Search results for "Agronomy"

First outbreak of Pepper vein yellows virus infecting sweet pepper in Italy

2016

Sweet pepper (Capsicum annum) is an economically important crop worldwide, including Sicily where about 4,000 hectares are grown each year. In October 2015, severe symptoms not previously reported by growers in the horticultural area of the province of Trapani (Sicily, Italy) were observed on sweet pepper plants in eight different greenhouses. Symptoms included upward leaf curling, internodal shortening and interveinal yellowing. Symptoms were more evident in the upper part of the plants. These symptoms were reminiscent of those caused by poleroviruses. In the greenhouse, symptoms were evident in about 35% of the plants. Three samples per greenhouse (24 in total) were collected for analysis.

Comprehending and improving cannabis specialized metabolism in the systems biology era

2020

Cannabis sativa is a source of food, fiber and specialized metabolites such as cannabinoids, with psychoactive and pharmacological effects. Due to its expanding and increasingly-accepted use in medicine, cannabis cultivation is acquiring more importance and less social stigma. Humans initiated different domestication episodes whose later spread gave rise to a plethora of landrace cultivars. At present, breeders cross germplasms from different gene pools depending on their specific use. The fiber (hemp) and drug (marijuana) types of C. sativa differ in their cannabinoid chemical composition phenotype (chemotype) and also in the accumulation of terpenoid compounds that constitute a strain’s p…

Extraction of lipids from wet microalga Auxenochlorella protothecoides using pulsed electric field treatment and ethanol-hexane blends

2017

Abstract Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) treatment was used as pre-treatment on the microalgae strain Auxenochlorella protothecoides (A.p.) prior to organic solvent extraction of lipids. Experiments were performed on fresh biomass from mixotrophic or autotrophic culture which both had an evaluated lipid content of 30–35% of cell dry weight. Lipid yield was determined gravimetrically and compared to the reference lipid content assessed by bead-milling and subsequent Soxhlet extraction. The biomass was concentrated at 10% w/w solids prior to PEF-treatment and further dewatered afterwards to approximately 25% w/w before extraction. PEF-treatment with an energy input of 1.5 MJ per kilogram of dry m…

Begomoviruses Infecting Tomato Crops in Panama

2015

The key regions in Panama involved in open field- and greenhouse-grown commercial tomato production, including the Chiriquí, Veraguas, Herrera, Los Santos, Coclé and Panama Oeste provinces, were surveyed for the incidence and distribution of begomoviruses in the growing seasons of 2011 and 2012. The surveys took place in 14 of the 51 districts of the above-mentioned provinces and comprised all relevant tomato production areas of the provinces. A total of 28 tomato plots were surveyed. The exact location of each plot was geo-referenced using a hand-held Global Positioning System unit. In total, 319 individual tomato plants (181 in 2011 and 138 in 2012) were sampled. Plants displayed diverse …

Take a Trip Through the Plant and Fungal Transportome of Mycorrhiza

2016

International audience; Soil nutrient acquisition and exchanges through symbiotic plant–fungus interactions in the rhizosphere are key features for the current agricultural and environmental challenges. Improved crop yield and plant mineral nutrition through a fungal symbiont has been widely described. In return, the host plant supplies carbon substrates to its fungal partner. We review here recent progress on molecular players of membrane transport involved in nutritional exchanges between mycorrhizal plants and fungi. We cover the transportome, from the transport proteins involved in sugar fluxes from plants towards fungi, to the uptake from the soil and exchange of nitrogen, phosphate, p…

Occurrence of the T36 Genotype of Citrus tristeza virus in Citrus Orchards in Sicily, Italy

2016

Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that different lineages representing mild and virulent Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) isolates have been present in Italy for a long time. The genetic structure of CTV population, based on p23 and p27 genes sequences, highlighted two main clusters referred to as T30 and VT-like, as confirmed by the full genomes sequences of two representative isolates SG29 (KC748392) and Bau282 (KC748391) (Licciardello et al. 2015). On the basis of risk analyses, regulatory measures have been outlined, including the recommendation to replace sour orange (C. aurantium) with tolerant rootstocks and to monitor the spread and the presence (if any) of different isolates not co…

First report of Diplodia fraxini causing dieback of Fraxinus angustifolia in Spain

2018

Tubercle disease (Xanthomonas beticola) and other gall-malformed diseases of sugar beet roots: a review

2016

The sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) is an important plant in agriculture and sugar industry, and it is widely cultivated in European countries. Getting proper raw material of sugar beets (roots) is a problem for agriculture. Some disease symptoms observed on sugar beet roots are atypical tumor-like deformations. The causative agent of these deformations is known in the old literature as Xanthomonas beticola. The disease’s name in Poland is “tuberkuloza” and in the USA it refers to a description of a pocket disease—therefore we may consider those diseases to be the same. The clear description of X. beticola disease can be found in many phytopathological manuals printed in the past and nowadays. S…

First report of tomato brown rugose fruit virus infecting sweet pepper in Italy

2020

In January 2020, about 85% of a red sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum) crop in a greenhouse located in Ragusa province (Sicily, Italy) showed virus-like symptoms. Symptoms consisted of a slight mosaic and discoloration of young leaves, vein clearing on young leaves, browning of the stem with strong necrosis located in the intersection of the secondary branches, partial necrosis of the vegetative apex and marbling, mosaic and distortion of the fruits (Fig. 1). It is important to note that in 2019 the same greenhouse was cultivated with tomato, which had been removed due to extensive infection caused by Tomato brown rugose fruit virus

Hop stunt viroid: A polyphagous pathogenic RNA that has shed light on viroid–host interactions

2021

[Taxonomy]: Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) is the type species of the genus Hostuviroid (family Pospiviroidae). The other species of this genus is Dahlia latent viroid, which presents an identical central conserved region (CCR) but lacks other structural hallmarks present in Hop stunt viroid. HSVd replication occurs in the nucleus through an asymmetric rolling-circle model as in the other members of the family Pospiviroidae, which also includes the genera Pospiviroid, Cocadviroid, Apscaviroid, and Coleoviroid.