Efficacy of mating disruption technique against carob moth,Apomyelois ceratoniae Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in pomegranate orchards in Southeast Turkey (Şanlıurfa)

Carob moth, Apomyelois (=Ectomyelois) ceratoniae Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is a key pest in pomegranate orchards in Southeast of Turkey. The pest causes significant damage and reduces marketability of fruits, and is difficult to control with insecticides. Therefore, it is imperative to develop environmentally sound effective alternative management approaches. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the mating disruption technique and determine the appropriate application dose for the management of the pest. The study was carried out in Central and Suruç districts of ?anl?urfa province (Turkey) in 2011 and 2012. SPLAT EC (Specialized Pheromone-Lure Application Technology) trade named dispenser containing 2% Z7, E9-11-dodecatrienyl formate pheromone mimic was applied at 500, 625 and 750 g/ha in three pomegranate orchards in each district. Results indicated that mating disruption technique significantly reduced the pest populations. But effectiveness of the method was less in terms of the damage rate on fruits. Pheromone applied at 500 g/ha was not effective. However, application at 625 g/ha reduced the pest populations to an acceptable level. Thus, the concentration could be considered an appropriate dose for the less abundant pest population within integrated pest management while higher population would require combining the mating disruption method with a bio-insecticide.     

Involvement of Phytophthora cryptogea in sweet cherry decline in Turkey

Sweet cherry is a major commercial crop in Turkey, the most important producer of the fruit worldwide. Sweet cherry decline was observed in an orchard in Ankara province of Turkey. Affected young trees exhibited reduced tree vigor, yellowing and wilting of leaves, and dieback symptoms resulted in tree death. A Phytophthora sp. was consistently isolated from necroses that appeared on taproots and crowns. The pathogen was identified as Phytophthora cryptogea based on several morphological features and DNA sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. P. cryptogea was pathogenic on excised shoots and 1-year-old cherry rootstocks. This is the first report of P. cryptogea causing disease of sweet cherry in Turkey.     

Early‐stage screening for heat tolerance in cotton

The study aimed to identify early‐stage traits of cotton for heat tolerance using multitrait approach reflecting field yield performance. Seedling growth and physiological response of 16 cultivars to high temperature were investigated at three different developmental stages and four heat stress conditions in a climate chamber. Some traits such as hypocotyl dry weight, leaf pigment contents and cellular respiration were significantly correlated with previously known yield of ten cultivars grown in the hot field conditions. Sixteen cotton cultivars were classified for their heat tolerance by principle component analysis (PCA) using yield‐correlated physiological traits. As a result, we showed that heat tolerance classification of cultivars based on PCA significantly coincided with the yield results of cultivars grown in hot field. As a conclusion, yield‐correlated physiological traits determined in the study may facilitate selection of heat‐tolerant cotton genotypes at early stage. In addition, yield‐correlated early‐stage traits can be used in phenotyping for QTL and association mapping studies to develop selection markers for heat tolerance.     

Genetic mapping and inheritance of Russian wheat aphid resistance gene in accession IG 100695

The Russian wheat aphid (RWA), Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov), is an important pest of small‐grain cereals, particularly wheat, worldwide. The most efficient strategy against the RWA is to identify sources of resistance and to introduce them into susceptible wheat genotypes. This study was conducted to determine the mode of inheritance of the RWA resistance found in ICARDA accession IG 100695, to identify wheat microsatellite markers closely linked to the gene and to map the chromosomal location of the gene. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker scores were identified in a mapping population of 190 F₂ individuals and compared, while phenotypic screening for resistance was performed in F_2 : 3 families derived from a cross between ‘Basribey’ (susceptible) and IG 100695 (resistant). Phenotypic segregation of leaf chlorosis and rolling displayed the effect of a single dominant gene, temporarily denoted Dn100695, in IG 100695. Dn100695 was mapped on the short arm of chromosome 7D with four linked SSR markers, Xgwm44, Xcfd14, Xcfd46 and Xbarc126. Dn100695 and linked SSR markers may be useful for improving resistance for RWA in wheat breeding.     

SNP allele frequency estimation in pooled DNA of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande, 1895) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) by next-generation sequencing

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Next-generation sequencing combined with bioinformatic analysis has become an instrumental tool for quick and reliable SNP discovery in genomes. Here, we...     

Development and assessment of a novel servo-controlled spraying system for real time adjustment of the orientation angle of the nozzles of a boom sprayer

Background

Pesticide spray drift, which is the movement of pesticide by wind to any location other than the intended area, is hazardous to human, animal, food safety and environmental health. It is not possible to completely eliminate spray drift during spraying with field crop sprayers, but spray drift can be reduced by developing new technologies. The most common methods to reduce spray drift are carrying the droplets to the target with air-assisted spraying, electrostatic spraying, preferring air induction nozzles and boom shields. With these methods, it is not possible to make a change on the sprayer depending on the wind intensity during spraying. In this study, a novel servo-controlled spraying system was designed and developed to change the nozzle orientation angle in the reverse direction of the wind current to reduce the ground spray drift in real time and automatically in a wind tunnel. The displacement in the spray pattern (D_c) was used as a ground drift indicator for each nozzle to evaluate the spray drift.

Results

The developed system, operated by LabVIEW software, calculated different nozzle orientation angles depending on nozzle types, wind velocities and spraying pressures. Orientation angles calculated for different test conditions achieved in reduction were up to 49.01% for XR11002 nozzle, 32.82% for AIXR11002 nozzle and 32.31% for TTJ6011002 nozzle at 400 kPa spray pressure and 2.5 m s⁻¹ wind velocity.

Conclusion

The developed system, which has a self-decision mechanism, calculated the nozzle orientation angle instantaneously according to the wind velocity. It has been observed that the adjustable spraying nozzle system, sprayed with high precision towards the wind in the wind tunnel, and the developed system have advantages compared to conventional spraying systems. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Effect of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria on Fe Acquisition in Peach (Prunus Persica L) Under Calcareous Soil Conditions

Abstract

The effects of Alcaligenes 637Ca, Agrobacterium A18, Staphylococcus MFDCa1, MFDCa2, Bacillus M3 and Pantoea FF1 were tested on peach cv. ‘Elegant Lady’ on GF677 and Nemaguard rootstocks. Average increases in citric, malic, oxalic, butyric and fumaric acid in the leaf were obtained from rhizobacterial root inoculations of 33.1, 17.5, 21.7, 26.5, and 44.7% in Elegant Lady/Nemaguard, respectively. FF1 showed the highest FC-R activity in the roots of Nemaguard (112.4?nmol?FW?gr^?1?hr^?2) and GF677 (162?nmol?FW?gr^?1?hr^?2). The highest FC-R activity in the leaf was with MFDCa2 in Elegant Lady/Nemaguard (57.1?nmol?FW?gr^?1?hr^?2) and 637Ca in Elegant Lady/GF677 (87.9?nmol?FW?gr^?1?hr^?2). PGPR strains used in this study expressed increased leaf organic acid content, FC-R activity in the roots and leaf, increased active Fe content in the leaf, and possessed a great potential for the improvement of iron availability to plants.     

Evaluation of suppression of rhizomania disease by earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris L.) and its effects on soil microbial activity in different sugar beet cultivars

The ability of earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L. to suppress the multiplication of Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) transmitted by Polymyxa betae and its effects on soil microbial activity were investigated under controlled conditions. BNYVV-infested and a combination of earthworm with BNYVV-infested soil were compared to non-infested soils for their effects on plant and root weights and virus content of two different sugar beet cultivars by using partially resistant (cv. Leila) and susceptible (cv. Arosa) cultivars to the rhizomania disease. Soil testing with sugar beet baiting plants followed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to diagnose virus. The results of the statistical analyses showed that total fresh plant and root weights were negatively correlated with BNYVV infection. Addition of L. terrestris significantly enhanced plant and root weights. The earthworm-added soils had higher microbial activity such as basal soil respiration and dehydrogenase activity. The presence of earthworms in the soil did not statistically suppress BNYVV infection (p < 0.05). Sugar beet production may be enhanced by using resistant cultivars with adding L. terrestris into soil where rhizomania is present.     

α-Thujone exhibits an antifungal activity against F. graminearum by inducing oxidative stress,apoptosis, epigenetics alterations and reduced toxin synthesis

European Journal of Plant Pathology - Specific mechanisms contributing to the antifungal activity of α-thujone, one of the main compounds of essential oils in herbs, against Fusarium...     

Multivariate Statistical Techniques for the Assessment of Surface Water Quality at the Mid-Black Sea Coast of Turkey

The aim of this study was to investigate the seasonal and spatial variations in surface water quality at the mid-Black Sea coast of Turkey. The samples were collected from ten monitoring stations including rivers and sea water during the years from 2007 to 2008. The samples were analyzed for 25 parameters: total carbon, total inorganic carbon, total organic carbon, chromium, cadmium, copper, lead, iron, nickel, manganese, phenol, surfactants, ammonium, nitrite and nitrate-nitrogen, total phosphorus, adsorbable organic halogen, sulfate, hardness, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and salinity. Multivariate statistical techniques, cluster analysis (CA) and factor analysis/principal component analysis (FA/PCA), were applied to analyze the similarities among the sampling sites to identify the source apportionment of pollution parameters in surface waters. The results indicate that seven factors for river water explained 82.24% of the variance. In seawater, seven factors account for 89.65% of the total variance. Varifactors obtained from factor analysis indicate that the parameters responsible for water quality variations are mainly related to organic pollution (municipal effluents), inorganic pollution (industrial effluents and waste disposal areas), nutrients (agricultural runoff), and dissolved salts (soil leaching and runoff process).