Levantamento de doenças foliares em cultivares e híbridos de milho no sistema plantio direto no estado do Pará.

Objetivou-se avaliar a ocorrência e identificar doenças foliares de milho (Zea mays) em 13 cultivares e híbridos plantados em Sistema de Plantio Direto, em área de Pesquisa da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, no município de Paragominas, PA. O levantamento das principais doenças foi realizado no início do florescimento, estádio reprodutivo do milho. Amostras de tecido foliar com sintomas de doença foram analisadas no Laboratório de Fitopatologia da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental e observou-se que na maioria dos cultivares e híbridos houve a ocorrência de doenças causadas por fungos dos gêneros Colletotrichum, Bipolaris e Diplodia , agentes etiológicos de doenças que podem causar redução na produtividade da cultura e são amplamente distribuídos nas regiões produtoras de milho do Brasil. O aumento da dispersão do milho pode ser um fator contribuinte para o aumento das doenças, principalmente em Sistema de Plantio Direto. Concluiu-se que houve a incidência de doenças foliares de importância econômica na maioria dos cultivares de milho no Sistema de Plantio Direto em estudo, as quais podem atuar potencialmente para a diminuição da produtividade da cultura nesse Sistema.

Controle biológico de doenças de plantas no Brasil: história, pesquisa, comercialização e perspectivas=Biological control of plant diseases in Brazil: history, research, commercialization and perspectives.

2008

Doenças em plantios jovens de eucalipto em sistemas agroflorestais no Acre.

O uso de sistemas agrossilvipastoris com plantio de eucalipto tem se tornado bastante importante no Acre. Com o aumento dos cultivos de eucalipto no Acre, tem ocorrido o ataque de patógenos no campo principalmente durante os estágios iniciais da cultura. Conhecer as principais doenças que afetam os plantios de eucalipto é fundamental para o sucesso dos sistemas agrossilvipastoris que empregam esta espécie. Assim este trabalho teve como objetivo relatar as principais doenças em plantios de eucalipto no Acre associados a sistemas silvipastoris em implantação. Foram avaliadas três áreas com plantios jovens de eucalipto com diferentes espécies. Nas áreas foram realizadas visitas mensais para detecção de doenças. Plantas com sintomas de doenças foram trazidas ao Laboratório de Fitopatologia da Embrapa Acre para diagnóstico. Em campo avaliou-se a incidência e severidade das doenças. Foram relatadas os seguintes patossistemas: Ralstonia solanacearum - Murcha Bacteriana; Xanthomonas axonopodis - Mancha Foliar Bacteriana do Eucalipto; Puccinia psidii - Ferrugem do Eucalipto; Coniella fragariae ? Mancha de Coniela; e Cylindrocladium spp. ? Mancha de Cylindrocladium.

Mudanças climáticas: impactos sobre doenças de plantas no Brasil.

Proposta metodológica para discussão dos impactos das mudanças climáticas globais sobre doenças de plantas - Raquel Ghini e Emília Hamada. Cenários climáticos futuros para o Brasil - Emília Hamada, Renata Ribeiro do Valle Gonçalves, Jose Antonio Marengo Orsini e Raquel Ghini. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças da batata no Brasil - Carlos Alberto Lopes, Ailton Reis e Natalino Yassushi Shimoyama. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças do tomate no Brasil - Ricardo Gioria, Kátia Regiane Brunelli e Romulo Fujito Kobori. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças do pimentão no Brasil - Romulo Fujito Kobori, Ricardo Gioria e Kátia Regiane Brunelli. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças do melão no Brasil - Kátia Regiane Brunelli, Romulo Fujito Kobori e Ricardo Gioria. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças do arroz no Brasil - Anne Sitarama Prabhu, Silvando Carlos da Silva e Marta Cristina de Filippi. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças de cereais de inverno no Sul do Brasil - Erlei Melo Reis, Ricardo Trezzi Casa e Sandra Maria Zoldan. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças do milho no Brasil - Nicésio Filadelfo Janssen de Almeida Pinto, Elizabeth de Oliveira e Fernando Tavares Fernandes. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças e o desenvolvimento da soja no Brasil - Maria Aparecida Pessôa da Cruz Centurion e Raquel Ghini. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças da bananeira no Brasil - Luadir Gasparotto e José Clério Rezende Pereira. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças da cana-de-açúcar no Brasil - Álvaro Sanguino. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças fúngicas do cafeeiro no Brasil - Edson Ampélio Pozza e Marcelo de Carvalho Alves. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as principais doenças de citros no Estado de São Paulo - Waldir Cintra de Jesus Junior, Marcelo Augusto Boechat Morandi, Rock Seille Carlos Christiano e Pedro Takao Yamamoto. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças da seringueira no Estado de São Paulo - Edson Luiz Furtado. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre a ferrugem-do-eucalipto no Estado de São Paulo - Edson Luiz Furtado, Carlos André Gaspar dos Santos e Marcus Vinicius Masson. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre a incidência de fitonematóides no Brasil - Mário Massayuki Inomoto. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre o controle biológico de doenças de plantas - Wagner Bettiol. Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre o controle químico de doenças de plantas Raquel Ghini.

Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as doenças e o desenvolvimento da soja no Brasil.

2008

Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre as principais doenças de citros no estado de São Paulo.

2008

Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre o controle biológico de doenças de plantas.

2008

Impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas sobre o controle químico de doenças de plantas.

2008

Proposta metodológica para discussão dos impactos das mudanças climáticas globais sobre doenças de plantas.

2008

Controle biológico de doenças de plantas na América Latina.

2008

Dopamine and visually regulated eye growth in chick

Retinal image properties such as contrast and spatial frequency play important roles in the development of normal vision. For example, visual environments comprised solely of low contrast and/or low spatial frequencies induce myopia. The visual image is processed by the retina and it then locally controls eye growth. In terms of the retinal neurotransmitters that link visual stimuli to eye growth, there is strong evidence to suggest involvement of the retinal dopamine (DA) system. For example, effectively increasing retinal DA levels by using DA agonists can suppress the development of form-deprivation myopia (FDM). However, whether visual feedback controls eye growth by modulating retinal DA release, and/or some other factors, is still being elucidated. This thesis is chiefly concerned with the relationship between the dopaminergic system and retinal image properties in eye growth control. More specifically, whether the amount of retinal DA release reduces as the complexity of the image degrades was determined. For example, we investigated whether the level of retinal DA release decreased as image contrast decreased. In addition, the effects of spatial frequency, spatial energy distribution slope, and spatial phase on retinal DA release and eye growth were examined. When chicks were 8-days-old, a cone-lens imaging system was applied monocularly (+30 D, 3.3 cm cone). A short-term treatment period (6 hr) and a longer-term treatment period (4.5 days) were used. The short-term treatment tests for the acute reduction in DA release by the visual stimulus, as is seen with diffusers and lenses, whereas the 4.5 day point tests for reduction in DA release after more prolonged exposure to the visual stimulus. In the contrast study, 1.35 cyc/deg square wave grating targets of 95%, 67%, 45%, 12% or 4.2% contrast were used. Blank (0% contrast) targets were included for comparison. In the spatial frequency study, both sine and square wave grating targets with either 0.017 cyc/deg and 0.13 cyc/deg fundamental spatial frequencies and 95% contrast were used. In the spectral slope study, 30% root-mean-squared (RMS) contrast fractal noise targets with spectral fall-off of 1/f0.5, 1/f and 1/f2 were used. In the spatial alignment study, a structured Maltese cross (MX) target, a structured circular patterned (C) target and the scrambled versions of these two targets (SMX and SC) were used. Each treatment group comprised 6 chicks for ocular biometry (refraction and ocular dimension measurement) and 4 for analysis of retinal DA release. Vitreal dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) was analysed through ion-paired reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED), as a measure of retinal DA release. For the comparison between retinal DA release and eye growth, large reductions in retinal DA release possibly due to the decreased light level inside the cone-lens imaging system were observed across all treated eyes while only those exposed to low contrast, low spatial frequency sine wave grating, 1/f2, C and SC targets had myopic shifts in refraction. Amongst these treatment groups, no acute effect was observed and longer-term effects were only found in the low contrast and 1/f2 groups. These findings suggest that retinal DA release does not causally link visual stimuli properties to eye growth, and these target induced changes in refractive development are not dependent on the level of retinal DA release. Retinal dopaminergic cells might be affected indirectly via other retinal cells that immediately respond to changes in the image contrast of the retinal image.

Variation of the Stiles-Crawford effect with accommodation and myopia

Background: Mechanical forces either due to accommodation or myopia may stretch the retina and/or cause shear between the retina and choroid. This can be investigated by making use of the Stiles-Crawford effect (SCE), which is the phenomenon of light changing in apparent brightness as it enters through different positions in the pupil. The SCE can be measured by psychophysical and objective techniques, with the SCE parameters being directionality (rate of change across the pupil), and orientation (the location of peak sensitivity in the pupil). Aims: 1. To study the changes in foveal SCE with accommodation in emmetropes and myopes using a subjective (psychophysical) technique. 2. To develop and evaluate a quick objective technique of measuring the SCE using the multifocal electroretinogram. Methods: The SCE was measured in 6 young emmetropes and 6 young myopes for up to 8 D accommodation stimulus with a psychophysical technique and its variants. An objective technique using the multifocal electroretinogram was developed and evaluated with 5 emmetropes. Results: Using the psychophysical technique, the SCE directionality increased by similar amounts in both emmetropes and myopes as accommodation increased, with an increase of 15-20% with 6 D of accommodation. However, there were no significant orientation changes. Additional measurements showed that most of the change in the directionality was probably an artefact of optical factors such as higher-order aberrations and accommodative lag rather a true effect of accommodation. The multifocal technique demonstrated the presence of the SCE, but results were noisy and too variable to detect any changes in SCE directionality or orientation with accommodation. Conclusion: There is little true change in the SCE with accommodation responses up to 6 D in either emmetropes or myopes, although it is possible that substantial changes might occur at very high accommodation levels. The objective technique using the multifocal electroretinogram was quicker and less demanding for the subjects than the psychophysical technique, but as implemented in this thesis, it is not a reliable method of measuring the SCE.

Comparison of temporal processing and motion perception in emmetropes and myopes

While spatial determinants of emmetropization have been examined extensively in animal models and spatial processing of human myopes has also been studied, there have been few studies investigating temporal aspects of emmetropization and temporal processing in human myopia. The influence of temporal light modulation on eye growth and refractive compensation has been observed in animal models and there is evidence of temporal visual processing deficits in individuals with high myopia or other pathologies. Given this, the aims of this work were to examine the relationships between myopia (i.e. degree of myopia and progression status) and temporal visual performance and to consider any temporal processing deficits in terms of the parallel retinocortical pathways. Three psychophysical studies investigating temporal processing performance were conducted in young adult myopes and non-myopes: (1) backward visual masking, (2) dot motion perception and (3) phantom contour. For each experiment there were approximately 30 young emmetropes, 30 low myopes (myopia less than 5 D) and 30 high myopes (5 to 12 D). In the backward visual masking experiment, myopes were also classified according to their progression status (30 stable myopes and 30 progressing myopes). The first study was based on the observation that the visibility of a target is reduced by a second target, termed the mask, presented quickly after the first target. Myopes were more affected by the mask when the task was biased towards the magnocellular pathway; myopes had a 25% mean reduction in performance compared with emmetropes. However, there was no difference in the effect of the mask when the task was biased towards the parvocellular system. For all test conditions, there was no significant correlation between backward visual masking task performance and either the degree of myopia or myopia progression status. The dot motion perception study measured detection thresholds for the minimum displacement of moving dots, the maximum displacement of moving dots and degree of motion coherence required to correctly determine the direction of motion. The visual processing of these tasks is dominated by the magnocellular pathway. Compared with emmetropes, high myopes had reduced ability to detect the minimum displacement of moving dots for stimuli presented at the fovea (20% higher mean threshold) and possibly at the inferior nasal retina. The minimum displacement threshold was significantly and positively correlated to myopia magnitude and axial length, and significantly and negatively correlated with retinal thickness for the inferior nasal retina. The performance of emmetropes and myopes for all the other dot motion perception tasks were similar. In the phantom contour study, the highest temporal frequency of the flickering phantom pattern at which the contour was visible was determined. Myopes had significantly lower flicker detection limits (21.8 ± 7.1 Hz) than emmetropes (25.6 ± 8.8 Hz) for tasks biased towards the magnocellular pathway for both high (99%) and low (5%) contrast stimuli. There was no difference in flicker limits for a phantom contour task biased towards the parvocellular pathway. For all phantom contour tasks, there was no significant correlation between flicker detection thresholds and magnitude of myopia. Of the psychophysical temporal tasks studied here those primarily involving processing by the magnocellular pathway revealed differences in performance of the refractive error groups. While there are a number of interpretations for this data, this suggests that there may be a temporal processing deficit in some myopes that is selective for the magnocellular system. The minimum displacement dot motion perception task appears the most sensitive test, of those studied, for investigating changes in visual temporal processing in myopia. Data from the visual masking and phantom contour tasks suggest that the alterations to temporal processing occur at an early stage of myopia development. In addition, the link between increased minimum displacement threshold and decreasing retinal thickness suggests that there is a retinal component to the observed modifications in temporal processing.