Soil biochemical properties and microbial communities are usually considered as important indicators of soil health because of their association with plant nutrition. In this study, we investigated the impact of long-term application of bioorganic fertilizer (BOF) on soil biochemical properties and microbial communities in the apple orchard soil of the Loess Plateau. The experiment included thr...

Many plant pathogens show interactions with host development. Pathogens may modify plant development according to their nutritional demands. Conversely, plant development influences pathogen growth. Biotrophic pathogens often delay senescence to keep host cells alive, and resistance is achieved by senescence-like processes in the host. Necrotrophic pathogens promote senescence in the host, and ...

Paraguay tea is a native crop of southern Brazil and is also socioeconomically important in Paraguay and Argentina. One of the main pests of this crop is Gyropsylla spegazziniana (Hemiptera: Psyllidae). As there are no registered insecticides for this pest in Brazil, the use of entomopathogenic fungi is an alternative method for its control. This study aimed to evaluate and characterize isolate...

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) was challenged with different combinations of matrine (insecticide) and Lecanicillium muscarium (entomopathogenic fungus). Our results revealed a synergistic relationship between matrine and L. muscarium on mortality and enzyme activities of B. tabaci. To illustrate the biochemical mechanisms involved in detoxification and immune responses of ...

Puccinia horiana Hennings, the causal agent of chrysanthemum white rust, is a worldwide quarantine organism and one of the most important fungal pathogens of Chrysanthemum × morifolium cultivars, which are used for cut flowers and as potted plants in commercial production regions of the world. It was previously reported to be controlled by Lecanicillium lecanii, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, C. ...

The sources of variance and errors in transcriptomics based on the electrophoretic separation of amplified cDNA fragments were investigated using cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Transcriptome profiles of the plant-pathogenic fungus Verticillium longisporum were generated by a standard cDNA-AFLP protocol followed by electrophoretic separation of amplified DNA fragments in fla...