ABSTRACT Technological advances have demonstrated the need for intellectual property rights, and patent granting is one of its most widespread forms. This includes the protection of inoculant formulations for agriculture, in which Brazil is a leader. This study aimed to analyze the number of patents for formulations of biological inoculants for agriculture in Brazil and the microorganisms used. An advanced search was performed in the National Institute of Industrial Property database, using the title and abstract fields. The indexers included […]

Different sites of an iron mining from Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were evaluated for determining the degree of their degradation or reclamation, using microbial activity of soil, spore numbers of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and total count of fungi and bacteria. Each site contained a substrate characterized as flotation refuse (Rj), Soil without vegetation (SS), Subsoil (Ss), Subsoil with vegetation (SsV), site under recuperation (AR) and forest (MS), and was sampled at 10-25 cm. Establishment of grasses and “candeia” (Vanillosmopsis […]

Phosphate solubilization by bacteria and fungi grown in broth media (glucose-yeast extract/GYE) supplied with phosphate (Ca-P, Al-P and Fe-P) and carbon sources (cellulose, starch, sucrose, glucose, fructose and xylose) was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Growth, halo diameter, colony diameter and halo/colony ratio varied according to the microorganisms and phosphate or carbon sources. From 57 isolates, 56 were able to solubilize Ca-P with differing halo diameters, five succeeded to solubilize Al-P at different ranges and none was able to solubilize Fe-P. […]

Mining and metallurgical activities are responsible for pollution of extensive soil areas around the world, with their effects not being well known under Brazilian conditions. Total and water soluble contents of heavy metals and microbial density and activity were evaluated, in this 1996 study using samples from seven sites located in a dumping site of a zinc industry in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Additionally, a non-contaminated site was used as reference. All contaminated sites presented high total and […]