Search results for "botany"
showing 10 items of 4586 documents
Importance of dispersal and thermal environment for mycorrhizal communities: lessons from Yellowstone National Park
2011
International audience; The relative importance of dispersal and niche restrictions remains a controversial topic in community ecology, especially for microorganisms that are often assumed to be ubiquitous. We investigated the impact of these factors for the community assembly of the root-symbiont arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) by sampling roots from geothermal and nonthermal grasslands in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), followed by sequencing and RFLP of AMF ribosomal DNA. With the exception of an apparent generalist RFLP type closely related to Glomus intraradices, a distance-based redundancy analysis indicated that the AMF community composition correlated with soil pH or pH-driven c…
Spatial Bayesian Modeling Applied to the Surveys of Xylella fastidiosa in Alicante (Spain) and Apulia (Italy)
2020
The plant-pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa was first reported in Europe in 2013, in the province of Lecce, Italy, where extensive areas were affected by the olive quick decline syndrome, caused by the subsp. pauca. In Alicante, Spain, almond leaf scorch, caused by X. fastidiosa subsp. multiplex, was detected in 2017. The effects of climatic and spatial factors on the geographic distribution of X. fastidiosa in these two infested regions in Europe were studied. The presence/absence data of X. fastidiosa in the official surveys were analyzed using Bayesian hierarchical models through the integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) methodology. Climatic covariates were obtained from …
A structural comparison of halloysite nanotubes of different origin by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) and Electric Birefringence
2018
The structure of halloysite nanotubes (Hal) from different mines was investigated by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) and Electric Birefringence (EBR) experiments. The analysis of the SANS curves allowed us to correlate the sizes and polydispersity and the specific surfaces (obtained by a Porod analysis of the SANS data) of the nanotubes with their specific geological setting. Contrast matching measurements were performed on patch Hal (from Western Australia) in order to determine their experimental scattering length density for a more precise analysis. Further characterization of the mesoscopic structure of Hal was carried out by Electric Birefringence (EBR), which allowed to study th…
Harvesting canthinones: identification of the optimal seasonal point of harvest of Zanthoxylum chiloperone leaves as a source of 5-methoxycanthin-6-o…
2015
This article is focused on the seasonal variation in the contents of 5-methoxycanthin-6-one from the leaves of Zanthoxylum chiloperone (Rutaceae). Based on the pharmacological interest presented by 5-methoxycanthin-6-one, its seasonal variation in Z. chiloperone leaves was analysed in order to determine the best time for harvesting, optimising the 5-methoxycanthin-6-one content. The seasonal dynamics of canthinone alkaloids can be the key to improve the isolation from natural sustainable sources, such as leaves. Complementarily, this study describes the phytochemistry of leaf from this Ruraceae species.
Comparative efficacy of Zataria multiflora Boiss., Origanum compactum and Eugenia caryophyllus essential oils against E. coli O157:H7, feline caliciv…
2013
Abstract Ready-to-eat salads using baby-leaf and multi-leaf mixes are one of the most promising developments in the fresh-cut food industry. There is great interest in developing novel decontamination treatments, which are both safe for consumers and more efficient against foodborne pathogens. In this study, emulsions of essential oils (EOs) from Origanum compactum (oregano), Eugenia caryophyllus (clove), and Zataria multiflora Boiss (zataria) were applied by spray (0.8 ml) after the sanitizing washing step. The aim was to investigate their ability to control the growth of potentially cross-contaminating pathogens and endogenous microbiota in commercial baby leaves, processed in a fresh-cut…
Application of an inexpensive and high-throughput genomic DNA extraction method for the molecular ecology of zooplanktonic diapausing eggs
2008
We describe the application of a simple, low-cost, and effective method of DNA extraction (hot sodium hydroxide and Tris, HotSHOT) to the diapausing propagules of continental aquatic invertebrates for its use in PCR amplification. We illustrate the use of the technique in cladocerans, rotifers, anostracans, notostracans, and copepod diapausing eggs. We compare the performance of the HotSHOT technique to the currently most widely used method for DNA extraction of zooplankton eggs and individuals, the chelating resin (or Chelex) technique. The HotSHOT technique overcomes several of the problems posed by Chelex and permits easy optimization for its use with 96-well plates for high-throughput D…
Roughness evaluation of vine leaf by image processing
2013
International audience; The study of leaf surface roughness is very important in the domain of precision spraying. It is one of the parameters that allow to reduce costs and losses of phytosanitary prod- ucts and to improve the spray accuracy. Moreover, the leaf roughness is related to adhesion mechanisms of liquid on a surface. It can be used to define leaf nature surface (hy- drophilic/hydrophobic). The main goal of this study is thus to estimate and to follow the evolution of leaf roughness using image processing and computer vision. The develop- ment and application of computer vision for measurement of surface leaf roughness using artificial neural networks will be described. The syste…
The presence of conifer resin decreases the use of the immune system in wood ants.
2008
5 pages; International audience; 1. Wood ants ( Formica paralugubris ) incorporate large amounts of solidified conifer resin into their nest, which reduces the density of many bacteria and fungi and protects the ants against some detrimental micro-organisms. By inducing an environment unfavourable to pathogens, the presence of resin may allow workers to reduce the use of their immune system. 2. The present study tested the hypothesis that the presence of resin decreases the immune activity of wood ants. Specifically, three components of the humoral immune defences of workers kept in resin-rich and resin-free experimental nests (antibacterial, lytic, and prophenoloxidase activities) were com…
Seasonal fluctuations and long-term persistence of pathogenic populations of Agrobacterium spp. in soils.
2002
ABSTRACT Short- and long-term persistence of pathogenic (i.e., tumor forming) agrobacteria in soil was investigated in six nursery plots with a history of high crown gall incidence. No pathogenic Agrobacterium strains were isolated in soil samples taken in fall and winter in any plots, but such strains were isolated from both bulk soils and weed rhizospheres (over 0.5 × 10 5 pathogenic CFU/g of bulk soil or rhizosphere) in three out of six plots in spring and summer. PCR amplifications of a vir sequence from DNA extracted from soil confirmed the presence of Ti plasmids in summer and their absence in fall and winter. The results indicate that strains that harbor a Ti plasmid had an unforesee…
Host plant cultivar of the grapevine moth Lobesia botrana affects the life history traits of an egg parasitoid.
2009
6 pages; International audience; The quality and susceptibility of insect eggs for egg parasitoids may be affected by the diet experienced by the females that produce the host eggs. We tested the hypothesis that the host plant fed upon by an herbivore during the larval stages will determine the quality of the eggs laid by the adult for an egg parasitoid. We used the tritrophic system comprising five grape cultivars, the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana and the parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens. Parasitoid performance in host eggs of different sizes and originating from five grape cultivars was determined. Overall, egg parasitism was higher on cultivars on which L. botrana laid larg…