand the complexity of ammonia production. Beginning with the first lesson where we studied the process steps involved in ammonia synthesis, to lesson two where we explored the concept of Synthesis gas production by steam reforming with emphasis on natural gas reforming. In lesson three we analyzed the various operating variables that influence the production of synthesis. In lessons four and five we studied the purification of synthesis and how it is used for the production of ammonia. Each lesson comes with a quiz to reinforce what was learned.Our resource doesn't just serve as class notes; it's a gateway to a deeper understanding of chemical engineering principles. Whether you're a student seeking to grasp the fundamentals or an educator looking to enrich your teaching arsenal, "Fundamentals of Ammonia Synthesis" promises an enriching educational journey filled with insight, discovery, and practical application. Join us as we unlock the secrets of ammonia synthesis and pave the way for a brighter future in chemical engineering.

In this 8th grade science lesson, students review the six essential elements of life and discuss how they function in the garden.

Students learn about energy and nutrient flow in various biosphere climates and environments. They learn about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, food chains and food webs, seeing the interdependence between producers, consumers and decomposers. Students are introduced to the roles of the hydrologic (water), carbon, and nitrogen cycles in sustaining the worlds' ecosystems so living organisms survive. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Ruminants are the only animals not dependent on dietary amino acids as a source of nitrogen. They have ureolytic bacteria in their rumen that hydrolyze urea into ammonia and use it as a nitrogen source. However, very few ureolytic bacteria have been isolated and studied in pure culture to date. To close this gap, researchers established and used a new integrated approach on bacteria from cattle rumens. They started with urease gene (ureC) guided enrichment and then embedded single cells in agarose microspheres for in situ cultivation. This allowed them to isolate and characterize diverse ureolytic bacteria with demonstrated urease activity. The researchers sequenced a subset of the isolated bacteria and found 28 strains from 12 species with urease genes. These bacterial species had not previously been found in the rumen, but this team detected them in metagenomes from 6 ruminant species. The new strains contained unique genes compared to known related strains, indicating new metabolic functions..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This course is an introduction to chemical oceanography. It describes reservoir models and residence time, major ion composition of seawater, inputs to and outputs from the ocean via rivers, the atmosphere, and the sea floor. Biogeochemical cycling within the oceanic water column and sediments, emphasizing the roles played by the formation, transport, and alteration of oceanic particles and the effects that these processes have on seawater composition. Cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur. Uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean. Material presented through lectures and student-led presentation and discussion of recent papers.

The structure of the course is designed to have students acquire a broad understanding of the field of Marine Chemistry; to get a feel for experimental methodologies, the results that they have generated and the theoretical insights they have yielded to date.

Nitrogen, one of the most abundant elements in the universe, is essential to life. This interactive activity adapted from the University of Alberta provides an overview of the nitrogen cycle.

The nitrogen cycle game helps you learn how nitrogen atoms move through various forms including soil, the atmosphere, plants and animals. Actions such as lightening, bacteria digestion, plant assimilation, plant death, animal death, herbivorism and nitrogen fixing plant bacteria move nitrogen from one form to another.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Human activity is driving an increase in the amount of atmospheric reactive nitrogen. California grassland growth is typically limited by the amount of available nitrogen. Thus, more available nitrogen leads to more plant biomass, which means more carbon is deposited in the soil. Both the increase in nitrogen itself and the increase in carbon affect soil microbes. To better understand these impacts, a recent study examined microbial metabolic functioning in experimental grassland plots in California. These plots had been maintained for 14 years with increased nitrogen deposition mimicking the predicted levels for the end of the 21st century. This increased deposition led to an increased abundance of fast-growing bacterial species, as well as an increased capacity to use easily accessible, or labile, carbon sources. In contrast, the community's capacity to degrade recalcitrant carbon sources was unchanged or even decreased by elevated nitrogen..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The focus of PlaNet-Maize is to investigate the effect of environmental and endogenous factors on the growth and water relations of the maize plant. This functional–structural plant model (FSPM) encompasses the entire soil-plant-atmosphere continuum with a sub-organ resolution. The model simulates the growth and development of an individual maize plant and the flux of water through the plant structure, from the rhizosphere to the leaf boundary layer.
This web interface only display basic capabilities of PlaNet-Maize, mainly for teaching purposes.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Phytoplankton blooms are a common event in coastal areas and represent a dramatic increase in available nutrients for opportunistic heterotrophic bacteria. The interaction between these two groups plays a key role in oceanic carbon cycles, but little is known about the specific responses of the bacterial community during a bloom. A recent study examined the bacterial community from a costal Akashiwo sanguinea bloom. They characterized the dissolved organic matter found in the bloom and the dominant bacterial groups. Then they isolated a representative species from each of the three dominant groups to analyze in more detail. The researchers found that these species exhibited "genome streamlining", which is defined by a small genome size, low density of non-coding sections, and low GC content. These representatives also had fewer transporter and protein breakdown genes than related species. Each also had a unique metabolic signature when exposed to multiple dissolved organic nitrogen compounds..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Why do we care about air? Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in... most, if not all, humans do this automatically. Do we really know what is in the air we breathe? In this activity, students use M&M(TM) candies to create pie graphs that show their understanding of the composition of air. They discuss why knowing this information is important to engineers and how engineers use this information to improve technology to better care for our planet.

These learning activities are designed to be used in a large introductory chemistry course, each as part of a larger module of learning activities that include a prior reading of a short background information document. By working in small groups to discuss the presented information and question prompts, students will apply concepts seen in earlier coursework to explore a topic of societal or environmental relevance. No new conceptual information is delivered in these activities; rather they provide an opportunity to show students how the chemistry concepts they have developed support a detailed scientific understanding of a significant issue.Instructional resources for each activity  include 1) background information (.docx and .pdf) 2) the learning activity (.docx and .pdf) 3) the learning objects (.docx and .pdf) and 4) the slide deck (.pptx).These activities include exploration of:Methyl Transferase EnzymesNitrogen CycleOzone and Chlorofluorocarbons Mechanism of Penicillin Interior Salish Pit Cooking

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Mosses are ubiquitous in northern ecosystems. Their critical ecological roles include insulating soils, maintaining soil moisture, and mediating carbon and nitrogen cycles. Like all plants, mosses associate with microbes and some of them are key contributors to nitrogen dynamics through their nitrogen fixation functions. To better understand the importance of moss host species and environmental factors in structuring these microbial communities, researchers studied 26 boreal and tundra moss species across 24 sites in Alaska. They found that both host species and host evolutionary history predicted moss microbiome composition, and microbe nitrogen fixation rates also varied by host species. To a lesser extent, light availability and temperature also influenced the composition and function of moss microbes. Finally, they identified putative nitrogen-fixing bacteria specific to some moss hosts, including some outside well-studied cyanobacterial clades..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.