Biology of Doryctobracon brasiliensis at different temperatures: development of life table and determining thermal requirements.

2016

Effect of temperature on immatures of Stiretrus decastigmus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).

2016

Basis for the Development of a Rearing Technique of Aganaspis pelleranoi (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) in Anastrepha fraterculus (Tephritidae: Diptera).

2016

Diversidade da entomofauna em milho consorciado com sorgo e crotalária em diferentes arranjos.

2016

Relação entre cartelas parasitadas por Trichogramma pretiosum e cartelas ofertadas para parasitismo.

2016

Seleção de estirpes de Trichoderma ssp. com atividade antagônica a Fusarium verticillioides produtores de fumonisina isolados de milho e de sorgo.

2016

Bioecologia do parasitoide de ovos Fopius arisanus (Sonan, 1932) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) em moscas-das-frutas.

2016

Giovani. Variabilidade de parâmetros biológicos e genéticos de Cotesia flavipes (Cameron, 1891) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) no Brasil.

2016

Biology of Fopius arisanus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Two Species of Fruit Flies.

2016

The Virome of two Fusarium spp. Collections and its Potential for Controlling Fusarium Disease

This research aims to discover the virome diversity and composition in Fusarium poae and Fusarium proliferatum collections, characterize the mycovirus that may have an effect on host pathogenicity to provide potential materials for the biological control of Fusarium spp. pathogens. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis of 30 F. poae isolates revealed an extreme diversity of mycoviruses. Bioinformatic analysis shows that contigs associated with viral genome belong to the families: Hypoviridae, Mitoviridae, Partitiviridae, Polymycoviridae, proposed Alternaviridae, proposed Fusagraviridae, proposed Fusariviridae, proposed Yadokariviridae, and Totiviridae. The complete genomes of 12 viruses were obtained by assembling contigs and overlapping cloning sequences. Moreover, all the F. poae isolates analyzed are multi-infected. Fusarium poae partitivirus 1 appears in all the 30 strains, followed by Fusarium poae fusagravirus 1 (22), Fusarium poae mitovirus 2 (18), Fusarium poae partitivirus 3 (16), and Fusarium poae mitovirus 2 and 3 (11). Using the same approach, the virome of F. proliferatum collections resulted in lower diversity and abundance. The identified mycoviruses belong to the family Mitoviridae and Mymonaviridae. Interestingly, most F. proliferatum isolates are not multi-infected. The complete genomes of four viruses were obtained by assembling contigs and overlapping cloning sequences. By multiple liner regression of the virome composition and growth rate of 30 F. poae, Fusarium poae mitovirus 3 is significantly correlated with the growth rate among F. poae collection. Furthermore, the principal component analysis of the virome composition from 30 F. poae showed that the presence of Fusarium poae mitovirus 3 and other two viruses could increase the F. poae growth rate. The curing experiment and pathogenicity test in Petri indicated that Fusarium poae hypovirus 1 might be associated with the host hypovirulence phenotype, while Fusarium poae fusagravirus 1 and Fusarium poae partitivirus 3 may have some beneficial effect on host pathogenicity.

In vitro application of biocontrol agents to improve the safety and quality of grapevine products

Pathogenic fungi are responsible for vine diseases affecting the grapevine yield and the organoleptic quality of the final wine products. Using of biocontrol agents can represent a sustainable alternative to the use of synthetic fungicides whose intense use can have negative effects on the ecosystem and cause increase resistant pathogen population to synthetic agents. The principal aim of my PhD thesis was the isolation and characterization of new yeast strains and Bacillus subtilis SV108 as biocontrol agent and the comprehension of the mechanism of their antimicrobial action. Accordingly, twenty wild yeast and one selected bacterium isolated among 62 samples, isolated from different Italian and Malaysian regions and molecularly identified, were evaluated in a preliminary screening test on agar. Results showed the highest effects on inhibiting mycelial growth by Starmerella bacillaris FE08.05, Metschnikowia pulcherrima GP8 and Hanseniaspora uvarum GM19. On the other side, Bacillus subtilis SV108 showed the ability of inhibit the mycelial growth of selected fungi by producing antimicrobial compounds on Malt Extract Broth medium recovered by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and identified by electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometer Triple TOF 5600. Moreover, in order to analyze the volatile fraction of compounds, the quantitative analysis of the VOCs profiles was performed by GC/MS/SPME. The analysis highlighted the presence of isoamyl and phenylethyl alcohols and an overall higher presence of low-chain fatty acids and volatile ethyl esters. All the data collected suggest that the tested yeasts, found among the epiphytic microbiota associated with grape berries, can be potentially effective for the biological control of pathogenic moulds. On the other hand, the proteomic study conducted on B. subtilis SV108 revealed that there are two cyclic antifungal peptides which can explain the antimicrobial effect of Bacillus subtilis SV108 acting as biocontrol agent against fungal pathogens in grapevine.

A comparison of the performance and biological efficiency of new knapsack sprayers and a controlled droplet application (CDA) sprayer for the control of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera : Plutellidae)

Field trials and laboratory bioassays were undertaken to compare the performance and efficacy (mortality of diamondback moth larvae) of insecticides applied to cabbages with three high volume hydraulic knapsack sprayers (NS-16, PB-20 and Selecta 12V) and a controlled droplet application (CDA) sprayer. In field experiments, the high volume knapsack sprayers (application rate 500-600 L ha(-1)) provided better spray coverage on the upper and lower surfaces of inner leaves, the upper surfaces of middle and outer leaves, and greater biological efficacy than the CDA sprayer (application rate 20similar to40 L ha(-1)). The PB-20 provided better spray coverage on the upper surface of middle leaves and both surfaces of outer leaves when compared with the Selecta 12V. However, its biological efficacy in the field was not significantly different from that of the other high volume sprayers. Increasing the application rate from 20 to 40 L ha(-1) for the CDA sprayer significantly increased droplet density but had no impact on test insect mortality. Laboratory evaluations of biological efficacy yielded higher estimates than field evaluations and there was no significant difference between the performance of the PB-20 and the CDA sprayer. Significant positive relationships were detected between insect mortality and droplet density deposited for both the PB-20 and the CDA sprayers.

Sludge population optimisation: a new dimension for the control of biological wastewater treatment systems

The activated sludge comprises a complex microbiological community. The structure (what types of microorganisms are present) and function (what can the organisms do and at what rates) of this community are determined by external physico -chemical features and by the influent to the sewage treatment plant. The external features we can manipulate but rarely the influent. Conventional control and operational strategies optimise activated sludge processes more as a chemical system than as a biological one. While optimising the process in a short time period, these strategies may deteriorate the long-term performance of the process due to their potentially adverse impact on the microbial properties. Through briefly reviewing the evidence available in the literature that plant design and operation affect both the structure and function of the microbial community in activated sludge, we propose to add sludge population optimisation as a new dimension to the control of biological wastewater treatment systems. We stress that optimising the microbial community structure and property should be an explicit aim for the design and operation of a treatment plant. The major limitations to sludge population optimisation revolve around inadequate microbiological data, specifically community structure, function and kinetic data. However, molecular microbiological methods that strive to provide that data are being developed rapidly. The combination of these methods with the conventional approaches for kinetic study is briefly discussed. The most pressing research questions pertaining to sludge population optimisation are outlined. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Species identification in mammals from mixed biological samples based on mitochondrial DNA control region length polymorphism.

The ability to identify the species origin of an unknown biological sample is relevant in the fields of human and wildlife forensics. However, the detection of several species mixed in the same sample still remains a challenge. We developed and tested a new approach for mammal DNA identification in mixtures of two or three species, based on the analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region interspecific length polymorphism followed by direct sequencing. Contrary to other published methods dealing with species mixtures, our protocol requires a single universal primer pair and is not based on a pre-defined panel of species. Amplicons can be separated either on agarose gels or using CE. The advantages and limitations of the assay are discussed under different conditions, such as variable template concentration, amplicon sizes and size difference among the amplicons present in the mixture. For the first time, this protocol provides a simple, reliable and flexible method for simultaneous identification of multiple mammalian species from mixtures, without any prior knowledge of the species involved.