Long-term dynamics of causative agents of stem base diseases in winter wheat and reaction of Czech <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oculimacula</Emphasis> spp. and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Microdochium</Emphasis> spp<Emphasis Type="Italic">.</Emphasis> populations to prochloraz

Trichoderma aggressivum is an aggressive contaminant mould in the cultivation of Agaricus bisporus leading to severe reductions in mushroom yields. Production of fully colonised A. bisporus substrate in Europe is commonly carried out in large tunnels (Phase III), after which the substrate undergoes several bulk handling (mixing) operations before ending up on shelves in mushroom growing facilities. The work presented here studied the effect of Trichoderma aggressivum inoculum, substrate mixing and supplementation on Agaricus bisporus yields and evaluated four methods to detect T. aggressivum in bulk handled substrate. Inoculum dilution level was shown to correlate well with mushroom yield (P < 0.0001) with reductions of 2–6 % at the most dilute level (10^?4) and 60–100 % at the most concentrated level (10^?1), depending on the experiment. Supplementation, with or without T. aggressivum, had no significant effect on mushroom yield (P ≥ 0.85) but a high degree of substrate mixing was shown to significantly increase (P < 0.0001) T. aggressivum-associated crop losses. Four T. aggressivum detection methods were evaluated and a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method gave the most consistent and least variable results. Cycle threshold (CT) values ranged from 24 to 40, depending on the experiment and the inoculum dilution level, and false negatives (CT = 40) were reported on one occasion with the most dilute samples. The results indicate that Phase III mushroom substrate is vulnerable to infection by T. aggressivum when the fully colonised substrate is broken up and mixed during bulk handling operations, identifying a previously unidentified risk for Phase III substrate producers.     

Insecticidal activity of two formulations of essential oils against the cereal leaf beetle

Purpose: Plant-derived essential oils and their encapsulations have recently received increasing interest as an alternative to synthetic biopesticides suitable for integrated pest management and organic farming. In this study, combinations of essential oils (EO) from Rosmarinus officinalis with Cymbopogon citratus and Pelargonium graveolens with Thymus vulgaris in two formulations including encapsulate were tested for their potential for wheat protection against adults and larvae of Oulema melanopus (L.).

Materials and methods: The chemical composition of the essential oils was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Testing of insecticidal activity of the evaluated substances was conducted with 2.5?ml of tested combinations of EOs sprayed on the paper. Ten adults or larvae of O. melanopus were placed into a vessel. Control of mortality of O. melanopus specimens was assessed after 24?h after establishment of the experiment.

Results and conclusions: Tarsal contact toxicity assay showed the effectiveness of EO in concentration against O. melanopus larvae and adults in both formulations (essential oil and encapsulation) causing 100% mortality within 24?h. These results indicate the great potential of these essential oils and their encapsulations for future use in crop protection against insect pests.     

Antiviral Potential of Sea Urchin Aminated Spinochromes against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is one of the most prevalent pathogens worldwide requiring the search for new candidates for the creation of antiherpetic drugs. The ability of sea urchin spinochromes—echinochrome A (EchA) and its aminated analogues, echinamines A (EamA) and B (EamB)—to inhibit different stages of HSV-1 infection in Vero cells and to reduce the virus-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was studied. We found that spinochromes exhibited maximum antiviral activity when HSV-1 was pretreated with these compounds, which indicated the direct effect of spinochromes on HSV-1 particles. EamB and EamA both showed the highest virucidal activity by inhibiting the HSV-1 plaque formation, with a selectivity index (SI) of 80.6 and 50.3, respectively, and a reduction in HSV-1 attachment to cells (SI of 8.5 and 5.8, respectively). EamA and EamB considerably suppressed the early induction of ROS due to the virus infection. The ability of the tested compounds to directly bind to the surface glycoprotein, gD, of HSV-1 was established in silico. The dock score of EchA, EamA, and EamB was −4.75, −5.09, and −5.19 kcal/mol, respectively, which correlated with the SI of the virucidal action of these compounds and explained their ability to suppress the attachment and penetration of the virus into the cells.     

Deep-Sea Anemones Are Prospective Source of New Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Compounds

The peculiarities of the survival and adaptation of deep-sea organisms raise interest in the study of their metabolites as promising drugs. In this work, the hemolytic, cytotoxic, antimicrobial, and enzyme-inhibitory activities of tentacle extracts from five species of sea anemones (Cnidaria, orders Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia) collected near the Kuril and Commander Islands of the Far East of Russia were evaluated for the first time. The extracts of Liponema brevicorne and Actinostola callosa demonstrated maximal hemolytic activity, while high cytotoxic activity against murine splenocytes and Ehrlich carcinoma cells was found in the extract of Actinostola faeculenta. The extracts of Corallimorphus cf. pilatus demonstrated the greatest activity against Ehrlich carcinoma cells but were not toxic to mouse spleen cells. Sea anemones C. cf. pilatus and Stomphia coccinea are promising sources of antimicrobial and antifungal compounds, being active against Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and yeast Candida albicans. Moreover, all sea anemones contain α-galactosidase inhibitors. Peptide mass fingerprinting of L. brevicorne and C. cf. pilatus extracts provided a wide range of peptides, predominantly with molecular masses of 4000–5900 Da, which may belong to a known or new structural class of toxins. The obtained data allow concluding that deep-sea anemones are a promising source of compounds for drug discovery.     

Are species genetically more sensitive to habitat fragmentation on the periphery of their range compared to the core? A case study on the sand lizard (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lacerta agilis</Emphasis>)

Context

Species show different sensitivity to habitat loss and fragmentation depending on their specialization. Populations of a species at the range margin are generally assumed to be more stenoecious than populations at the core of the distribution and should therefore be more sensitive to habitat fragmentation.

Objectives

We evaluated the hypothesis that fragmentation effects species more strongly at the range periphery of their range compared to the core, resulting in lower genetic variability in comparable patch sizes and lower gene flow among populations.

Methods

We compared the genetic diversity and structure of five sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) populations at the margin of its range in Bulgaria and of 11 populations at the core of its distribution in Germany. We based the analysis on microsatellites, comprising 15 loci in Bulgaria and 12 in Germany.

Results

All diversity indices declined with patch size. For medium-sized patches all diversity indices were lower at the range periphery compared to the core, with two of them being significant. AIC_c based model selection showed strong support for core/periphery and patch size effects for observed and expected heterozygosity but only a patch size effect for allelic richness. There was no isolation-by-distance and each sampled population was allocated to a separate cluster with high probability for both countries, indicating that all populations are (almost) completely isolated.

Conclusion

Our study indicates an increased sensitivity of a species to fragmentation at the periphery compared to the core of its distribution. This differential sensitivity should be accounted for when prioritizing species based on their fragmentation sensitivity in landscape management.

     

Phytoextraction of Pb and Cd from a contaminated agricultural soil using different EDTA application regimes: Laboratory versus field scale measures of efficiency

Enhanced phytoextraction of heavy metals using chelating agents and agricultural crops is widely discussed as a remediation technique for agricultural soils contaminated with low mobile heavy metals. In this study, phytoextraction efficiency of Zea mays after single and split applications of EDTA was tested on the laboratory and the field scale. EDTA effectively increased the mobility of target heavy metals (Pb and Cd) in the soil solution. Split applications provided generally lower water-soluble levels of Pb and Cd both in the pot and the field experiment. Therefore, the risk of groundwater contamination may be reduced after split applications. Higher Pb and Cd mobilisation after single applications increased plant stress, phytotoxicity and reduced plant dry above-ground biomass production compared to corresponding split doses. Single doses enhanced plant uptake of Pb and Cd and the phytoremediation efficiency compared to corresponding split doses. Results of plant dry above-ground biomass and heavy metal uptake obtained from the pot experiment could be to some extent verified in the field experiment. Plant uptake of Pb and Cd was lower and biomass production dropped after EDTA additions in the field experiment. Remediation factors in the field experiment were in general significantly lower than in the pot experiment mainly due to the much higher mass of soil per plant under field conditions. This highlights the limitations when going from the lab to the field scale. The low phytoremediation efficiency in the field and the mobilisation of high amounts of Pb and Cd down the soil profile may make the use of EDTA and Z. mays not suitable for the remediation of severely heavy metal contaminated soils in a reasonable time frame and may result in substantial groundwater pollution under used crop management.