Many fungal diseases affect date palm causing considerable losses in date production worldwide. We found that the fungicide Cidely® Top inhibited the mycelial growth of the soil-borne pathogenic fungus Thielaviopsis punctulata, the causal agent of black scorch disease of date palm, both in vitro and in vivo. Because the use of biocontrol agents (BCAs) can minimize the impact of pathogen control...

BACKGROUND Tarebia granifera (Lamarck, 1822) is originally from South-East Asia, but has been introduced and become invasive in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world. In South Africa, T. granifera is rapidly invading an increasing number of coastal lakes and estuaries, often reaching very high population densities and dominating shallow water benthic invertebrate assemblages. An asse...

In some species of self-fertile pulmonate snails, two sexual morphs co-occur in natural populations: regular individuals and aphallic individuals that cannot transmit sperm to other snails. Purely aphallic populations therefore reproduce obligatorily by selfing. Understanding the evolution of aphally and selfing in these snails requires a precise knowledge of phally determination. In this paper...

The effect of sublethal concentrations of the antihelminthic plant derivative, dihydroartemisinin methyl ether (Artemether) on the infectivity of the larval stages of Schistosoma haematobium to Bulinus truncatus and to hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) and certain physiological parameters of B. truncatus snails was studied. The results obtained showed infectivity of B. truncatus to infection with ...

BACKGROUND Programs for schistosomiasis control are advancing worldwide, with many benefits noted in terms of disease reduction. Yet risk of reinfection and recurrent disease remain, even in areas with high treatment coverage. In the search for means to better prevent new Schistosoma infections, attention has returned to an older strategy for transmission control, i.e., chemical mollusciciding,...

BACKGROUND The planorbid freshwater snails of the two genera, Biomphalaria and Bulinus -have been vigorously studied due to the role they play as intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis. In Sudan specifically, most studies have focused on the chemical and ecological control of the two genera, but few studies have looked at their biological control. This study explored the coexistence of other spe...

Bulinus truncatus snail is the intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium, which causes serious damage to urinary system infected patients. To control it in its rapid interruption and/or elimination disease transmission would be efficient. Copper chlorophyllin (Cu-chl) and magnesium (Mg-chl); two photosensitizers used several biological applications, were bio-assayed against B. snails.  Mg-ch...