Efficacy of bacterial antagonists and different commercial products against Fusarium wilt on rocket

Seven experimental trials were carried out to evaluate the efficacy of the bacterial strains Achromobacter xylosoxydans AM1 and Serratia sp. DM1 obtained from suppressive soils and from soilless used rockwool substrates (Pseudomonas putida FC6B, Pseudomonas sp. FC7B, Pseudomonas putida FC8B, Pseudomonas sp. FC9B and Pseudomonas sp. FC24B) against Fusarium wilt on rocket caused by Fusarium oxysporum ff. spp. raphani and conglutinans. Along with these strains, two commercial bioproducts (RootShield—Trichoderma harzianum T22; Cedomon—Pseudomonas chlororaphis MA342) were also tested. Different application strategies such as soil treatment (trials I to VI; 10⁷ and 10⁸ CFU ml⁻¹) and root dipping (trial VII; 10⁸ and 10⁹ CFU ml⁻¹) were performed in a glasshouse in order to test the efficacy of the bacterial strains against Fusarium oxysporum ff. spp. raphani and conglutinans. The lowest disease incidence (16.7%) was observed with the application of Achromobacter sp. AM1, Serratia sp. DM1 at 10⁸ CFU ml⁻¹ and Pseudomonas sp. FC9B at 10⁷ CFU ml⁻¹ against F. oxysporum f. sp. conglutinans (experiment I). Maximum plant biomass (5.0 g/plant) was registered in Serratia sp. DM1 at 10⁸ CFU ml⁻¹ treated plants in trial IV. The trials against F. oxysporum f. sp. raphani (experiment II) showed that the application of Pseudomonas sp. FC7B, P. putida FC8B at 10⁸ CFU ml⁻¹ and P. chlororaphis MA342 at 7.5 × 10⁶ CFU ml⁻¹ significantly reduced disease incidence to values ranging between 87% and 92%. The highest plant biomass was recorded with the application of Achromobacter sp. AM1 and P. putida FC6B at 10⁷ CFU ml⁻¹ (3.9 to 4.2 g) carried out 7 days before the artificial inoculation of the pathogens (trial IV). The present study showed the potential biocontrol activity of the bacterial strains Achromobacter sp. AM1, Serratia sp. DM1 and Pseudomonas sp. FC9B against F. oxysporum f. sp. conglutinans and of Pseudomonas sp. FC7B, P. putida FC8B, P. chlororaphis MA342, Achromobacter sp. AM1 and P. putida FC6B against F. oxysporum f. sp. raphani. Growth-promoting activity of biocontrol bacteria used during the trials was observed.     

Rapid generation advance(RGA) in chickpea to produce up to seven generations per year and enable speed breeding

This study was aimed at developing a protocol for increasing the number of generation cycles per year in chickpea(Cicer arietinum L.).Six accessions,two each from early(JG 11 and JG 14),medium(ICCV 10 and JG 16),and late(CDC-Frontier and C 235)maturity groups,were used.The experiment was conducted for two years under glasshouse conditions.The photoperiod was extended to induce early flowering and immature seeds were germinated to further reduce generation cycle time.Compared to control,artificial light caused a reduction in flowering time by respectively 8–19,7–16,and 11–27 days in early-,medium-,and late-maturing accessions.The earliest stage of immature seed able to germinate was 20–23 days after anthesis in accessions of different maturity groups.The time period between germination and the earliest stage of immature seed suitable for germination was considered one generation cycle and spanned respectively 43–60,44–64,and 52–79 days in early-,medium-,and late-maturing accessions.However,the late-maturing accession CDCFrontier could not be advanced further after three generation cycles owing to the strong influence of photoperiod and temperature.The mean total number of generations produced per year were respectively 7,6.2,and 6 in early-,medium-,and late-maturing accessions.These results have encouraging implications for breeding programs:rapid progression toward homozygosity,development of mapping populations,and reduction in time,space and resources in cultivar development(speed breeding).     

Cold tolerance during early reproductive growth of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.): genetic variation in gamete development and function

Chilling temperatures at flowering cause floral abortion in most chickpea cultivars. Recent evaluations of germplasm showed distinct genotypic differences in pod and seed set at low temperature but the morpho-physiological basis for such variation is unclear. Observations in the field during cold spells of December and January, and at 15/5°C and 15/0°C (day/night) regimes in growth rooms showed distinct genetic variation in flower morphology, gamete development (viability and size of pollen and ovules) and function (pollen germination and tube growth, ovule viability and fertilization, etc.). The greater pod-setting ability of tolerant lines (ICCVs 88502 and 88503) than the sensitive cultivars (Annigeri, Pant G 114, etc.) was associated with a higher pollen vigour (germination and tube growth) and ovule viability at low temperature in the former. The number of ovules was not affected by cold stress in all cultivars/lines but pollen size and viability were reduced in Annigeri. The reduced ovule fertilization, associated with decline in pollen tube growth and ovule viability, was the major cause for poor seed set at low temperatures. The magnitude of effects on gamete function varied with cultivar/line and severity of stress. Function of both pollen and ovules was adversely affected in Annigeri in 15/5° and 15/0°C regimes. In contrast, the reduction in pollen vigour was more than in ovule viability in ICCV 88510 and Pant G 114 at 15/5°C. At 15/0°C, however, both pollen vigour and ovule viability were reduced. A small increase in pod set of sensitive genotypes from manual pollinations with pollen from plants in the warm regime further suggested that pollen function was more adversely affected than pistil function at moderately low temperatures.     

Screening recently identified whitefly/spider mite‐resistant wild tomato accessions for resistance to Tuta absoluta

The tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) is a serious pest of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in the tropics and subtropics. Previous World Vegetable Center studies identified selected accessions of S. galapagense, S. cheesmaniae and S. pimpinellifolium that were resistant to whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.) and spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). Here, we evaluated these accessions for resistance to T. absoluta based on the number of eggs from choice bioassays, and larval mortality and adults emerged percentages in no‐choice feeding bioassays at WorldVeg Eastern and Southern Africa (WorldVeg) and the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe). At WorldVeg, S. galapagense VI063177 exhibited high resistance in both choice and no‐choice bioassays. There was strong negative correlation between larval mortality and adults emerged percentages in the no‐choice feeding bioassays. Results from the icipe experiments were consistent with those of the WorldVeg screening, except for S. pimpinellifolium accession VI030462 , which was susceptible at icipe. Tuta absoluta is rapidly spreading and the resistance sources reported here will be valuable in breeding tomato varieties resistant to this insect and others.     

Effect of Fractionation of Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (DDGS) on Pelleting Characteristics of Broiler Diets

Recently, the Elusieve process, a combination of elutriation (air classification) and sieving (screening) was developed to separate fiber from distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to increase DDGS utilization in nonruminant (poultry and swine) diets. Elusieve process produces three products: 1) Pan DDGS, with 5% higher protein content than conventional DDGS, which would be used at higher inclusion levels in broiler diets because of low fiber content; 2) Big DDGS, with nearly the same protein content as conventional DDGS, which would be used at same inclusion levels as conventional DDGS; and 3) Fiber product. The objective of this study was to determine and compare pellet‐mill throughput, power consumption, and pellet quality for broiler diets incorporating different levels (0, 10, and 20%) of conventional DDGS and DDGS products from Elusieve process. Poultry oil contents were lower (1.5–1.6%) in diets comprising Pan DDGS and diets without DDGS than in the other diets (2.2–3.1%). The feed throughput was not affected by inclusion levels or type of DDGS. Pellet quality (pellet durability index [PDI]) for diets comprising Pan DDGS (both 10 and 20% inclusion levels) was significantly better than PDI for diets comprising conventional DDGS, Big DDGS, and the diet without DDGS. Better pellet quality of diets comprising Pan DDGS could be due to lower quantity of poultry oil used as well as compositional characteristics such as low fiber and high protein. Diets with Big DDGS had similar pelleting characteristics to those with conventional DDGS. Pellet quality deteriorated at higher inclusion levels of conventional DDGS, Big DDGS, and Enhanced DDGS. Considering that Pan DDGS would be included at higher inclusion levels in broiler diets, superior pellet quality of diets comprising Pan DDGS is beneficial.     

Genetic diversity and pathogenicity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium oxysporum</Emphasis> isolated from wilted rocket plants in Italy

Thirty-six isolates of Fusarium oxysporum originated from Eruca vesicaria and Diplotaxis tenuifolia together with eight reference strains belonging to the formae speciales raphani, matthioli and conglutinans, typical on the Brassicaceae family, were tested for pathogenicity on two species of rocket plants (E. vesicaria L., syn. E. sativa, cv. ‘Rucola coltivata’; and D. tenuifolia cv. ‘Winter’) cultivated in the glasshouse. The results showed that different isolates were slightly, moderately or highly virulent. The strains were examined for differences in the nucleotide sequence of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) intergenic spacer (IGS) region, about 2.5 kb long. The phylogenetic (neighbor-joining) analysis performed on the isolates enabled identification of four different groups, named I, II, III and IV. Thirty-one isolates out of 36 clustered in group I and were genetically similar to F. oxysporum f.sp. raphani. By considering the pathogenicity of the strains included in Group I, a partial host specialization could be observed: the average disease index of the isolates from D. tenuifolia was higher on wild rocket, whereas the average disease index of the isolates from E. vesicaria was higher on cultivated rocket. Moreover, isolates from cultivated rocket showed, on average, a higher degree of aggressiveness than the isolates from wild rocket. Concerning Group I, the sequence analysis confirmed the homogeneity of the population, with only five parsimony-informative SNPs and five haplotypes. Twenty-six out of 31 isolates belonged to haplotype 1. Groups II and III were genetically similar to strains of F. oxysporum f.sp. matthioli. Three other strains, not pathogenic or with a medium level of virulence, clustered together in Group 4, but their sequence was distant from that of other formae speciales. The pathogenicity and IGS analysis confirmed the presence of virulence variation and genetic diversity among the F. oxysporum isolates studied. To our knowledge, this is the first report of differentiation of formae speciales of F. oxysporum on rocket plants by IGS analysis.     

Clinical protection, sub-clinical infection and persistence following vaccination with extinction payloads of O1 Manisa Foot-and-Mouth Disease monovalent vaccine and challenge in goats and comparison with sheep

Small ruminants play an important role in the epidemiology of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD). Small ruminants are vaccinated with one-half or one-third of cattle dose of oil-based or aqueous vaccines respectively. The extinction antigen payload in vaccine for protection in small ruminants is poorly studied. FMD seronegative Nellore sheep (n=30) and Osmanabadi goats (n=30) were vaccinated with different payloads of O(1) Manisa vaccine (0.45-5 μg). Vaccinated and sero-negative unvaccinated sheep (n=6) and goats (n=6) were challenged intradermally into the coronary band with O(1) Manisa virus. The sheep and goats were monitored for signs of FMD and samples were collected for measuring viraemia and virus associated with nasal swabs and probang samples. Clotted blood was collected for serology. Vaccines containing antigen payload up to 0.94 μg protected sheep and goats against challenge. Sheep and goats vaccinated with 0.45 μg antigen payload were poorly protected against challenge. An antigen payload of 0.94 μg was sufficient to offer complete protection and also absence of carrier status. Sheep and goats with no vaccination or with poor sero conversion to vaccination showed sub-clinical infection and became carriers. The results of the study suggest that vaccination offers protection from clinical disease even at a low payload of 0.94 μg and hence one-half of cattle dose of the oil-based vaccine formulations is sufficient to induce protective immune response in sheep and goats. Since no live virus could be isolated after 5 days post challenge from the nasal swab or probang samples even though viral RNA was detected, the risk of these animals transmitting disease was probably very low.     

Honeybee navigation: nature and calibration of the "odometer"

There are two theories about how honeybees estimate the distance to food sources. One theory proposes that distance flown is estimated in terms of energy consumption. The other suggests that the cue is visual, and is derived from the extent to which the image of the world has moved on the eye during the trip. Here the two theories are tested by observing dances of bees that have flown through a short, narrow tunnel to collect a food reward. The results show that the honeybee's "odometer" is visually driven. They also provide a calibration of the dance and the odometer in visual terms.     

Noble Gases in the Murchison Meteorite: Possible Relics of s-Process Nucleosynthesis

The Murchison carbonaceous chondrite contains a new type of xenon component, enriched by up to 50 percent in five of the nine stable xenon isotopes, mass numbers 128 to 132. This component, comprising 5 x 10(-5) of the total xenon in the meteorite, is released at 1200 degrees to 1600 degrees C from a severely etched mineral fraction, and probably resides in some refractory mineral. Krypton shows a similar but smaller enrichment in the isotopes 80 and 82. Neon and helium released in the same interval also are quite anomalous, being highly enriched in the isotopes 22 and 3. These patterns are strongly suggestive of three nuclear processes believed to take place in red giants: the s process (neutron capture on a slow time scale), helium burning, and hydrogen shell burning. If this interpretation is correct, then primitive meteorites contain yet another kind of alien, presolar material: dust grains ejected from red giants.