Covering the bases: Population genomic structure of and the cryptic species in Switzerland.

Duckweeds, including the common duckweed , are increasingly used to test eco-evolutionary theories. Yet, despite its popularity and near-global distribution, the understanding of its population structure (and genetic variation therein) is still limited. It is essential that this is resolved, because of the impact genetic diversity has on experimental responses and scientific understanding.

Marasmius oreades agglutinin enhances resistance of Arabidopsis against plant-parasitic nematodes and a herbivorous insect.

Background: Plant-parasitic nematodes and herbivorous insects have a significant negative impact on global crop production. A successful approach to protect crops from these pests is the in planta expression of nematotoxic or entomotoxic proteins such as crystal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or plant lectins. However, the efficacy of this approach is threatened by emergence of resistance in nematode and insect populations to these proteins.

Expression of a Fungal Lectin in Arabidopsis Enhances Plant Growth and Resistance Toward Microbial Pathogens and a Plant-Parasitic Nematode.

lectin 2 (CCL2) is a fucoside-binding lectin from the basidiomycete that is toxic to the bacterivorous nematode as well as animal-parasitic and fungivorous nematodes. We expressed in Arabidopsis to assess its protective potential toward plant-parasitic nematodes. Our results demonstrate that expression of enhances host resistance against the cyst nematode .

Silica nanoparticles enhance disease resistance in Arabidopsis plants.

In plants, pathogen attack can induce an immune response known as systemic acquired resistance that protects against a broad spectrum of pathogens. In the search for safer agrochemicals, silica nanoparticles (SiO NPs; food additive E551) have recently been proposed as a new tool. However, initial results are controversial, and the molecular mechanisms of SiO NP-induced disease resistance are unknown.

S-methyl Methanethiosulfonate: Promising Late Blight Inhibitor or Broad Range Toxin?

(1) Background: S-methyl methanethiosulfonate (MMTS), a sulfur containing volatile organic compound produced by plants and bacterial species, has recently been described to be an efficient anti-oomycete agent with promising perspectives for the control of the devastating potato late blight disease caused by However, earlier work raised questions regarding the putative toxicity of this compound. To assess the suitability of MMTS for late blight control in the field, the present study thus aimed at evaluating the effect of MMTS on a wide range of non-target organisms in comparison to . (2) Methods: To this end, we exposed as well as different pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi, bacteria, the nematode as well as the plant to MMTS treatment and evaluated their response by means of in vitro assays.

Assessment of performance ability of three diagnostic methods for detection of Potato Leafroll virus (PLRV) using different visualizing systems.

To diminish the time required for some diagnostic assays including reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP; due to mainly RNA extraction step) and also DAS-ELISA into a minimum level, an innovative immunocapture RT-LAMP (IC-RT-LAMP) and immunocapture reverse transcription (IC/RT-PCR) protocol on the basis of Potato Leafroll virus (PLRV) genome were used and optimized. In this regard, all six IC-RT-LAMP primers (i.e.