Pathogenicity of wild-type and albino strains of the fungus Ceratocystis resinifera, a potential biocontrol agent against bluestain

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 919-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Morin ◽  
Solajo Couturier ◽  
Louis Bernier
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Pathogenic Potential ◽  
Potential Biocontrol Agent

To verify the environmental innocuousness of large-scale applications of an albino strain (Kasper) of Ceratocystis resinifera Harrington & Wingfield, a potential biocontrol agent against bluestain, we tested the pathogenicity of this fungal species in greenhouse and field trials. In the greenhouse, the development of C. resinifera was negligible in deciduous seedlings, whereas the fungus was able to colonize the three conifer species tested. Ceratocystis resinifera induced only small lesions in white pine ( Pinus strobus L.) but colonized more extensively white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) seedlings. Black spruce was the most affected species and showed the highest mean mortality rate (40%). However, the pathogenicity of C. resinifera seemed to be conditional, since no mortality was observed in one experiment. In the field trial, C. resinifera induced longer lesions than Ophiostoma piceae (Münch) Syd. & P. Syd. 1919 (a weak pathogen) as well as mortality in one mature black spruce tree. However, Kasper was less virulent than the wild type isolate tested, since it induced significantly smaller lesions and no mortality. In spite of its ability to colonize spruce trees, C. resinifera showed a weak tolerance to low oxygen levels, which, together with the lack of a primary bark beetle vector associate, may reduce its pathogenic potential.

Field trials of Trichomalopsis sarcophagae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) in cattle feedlots: a potential biocontrol agent of filth flies (Diptera: Muscidae)

2003 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.D. Floate
Keyword(s):  
Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
House Fly ◽  
Stable Fly ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Potential Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Paired Control

AbstractA field study was performed in southern Alberta, Canada, to assess the native wasp, Trichomalopsis sarcophagae (Gahan), as a potential biocontrol agent for house fly, Musca domestica L., and stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.). The wasp was readily reared in large numbers, which allowed for the cumulative release of an estimated 4.63 million wasps into three commercial feedlots during the 2-year study. Each of several releases predictably and repeatedly enhanced parasitism of sentinel house fly pupae, whereas parasitism remained low in three paired control feedlots where wasps were not released. Releases every 2nd week had a disproportionately greater effect than releases every 2nd month. In 1998, 1.2 million wasps were released into treatment feedlots resulting in the recovery of 3 952 T. sarcophagae from 31 500 sentinel pupae (0.13 wasps/pupa). In 1999, 3.43 million wasps were released into treatment feedlots, with the recovery of 37 763 wasps from 47 720 sentinel pupae (0.79 wasps/pupa). Hence, a 2.8-fold increase in the number of wasps released in 1999 resulted in a 6.1-fold increase in the recovery of wasps. This result supports industry recommendations of regular, repeated releases of wasps every 2nd or 4th week versus one or infrequent releases throughout the summer. There was no evidence that releases augmented overwintering populations of the wasp in subsequent years. These results provide proof-of-concept for the mass-rearing and release of T. sarcophagae as an inundative biocontrol agent for the control of pest flies in cattle confinements. Further studies will be required to assess the effect of T. sarcophagae releases on natural populations of pest flies.

Structure and resilience of fungal communities in Alaskan boreal forest soilsThis article is one of a selection of papers from The Dynamics of Change in Alaska’s Boreal Forests: Resilience and Vulnerability in Response to Climate Warming.

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 1288-1301 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lee Taylor ◽  
Ian C. Herriott ◽  
Kelsie E. Stone ◽  
Jack W. McFarland ◽  
Michael G. Booth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Cellulose Degradation ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Soil Horizon

This paper outlines molecular analyses of soil fungi within the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research program. We examined community structure in three studies in mixed upland, black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP), and white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) forests and examined taxa involved in cellulose degradation at one upland site. We found that soil horizon was the factor by which fungal communities were most strongly structured and that predictable turnover in upland fungal species occurred through succession. Communities from consecutive summers were not significantly different, indicating that interannual variation was small in relation to differences between forest types and soil horizons, yet the community at a seasonal study site underwent significant changes within a year. In each study, mycorrhizal fungi dominated the community. Fungi rather than bacteria appeared to dominate [13C]cellulose degradation, with strongest growth in taxa that were not dominant members of the untreated community, including members of the genus Sebacina . Overall, our results point to considerable interannual resilience juxtaposed with narrow niche partitioning and the capacity of individual taxa in these hyperdiverse communities to respond strongly to resource inputs and changes in other abiotic environmental parameters such as temperature. Our data double the cumulative total of fungal sequences in GenBank and together achieve a better picture of fungal communities here than for any other ecosystem on earth at this time.

scholarly journals Beauveria brongniartii a potential biocontrol agent for use against manuka beetle larvae damaging dairy pastures on Cape Foulwind

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 224-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J. Townsend ◽  
T.L. Nelson ◽  
T.A. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Larval Mortality ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Beauveria Brongniartii ◽  
Rate Dependent ◽  
Potential Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Selection Of

Manuka beetles (Pyronota sp; Scarabaeidae) are serious and persistent pests of dairy pastures on Cape Foulwind Westport When a selection of scarabactive fungal isolates were tested against 3rd instar larvae of two Pyronota species a locally sourced Beauveria brongniartii (F636) isolate consistently achieved the fastest and highest levels of larval mortality Topical application of F636 caused an average of 80 larval mortality 6 weeks posttreatment Mortality was shown to be dose rate dependent for both Pyronota species When treatments were applied by incorporating rice grains colonised by the fungus into soil simulating field application F636 again produced the fastest and highest levels of larval mortalities averaging 70 6 weeks postapplication Mortalities of both Pyronota species reached 100 after 8 weeks when the assay medium was a grey sand based soil (ex Cape Foulwind) Isolate F636 shows promise as a biological control agent for this pest and field trials have been carried out in the autumn of 2010

Insecticidal control of Melanterius servulus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a potential biocontrol agent of Paraserianthes lophantha (Leguminosae), in commercial seed orchards of black wattle, Acacia mearnsii(Leguminosae)

1992 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Donnelly ◽  
F.J. Calitz ◽  
I.M.R. Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Acacia Mearnsii ◽  
Pyrethroid Insecticides ◽  
Seed Orchards ◽  
Potential Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Black Wattle ◽  
Two Stages

AbstractA seed-feeding weevil, Melanterius servulus Pascoe, is considered suitable for release against the weed Paraserianthes lophantha. However, host specificity tests have indicated that M. servulus may also develop on the seeds of Acacia mearnsii (black wattle), which is both a weed and a crop plant in South Africa. Seed orchards, which supply the black wattle industry, may therefore need to be protected. The aim of this study was to determine whether the two pyrethroid insecticides presently used in wattle plantations against the wattle bagworm (Kotochalia junodi Heylaerts (Lepidoptera: Psychidae)) are effective against M. servulus. Since M. servulus has not yet been released in South Africa, field trials were not possible, and evidence that black wattle seed orchards can be protected from M. servulus was obtained indirectly, in two stages. Firstly, field trials showed that the two insecticides effectively protect the weed Acacia longifolia from a closely related weevil, Melanterius ventralis Lea, which has already been established as a biocontrol agent. Secondly, quarantine laboratory trials demonstrated that M. ventralis and M. servulus showed similar avoidance responses and similar levels of mortality when exposed to the insecticides. All the evidence indicates that the chemical protection of A. mearnsii seed orchards from M. servulus is possible.

COMPARATIVE EFFICACIES OF SINGLE AND DOUBLE APPLICATIONS OF COMMERCIAL BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS AGAINST THE SPRUCE BUDWORM CHORISTONEURA FUMIFERANA IN BALSAM FIR STANDS

1984 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. N. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Thuringiensis ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Spruce Budworm ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Mixed Stands

Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (B.t.) is the most widely used biological control agent against the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), a major defoliator of coniferous forests. The technology of applying the bacterium, however, is still not fully developed and the strategy of applying single or split applications of B.t. in unmixed stands is still in question. Double applications are generally accepted as necessary in mixed stands of white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, red spruce, P. rubens Sarg., black spruce, P. mariana (Mill.) BSP, and balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., due to difference in the phenological development of the host trees and of the budworm infesting them. Field trials were conducted at Mine Centre, Ontario, to compare the efficacies of double and single applications of B.t. against the budwonn infesting balsam fir stands.

scholarly journals Identification and Characterization of Microsatellite Markers Useful for Genetic Analysis of Black Spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) Populations

2009 ◽  
Vol 58 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 168-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Dobrzeniecka ◽  
K. K. Nkongolo ◽  
P. Michael ◽  
S. Wyss ◽  
M. Mehes
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Analysis ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Pcr Primers ◽  
Genomic Libraries ◽  
Organization Analysis ◽  
Individual Trees

Summary Large - scale isolation of microsatellite and information in any conifer species is limited. Our knowledge of microsatellite in spruce (Picea spp.) is still sketchy. Genomic libraries of P. mariana were constructed and screened with (AC)15 probes. Over 200 positive clones were found for this dinucleotide and ten were analyzed in details. They were sequenced to confirm the presence of microsatellites and to generate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers based on sequences flanking the microsatellites. All sequenced (AC)n clones had repeats of n > 23. Primer pairs were designed from seven sequences. These primer pairs along with 15 primer pairs from white spruce (Picea glauca) were tested on individual trees. Seven primer pairs from P. mariana and three from P. glauca (white spruce) amplified DNA from P. mariana and were used for genetic analysis of black spruce populations from uplands (drylands) and lowlands (wetlands). High levels of polymorphism and heterozygosity were observed in all the populations studied. Both highlands and lowlands showed similar levels of genetic variation. The selected microsatellites sequences are being used for genome organization analysis of black spruce.

What habitat does spiny snout mite occupy in Tasmania

2015 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 446-446
Author(s):  
D.J. Wilson ◽  
P.J. Gerard
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sand Dune ◽  
Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Predatory Mites ◽  
Mite Species ◽  
Predatory Mite ◽  
Habitat Specificity ◽  
Nontarget Organisms ◽  
Flea Control ◽  
Potential Biocontrol Agent

Spiny snout mite (Neomolgus capillatus) is a potential biocontrol agent for clover flea (Sminthurus viridis) a white clover pest on dairy farms in warmer and wetter parts of New Zealand In the 1990s this mite was introduced from Brittany France into Tasmania for clover flea control Results during the release programme were highly promising and subsequent anecdotal farmer reports indicate widespread decreases in damage As N capillatus is a predatory mite and already known to attack nontarget organisms habitat specificity will determine whether it could be introduced into New Zealand without risk to native insects To assess this pastures on nine of the original Tasmanian release farms and adjacent nontarget habitats ranging from bush wetlands eucalypt stands to sand dune country were sampled in April 2014 Litter samples were collected heat extracted and mite species identified Neomolgus capillatus was found at effective densities in pastures that had good clover cover Where present it displaced Bdellodes spp mites that are ineffective against clover flea No N capillatus were found in the nontarget habitats all of which lacked clover and contained other predatory mites including Bdellodes spp Therefore the preference by N capillatus for lush pastures makes it an excellent prospect for introduction as a biocontrol agent into clover flea prone regions of New Zealand

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document