Control of postharvest diseases on citrus fruit by preharvest applications of biocontrol agent Pantoea agglomerans CPA-2: Part II. Effectiveness of different cell formulations

Infection of citrus fruit by postharvest pathogens often occurs in the field prior to harvest; therefore, it could be advantageous to apply biocontrol agents before harvest, which would reduce initial infection and then remain active and control pathogens in storage and under commercial conditions. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effectiveness of different formulations of Pantoea agglomerans applied preharvest for controlling postharvest diseases on citrus. Results confirmed the protective effect of the additive Fungicover (FC) on populations of P. agglomerans exposed to non-conducive field conditions. In general, when osmotic-adapted and lyophilised P. agglomerans cells were used in bacterial treatments, these treatments showed greater survival rates than treatments with non-osmotic-adapted or fresh cells under field conditions. However, this superiority was only found when Fungicover was also added to suspensions of bacterial treatments. Therefore, bacterial treatments with Fungicover had population levels of P. agglomerans cells 1.2 and 2.8 log CFU cm⁻² higher than bacterial treatments without Fungicover during field experiments. These results allowed us to conclude that it is possible to improve environmental stress tolerance and ecological competence of P. agglomerans cells by integrating certain formulation strategies. Consequently, the improved formulation of P. agglomerans provided an effective control for orange fruit against natural postharvest pathogen infections and artificial infections of Penicillium digitatum with values of decay reduction higher than 50%. These latter results also demonstrated that it is possible to control postharvest pathogens using bacterial preharvest treatments.     

Accumulation of mineral elements in tuber periderm of potato cultivars differing in susceptibility to common scab

Summary Concentrations of Ca, P, K, Mg, Al, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn were determined in healthy tuber peelings of cultivars less (Karin, Santé and Symfonia) and more (Agria, Désirée and Tomensa) susceptible to common scab when grown at two sites that differed in the level of scab incidence. The accumulation of some elements was significantly influenced by site, year, cultivar, maturity and the age of tuber periderm. At both sites, Ca and P in periderm tissue declined but Mg increased during the growing season. The Ca/P ratios in tuber periderm of all cultivars greatly decreased 83 days after planting. Concentrations of mineral elements measured at harvest may not reflect conditions present during the infection period, and consequently may not be related to scab incidence or severity.     

Agronomic characterization of diploid hybrid families derived from crosses between haploids of the common potato and three wild Argentinian tuber-bearing species

Five diploid hybrid families derived from crosses between haploids of three Argentinian cultivars and three diploid wild species,Solanum gourlayi, S. chacoense andS. spegazzinii, were evaluated in a field experiment in Balcarce. All plants were androsterile and, thus, could not be screened for 2n pollen production. Data on agronomic tuber traits were statistically analyzed. Differences among families were non-significant for tuber number/plant, but were significant for tuber weight/plant and dry matter content (with values above 21.0% in two of them). The relative frequencies of tubers in the categories established for size, skin texture, and eye depth were family dependent, but they were familiy independent in the categories established for tuber shape and skin color. Great morphological variability was detected for all the traits studied, and plants with high yield and high dry matter content were identified. These families can be used as sources of germplasm in breeding and to explore heterotic responses in 2x × 4x crosses, given the capacity of some plants to produce 2n eggs, as found in a related investigation.     

Evaluation of grain yield and its components in wheat cultivars and landraces under near optimal and drought conditions

In a 2-years experiment, 30 wheat cultivars and 21 landraces from different countries were tested under near optimum and drought stress conditions. Plant height, number of sterile spikelets per spike, spikelets per spike, number of kernels per spike, kernel weight per spike, 1000 kernel weight and grain yield were evaluated. The number of kernels per spike, 1000 kernel weight and especially yield were more sensitive to drought stress in the cultivars than plant height and number of spikelets per spike, while in the landraces these traits did not differ under drought stress compared to near optimum conditions. The average yield of cultivars was significantly better than the average yield of landraces under near optimum as well as drought stress conditions. Path coefficient analysis showed that for cultivars under near optimum conditions there was no significant direct association of any of the analysed characters with yield, while under drought stress conditions, number of kernels per spike had a significant positive direct effect. Under drought stress conditions, the number of sterile spikelets displayed a negative direct effect, while kernel weight per spike had a positive direct effect on yield. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used as a tool to classify cultivars and landraces according to their yield ability under near optimum and drought stress conditions. Among the cultivars, two groups out of five and among one of three in the landraces were characterised by high yields in both near optimum as well as under drought stress conditions. These genotypes may serve as sources of germplasm for breeding for drought tolerance. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

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.     

Multifunctionalised benzoxazinones in the systems Oryza sativa–Echinochloa crus‐galli and Triticum aestivum–Avena fatua as natural‐product‐based herbicide leads

BACKGROUND: Fifteen novel derivatives of D‐DIBOA, including aromatic ring modifications and the addition of side chains in positions C‐2 and N‐4, had previously been synthesised and their phytotoxicity on standard target species (STS) evaluated. This strategy combined steric, electronic, solubility and lipophilicity requirements to achieve the maximum phytotoxic activity. An evaluation of the bioactivity of these compounds on the systems Oryza sativa–Echinochloa crus‐galli and Triticum aestivum–Avena fatua is reported here. RESULTS: All compounds showed inhibition profiles on the two species Echinochloa crus‐galli (L.) Beauv. and Avena fatua L. The most marked effects were caused by 6F‐4Pr‐D‐DIBOA, 6F‐4Val‐D‐DIBOA, 6Cl‐4Pr‐D‐DIBOA and 6Cl‐4Val‐D‐DIBOA. The IC₅₀ values for the systems Echinochloa crus‐galli–Oryza sativa and Avena fatua–Triticum aestivum for all compounds were compared. The compound that showed the greatest selectivity for the system Echinochloa crus‐galli–Oryza sativa was 8Cl‐4Pr‐D‐DIBOA, which was 15 times more selective than the commercial herbicide propanil (Cotanil‐35). With regard to the system Avena fatua–Triticum aestivum, the compounds that showed the highest selectivities were 8Cl‐4Val‐D‐DIBOA and 6F‐4Pr‐D‐DIBOA. The results obtained for 6F‐4Pr‐D‐DIBOA are of great interest because of the high phytotoxicity to Avena fatua (IC₅₀ = 6 µM , r² = 0.9616). CONCLUSION: The in vitro phytotoxicity profiles and selectivities shown by the compounds described here make them candidates for higher‐level studies. 8Cl‐4Pr‐D‐DIBOA for the system Echinochloa crus‐galli‐Oryza sativa and 6F‐4Pr‐D‐DIBOA for Avena fatua‐Triticum aestivum were the most interesting compounds. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Improving Control of Green and Blue Molds of Oranges by Combining Pantoea Agglomerans (CPA-2) and Sodium Bicarbonate

The potential of using Pantoea agglomerans (strain CPA-2) alone, or in combination with sodium bicarbonate or sodium carbonate solutions, for control of Penicillium digitatum (green mold) and Penicillium italicum (blue mold) on oranges was investigated under ambient (20 °C) and cold storage (3 °C) conditions. P. agglomerans controlled both pathogens on oranges at 2 × 10⁸ cfu ml^-1. The biocontrol agent was found to be completely tolerant to 2% sodium bicarbonate at room temperature, although its culturability was reduced by > 1000-fold after 30 min in 2% sodium carbonate. The efficacy of P. agglomerans for control of green mold was improved when combined with sodium bicarbonate, resulting in complete and 97.6% reduction of decay incidence at 3 °C and 20 °C, when compared to untreated controls. Satisfactory results were also obtained with the combined treatment for control of blue mold. P. agglomerans grew well inside wounds on oranges at both 20 °C and 3 °C. In contrast, it showed a reduced growth on the surface of intact fruit. Sodium bicarbonate at 2% concentration did not noticeably affect antagonist population development. Thus, use of bicarbonate treatment at 2% followed by the antagonist P. agglomerans CPA-2 could be an alternative to chemicals for control of postharvest diseases on oranges.