Annals of Applied Biology最新文献

Orthotospovirus tomatomaculae, formerly tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV; family Tospoviridae), is one of the most economically important plant viruses worldwide, due in part to its wide host-plant range and global distribution. Since the first outbreaks in the first half of 1900, the TSWV infections have represented a serious threat for several crops, such as tomato, pepper, lettuce, potato, peanut and tobacco, in both open-field and greenhouse farming conditions. TSWV is transmitted in a persistent, propagative manner by thrips vectors belonging to the genera Frankliniella and Thrips. Besides the vector control, the use of resistant cultivars has been one of the most effective management strategies of TSWV disease, at least for tomato and pepper crops. However, the selection pressure has led to the emergence of novel resistance-breaking viral strains which are increasingly responsible for the re-emergence of TSWV outbreaks in several cropping areas. As type species of tospoviruses, TSWV has also been particularly well studied for understanding the structure of the different tospovirus proteins and their roles in replication, infection, thrips transmission and ecological processes. This review aims to consolidate the most recent advances in research on this virus and will form the basis of an updated version of the Association of Applied Biologists description of plant viruses for TSWV.

Engineering Biology in Brazil's transition from oil reliance to bioproduction emphasizes the importance of precision biology in enhancing biodiversity through sustainable agricultural practices. Gene editing can improve food and chemical production, nutritional value, and disease resistance in crops, thus reducing the need for chemical pesticides and unsustainable farming practices. We outline the pivotal role of precision biology in Brazil's transition, highlighting the potential of gene editing to enhance agricultural sustainability. This approach aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and benefits from a stable, positive regulatory framework established by the Brazilian Biosafety Committee. Jointly, these advances contribute to global food security while addressing public concerns about safety and ethics.

Insecticide applications for controlling insect pests drive the rapid phenotypic evolution of resistance traits within populations. In two decades, the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, has rapidly developed resistance to imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, but its resistance to dinotefuran has not developed as quickly. We assume that the genetic mechanism underlying the resistance evolution of N. lugens differs between the imidacloprid- and dinotefuran-resistant phenotypes. Dinotefuran-resistant strains, collected from a paddy field in Kumamoto in 2013 (Res-D13) and 2014 (Res-D14), were subjected to quantitative genetic analysis. The realized heritabilities of dinotefuran resistance were 0.091 (Res-D13) and 0.084 (Res-D14) after the 15th generation of selection. Reciprocal cross experiments between Res-D13 and the susceptible strain (Sus-strain), and between Res-D14 and the Sus-strain, showed that the degree of dominance for dinotefuran resistance ranged from 0.34 to 0.57. Analysis of the F₂ population and backcrosses to the parental strains indicated that dinotefuran resistance is a quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes on autosomal chromosomes. We propose that the realized heritability and the mode of inheritance of dinotefuran resistance well explain the slow development of dinotefuran resistance in field N. lugens populations.

For some time, environmental researchers and activists have been trying to convince the world that there is an urgent need to change the dietary habits of the modern human population. Their reasoning is based on several issues, with two main pillars supporting the whole concept. One involves mitigating global hunger, and the other addresses the impact that today's agricultural production has on the environment, particularly due to extensive and intensive agricultural practices, especially in developing countries and regions that help feed their populations. Perhaps the most promising proposal—and, as bibliometric analysis shows, more and more popular in the scientific community—is to replace animal protein with insect protein. It would allow for shifting agricultural production from animal-based to insect-based. In order to address this concept, the research community has been deeply involved in studying edible insects over the last decade. In doing so, researchers have examined nutritional value, sustainable production and environmental impact, consumer acceptance, and the challenges and opportunities from various perspectives. One might think that with such deep knowledge, the agricultural industry is well-equipped to initiate this shift. In this article, we argue that this statement is far from true. It appears that the scientific literature on edible insects fails to address what is likely the most important aspect for producers: farming techniques and practices, along with related topics such as feeding, protection from diseases, pathogens, and pests, rearing conditions, breeding, and many other factors. The critical need to improve the sustainability of global agricultural production and reduce its environmental impact calls for rapid changes, so the agricultural research community should stop waiting for others to decide whether edible insects are the way to go. Instead of waiting, they should focus on addressing the most critical aspects of insect farming. The industry is, in fact, ahead of science, as insect farms are spreading across the world. However, for them to succeed, strong support from agricultural science is urgently needed.

Strawberry is an important economic crop in China, but it is seriously impacted by soil-borne diseases. In recent years, the intensification and monoculture of strawberry planting have exacerbated the occurrence of diseases, which pose a serious threat to the development of the strawberry industry. This study focused on the current research on strawberry major fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases and insect pests that occur during strawberry cultivation. The potential roles of ecological prevention and control strategies in alleviating strawberry diseases, such as high-temperature soil solarization, chemical fumigation, reductive soil disinfestation, diversified crop cultivation, biochar amendment, wormcast improvement, and synthetic microbial community improvement, were analyzed. This study highlighted that research should focus on the rhizosphere ecology perspective and healthy soil, screening highly efficient stress-resistant, disease-resistant, and growth-promoting microorganisms and constructing a functionally complementary and stable synthetic community. The collaborative efficiency of healthy soil in promoting cooperation between exogenous and indigenous microorganisms should be comprehensively studied. Furthermore, a variety of strategies that combine rhizosphere regulation to alleviate the continuous cropping obstacles in strawberries should be adopted, aiming to provide references for the ecological prevention and control of diseases in crops and the high-quality development of the industry.

Inclusion of correlated secondary traits in the prediction of primary trait in multi-trait genomic selection (GS) models can improve the predictive ability. Our objectives in the present investigations were to (i) evaluate the effectiveness of multi-trait and single-trait GS models for the higher predictive ability and (ii) compare the breeding potential of parental lines selected based on phenotype and GS for grain yield in rice. We used phenotype data of five correlated traits as secondary traits evaluated to predict the grain yield, a primary trait. Yield related functional markers were used for prediction. Breeding populations were simulated using the best parents selected through GS and phenotype based selection. Results suggest that the multi-trait model resulted in higher predictive abilities (0.82 for grain yield) than single-trait models (0.76 for grain yield) and parents selected through GS have potential to produce superior progenies. We conclude that the use of a multi-trait GS approach is advantageous over single-trait models, and the GS also help selecting potential parents for developing improved populations. The results of the study have potential scope for improving quantitative traits using GS in rice.

The study of Potyvirus plumpoxi (plum pox virus, PPV) has a long history, beginning with its foundational description by Atanassof in 1932 in Bulgaria. Interest in the virus has significantly increased over the past decades, as evidenced by a rise in published articles, highlighting its importance in plant pathology. Research on PPV offers broader insights into the biology and pathology of the extensive Potyviridae virus family to which it belongs. The virus's large strain diversity and wide host range make it a key subject for research into plant–virus interactions, host adaptation and virus evolution. PPV causes sharka, the most damaging disease affecting stone fruit trees. Economic losses from sharka disease have recently been estimated at over €2.4 thousand million for the last 28 years. The significance of this disease is further amplified by the ease of aphid-mediated transmission from infected plant material and the virus's ability to establish and spread to new regions, making it a global agricultural challenge. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the various biological traits of PPV and will form the basis of an updated version on the Association of Applied Biologists Description of Plant Viruses for PPV.

Rhopalosiphum padi L. is one of the most devastating cereal aphids in the world. Its feeding does not induce a clear phytotoxic response in plants. Little information is available on defence response triggered by R. padi feeding on wild wheats, frequently used to improve hexaploid wheat. An attempt has been made to understand the differential biochemical and molecular responses of R. padi feeding on moderately resistant and susceptible Aegilops tauschii genotypes. RNA-Seq based transcriptomic analysis was conducted on 14 day-old leaf tissues of moderately aphid resistant (R) genotype (Ae. tauschii pau14232) and susceptible (S) genotype (Ae. tauschii pau14138) infested with R. padi for 12, 24 and 48 h. Plant response to aphid infestation was comparatively faster in R genotype. A total of 10,589 genes were altered in R genotype in comparison to only 8068 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in S genotypes. There was a gradual increase in significant DEGs from 12 to 48 h after R. padi infestation in R (4931–6582) and S genotype (4860–5736). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis revealed that 18 pathway genes were differentially expressed in R and S genotypes at different feeding time intervals. Gene ontology enrichment analysis of DEGs after R. padi feeding indicated up-regulation of genes for secondary metabolite synthesis, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging, transcription factors (ethylene responsive transcript factor [ERF], NAC, WRKY, MADS-box and Myb) and salicylic acid and ethylene signalling pathways in R genotype while down-regulation in S genotype. However, photosynthesis and light-harvesting DEGs were down-regulated in both the genotypes resulting in decreased chlorophyll content. Biochemical analysis showed that R. padi feeding induced substantial hydrogen peroxide accumulation in R genotype unlike in S genotype. Also, activities of peroxidase and catalase were comparatively higher in R than S genotype, confirming efficient ROS-scavenging in R genotype. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction expression validation studies of 11 DEGs followed same trend as in RNA-Seq data. Our study concluded up-regulation of stress response genes, salicylate and ethylene signalling pathways and efficient ROS-scavenging imparted a fitness advantage to R genotype during R. padi attack, resulting in reduced nymphiposition and nymphal survival. These findings will help in understanding the mechanism of host plant resistance and the development of aphid resistant wheat varieties.

Flowering plants can be introduced in modern agroecosystems to support resident natural enemies in the context of Conservation Biological Control (CBC). Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) (Polygonales: Polygonaceae) has been shown to enhance the longevity of several parasitoids through the provision of high quality and easily accessible floral nectar. Yet floral nectar is ubiquitously colonized by microbes which can change nectar chemistry with consequences for parasitoids. Nonetheless, how bacteria associated with buckwheat floral nectar affect parasitoid performance is not known. In this study, adult females of Trissolcus basalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), two parasitoids of Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), were provided with synthetic nectar fermented by 14 bacterial isolates originating from buckwheat nectar. We recorded the effect of bacterial fermentation on female longevity and nectar chemistry. In the case of T. basalis, females consuming nectar fermented by Bacillus sp., Brevibacillus sp., Brevibacterium frigoritolerans, Saccharibacillus endophyticus, and Terribacillus saccharophilus significantly enhanced their longevity compared with females fed with non-fermented nectar. For O. telenomicida, enhanced longevity was recorded only in the case of B. frigoritolerans and Pantoea dispersa. For both parasitoids, no negative effects due to bacterial fermentation of nectar were recorded. Chemical investigations of bacteria-fermented nectars revealed an increased diversity in the composition of sugars and sugar alcohols, whereas non-fermented nectar only contained sucrose. Our findings show that nectar-inhabiting bacteria are important “hidden players” in the interactions between flowers and parasitoids, an indication that a better understanding of plant–microbe–insect interactions could improve CBC programmes.