TaqMan Quantitative PCR Detection of in Taiwan.

(Xt) is a nutritionally fastidious bacterial pathogen causing pear leaf scorch disease (PLSD) in Taiwan. The disease causes early defoliation, loss of tree vigor, and reduction in fruit yield and quality. No cure for PLSD is available.

Reconfiguring the online tool of SkinSensPred for predicting skin sensitization of pesticides.

Adverse outcome pathway (AOP)-based computational models provide state-of-the-art prediction for human skin sensitizers and are promising alternatives to animal testing. However, little is known about their applicability to pesticides due to scarce pesticide data for evaluation. Moreover, pesticides traditionally have been tested on animals without human data, making validation difficult.

Evaluation of the Antifungal Activities of and Its Secondary Metabolites against Phytopathogenic .

is a phytopathogenic fungus that causes devastating losses in strawberries without effective countermeasures. Members of the genus exhibit antimicrobial capability and have been found to have the potential for use as biocontrol agents against . species exhibit two phase variations with a differentiated composition of secondary metabolites designated to each phase.

Combined effect of Photorhabdus luminescens and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai on Plutella xylostella.

In this study, we evaluated a new biopesticide containing different combinations of Photorhabdus luminescens (ATCC 29,999; Pl) and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai (Bt) to leverage their insecticidal activity against Plutella xylostella. Mixtures containing proteins of various sizes were assayed to determine which combination of the two bacteria would yield the maximum insecticidal activity.

Genetic differentiation of following the introduction into Taiwan.

The economically important plant pathogen has been reported in multiple regions of the globe during the last two decades, threatening a growing list of plants. Particularly, subspecies causes Pierce's disease (PD) of grapevines, which is a problem in the USA, Spain, and Taiwan. In this work, we studied PD-causing subsp.

Evaluation of Streptomyces saraciticas as Soil Amendments for Controlling Soil-Borne Plant Pathogens.

Soil-borne diseases are the major problems in mono cropping. A mixture (designated LTM-m) composed of agricultural wastes and a beneficial microorganism Streptomyces saraceticus SS31 was used as soil amendments to evaluate its efficacy for managing Rhizoctonia solani and root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita). In vitro antagonistic assays revealed that SS31 spore suspensions and culture broths effectively suppressed the growth of R.

Host Acceptance and Plant Resistance: A Comparative Behavioral Study of and .

Aphids are prominent phloem-feeding insect pests. and are generalist and specialist species, respectively. In this study, these two aphid species were used to investigate host acceptance and plant resistance to aphid feeding.

Complete Genome Sequence of and Comparative Analysis of Virulence Gene Content With .

The bacterial genus contains plant pathogens that are major threats to agriculture in America and Europe. Although extensive research was conducted to characterize different subspecies of (), comparative analysis at above-species levels was lacking due to the unavailability of appropriate data sets. Recently, a bacterium that causes pear leaf scorch (PLS) in Taiwan was described as the second species (i.

Transmission mode of watermelon silver mottle virus by Thrips palmi.

Thrips and thrips-transmitted tospoviruses cause significant losses in crop yields worldwide. The melon thrips (Thrips palmi) is not only a pest of cucurbit crops, but also a vector that transmits tospoviruses, such as the watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV). Vector transmission of tospoviruses has been well studied in the tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV)-Frankliniella occidentalis model system; however, until now the transmission mode of WSMoV by T.

Identification of 16SrII-V Phytoplasma Associated with Mungbean Phyllody Disease in Taiwan.

Mungbean ( (L.) R. Wilczek), an important legume crop in Asia, is primarily cultivated in the central-southern region of western Taiwan.

Whole Genome Sequencing and Tn-Insertion Mutagenesis of CMS to Probe Its Antagonistic Activity Against Rice Bacterial Blight Disease.

The Gram-negative bacterium is a novel bacterium that uses shrimp shell waste as its sole sources of carbon and nitrogen. It is a versatile bacterium with potential for use in biological control, with activities including toxicity toward insects, fungi, and the rice pathogen pv (). In this study, the complete 5.

Lack of Acute Toxicity and Mutagenicity from Recombinant Piscidin Expressed in .

The antimicrobial peptide (AMP) piscidin was identified from and demonstrated to possess antimicrobial and immune-related functions. Supplementation of feed with recombinant piscidin (rEP)-expressing yeast pellets may minimize the excessive use of antibiotics and control pathogens in aquaculture or animal husbandry. However, before implementing rEP as a supplement, it is necessary to understand whether it harbors any toxicity.

Dietary Exposure to Oxidized Frying Oil from Fetus to Adulthood Suppresses Male Reproductive Development by Altering Testicular Cholesterol and Testosterone Homeostasis in Sprague Dawley Rats.

Background: Dietary frying oil may have endocrine-disrupting effects, as a feminization effect was observed in cohorts of C57BL/6J male mice fetuses from dams consuming oxidized frying oil (OFO) during pregnancy.

Objective: The aim of present study was to test the hypothesis that OFO is an anti-androgen.

Methods: In experiment 1, male progeny of Sprague Dawley female rats fed fresh oil or an OFO diet (10 g fat/100 g, from fresh or 24-h-fried soybean oil; [control diet (C) and OFO groups, respectively] from midgestation through lactation were studied.

Insecticidal Activity of Photorhabdus luminescens 0805-P2R Against Plutella xylostella.

Photorhabdus luminescens is an entomopathogenic rod-shaped bacterium infected with insect nematodes of the Heterorhabditidae family. It kills insects through the secretion of high molecular weight toxin complexes. In this study, Plutella xylostella larvae were orally administered P.

FaPEx® Multipesticide Residues Extraction Kit for Minimizing Sample Preparation Time in Agricultural Produce.

The quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method, generally applied to the determination of pesticide residues in food, has been recently modified and adopted for the analysis of pesticide residues worldwide, including Taiwan. The method still needs to be improved, particularly in efficiency and normalization, because the time costs 20-30 min for extraction and cleanup of multiple pesticides in every food. In this study, we present a highly efficient and simple sample preparation method that was developed for the determination of 380 pesticide residues in food, including mangoes, scallions, bok choy, apples, carrots, and pea seedlings.

Molecular Characterization and Detection of a Genetically Distinct Tomato Chlorosis Virus Strain in Taiwan.

The whitefly-transmitted tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) belonging to the genus Crinivirus (family Closteroviridae) affects tomato production worldwide. ToCV was first recorded in Taiwan in 1998 affecting tomato production. In this study, a local virus isolate XS was obtained, after serial whitefly transmissions from a diseased tomato plant displaying general chlorosis were collected in central Taiwan.

Is frying oil a dietary source of an endocrine disruptor? Anti-estrogenic effects of polar compounds from frying oil in rats.

The objective was to investigate endocrine-disrupting effects of polar compounds from oxidized frying oil. Estrogenicity of polar compounds was tested with a rat uterotrophic bioassay. Dietary oxidized frying oil (containing 51% polar compounds) or polar compounds isolated from it were incorporated into feed (in lieu of fresh soybean oil) and fed to ovariectomized rats, with or without treatment with exogenous ethynyl estradiol.

Synergistic effect of platelet-rich plasma injections and scalp lifting in androgenetic alopecia.

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common hair loss disorder, especially in men and the elderly. In this study, we analyzed the therapeutic effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections and embedded sutures in patients with AGA. In each participant, we administered different treatments in one area of hair loss that was divided into four sections.

Kinetic analysis on precursors for iturin A production from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BPD1.

In this study, the precursor effect for iturin A production was quantitatively analyzed. A strain identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BPD1 (Ba-BPD1) was selected due to its ability to produce iturin A. The enhancement of iturin A production in a submerged culture was tested using various additives, including palmitic acid, oils, and complex amino acids.

IFI44L is a novel tumor suppressor in human hepatocellular carcinoma affecting cancer stemness, metastasis, and drug resistance via regulating met/Src signaling pathway.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The disease recurrent rate is relatively high resulted in poor 5-year survival in advanced HCC. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been considered to be one of the main mechanisms for chemoresistance, metastasis, and recurrent disease.