Synthetic pyrethroids and avermectin for controlling the grapevine pestsLobesia botrana,Cryptoblabes gnidiella andDrosophila melanogaster

Field treatments in a vineyard with 0.015 or 0.01% a.i. of cypermethrin, fenvalerate, fenpropathrin or AC-222,705 were more efficient in controlling the grape-berry moth (Lobesia botrana Schiff.) and the honeydew moth (Cryptoblabes gnidiella Mill.) than four standard treatments consisting of two with 0.05% a.i. fenitrothion and two with 0.075% a.i. diazinon. In pyrethroid-treated plots, infestation at the end of the trials ranged between 2.5 and 12%, compared with 21% in the standard treatment plots and 34% in the untreated plots. Cypermethrin, fenpropathrin and AC-222,705 exhibited similar field activity, while that of fenvalerate was somewhat lower. Under laboratory conditions, cypermethrin at 0.005 and 0.01% a.i. was significantly more potent than fenvalerate, fenpropathrin and AC-222,705; at a higher concentration, 0.015% a.i., all pyrethroids were highly active, with mortality ranging between 75 and 95%. Under laboratory conditions the vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster Meig.) was in general more susceptible to pyrethroids than was the grape-berry moth. Cypermethrin and AC-222,705 at 0.005% a.i. and avermectin at 0.0035% a.i. were potent compounds against the vinegar fly and more active than fenvalerate and fenpropathrin.     

Nodulation and root growth increase in lower soil layers of water‐limited faba bean intercropped with wheat

Below‐ground niche complementarity in legume–cereal intercrops may improve resource use efficiency and root adaptability to environmental constraints. However, the effect of water limitation on legume rooting and nodulation patterns in intercropping is poorly understood. To advance our knowledge of mechanisms involved in water‐limitation response, faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were grown as mono‐ and intercrops in soil‐filled plexiglass rhizoboxes under water sufficiency (80% of water‐holding capacity) and water limitation (30% of water‐holding capacity). We examined whether intercropping facilitates below‐ground niche complementarity under water limitation via interspecific root stratification coupled with modified nodulation patterns. While no significant treatment effects were measured in intercropped wheat growth parameters, water limitation induced a decrease in shoot and root biomass of monocropped wheat. Likewise, shoot biomass and height, and root length of monocropped faba bean significantly decreased under water limitation. Conversely, water limitation stimulated root biomass of intercropped faba bean in the lower soil layer (15–30 cm soil depth). Similarly, total nodule number of faba bean roots as well as nodule number in the lower soil layer increased under intercropping regardless of water availability. Under water limitation, intercropping also led to a significant increased nodule biomass (48%) in the lower soil layer as compared to monocropping. The enhanced nodulation in the lower soil layer and the associated increase in root and shoot growth provides evidence for a shift in niche occupancy when intercropped with wheat, which improves water‐limited faba bean performance.     

Chitosan as a wall material for a microencapsulated delivery system for Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man) larvae

Chitosan has been widely accepted as a wall material for preparing microcapsules of various purposes in human medicine. The possibility of using chitosan as a wall material for microencapsulating nutrients and drugs for aquaculture purposes, specifically to Macrobrachium rosenbergii larvae was evaluated in this study. Two types of chitosan-coated microcapsules were prepared using either acetone (MEC-A) or NaOH (MEC-N) as the cross-linking agents. They were compared with a microbound diet relative to total leaching of nutrients and free amino acids (FAA). Among the microcapsules, MEC-N showed the lowest level of total leaching of nutrients (23.3%) during 5 h of immersion in seawater and released 65% FAA after 60 min. During laboratory trials, 75% larvae had accepted the MEC-N capsule. The results of the study suggest that chitosan can be used as a wall material for preparing microcapsules to deliver drugs and nutrients to M. rosenbergii larvae.     

Mapping QTLs using a novel source of salinity tolerance from Hasawi and their interaction with environments in rice

Background

Salinity is one of the most severe and widespread abiotic stresses that affect rice production. The identification of major-effect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for traits related to salinity tolerance and understanding of QTL × environment interactions (QEIs) can help in more precise and faster development of salinity-tolerant rice varieties through marker-assisted breeding. Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from IR29/Hasawi (a novel source of salinity) were screened for salinity tolerance in the IRRI phytotron in the Philippines (E1) and in two other diverse environments in Senegal (E2) and Tanzania (E3). QTLs were mapped for traits related to salinity tolerance at the seedling stage.

Results

The RILs were genotyped using 194 polymorphic SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms). After removing segregation distortion markers (SDM), a total of 145 and 135 SNPs were used to construct a genetic linkage map with a length of 1655 and 1662 cM, with an average marker density of 11.4 cM in E1 and 12.3 cM in E2 and E3, respectively. A total of 34 QTLs were identified on 10 chromosomes for five traits using ICIM-ADD and segregation distortion locus (SDL) mapping (IM-ADD) under salinity stress across environments. Eight major genomic regions on chromosome 1 between 170 and 175 cM (qSES1.3, qSES1.4, qSL1.2, qSL1.3, qRL1.1, qRL1.2, qFWsht1.2, qDWsht1.2), chromosome 4 at 32 cM (qSES4.1, qFWsht4.2, qDWsht4.2), chromosome 6 at 115 cM (qFWsht6.1, qDWsht6.1), chromosome 8 at 105 cM (qFWsht8.1, qDWsht8.1), and chromosome 12 at 78 cM (qFWsht12.1, qDWsht12.1) have co-localized QTLs for the multiple traits that might be governing seedling stage salinity tolerance through multiple traits in different phenotyping environments, thus suggesting these as hot spots for tolerance of salinity. Forty-nine and 30 significant pair-wise epistatic interactions were detected between QTL-linked and QTL-unlinked regions using single-environment and multi-environment analyses.

Conclusions

The identification of genomic regions for salinity tolerance in the RILs showed that Hasawi possesses alleles that are novel for salinity tolerance. The common regions for the multiple QTLs across environments as co-localized regions on chromosomes 1, 4, 6, 8, and 12 could be due to linkage or pleiotropic effect, which might be helpful for multiple QTL introgression for marker-assisted breeding programs to improve the salinity tolerance of adaptive and popular but otherwise salinity-sensitive rice varieties.

     

Causes and feedbacks to widespread grass invasion into chaparral shrub dominated landscapes

Landscape Ecology - This study provides a unified, holistic framework for predicting the dynamics of shrub-grass conversion throughout Mediterranean-climate shrublands. This work focuses...     

Antifeeding and protease- and amylase-inhibiting activity of fentin acetate in Spodoptera littoralis larvae

Fentin acetate (FA) at effective antifeedant concentrations does not have a high, immediate toxicity for 170–190 mg larvae of the Egyptian cotton leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis); the mortality of such larvae exposed to FA residues on leaves is not appreciably higher than that of larvae being starved. The antifeedant effect of FA is also not due to an influence on sensory receptors on the mouth parts. Protease and amylase are inhibited in vivo in larvae feeding on FA-treated leaves; the enzyme inhibition increases with the concentrations of the leaf-dipping suspensions. At 0.05% FA, protease and amylase activity was only about 20 and 30%, respectively, of that of the control larvae and was lower than in starved larvae.Antifeeding and enzymatic inhibition are also obtained by injecting FA into the haemocoel, results which indicate that FA does not inhibit the digestive enzymes directly, but seems to affect the enzyme production in the gut. This interpretation is strengthened by the finding that the addition of massive amounts of FA to the enzyme reaction mixture does not affect the enzyme activity.     

Induction of prolonged larval feeding stage by juvenile hormone analogues inTribolium Castaneum

Dietary ZR-512 and ZR-619 at concentrations of 10 — 1000 ppm induced prolongation of the larval feeding period up to tenfold, increasing larval weight up to double that of untreated larvae. A comparison study of four juvenoids, using 200 ppm of ZR-512, ZR-515, ZR-619 or ZR-777, showed that ZR-515 elicits the highest larval weight (6.2 mg) and ZR-777 the lowest (3.6 mg). In all cases a pronounced enhancement of larval weight — of 50 — 250% relative to untreated larvae (2.4 mg) — was obtained.Tr. castaneum larvae reared up to their 3rd instars on a diet containing 100 ppm of ZR-512, ZR-515, ZR-619 or ZR-777 and then transferred to a juvenile hormone-free diet, were not affected. The period between 4th instar larva and pupation should therefore be considered as critical for juvenile hormone effect. The induced prolongation of the larval stage after juvenile hormone treatment was followed by a pronounced enhancement of cuticle phenoloxidase activity, indicating an alteration of the larval biochemical processes. Although juvenile hormone treatment inhibitsTr. castaneum pupation and emergence, it markedly prolongs larval feeding stage and weight and thus accelerates damage.     

Emamectin,a novel insecticide for controlling field crop pests

Emamectin is a macrocyclic lactone insecticide with low toxicity to non-target organisms and the environment, and is considered an important component in pest-management programmes for controlling field crop pests. It is a powerful compound for controlling the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). A spray concentration of 25 mg AI litre-1 in a cotton field resulted in over 90% suppression of H armigera larvae up to day 28 after treatment, while similar mortality of the Egyptian cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis Boisduval, under the same conditions, was maintained for 3 days only. Emamectin is a potent compound for controlling the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) under both laboratory and field conditions and its activity on adults was over 10-fold greater than that of abamectin. Spray concentrations of 10 and 50 mg AI litre-1 in Ageratum houstonianum Mill flowers resulted in total suppression of adults up to day 11 and of larvae up to day 20 after treatment. Under standard laboratory conditions, emamectin exhibits a considerable activity on the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and the leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard). Further studies are required to evaluate its potential activity on the latter pests under field conditions.