In nature, plants are exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses that often occur simultaneously. Therefore, plant responses to combinations of stresses are most representative of how plants respond to stresses. We used RNAseq to assess temporal changes in the transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana to herbivory by Pieris rapae caterpillars, either alone or in combination with prior exposure to droug...

Introduction Strawberries (Fragaria ananassa Duchesne) are one of the most popular berry fruits in the world. Due to their delicate structure, this fruits are susceptible to mechanical injury, desiccation, decay and physiological disorders during harvest and storage (Reddy at al., 2000). The heaviest economic losses are the result of fungi infections, which can occur both on immature fruits pre...

Three Metschnikowia pulcherrima strains isolated from white grapes (strains designated SG1 and SG2) and cherries (strain CPM1) from Romania were tested for antagonistic activity against natural and reference yeasts, fungi and E. coli. The best results were obtained for SG2 strain against the following microbes isolated from natural environments: yeasts Candida tropicalis OT4 and Candida albican...

The study on antagonistic mechanism of biocontrol strains gives the premise and basis for efficient and stable biological control. This study aimes to overcome of biocontrol agent in aspects of complicated and diversified mode of action, short-lasting and unstable efficacy in the production processes. This study elucidated the antagonistic mechanism of Bacillus cereus strain B-02 on Botrytis ci...

The circadian clock of the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana modulates defense mechanisms impacting plant-pathogen interactions. Nevertheless, the effect of clock regulation on pathogenic traits has not been explored in detail. Moreover, molecular description of clocks in pathogenic fungi--or fungi in general other than the model ascomycete Neurospora crassa--has been neglected, leaving this typ...

The effects of calcium propionate, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA) on postharvest pathogens of apple and peach, and on improving the efficacy of the biocontrol product Aspire were evaluated. All three materials had a distinct inhibitory effect on the radial growth of Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum in vitro. The inhibitory effect increased with t...

Foliar tissue samples of cultivated daylilies (Hemerocallis hybrids) showing the symptoms of a newly emergent foliar disease known as 'spring sickness' were investigated for associated fungi. The cause(s) of this disease remain obscure. We isolated repeatedly a fungal species which proved to be member of the genus Botrytis, based on immunological tests. DNA sequence analysis of these isolates, ...

Arabidopsis thaliana BOTRYTIS-INDUCED KINASE1 (BIK1) regulates immune responses to a distinct class of pathogens. Here, mechanisms underlying BIK1 function and its interactions with other immune response regulators were determined. We describe BIK1 function as a component of ethylene (ET) signaling and PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) to fungal pathogens. BIK1 in vivo kinase activity increases in ...

A mechanistic model for Botrytis cinerea on grapevine was developed. The model, which accounts for conidia production on various inoculum sources and for multiple infection pathways, considers two infection periods. During the first period ("inflorescences clearly visible" to "berries groat-sized"), the model calculates: i) infection severity on inflorescences and young clusters caused by conid...

Chitin is a biopolymer. Theoretically, it is a homopolymer of acetyl-glucosamine. Chitosan is the deacetylated product of chitin. Chitin and chitosan have many applications in water purification, agriculture, food and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, industrial production for chitin and chitosan is from the shell wastes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of chitin...