Influence of plant silicon in Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae – Poaceae interactions

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Juma ◽  
P.O. Ahuya ◽  
G. Ong'amo ◽  
B. Le Ru ◽  
G. Magoma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Larval Growth ◽  
Busseola Fusca ◽  
Stem Borer ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Wild Host ◽  
Important Pest ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Si Content

AbstractThe noctuid stem borer Busseola fusca is an important pest of maize and sorghum in Sub-Saharan Africa. The presence of this species occurred mostly on cultivated than on wild habitats. Busseola fusca is oligophagous having a narrow range of a wild grass species. This might be due, in part, to differences in silicon (Si) content in plant tissues between cultivated and wild grasses. In the present study, we have tested this hypothesis by studying the survival and the relative growth rate (RGR) expressed as daily weight gains of B. fusca larvae on maize and six wild host plants, mostly present in the natural habitat where B. fusca occurred, and correlated with their Si contents. Survival and RGR of B. fusca larvae were considerably higher on maize and wild sorghum than on the other grass species, and they were negatively related to plant Si content. This was corroborated with results on RGR from artificial diets amended with increasing levels of Si. In addition, if Si was added to maize growing substrate B. fusca larval growth was significantly reduced confirming the involvement of Si in B. fusca larvae – Poaceae interactions. The results provide insight into the possible mechanisms of oligophagy of B. fusca and provide a correlative support for a physical role of plant endogenous Si in impeding feeding of B. fusca larvae.

scholarly journals Assortments of Digestive Enzymes Induced in First Instar Larvae of Busseola fusca Feeding on Different Plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 117954331984352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérald Juma ◽  
Bruno Le Ru ◽  
Paul-André Calatayud
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Digestive Enzymes ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Busseola Fusca ◽  
Stem Borer ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Host Acceptance ◽  
First Instar ◽  
Sub Saharan

The stem borer Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest of maize and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa. This insect has oligophagous feeding habits, feeding mostly on maize and sorghum with a narrow range of wild Poaceous plant species. We hypothesised that first instar B. fusca larvae, the critical stage for successful establishment on a host plant, can establish and then grow on a particular plant as a result of induction of a complement of digestive enzymes that mediates host acceptance at first instars. A fast semi-quantitative analysis of potentially digestive enzymatic activities present in the first larvae previously fed for 4 days on leaves of host and non-host plants was performed using the API-ZYM kit system able to detect a multiplex of enzyme activities. Regardless of the plant species, the larvae exhibited higher activities of the carbohydrate metabolising enzymes than of aminopeptidases and proteases. In addition, highest activities of carbohydrates degrading enzymes were exhibited by larvae that consumed leaves of the most preferred plant species of B. fusca. Conversely, esterases were only detected in neonate larvae that consumed leaves of the less preferred and non-host plants. No alkaline phosphatase and lipase activities were detected. The significance of these results was discussed in terms of food requirements of first instar larvae when settling on a plant.

Phylogeography and population genetics of the maize stalk borer Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) in sub-Saharan Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. SEZONLIN ◽  
S. DUPAS ◽  
B. LE RÜ ◽  
P. LE GALL ◽  
P. MOYAL ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Busseola Fusca ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Stalk Borer ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae

scholarly journals Effects of distance from semi-natural habitat on fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J. E. Smith) and its potential natural enemies in Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Jordon ◽  
Talya D. Hackett ◽  
Fred Aboagye-Antwi ◽  
Vincent Y. Eziah ◽  
Owen T. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Leaf Damage ◽  
Crop Damage ◽  
Biological Pest Control ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Insect crop pests are a major threat to food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Configuration of semi-natural habitat within agricultural landscapes has the potential to enhance biological pest control, helping to maintain yields whilst minimising the negative effects of pesticide use. Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J. E. Smith) is an increasingly important pest of maize in sub-Saharan Africa, with reports of yield loss between 12 and 45%. We investigated the patterns of fall armyworm leaf damage in maize crops in Ghana, and used pitfall traps and dummy caterpillars to assess the spatial distribution of potential fall armyworm predators. Crop damage from fall armyworm at our study sites increased significantly with distance from the field edge, by up to 4% per m. We found evidence that Araneae activity, richness and diversity correspondingly decreased with distance from semi-natural habitat, although Hymenoptera richness and diversity increased. Our preliminary findings suggest that modifying field configuration to increase the proximity of maize to semi-natural habitat may reduce fall armyworm damage and increase natural enemy activity within crops. Further research is required to determine the level of fall armyworm suppression achievable through natural enemies, and how effectively this could safeguard yields.

Maliarpha separatella (African white rice borer).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Beverley
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Stem Borer ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Maliarpha Separatella ◽  
Widespread Distribution ◽  
White Rice ◽  
Rice Stem Borer ◽  
Panicle Number ◽  
Plant Stage ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract M. separatella is a stem borer of sub-Saharan and Indian Ocean islands and is the only rice stem borer that has widespread distribution in sub-Saharan Africa. Damage by M. separatella includes reduced plant height, total number of grains per panicle, number of filled grains per panicle and grain weight, depending on the plant stage attacked.

The role of wild grasses in the management of lepidopterous stem-borers on maize in the humid tropics of western Africa

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 507-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ndemah ◽  
S. Gounou ◽  
F. Schulthess
Keyword(s):  
Fusarium Verticillioides ◽  
Busseola Fusca ◽  
Maize Yield ◽  
Pennisetum Purpureum ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Eldana Saccharina ◽  
Panicum Maximum ◽  
Mussidia Nigrivenella ◽  
Humid Forest ◽  
Wild Host

AbstractSites in the humid forest of Cameroon and the derived savanna of Benin were selected to evaluate the effect of planting border rows of wild host plants on lepidopterous stem-borer infestations and on maize yield. Grass species were chosen that in surveys and greenhouse trials were highly attractive to ovipositing female moths but with offspring mortality of close to 100%, thus acting as trap plants. In Cameroon, elephant grass Pennisetum purpureum Moench significantly lowered infestations of Busseola fusca (Fuller), Sesamia calamistis Hampson and Eldana saccharina Walker and increased yields of maize though the differences were not significant during all three cropping seasons. In 1998 in Benin, the only grass tested, Pennisetum polystachion L., significantly increased parasitism of mainly S. calamistis eggs by Telenomus spp. and larvae by Cotesia sesamiae Cameron and reduced numbers of the cob-borer Mussidia nigrivenella Ragonot. In 1999, three grass species; P. polystachion, Sorghum arundinaceum (Desv.) Stapf and Panicum maximum Jacq. were tested. Panicum maximum was the most efficient species for suppressing S. calamistis and M. nigrivenella infestations and enhancing egg and larval parasitism. In the Benin trials, with the exception of M. nigrivenella damage to cobs, the grass species tested had no beneficial effect on yield because pest densities were too low and also rodent damage to maize was enhanced with grasses in the vicinity of the crop. By contrast, stand losses due to Fusarium verticillioides Sacc. (Nirenberg), were significantly reduced by border rows of grasses.

RTS,S/AS01, a vaccine targeting pre-erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 533-537
Author(s):  
Lorenz von Seidlein ◽  
Borimas Hanboonkunupakarn ◽  
Podjanee Jittmala ◽  
Sasithon Pukrittayakamee
Keyword(s):  
Protective Efficacy ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
European Medicines Agency ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Pivotal Phase ◽  
Malaria Epidemiology ◽  
Maximum Benefit ◽  
Sub Saharan

RTS,S/AS01 is the most advanced vaccine to prevent malaria. It is safe and moderately effective. A large pivotal phase III trial in over 15 000 young children in sub-Saharan Africa completed in 2014 showed that the vaccine could protect around one-third of children (aged 5–17 months) and one-fourth of infants (aged 6–12 weeks) from uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The European Medicines Agency approved licensing and programmatic roll-out of the RTSS vaccine in malaria endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. WHO is planning further studies in a large Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, in more than 400 000 young African children. With the changing malaria epidemiology in Africa resulting in older children at risk, alternative modes of employment are under evaluation, for example the use of RTS,S/AS01 in older children as part of seasonal malaria prophylaxis. Another strategy is combining mass drug administrations with mass vaccine campaigns for all age groups in regional malaria elimination campaigns. A phase II trial is ongoing to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the RTSS in combination with antimalarial drugs in Thailand. Such novel approaches aim to extract the maximum benefit from the well-documented, short-lasting protective efficacy of RTS,S/AS01.

Mortality and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa

1993 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-556
Author(s):  
Lado Ruzicka
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

Adolescent Suicidality as Seen in Rural Northeastern Uganda

Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Kinyanda ◽  
Ruth Kizza ◽  
Jonathan Levin ◽  
Sheila Ndyanabangi ◽  
Catherine Abbo
Keyword(s):  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Psychosocial Risk ◽  
Psychiatric Nurses ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background: Suicidal behavior in adolescence is a public health concern and has serious consequences for adolescents and their families. There is, however, a paucity of data on this subject from sub-Saharan Africa, hence the need for this study. Aims: A cross-sectional multistage survey to investigate adolescent suicidality among other things was undertaken in rural northeastern Uganda. Methods: A structured protocol administered by trained psychiatric nurses collected information on sociodemographics, mental disorders (DSM-IV criteria), and psychological and psychosocial risk factors for children aged 3–19 years (N = 1492). For the purposes of this paper, an analysis of a subsample of adolescents (aged 10–19 years; n = 897) was undertaken. Results: Lifetime suicidality in this study was 6.1% (95% CI, 4.6%–7.9%). Conclusions: Factors significantly associated with suicidality included mental disorder, the ecological factor district of residence, factors suggestive of low socioeconomic status, and disadvantaged childhood experiences.

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