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Drought and high temperatures are among most dangerous attributes of climate change, which negatively affects the quantity and quality of sugar beet production. One of the most effective tools for eliminating unwanted effects is the application of biostimulants during the growing season. In this study, a 4 × 3 factorial scheme was adopted: Two biostimulant treatments, namely (i) pure extract from brown seaweed Ascophylum nodosum (B1) and (ii) concentrate from the seaweed Ascophylum nodosum and humus substances (B2), were compared to a control treatment (B0) in an experiment with four sugar beet varieties (Fischer, Fabius, Nicolaus, Lucius). The two-year research proved the significant influence of biostimulants on all monitored physiological and production parameters of sugar beet, with the exception of potassium content. Biostimulants positively influenced the results of root yield, polarized and white sugar yield, and the values of LAI (leaf area index), NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index), and PRI (photochemical reflectance index), while the positive effect on sugar content was only in the case of B1 treatment. The production potential fluctuated significantly depending on the observed interaction, but it can be concluded that the most limiting factor of production is the course of weather conditions. However, after treatment with biostimulants, an increased root yield (B2) and sugar content (B1) were found. Moreover, in this experiment, a strong positive relationship between root yield and physiological parameters (NDVI and PRI) and LAI was proven, while the relationship of sugar content to these parameters was weak. Monitoring of the physiological response to biostimulant application shows a high potential from the sustainability perspective in the context of sugar beet production. In addition, the impact on the height and quality of production was evident.

Background Feed additives which can ease the negative effects of infection by the Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) are of interest to mink farmers. The effects of kelp meal ( Ascophylum nodosum ) supplementation on immune response, virus replication and blood parameters of mink inoculated with AMDV were assessed. AMDV-free black mink ( n  = 75) were intranasally inoculated with a local strain of AMDV and fed a commercial pellet supplemented with kelp meal at the rates of 1.5% or 0.75% of the feed or were kept as controls (no kelp) for 451 days. Blood was collected on days 0 (pre-inoculation), 31, 56, 99, 155, 366 and 451 post-inoculation (dpi). Results No significant difference was observed among the treatments for the proportion of animals positive for antibodies against the virus measured by the counter-immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP), viremia measured by PCR, antibody titer measured by quantitative ELISA, total serum protein measured by a refractometer or elevated levels of gamma globulin measured by iodine agglutination test at the sampling occasions. At the termination of the experiment on 451 dpi, there were no differences among treatments for antibody titer measured by CIEP, total serum protein, albumin, globulins, albumin:globulin ratio, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and proportions of PCR positive spleen, lymph node or bone marrow samples, but blood urea nitrogen and creatine levels were significantly lower in the 1.5% kelp supplemented group than in the controls. Conclusion Kelp supplementation improved kidney function of mink infected with AMDV with no effect on liver function, immune response to infection by AMDV or virus replication.

‘Carménère’ is an important grapevine variety cultivated in Chile, which exhibits a high tendency to fruitlet abscission and “millerandage”, reproductive disorders that seriously affect plant productivity. However, despite the existence of a lot of information about the effects of micronutrients on millerandage, few studies exist about the impacts of seaweed biostimulation on reproductive disorders in grapevines, which currently has been classified as elicitor. For these reasons, the aim of this work was to study the effect of different biostimulant applications to ‘Carménère’ grapevines on fruit set and cluster characteristics during 2011-2012 season. Viticultural parameters such as number and weight of berries, cluster weight, berry size and its distribution along the cluster were measured. In addition, physicochemical parameters in musts from the obtained grapevines were analyzed. The results showed that the treatments based on boron ethanolamine plus zinc oxide and brown algae (Ascophyllum nodosum) improved fruit set in ‘Carménère’ grapevines in both climate locations, mainly in the colder climate site. Different parameters such as weight and number of berries per bunch, among others, were improved after the application of this treatment. Therefore, the results suggest that it is possible to improve fruit set in ‘Carménère’ grapevines using a treatment based on certain microelements, such as boron and zinc, and an extract produced from seaweed algae. ‘Carménère’ é uma importante casta cultivada no Chile, que apresenta uma alta tendência para distúrbios reprodutivos durante a frutificação, como a abscisão dos bagos e a bagoinha, que afetam seriamente a produtividade da planta. Há muita informação sobre os efeitos dos micronutrientes nos distúrbios reprodutivos. Porém, existem poucos relatos sobre o impacto da bioestimulação a partir do uso de extratos de algas, que têm sido classificados como molécula elicitora, sobre a frutificação da videira. Por estas razões, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o efeito da aplicação de diferentes bioestimulantes em videiras da casta ‘Carménère’ sobre os bagos e características do cacho durante o ciclo 2011-2012. Parâmetros vitícolas como o número e peso dos bagos, o peso do cacho, o tamanho do bago e sua distribuição no cacho foram medidos. Além disso, foram analisados alguns parâmetros físico-químicos em mostos. Os resultados mostraram que os tratamentos baseados na aplicação de etanolamina de boro, acrescido de óxido de zinco e algas castanhas (Ascophyllum nodosum) melhoraram a produção de frutos em videiras da casta ‘Carménère’ no local de clima frio. O valor de parâmetros como o peso e o número de bagos por cachos, entre outros, foi melhorado após a aplicação deste tratamento. Os resultados sugerem que, por vezes, é possível melhorar a produção de videiras da casta ‘Carménère’ usando um tratamento baseado em microelementos, como o boro e o zinco, e um extrato produzido a partir de algas marinhas.