Dispersal of harmful fruit fly pests by international trade and a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay to prevent their introduction.

Global trade of plant products represents one of the major driving forces for the spread of invasive insect pests. This visualization illustrates the problem of unintended dispersal of economically harmful fruit fly pests using geospatial maps based on interception data from the Swiss import control process. Furthermore, it reports the development of a molecular diagnostic assay for rapid identification of these pests at points of entry such as sea- and airports as a prevention measure.

A Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Assay for Rapid Identification of Bemisia tabaci.

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is an invasive pest of considerable importance, affecting the production of vegetable and ornamental crops in many countries around the world. Severe yield losses are caused by direct feeding, and even more importantly, also by the transmission of more than 100 harmful plant pathogenic viruses. As for other invasive pests, increased international trade facilitates the dispersal of B.

From laboratory to point of entry: development and implementation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based genetic identification system to prevent introduction of quarantine insect species.

Background: Rapid genetic on-site identification methods at points of entry, such as seaports and airports, have the potential to become important tools to prevent the introduction and spread of economically harmful pest species that are unintentionally transported by the global trade of plant commodities. This paper reports the development and evaluation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based identification system to prevent introduction of the three most frequently encountered regulated quarantine insect species groups at Swiss borders, Bemisia tabaci, Thrips palmi and several regulated fruit flies of the genera Bactrocera and Zeugodacus.

Results: The LAMP primers were designed to target a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene and were generated based on publicly available DNA sequences.

Comparison of prominent Azospirillum strains in Azospirillum-Pseudomonas-Glomus consortia for promotion of maize growth.

Azospirillum are prominent plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) extensively used as phytostimulatory crop inoculants, but only few studies are dealing with Azospirillum-containing mixed inocula involving more than two microorganisms. We compared here three prominent Azospirillum strains as part of three-component consortia including also the PGPR Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 and a mycorrhizal inoculant mix composed of three Glomus strains. Inoculant colonization of maize was assessed by quantitative PCR, transcription of auxin synthesis gene ipdC (involved in phytostimulation) in Azospirillum by RT-PCR, and effects on maize by secondary metabolic profiling and shoot biomass measurements.

Novel T-RFLP method to investigate six main groups of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol-producing pseudomonads in environmental samples.

Strains of fluorescent pseudomonads producing 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG) are involved in the protection of plant roots against soil-borne plant pathogens. Recently, a multilocus sequence analysis of a world wide collection of DAPG-producers led to the identification of six main groups (A-F). In this study a T-RFLP method based on the phlD gene was developed to efficiently identify the members of these six groups in environmental samples.

Quantification of Pseudomonas fluorescens strains F113, CHA0 and Pf153 in the rhizosphere of maize by strain-specific real-time PCR unaffected by the variability of DNA extraction efficiency.

Pseudomonas fluorescens strains F113 and CHA0 are well-known plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) often used as model strains in biocontrol experiments. To monitor their persistence in large scale field experiments, culture-independent methods are needed. In this study, a strain-specific real-time PCR quantification tool was developed based on sequence-characterized amplified regions (SCAR) for P.