Spray-Induced Gene Silencing (SIGS) as a Tool for the Management of Pine Pitch Canker Forest Disease.

Global change is exacerbating the prevalence of plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi in forests worldwide. The conventional use of chemical fungicides, which is commonplace in agricultural settings, is not sanctioned for application in forest ecosystems, so novel control strategies are imperative. Spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS) is a promising approach that can modulate the expression of target genes in eukaryotes in response to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) present in the environment that triggers the RNA interference mechanism.

New Insights on the Integrated Management of Plant Diseases by RNA Strategies: Mycoviruses and RNA Interference.

RNA-based strategies for plant disease management offer an attractive alternative to agrochemicals that negatively impact human and ecosystem health and lead to pathogen resistance. There has been recent interest in using mycoviruses for fungal disease control after it was discovered that some cause hypovirulence in fungal pathogens, which refers to a decline in the ability of a pathogen to cause disease. , the causal agent of chestnut blight, has set an ideal model of management through the release of hypovirulent strains.

Simultaneous Quantification of L-arginine and Monosaccharides during Fermentation: An Advanced Chromatography Approach.

Increasing demand for L-arginine by the food and pharmaceutical industries has sparked the search for sustainable ways of producing it. Microbial fermentation offers a suitable alternative; however, monitoring of arginine production and carbon source uptake during fermentation, requires simple and reliable quantitative methods compatible with the fermentation medium. Two methods for the simultaneous quantification of arginine and glucose or xylose are described here: high-performance anion-exchange chromatography coupled to integrated pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-IPAD) and reversed-phase ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography combined with charged aerosol detection (RP-UHPLC-CAD).

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for enhanced arginine biosynthesis.

Background: Arginine is a high-value product, especially for the pharmaceutical industry. Growing demand for environmental-friendly and traceable products have stressed the need for microbial production of this amino acid. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve arginine production in Escherichia coli by metabolic engineering and to establish a fermentation process in 1-L bioreactor scale to evaluate the different mutants.