Shifts in Ecological Dominance between Two Lepidopteran Species in Refuge Areas of Bt Cotton.

Competition behavior involving agricultural pest species has long been viewed as a powerful selective force that drives ecological and phenotypic diversity. In this context, a Game Theory-based approach may be useful to describe the decision-making dilemma of a competitor with impacts to guarantee its superiority in terms of ecological dominance or sharing of the food resource with its competitor. In an attempt to elucidate the consequences of competitive dynamics for the ecological dominance of these species in refuge areas of Bt cotton, we conducted a study that was divided into two parts.

Soybean anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum species: Current status and future prospects.

Unlabelled: Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important cultivated plants worldwide as a source of protein-rich foods and animal feeds. Anthracnose, caused by different lineages of the hemibiotrophic fungus Colletotrichum, is one of the main limiting factors to soybean production. Losses due to anthracnose have been neglected, but their impact may threaten up to 50% of the grain production.

Baseline Response, Monitoring, and Cross-Resistance of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to Sodium Channel Blocker Insecticides in Brazil.

Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is one of the key cross-crop pests in Brazilian agroecosystems.

Evaluation of ozone technology as an alternative for degradation of free gossypol in cottonseed meal: a prospective study.

Free gossypol is a toxic compound which naturally occurs in cottonseed and its derivates, affecting animal and possibly human health. Consequently, alternatives for gossypol destruction must be evaluated. This work evaluated the emerging technology of ozone processing for free gossypol destruction in cottonseed meal.

Chromosomal scale assembly of parasitic wasp genome reveals symbiotic virus colonization.

Endogenous viruses form an important proportion of eukaryote genomes and a source of novel functions. How large DNA viruses integrated into a genome evolve when they confer a benefit to their host, however, remains unknown. Bracoviruses are essential for the parasitism success of parasitoid wasps, into whose genomes they integrated ~103 million years ago.

Sulfadiazine dissipation as a function of soil bacterial diversity.

Antibiotic residues in the environment are concerning since results in dispersion of resistance genes. Their degradation is often closely related to microbial metabolism. However, the impacts of soil bacterial community on sulfadiazine (SDZ) dissipation remains unclear, mainly in tropical soils.

Combined Use of Vis-NIR and XRF Sensors for Tropical Soil Fertility Analysis: Assessing Different Data Fusion Approaches.

Visible and near infrared (vis-NIR) diffuse reflectance and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) sensors are promising proximal soil sensing (PSS) tools for predicting soil key fertility attributes. This work aimed at assessing the performance of the individual and combined use of vis-NIR and XRF sensors to predict clay, organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), pH, base saturation (V), and extractable (ex-) nutrients (ex-P, ex-K, ex-Ca, and ex-Mg) in Brazilian tropical soils. Individual models using the data of each sensor alone were calibrated using multiple linear regressions (MLR) for the XRF data, and partial least squares (PLS) regressions for the vis-NIR data.

Glyphosate hormesis mitigates the effect of water deficit in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.).

Background: The current climate change scenario may affect water availability in the soil, impacting the agricultural sector. Planting of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) has increased because of its potential for cultivation under drought conditions during the off-season in Brazil and its high potential for use in biofuel production.

Imidacloprid-mediated stress on non-Bt and Bt cotton, aphid and ladybug interaction: Approaches based on insect behaviour, fluorescence, dark respiration and plant electrophysiology.

Plants and insects are parts of a complex system that involves interactions among many trophic levels, and it is important to understand the nature of such interactions. In the complex of interactions involving aphids and transgenic cotton expressing Bacillus thuringiensis, both the spraying of neonicotinoids and the occurrence of predatory coccinellids are common. However, there are gaps regarding the knowledge about possible impacts of neonicotinoids on physiological variables of the host plant and behavioural traits of the aphid (Aphis gossypii) and predator (Cycloneda sanguinea).

Putative Epigenetic Biomarkers of Stress in Red Blood Cells of Chickens Reared Across Different Biomes.

Production animals are constantly subjected to early adverse environmental conditions that influence the adult phenotype and produce epigenetic effects. CpG dinucleotide methylation in red blood cells (RBC) could be a useful epigenetic biomarker to identify animals subjected to chronic stress in the production environment. Here we compared a reduced fraction of the RBC methylome of chickens exposed to social isolation to non-exposed.

Dual-process of starch modification: Combining ozone and dry heating treatments to modify cassava starch structure and functionality.

This work evaluated for the first time the effect of dual modification of cassava starch by using ozone (O) and dry heating treatment (DHT). The dual modification was capable to promote fissures on the surface of the starch granule (DHT + O), affected the starch amorphous domains, presented greater degree of starch oxidation (DHT + O) and different profiles of starch molecular size distribution. These modifications resulted in starches with different properties.

DNA methylation in canine brains is related to domestication and dog-breed formation.

Epigenetic factors such as DNA methylation act as mediators in the interaction between genome and environment. Variation in the epigenome can both affect phenotype and be inherited, and epigenetics has been suggested to be an important factor in the evolutionary process. During domestication, dogs have evolved an unprecedented between-breed variation in morphology and behavior in an evolutionary short period.

Pesticide selectivity to the parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum: A pattern 10-year database and its implications for Integrated Pest Management.

Trichogramma pretiosum is one of the main egg parasitoids used in the control of lepidopteran pests in Brazil. This natural enemy can be negatively affected by the use of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. The present work used a systematic review and meta-analysis to group information from multiple studies on the selectivity of pesticides (279 commercial products) in rice, corn, soybean, apple and peach crops for immature stages (egg-larva, pre-pupa, and pupa) and adult parasitoids.

Respiratory bioaccessibility and solid phase partitioning of potentially harmful elements in urban environmental matrices.

Studies regarding the role of geochemical processes in urban environmental matrices (UEM) and their influence on respiratory bioaccessibility in humans are scarce in humid tropical regions, especially in Brazil. Contaminated UEM are potentially hazardous to humans if particles <10 μm in diameter are inhaled and reach the tracheobronchial region. In this study, we evaluated samples collected in Brazilian UEMs with a large environmental liability left by former mining industries and in a city with strong industrial expansion.

Genome-wide association study reveals genes associated with the absence of intermuscular bones in tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum).

The presence of intermuscular bones in fisheries products limits the consumption and commercialization potential of many fish species, including tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum). These bones have caused medical emergencies and are an undesirable characteristic for fish farming because their removal is labor-intensive during fish processing. Despite the difficulty in identifying genes related to the lack of intermuscular bone in diverse species of fish, the discovery of individuals lacking intermuscular bones in a Neotropical freshwater characiform fish has provided a unique opportunity to delve into the genetic mechanisms underlying the pathways of intermuscular bone formation.

Phytoremediation of quinclorac and tebuthiuron-polluted soil by green manure plants.

Quinclorac and tebuthiuron are residual herbicides that may remain in the soil longer than for the cropping season. The objective of this research was to evaluate the use of green manure plants to remediate soils treated with quinclorac and tebuthiuron. Soils were separately treated with C-quinclorac and C-tebuthiuron at 266.

A single bacterial genus maintains root growth in a complex microbiome.

Plants grow within a complex web of species that interact with each other and with the plant. These interactions are governed by a wide repertoire of chemical signals, and the resulting chemical landscape of the rhizosphere can strongly affect root health and development. Here, to understand how interactions between microorganisms influence root growth in Arabidopsis, we established a model system for interactions between plants, microorganisms and the environment.

Combining ethanol pre-treatment and ultrasound-assisted drying to enhance apple chips by fortification with black carrot anthocyanin.

Background: An interesting approach to improve dried foods nutritional properties, functionality, and sensorial attributes, is by taking advantage of pre-treatments for incorporating components into the food matrix. Based on this, this work studied the incorporation of black carrot anthocyanins in apple tissue by using ethanol (concentrations 0-300 mL L ) as a pre-treatment to ultrasound-assisted convective drying. Samples were pre-treated in acidified ethanol solutions, with and without anthocyanins, and then dried (50 °C, 1 m s ) by convective and ultrasound-assisted convective (21.

The specific enthalpy of air as an indicator of heat stress in livestock animals.

Along with recognition of environmental effects on the performance and welfare of livestock animals, studies have been proposing new methodologies and parameters to diagnose the heat stress of animals through the physical properties of air. This article aims to present the state-of-the-art on the use of the specific enthalpy of air as an indicator of heat stress in livestock animals. As a starting point, conceptual considerations were made about the connection between homoeothermic animals and the environment.

Performance of Seed Treatments Applied on Bt and Non-Bt Maize Against Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), is the main pest of maize in Brazil, attacking plants from emergence to reproductive stages.

Enhancing carrot convective drying by combining ethanol and ultrasound as pre-treatments: Effect on product structure, quality, energy consumption, drying and rehydration kinetics.

Ultrasound was combined with ethanol to improve different aspects of carrot convective drying, evaluating both processing and product quality. The ultrasound in water treatment resulted in cellular swelling and small impact on texture. Differently, the ultrasound in ethanol and ethanol treatments modified both carrot microstructure (cell wall modifications of parenchymatic tissue) and macrostructure (shrinkage and resistance to perforation).

When does stratification of a subtropical soil spectral library improve predictions of soil organic carbon content?

More accurate models for the prediction of soil organic carbon (SOC) by visible-near-infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy remains a challenging task, especially when the soil spectral libraries (SSL) is composed of soils with a high pedological variation. One proposition to increase the models accuracy is to reduce the SSL variance, which can be achieved by stratifying the library into sub-libraries. Thus, the main objective of this study was to evaluate whether the stratification of a SSL by environmental, pedological and Vis-NIR spectral criteria results in greater accuracy of spectroscopic models than to general models for prediction of SOC content.

The molecular insights into protein adsorption on hematite surface disclosed by in-situ ATR-FTIR/2D-COS study.

Proteins are of ubiquitous interest in the Life Sciences but are of interest in the Geosciences as well because of the significant role these compounds play in the biogeochemical cycling of trace and nutrient elements. Structural changes resulting from the adsorption of proteins onto mineral surfaces may alter protein biological function and other environmental interactions. Iron oxides are major sinks of a range of environmental elements including organic compounds.

The natural recovery of soil microbial community and nitrogen functions after pasture abandonment in the Amazon region.

We assessed the impacts of forest-to-pasture conversion on the dynamic of soil microbial communities, especially those involved in the N-cycle, and their potential functions, using DNA-metagenomic sequencing coupled with the quantification of marker genes for N-cycling. We also evaluated whether the community's dynamic was reestablished with secondary forest growth. In general, the microbial community structure was influenced by changes in soil chemical properties.

DNA methylation variation in the brain of laying hens in relation to differential behavioral patterns.

Domesticated animals are unique to investigate the contribution of genetic and non-genetic factors to specific phenotypes. Among non-genetic factors involved in phenotype formation are epigenetic mechanisms. Here we aimed to identify whether relative DNA methylation differences in the nidopallium between groups of individuals are among the non-genetic factors involved in the emergence of differential behavioral patterns in hens.