scholarly journals First Field Record of the Tropical Red-Banded Thrips Selenothrips rubrocinctus (Thripidae: Panchaetothripinae) in Europe

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1484
Author(s):  
Andrea Taddei ◽  
Gregorio Vono ◽  
Gijsbertus Vierbergen ◽  
Andrea Wojnar ◽  
Matteo Zugno ◽  
...  

Red-banded thrips Selenothrips rubrocinctus is a polyphagous pest widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Various fruit trees such as cacao, cashew, mango, avocado, and guava in certain habitats are attacked. This is the first report of the spontaneous occurrence of outdoor populations of this species of thrips in Europe. This species has been found in northern Italy on Liquidambar styraciflua, Carpinus betulus, and other ornamental forest species in urban areas. Barcode sequences of the Italian specimens were obtained.

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Lonati ◽  
Federico Riva

The impact of the reduced atmospheric emissions due to the COVID-19 lockdown on ambient air quality in the Po Valley of Northern Italy was assessed for gaseous pollutants (NO2, benzene, ammonia) based on data collected at the monitoring stations distributed all over the area. Concentration data for each month of the first semester of 2020 were compared with those of the previous six years, on monthly, daily, and hourly bases, so that pre, during, and post-lockdown conditions of air quality could be separately analyzed. The results show that, as in many other areas worldwide, the Po Valley experienced better air quality during 2020 spring months for NO2 and benzene. In agreement with the reductions of nitrogen oxides and benzene emissions from road traffic, estimated to be −35% compared to the regional average, the monthly mean concentration levels for 2020 showed reductions in the −40% to −35% range compared with the previous years, but with higher reductions, close to −50%, at high-volume-traffic sites in urban areas. Conversely, NH3 ambient concentration levels, almost entirely due the emissions of the agricultural sector, did not show any relevant change, even at high-volume-traffic sites in urban areas. These results point out the important role of traffic emissions in NO2 and benzene ambient levels in the Po Valley, and confirm that this region is a rather homogeneous air basin with urban area hot-spots, the contributions of which add up to a relatively high regional background concentration level. Additionally, the relatively slow response of the air quality levels to the sudden decrease of the emissions due to the lockdown shows that this region is characterized by a weak exchange of the air masses that favors both the build-up of atmospheric pollutants and the development of secondary formation processes. Thus, air quality control strategies should aim for structural interventions intended to reduce traffic emissions at the regional scale and not only in the largest urban areas.


Plant Disease ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachid Tahzima ◽  
Radouane Qessaoui ◽  
Yoika Foucart ◽  
Sebastian Massart ◽  
Kris De Jonghe

Plum (Prunus domestica L., Rosaceae) trees, like many stone fruit trees, are known to be infected by numerous plant viruses, predominantly as consequence of their clonal mode of propagation and perennial cultivation (Jelkmann and Eastwell, 2011). Apricot vein clearing-associated virus (AVCaV) is a member of the genus Prunevirus in the family Betaflexiviridae. AVCaV was first reported in Italy infecting apricot (P. armeniaca L.) associated with foliar vein clearing symptoms (Elbeaino et al. 2014). It has also been detected in various Prunus species, like plum, Japanese plum (P. salicina L.), sour cherry (P. cerasus L.), and Japanese apricot (P. mume L.), apricot and peach (P. persica L.) sourced from Asian and European countries (Marais et al. 2015), as well as in the ornamental Myrobolan plum (P. cerasifera L.) in Australia (Kinoti et al. 2017). In 2018, during the vegetative season, a survey was carried out in two different apricot and plum orchards in the southern region of Agdez (Agadir, Morocco) where stone fruit trees are grown. Five branches with leaves were sampled from three apricot and three plum trees of unknown cultivars, all asymptomatic. Total RNA was extracted from 100 mg plant tissue (leaves and cambial scrapping) using RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) and separate samples (one per species) were used for library preparation (NEBNext Ultra RNA library kit; New England BioLabs, MA, USA), and sequencing (Illumina NextSeq v2, totRNA sequencing) at Admera Health (New Jersey, USA). All generated reads (6,756,881) from the plum sample were quality filtered and submitted to the VirusDetect pipeline (Zheng et al., 2017). The plum cDNA library, a total of 20 viral contigs (68-1928 bp) mapped to several AVCaV accessions in GenBank. A reference mapping (CLC Genomics Workbench 12, Qiagen, Denmark) was conducted against all four available AVCaV full genomes (KM507062-63, KY132099 and HG008921), revealing 100% coverage of the full sequence (8358 nt) with 97-98 % nucleotide (nt) identities (BLASTn). Analysis of the derived sequences allowed to identify the location of the four predicted ORFs i.e. (ORF1: 6066 nt/2,021 aa), (ORF2: 1383 nt/460 aa), (ORF3: 666 nt/221 aa) and (ORF4: 420 nt/139 aa), previously described for the AVCaV genome (Elbeaino et al. 2014). The amino acid sequences of the encoded proteins of AVCaV isolate from Morocco also shared 97-98% identities with the corresponding sequences of complete genome AVCaV isolates in GenBank. To confirm the detection of AVCaV in the three plum samples, specific RT-PCR primers (VC37657s: 5’-CCATAGCCACCCTTTTTCAA-3’ / VC28239a: 5’-GTCGTCAAGGGTCCAGTGAT-3’) (Elbeaino et al. 2014) were used and the expected 330 bp fragment from the replicase gene was amplified in all three samples and subsequently sequenced (MT980794-96). Sanger sequences were 100% identical to corresponding HTS derived sequence. This is the first report of AVCaV infecting plum in Africa. The incidence of AVCaV in Moroccan Prunus species is unknown. Plum trees from the surveyed orchards were also confirmed to be co-infected with little cherry virus 1 (LChV-1) using HTS. Further investigation is required to determine the impact of AVCaV on these asymptomatic plum trees and other stone fruits species.


Plant Disease ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. 1109-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Garibaldi ◽  
G. Gilardi ◽  
M. L. Gullino

Lamb's lettuce or corn salad (Valerianella olitoria) is increasingly grown in Italy and used primarily in the preparation of mixed processed salad. In the fall of 2005, plants of lamb's lettuce, cv Trophy, exhibiting a basal rot were observed in some commercial greenhouses near Bergamo in northern Italy. The crown of diseased plants showed extensive necrosis, progressing to the basal leaves, with plants eventually dying. The first symptoms, consisting of water-soaked zonate lesions on basal leaves, were observed on 30-day-old plants during the month of October when temperatures ranged between 15 and 22°C. Disease was uniformly distributed in the greenhouses, progressed rapidly in circles, and 50% of the plants were affected. Diseased tissue was disinfested for 1 min in 1% NaOCl and plated on potato dextrose agar amended with 100 μg/liter of streptomycin sulfate. A fungus with the morphological characteristics of Rhizoctonia solani was consistently and readily isolated and maintained in pure culture after single-hyphal tipping (3). The five isolates of R. solani, obtained from affected plants successfully anastomosed with tester isolate AG 4, no. RT 31, received from R. Nicoletti of the Istituto Sperimentale per il Tabacco, Scafati, Italy (2). The hyphal diameter at the point of anastomosis was reduced, and cell death of adjacent cells occurred (1). Pairings were also made with AG 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11 with no anastomoses observed between the five isolates and testers. For pathogenicity tests, the inoculum of R. solani (no. Rh. Vale 1) was grown on autoclaved wheat kernels at 25°C for 10 days. Plants of cv. Trophy were grown in 10-liter containers (20 × 50 cm, 15 plants per container) on a steam disinfested substrate (equal volume of peat and sand). Inoculations were made on 20-day-old plants by placing 2 g of infected wheat kernels at each corner of the container with 3 cm as the distance to the nearest plant. Plants inoculated with clean wheat kernels served as controls. Three replicates (containers) were used. Plants were maintained at 25°C in a growth chamber programmed for 12 h of irradiation at a relative humidity of 80%. The first symptoms, consisting of water-soaked lesions on the basal leaves, developed 5 days after inoculation with crown rot and plant kill in 2 weeks. Control plants remained healthy. R. solani was consistently reisolated from infected plants. The pathogenicity test was carried out twice with similar results. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of R. solani on lamb's lettuce in Italy as well as worldwide. The isolates were deposited at the AGROINNOVA fungal collection. The disease continues to spread in other greenhouses in northern Italy. References: (1) D. Carling. Rhizoctonia Species: Pages 37–47 in: Taxonomy, Molecular Biology, Ecology, Pathology and Disease Control. B. Sneh et al., eds. Kluwer Academic Publishers, the Netherlands, 1996. (2) J. Parmeter et al. Phytopathology, 59:1270, 1969. (3) B. Sneh et al. Identification of Rhizoctonia Species. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 1996.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula María Montoya-Pfeiffer ◽  
Guiomar Nates-Parra

AbstractPollen is the main food for honeybee broods and young workers and so colony development and reproduction rely heavily on pollen availability, both spatially and temporally, in the environment. Intensification of agriculture and climate seasonality are known to alter honeybee foraging patterns and pollen intake through changes in resource availability in temperate regions; however, little is known about how honeybees respond to such environmental factors in tropical regions.Pollen species collected by honeybees in a Neotropical agricultural region of Colombia were identified. The effects of landscape structure (landscape Shannon Diversity Index, forest area in 1000 m around the apiary) and climate seasonality (mean monthly precipitation) on the amount, richness and diversity of pollen collected by the honeybees were evaluated for all pollen species together and pollen species segregated according to forest and anthropic areas (croplands, grasslands, woodlands, urban areas).Honeybees were found to be much more associated with anthropic than forest pollen species regardless of landscape structure or precipitation. However, the amount, richness and diversity of pollen from all species and forest species responded positively to landscape diversity and forest area, suggesting an advantage for honeybees in obtaining small quantities of pollen from forest species, in spite of being well-adapted to forage in anthropic areas. Precipitation was found not to be related to the overall amount and overall richness of pollen collected by honeybees, suggesting that climate seasonality was not an important factor for pollen foraging. Nonetheless, overall pollen diversity was negatively affected by precipitation in less diverse landscapes, while anthropic pollen diversity was negatively affected in more forested landscapes. These findings are compared with those from temperate regions, and the implications for honeybee productivity and survival, and their interactions with Neotropical native species, are discussed.


Plant Disease ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 920-920
Author(s):  
A. Garibaldi ◽  
A. Minuto ◽  
D. Bertetti ◽  
M. L. Gullino

Euryops pectinatus is grown in Italy for landscape use in parks and gardens. In 2001, severe outbreaks of a previously unknown powdery mildew were observed in commercial farms located in Albenga (northern Italy). All green parts (leaves, stems, and petioles) became covered with a white mycelium. Infections were particularly severe on the upper leaf surface. With progress of the disease, infected leaves turned yellow and died. The presence of powdery mildew infections on leaves and stems only rarely was linked to growth reduction. Conidia were hyaline, cylindric to slightly doliform, did not show fibrosin bodies, borne in chains, and measured 24 to 41 × 12 to 20 μm. Cleistothecia were not observed. The pathogen was identified as Oidium sp. subgen. Fibroidium (1). Pathogenicity was confirmed by gently pressing diseased leaves on leaves of healthy E. pectinatus plants. Inoculated plants were maintained in a growth chamber at 20 to 24°C. After 12 to 14 days, powdery mildew symptoms developed. A similar disease of E. pectinatus was observed in 1999 in California and identified as being caused by Podosphaera (Sphaerotheca) fusca (2). It is possible that the powdery mildew observed in Italy belongs to the same species, also considering that recently the two genera, Podosphaera and Sphaerotheca, have been unified in the genus Podosphaera (1). References: (1) U. Braun and S. Takamatsu. Schlechtendalia 4:1, 2000. (2) G. S. Saenz et al. Plant Dis. 84:1048, 2000.


Plant Disease ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 681-681
Author(s):  
A. Garibaldi ◽  
D. Bertetti ◽  
M. L. Gullino

Aquilegia flabellata Sieb. and Zucc. (columbine) is a perennial garden species belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. During the summer of 2003, a severe outbreak of a previously unknown powdery mildew was observed in several gardens near Biella (northern Italy). Upper surfaces of leaves were covered with a white mycelium and conidia, and as the disease progressed infected leaves turned yellow and died. Foot cell was cylindric and appressorium lobed. Conidia were hyaline, ellipsoid, and measured 31.2 to 47.5 × 14.4 to 33 μm (average 38.6 × 21.6 μm). Fibrosin bodies were not present. Cleistothecia were globose, brown, had simple appendages, ranged from 82 to 127 (average 105) μm in diameter, and contained one to two asci. Ascocarp appendages measured five to eight times the ascocarp diameter. Asci were cylindrical (ovoidal) and measured 45.3 to 58.2 × 30.4 to 40.2 μm. Ascospores (three to four per ascus) were ellipsoid or cylindrical and measured 28.3 to 31.0 × 14.0 to 15.0 μ;m. On the basis of its morphology, the pathogen was identified as Erysiphe aquilegiae var. aquilegiae (1). Pathogenicity was confirmed by gently pressing diseased leaves onto leaves of five, healthy A. flabellata plants. Five noninoculated plants served as controls. Inoculated and noninoculated plants were maintained in a garden where temperatures ranged between 20 and 30°C. After 10 days, typical powdery mildew symptoms developed on inoculated plants. Noninoculated plants did not show symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of powdery mildew on Aquilegia flabellata in Italy. E. communis (Wallr.) Link and E. polygoni DC. were reported on several species of Aquilegia in the United States (2), while E. aquilegiae var. aquilegiae was previously observed on A. flabellata in Japan and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (3). Specimens of this disease are available at the DIVAPRA Collection at the University of Torino. References: (1) U. Braun. Nova Hedwigia, 89:700, 1987. (2) D. F. Farr et al. Fungi on Plants and Plant Products in the United States. The American Phytopathological Society, St Paul, MN, 1989. (3) K. Hirata. Host Range and Geographical Distribution of the Powdery Mildews. Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, 1966.


Plant Disease ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Garibaldi ◽  
A. Minuto ◽  
G. Gilardi ◽  
M. L. Gullino

Helichrysum bracteatum, also known as strawflower, is commonly grown for the production of dried flowers and, more recently, as a potted plant. This latter cultivation system is becoming increasingly important on the Liguria Coast in northern Italy. During the spring of 2002, severe oubreaks of a previously unknown disease were observed in commercial farms in the area of Albenga (northern Italy) on several cultivars of H. bracteatum. Leaves of infected plants appeared curled and blistered; the infected portions of leaves turned chlorotic. On the lower leaf surface of chlorotic areas, a dense, whitish growth was evident. Infected leaves eventually wilted without dropping. Basal leaves with poor air circulation were the most severely affected. Certain cultivars of H. bracteatum (such as ‘Florabella Pink’) were most seriously affected, while others (‘Florabella Gold’ and ‘Florabella White’) had less disease. Microscopic observations revealed sporangiophores emerging from the stomata that were dichotomically branched, ending with 4 to 7 sterigmata. The sporangia were globose and measured 15.5 to 16.8 μm in diameter. The pathogen was identified as Bremia lactucae based on the morphological characteristics. Pathogenicity was confirmed by inoculating healthy H. bracteatum (100-day-old ‘Florabella Gold’) as well as Lactuca sativa (25-day-old ‘Salad bowl’) plants with a sporangial suspension (1 × 105 sporangia/ml). Five plants of H. bracteatum and 10 of lettuce were used as replicates. Noninoculated plants served as controls. Inoculated and uninoculated plants were maintained in a growth chamber at 20°C and 90 to 95% relative humidity. After 7 to 10 days, typical symptoms of downy mildew developed on H. bracteatum and lettuce plants artificially inoculated. Bremia lactucae was observed on infected leaves. Uninoculated plants did not show symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Bremia lactucae on H. bracteatum in Italy. B lactucae was previously reported as the causal agent of downy mildew on H. bracteatum in several countries including the United Kingdom (3), the United States (1), and Egypt (2). References: (1) S. A. Alfieri et al. Index of plant diseases in Florida. Bull No. 11, 1984. (2) H. Elarosi and M. W. Assawah. Rev. Plant Prot. Res., 39:583, 1959. (3) W. C. Moore. British Parasitic Fungi. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1959.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Sukirman Sukirman ◽  
Rafika Bayu Kusumandari

<p><strong><em>Abstract.</em></strong><em> Organic village is the designation for the urban / rural are developing environmental management where whole communities to manage the environment by planting organic crops. Even they develop dengue mosquito eradication in a way that is natural to plant crops that are not favored by mosquitoes. Referring to the objectives to be achieved, the research program was designed with a "Research and Development", meaning that a program of research followed by development program for repair or improvements. To produce a prototype Organic Village Environmental Education As Model For Community-Based Early Childhood, taken systematic steps in the form of the process of action, reflection, evaluation and innovation by applying qualitative research methods, descriptive, development, experimentation and evaluation. This study aims to gain in-depth overview of the Organic Village Environmental Education As Model For Community-Based Early Childhood. Village of Krobokan becoming a pilot village for urban areas for environmental regulation. Every citizen of organic crops and other useful plants such as mosquito repellent plants, fruit trees, etc. In addition, it is promoting recycling bins, especially organic waste that leaves of trees that have fallen. The leaves are processed into compost, but before it becomes compost. These leaves, crushed in advance by using a grinding machine garbage. It is intended to order the leaves into small pieces, so that when inserted into the barrel composer of the leaf pieces faster into fertilizer. The finished compost directly used to fertilize plants that live in stalls in the village Krobokan. For environmental education in early childhood, conducted in three schools namely TK Pembina State Semarang, Semarang Lab School kindergarten and kindergarten An Nur Semarang. The third school to apply the concept of habituation and role models as well as cooperation with parents</em>.<em></em></p><p><strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong><strong> </strong><strong><em>Organic Village, Environmental Education</em></strong><strong><em>, Early Childhood</em></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Abstrak. </strong>Desa organik adalah sebutan untuk perkotaan / pedesaan sedang mengembangkan manajemen lingkungan di mana seluruh masyarakat untuk mengelola lingkungan dengan menanam tanaman organik. Bahkan mereka mengembangkan pemberantasan nyamuk dengue dengan cara alami untuk menanam tanaman yang tidak disukai oleh nyamuk. Mengacu pada tujuan yang ingin dicapai, program penelitian dirancang dengan "Penelitian dan Pengembangan", yang berarti bahwa program penelitian diikuti oleh program pengembangan untuk perbaikan atau perbaikan. Untuk menghasilkan prototipe Pendidikan Lingkungan Desa Organik Sebagai Model Untuk Anak Berbasis Anak Usia Dini, diambil langkah sistematis dalam bentuk proses tindakan, refleksi, evaluasi dan inovasi dengan menerapkan metode penelitian kualitatif, deskriptif, pengembangan, eksperimen dan evaluasi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh gambaran mendalam tentang Pendidikan Lingkungan Desa Organik Sebagai Model Untuk Anak Usia Dini Berbasis Komunitas. Desa Krobokan menjadi desa percontohan untuk daerah perkotaan untuk pengaturan lingkungan. Setiap warga negara dari tanaman organik dan tanaman berguna lainnya seperti tanaman pengusir nyamuk, pohon buah-buahan, dll. Selain itu, mempromosikan sampah daur ulang, terutama sampah organik yang meninggalkan pohon yang telah jatuh. Daunnya diolah menjadi kompos, tetapi sebelum menjadi kompos. Daun-daun ini, dihancurkan terlebih dahulu dengan menggunakan mesin penggilingan sampah. Hal ini dimaksudkan untuk memesan daun menjadi potongan-potongan kecil, sehingga ketika dimasukkan ke dalam komposer barrel dari potongan daun lebih cepat menjadi pupuk. Kompos yang sudah jadi langsung digunakan untuk menyuburkan tanaman yang hidup di warung-warung di desa Krobokan. Untuk pendidikan lingkungan pada anak usia dini, dilakukan di tiga sekolah yaitu TK Pembina Negeri Semarang, TK Taman Kanak-Kanak Semarang dan TK An Nur Semarang. Sekolah ketiga menerapkan konsep habituasi dan model peran serta kerja sama dengan orang tua.</p><p><strong>Kata Kunci: Desa Organik, Pendidikan Lingkungan</strong><strong>, Anak Usia Dini</strong></p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attila Tóth ◽  
Axel Timpe

Abstract Using ‘Urban Atlas’ as a data source, the authors present and critically discuss in this paper the application of figure-ground plans in combination with complex land-use maps as a tool for spatial analysis of urban agriculture in European cities and their multifunctional green infrastructure. The selected cities and metropolitan areas (including Dublin, Ruhr Metropolis, Geneva and Sofia) represent different regions in Europe from the Northwest to the Southeast. Urban fabric, agriculture and non-agricultural open spaces have been analysed and compared as the main land-use components. Agricultural open spaces include arable land with annual crops and permanent crops, such as vineyards, fruit trees and olive groves; pastures; as well as complex and mixed cultivation patterns. The results reveal the scale and land-use diversity of metropolitan regions and different spatial patterns of urban agriculture at the regional level and in central urban areas.


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