High‐level of resistance to spinosad,emamectin benzoate and carbosulfan in populations of Thrips tabaci collected in Israel

BACKGROUND: The onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman, is a major pest of several crop plants in the genus Allium, such as onions, garlic and chives. In Israel, these crops are grown in open fields and in protected housing. This thrips is usually controlled by the application of chemical insecticides. In recent years, spinosad, emamectin benzoate and carbosulfan have been the major insecticides used for the control of the onion thrips. In the last 4 years, growers of chives and green onion from several regions of Israel have reported a significant decrease in the efficacy of insecticides used to control the onion thrips. RESULTS: The susceptibility of 14 populations of the onion thrips, collected mainly from chives between the years 2007 and 2011, to spinosad, emamectin benzoate and carbosulfan was tested using a laboratory bioassay. The majority of the populations showed significant levels of resistance to at least one of the insecticides. LC₅₀ values calculated for two of the studied populations showed that the resistance factor for spinosad compared with the susceptible population is 21 393, for carbosulfan 54 and for emamectin benzoate 36. Only two populations, collected from organic farms, were susceptible to the insecticides tested. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of a high resistance level to spinosad, the major insecticide used to control the onion thrips. Resistance cases to spinosad were associated with failures to control the pest. Populations resistant to spinosad also had partial or complete resistance to other insecticides used for controlling the onion thrips. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

The role of models for multicriteria evaluation and multiobjective design of cropping systems for managing weeds

Weeds are both harmful for crop production and important for biodiversity, while herbicides can pollute the environment. We thus need new cropping systems optimising all cultural techniques, reconciling agricultural production, herbicide reduction and biodiversity conservation. Here, we show how to (i) develop models quantifying the effects of cropping systems on weed dynamics, (ii) integrate interactions between weeds and other organisms, (iii) predict the impact on production and biodiversity and (iv) use the model for multicriteria evaluation and multiobjective design of cropping systems. Among the existing weed dynamics models, we chose the one closest to our requirements to illustrate these different steps, that is, FlorSys which predicts multispecific weed dynamics as a function of cultural techniques and pedoclimate. We have illustrated the development of interaction submodels with the example of a crop pathogen whose propagation is increased when infecting grass weeds. To evaluate the weed flora impact, predicted weed densities were translated into indicators of harmfulness (crop yield loss, technical harvest problems, harvest pollution, field infestation, crop disease increase) and biodiversity (weed species richness and equitability, trophic resources for birds, insects and pollinators). Simulations were run over several years and with different weather scenarios (i) to optimise cultural techniques to control harmful weeds, (ii) to analyse the impact of changing agricultural practices (e.g. simplified tillage and rotations, no‐till, temporary crops) on weed density, species and trait composition and (iii) to evaluate cropping systems for their ability to reconcile agricultural production and biodiversity, thus identifying levers for designing sustainable cropping systems.     

Effects of huanglongbing on fruit quality of sweet orange cultivars in Brazil

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB), associated with Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and Ca. L. americanus and transmitted by the Asian psyllid Diaphorina citri, is the most serious disease of citrus worldwide because of crop devastation and difficulty to control. Since 2004, approximately 3 million trees were eliminated in attempts to limit its spread in Brazil. Where HLB becomes endemic, the disease progression in the orchard and the increasing symptom severity throughout the tree canopy can be relatively fast, greatly reducing the economic life of affected orchards because of tree decline and yield reduction. Although the majority of the fruit from symptomatic branches drop before harvest, a significant amount of affected fruit remain attached, are available for harvest, and can affect juice quality. To quantify and compare the effects of HLB on fruit quality of the most important sweet orange cultivars grown in São Paulo State, 4–6 year-old sweet orange trees from 26 blocks (two of ‘Valencia Americana’, eight of ‘Hamlin’, four of ‘Westin’, seven of ‘Pera’, and five of ‘Valencia’) were selected prior to harvest. In each block, 14–21 HLB-symptomatic trees were chosen. In each tree, the quality of 20 fruit normal in appearance from asymptomatic branches and 20 symptomatic fruit from symptomatic branches were assessed. In general, compared to normal fruit, the symptomatic fruit were small, light, more acidic, and had lower juice percentage, Brix, total soluble solids per box, total soluble solids per fruit, and Brix/acidity ratio. These effects of fruit quality were less pronounced on early and mid season sweet orange cultivars than on late season cv. Valencia.     

Distribution and Genotypic Characterization of Campylobacter jejuni Isolated from Poultry in Split and Dalmatia County,Croatia

Consumption of poultry contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni has been recognized worldwide as the leading cause of campylobacteriosis. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence and genotype diversity of Campylobacter jejuni in poultry meat intended for consumption in Split and Dalmatia County, which is the second biggest County in Croatia. Furthermore, we also wanted to discover possibly stable clones of C. jejuni appearing in different samples and periods of time, which would indicate their ability to persist in or adapt to poultry. In the period from March 2008 until June 2010, 834 samples of poultry from various sources were examined using a surface swab technique. Isolation of C. jejuni was performed by Preston broth and Karmali agar. Identification of the isolates was carried out using biochemical tests. C. jejuni was found in 84 of 574 chicken samples (14.6%) and in nine of 260 samples of turkey (3.5%). Pulse‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to analyse 61 obtained isolates using SmaI and KpnI. Of 22 different macrorestriction profiles (MRP) that were found, five were detected in poultry from both different locations and periods of time. Samples from 11 locations were found to be contaminated with more than two different genotypes of C. jejuni. Interestingly, the same MRP were found both in poultry declared to be of domestic origin and in the poultry imported from abroad. The prevalence of C. jejuni in poultry samples was in accordance with previously reported results. Genotypic analysis indicated that the population of C. jejuni in Split and Dalmatia County was diverse and that multiple strains of C. jejuni could be found in the same poultry samples. Furthermore, the same genotypes were identified from the samples obtained from different locations and periods of time, which could support the theory of a global existence of certain MRP that are able to persist in or adapt to poultry.     

Combined Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli Rapid Testing and Molecular Epidemiology in Conventional Broiler Flocks

Campylobacter spp. are important causes of bacterial zoonosis, most often transmitted by contaminated poultry meat. From an epidemiological and risk assessment perspective, further knowledge should be obtained on Campylobacter prevalence and genotype distribution in primary production. Consequently, 15 Austrian broiler flocks were surveyed in summer for their thermophilic Campylobacter spp. contamination status. Chicken droppings, dust and drinking water samples were collected from each flock at three separate sampling periods. Isolates were confirmed by PCR and subtyped. We also compared three alternative methods (culture‐based enrichment in Bolton broth, culture‐independent real‐time PCR and a lateral‐flow test) for their applicability in chicken droppings. Twelve flocks were found to be positive for thermophilic Campylobacter spp. during the entire sampling period. Seven flocks (46.6%) were contaminated with both, C. jejuni and C. coli, five flocks harboured solely one species. We observed to a majority flock‐specific C. jejuni and C. coli genotypes, which dominated the respective flock. Flocks within a distance <2 km shared the same C. jejuni genotypes indicating a cross‐contamination event via the environment or personnel vectors. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of C. jejuni revealed that the majority of isolates were assigned to globally distributed clonal complexes or had a strong link to the human interface (CC ST‐446 and ST4373). The combination of techniques poses an advantage over risk assessment studies based on cultures alone, as, in the case of Campylobacter, occurrence of a high variety of genotypes might be present among a broiler flock. We suggest applying the lateral‐flow test under field conditions to identify ‘high‐shedding’ broiler flocks at the farm level. Consequently, poultry farmers and veterinarians could improve hygiene measurements and direct sanitation activities, especially during the thinning period. Ultimately, real‐time PCR could be applied to quantify Campylobacter spp. directly from chicken droppings and avoid non‐interpretable results achieved by culture‐dependent methods.     

Differential susceptibility to tetracycline,oxytetracycline and doxycycline of the calf pathogens Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida in three growth media

For clinical isolates of bovine Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida, this study reports minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) differences for tetracycline, oxytetracycline and doxycycline between cation‐adjusted Mueller‐Hinton broth (CAMHB), foetal bovine serum (FBS) and Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) medium. MICs were determined according to CLSI standards and additionally using five overlapping sets of twofold dilutions. Matrix effect: (a) free drug MICs and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) for all drugs were significantly higher in FBS than in CAMHB for both pathogens (p < 0.001); (b) MICs and MBCs were higher for CAMHB and FBS compared to RPMI for P. multocida only. Net growth rate for P. multocida in CAMHB was significantly slower than in FBS and higher than in RPMI, correlating to MIC and MBC ranking. Drug effect: doxycycline MICs and MBCs were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in both CAMHB and FBS than tetracycline and oxytetracycline for both pathogens. Only for M. haemolytica were oxytetracycline MIC and MBC significantly lower than tetracycline, precluding the use of tetracycline to predict oxytetracycline susceptibility in this species. Determining potencies of tetracyclines in a physiological medium, such as FBS, is proposed, when the objective is correlation with pharmacokinetic data for dosage determination.