South Valley University

As a contribution to many works conducted on glauconites, the current study represents an interdisciplinary approach combining geoscience and agronomy of these K-mineral resources, depending on the variations of expandable layers %.Through this context, two condensed sections of the Up.Cretaceous and Up.Eocene glauconites, located in the Western Desert of Egypt, were undergone field, petrog., mineralogical, and geochem. investigations.The agronomic considerations were studied by simulating the organic acid-solubility of glauconite, using 2 % oxalic acid, in cases of its direct application as a slow-release K-fertilizer.Geol., all of the studied glauconites were deposited authigenically by the neoformation of Fe-smectite precursor.The latter is thought to be more ferruginous in case of the Up.Cretaceous glauconite (nascent species, 3-4.1 wt% K₂O) than the Up.Eocene counterpart (slightly evolved-evolved species, 5.05-6.71 wt% K₂O).Depending on K₂O contents and ethylene glycol solvation of glauconite grains, expandable layers were calculated and averaged at 40.53 % and 24.03 % for the Up.Cretaceous and Up.Eocene glauconites, resp.Also, expandable layers showed a gradual increment from base to top of the studied sections where shoaling upward occurs.Depending on field observations, mineralogical, and geochem. data, along with literature, Fe²⁺ availability and sea level changes are found to be the main controlling factors of glauconite expandable layers.Agronomically, oxalic acid-based solubility tests showed that K⁺ ions aren′t completely tightly fixed into the interstratified structure of the highly expandable glauconite, causing faster solubility rates than the less expandable species.According to the concept of slow-release fertilizers, the more evolved, less expandable glauconite deposits are preferred for the long-lasting K supply required by plants and keeping the soil fertility of plant macro-nutrients.On the other side, the smectite-rich glauconite can be exploited as a soil conditioner for enhancing its cation exchange capacity.

A review.Due to climate change, abiotic stresses have arisen and are harming agricultural water management and agricultural productivity worldwide.To address this issue, bio-stimulators have been explored to improve water management and nutrient use efficiency, reflecting improved agricultural productivity due to suppression of climate change-induced stresses and the improved plant stress tolerance.Bio-stimulators play a dual role as they increase tolerance to abiotic stresses and feed the plant to adapt to stress and survive.Maize grain embryo extract (MGEE) and diluted bee-honey solution (DBHS) are a novel group of bio-stimulators recently used, beginning in 2014, for some crop plants (common bean, faba bean, sunflower, wheat, maize, onion, atriplex, roselle, and chili pepper) grown under certain abiotic stressors (salinity, drought, cadmium, nutrient deficiency, and chem. fertilizers).Reports signalized that MGEE and DBHS effectively induce improvements in mol. and morpho-physio-biochem. indexes and pos. stimulation of antioxidant defense systems, all of which enable plants to cope with stress-stimulated toxicity and maintain basic metabolic capacity under abiotic stress.Under the above-mentioned stresses, MGEE and DBHS can provide efficient mechanisms to enhance plant growth and yield traits, yield quality characteristics, photosynthetic efficiency, low-mol.-weight antioxidants, nutrient and hormonal homeostasis, antioxidant redox states, enzymic antioxidant activities, antioxidant and polyamine gene expressions, etc.Extensive research into the potential of MGEE and DBHS to sustain plant performance under adverse field conditions would strengthen their potential as a cheaper and eco-friendly alternative to harmful and high-cost chems.

Trimethylolpropane (TMP) is an important industrial chemical used to produce various value-added chemicals and polymers. In this study, both biobased butyraldehyde and formaldehyde were produced by the incomplete oxidation of bio-1-butanol and biomethanol, respectively, and were then used to produce a biobased TMP. High selective incomplete oxidation of primary alcohol to aldehyde is a challenging process minimizing the corresponding carboxylic acid, a complete oxidation product. DSM 2343 was found to have high activity and selectivity for the oxidation of butanol to butyraldehyde by whole-cell biotransformation. A pH 5 and greater than 15 g/L of 1-butanol are preferable conditions for butyraldehyde accumulation. In a 1 L bioreactor experiment, 18 g/L of bio-1-butanol was oxidized to 13 g/L of butyraldehyde at an 85% conversion and 93% selectivity. Biomethanol oxidation to formaldehyde was conducted at relatively high concentration using alcohol oxidase from . After 48 h of enzymatic reaction, a 52% conversion of 5.5 g/L biomethanol to 2.6 g/L formaldehyde at 100% selectivity without byproduct was achieved. Using the resulting butyraldehyde and formaldehyde, TMP could be produced through aldol and Cannizzaro reactions under basic conditions. The overall process shows a new synthetic route for TMP production that uses renewable resources and integrates both biotechnology and chemical processes.