The suitability of two prey species, Aphis pomi De Geer (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Brevicoryne brassicae (L.), for two generalist aphidophagous coccinellids, Adalia tetraspilota (Hope) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), at various abundance levels was investigated under laboratory conditions. While both A. pomi and B. brassicae were found to be suitable, the predators...

Plant immune responses to pathogens are often associated with enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), known as the oxidative burst, and with rapid hypersensitive host cell death (the hypersensitive response, HR) at sites of attempted infection. It is generally accepted that the oxidative burst acts as a promotive signal for HR, and that HR is highly correlated with efficient disea...

Clubroot disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae is one of the most serious diseases in Brassica crops worldwide. In this study, the pathotypes of 12 Korean P. brassicae field isolates were determined using various Chinese cabbage including 22 commercial cultivars from Korea, China, and Japan, and 15 inbred lines. All P. brassicae isolates exhibited the typical clubroot disease on non-clubro...

Clubroot, one of the most devastating diseases to the Brassicaceae family, is caused by the obligate biotrophic pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae. However, studies of the molecular basis of disease resistance are still poor especially in quantitative resistance. In the present paper, two previously identified genotypes, a clubroot-resistant genotype (wild cabbage, B2013) and a clubroot-suscepti...

system, leading to a neosynthesis of ecdysone. A dose of 500 ng/pupa was sufficient to obtain synchronous adult development. Ecdysone injected either in whole or in decapitated pupae induced a neosynthesis of ecdysone, starting on day 5 after treatment, and the onset of imaginal development. Thus, we suggest that ecdysone can act independently of the brain, and that its stimulatory action on ec...

The Brassicaceae family is characterized by a unique defence mechanism known as the 'glucosinolate-myrosinase' system. When insect herbivores attack plant tissues, glucosinolates are hydrolysed by the enzyme myrosinase (EC 3.2.1.147) into a variety of degradation products, which can deter further herbivory. This process has been described as 'the mustard oil bomb'. Additionally, insect damage i...

Knowing the large difference in daily feed intake (DFI) between Large White (LW) and Piétrain (PI) growing pigs, a backcross (BC) population has been set up to map QTL that could be used in marker assisted selection strategies. LW × PI boars were mated with sows from two LW lines to produce 16 sire families. A total of 717 BC progeny were fed ad libitum from 30 to 108 kg BW using single-place e...

Previous studies indicate that Chinese indigenous pig breeds demonstrate distinct pattern of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression, which is associated with their unique growth and metabolic phenotypes. Here we sought to unravel the transcriptional mechanisms underlying the breed-specific hepatic GR expression in preweaning Chinese Erhualian (EHL) and Western Large White (LW) piglets. Total G...