Emamectin,a novel insecticide for controlling field crop pests

Emamectin is a macrocyclic lactone insecticide with low toxicity to non-target organisms and the environment, and is considered an important component in pest-management programmes for controlling field crop pests. It is a powerful compound for controlling the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). A spray concentration of 25 mg AI litre-1 in a cotton field resulted in over 90% suppression of H armigera larvae up to day 28 after treatment, while similar mortality of the Egyptian cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis Boisduval, under the same conditions, was maintained for 3 days only. Emamectin is a potent compound for controlling the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) under both laboratory and field conditions and its activity on adults was over 10-fold greater than that of abamectin. Spray concentrations of 10 and 50 mg AI litre-1 in Ageratum houstonianum Mill flowers resulted in total suppression of adults up to day 11 and of larvae up to day 20 after treatment. Under standard laboratory conditions, emamectin exhibits a considerable activity on the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and the leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard). Further studies are required to evaluate its potential activity on the latter pests under field conditions.     

Gene expression in pyriproxyfen-resistant Bemisia tabaci Q biotype

Pyriproxyfen is a biorational insecticide that acts as a juvenile hormone (JH) analogue and disrupts insect development with an unknown molecular mode of action. Pyriproxyfen is one of the major insecticides used to control the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and comply with integrated pest management (IPM) programmes, resulting in minimal effects on the environment, humans and beneficial organisms. During the last few years, resistance to pyriproxyfen has been observed in several locations in Israel, sometimes reaching a thousandfold or more. No information exists about the molecular basis underlying this resistance that may lead to understanding the mode of action of pyriproxyfen and developing molecular markers for rapid monitoring of resistance outbreaks. In this communication, a cDNA microarray from B. tabaci was used to monitor changes in gene expression in a resistant B. tabaci population. Based on statistical analysis, 111 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were identified that were differentially upregulated in the resistant strain after pyriproxyfen treatment. Many of the upregulated ESTs observed in the present study belong to families usually associated with resistance and xenobiotic detoxification such as mitochondrial genes, P450s and oxidative stress, genes associated with protein, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and others related to JH-associated processes in insects such as oocyte and egg development.     

Linked reactivity at mineral-water interfaces through bulk crystal conduction

The semiconducting properties of a wide range of minerals are often ignored in the study of their interfacial geochemical behavior. We show that surface-specific charge density accumulation reactions combined with bulk charge carrier diffusivity create conditions under which interfacial electron transfer reactions at one surface couple with those at another via current flow through the crystal bulk. Specifically, we observed that a chemically induced surface potential gradient across hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) crystals is sufficiently high and the bulk electrical resistivity sufficiently low that dissolution of edge surfaces is linked to simultaneous growth of the crystallographically distinct (001) basal plane. The apparent importance of bulk crystal conduction is likely to be generalizable to a host of naturally abundant semiconducting minerals playing varied key roles in soils, sediments, and the atmosphere.     

A Burkholderia pseudomallei toxin inhibits helicase activity of translation factor eIF4A

The structure of BPSL1549, a protein of unknown function from Burkholderia pseudomallei, reveals a similarity to Escherichia coli cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1. We found that BPSL1549 acted as a potent cytotoxin against eukaryotic cells and was lethal when administered to mice. Expression levels of bpsl1549 correlate with conditions expected to promote or suppress pathogenicity. BPSL1549 promotes deamidation of glutamine-339 of the translation initiation factor eIF4A, abolishing its helicase activity and inhibiting translation. We propose to name BPSL1549 Burkholderia lethal factor 1.     

On the spatial distribution of citrus tristeza virus disease

The spatial spread of citrus tristeza virus (CTV) disease was studied using data from two infected groves. Statistical analysis indicated a spatial grouping of infected trees. A gamma distribution was fitted to the empirical distribution of the distances between nearest infected neighbors. The findings suggest that, after locating a newly infected tree, additional inspections to detect CTV should be carried out mainly on trees within 14 m of that tree.     

First report of Pseudomonas tolaasii on Agaricus bisporus in Serbia

Symptoms of brown blotch were observed on cultivated Agaricus bisporus on several mushroom farms in Serbia. Subsequently, samples were collected from nine localities during 2006?C2010 and fluorescent Gram-negative bacterial strains were isolated. All strains caused sunken brown lesions on A. bisporus tissue blocks after artificial inoculation. Isolated strains showed the LOPAT characteristics of the group Va being negative for levan production; the ability to produce a hypersensitivity reaction in tobacco; were oxidase and arginine dihydrolase positive; and lacked pectolytic activity. The results from other tests were as follows: oxidative metabolism of glucose; catalase activity positive; aesculin hydrolisis negative; Tween 80 hydrolysis positive; casein hydrolysis positive; gelatine hydrolysis and nitrate reduction negative; mannitol, erythritol, sorbitol, inositol and trehalose were used as a carbon source but not sucrose, arabinose and D(-) tartrate. Based on these features bacterial strains were identified as Pseudomonas tolaasii. The identity of isolated strains was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. This is the first report of P. tolaasii in Serbia.     

Molecular characterization of Pseudomonas syringae isolates from fruit trees and raspberry in Serbia

Infection of fruit trees by Pseudomonas syringae is a potentially serious problem that may limit the establishment and sustained productivity of pome and stone fruit orchards in Serbia. To estimate possible diversity of Pseudomonas syringae fruit trees strains, we collected a set of strains in several areas of Serbia. The samples were taken from infected orchards with raspberry, plum, cherry, sour cherry, peach, pear and apple trees. Genetic diversity of P. syringae strains isolated from fruit trees was determined by using SpeI macrorestriction analysis of genomic DNAs by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and REP-PCR. Molecular analysis showed that most of isolates had unique profiles, with the exception of isolates from plum and cherry that displayed profiles identical to each other and similar to P. syringae pv. morsprunorum. The study presented here clearly demonstrates the discriminative power of molecular techniques in enabling a detailed analysis of the genetic variations between strains of P. syringae from different pome and stone fruit hosts in Serbia.