Due to the increasing sewage sludge production in the world and problems with its disposal, an application of sludge to the soil appears to be a suitable solution considering its fertilizer properties and ability to improve the soil physical conditions. On the other hand, the sludge may also contain undesirable and toxic substances. Since soil microorganisms are sensitive to environmental changes, they can be used as indicators of soil quality. In this study, we used sewage sludge (SS) from two municipal wastewater treatment plants (SS-A and SS-B) in the dose of 5 t/ha and 15 t/ha in order to determine possible changes in the fungal community diversity, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), in the rhizosphere of Arundo donax L. Rhizosphere samples were collected in summer and autumn for two consecutive years and the fungal diversity was examined using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and 18S rDNA sequencing. Fungal alpha diversity was more affected by SS-A than SS-B probably due to the higher heavy metal content. However, based on principal component analysis and ANOSIM, significant changes in overall fungal diversity were not observed. Simultaneously, 18S rDNA sequencing showed that more various fungal taxa were detected in the sample with sewage sludge than in the control. Glomus sp. as a representative of AMF was the most represented. Moreover, Funneliformis in both samples and Rhizophagus in control with Septoglomus in the sludge sample were other representatives of AMF. Our results indicate that the short-term sewage sludge application into the soil does not cause a shift in the fungal community composition.

The technology of seed coating with superabsorbent polymer (SAP) has the potential to mitigate the negative impact of drought on seed germination and crop establishment. However, their application on the seed surface can affect the effectiveness of pesticides used for seed treatment in the protection against phytopathogens. In our work, the influence of the Aquaholder^®Seed polymer coating on the effectiveness of fungicides in the protection of germinating seeds of spring barley cv. Bojos and Laudis against the fungal pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana was studied. One-half of the seeds were first treated with fungicides, and then a polymer was applied. Fungicide efficacy was evaluated in a Petri dish test and pot test under the pathogen attack. Seed coating with SAP did not negatively affect fungicide efficacy. The percentage of germinated seeds, seedling emergence, plant height, and symptoms of the disease in the fungicide-treated variants were not significantly changed by the SAP application. Moreover, in cv. Laudis, the application of SAP alone partially protected germinating seeds against pathogen attack. The amount of pathogen DNA in plant tissues of cv. Laudis was not significantly different among seed treatments, while in cv. Bojos, the pathogen DNA increased in seeds coated with SAP alone but decreased in combined treatment with fungicides. These results demonstrated that SAP seed coating does not negatively affect the efficacy of fungicides used for seed protection against fungal pathogens.

Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) applied to soil have been recognized as water reservoirs that allow plants to cope with periods of drought. Their application as a seed coat makes water available directly to the seeds during their germination and early growth phase, but on the other hand, it can affect the efficiency of plant protection substances used in seed dressing. In our experiments, we evaluated the effect of seed coating with SAP on fungicide leaching and changes in their effectiveness in suppressing Fusarium culmorum infestation. Leaching of fungicide from wheat seeds coated with SAP after fungicide dressing, as measured by the inhibition test of mycelium growth under in vitro conditions, was reduced by 14.2–15.8% compared to seeds without SAP coating. Germination of maize seeds and growth of juvenile plants in artificially infected soil did not differ significantly between seeds dressed with fungicide alone and seeds treated with SAP and fungicide. In addition, plants from the seeds coated with SAP alone grew significantly better compared to untreated seeds. Real-time PCR also confirmed this trend by measuring the amount of pathogen DNA in plant tissue. Winter wheat was less tolerant to F. culmorum infection and without fungicide dressing, the seeds were unable to germinate under strong pathogen attack. In the case of milder infection, similar results were observed as in the case of maize seeds.

Consumers prefer food commodities of certain origins over the same products of other provenances and are willing to pay higher prices for them. Thus, it is possible to increase profit simply by giving an incorrect geographic origin to a product. To effectively control the declared geographic origin of food, the product itself has to be investigated to discover whether it actually originates from the declared origin, or if it has been mislabeled. Conventionally, control of a geographic origin is conducted by stable isotope analysis of the main elements, which has proven to be successful in numerous cases, but often reference data have to be produced anew for every harvest to control, resulting in additional costs and delays. Applying entirely geogenic parameters for the control of provenance requires reference data to be produced only once. As they do not vary between years and harvests, they can often be used for different (food) commodities. Here, we investigate whether the geographic origin of apricot samples can be controlled by their ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios measured by TIMS. The results show that Slovak and Hungarian apricots can be differentiated from the Wachau apricots, a well-known regional Austrian brand, and those from other regions in Austria, even though the differentiation from the latter is only partial. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr investigations can be a very potent tool; however, its success depends on the exact question that needs to be answered.

This study was aimed at evaluating the genetic diversity and authentication of apricot cultivars from Slovak and Austrian orchards. Eleven highly polymorphic SSR markers were used to analyse 53 apricot genotypes. A high level of genetic diversity was observed, with a mean of 13 alleles per locus and a mean expected heterozygosity of 0.811. The most polymorphic locus, UDP97-402, exhibited a probability of identity of 0.025, indicating a high discriminatory power. Differentiation analyses revealed distinct groupings of cultivars based on geographical origin and pedigree. Central European cultivars, particularly those related to the landrace ‘Hungarian Best’, formed a distinct cluster. Modern Slovakian cultivars, influenced by the genetic background of cultivars from China and Central Asia, showed a higher level of genetic diversity. The Western European and North American cultivars formed a separate cluster. The developed SSR database proved to be effective in identifying apricot cultivars and detecting mislabelled or misidentified samples. A significant proportion (74%) of samples from commercial orchards were properly and correctly labelled, while 26% were mislabelled. Fifty-three per cent of samples from shops without a cultivar name were successfully identified, and their labels were verified. These results highlight the potential of SSR markers for genetic diversity assessment and cultivar identification in apricots. The results contribute to a better understanding of apricot genetic resources and provide valuable information for breeding programmes, germplasm conservation, and cultivar authentication.

The application of superabsorbent polymer (SAP) for seed coating of agricultural crops is an innovative and promising method to effectively reduce plant stress during dry periods and thereby contribute to sustainable agriculture. However, due to the lack of experiments using SAP in field conditions in Central Europe, we focused on determining the effect of synthetic SAP, which was used for coating maize seeds, on the germination and emergence of these plants as well as on determining its impact on the genetic diversity of microbial communities in the maize rhizosphere for two consecutive years. The results showed that the growth parameters of coleoptiles and root systems of germinating maize plants at the very early development stage were biased in favour of SAP-coated seeds, and some values were statistically higher in the second year of evaluation. Similar observations were recorded in the assessment of maize emergence parameters. Also, these values were better when using SAP-coated seeds compared to the untreated controls. Plant height, dry weight, leaf tip number, and the Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD ) value were statistically higher in the second year of evaluation. The rhizosphere bacterial and fungal genetic diversity results did not confirm statistically significant differences between the SAP-coated and control maize seeds. They concern both alpha diversity indices and the results from multivariate statistical methods. Principal coordinate analysis results with cluster analysis show that the main factor influencing the microbial diversity in the maize rhizosphere was the collection date, especially the year of sampling than t he use of SAP-coated seeds.