Biological Control最新文献

{"title":"Galling by Trichilogaster sp. suppresses the growth of Acacia auriculiformis saplings","authors":"Christine H. Sanderson ,&nbsp;Ryan Zonneveld ,&nbsp;Matthew F. Purcell ,&nbsp;S Raghu","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105590","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105590","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Pre-release efficacy assessments (PREAs) are used in weed biological control to predict the potential impact of prospective agents. These assessments enable the most damaging agents to be prioritised for host testing and release. Further, the inclusion of this information in release applications enables regulators to consider the benefits of an agent alongside any risks. We conducted a PREA to evaluate the efficacy of <em>Trichilogaster</em> sp., a galling wasp that is being considered for release in Florida to control invasive earleaf acacia, <em>Acacia auriculiformis</em>. This species is multivoltine and primarily galls vegetative buds. We performed a glasshouse trial exposing <em>A. auriculiformis</em> saplings to one generation of the gall wasp to determine the effect of galling on plant performance. We monitored the growth parameters and development of exposed and unexposed saplings every three weeks for twelve weeks. Above-ground and below-ground biomass were measured at the completion of the trial. One generation of galling reduced sapling height by 37.44 % (±5.57), above-ground biomass by 32.19 % (±4.00), and below-ground biomass by 38.26 % (±7.47). Galling also significantly reduced the other key growth parameters of stem weight, leaf weight, total branch length, and the number of nodes, shoot tips, and leaves. This <em>Trichilogaster</em> species significantly damages juvenile <em>A. auriculiformis</em> plants and could be an effective classical biological control agent if released in Florida, especially if it is not limited by a specialist third trophic level.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 105590"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001555/pdfft?md5=c9139a7e24c4d833ae54cb5297bafa1f&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001555-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Risk assessment of the laboratory host range and a molecular characterisation determining the field host range of Lixus aemulus, for the biological control of Chromolaena odorata in South Africa","authors":"Rosie Mangan ,&nbsp;Milly Gareeb ,&nbsp;Marcus Boeno ,&nbsp;Chirley Gonçalves da Silva ,&nbsp;Blair Cowie ,&nbsp;Aristônio Magalhães Teles ,&nbsp;Marcos Silveira ,&nbsp;Costas Zachariades","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105591","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105591","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><em>Chromolaena odorata</em> (Asteraceae: Eupatorieae) is a sprawling shrub native to the Americas, and a destructive invader of much of the humid tropics and subtropics of the Old World. Opportunistic native-range exploration in 1995 identified a stem-boring weevil, <em>Lixus aemulus</em>, as a promising biological control candidate agent. Host-specificity testing was conducted on <em>L. aemulus</em> in South Africa using laboratory no-choice and paired-choice tests. Three invasive alien plants closely related to <em>C. odorata</em> may be utilized by <em>L. aemulus</em> but no indigenous, ornamental or crop species in South Africa was or is expected to be attacked by the weevil. A native-range field survey was conducted in Brazil to determine the exact identity of the host plant <em>L. aemulus</em> had been collected in 1995, and to identify additional host-plant species. Genetic assessments of the <em>Lixus</em> sp.(p.). adults collected on the three host plants (<em>C. odorata</em>, <em>Chromolaena laevigata</em> and <em>Heterocondylus vitalbae</em>) reveal these individuals are <em>L. aemulus</em> and the weevil can be classed as an oligophage in its native range. Over 5,500 adults were released in South Africa, but overall establishment has been poor. The most likely explanation appears to be a climate mismatch between the region of South Africa invaded by <em>C. odorata</em> and the collection locality in Rio Branco, Acre state, Brazil. Additionally, because the full extent of the native range of <em>L. aemulus</em> is unknown, it is uncertain whether individuals can be sourced from an area whose climate resembles that of South Africa. Furthermore, despite being oligophagous, <em>L. aemulus</em> may perform sub-optimally on the southern African <em>C. odorata</em> biotype.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 105591"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001567/pdfft?md5=ab47a43a833f668aab26eb2fe680dcbd&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001567-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142075940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Volatiles emitted by pepper weevil-infested plants and fruit strongly attract the pteromalid parasitoid Jaliscoa hunteri","authors":"Serena Leo ,&nbsp;Roselyne Labbé ,&nbsp;Tim McDowell ,&nbsp;Cynthia Scott-Dupree","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105588","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105588","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Among the many ways arthropod pests may signal their whereabouts to natural enemies, the release of specific volatiles by either pests themselves or their infested host plants may represent some of the most valuable cues that dictate biocontrol agent host-attraction, trophic impact and host-specificity. In this study, we sought to elucidate how plant and insect host-specific volatiles mediate attraction of pteromalid wasp, <em>Jaliscoa hunteri</em> to immature pepper weevil, <em>Anthonomus eugenii</em>, an economically important and challenging-to-control pest of cultivated <em>Capsicum</em> sp. pepper crops across North America. To begin, we used an air-entrainment system to collect volatiles released by whole pepper plants infested or not by either egg, L1 or L3 stages of pepper weevil and in the presence or absence of parental adults. The chemical analysis of sample volatiles from pepper plants infested or not with <em>A. eugenii</em> larvae were then compared, and among these, five compounds were identified that had their emission increased from 1.5 to 8.1 times relative to the blend of volatiles emitted by undamaged pepper plants including: linalool, 1-hexanol, 4,8-dimethylnona-1,3,7-triene (DMNT), methyl salicylate, and 4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene (TMTT). We next conducted Y olfactometer bioassays to compare the attractive potential of volatiles emitted by pepper fruit, infested or not by L1 or L3 immature pepper weevil, as well as by the alternative <em>J. hunteri</em>-rearing host, L3 or L4 immature <em>Callosobruchus maculatus</em> as they developed within infested chickpeas. Olfactometer bioassays showed that <em>J. hunteri</em> females preferred and consistently oriented towards the volatiles derived from pepper fruit infested by both larval stages of pepper weevil compared to the odour of undamaged pepper fruit. The females of <em>J. hunteri</em> also preferred for the odour emitted by chickpeas infested with <em>C. maculatus</em> compared to air. Ultimately this work highlights the considerable value of studying the composition of volatile headspace captures for pest-infested fruit and complimentary Y-tube assays for measuring or even improving the attraction potential of natural enemies to economically or ecologically important host species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 105588"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001531/pdfft?md5=e065832905cffcee0f1ace2bb9c2fce2&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001531-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low host-plant nitrogen contributes to poor performance of heather beetle, an introduced weed biocontrol agent in New Zealand","authors":"Paul Peterson ,&nbsp;Simon V. Fowler ,&nbsp;D. Paul Barrett","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105589","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105589","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Heather, <em>Calluna vulgaris</em>, is a non-native plant that displaces indigenous vegetation in Tongariro National Park (TNP), New Zealand (NZ), and was targeted for biocontrol with introductions of European heather beetle, <em>Lochmaea suturalis</em>. Heather beetle was chosen as a biocontrol agent for NZ because in its native Europe it is a host-specific, outbreak-pest of low-fertility, heather-dominated ecosystems. However, when released in NZ in the 1990s heather beetle did not perform as expected: establishing field populations proved difficult, and population growth rates were lower than in European outbreaks.</p><p>European research links heather beetle outbreaks to air pollution that causes increased host-plant nitrogen (N). We hypothesized that low N in NZ heather, probably caused by low air pollution combined with low-fertility soils, contributes to poor heather beetle performance. We confirmed that heather in TNP has low mean N (1.14% dry weight) compared to UK samples (1.48%). In TNP, fertilizing heather increased mean N to 1.35%, which, in caged bioassays increased heather beetle oviposition (by 35%) and adult body mass (by 28%). From 2001 to 2015 in TNP a field release trial showed improved heather beetle performance on fertilized heather plots versus controls.</p><p>We conclude that low host-plant N probably contributed to poor heather beetle performance in TNP. Further research is needed to make a causal link between low N in heather in TNP and low air pollution, and to determine the underlying mechanisms for reduced performance of heather beetle, such as reduced fecundity, increased overwintering mortality, and/or Allee effects. Host-plant quality has rarely been implicated in poor performance of weed biocontrol agents and deserves further investigation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 105589"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001543/pdfft?md5=66f135830f03d5f87e69c8198215c53e&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001543-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of the antagonistic effect of Stenotrophomonas geniculata WXY53 on Magnaporthe oryzae through bioassays and Whole-Genome sequencing","authors":"Yingfei Qin ,&nbsp;Xiyang Wu ,&nbsp;Chenggang Li ,&nbsp;Xin Zhang ,&nbsp;Pei Wang ,&nbsp;Xinqiu Tan ,&nbsp;Yong Liu ,&nbsp;Deyong Zhang ,&nbsp;Yue Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105587","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105587","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><em>Magnaporthe oryzae</em> causes rice blast, which poses a significant threat to agriculture. The use of environmentally friendly biological control agents is one of the methods used to reduce disease incidence. Our study identified the isolate WXY53 as <em>Stenotrophomonas geniculata</em> using 16S rDNA and phylogenetic tree analysis. WXY53 exhibited a 53.39 % inhibition rate on the growth diameter of <em>M. oryzae</em> hyphae in the dual culture assay. The WXY53 fermentation broth treatment inhibited 97.89 % of appressoria formation and delayed the colonization of plant cells by invasive hyphae. Applying WXY53 fermentation broth had a significant impact on preventing rice blast in the greenhouse experiment. It suppressed the size of necrotic lesions and reduced the number of lesions in rice and barley by 66.25 % and 72.0 %, respectively. The whole-genome sequencing of WXY53 revealed a genome size of 4,504,923 bp, with 66.51 % GC content and 4038 protein-coding genes. The study utilized multiple databases, including the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins, Gene Ontology, Pathogen-Host Interactions, and Carbohydrate-Active enZYmes to annotate gene functions. The analysis revealed genes related to environmental information processing, biological processes, cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis, glycoside hydrolases, and metabolism. Antibiotics &amp; Secondary Metabolite Analysis Shell analysis predicted that WXY53 has the potential to produce aryl polymers, entolysin, and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl serine, in addition to the three gene clusters with unknown functions. Based on these findings, strain WXY53 could be a promising novel source of biological agents for managing rice blast. This study provides a theoretical basis for further investigation into microbial resources and metabolic gene clusters for agricultural biological control.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 105587"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104996442400152X/pdfft?md5=00e6e0684a9bf8301a099b1c29a1cc61&pid=1-s2.0-S104996442400152X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141838431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predation efficacy of Chrysoperla carnea on two economically important stink bugs","authors":"Olivier Hendrik Berteloot ,&nbsp;Gertie Peusens ,&nbsp;Tim Beliën ,&nbsp;Thomas Van Leeuwen ,&nbsp;Patrick De Clercq","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105586","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105586","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Larvae of the green lacewing <em>Chrysoperla carnea</em> (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) are generalist predators feeding on a range of pests in agroecosystems. Little is known about the suitability of stink bugs as prey for lacewing larvae. In the present laboratory study, the predatory efficacy of <em>C. carnea</em> on two economically important stink bugs, <em>Halyomorpha halys</em> (Stål) and <em>Nezara viridula</em> (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)<em>,</em> was evaluated at three constant temperatures (16, 21, and 26 °C) in different arenas (10-cm diameter dishes with bean pod slices or caged small bean plants)<em>.</em> We found that second and third instars of <em>C. carnea</em> readily prey on the first instars of both stink bug species. However, only third instars of <em>C. carnea</em> could successfully kill and feed on second instars of either pentatomid. The complexity of the arena, as well as the life stage of the prey and predator influenced the predation efficacy of <em>C. carnea</em> on stink bug nymphs, whereas temperature did not. The observed predation rates on the early instars of both stink bugs suggest that augmentative releases of <em>C. carnea</em> larvae may have some potential in greenhouse crops, particularly against <em>N. viridula</em> infestations, whereas in open field crops their natural populations may also contribute to pest suppression within the broader predator guild.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 105586"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001518/pdfft?md5=06a0b547803217647488a401c30d3118&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001518-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141690966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population genomics and demographic modeling enhance our understanding of trophic level interactions in biological control","authors":"Arun Sethuraman ,&nbsp;John J. Obrycki","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105585","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105585","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In this paper, we focus on the application of population genomics, including next-generation sequencing and demographic modeling, to enhance the understanding of historical and contemporary trophic level interactions that are a fundamental basis of biological control. We outline how the integration of ecological approaches with population genomics and demographic modeling can provide additional insights into existing trophic interactions and how natural enemies, their parasitoids, and pest species evolve through these interactions, potentially affecting future levels of biological control. We briefly review and summarize our recent population genomic studies of predatory ladybird beetles and discuss how our results provide guidelines for the use of population genomics techniques and population demographic modeling to enhance our understanding of trophic level interactions. Our intent is to demonstrate as a proof of concept, how these methods can supplement currently used techniques and add a complementary genomic aspect to ecological understandings of trophic level interactions, including estimates of effective population sizes of natural enemies and pest species, examination of correlations between these effective population sizes, and evolutionary changes in natural enemies and pest species which may influence levels of biological control. This in combination with experiments and simulations provide a well-rounded framework for using population genomics to inform multi-tier trophic level interactions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 105585"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001506/pdfft?md5=5b7a75b0af9f85f52c52247b4e21c001&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001506-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141639386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trissolcus comperei, a newly-reported egg parasitoid of Halyomorpha halys from China","authors":"Cheng-Jie Shang ,&nbsp;Elijah J. Talamas ,&nbsp;Xingeng Wang ,&nbsp;Yong-Ming Chen ,&nbsp;Lian-Sheng Zang","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105583","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105583","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Native to Asia, the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), <em>Halyomorpha halys</em> (Stål) has become a serious invasive pest in North America and Europe. BMSB has an extremely wide host range in both its native and invaded ranges, and can cause severe damage to various tree fruits, vegetables, field crops and ornamentals. Species of <em>Trissolcus</em> are the major egg parasitoids, especially <em>T. japonicus</em> (Ashmead), <em>T. mitsukurii</em> (Ashmead) and <em>Anastatus bifasciatus</em> (Geoffroy) that have recently been studied as biological control agents for this invasive pest. In this study, we report newly a parasitoid parasitizing BMSB eggs collected in Guizhou Province, China, and it was identified as <em>Trissolcus comperei</em> (Crawford) using both morphological and molecular methods. We provide images of <em>T. comperei</em> male, male genitalia and immature stages, and describe some biological characteristics of <em>T. comperei</em> parasitizing BMSB eggs and parasitism capacity. Under 25 ± 1 °C, <em>T. comperei</em> egg hatched within 24 h, larva, prepupa and pupa developed in 1–3, 4–6 and 7–11 d, respectively. The parasitoid could parasitize 0-, 2- and 4-day-old BMSB eggs. Host egg age did not influence emergence rate of adult wasps (90.15–93.33 %). However, both the number of parasitized eggs (0.57–6.07 eggs/ 24 h) and percentage of female progeny (60.00–93.02 %) decreased with increasing host egg age. In addition, we compiled literature to provide a complete list of all 16 known <em>Trissolcus</em> species in China; seven of them have been reported to parasitize BMSB eggs, including <em>T. comperei</em> from this study. This information enriches the knowledge of the egg parasitoids of BMSB. Moreover, the high emergence rate and female-biased offspring of <em>T. comperei</em> could be important attributes as a potential biological control agent for BMSB eggs.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 105583"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001488/pdfft?md5=f896266e170df422cf9cf3b7d8b3a0c2&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001488-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141623448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biogeographical comparison of Lagarosiphon major between native South Africa and invaded New Zealand: A natural enemy release case study?","authors":"Nompumelelo Catherine Baso ,&nbsp;Angela Bownes ,&nbsp;Quentin Paynter ,&nbsp;Arnaud Cartier ,&nbsp;Martin Patrick Hill ,&nbsp;Julie Angela Coetzee","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105584","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105584","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Enemy Release Hypothesis (ERH) suggests that the absence of natural enemies (herbivores, parasites, and diseases) in non-native environments allow exotic plants to allocate more resources towards growth and reproduction, resulting in increased invasiveness. This study uses the submerged macrophyte <em>Lagarosiphon major</em> (Ridl.) Moss ex Wager (Hydrocharitaceae), native to Southern Africa, as a case study of this hypothesis. This species is invasive in many parts of the world, including Ireland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Here, we investigate the applicability of the ERH in explaining the invasiveness of L. major in New Zealand. This was achieved by comparing <em>L. major</em> biomass and cover, and plant species richness between <em>L. major</em>’s native range in South Africa and its invaded range in New Zealand, where specialist natural enemies were presumed to be lacking. The findings revealed significantly higher <em>L. major</em> biomass (∼100 % increase), cover (∼28 % increase) and shoot production (∼91 % increase) in the invaded range compared to the native range. Additionally, overall species richness and abundance was negatively correlated with <em>L. major</em> abundance in the invaded range. Plants in the native range were associated with more natural enemies and experienced higher levels of damage relative to the invaded sites. Overall, these observations align with the ERH, but should be interpreted with caution as other influential factors such as competition were not measured. Nevertheless, this suggests that <em>L. major</em> could benefit from the integration of biological control measures with the existing methods of control. Two natural enemies, <em>Polypedilum tuburcinatum</em> Andersen (Diptera: Chironomidae) and <em>Hydrellia lagarosiphon</em> Deeming (Diptera: Ephydridae) have already been identified as promising candidates, for biological control of <em>L. major</em> in New Zealand and other regions invaded by this weed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 105584"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104996442400149X/pdfft?md5=a4853cd1fe80199e5852322b37bc00d8&pid=1-s2.0-S104996442400149X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141639389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Screening and characterization of bacterial and fungal endophytes as potential biocontrol agents for rice seed dressing against Fusarium fujikuroi","authors":"Simone Bosco ,&nbsp;Simona Prencipe ,&nbsp;Monica Mezzalama ,&nbsp;Davide Spadaro","doi":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105580","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105580","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Rice bakanae disease, caused by <em>Fusarium fujikuroi</em>, nowadays represents the main threat for rice seed producers. With recent European guidelines progressively reducing the use of chemical fungicides, new disease management strategies are urgently needed. The plant endosphere constitutes a source of potential microbial biocontrol agents (BCAs) against fungal pathogens. Endophytic antagonists, with their close association with the host, are more likely to withstand harsh field conditions, the main bottleneck of BCAs selection. For this reason, 135 fungal and bacterial endophytes were isolated from rice seeds and shoots. As previously observed, <em>in vitro</em> screenings rarely correlate with biocontrol efficacy <em>in planta</em>, thus each isolate was tested <em>in vivo</em> under controlled conditions via seed treatment against <em>F. fujikuroi</em> to select endophytes that significantly reduced bakanae disease severity. Among the 18 selected isolates, 12 were excluded after a further screening step based on their potential role as plant or human pathogens. The 5 remaining strains, belonging to <em>Epicoccum layuense</em>, <em>Epicoccum catenisporum</em>, <em>Microbacterium testaceum</em> and <em>Methylobacterium oryzae</em> species, were tested <em>in vitro</em> to assess their capacity to inhibit <em>F. fujikuroi</em> through agar diffusible or volatile antimicrobial compounds. The biocontrol efficacy of these endophytes was further confirmed <em>in vivo</em>, by observing a significant decrease in disease severity and incidence, as well as an increase in total fresh biomass. This represents the first report of <em>E. layuense</em>, <em>E. catenisporum</em>, <em>M. testaceum</em> and <em>M. oryzae</em> strains with biocontrol potential against <em>F. fujikuroi</em> as promising biological seed dressing alternatives to chemical fungicides.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8880,"journal":{"name":"Biological Control","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 105580"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964424001452/pdfft?md5=903c3c4c7b8364ebe69ac38f03b84a9a&pid=1-s2.0-S1049964424001452-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141623447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}