Effective use of agricultural residual biomass may be beneficial for both local and global ecosystems. Recently, biochar has received attention as a soil enhancer, and its effects on plant growth and soil microbiota have been investigated. However, there is little information on how the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil amended with biochar are affected. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the incorporation of torrefied plant biomass on physical and structural properties, elemental profiles, initial plant growth, and metabolic and microbial dynamics in aridisol from Botswana. Hemicellulose in the biomass was degraded while cellulose and lignin were not, owing to the relatively low-temperature treatment in the torrefaction preparation. Water retentivity and mineral availability for plants were improved in soils with torrefied biomass. Furthermore, fertilization with 3% and 5% of torrefied biomass enhanced initial plant growth and elemental uptake. Although the metabolic and microbial dynamics of the control soil were dominantly associated with a C1 metabolism, those of the 3% and 5% torrefied biomass soils were dominantly associated with an organic acid metabolism. Torrefied biomass was shown to be an effective soil amendment by enhancing water retentivity, structural stability, and plant growth and controlling soil metabolites and microbiota.

The diurnal photosynthetic responses to drought in Jatropha curcas have not been well assessed under field conditions in harsh semi-arid habitats. To illustrate this, diurnal changes in chlorophyll fluorescence and gas exchange rates were measured in field-grown Jatropha with or without a short (13 days) water recovery treatment under drought conditions during hot summer in a semi-arid. Sensitive stomatal closure coordinated with a drying atmosphere strictly limited a net CO 2 assimilation rate with a predominant morning peak, eventually turning negative during the day. Even though the risk of excess excitation energy which potentially causes photodamage increased with the extremely low capacity for CO 2 fixation, Jatropha preserved the integrity of PSII. Quantitative analysis of quenching partitioning revealed that regulated thermal energy dissipation accounted a large fraction of both instantaneous and daily absorbed energy by up to 80 and 72 %, respectively, under the drought condition. Water recovery treatment more than doubled daily CO 2 uptake via mitigating diurnal stomatal closure. The regulated thermal dissipation flexibly adjusted PSII quantum efficiency to capacity of CO 2 fixation. In addition, downregulation of PSII quantum efficiency via sustained regulated thermal dissipation was observed and thought to be an additional photoprotective function. It is clear that Jatropha strongly rely upon the regulated thermal dissipation under drought condition, which must be critically important for this strict water conserving species, especially under a climate with high solar radiation loads as is seen in semi-arid regions.

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Staphylococcus aureus is one of the causes of foodborne diseases worldwide. Staphylococcal food poisoning ensues after ingestion of contaminated food and results in symptoms of gastroenteritis such as vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. The present paper aims to isolate Staphylococcus aureus from foods sold by street vendors in Gaborone, Botswana, and to determine its enterotoxigenic potential and antibiotic resistance profile. One hundred eight food samples comprising starch, meat, salads and vegetables portions were collected from these vendors and tested for the presence of S. aureus. Identification of Staphylococcus aureus to the species level was performed using the Vitek 2 automated identification and susceptibility testing system (BioMerieux, Marcy-I’Etoile, France). Enterotoxins were detected by the Reversed Passive Latex Agglutination method (SET-RPLA). Results showed that 49 (45%) of the samples tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus. The organism was isolated at higher frequencies in vegetables and starchy foods (34.7%) than in meats (30.6%). These differences in isolation rates however, were not statistically significant (p> 0.05). Staphylococcus aureus isolates were found to be resistant to penicillin G (52.4%), tetracycline (38.1%), methicillin (26.2%) and vancomycin (11.9%). Four Staphylococcal enterotoxin types A-D, were detected among the isolates. Staphylococcal enterotoxin D was the most prevalent (52.9%), while enterotoxin C was produced by the least number of isolates (5.9%). Of note, five isolates simultaneously expressed two or more enterotoxin types in varying combinations. The present study underscores a potential risk of staphylococcal food poisoning and transmission of methicillin resistant S. aueus strains for consumers of street vended food products in Gaborone, Botswana especially in the absence of a quality assurance regulatory framework. As a mitigating factor, sensitization of street food vendors on the importance of food and personal hygiene is strongly recommended.