Thermal tool for evaluation of essential oils of Eucalyptus spp susceptible and resistant to Glycaspis brimblecombei attack.

Eucalyptus spp genus is economically important to different industry fields. There are pests that damage the development of eucalypts and Glycaspis brimblecombei, a sap-sucking insect, is one of them. Studies about this insect attack to the eucalypts showed preferences. This work aim was to compare the preferences of the insect with thermoanalytical characteristics of different eucalypts (susceptible, less susceptible and resistant to Glycaspis brimblecombei) essential oils. The leaves of six species of Eucalyptus were crushed and the essential oil was extracted using Clevenger apparatus. The Shimadzu DTG-60H was used to analyze the samples. The results showed that the samples from more susceptible eucalypts had total mass loss at about 124ºC to 156ºC, lower than samples from more resistant eucalypts (from 168ºC to 175ºC). Furthermore, the study suggests that the susceptibility or the resistance of eucalypts to the pest may be related to their essential oil composition and concentration of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes.

Development of Glomerella leaf spot is enhanced in virus-infected Maxi Gala apples.

Apples are commercially grown in Brazil in a subtropical environment that favors the development of fungal diseases such as Glomerella leaf spot (GLS) caused mainly by Glomerella cingulata (anamorph Colletotrichum gloeosporioides). The main objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of mixed infections by Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) and Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV) on the infection and the colonization processes of C. gloeosporiodes in cv. Maxi Gala plants. Leaves of 16-month-old potted plants were spray-inoculated and both the disease incidence and lesion count were monitored over time and leaf severity was assessed in the final evaluation using an image analysis tool. Results showed that initial infection estimated from a monomolecular model fitted to progress of lesion count was higher and the incubation period (time to reach 50% incidence) was on average 10 h shorter in virus-infected plants compared to non-infected plants. It is hypothesized that initial events such as conidial germination and fungal penetration into plant cells were facilitated by the presence of viral infection. Also, final GLS severity was significantly higher in the virus-infected plants. Mixed infections by ASGV/ASPV seemed to make apple leaves more susceptible to the initial infection and colonization by C. gloeosporioides.