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Biological Control
Academic Press
Biological Control

Academic Press

1049-9644

Biological Control/Journal Biological ControlSCIISTP
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    Assessment of the host-range and impact of the mite, Aculus crassulae, a potential biological control agent for Australian swamp stonecrop, Crassula helmsii

    Varia, S.Wood, S., VAllen, R. M. S.Murphy, S. T....
    8页
    查看更多>>摘要:The non-native aquatic weed Crassula helmsii, or Australian swamp stonecrop, has become widespread and a major problem in aquatic habitats in the UK and North-West Europe, with negative impacts reported from ecologically important habitats. As very few effective traditional management tools are available to land managers, a biological control project was initiated in the UK. An Australian phytophagous mite, Aculus crassulae (Acari: Eriophyidae) was evaluated as a potential agent for C. helmsii under laboratory conditions in no-choice and choice host plant tests. These demonstrated that A. crassulae is host specific to C. helmsii, with only minor exploratory feeding observed on the native congener, C. aquatica, under no-choice tests, and no damage recorded in choice tests. The impact of A. crassulae on the growth of C. helmsii was also investigated by applying two different mite densities to plants. Both densities, especially the higher mite density, caused a significant reduction in plant growth by the end of the experimental period. Secondary shoot number and length, number of nodes and new leaf pairs were reduced by the mites during the course of the experiment, but the largest impact was on the reduction of plant height. The host specific nature of A. crassulae and the observed reduction in these significant growth parameters demonstrate the potential A. crassulae has as a biological control agent for C. helmsii in the UK and Europe.

    Phlebiopsis gigantea strains from Estonia show potential as native biocontrol agents against Heterobasidion root rot and contain diverse dsRNA and ssRNA viruses

    Drenkhan, TiiaSutela, SuviVeevali, ViljarVainio, Eeva J....
    10页
    查看更多>>摘要:Coniferous forests, especially Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) stands, are threatened by root rot disease caused by Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato (Fr.) Bref. The basidiomycetous fungus, Phlebiopsis gigantea (Fr.) Donk, is used as a biocontrol agent against this pathogen in several countries. In Estonia, stump treatments are currently conducted using the Rotstop preparation, which consists of a P. gigantea strain isolated in Finland. However, for ecological reasons it would be preferable to use an indigenous biocontrol strain. In this study, we tested new strains of P. gigantea isolated from Norway spruce stumps in Estonia for their growth rate and competitive ability against H. parviporum and H. annosum, and identified P. gigantea strains promising for biocontrol purposes. As viruses may cause phenotypic debilitation in fungi, we analyzed the virome of these strains by high-throughput sequencing (RNA-Seq) and assessed whether the presence of mycoviruses affects their performance as compared to virus-free strains of P. gigantea. Viruses related to members of Partitiviridae and Curvulaviridae, as well as unclassified ambi-like, aspi-like and "fusariviruses" were identified for the first time in P. gigantea.

    Experimental adaptation of native parasitoids to the invasive insect pest, Drosophila suzukii

    Jarrett, Benjamin J. M.Linder, Shelley D.Fanning, PhilipIsaacs, Rufus...
    7页
    查看更多>>摘要:The spread of invasive pests is increasing due to greater global transportation and climate change-mediated range shifts. In a new community, these invasive species provide a novel resource that native predators or parasitoids can evolve to utilise. For invasive agricultural pests, this could provide top-down control; however, initial attack rates on invasive species in the wild are generally low. The potential for rapid adaptive evolution of native species to improve developmental success on invasive species is unknown. We address this by focusing on Drosophila suzukii, a polyphagous invasive pest, and two cosmopolitan Drosophila parasitoids found in North America prior to the arrival of D. suzukii (Pachycrepoideus vindemiae and Trichopria drosophilae). We experimentally evolved three replicate populations of both species on D. suzukii and the cosmopolitan D. melanogaster, a common host for both parasitoids. We found evidence that P. vindemiae increased developmental success by 88% (95% credible intervals = [-14%, 254%]) and T. drosophilae increased developmental success by 259% [38%, 711%] on D. suzukii after only three generations of selection, despite very low founding sizes of 2 and 30 wasps, respectively. These results demonstrate that rapid evolution of increased virulence is possible even from low genetic diversity, with implications for integrating evolutionary techniques into biological control of invasive species.

    Control of blast disease caused by Pyricularia oryzae with Epicoccum nigrum and microscopic studies of their interaction with rice plants under greenhouse conditions

    Kone, YayaAlves, EduardoSilveira, Patricia RicardinoFerreira, Aline Norberto...
    10页
    查看更多>>摘要:Rice (Oryza sativa L.) feeds around half of humanity mainly in Asia, South America, and Africa. The filamentous, ascomycete fungus Pyricularia oryzae Cavara (syn: Magnaporthe oryzae B. Couch) hemibiotrophic phytopathogen is the causal agent of the most devastating disease, blast on rice. The fungus E. nigrum is ubiquitous resistant in adverse conditions and used as a biological control agent (BCA) against numerous phytopathogenic fungi in the function of its ability to produce many secondary metabolites. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of an isolate of E. nigrum on rice blast disease suppression, as well as rice growth promotion and productivity of the cultivar BRS.MG Cacula, in pot assay under greenhouse conditions, and evaluate the interaction between plants and microorganisms, using microscopic approaching. Rice leaf blast disease incidence and severity were evaluated on seeds and plants, which were treated with E. nigrum and P. oryzae isolate IA25, and compared with the control treatment. Foliar spraying and coating of the rice seed with E. nigrum significantly reduced the incidence rate of rice blast from 31.25% to 41.76%, respectively, compared to the control treatment. Likewise, the severity rate was reduced from 34.92% to 54.51%. In-plant growth, it was found that seed-soaking with Epicoccum provided plant fitness and increases the number of tillers to 8.34 against 5.95 for the control situation. The Epifluorescence Microscopy (EFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) showed the colonization of rice root by endophytic fungus E. nigrum. The greenhouse experiments confirmed that E. nigrum significantly decreased rice leaf blast disease incidence and severity rate while improving plant tillering.

    Study of Bacillus velezensis OEE1 potentialities in the biocontrol against Erwinia amylovora, causal agent of fire blight disease of rosaceous plants

    Medhioub, ImenCheffi, ManelTounsi, SlimTriki, Mohamed Ali...
    11页
    查看更多>>摘要:Erwinia amylovora is the causal agent of fire blight disease affecting rosaceous plants. The present study focuses on the potential of Bacillus velezensis as a promising biological control agent toward this phytopathogenic bacterium. B. velezensis OEE1 showed the most effective antibacterial activity (80 %) among 165 tested bacterial strains under in vitro conditions against E. amylovora. Following the extraction of the active molecules, the antibacterial activity was detected in butanol extract. A separation of the active compounds using thin layer chromatography (TLC) of the butanol extract of the culture filtrate of B. velezensis OEE1 indicate the presence of amino acids by the presence of a spot with a frontal ratio (Rf) of 0.73. B. velezensis OEE1 also showed high levels of multi-resistance to penicillin, ampicillin, kanamycin, ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin and streptomycin. Biological and chemical treatments (by B. subtilis Y1336 and copper oxide Cu2O respectively) were used to compare the efficacy of the treatment with the antagonistic bacterium OEE1. The results indicated that both protective and curative treatments with antagonistic bacterium were effective to reduce the disease progression. The curative method was generally significantly more efficient than the protective method for tests on detached tissues. The efficacy of B. velezensis OEE1 to reduce E. amylovora was evaluated also in greenhouse and under field conditions. B. velezensis OEE1 was able to improve the collar diameter and the number of leaves of healthy pear plants of the variety "Alexandrine " in greenhouse conditions. Experiments in greenhouse and under field conditions revealed that B. velezensis OEE1 significantly decreased the final mean disease severity index (FMS) and the percentage of dead plants (PDP). This study has demonstrated that B. velezensis is considered as a future potential new biocontrol agent for controlling fire blight disease.

    Biological control agents against the cabbage stem flea beetle in oilseed rape crops

    Hoarau, ClaireCampbell, HeatherPrince, GillianChandler, Dave...
    13页
    查看更多>>摘要:The cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB1) Psylliodes chrysocephala Linnaeus is the most important pest of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) crops in Europe. Control has become more difficult since the European Union ban in 2013 on the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments. This situation is made more challenging by the development of resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, the only remaining conventional synthetic insecticides with which to control CSFB.& nbsp;The purpose of this paper is to review the potential of biological alternatives to the use of synthetic pesticides for the control of the CSFB. Only a small number of studies have investigated biological control agents against CSFB itself. More research has, however, been published on two other, closely related chrysomelid pests of brassica crops that have similar life cycles, namely the crucifer flea beetle Phyllotreta cruciferae and the striped flea beetle Phyllotreta striolata, which enable us to extrapolate reasonably across to CSFB. The biological control agents investigated include entomopathogenic fungi (EPF2) such as Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN3) such as Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema carpocapsae, parasitoids such as Microctonus brassicae and predators such as the ground beetle Trechus quadristriatus. Results vary depending on the setting (laboratory versus field), but several biological control agents investigated resulted in CSFB mortality greater than 50% under laboratory conditions. The biological control of the CSFB shows potential as a viable alternative to the use of conventional synthetic insecticides. Nonetheless, many research gaps remain, as current research has focused largely on crucifer flea beetle and striped flea beetle, with comparatively few studies investigating the potential of biological controls against the CSFB. The research published to date on CSFB has been limited to a small number of species of EPN and EPF with little work investigating the potential of parasitoids and predators. More field studies using EPF are required, while in contrast laboratory studies are underrepresented for EPN.& nbsp;Further research is required, testing existing and new strains of fungi and nematodes, exploring the potential of endophytic fungi, enhancing the formulation and application of biological control for use in inundative strategies, and investigating the potential of conservation biological control. Effective biological control agents should ultimately be combined with cultural control methods in Integrated Pest Management (IPM4) systems for the sustainable management of this pest.

    Genetic stability of virulent, intermediate, and avirulent strains of Ralstonia solanacearum after extensive, consecutive subculturing

    Wang, ZiranChen, MeichunChen, ZhengWang, Jieping...
    11页
    查看更多>>摘要:An avirulent strain, FJAT1458, was demonstrated to possess a high level of biocontrol efficiency against bacterial wilt (BW). Assessing the genetic stability of this avirulent strain is essential for ensuring its safety and efficacy for use in field applications. In the present study, the genetic stability of three R. solanacearum strains with different levels of virulence was evaluated over the course of 50 generations of subculturing. Pathogenicity tests revealed that the virulent strain, FJAT91, and the intermediate strain, FJAT445, transformed into avirulent strains, but FJAT1458 remained avirulent after the same number of subcultures. Colonization tests revealed that the colonization pattern of the F-1 generation of the avirulent FJAT1458 strain was similar to that of the F50 generation, but the virulent strain was rarely detected in later stages of infection. High performance liquid chromatography revealed that the number and type of chromatographic peaks produced by the avirulent strain did not exhibit any changes over the course of subculturing, however, the pattern of peaks produced by the virulent and intermediate strains changed noticeably over the course of 50 generations of subculturing. Moreover, exopolysaccharide I (EPS I) content, beta-1,4-endoglucanase (Egl) activity, and swimming and swarming motility significantly decreased in the virulent and intermediate strains but were stable in the avirulent strain over the course of subculturing. The relative expression level of hrpB, phcA, eps, and egl, genes associated with virulence, significantly decreased in the virulent and intermediate strains over the course of 10 to 20 generations of subculturing but remained relatively stable in the avirulent strain across 50 generations. In conclusion, the avirulent strain remained genetically stable, while the virulent and intermediate strains exhibited genetic instability, over the course of 50 generations of subculturing.

    Bacillus toyonensis biovar Thuringiensis: A novel entomopathogen with insecticidal activity against lepidopteran and coleopteran pests

    Sauka, Diego HermanPeralta, CeciliaPerez, Melisa PaulaOnco, Maria Ines...
    7页
    查看更多>>摘要:The Bacillus cereus group includes eight species: Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus, Bacillus cytotoxicus, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus pseudomycoides, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus weihenstephanensis and Bacillus toyonensis, which are highly related at the phylogenetic level. In this work, we performed the isolation and characterization of a novel Bacillus sp. strain exhibiting parasporal crystals with insecticidal activity that was initially classified as a Bacillus thuringiensis strain. Its genome encoded three genes showing homology to known pesticidal proteins from B. thuringiensis and Lysinibacillus sphaericus proteins: Cry7Ga1 (a crystal protein), a Mpp2Aa3 (ETX/Mtx2 family) homolog and a mosquitocidal-like protein (NPP1). However, since its genome sequence shared > 98% ANI with several Bacillus toyonensis genomes, the strain has subsequently been renamed as Bacillus toyonensis biovar Thuringiensis and designated Bto-UNVM_94. Bioassays demonstrated that this novel strain exhibited toxicity against Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and Anthonomus grandis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a low toxicity against Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) and Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) whereas no toxicity was shown to the free-living nematode Panagrellus redivivus (Rhabditida: Panagrolaimidae).

    Genome analysis of Bacillus subtilis JCL16 and the synergistic relationship among its metabolites reveal its potential for biocontrol of Nocardia seriolae

    Wang, XiaohuaOnchari, M. M.Xu, LinYin, Xiulian...
    13页
    查看更多>>摘要:Nocardia seriolae is one of the major causative agents of fish nocardiosis, responsible for large-scale fish die-offs and economic losses in the aquaculture industry worldwide. Therefore, research efforts towards developing efficacious alternatives to aquatic antibiotics, such as vaccines, immunomodulatory additives including aquatic probiotics, to control this disease are of high importance. Recently, we isolated a soil-derived strain of Bacillus subtilis JCL16, and the 21-day challenge tests results showed that the addition of B. subtilis JCL16 culture to the basal control diet significantly increased the survival rate of largemouth bass with nocardiosis from 21.67% to 68.3%. To reveal the putative functional factors, we determined the genome sequence of B. subtilis JCL16 using PacBio RS II and Illumina HiSeq 4000 platform, and predicted its secondary metabolites using antiSMASH, which showed that it contains 11 functional gene clusters, three of which, srf, bac and sbo, have previously been verified to have antagonistic bacterial functions. Subsequently, mutants Delta srf, Delta bac, Delta sbo were constructed using homologous recombination techniques, and HPLC results further elucidated that the three gene clusters are responsible for the synthesis of surfactin, bacilysin and subtilosin A, respectively. To our surprise, a significant reduction in the inhibition of N. seriolae occurred in all three mutants compared to the wild type, so we spec-ulated that surfactin, bacilysin and subtilosin A might have adopted a synergistic strategy. Next, we prepared their pure products and further confirmed our inference by Oxford Cup and MIC assays. In summary, the good biocontrol effect of B. subtilis JCL16 against fish Nocardia is likely due to the synergistic strategy among surfactin, bacilysin and subtilosin A. Here we propose a synergistic mechanism among them, which provides some insight into the powerful biocontrol mechanisms of Bacillus.

    Combined application of predatory mites and fungal pathogens for biological control of Brevipalpus yothersi (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) under laboratory conditions

    Vazquez-Benito, Jose A.Santillan-Galicia, Ma. TeresaGuzman-Franco, Ariel W.Hernandez-Dominguez, Carmela...
    8页
    查看更多>>摘要:The mite Brevipalpus yothersi (Baker) (Acari: Tenuipalpidae), vector of Citrus leprosis virus, is typically controlled using synthetic pesticides. However, alternative control strategies are required to reduce pesticide use for more sustainable citrus production. The mortality of B. yothersi following combined application of fungal pathogens and predatory mites was evaluated. First, we quantified susceptibility of B. yothersi adults to infection when treated with conidial suspensions (1 x 10(8) conidia mL(-1)) of three fungal isolates, Bb88 (Beauveria bassiana), Ma129 (Metarhizium anisopliae) and Pfr(4) (Cordyceps fumosorosea). Then, we evaluated the feeding preference (choice and no choice) of the predatory mites Neoseiulus californicus and Amblyseius swirskii for eggs, larvae, nymphs and adults of B. yothersi. In addition, we evaluated the searching capacity of both predators when foraging for eggs of B. yothersi. Finally, the mortality of B. yothersi adults exposed to predatory mites contami-nated with conidia of two fungal isolates was determinated. Isolates Bb88 and Ma129 caused the highest mor-tality in B. yothersi. Both predatory mites preferred to consume eggs, followed by larvae and then nymphs, but not adults of B. yothersi, in both experiments (choice and no choice). The predatory mite A. swirskii had a greater search capacity than N. californicus. The greatest mortality of B. yothersi adults was achieved when predatory mites contaminated with conidia were used (especially isolate Ma129 [approx. 80%]), compared with treatments of predatory mites alone (approx. 35%). The predatory mite A. swirskii and the fungus M. anisopliae (Ma129) was the most promising combination for further evaluation for biological control of B. yothersi.