Fuels from biomass: integration with food and materials systems

The development of fuels from biomass can lead naturally to dispersed facilities that incorporate food or materials production (or both) with fuel production, forming adaptive systems that can be modified to meet evolving needs and constraints. The technology that is appropriate to each system needs to be worked out, taking into account associated food and materials opportunities in order to decrease the ultimate cost of energy delivered to the consumer. I analyze possible systems based on sugarcane, corn, and guayule.     

Preliminary investigation of the causal agent(s) of a disease causing leaf curl of tobacco in South Africa

A high incidence (86%) of potyvirus infection was noted in tobacco plants exhibiting a form of leaf curl in South Africa. Despite leaf curl being reported in the literature to be of geminiviral aetiology, no geminiviruses were detected. Furthermore, no other virus particles were detected by virus purification, TEM and serology. Twelve species of dsRNA were consistently isolated from these tobacco plants, but were absent from other forms of leaf curl-affected and healthy tobacco. Aphid and mechanical inoculation demonstrated that the purified potyvirus(es) did not cause leaf curl symptoms, but rather mild mottle and mosaic symptoms in tobacco. Partial characterization of the potyvirus preparation showed a possible relationship to a South African strain of potato virus Y. Because potyvirus-inoculated plants did not manifest leaf curl symptoms, and because leaf curl symptoms were noted in some plants not infected with a potyvirus, it was concluded that the potyvirus is not involved in the leaf curl aetiology, but causes a latent infection, the symptoms of which are masked. The pattern of the dsRNA banding, induction of enations and lack of mechanical and seed transmission are common to plant reoviruses. The possibility of a phytoreovirus involvement in this form of leaf curl is currently being investigated. The results from this study suggest that tobacco leaf curl disease worldwide, with regard to geminiviruses, be re-evaluated.     

Role of acquisition and inoculation time in the expression of clonal variation for BYDV-PAV transmission in the aphid species Rhopalosiphum padi

Vector efficiency of 20 Rhopalosiphum padi clones, originating from Europe, North America and North Africa and exhibiting different types of life cycle, was evaluated by transmitting a French BYDV-PAV isolate to barley plants under five different acquisition/inoculation sequences (AAP/IAP). Differences between clones in transmission efficiency were found only when a short AAP was followed by a long IAP (6 h/120 h) and, to some extent, when a long AAP (48 h) was followed by a short IAP (6 h), but no differences were found when the conditions for virus transmission were optimal, i.e. long AAP followed by long IAP (48 h/120 h). There were no differences in transmission rates by clones of different geographical origins and with different life cycles. As a consequence, clonal variation is probably of little importance in the vector aspects of the epidemiology of PAV serotypes transmitted by R. padi , but the availability of a range of clones exhibiting transmission differences under limiting AAP or IAP conditions could be of interest for studies of virus–vector relationships.