Rational design yields molecular insights on leaf binding of the anchor peptide Macaque Histatin

In times of a constantly growing world population and increasing demand for food, sustainable agriculture is crucial. To reduce the amount of applied nutrients, herbicides, and fungicides, the rainfastness of plant protection agents is of pivotal importance. As a result of protective agent wash-off, plant protection is lost, and soils and groundwater are severely polluted. To date, rainfastness of plant protection products is achieved by adding polymeric adjuvants to the agrochemicals. However, polymeric adjuvants will be regarded as microplastics in the future, and environmentally friendly alternatives are needed. Anchor peptides (APs) are promising biobased and biodegradable adhesion promoters. While the adhesion of anchor peptides to artificial surfaces, such as polymers, has already been investigated in theory and experimentally, exploiting the adhesion to biological surfaces remains challenging. The complex nature and composition of biological surfaces such as plant leaf and fruit surfaces complicate the generation of accurate models. Here, we present the first detailed three-layered atomistic model of the surface of apple leaves and use it to compute free energy profiles of the adhesion and desorption of APs to and from that surface. Our model is validated by a novel fluorescence-based MTP assay that mimicks these complex processes and allows quantifying them. For the AP Macaque Histatin, we demonstrate that aromatic and positively charged amino acids are essential for binding to the waxy apple leaf surface. The established protocols should generally be applicable for tailoring the binding properties of APs to biological interfaces.

Compliance-Driven Cybersecurity Planning Based on Formalized Attack Patterns for Instrumentation and Control Systems of Nuclear Power Plants

The instrumentation and control (I&C) system of a nuclear power plant (NPP) employs a cybersecurity program regulated by the government. Through regulation, the government requires the implementation of security controls in order for a system to be developed and operated. Accordingly, the licensee of an NPP works to comply with this requirement, beginning in the development phase. The compliance-driven approach is efficient when the government supervises NPPs, but it is inefficient when a licensee constructs them. The security controls described in regulatory guidance do not consider system characteristics. In other words, the development organization spends a considerable amount of time excluding unnecessary control items and preparing the evidence to justify their exclusion. In addition, security systems can vary according to the developer’s level of security knowledge, leading to differences in levels of security between systems. This paper proposes a method for a developer to select the appropriate security controls when preparing the security requirements during the early development phase; it is designed to ensure the system’s security and reduce the cost of excluding unnecessary security controls. We have formalized the representation of attack patterns and security control patterns and identified the relationships between these patterns. We conducted a case study applying RG 5.71 in the Plant Protection System (PPS) to confirm the validity of the proposed method.

Phytosanitary condition and yield of winter wheat in crop rotations of the forest-steppe zone of the Volga region

In the conditions of the forest-steppe zone of the Volga region, winter wheat occupies the largest area among grain crops, which is associated with its relatively high productivity, economic efficiency and the ability to unload the peaks of field work in the spring. Winter wheat makes fuller use of the bioclimatic potential of productivity, especially in the arid conditions of the region. Despite the fact that the adaptive-integrated approach to the joint use of agricultural techniques and chemicalization means when growing grain crops provides significant and stable yield increases, they require regular study to adjust agricultural technologies. The article presents the results of 3-year studies in a stationary field experiment to assess the influence of predecessors, methods of basic soil cultivation and plant protection on the spread of diseases and weeds, as well as on the yield of winter wheat. Studies have shown that the placement of winter wheat after clean fallow helps to reduce the infestation of crops, and after cruciferous predecessors (white mustard, spring rape)— the spread of root rot (Bipolaris sorokiniana (Helmintosporium sativum)) and leaf rust (Puccinia recondita). Winter wheat yield after different predecessors varied from 5.16 t/ha for pure fallow to 3.77–4.04 t/ha after nonfallow predecessors with a significant increase in adaptive-integrated plant protection by 0.37 t/ha (9.2%) and insignificant — for combined tillage in crop rotation — by 0.19 t/ha (4.6%).

Climate Change Increases the Expansion Risk of Helicoverpa zea in China According to Potential Geographical Distribution Estimation

Helicoverpa zea, a well-documented and endemic pest throughout most of the Americas, affecting more than 100 species of host plants. It is a quarantine pest according to the Asia and Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC) and the catalog of quarantine pests for plants imported to the People’s Republic of China. Based on 1781 global distribution records of H. zea and eight bioclimatic variables, the potential geographical distributions (PGDs) of H. zea were predicted by using a calibrated MaxEnt model. The contribution rate of bioclimatic variables and the jackknife method were integrated to assess the significant variables governing the PGDs. The response curves of bioclimatic variables were quantitatively determined to predict the PGDs of H. zea under climate change. The results showed that: (1) four out of the eight variables contributed the most to the model performance, namely, mean diurnal range (bio2), precipitation seasonality (bio15), precipitation of the driest quarter (bio17) and precipitation of the warmest quarter (bio18); (2) PGDs of H. zea under the current climate covered 418.15 × 104 km2, and were large in China; and (3) future climate change will facilitate the expansion of PGDs for H. zea under shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) 1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5 in both the 2030s and 2050s. The conversion of unsuitable to low suitability habitat and moderately to high suitability habitat increased by 8.43% and 2.35%, respectively. From the present day to the 2030s, under SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5, the centroid of the suitable habitats of H. zea showed a general tendency to move eastward; from 2030s to the 2050s, under SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5, it moved southward, and it moved slightly northward under SSP2-4.5. According to bioclimatic conditions, H. zea has a high capacity for colonization by introduced individuals in China. Customs ports should pay attention to host plants and containers of H. zea and should exchange information to strengthen plant quarantine and pest monitoring, thus enhancing target management.

Plant immunity inducers: from discovery to agricultural application

While conventional chemical fungicides directly eliminate pathogens, plant immunity inducers activate or prime plant immunity. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of immune regulation in plants. The development and application of plant immunity inducers based on the principles of plant immunity represent a new field in plant protection research. In this review, we describe the mechanisms of plant immunity inducers in terms of plant immune system activation, summarize the various classes of reported plant immunity inducers (proteins, oligosaccharides, chemicals, and lipids), and review methods for the identification or synthesis of plant immunity inducers. The current situation, new strategies, and future prospects in the development and application of plant immunity inducers are also discussed.

Linking the effects of plant protection products on biodiversity and ecological processes to potential impairment of ecosystem functions and services—A multidisciplinary conceptual framework.

There is growing interest in using the ecosystem services framework for environmental risk assessments of plant protection products (PPP). However, there is still a broad gap between most of the ecotoxicological endpoints used in PPP risk assessment and the evaluation of the risks and effects of PPP on ecosystem services. Here we propose a conceptual framework to link current and future knowledge on the ecotoxicological effects of PPP on biodiversity and ecological processes to their consequences on ecosystem functions and services. We first describe the main processes governing the relationships between biodiversity, ecological processes and ecosystem functions in response to effects of PPP. We define 12 main categories of ecosystem functions that could be directly linked with the ecological processes used as functional endpoints in investigations on the ecotoxicology of PPP. An exploration of perceptions on the possible links between these categories of ecosystem functions and groups of ecosystem services (by a panel scientific experts in various fields of environmental sciences) then finds that these direct and indirect linkages still need clarification. We illustrate how the proposed framework could be used on terrestrial microalgae and cyanobacteria to assess the potential effects of herbicides on ecosystem services. The framework proposed here uses a set of clearly-defined core categories of ecosystem functions and services, which should help identify which of them are effectively or potentially threatened by PPP. We argue that this framework could help harmonize and extend the scientific knowledge that informs decision-making and policy-making.

Trichoderma juruarense sp. nov. (Hypocreaceae) a new fungal species from sediments of the Amazonian Juruá River with agricultural potential

The species of Trichoderma are the most common fungi to be used as biocontrol agents, and their metabolic arsenal has a wide variety of applications that places this genus among those with the potential to provide biotechnological products. The ubiquitous nature of Trichoderma has favored a rapid increase in the number of described species, and significant efforts have been made towards the taxonomy of Trichoderma in order to improve the accuracy of identification. During a study of cultivable microbiota from the Juruá River, Amazon, Brazil. Isolates with morphological characteristics of the genus Trichoderma were screened for their capacity to control phytopathogens. A total of five Trichoderma isolates were identified using morphological data combined with phylogenetic analysis of the ITS region, and partial sequences of TEF and RPB2. Trichoderma juruarense sp. nov. form a monophyletic clade that is closely related to T. cyanodichotomus, a species that occupies an unresolved position in the Trichoderma taxonomy. T. cyanodichotomus and T. juruarense sp. nov. present an intracellular blue-green pigment in potato dextrose agar (PDA) and differ in conidia and chlamydospores sizes. These data support the proposition of a new species, named here as Trichoderma juruarense. The holotype of T. juruarense INPA0108 presents in vitro inhibition against phytopathogens, such as Colletotrichum siamense (50%), Corynespora cassiicola (43%), Fusarium decemcellulare (61%) and Sclerotium rolfsii (51%), which demonstrates desirable traits that warrant further studies on plant protection. In addition, T. cyanodichotomus and T. juruarense formed a new clade based on the sequence data of the RPB2 gene.

Quantitative Analysis of Droplet Size Distribution in Plant Protection Spray Based on Machine Learning Method

Spray droplet size is the main factor affecting the deposition uniformity on a target crop. Studying the influence of multiple factors on the droplet size distribution as well as the evaluation method is of great significance for improving the utilization of pesticides. In this paper, volume median diameter (VMD) and relative span (RS) were selected to evaluate the droplet size distribution under different hollow cone nozzles, flow rates and spatial positions, and the quantitative models of VMD and RS were established based on machine learning methods. The results showed that support vector regression (SVR) had excellent results for VMD (Rc = 0.9974, Rp = 0.9929), while multi-layer perceptron (MLP) had the best effect for RS (Rc = 0.9504, Rp = 0.9537). The correlation coefficient of the prediction set is higher than 0.95, showing the excellent ability of machine learning on predicting the droplet size distribution. In addition, the visualization images of the droplet size distribution were obtained based on the optimal models, which provided intuitive guidance for realizing the uniform distribution of pesticide deposition. In conclusion, this study provides a novel and feasible method for quantitative evaluation of droplet size distribution and offers a theoretical basis for further determining appropriate operation parameters according to the optimal droplet size.

TWO-COMPONENT HERBICIDE HORS D, KS FOR THE PROTECTION OF CORN CROPS

The research was carried out to assess the biological and economic effectiveness of the new two-component herbicide Hors D, KS (220 g/l dicamba (sodium salt) and 50 g/l nicosulfuron) of LLC “Agro Expert Group” on corn crops in Krasnodar Krai. The experiments were carried out in the field conditions of All-Russian Research Institute of Biological Plant Protection in 2018-2019 according to the methodological guidelines for registration tests of herbicides in agriculture. The soil is leached chernozem. The area of the plots is 25 m2, the repetition rate is 4 times, the flow rate of the working fluid is 200 l/ha. The experimental scheme included the use of the tested herbicide Hors D, KS in the application rates of 0.6; 0.8 and 1.2 l/ha. Carleone preparation was used as a standard, EC (0.3 and 0.6 l/ha) and control (without herbicides). The treatment was carried out in the phase of 3...5 leaves of the culture. The contamination of corn crops averaged 83 copies/m2. The herbicidal effect of the drugs was assessed by reducing the number and weight of weeds, as well as by the crop yield in comparison with the control. Weeds: common hedgehog, glaucous bristle, ragweed wormwood, tilted backward and Californian cocklebur showed a high sensitivity to drugs. The use of 0.6...1.2 l/ha of Hors D, KS led to an 80 ... 100% herbicidal effect. There was no negative effect of the drug for corn plants, crop yield increases were obtained, which amounted to 62.0...74.7% of the control. The obtained data for two years showed high biological and economic efficiency of the herbicide Hors D, KS against annual dicotyledonous and cereal weeds in corn crops