In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Latin word for "earth" or "ground".
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil.
Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity and do not rot easily. Chemically, lignins are polymers made by cross-linking phenolic precursors.
Humic substances (HS) are organic compounds that are important components of humus, the major organic fraction of soil, peat, and coal. For a long era in the 19th and 20th centuries, humic substances were often viewed through a lens of acid–base theory that described humic acids (HA), as organic acids, and their conjugate bases, humates, as important components of organic matter. Through this viewpoint humic acids were defined as organic substances extracted from soil that coagulate when a strong-base extract is acidified, whereas fulvic acids (FA) are organic acids that remain soluble when a strong-base extract is acidified. The remaining alkali-insoluble part of humus would be termed humin.
The Sapienza University of Rome, also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Italy. It is one of the largest European universities by enrollments and one of the oldest in history, founded in 1303. The university is one of the most prestigious Italian universities and in the world, commonly ranking first in national rankings and in Southern Europe. In 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 it ranked first in the world for classics and ancient history.
Joachim Sauer is a German quantum chemist and professor emeritus of physical and theoretical chemistry at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He is the husband of the former chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. He is one of the seven members of the board of trustees of the Friede Springer Foundation, together with former German president Horst Köhler and others.
Arundo donax is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several so-called reed species. It has several common names including giant cane, elephant grass, carrizo, arundo, Spanish cane, Colorado river reed, wild cane, and giant reed. Arundo and donax are respectively the old Latin and Greek names for reed.
The University of Naples Federico II is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 departments. It was Europe's first university dedicated to training secular administrative staff, and is one of the oldest academic institutions in continuous operation. Federico II is the third University in Italy by number of students enrolled, but despite its size it is still one of the best universities in Italy and the world, in southern Italy it leads 1st Ranking since it started, being particularly notable for research; in 2015 it was ranked among the top 100 universities in the world by citations per paper. The university is named after its founder Frederick II. In October 2016 the university hosted the first ever Apple IOS Developer Academy and in 2018 the Cisco Digital Transformation Lab.
Glomus aggregatum is an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus used as a soil inoculant in agriculture and horticulture. Like other species in this phylum it forms obligate symbioses with plant roots, where it obtains carbon (photosynthate) from the host plant in exchange for nutrients and other benefits.
The University of Hohenheim is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally been agricultural and natural sciences. Today, however, the majority of its students are enrolled in one of the many study programs offered by the faculty of business, economics and social sciences. The faculty has regularly been ranked among the best in the country, making the University of Hohenheim one of Germany's top-tier universities in these fields. The university maintains academic alliances with a number of partner universities and is involved in numerous joint research projects.
Alessandro Vaciago was a Professor of Chemical Structure, University of Rome from 1971 to 1993. He also served as a Cultural Counselor for the Italian Embassy.
The Italian Institute of Human Sciences (SUM) is an Italian public university dedicated to post-graduate formation and high level research in human and social sciences. It promotes Doctoral, Post-Doctoral and Master programmes in collaboration with other Italian and European universities.
A bioeffector is a viable microorganism or active natural compound which directly or indirectly affects plant performance (biofertilizer), and thus has the potential to reduce fertilizer and pesticide use in crop production.
Streptomyces viridosporus is a bacterium species from the genus of Streptomyces. Streptomyces viridosporus produces sistomycine and lignin peroxidase. Streptomyces viridosporus can degrade lignin and humic acids. Streptomyces viridosporus also produces moenomycin A, a component of bambermycin.
Leslie Denis Swindale is a New Zealand-born soil scientist, agriculturist, writer and a former chairman of the Department Agronomy and Soil Science of the University of Hawaii. He is the author of several books on soil and agricultural sciences and was a part of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the Food and Agriculture Organization. He is a Fellow of New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, American Society of Agronomy and a foreign fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1991, for his contributions to science, making him one of the few non-Indians to receive the award.
Markus Weinmann is an agricultural scientist specialising in the area of Plant Physiology at the University of Hohenheim, and ranks as one of the pioneers of Bioeffector-Research aimed at improving plant growth, vitality and disease resistance. He is also coordinator of field experiments in the EU-Biofector-Project.
Kornelia Smalla is a chemist and biotechnologist at the Julius Kuehn Institute (JKI) in Braunschweig and a university lecturer in microbiology at the Technical University of Braunschweig.
Martino Di Serio is an Italian chemist.
Myrna Simpson is a Canadian research chemist who is the Canada Research Chair in Integrative Molecular Biogeochemistry at the University of Toronto. She is also Director of the Environmental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Centre. Her research consider the molecular level mechanisms that underpin environmental processes, and the development of advanced analytical tools to better understand environmental health.
Fabio Terribile is an Italian agricultural scientist and professor at the University of Naples Federico II. He is a pedologist and coordinator of the EU project Landsupport.
