Antifungal activity of strawberry fruit volatile compounds against Colletotrichum acutatum

Eight volatile products characterizing strawberry aroma, which is generated from the oxidative degradation of linoleic and linolenic acids by a lipoxygenase (LOX) pathway, were examined because of their antifungal activity against Colletotrichum acutatum, one of the causal agents of strawberry anthracnose. In this study, the effects of aldehydes, alcohols, and esters on mycelial growth and conidia development were evaluated. (E)-Hex-2-enal was found to be the best inhibitor of mycelial growth [MID (minimum inhibitory doses)=33.65 microL L(-1)] and of spore germination (MID=6.76 microL L(-1)), while hexyl acetate was the least effective of all volatile compounds tested (MID=6441.89 microL L(-1) for mycelial growth and MID=1351.35 microL L(-1) for spore germination). Furthermore, the antifungal activity of (E)-hex-2-enal on susceptibility of strawberry fruits to C. acutatum was also confirmed. The presence of these molecules in jars containing strawberry fruits inoculated with a suspension of spores inhibited the fungus growth and prevented the appearance of symptoms. Moreover, a study of the effects of (E)-hex-2-enal on conidial cells of C. acutatum was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. This volatile compound altered the structures of the cell wall and plasma membrane, causing disorganization and lysis of organelles and, eventually, cell death.     

First report of grapevine leafroll-associated virus-3 on peony plants in Ukraine

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - In summer 2021, six varieties of peony plants exhibiting severe leaf rolling and deformation, as well as severe plant dwarfism and mosaics were observed...     

Succession of Bacterial Communities in the Decomposition of Oats Straw in Two Soils with Contrasting Properties

Eurasian Soil Science - Significance of soil genesis for the composition and succession of bacterial communities during straw decomposition has been studied. Sterile grinded oat straw in nylon bags...     

Analysis of the structure of microbial community in soils with different degrees of salinization using T-RFLP and real-time PCR techniques

Molecular methods were used to study variation in the taxonomic structure of bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities in soil samples taken along a salinity gradient from a solonchak in the vicinity of Lake Akkol’ (Shingirlau, Kazakhstan). Soils from arable fields located 195 km from the solonchak served as the control. Total DNA was isolated from every sample and analyzed by T-RFLP and real-time PCR. Salinization was found to be the main ecological factor determining the structure of soil microbial community in the study region. The values of Simpson’s index characterizing the diversity of this community proved to be similar in all the samples, which, however, significantly differed in the taxonomic composition of microorganisms. A significantly increased content of archaea was revealed in the sample with the highest salinity. The results of this study show that the structure of soil microbial community reflects specific features of a given soil and can be used as an indicator of its ecological state.     

A comparative analysis of microbiomes in natural and anthropogenically disturbed soils of northwestern Kazakhstan

The goal of this study was to determine the relationships between the structure of the soil microbiome and the agroecological state of soils by the example of natural undisturbed (steppe areas) and anthropogenically disturbed (pastures, croplands, fallows) areas in the territory of northwestern Kazakhstan. The highest abundance of proteobacteria was found in the anthropogenically disturbed of fallows and in undisturbed soils; in other cases, actinobacteria and representatives of the Firmicutes phylum predominated. Different kinds of anthropogenic impacts resulted in the decrease in the portions of bacteria from the Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and Firmicutes phyla. In the disturbed soils, the portions of bacteria from the Erysipelothrix, Mycobacterium, Methylibium, Skermanella, Ralstonia, Lactococcus, Bdellovibrio, Candidatus nitrososphaera, Catellatospora, Cellulomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Steroidobacter genera increased. Bacteria of the Erysipelothrix and Methylibium genera occurred only in the undisturbed soils. The anthropogenically disturbed and undisturbed soils differed significantly in the taxonomic structure of their microbiomes forming two separate clusters, which confirms the efficiency of using the data on the structure of soil microbiomes when assessing the agroecological status of soils.     

Wheat dwarf virus in Ukraine: occurrence,molecular characterization and impact on the yield

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) causes one of the most serious cereal diseases in many countries. In spring 2020, we observed wheat plants with symptoms of severe...     

Gibberellins and tuberization in potato

Summary The evidence for a role of gibberellins in the regulation of potato tuber formation is reviewed. Endogenous gibberellin levels in plants are high under non-inducing conditions and decrease under inducing conditions. Exogenously applied gibberellins inhibit tuber formation, whereas applying inhibitors of gibberellin biosynthesis has the opposite effect. Cellular events involved in tuberization, viz., cell division, cell enlargement and orientation of micro-tubules, are also reviewed. Based on available evidence, a major regulatory role of gibberellins is suggested. However, it is also argued that tuber formation is not simply regulated by gibberellins acting as the sole signal between above-ground and below-ground parts, since stolon tips are able to synthesize their own gibberellins, and the phenotype of phytochrome B-antisense plants cannot be explained only by altered levels of GAs.     

Biotechnological and cytogenetic aspects of producing new wheat genotypes using hybrids

New plant genotypes were produced using barley-wheat hybrids, Hordeum vulgare L. x Triticum aestivum L., and H. geniculatum All. x T. aestivum L. Biotechnological methods were used. Cytogenetic analysis revealed different characters of formation for fertile alloplasmic lines among progenies of H. vulgare x T. aestivum and H. geniculatum x T. aestivum. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Substitution of Hordeum marinum ssp. gussoneanum chromosome 7HL into wheat homoeologous group-7

Ditelosomic (Dt) 7HL^mar(7D) and monotelosomic (Mt) 7HL^mar(7A) and 7HL^mar(7B) wheat–barley substitution lines were developed by crossing monosomic 7A, 7B and 7D lines of common wheat cv. Saratovskaya 29 with disomic wheat–barley addition lines (2n = 44) that carry telocentric chromosomes 7HL^mar from Hordeum marinum ssp. gussoneanum 4×. Genomic in situ hybridisation confirmed the presence of barley chromosomes in the wheat genome. The compensating ability of the telosome in each combination was assessed by its transmission rate to progenies of plants with 2n = 41 + t chromosomes. Seed set and transmission rates of the telosome depended on the identity of the competing wheat homoeologue. Of the three chromosomes wheat, the telosome 7HL^mar compensated better for chromosome 7D and poorly for 7B. These and other data are discussed with respect to the phylogenetic relationships between the wheat chromosomes of group 7 and the chromosome of H. marinum, and the practical utility of these lines for wheat improvement is evaluated.