Annals of Applied Biology最新文献

The common pine sawfly, Diprion pini (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), is a well-known defoliating pest of various pine forests almost all over the world, including Europe. It can cause damage to many pine species but usually opts for Pinus sylvestris Linnaeus and P. nigra subsp. laricio (Poiret) Maire. The prohibition of the use of chemical insecticides in forests (at least for Türkiye) has led to the fact that other control methods have come to the fore in the control of this pest. In this respect, biological control agents, which are eco-friendly and can persist in the field over time, providing long-term control for plant protection, have an important potential in the control of D. pini. Therefore, in this study, entomopathogenic fungi were isolated from pine forest soils and identified by gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Ten isolates (DP-37, DP-38, DP-45, DP-46, DP-49, DP-53, DP-54, DP-57, DP-58 and DP-63) were identified as Beauveria pseudobassiana, four isolates (DP-35, DP-41, DP-52, and DP-61) were identified as B. bassiana, and only one isolate was identified as Metarhizium robertsii (DP-15). All isolates were tested against the larvae of the pest under laboratory conditions, and the highest mortality and mycosis values (96.6% and 63.3%, respectively) were obtained from B. pseudobassiana DP-57. This isolate was also tested against the pest under outdoor conditions using different conidial concentrations. Based on probit analysis, the LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ values were estimated to be 1.309 × 10⁷ and 1.21 × 10¹⁰ conidia/ml, respectively. The results showed that B. pseudobassiana DP-57 could be a good candidate in the biological control of D. pini.

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.

Spiders are generalist predators able to respond very well to environmental conditions. Therefore, they are good bioindicators for forest management practices. The vertical distribution of spiders in forest stands has very rarely been studied. Thus, we investigated patterns in species richness, diversity, life-history traits and functional diversity of spiders within the aboveground vertical stratification of oak dominated forests and their response to the canopy cover gradient. There were three localities sampled during four growing seasons (2008–2011, Southern Moravia, Czech Republic). Spiders were sampled monthly by flight intercept traps, which were placed in three stratigraphical levels of oak stands. Altogether, 3592 spiders, representing 18 families, and 112 distinguishable species were collected during the study. We found that species richness, total abundance the abundance of ambush hunters, other hunters and scarce, rare and very rare species of spiders increased from ground level to the canopy, and that species composition changed across the vertical gradient. Some of these characteristics were significantly influenced by interaction with canopy cover. Less common ballooning species preferred the ground part of forest stratification. Canopy cover evaluation showed that the abundance of orb web weavers and less common ballooning species was highest in the more closed canopies. The opposite trend was found for sheet web weavers, very abundant species and open habitat species. Space web weavers, other hunters and very common ballooning species showed increased abundance in the higher layers under conditions of more open canopy cover. Our results suggest that sampling spiders across the vertical gradient of forest stands might be important for a proper biodiversity and management practice evaluation, although most recent assessments were conducted on ground-dwelling spiders obtained from pitfall traps.

Cucumbers are susceptible to infections with many characterised virus species. In some cases, mixed virus infections occur and produce novel symptoms. In Greece, routine screening is carried out when virus infection is suspected, or novel symptoms are observed in the field. To identify the viruses associated with distinct symptoms observed in samples from commercial cucumber production areas on the island of Crete, Greece, we carried out high-throughput sequencing (HTS) from a pool of six samples. Following assembly and BLAST analysis, we identified at least seven viruses based on similarity to published sequences. Two of these sequences represented novel, near-complete genomes of a putative new nepovirus and of zucchini yellow fleck virus (ZYFV). To confirm the HTS results, the six samples were screened for all identified viruses, and their presence was confirmed through Sanger sequencing of PCR products. The full-length genomes of both the nepovirus and ZYFV were amplified by PCR and confirmed by Sanger sequencing. We have generated the complete genome of a novel nepovirus from cucumber as well as the first complete genome sequence of a cucumber-infecting ZYFV isolate from Crete. The nepovirus was mechanically transmissible to Nicotiana benthamiana and induced typical cytopathological modifications consistent with virus infection, as revealed by TEM studies. We propose to name this new virus Cucumber nepovirus A (CuNVA).

Water constraint is a crucial factor in determining the productivity and production of linseed or flaxseed globally. The root system of flaxseed consists of a single taproot mainly confined to the topsoil; thus, the structure of the root system significantly impacts the uptake of water from the soil. This research conducted root–shoot phenotyping on a diverse range of linseed germplasm under PEG-induced water deficit stress conditions to unravel the potential of genebank germplasm for drought tolerance. Varied responses to stress and substantial diversity in genotypic response were observed among the linseed accessions for all growth parameters under both normal and stress conditions. The application of PEG led to a decrease (ranging from 7.39% to 62.02%) in all parameters except chlorophyll content, which exhibited an increase of 13.76% in response to stress conditions. Principal component analysis revealed that the first four principal components (PCs) with Eigenvalue >1 explained 74.23% of the total variance, with the first PC alone accounting for 42.15% of the total variance contributed by various traits such as leaf width, shoot length, root–shoot biomass, root length, surface area, and volume. Assessing the comparative performance based on the stress susceptibility index (SSI) for shoot–root length and root surface area, a subset of 12 drought tolerant (SSI ≤ 0.50) and 5 susceptible (SSI > 1.00), genotypes was constituted for validation at the adult plant stage. The accessions IC0096648, IC0523799, IC0249015, IC0096587, IC0385336, IC0498744, IC0499170, EC0041481, IC0526017, IC0623723, IC0113110, and IC0621685 exhibiting tolerance to PEG-induced water stress during the initial (seedling stage) growth maintained physiological efficiency and yield at the adult plant stage. The elite drought-tolerant genotypes identified in the present study will provide access to genetically diverse material in breeding to enhance drought tolerance in linseed.

Tomato spotted wilt virus (Orthotospovirus tomatomaculae; TSWV) is a destructive pathogen that affects over 1000 plant species worldwide. To elucidate its evolutionary mechanisms, genetic diversity and emergence timeline, we examined around 100 TSWV isolates with complete genome sequences available in GenBank. This study also included the complete genome of a TSWV isolate, IRP4, which has recently been implicated in an outbreak affecting greenhouse-grown bell peppers in Iran. Pairwise genetic divergence analysis revealed varying levels of genetic differences among TSWV RNA segments. Phylogenetic and sequence analysis determined that the global TSWV population consists of three major groups based on each of the three RNA segments (L, M, and S). Results suggested multiple introductions of the virus into different regions, indicating that the geographical origin of the isolates is not the sole factor determining their phylogenetic grouping. The large incongruences observed in the phylogeny of the TSWV segments and the analysis of genetic diversity patterns highlight extensive reassortment events in TSWV. As a result, 11 genotypes were identified within the TSWV population. The Iranian IRP4 isolate, along with nine other isolates from Europe, Asia, and South America shared a common genotype designated L3-M1-S1. This suggests that this potentially reassortant genotype has undergone long-distance intercontinental movement. Similar to IRP4, the majority of TSWV isolates with the L3-M1-S1 genotype were also obtained from pepper, suggesting a potential role of the host plant in the evolution of this genotype. Furthermore, temporal analysis suggests that the existing population of TSWV, circulating between 1996 and 2023, originated from a common ancestor that existed 107–284 years ago. The population size of TSWV experienced a significant expansion for 10–15 years since 1980 and then remained constant until recently.

Intraspecific competition and avoidance of superparasitism are critical for biological control. In this study, we conducted behavioural and biological trials to assess intraspecific competition in the egg parasitoid Anagrus virlai, targeting the corn leafhopper Dalbulus maidis. Firstly, we investigated whether A. virlai can distinguish between unparasitized and parasitized host eggs using long-range cues in an olfactometer experiment. Secondly, we evaluated whether A. virlai parasitism and emergence under varying host densities are affected by the presence of multiple conspecific wasps foraging within the same host patch. In the olfactometer test, A. virlai did not differentiate between corn leaves with parasitized and unparasitized eggs. Regarding the parasitoid's performance, the number and percentage of parasitized eggs were influenced by the density of females foraging simultaneously in the same host patch. Significant increases in collective parasitism were observed when two or more parasitoids were present in each arena. Competitive interaction did not affect wasp emergence, and A. virlai proved to be a solitary species. Moreover, the negative relationship between per-capita parasitism and the number of conspecific wasps per arena demonstrated mutual interference among parasitoids. These findings highlight the impact of competitive interactions on A. virlai performance and suggest a potential aggregated response of the parasitoid to high-density patches of hosts.

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.