Tapping the potential of Solanum lycopersicum L. pertaining to salinity tolerance: perspectives and challenges

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Crop breeding for abiotic stress tolerance entails introgression of stress tolerant genes into the cultivated types. With the augmentation in salt tolerance,...     

Interference of benomyl and methyl-2-benzimidazolecarbamate (MBC) with DNA metabolism and nuclear divisions in Fusarium oxysporum

Methyl-1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazolecarbamate (benomyl) severely decreased DNA synthesis when applied at 3.5 × 10^?6M during the G1 phase of germinating conidia of Fusarium oxysporum; nuclear divisions were completely inhibited at a fungicide concentration of 10 × 10^?6M. The same concentration applied only after the S phase also completely inhibited the nuclear divisions. This dual interference of benomyl with DNA formation and mitosis might be related to a disturbed phosphorus metabolism.     

Pea seed-borne mosaic virus: occurrence in faba bean (Vicia faba) and lentil (Lens culinaris) in West Asia and North Africa,and further information on host range,transmission characteristics,and purification

In a survey for viruses of cultivated legumes in West Asia and North Africa, pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) was found in faba bean, lentil and pea. Using ELISA, it was detected in 107 out of 1554 faba bean samples and 40 out of 496 lentil samples with virus-like symptoms collected in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon., Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey.A pea isolate (SP9-88) from Syria was further characterized. Out of 57 plant species tested, 35 were found susceptible, 19 of which are newly reported hosts of the virus. The virus was transmitted efficiently in the non-persistent manner by five aphid species, especiallyMyzus persicae. Purification from systemically infected faba bean plants yielded 10–15 mg of purified virus per kg of infected tissue. Sap-inoculation of the food and forage legume species chickpea, faba bean, lentil, pea,Vicia narbonensis, V. sativa, Lathyrus ochrus andL. sativus at flowering stage led to 66.0, 40.5, 44.6, 49.2, 31.7, 7.5, 35.7 and 12.0% yield loss, respectively, and to seed-transmission, rates of 0.7, 6.0, 10.8, 1.1, 0.3, 0.2 and 0.4%, respectively. No transmission was detected in chickpea seed embryo axes. However, the virus was detected in the seed coat of SPbMV-infected chickpea at an estimated rate of 1.81%.     

Molecular and morphological delineation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Longidorus poessneckensis</Emphasis> Altherr, 1974 (Nematoda: Dorylaimida)

The plant–parasitic nematode Longidorus poessneckensis from the Czech Republic was morphologically and molecularly characterised. Molecular analyses were carried out using mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1—cox1) and ribosomal DNA (ITS2—second internal transcribed spacer, 18S gene and D2/D3 expansion segments of the 28S gene), which were amplified and sequenced. Phylogenetic relationship of L. poessneckensis with three morphologically closely related species, i.e. L. macrosoma, L. helveticus and L. uroshis, was inferred by using maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods, with a female of Xiphinema diversicaudatum and a bivulval female of X. vuittenezi as outgroups. All multiple alignments yielded similar basic trees supporting the uniqueness of L. poessneckensis and the validity of the four Longidorus species identified using morphological characters. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that L. poessneckensis is more closely related to L. macrosoma and L. helveticus than to L. uroshis. High inter-population diversity (19%) was observed across the cox1 gene between two populations of L. poessneckensis.     

Characterization of carboxylesterase in skin mucus of Cirrhinus mrigala and its assessment as biomarker of organophosphate exposure

Presence of carboxylesterase (CbE) activity in the skin mucus of Cirrhinus mrigala was investigated. CbE activity in skin mucus showed higher substrate preference for α-naphthyl acetate over p-nitrophenyl acetate. Four CbE isozymes—CbE-1, CbE-2, CbE-3, and CbE-4 were observed in skin mucus during zymography. The isozyme CbE-4 was characterized as typical serine esterase, whereas CbE-1, CbE-2, and CbE-3 were identified as sulphhydryl group-dependent serine esterases. In vitro treatment of skin mucus with the organophosphorus insecticide, Nuvan^® showed strong inhibition of CbE activity. In vivo exposure of the fish to sublethal test concentrations (5 and 15 mg/l) of the insecticide also revealed significant inhibition of CbE activity in mucus. After the cessation of exposure, CbE activity recovered to its control level during the recovery periods. Thus, CbE activity in skin mucus could be considered a biomarker of the organophosphorus insecticide exposure to fish and a useful tool in monitoring environmental toxicity.     

Development of molecular markers and probes based on TEF-1α, β-tubulin and ITS gene sequences for quantitative detection of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris by using real-time PCR

Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris) causes significant yield losses in chickpea worldwide. Faster, reliable and more specific molecular detection techniques were developed for the detection of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Foc). The sequences obtained from multiple alignments of target genes, namely, translation elongation factor-1α (TEF-1α), β-tubulin, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS), were used to design Foc-specific markers/probes. One set of TEF-1α-based molecular marker, namely, SPα-F and R, two sets of β-tubulin-based markers, namely, SPβ1-F and R, and SPβ2-F and R, and one set of ITS gene, namely, SPT-F and R, were developed for the detection and quantification of Foc from diverse samples. The specificity and sensitivity of the designed molecular markers were evaluated through conventional and real-time PCR assays which differentiated the Foc from closely related species of Fusarium and other plant pathogens. In conventional PCR, the minimum detection limits of the markers ranged from 12.5 pg to 100 pg for genomic DNA of Foc and 0.5 ng to 10 ng for infected plant samples. In real-time PCR assay, the minimum detection limits of the markers ranged from 0.001 pg to 0.25 pg for genomic DNA of Foc and from 0.04 pg to 1.5 pg for the infected plant samples. Thus, the markers designed in the present study were found to be specific for Foc and can be used consistently for the detection and identification of Foc isolates. The probes developed from the two sets of markers, namely, SPα and SPβ2, also showed specificity with Foc.     

Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Xiphinema diversicaudatum,X. pachtaicum,X. simile</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">X. vuittenezi</Emphasis> (Nematoda,Dorylaimida)

Genetic analyses using sequences of partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene of mitochondrial DNA were conducted to determine the extent of genetic variation within and among Xiphinema diversicaudatum, X. pachtaicum, X. simile and X. vuittenezi populations. Pairwise distance among the four species was 22.5 to 31.2%. Four different sequence variants of cox1 were determined among six populations of X. diversicaudatum and three variants among three populations of X. simile. Nucleotide variation was detected at 18 of 414 bp (1.9 to 2.7%) in X. diversicaudatum and 4 of 435 bp (0.2 to 0.9%) in X. simile. All changes were at silent sites. No nucleotide variation was detected within three populations of X. pachtaicum and within three populations of X. vuittenezi.     

Potential of Bacillus altitudinis KMS-6 as a biocontrol agent of Meloidogyne javanica

Journal of Pest Science - Root-knot nematodes are among the most dangerous plant pathogens. Biological control is a safer and effective way to manage such pests. In this context, bacterial strain...