Plants as de-worming agents of livestock in the Nordic countries: historical perspective, popular beliefs and prospects for the future.

Preparations derived from plants were the original therapeutic interventions used by man to control diseases (including parasites), both within humans and livestock. Development of herbal products depended upon local botanical flora with the result that different remedies tended to develop in different parts of the world. Nevertheless, in some instances, the same or related plants were used over wide geographic regions, which also was the result of communication and/or the importation of plant material of high repute. Thus, the Nordic countries have an ancient, rich and diverse history of plant derived anthelmintic medications for human and animal use. Although some of the more commonly used herbal de-wormers were derived from imported plants, or their products, many are from endemic plants or those that thrive in the Scandinavian environment. With the advent of the modern chemotherapeutic era, and the discovery, development and marketing of a seemingly unlimited variety of highly efficacious, safe synthetic chemicals with very wide spectra of activities, herbal remedies virtually disappeared from the consciousness--at least in the Western world. This attitude is now rapidly changing. There is a widespread resurgence in natural product medication, driven by major threats posed by multi-resistant pest, or disease, organisms and the diminishing public perceptions that synthetic chemicals are the panacea to health and disease control. This review attempts to provide a comprehensive account of the depth of historical Nordic information available on herbal de-wormers, with emphasis on livestock and to provide some insights on potentially rewarding areas of "re-discovery" and scientific evaluation in this field.     

烟草生产全程机械化作业研究

为了探索烟叶生产过程中各机械的性能及工作效率,2013年在福建省建阳市莒口镇河坝新村开展了烟叶生产全程机械化作业试点研究。结果表明,起垄环节,碎土率方面邵武华友履带式起垄机表现最好(89.9%),沟底积土方面松溪永顺表现最好;覆膜环节,各测试机型表现中等,在效率方面优于人工覆膜;移栽环节,漏栽率上江苏久泰移栽机高于江苏井关移栽机;培土环节,漳州南冠培土机操作简便,掉头灵活,单人操作,单行双侧作业,深受烟农喜爱;拔杆环节,龙岩诚德拔杆机单人操作,操作简便,动力较足,拔杆顺畅,拔杆带土较少,效果较好,适应性较强。     

Parental effects on the performance of cultivated × wild species hybrids in potato

Valuable genetic diversity in diploid wild Solanum species can be accessed through crosses to haploids (2n = 2×) of the tetraploid cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum. Haploid-wild species hybrids segregate for the ability to tuberize in the field. In addition, they vary in male fertility, vine size, stolon length, and tuber size. In this study, three haploids were crossed with nine diploid wild Solanum species and 27 hybrid families were evaluated in the field for two years. The proportion of male fertile hybrid clones varied depending on the wild species parent. A large effect of the female parent was detected for vine size, stolon length, tuber size, percent tuberization, and percent plants selected for agronomic quality. An exceptional haploid (US-W4) was identified for the production of agronomically desirable haploid-wild species hybrids. In hybrids derived from US-W4, differences among wild species parents were observed for agronomic quality. Superior hybrids were produced by S. berthaultii and S. microdontum. Reciprocal crosses were evaluated for a subset of families. When the wild species was used as the female parent, male fertility was restored, but tuberization and tuber size were reduced. Careful selection of both haploid and wild species parents can result in a large proportion of fertile, agronomically desirable hybrid offspring.     

Resistance to Alternaria solani in hybrids between a Solanum tuberosum haploid and S. raphanifolium

Early blight of potato (Solanum tuberosum), caused by the foliar fungal pathogen Alternaria solani, is a major cause of economic loss in many potato-growing regions. Genetic resistance offers an opportunity to decrease fungicide usage while maintaining yield and quality. In this study, an early blight resistant clone of the diploid wild species S. raphanifolium was crossed as a male to a haploid (2n=2x) of cultivated potato. Hybrids were backcrossed to both parents. Eight families were created and evaluated for early blight resistance in the field. Families created by backcrossing to the wild species parent exhibited significantly lower relative area under the disease progress curve means than those from backcrossing to the cultivated parent, leading to the conclusion that S. raphanifolium contributes genes for early blight resistance. The mechanism of resistance in S. raphanifolium is unique because A. solani could not be recovered from lesions. Clones were identified with high levels of resistance and adaptation to the photoperiod of a temperate production region.     

The Effect of Long Term Storage on Bacterial Soft Rot Resistance in Potato

Bacterial soft rot is a serious disease in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), causing rapid tuber tissue maceration and, consequently, marketable yield loss. Soft rot bacteria, including Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pbc), are favored by moist conditions, which are prevalent in large potato storage facilities. However, although most potatoes in North America are stored before use, there are no published surveys of soft rot resistance in cultivars exposed to long-term storage conditions. Thus, we tested 65 cultivars and 13 breeding lines for soft rot resistance after 6 months of storage. There was a significant effect of cultivar and production environment on soft rot resistance score. During 6 months of storage, tuber soft rot resistance in resistant clones did not change, while it changed in susceptible clones. The three most resistant cultivars to soft rot were Freedom Russet, Anett, and Alaska Red Eye.     

Eco‐efficiency as a strategy for optimizing the sustainability of pest management

Agricultural industrialization and the subsequent reliance on pesticides has resulted in numerous unintended consequences, such as impacts upon the environment and by extension human health. Eco‐efficiency is a strategy for sustainably increasing production, while simultaneously decreasing these externalities on ecological systems. Eco‐efficiency is defined as the ratio of production to environmental impacts. It has been widely adopted to improve chemical production, but we investigate the challenges of applying eco‐efficiency to pesticide use. Eco‐efficiency strategies include technological innovation, investment in research and development, improvement of business processes, and accounting for market forces. These components are often part of integrated pest management (IPM) systems that include alternatives to pesticides, but its implementation is often thwarted by commercial realities and technical challenges. We propose the creation and adoption of an eco‐efficiency index for pesticide use so that the broad benefits of eco‐efficient strategies such as IPM can be more readily quantified. We propose an index based upon the ratio of crop yield to a risk quotient (RQ) calculated from pesticide toxicity. Eco‐efficiency is an operational basis for optimizing pest management for sustainability. It naturally favors adoption of IPM and should be considered by regulators, researchers, and practitioners involved in pest management. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Considerations for selecting disease resistant wild germplasm (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum</Emphasis> spp.): lessons from a case study of resistance to bacterial soft rot and Colorado potato beetle

Predictions of distributions of resistance phenotypes have been attempted for major diseases in wild potato germplasm. Interestingly, no consistent taxonomic or biogeographic predictors have been identified. However, an important lesson learned was that there are interactions among host plants, environmental factors, and characters of the pathogens. A logical extension of the predictivity project is to examine the dynamics of resistances when multiple biotic stresses are involved. In this study, we found that populations susceptible to a foliar feeding pest [Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)] are resistant to a bacterial pathogen [Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Jones, 1901; Hauben et al. 1999)]. We propose that wounds caused by the insect pest allow the bacterial pathogen to gain entry and cause disease. This would lead to strong selection pressure for resistance to the bacterial pathogen. Consequently, when searching for traits of interest in germplasm collections, it is important to consider the complex biotic and abiotic environments in which the source populations evolved.     

Selection for verticillium wilt resistance in potato breeding populations derived from four cross types

Verticillium wilt (VW) is one of the important yield-limiting diseases for potato production. To develop resistant clones, the potential for early generation selection was studied using three basic selection methods, individual, family, and within family selection, for two clonal generations. A total of 152 clones were derived from four cross types (2x × 2x, 2x × 4x, 4x × 2x and 4x × 4x). Clones were evaluated for maturity, symptom expression, yield and stem colonization in replicated trials. Heritability and selection response for the traits were estimated for each selection method. Direct selection in the second clonal generation and individual selection showed more gain than that from other methods. Both 2x × 2x and 4x × 2x families were higher yielding and had lower stem colonization scores than 2x × 4x and 4x × 4x crosses. Therefore, 2x × 2x or 4x × 2x crosses between carefully chosen parents with high yield and VW resistance may produce offspring with superior performance.