101 research outputs found
Trichoderma atroviride LU132 promotes plant growth but not induced systemic resistance to *Plutella xylostella* in oilseed rape
No full textMaag D, Kandula DRW, Müller C, et al. Trichoderma atroviride LU132 promotes plant growth but not induced systemic resistance to *Plutella xylostella* in oilseed rape. BioControl. 2014;59(2):241-252.Several species of the fungus Trichoderma can promote plant health and are widely used as commercial biopesticides. Beneficial effects of this fungus are attributed to various mechanisms such as mycoparasitism, plant-growth promotion, increased stress tolerance and elicitation of induced systemic resistance against pathogens via jasmonic acid/ethylene-dependent pathways. Despite such well-established effects on pathogens, surprisingly little is known about the influence of Trichoderma on plant defences against herbivorous insects. This study investigated whether soil-supplementation of the established biocontrol agent Trichoderma atroviride LU132 affected the performance of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and the development of Plutella xylostella caterpillars. Furthermore, induction and priming of defence-related phytohormones, genes and secondary metabolites by fungus and herbivore were assessed. Plants colonized by T. atroviride LU132 had significantly larger root and shoot biomass than controls. No effects of fungal inoculation were found on herbivore development. Leaf feeding of the herbivore induced higher jasmonic acid levels, but this was not influenced by fungal treatment. Similarly, the defence-related genes MYC2 and TPI were induced by herbivory but not primed or induced by T. atroviride. Expression of the gene PDF1.2 was repressed by herbivore feeding while no effects on the gene ACO and glucosinolates were observed. We conclude that T. atroviride LU132 has positive effects on the growth of oilseed but it does not enhance above-ground insect defences
Postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus postoperative radiotherapy in high-risk cutaneous Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: the randomized phase III TROG 05.01 trial
No full textPublished at jco.org on March 14, 2018.Abstract not availableSandro Virgilio Porceddu, Mathias Bressel, Michael Geoffrey Poulsen, Adam Stoneley, Michael John Veness, Lizbeth Moira Kenny, Chris Wratten, June Corry, Stephen Cooper, Gerald Blaise Fogarty, Marnie Collins, Michael Kevin Collins, Andrew Martin John Macann, Christopher Gerard Milross, Michael Gordon Penniment, Howard Yu-hao Liu, Madeleine Trudy King, Benedict James Panizza, and Danny Rischi
Deinodrilus gorgon Blakemore, sp. nov.
No full textDeinodrilus gorgon Blakemore sp. nov. Material examined. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa W.002909 (Holotype). From the tussock grassland of “Happy Valley” (Upper Waimangaroa Valley, Buller Region, West Coast, New Zealand). Collected by S. Boyer, 2010. Mature, posterior amputee, fixed in ethanol 98 % and placed in propylene glycol. Etymology. Noun alluding to Greek mythical monsters with sharp fangs, staring eyes and, similar perhaps to the ring of diverticula on each spermatheca – a belt of serpents. External characters. Body circular in anterior. Pigment dark, especially dorsum with paler setal auriolae; clitellum and male field white. Length 55 + mm with 73 + segments (amputee). Prostomium tanylobous. Setae perichaetine, 12 per segment, evenly spaced. Clitellum pale, tumid ½ 13–16. Dorsal pores from 10 / 11. Nephropores not found. Spermathecal pores in b lines in 7 / 8 and 8 / 9, small but gaping. Female pores anterio-ventral to a setae on 14 in common field. Prostatic pores at b on 17 and 19. Male pores within concave seminal grooves lateral to b. Genital markings as large eye-shaped papillae paired on 10; with smaller markings on 13 rhs, 16 rhs and two additional pairs on 18 as figured. Genital and penial setae not found. Internal morphology. Pharyngeal mass anterior to 4 / 5. Septa 8 / 9–10 / 11 with some thickening. Gizzard muscular in 6 (weak septum 6 / 7 can be carefully teased off to base). Dorsal blood vessel doubled. Heart paired in 10– 13. Nephridia meroic; equatorial forests especially obvious around clitellar segments. Spermathecae in 8 and 9 each with a thin duct to multiple, finger-like diverticula, five per spermatheca (inseminated) surrounding duct from where it thickens before reaching yellowish, knob-like ampulla. Testes free, posterio-ventrally in 10 and 11. Seminal vesicles small saccular in 9 (vestigial?) and larger racemose anterio-dorsally in 11 and 12. Ovaries fan-shaped in 13 with several strings of largish eggs; ovisacs vestigial in 14. Prostates compacted tubular in 17 and 19 exiting through muscular ducts. Vasa deferentia seen to exit unceremoniously in 18. Oesophagus dilated in 15–17 but lacking internal lamellae and thus not construed as calciferous glands. Intestinal origin in 18. Typhlosole thin, lamellar becoming deeper from 19. Gut contains colloidal soil and organic matter. Ecology. Specimen was found under 10 to 20 cm of soil. Dark colouration suggests at least partial surface exposure on topsoil, gut content suggests topsoil geophagy. This species is likely to be anecic. Remarks. Of the eight currently known Deinodrilus species, only two have tanylobous prostomia: D. gracilis Ude, 1905 from Stephen Island and D. parvus Lee, 1959 from Mangamuku Range. Both also have 5 or 6 spermathecal diverticula however, D. gracilis has copulatory setae, oesophageal glands and intestine from 19; while D. parvus has a saddle-shaped clitellum in 12–16, and all its reproductive pores are in a or ab. Further, their gizzards are in 6–7 and 5, respectively, rather than single in 6 as in the current species. D. montanus Lee, 1959 from Rimutaka Range is similar to D. parvus and differs for similar reasons. The current species appears unique in the distribution of its eye-like genital markings that are especially noticeable on segment 10.Published as part of Boyer, Stephane, Blakemore, Robert J. & Wratten, Steve D., 2011, An integrative taxonomic approach to the identification of three new New Zealand endemic earthworm species (Acanthodrilidae, Octochaetidae: Oligochaeta), pp. 21-32 in Zootaxa 2994 on page 24, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20517
Why are some parasitoids of light brown apple moth so uncommon in vineyards?
No full textThe light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a key insect pest that belongs to one of the largest families of Lepidoptera, the Tortricidae, which has over 10,000 described species. This family includes numerous major pests of crops, forests, and ornamental plants. Hence an understanding of factors that affect parasitism of E. postvittana is potentially relevant to many other pest species and agroecosystems. Although a number of species are known to parasitise E. postvittana, only few of them were recorded attack E. postvittana in vineyards. Moreover, little is known about the interactions between E. postvittana and the parasitoids that are associated with it in crop and non-crop habitats. Therefore，this study addressed the question, “why are some parasitoids that attack light brown apple moth so uncommon in vineyards?” My thesis presents an investigation of the activities of parasitoids in vineyards and adjacent native vegetation in the Adelaide Hills wine region, and provides insights into the contribution they make towards natural biological control of the light brown apple moth. This project aimed to investigate: (1) parasitism rates of E. postvittana in vineyards and adjacent native vegetation; (2) competitive interactions between parasitoids that attack E. postvittana; (3) the influence of host plants on foraging behavior and parasitism by parasitoids that attack E. postvittana; and (4) temperature dependent development of Therophilus unimaculatus (Turner) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a common parasitoid species that attacks E. postvittana. Field experiments showed that T. unimaculatus was most active in non-crop native vegetation, whereas Dolichogenidea tasmanica (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was the most common parasitoid of larval E. postvittana in vineyards. Molecular identification of larval tortricids that were parasitised by either of the two parasitoids species indicated these two parasitoids share a range of tortricid hosts in both vineyards and natural habitats. These results indicated that the two key parasitoids have different patterns of habitat use between vineyard and adjacent fields. In order to investigate why parasitoids are not equally distributed between vineyards and native vegetation, two further series of studies were conducted. The first investigated the extent of interspecific differences in host discrimination and the outcome of interspecific competition between D. tasmanica and T. unimaculatus. Both wasp species did not show differential behavioural responses to un-parasitised hosts or those that were parasitised by the other species. But immature D. tasmanica out-competed immature T. unimaculatus, irrespective of the order or interval between attacks by the two species. The second series of experiments examined the effects of host plants on the behaviour of D. tasmanica and T. unimaculatus. The effects of selected native and non-native host plants on the foraging preferences and efficiency of the two parasitoids were investigated through behavioural observations in a wind tunnel, and an experiment in the field. The results indicated that plants play a role that affects the habitat preferences of the two parasitoid species by influencing their foraging behaviour, and contribute to their distributions among habitats. By studying the temperature dependent development of T. unimaculatus under constant temperatures, its mean developmental time from egg to adult emergence was found to be shortest at 24.4 days at 28.9 ℃. The data were fitted to a non-linear model, which showed that the number of generations of T. unimaculatus is equal or greater than E. postvittana in three out of four locations in Australia, and the development of T. unimaculatus is faster when the temperature is above 16.0 ℃. Thus temperature affects the extent of synchronization between populations of T. unimaculatus and E. postvittana. Overall, this research contributes to understand the contributions that parasitoids make to natural biological control of E. postvittana. I concluded that native vegetation adjacent to vineyards is not always a reliable source of natural enemies for control of E. postvittana in vineyards and, more generally, that native vegetation is not always a reliable source of natural enemies in crops. Based on the results, the different habitat preference of the two parasitoid species is likely to be influenced by different degrees of host-species and habitat preferences, including responses to plants, and possibly specific life history differences between the two parasitoid species. The results of this research are also expected to be useful for understanding natural biological control of many other pest species.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 201
The potential of earthworms to restore ecosystem services after opencast mining – A review
No full textInternational audienceOpencast coal mining has several environmental impacts, which require land rehabilitation when mining operations are finished. For that reason, restoration after such extractive industries' work is common and has been well studied. However, many ecological restoration schemes do not examine to what extent complete and functioning ecosystems have been restored above and below ground. While the aim should be to restore functioning ecosystems, most restoration plans focus only on vegetation and above ground macro-fauna. Among the potential species that are likely to be important early in mine land restoration, earthworms are particularly good candidates. They provide several ecosystem services that are likely to accelerate soil restoration, improve primary production and facilitate the restoration of a functional ecosystem in mining areas. These services include the following: increase in topsoil fertility, food for a wide range of predators and recycling of waste organic materials on rehabilitated areas. Here, we outline some of the challenges specifically facing opencast mining restoration and describe how the ecosystem services provided by earthworms may address some of these challenges
Ecosystem Function and the Prediction of Tree Resistance to Defoliators
No full textProceedings : IUFRO Kanazawa 2003 "Forest Insect Population Dynamics and Host Influences"., Scedule:14－19 September 2003, Vemue: Kanazawa Citymonde Hotel, Kanazawa, Japan, Joint metting of IUFRO working groups : 7.01.02 Tree resistance to Insects | 7.03.06 Integrated management of forset defoloating insects | 7.03.07 Population dynamics of forest insects, Sponsored by: IUFRO-J | Ishikawa Prefecture | Kanazawa City | 21st-COE Program of Kanazawa University, Editors: Kamata, Naoto | Liebhold, Nadrew M. | Quiring, Dan T. | Clancy, Karen M.New Zealand Forest Research InstituteLincoln Universit
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