Assessment of Trap Crops for The Wheat Bug, Nysius huttoni Management: A Cage Study

The wheat bug, Nysius huttoni, is an endemic New Zealand insect pest. Its feeding can seriously reduce crop establishment in forage A cage study was conducted in Lincoln University, New Zealand to evaluate the pest’s host preferences on four plant species. Kale plants (Brassica oleracea) were used as a potentially susceptible control and other four trap plants were tested to evaluate as potential trap-plants. These were: Lobularia maritima (alyssum), Triticum aestivum (wheat), Coriandrum sativum (coriander) and Trifolium repens (white clover). The alyssum plant was more attractive to the wheat bug. The survival rate and preferences of the wheat bug was significantly better than other four plants. The deployment of such flowering trap crops can potentially trap the wheat bug and also provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) in an agro-ecosystem. The findings can be used to develop the wheat bug management protocol and also potentially provide ecosystem services in brassica fields.

Investigation of the Chemical Composition and Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Lobularia maritima: Potent Therapeutic Applications

Lobularia maritima, commonly known as sweet alyssum, is an annual ornamental halophyte widely spread along the Tunisian seashore. However, little is known about the phytochemical, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of Lobularia maritima. The present study aimed to investigate the potential biological properties of different parts (flowers, leaves, roots, and stems) of Tunisian L. maritima using diverse extraction methods. Extracts were then studied for their antioxidant properties, and the highest antioxidant activity was presented in the roots’ fractions. Added to this, flower, leaf, and root fractions showed interesting antimicrobial and antifungal activities against different Gram+ and Gram− bacteria and against Aspergillus ochraceus. Finally, the most active fractions (presenting the highest biological activities) were analyzed using silica gel purification and mass spectrometry coupled to gas chromatography (GC-MS) analysis, and different compounds were identified such as camphor, amide of oleic acids, tributyl acetylcitrate, betulinaldehyde, menthol, 1′-(butyn-3-one-1-yl)-, (1S, 2S, 5R), benzyl benzoate, 7-acetyl-6-ethyl-1,1,4,4-tetramethyltetralin, 2,4-heptadienal, (E,E), and nootkaton-11,12-epoxide. This work represents the first in-depth investigation of the content of bioactive compounds from Lobularia maritima. This species could potentially be a promising source of useful compounds for therapeutic applications.

Influence of Plant Physical and Anatomical Characteristics on the Ovipositional Preference of Orius sauteri (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae)

Natural enemies play an important role in managing insect pests. Orius sauteri (Poppius) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), a predator of many soft-body insects, is an important biological control agent in Asia. Understanding this predator’s egg-laying preferences and a habitat needs is important for its success in pest control. We investigated the plant acceptability and ovipositional preference of O. sauteri for coriander (Coriadrum sativum L., Apiales: Apiaceae), marigold (Tagetes erecta L., Asterales: Asteraceae), sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima L., Brassicales: Brassicaceae), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L., Fabales: Fabaceae), and focused on the effects of plant physical and anatomical characteristics on the ovipositional preference of O. sauteri. The results showed that O. sauteri can lay eggs on uninfested plants in the vegetative stage and their eggs hatched normally. Orius sauteri females prefer plants with high stomatal density, a large stomatal area, and fewer trichomes as oviposition hosts, and the depth of egg placement was determined by leaf thickness. Our studies suggested that O. sauteri females can select oviposition hosts and specific oviposition sites by assessing the structural qualities of plant surface. Coriander and marigold are potentially suitable host plants for O.sauteri. The results aid the selection of cover crops to enhance natural enemies in the fields.

A chromosome-scale reference genome of Lobularia maritima, an ornamental plant with high stress tolerance

Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv. is an ornamental plant cultivated across the world. It belongs to the family Brassicaceae and can tolerate dry, poor and contaminated habitats. Here, we present a chromosome-scale, high-quality genome assembly of L. maritima based on integrated approaches combining Illumina short reads and Hi–C chromosome conformation data. The genome was assembled into 12 pseudochromosomes with a 197.70 Mb length, and it includes 25,813 protein-coding genes. Approximately 41.94% of the genome consists of repetitive sequences, with abundant long terminal repeat transposable elements. Comparative genomic analysis confirmed that L. maritima underwent a species-specific whole-genome duplication (WGD) event ~22.99 million years ago. We identified ~1900 species-specific genes, 25 expanded gene families, and 50 positively selected genes in L. maritima. Functional annotations of these genes indicated that they are mainly related to stress tolerance. These results provide new insights into the stress tolerance of L. maritima, and this genomic resource will be valuable for further genetic improvement of this important ornamental plant.

Preliminary Phytochemical Screening, Evaluation of the Phenolic Compositions and Antioxidant Activities of Four Iranian Alyssum Species

Background: Alyssum L. is a genus of herbaceous perennial or annual plants belonging to the Brassicaceae family. Little is known about biochemical properties of Alyssum species, specially endemics to Iran. In particular, the species were A. homolocarpum (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Boiss., A. lepidotum Boiss., A. maritimum (L.) Lam. (now syn. of Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.) and A. simplex Rudolph. and eight accessions were studied. These diverse species accessions were collected in six different areas. Materials and Methods: In this work, the Total Phenolic Content (TPC), the Total Flavonoid Content (TFD), the Total Flavonol Content (TFL), the Carotenoid content (Car) and the Anthocyanin content (Ant) of the leaf methanolic extracts of four Alyssum L. species collected in Iran, were assessed. The antioxidant activity assay for every extract obtained from the eight accessions was also carried out according to three distinct methodologies including three different methods including: DPPH, Beta carotene/ linoleic acid and phosphomolibdate assays. Results: The highest TPC, TFD and TFL values were separately observed in two different accessions of A. lepidotum whereas the highest carotenoid content was observed in one accession of A. homolocarpum and the highest anthocyanin content was observed in A. maritimum. Different results were observed for different methodolies for antioxidant evaluations methods and some of them were found to have values, expressed in mg/mL, much lower with respect to the control. The least DPPH activity and the highest total antioxidant activity with phosphomolybdate assay was found in A. lepidotum. Conclusion: The preliminary phytochemical screening and the evaluation of their antioxidant activities were reported here for the first time for Iranian Alyssum species. The findings eventually recommends, the use of those accessions in the ethnopharmacological and nutraceutical fields.