Biosynthesis and emission of insect-induced methyl salicylate and methyl benzoate from rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Nan; Guan, Ju; Ferrer, Jean-Luc; Engle, Nancy; Chern, Mawsheng; Ronald, Pamela; Tschaplinski, Timothy J; Chen, Feng

2010-04-01

Two benzenoid esters, methyl salicylate (MeSA) and methyl benzoate (MeBA), were detected from insect-damaged rice plants. By correlating metabolite production with gene expression analysis, five candidate genes encoding putative carboxyl methyltransferases were identified. Enzymatic assays with Escherichia coli-expressed recombinant proteins demonstrated that only one of the five candidates, OsBSMT1, has salicylic acid (SA) methyltransferase (SAMT) and benzoic acid (BA) methyltransferase (BAMT) activities for producing MeSA and MeBA, respectively. Whereas OsBSMT1 is phylogenetically relatively distant from dicot SAMTs, the three-dimensional structure of OsBSMT1, which was determined using homology-based structural modeling, is highly similar to those of characterized SAMTs. Analyses of OsBSMT1 expression in wild-type rice plants under various stress conditions indicate that the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway plays a critical role in regulating the production and emission of MeSA in rice. Further analysis using transgenic rice plants overexpressing NH1, a key component of the SA signaling pathway in rice, suggests that the SA signaling pathway also plays an important role in governing OsBSMT1 expression and emission of its products, probably through a crosstalk with the JA signaling pathway. The role of the volatile products of OsBSMT1, MeSA and MeBA, in rice defense against insect herbivory is discussed. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Wolbachia infection complexity among insects in the tropical rice-field community.

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Kittayapong, P; Jamnongluk, W; Thipaksorn, A; Milne, J R; Sindhusake, C

2003-04-01

Wolbachia are a group of intracellular bacteria that cause reproductive alterations in their arthropod hosts. Widely discordant host and Wolbachia phylogenies indicate that horizontal transmission of these bacteria among species sometimes occurs. A likely means of horizontal transfer is through the feeding relations of organisms within communities. Feeding interactions among insects within the rice-field insect community have been well documented in the past. Here, we present the results of a polymerase chain reaction-based survey and phylogenetic analysis of Wolbachia strains in the rice-field insect community of Thailand. Our field survey indicated that 49 of 209 (23.4%) rice-field insect species were infected with Wolbachia. Of the 49 infected species, 27 were members of two feeding complexes: (i) a group of 13 hoppers preyed on by 2 mirid species and parasitized by a fly species, and (ii) 2 lepidopteran pests parasitized by 9 wasp species. Wolbachia strains found in three hoppers, Recilia dorsalis, Nephotettix malayanus and Nisia nervosa, the two mirid predators, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis and Tytthus chinensis, and the fly parasitoid, Tomosvaryella subvirescens, were all in the same Wolbachia clade. In the second complex, the two lepidopteran pests, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis and Scirpophaga incertulas, were both infected with Wolbachia from the same clade, as was the parasitoid Tropobracon schoenobii. However, none of the other infected parasitoid species in this feeding complex was infected by Wolbachia from this clade. Mean (+/- SD) genetic distance of Wolbachia wsp sequences among interacting species pairs of the hopper feeding complex (0.118 +/- 0.091 nucleotide sequence differences), but not for the other two complexes, was significantly smaller than that between noninteracting species pairs (0.162 +/- 0.079 nucleotide sequence differences). Our results suggest that some feeding complexes, such as the hopper complex described here, could be an important

Impact Of Different Time Planting In Soybeans And Neem Seed Extract Application To Insect Population On Rice Field

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Tamrin Abdullah

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract The purpose of research is to study impact of different time planting of soybean and neem seed extract application to pest insect population on rice field. The research was used Random Block Design in three treatment of insecticides application i.e neem seed extract together with rice planting neem seed extract on soybean 17 days after rice planting synthetic insecticides on 17 days after rice planting Delthametrin on soybean and Chlorpirifos on rice respectively. Research was conducted in rice fields with irrigation channels. The land area is 0.8 hectares with extensive experiments each rice terraces approximately 900 m2 with separate by rice terraces for every treatment. Each treatment consisted of three groups and using nine rice terraces. Samples of the rice plant population is 25 plants per sample unit. The results was showed treatment by neem seed extract with different time planting of soybeans able to reduce number of pest insects populations such as N. virescens 80.38 N. lugens 67.17 S. incertulas 66.5 and L. oratorius 93.46 when compared to treatment with synthetic insecticides Delthamethrin and Chlorpyrifos.

Expression of hybrid fusion protein (Cry1Ac::ASAL) in transgenic rice plants imparts resistance against multiple insect pests.

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Boddupally, Dayakar; Tamirisa, Srinath; Gundra, Sivakrishna Rao; Vudem, Dashavantha Reddy; Khareedu, Venkateswara Rao

2018-05-31

To evolve rice varieties resistant to different groups of insect pests a fusion gene, comprising DI and DII domains of Bt Cry1Ac and carbohydrate binding domain of garlic lectin (ASAL), was constructed. Transgenic rice lines were generated and evaluated to assess the efficacy of Cry1Ac::ASAL fusion protein against three major pests, viz., yellow stem borer (YSB), leaf folder (LF) and brown planthopper (BPH). Molecular analyses of transgenic plants revealed stable integration and expression of the fusion gene. In planta insect bioassays on transgenics disclosed enhanced levels of resistance compared to the control plants. High insect mortality of YSB, LF and BPH was observed on transgenics compared to that of control plants. Furthermore, honeydew assays revealed significant decreases in the feeding ability of BPH on transgenic plants as compared to the controls. Ligand blot analysis, using BPH insects fed on cry1Ac::asal transgenic rice plants, revealed a modified receptor protein-binding pattern owing to its ability to bind to additional receptors in insects. The overall results authenticate that Cry1Ac::ASAL protein is endowed with remarkable entomotoxic effects against major lepidopteran and hemipteran insects. As such, the fusion gene appears promising and can be introduced into various other crops to control multiple insect pests.

Transmission Biology of Rice Stripe Mosaic Virus by an Efficient Insect Vector Recilia dorsalis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae

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Xin Yang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Rice stripe mosaic virus (RSMV is a newly discovered species of cytorhabdovirus infecting rice plants that is transmitted by the leafhopper Recilia dorsalis. In this study, the transmission characteristics of RSMV by R. dorsalis were investigated. Under suitable growth conditions for R. dorsalis, the RSMV acquisition rate reached 71.9% in the second-generation population raised on RSMV-infected rice plants. The minimum acquisition and inoculation access periods of R. dorsalis were 3 and 30 min, respectively. The minimum and maximum latent transmission periods of RSMV in R. dorsalis were 6 and 18 d, respectively, and some R. dorsalis intermittently transmitted RSMV at 2–6 d intervals. Our findings revealed that the virus can replicate in the leafhopper body, but is likely not transovarially transmitted to offspring. These transmission characteristics will help guide the formulation of RSMV prevention and control strategies.

Impact Of Different Time Planting In Soybeans And Neem Seed Extract Application To Insect Population On Rice Field

OpenAIRE

Tamrin Abdullah; Ahdin Gassa; Sri Nur Aminah Ngatimin; Nurariaty Agus And Abdul Fattah

2015-01-01

Abstract The purpose of research is to study impact of different time planting of soybean and neem seed extract application to pest insect population on rice field. The research was used Random Block Design in three treatment of insecticides application i.e neem seed extract together with rice planting neem seed extract on soybean 17 days after rice planting synthetic insecticides on 17 days after rice planting Delthametrin on soybean and Chlorpirifos on rice respectively. Research was conduc...

Impact Of Different Time Planting In Soybeans And Neem Seed Extract Application To Insect Population On Rice Field

OpenAIRE

Abdullah, Tamrin; Gassa, Ahdin; Ngatimin, Sri Nur Aminah; Agus, Nurariaty; Fattah, Abdul

2015-01-01

The purpose of research is to study impact of different time planting of soybean and neem seed extract application to pest insect population on rice field. The research was used Random Block Design in three treatment of insecticides application i.e: neem seed extract together with rice planting, neem seed extract on soybean 17 days after rice planting, synthetic insecticides on 17 days after rice planting (Delthametrin on soybean and Chlorpirifos on rice), respectively. Research was conducted...

The overexpression of insect endogenous small RNAs in transgenic rice inhibits growth and delays pupation of striped stem borer (Chilo suppressalis).

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Jiang, Shan; Wu, Hao; Liu, Haoju; Zheng, Jie; Lin, Yongjun; Chen, Hao

2017-07-01

The striped stem borer (SSB), Chilo suppressalis Walker, is a major rice insect pest worldwide. RNA interference (RNAi) has become a promising strategy for developing insect-resistant crops. In a previous study, five double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) targeting important SSB housekeeping genes were overexpressed in rice, but none of the acquired dsRNA-transgenic rice plants showed significant effects on SSB. Thirteen selected SSB endogenous small RNAs, predicted as SSB novel microRNAs (miRNAs), were overexpressed in rice using artificial miRNA (amiRNA) expression technology. Feeding tests showed that two out of 13 selected SSB novel miRNAs caused significant growth inhibition for feeding SSB larvae based on transgenic rice expression. Pupation was delayed 4 days when SSB larvae consecutively fed on transgenic rice expressing the SSB novel miRNA candidate csu-novel-miR15 (csu-15 rice). Gene expression analysis confirmed that the expression levels of at least six SSB unigenes significantly changed (i.e., were up- or down-regulated) after feeding on csu-15 rice. Our research demonstrated a novel RNAi strategy using SSB endogenous small RNAs to develop RNAi crops for pest management; this strategy is different from the common RNAi resulting from transgenic dsRNAs or amiRNAs targeting certain insect endogenous genes. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Insect remote sensing using a polarization sensitive cw lidar system in chinese rice fields

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Zhu, Shiming; Malmqvist, Elin; Li, Yiyun; Jansson, Samuel; Li, Wansha; Duan, Zheng; Fu, Wei; Svanberg, Katarina; Bood, Joakim; Feng, Hongqiang; Åkesson, Susanne; Song, Ziwei; Zhang, Baoxin; Zhao, Guangyu; Li, Dunsong; Brydegaard, Mikkel; Svanberg, Sune

2018-04-01

A joint Chinese-Swedish field campaign of Scheimpflug continuous-wave lidar monitoring of rice-field flying pest insects was pursued in very hot July weather conditions close to Guangzhou, China. The occurrence of insects, birds and bats with almost 200 hours of round-the-clock polarization-sensitive recordings was studied. Wing-beat frequency recordings and depolarization properties were used for target classification. Influence of weather conditions on the flying fauna was also investigated.

Laboratory Screening for Resistance in Rice to Rice Stem Borer Chilo Suppressalis Walker

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singgih Sutrisno

2004-01-01

Rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis Walker is one of the major insect pests in rice in Indonesia. The use of insect pest resistant variety of rice is one of the effective techniques against pests. Breeding of resistance to insect pests rice crops often faced difficulties in obtaining a lot of insect amounts due to the unavailability of enough number insects pests in the field so that a laboratory bioassay is needed. In this experiments five rice varieties were used: a Pelita I/1, Atomita I, Cisadane, Cisanggarung, and IR 36. Rice seedling 7 days of age were put in 1 liter plastic vials for rice resistance test against the attack of insect pest C. suppressalis. The parameters observed were larval and pupal viability, pupal weight, and eggs production. The larval and pupal viability which were reared on of Pelita I/1 and Atomita I rice seedlings were 68.5 % - 55.5 % and 57.3 % - 46.7 % respectively. The respective lowest percentages were found in IR 36 which was about 41.3 % - 29.8 % .The experiment results on the parameters of pupal weight and egg production showed similar results to that on the parameters of larval and pupal viability. Rice variety of IR 36 showed more resistance to the other varieties, while Pelita I/1 and Atomita I showed the most susceptible to the attack of insect pest C. suppressalis. (author)

Comparative ecotoxicity of imidacloprid and dinotefuran to aquatic insects in rice mesocosms.

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Kobashi, Koji; Harada, Takaaki; Adachi, Yoshihiro; Mori, Miho; Ihara, Makoto; Hayasaka, Daisuke

2017-04-01

There are growing concerns about the impacts of neonicotinoid insecticides on ecosystems worldwide, and yet ecotoxicity of many of these chemicals at community or ecosystem levels have not been evaluated under realistic conditions. In this study, effects of two neonicotinoid insecticides, imidacloprid and dinotefuran, on aquatic insect assemblages were evaluated in experimental rice mesocosms. During the 5-month period of the rice-growing season, residual concentrations of imidacloprid were 5-10 times higher than those of dinotefuran in both soil and water. Imidacloprid treatment (10kg/ha) reduced significantly the populations of, Crocothemis servilia mariannae and Lyriothemis pachygastra nymphs, whereas those of Orthetrum albistylum speciosum increased slightly throughout the experimental period. However, Notonecta triguttata, which numbers were high from the start, later declined, indicating possible delayed chronic toxicity, while Guignotus japonicus disappeared. In contrast, dinotefuran (10kg/ha) did not decrease the populations of any species, but rather increased the abundance of some insects, particularly Chironominae spp. larvae and C. servilia mariannae nymphs, with the latter being 1.7x higher than those of controls. This was an indirect effect resulting from increased prey (e.g., chironomid larvae) and lack of competition with other dragonfly species. The susceptibilities of dragonfly nymphs to neonicotinoids, particularly imidacloprid, were consistent with those reported elsewhere. In general, imidacloprid had higher impacts on aquatic insects compared to dinotefuran. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Insect remote sensing using a polarization sensitive cw lidar system in chinese rice fields

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Zhu Shiming

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A joint Chinese-Swedish field campaign of Scheimpflug continuous-wave lidar monitoring of rice-field flying pest insects was pursued in very hot July weather conditions close to Guangzhou, China. The occurrence of insects, birds and bats with almost 200 hours of round-the-clock polarization-sensitive recordings was studied. Wing-beat frequency recordings and depolarization properties were used for target classification. Influence of weather conditions on the flying fauna was also investigated.

Vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses are found across three insect families and have dynamic interactions with their hosts.

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Longdon, Ben; Day, Jonathan P; Schulz, Nora; Leftwich, Philip T; de Jong, Maaike A; Breuker, Casper J; Gibbs, Melanie; Obbard, Darren J; Wilfert, Lena; Smith, Sophia C L; McGonigle, John E; Houslay, Thomas M; Wright, Lucy I; Livraghi, Luca; Evans, Luke C; Friend, Lucy A; Chapman, Tracey; Vontas, John; Kambouraki, Natasa; Jiggins, Francis M

2017-01-25

A small number of free-living viruses have been found to be obligately vertically transmitted, but it remains uncertain how widespread vertically transmitted viruses are and how quickly they can spread through host populations. Recent metagenomic studies have found several insects to be infected with sigma viruses (Rhabdoviridae). Here, we report that sigma viruses that infect Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata), Drosophila immigrans, and speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) are all vertically transmitted. We find patterns of vertical transmission that are consistent with those seen in Drosophila sigma viruses, with high rates of maternal transmission, and lower rates of paternal transmission. This mode of transmission allows them to spread rapidly in populations, and using viral sequence data we found the viruses in D. immigrans and C. capitata had both recently swept through host populations. The viruses were common in nature, with mean prevalences of 12% in C. capitata, 38% in D. immigrans and 74% in P. aegeria We conclude that vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses may be widespread in a broad range of insect taxa, and that these viruses can have dynamic interactions with their hosts. © 2017 The Authors.

Vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses are found across three insect families and have dynamic interactions with their hosts

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Jonathan P.; Schulz, Nora; Leftwich, Philip T.; de Jong, Maaike A.; Wilfert, Lena; Smith, Sophia C. L.; McGonigle, John E.; Houslay, Thomas M.; Livraghi, Luca; Evans, Luke C.; Friend, Lucy A.; Vontas, John; Kambouraki, Natasa

2017-01-01

A small number of free-living viruses have been found to be obligately vertically transmitted, but it remains uncertain how widespread vertically transmitted viruses are and how quickly they can spread through host populations. Recent metagenomic studies have found several insects to be infected with sigma viruses (Rhabdoviridae). Here, we report that sigma viruses that infect Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata), Drosophila immigrans, and speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) are all vertically transmitted. We find patterns of vertical transmission that are consistent with those seen in Drosophila sigma viruses, with high rates of maternal transmission, and lower rates of paternal transmission. This mode of transmission allows them to spread rapidly in populations, and using viral sequence data we found the viruses in D. immigrans and C. capitata had both recently swept through host populations. The viruses were common in nature, with mean prevalences of 12% in C. capitata, 38% in D. immigrans and 74% in P. aegeria. We conclude that vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses may be widespread in a broad range of insect taxa, and that these viruses can have dynamic interactions with their hosts. PMID:28100819

Insect symbiotic bacteria harbour viral pathogens for transovarial transmission.

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Jia, Dongsheng; Mao, Qianzhuo; Chen, Yong; Liu, Yuyan; Chen, Qian; Wu, Wei; Zhang, Xiaofeng; Chen, Hongyan; Li, Yi; Wei, Taiyun

2017-03-06

Many insects, including mosquitoes, planthoppers, aphids and leafhoppers, are the hosts of bacterial symbionts and the vectors for transmitting viral pathogens 1-3 . In general, symbiotic bacteria can indirectly affect viral transmission by enhancing immunity and resistance to viruses in insects 3-5 . Whether symbiotic bacteria can directly interact with the virus and mediate its transmission has been unknown. Here, we show that an insect symbiotic bacterium directly harbours a viral pathogen and mediates its transovarial transmission to offspring. We observe rice dwarf virus (a plant reovirus) binding to the envelopes of the bacterium Sulcia, a common obligate symbiont of leafhoppers 6-8 , allowing the virus to exploit the ancient oocyte entry path of Sulcia in rice leafhopper vectors. Such virus-bacterium binding is mediated by the specific interaction of the viral capsid protein and the Sulcia outer membrane protein. Treatment with antibiotics or antibodies against Sulcia outer membrane protein interferes with this interaction and strongly prevents viral transmission to insect offspring. This newly discovered virus-bacterium interaction represents the first evidence that a viral pathogen can directly exploit a symbiotic bacterium for its transmission. We believe that such a model of virus-bacterium communication is a common phenomenon in nature.

Small Interfering RNA Pathway Modulates Initial Viral Infection in Midgut Epithelium of Insect after Ingestion of Virus.

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Lan, Hanhong; Chen, Hongyan; Liu, Yuyan; Jiang, Chaoyang; Mao, Qianzhuo; Jia, Dongsheng; Chen, Qian; Wei, Taiyun

2016-01-15

Numerous viruses are transmitted in a persistent manner by insect vectors. Persistent viruses establish their initial infection in the midgut epithelium, from where they disseminate to the midgut visceral muscles. Although propagation of viruses in insect vectors can be controlled by the small interfering RNA (siRNA) antiviral pathway, whether the siRNA pathway can control viral dissemination from the midgut epithelium is unknown. Infection by a rice virus (Southern rice black streaked dwarf virus [SRBSDV]) of its incompetent vector (the small brown planthopper [SBPH]) is restricted to the midgut epithelium. Here, we show that the siRNA pathway is triggered by SRBSDV infection in continuously cultured cells derived from the SBPH and in the midgut of the intact insect. Knockdown of the expression of the core component Dicer-2 of the siRNA pathway by RNA interference strongly increased the ability of SRBSDV to propagate in continuously cultured SBPH cells and in the midgut epithelium, allowing viral titers in the midgut epithelium to reach the threshold (1.99 × 10(9) copies of the SRBSDV P10 gene/μg of midgut RNA) needed for viral dissemination into the SBPH midgut muscles. Our results thus represent the first elucidation of the threshold for viral dissemination from the insect midgut epithelium. Silencing of Dicer-2 further facilitated the transmission of SRBSDV into rice plants by SBPHs. Taken together, our results reveal the new finding that the siRNA pathway can control the initial infection of the insect midgut epithelium by a virus, which finally affects the competence of the virus's vector. Many viral pathogens that cause significant global health and agricultural problems are transmitted via insect vectors. The first bottleneck in viral infection, the midgut epithelium, is a principal determinant of the ability of an insect species to transmit a virus. Southern rice black streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) is restricted exclusively to the midgut epithelium of an

[Effects of insecticides on insect pest-natural enemy community in early rice fields].

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Junqi; Miao, Yong; Zou, Yunding; Li, Guiting

2006-05-01

This paper studied the effects of triazophos, shachongshuang, abamectin, and Bt + imidacloprid on the insect pest-natural enemy community in early rice fields in the Yangtze-Huaihe region of Anhui Province. The results showed that all of the test insecticides had significant effects in controlling the growth of major insect pest populations. The average value of insect pest-natural enemy community diversity under effects of triazophos, shachongshuang, abamectin, and Bt + imidacloprid was 1.545, 1.562, 1.691 and 1.915, respectively, while that in control plot was 1.897. After two weeks of applying insecticides, the plots applied with shachongshuang and abamectin had a similar composition of insect pest-natural enemy community, but the community composition was significantly different between the plots applied with triazophos and Bt + imidacloprid. From the viewpoints of community stability and pest control, Bt + imidacloprid had the best effect, and shachongshuang and abamectin were better than triazophos.

Characterization of rice black-streaked dwarf virus- and rice stripe virus-derived siRNAs in singly and doubly infected insect vector Laodelphax striatellus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junmin Li

Full Text Available Replication of RNA viruses in insect cells triggers an antiviral defense that is mediated by RNA interference (RNAi which generates viral-derived small interfering RNAs (siRNAs. However, it is not known whether an antiviral RNAi response is also induced in insects by reoviruses, whose double-stranded RNA genome replication is thought to occur within core particles. Deep sequencing of small RNAs showed that when the small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus was infected by Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV (Reoviridae; Fijivirus, more viral-derived siRNAs accumulated than when the vector insect was infected by Rice stripe virus (RSV, a negative single-stranded RNA virus. RBSDV siRNAs were predominantly 21 and 22 nucleotides long and there were almost equal numbers of positive and negative sense. RBSDV siRNAs were frequently generated from hotspots in the 5'- and 3'-terminal regions of viral genome segments but these hotspots were not associated with any predicted RNA secondary structures. Under laboratory condition, L. striatellus can be infected simultaneously with RBSDV and RSV. Double infection enhanced the accumulation of particular genome segments but not viral coat protein of RBSDV and correlated with an increase in the abundance of siRNAs derived from RBSDV. The results of this study suggest that reovirus replication in its insect vector potentially induces an RNAi-mediated antiviral response.

Phloem-exudate proteome analysis of response to insect brown plant-hopper in rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Ba; Wei, Zhe; Wang, Zhanqi; Wang, Xiaoxiao; Peng, Xinxin; Du, Bo; Chen, Rongzhi; Zhu, Lili; He, Guangcun

2015-07-01

Brown plant-hopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål, BPH), one of the most devastating agricultural insect pests of rice throughout Asia, ingests nutrients from rice sieve tubes and causes a dramatic yield loss. Planting resistant variety is an efficient and economical way to control this pest. Understanding the mechanisms of host resistance is extremely valuable for molecular design of resistant rice variety. Here, we used an iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomics approach to perform analysis of protein expression profiles in the phloem exudates of BPH-resistant and susceptible rice plants following BPH infestation. A total of 238 proteins were identified, most of which were previously described to be present in the phloem of rice and other plants. The expression of genes for selected proteins was confirmed using a laser capture micro-dissection method and RT-PCR. The mRNAs for three proteins, RGAP, TCTP, and TRXH, were further analyzed by using in situ mRNA hybridization and localized in the phloem cells. Our results showed that BPH feeding induced significant changes in the abundance of proteins in phloem sap of rice involved in multiple pathways, including defense signal transduction, redox regulation, and carbohydrate and protein metabolism, as well as cell structural proteins. The results presented provide new insights into rice resistance mechanisms and should facilitate the breeding of novel elite BPH-resistant rice varieties. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Mosquitoes and other aquatic insects in fallow field biotopes and rice paddy fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohba, S Y; Matsuo, T; Takagi, M

2013-03-01

Fallow field biotopes that develop from abandoned rice fields are man-made wetlands that provide new habitats for various aquatic animals. Although consideration of such biotopes generally focuses on their positive aspects, this study evaluated the negative aspects of establishing fallow field biotopes with regard to mosquito breeding sites. To determine whether fallow field biotopes become breeding habitats for vector mosquitoes, we evaluated mosquito fauna in fallow field biotopes and adjacent rice fields. We found larvae of Anopheles lesteri, Anopheles sinensis and Culex tritaeniorhynchus (all: Diptera: Culicidae) in the biotopes. Although abundances of mosquito larvae in the biotopes and rice fields were statistically similar, mosquito abundances in rice fields increased dramatically in August when the water level reduced after the rainy season. The abundance and variety of the mosquitoes' natural predators were greater in biotopes than in rice fields because the former are a permanent and stable aquatic environment. A generalized linear mixed model showed a negative effect of predator diversity on mosquito larvae abundance in both habitats. Although fallow field biotopes become breeding habitats for vector mosquitoes, establishing biotopes from fallow fields in order to protect various aquatic animals, including mosquito insect predators, may help to control mosquito breeding. © 2012 The Royal Entomological Society.

Transgenic strategies to confer resistance against viruses in rice plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takahide eSasaya

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Rice (Oryza sativa L. is cultivated in more than 100 countries and supports nearly half of the world’s population. Developing efficient methods to control rice viruses is thus an urgent necessity because viruses cause serious losses in rice yield. Most rice viruses are transmitted by insect vectors, notably planthoppers and leafhoppers. Viruliferous insect vectors can disperse their viruses over relatively long distances, and eradication of the viruses is very difficult once they become widespread. Exploitation of natural genetic sources of resistance is one of the most effective approaches to protect crops from virus infection; however, only a few naturally occurring rice genes confer resistance against rice viruses. In an effort to improve control, many investigators are using genetic engineering of rice plants as a potential strategy to control viral diseases. Using viral genes to confer pathogen-derived resistance against crops is a well-established procedure, and the expression of various viral gene products has proved to be effective in preventing or reducing infection by various plant viruses since the 1990s. RNA-interference (RNAi, also known as RNA silencing, is one of the most efficient methods to confer resistance against plant viruses on their respective crops. In this article, we review the recent progress, mainly conducted by our research group, in transgenic strategies to confer resistance against tenuiviruses and reoviruses in rice plants. Our findings also illustrate that not all RNAi constructs against viral RNAs are equally effective in preventing virus infection and that it is important to identify the viral Achilles’ heel gene to target for RNAi attack when engineering plants.

Effect of Nitrogen Fertilizer on Herbivores and Its Stimulation to Major Insect Pests in Rice

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Zhong-xian LU

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Nitrogen is one of the most important factors in development of herbivore populations. The application of nitrogen fertilizer in plants can normally increase herbivore feeding preference, food consumption, survival, growth, reproduction, and population density, except few examples that nitrogen fertilizer reduces the herbivore performances. In most of the rice growing areas in Asia, the great increases in populations of major insect pests of rice, including planthoppers (Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera, leaffolder (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, and stem borers (Scirpophaga incertulas, Chilo suppressalis, S. innotata, C. polychrysus and Sesamia inferens were closely related to the long-term excessive application of nitrogen fertilizers. The optimal regime of nitrogen fertilizer in irrigated paddy fields is proposed to improve the fertilizer-nitrogen use efficiency and reduce the environmental pollution.

Plant rhabdoviruses: new insights and research needs in the interplay of negative-strand RNA viruses with plant and insect hosts.

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Mann, Krin S; Dietzgen, Ralf G

2014-08-01

Rhabdoviruses are taxonomically classified in the family Rhabdoviridae, order Mononegavirales. As a group, rhabdoviruses can infect plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Plant cyto- and nucleorhabdoviruses infect a wide variety of species across both monocot and dicot families, including agriculturally important crops such as lettuce, wheat, barley, rice, maize, potato and tomato. Plant rhabdoviruses are transmitted by and replicate in hemipteran insects such as aphids (Aphididae), leafhoppers (Cicadellidae), or planthoppers (Delphacidae). These specific interactions between plants, viruses and insects offer new insights into host adaptation and molecular virus evolution. This review explores recent advances as well as knowledge gaps in understanding of replication, RNA silencing suppression and movement of plant rhabdoviruses with respect to both plant and insect hosts.

Effect of 60Co gamma radiation on insects infesting rice during storage. Part III. Oryzaephylus surinamensis L., Cryptolestes pusillus S. and Cryptolestes ferrugineus S. (Cucujidae; Coleoptera)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenzo, P.

1997-01-01

Losses in rice grain in quantity and quality during storage are caused by insects infestations. In this paper the effect of 60 Co gamma radiation on the mortality of Oryzaephilus surinamensis L., Cryptolestes pusillus S. and Cryptolestes ferrugineus S. adults was study. Insects were irradiated with doses from 0,20 to 1,00 kGy at dose rates from 0,97 to 0,94 kGy.h -1 . After the treatment, the radiation damages were evaluated taking in consideration the sterility and mortality produced in the irradiated populations. According to the experimental results it was confirmed that irradiation doses from 0,40 to 0,60 kGy were effective to control the insects pests of stored rice in Cuba [es

Reproductive Plasticity of an Invasive Insect Pest, Rice Water Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yunshang; Ao, Yan; Jiang, Mingxing

2017-12-05

Reproductive plasticity is a key determinant of species invasiveness. However, there are a limited number of studies addressing this issue in exotic insects. The rice water weevil Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), which is native to North America, is one of the most invasive insect pests in east Asia. In this study, we investigated the reproductive status of first-generation females (progeny of overwintered weevils) from five geographic regions in southern and northern China in the field, and reproductive status and ovipositional features of females provided with suitable host plants in the laboratory after collection. Under field conditions, a proportion of females oviposited, while the rest remained in diapause from all three southern regions investigated, but reproductive development did not take place in females from the two northern regions, where the weevil produces only one generation per year. However, when fed host plants in the laboratory, females from all regions laid eggs. They typically had a very short ovipositional period (3-6 d on average on rice at a temperature of 27°C), laid a low number of eggs, and did not die soon after oviposition; this was different from common reproductive females. We concluded that first-generation L. oryzophilus females, which largely enter diapause after emergence, are highly plastic in their reproductive performance and are ready to reproduce under favorable conditions. Our results indicate the significance of their reproductive plasticity for geographic spread and population development. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effect of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis rice lines on mortality and feeding behavior of rice stem borers (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hao; Zhang, Guoan; Zhang, Qifa; Lin, Yongjun

2008-02-01

Ten transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis Bt rice, Oryza sativa L., lines with different Bt genes (two Cry1Ac lines, three Cry2A lines, and five Cry9C lines) derived from the same variety Minghui 63 were evaluated in both the laboratory and the field. Bioassays were conducted by using the first instars of two main rice lepidopteran insect species: yellow stem borer, Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) and Asiatic rice borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker). All transgenic lines exhibited high toxicity to these two rice borers. Field evaluation results also showed that all transgenic lines were highly insect resistant with both natural infestation and manual infestation of the neonate larvae of S. incertulas compared with the nontransformed Minghui63. Bt protein concentrations in leaves of 10 transgenic rice lines were estimated by the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The cry9C gene had the highest expression level, next was cry2A gene, and the cry1Ac gene expressed at the lowest level. The feeding behavior of 7-d-old Asiatic rice borer to three classes of Bt transgenic rice lines also was detected by using rice culm cuttings. The results showed that 7-d-old larvae of Asiatic rice borer have the capacity to distinguish Bt and non-Bt culm cuttings and preferentially fed on non-Bt cuttings. When only Bt culm cuttings with three classes of different Bt proteins (CrylAc, Cry2A, and Cry9C) were fed, significant distribution difference of 7-d-old Asiatic rice borer in culm cuttings of different Bt proteins also was found. In the current study, we evaluate different Bt genes in the same rice variety in both the laboratory and the field, and also tested feeding behavior of rice insect to these Bt rice. These data are valuable for the further development of two-toxin Bt rice and establishment of appropriate insect resistance management in the future.

Agricultural production - Phase 2. Indonesia. Insect ecology studies and insect pest control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butt, B.

1992-01-01

This document reviews the activities of the Pest Control Research Group in Indonesia. Pests under study are the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), the rice stem borer (Chilo suppressalis), the sugar cane borer (Chilo auricilius), bean flies (Agromyza spp.), tobacco insects (Heliothis armigera and Spodoptera litura) and cotton insects, especially the pink bollworm

Interactive Effects of Southern Rice Black-Streaked Dwarf Virus Infection of Host Plant and Vector on Performance of the Vector, Sogatella furcifera (Homoptera: Delphacidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Wenbin; Liu, Danfeng; Li, Pei; Hou, Maolin

2014-10-01

Performance of insect vectors can be influenced by the viruses they transmit, either directly by infection of the vectors or indirectly via infection of the host plants. Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) is a propagative virus transmitted by the white-backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera (Hovath). To elucidate the influence of SRBSDV on the performance of white-backed planthopper, life parameters of viruliferous and nonviruliferous white-backed planthopper fed rice seedlings infected or noninfected with SRBSDV were measured using a factorial design. Regardless of the infection status of the rice plant host, viruliferous white-backed planthopper nymphs took longer to develop from nymph to adult than did nonviruliferous nymphs. Viruliferous white-backed planthopper females deposited fewer eggs than nonviruliferous females and both viruliferous and nonviruliferous white-backed planthopper females laid fewer eggs on infected than on noninfected plants. Longevity of white-backed planthopper females was also affected by the infection status of the rice plant and white-backed planthopper. Nonviruliferous white-backed planthopper females that fed on infected rice plants lived longer than the other three treatment groups. These results indicate that the performance of white-backed planthopper is affected by SRBSDV either directly (by infection of white-backed planthopper) or indirectly (by infection of rice plant). The extended development of viruliferous nymphs and the prolonged life span of nonviruliferous adults on infected plants may increase their likelihood of transmitting virus, which would increase virus spread. © 2014 Entomological Society of America.

Transgenic rice plants expressing synthetic cry2AX1 gene exhibits resistance to rice leaffolder (Cnaphalocrosis medinalis).

Science.gov (United States)

Manikandan, R; Balakrishnan, N; Sudhakar, D; Udayasuriyan, V

2016-06-01

Bacillus thuringiensis is a major source of insecticidal genes imparting insect resistance in transgenic plants. Level of expression of transgenes in transgenic plants is important to achieve desirable level of resistance against target insects. In order to achieve desirable level of expression, rice chloroplast transit peptide sequence was fused with synthetic cry2AX1 gene to target its protein in chloroplasts. Sixteen PCR positive lines of rice were generated by Agrobacterium mediated transformation using immature embryos. Southern blot hybridization analysis of T 0 transgenic plants confirmed the integration of cry2AX1 gene in two to five locations of rice genome and ELISA demonstrated its expression. Concentration of Cry2AX1 in transgenic rice events ranged 5.0-120 ng/g of fresh leaf tissue. Insect bioassay of T 0 transgenic rice plants against neonate larvae of rice leaffolder showed larval mortality ranging between 20 and 80 % in comparison to control plant. Stable inheritance and expression of cry2AX1 gene was demonstrated in T 1 progenies through Southern and ELISA. In T 1 progenies, the highest concentration of Cry2AX1 and mortality of rice leaffolder larvae were recorded as 150 ng/g of fresh leaf tissue and 80 %, respectively. The Cry2AX1 expression even at a very low concentration (120-150 ng/g) in transgenic rice plants was found effective against rice leaffolder larvae.

Diversity of some endophytic fungi associated with rice black bug Paraeucosmetus pallicornis on rice plant

OpenAIRE

Nur, Amin; La Daha; Nurariaty, Agus; Ade, Rosmana; Muh., Fadlan

2015-01-01

A new rice insect pest was sighted in some rice producing areas of South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. This pest is rice black bugs Paraeucosmetus pallicornis. The research aimed to isolation of fungi associated with rice black bugs Paraeucosmetus pallicornis, so as to know the cause of a bitter taste to the rice. The isolation of the fungi consist of three kinds of treatment, namely rice black bugs without sterilization, with sterilization and rice black bugs cut and sterilized. The resul...

Comparative transcriptome analysis of two rice varieties in response to rice stripe virus and small brown planthoppers during early interaction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenjing Zheng

Full Text Available Rice stripe, a virus disease, transmitted by a small brown planthopper (SBPH, has greatly reduced production of japonica rice in East Asia, especially in China. Although we have made great progress in mapping resistance genes, little is known about the mechanism of resistance. By de novo transcriptome assembling, we gained sufficient transcript data to analyze changes in gene expression of early interaction in response to SBPH and RSV infection in rice. Respectively 648 and 937 DEGs were detected from the disease-resistant (Liaonong 979 and the susceptible (Fengjin varieties, most of which were up-regulated. We found 37 genes related to insect resistance, which mainly included genes for jasmonate-induced protein, TIFY protein, lipoxygenase, as well as trypsin inhibitor genes and transcription factor genes. In the interaction process between RSV and rice, 87 genes were thought to be related to RSV resistance; these primarily included 12 peroxidase biosynthesis genes, 12 LRR receptor-like protein kinase genes, 6 genes coding pathogenesis-related proteins, 4 glycine-rich cell wall structural protein genes, 2 xyloglucan hydrolase genes and a cellulose synthase. The results indicate that the rice-pathogen interaction happened both in disease-resistant and susceptible varieties, and some genes related to JA biosynthesis played key roles in the interaction between SBPHs and rice. When rice was infected by RSV a hypersensitive reaction (HR in the disease-resistant variety was suppressed, which resulted from an increase in peroxidase expression and down-regulation of LRR receptor-like protein kinase and pathogenesis-related proteins, while, the changes of peroxidase biosynthesis, glycine-rich cell wall structural protein, cellulose synthase and xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase could lead to the strengthening of physical barriers of rice, which may be an important resistance mechanism to RSV in rice.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of two rice varieties in response to rice stripe virus and small brown planthoppers during early interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Wenjing; Ma, Li; Zhao, Jiaming; Li, Zhiqiang; Sun, Fuyu; Lu, Xiaochun

2013-01-01

Rice stripe, a virus disease, transmitted by a small brown planthopper (SBPH), has greatly reduced production of japonica rice in East Asia, especially in China. Although we have made great progress in mapping resistance genes, little is known about the mechanism of resistance. By de novo transcriptome assembling, we gained sufficient transcript data to analyze changes in gene expression of early interaction in response to SBPH and RSV infection in rice. Respectively 648 and 937 DEGs were detected from the disease-resistant (Liaonong 979) and the susceptible (Fengjin) varieties, most of which were up-regulated. We found 37 genes related to insect resistance, which mainly included genes for jasmonate-induced protein, TIFY protein, lipoxygenase, as well as trypsin inhibitor genes and transcription factor genes. In the interaction process between RSV and rice, 87 genes were thought to be related to RSV resistance; these primarily included 12 peroxidase biosynthesis genes, 12 LRR receptor-like protein kinase genes, 6 genes coding pathogenesis-related proteins, 4 glycine-rich cell wall structural protein genes, 2 xyloglucan hydrolase genes and a cellulose synthase. The results indicate that the rice-pathogen interaction happened both in disease-resistant and susceptible varieties, and some genes related to JA biosynthesis played key roles in the interaction between SBPHs and rice. When rice was infected by RSV a hypersensitive reaction (HR) in the disease-resistant variety was suppressed, which resulted from an increase in peroxidase expression and down-regulation of LRR receptor-like protein kinase and pathogenesis-related proteins, while, the changes of peroxidase biosynthesis, glycine-rich cell wall structural protein, cellulose synthase and xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase could lead to the strengthening of physical barriers of rice, which may be an important resistance mechanism to RSV in rice.

Do rice water weevils and rice stem borers compete when sharing a host plant?

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Sheng-Wei; He, Yan; Ji, Xiang-Hua; Jiang, Ming-Xing; Cheng, Jia-An

2008-07-01

The rice water weevil (RWW) Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an invasive insect pest of rice Oryza sativa L. in China. Little is known about the interactions of this weevil with indigenous herbivores. In the present study, adult feeding and population density of the weevil, injury level of striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and pink stem borer Sesamia inferens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to rice, as well as growth status of their host plants were surveyed in a rice field located in Southeastern Zhejiang, China, in 2004 with the objective to discover interspecific interactions on the rice. At tillering stage, both adult feeding of the weevil and injury of the stem borers tended to occur on larger tillers (bearing 5 leaves) compared with small tillers (bearing 2~4 leaves), but the insects showed no evident competition with each other. At booting stage, the stem borers caused more withering/dead hearts and the weevil reached a higher density on the plants which had more productive tillers and larger root system; the number of weevils per tiller correlated negatively with the percentage of withering/dead hearts of plants in a hill. These observations indicate that interspecific interactions exist between the rice water weevil and the rice stem borers with negative relations occurring at booting or earlier developmental stages of rice.

Do rice water weevils and rice stem borers compete when sharing a host plant?*

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Sheng-wei; He, Yan; Ji, Xiang-hua; Jiang, Ming-xing; Cheng, Jia-an

2008-01-01

The rice water weevil (RWW) Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an invasive insect pest of rice Oryza sativa L. in China. Little is known about the interactions of this weevil with indigenous herbivores. In the present study, adult feeding and population density of the weevil, injury level of striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and pink stem borer Sesamia inferens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to rice, as well as growth status of their host plants were surveyed in a rice field located in Southeastern Zhejiang, China, in 2004 with the objective to discover interspecific interactions on the rice. At tillering stage, both adult feeding of the weevil and injury of the stem borers tended to occur on larger tillers (bearing 5 leaves) compared with small tillers (bearing 2~4 leaves), but the insects showed no evident competition with each other. At booting stage, the stem borers caused more withering/dead hearts and the weevil reached a higher density on the plants which had more productive tillers and larger root system; the number of weevils per tiller correlated negatively with the percentage of withering/dead hearts of plants in a hill. These observations indicate that interspecific interactions exist between the rice water weevil and the rice stem borers with negative relations occurring at booting or earlier developmental stages of rice. PMID:18600788

The bat-bird-bug battle: daily flight activity of insects and their predators over a rice field revealed by high-resolution Scheimpflug Lidar

Science.gov (United States)

Malmqvist, Elin; Jansson, Samuel; Zhu, Shiming; Li, Wansha; Svanberg, Katarina; Svanberg, Sune; Rydell, Jens; Song, Ziwei; Bood, Joakim; Brydegaard, Mikkel; Åkesson, Susanne

2018-04-01

We present the results of, to our knowledge, the first Lidar study applied to continuous and simultaneous monitoring of aerial insects, bats and birds. It illustrates how common patterns of flight activity, e.g. insect swarming around twilight, depend on predation risk and other constraints acting on the faunal components. Flight activity was monitored over a rice field in China during one week in July 2016, using a high-resolution Scheimpflug Lidar system. The monitored Lidar transect was about 520 m long and covered approximately 2.5 m3. The observed biomass spectrum was bimodal, and targets were separated into insects and vertebrates in a categorization supported by visual observations. Peak flight activity occurred at dusk and dawn, with a 37 min time difference between the bat and insect peaks. Hence, bats started to feed in declining insect activity after dusk and stopped before the rise in activity before dawn. A similar time difference between insects and birds may have occurred, but it was not obvious, perhaps because birds were relatively scarce. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that flight activity of bats is constrained by predation in bright light, and that crepuscular insects exploit this constraint by swarming near to sunset/sunrise to minimize predation from bats.

potential for biological control of rice yellow mottle virus vectors

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

Insect pests and disease infestations are the primary constraints in rice (Oryza sativa) production .... Asia. Of all the rice diseases, the one caused by the rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV), first reported ..... yellow mottle virus in Central Africa.

Serine Proteases-Like Genes in the Asian Rice Gall Midge Show Differential Expression in Compatible and Incompatible Interactions with Rice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suresh Nair

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The Asian rice gall midge, Orseolia oryzae (Wood-Mason, is a serious pest of rice. Investigations into the gall midge-rice interaction will unveil the underlying molecular mechanisms which, in turn, can be used as a tool to assist in developing suitable integrated pest management strategies. The insect gut is known to be involved in various physiological and biological processes including digestion, detoxification and interaction with the host. We have cloned and identified two genes, OoprotI and OoprotII, homologous to serine proteases with the conserved His87, Asp136 and Ser241 residues. OoProtI shared 52.26% identity with mosquito-type trypsin from Hessian fly whereas OoProtII showed 52.49% identity to complement component activated C1s from the Hessian fly. Quantitative real time PCR analysis revealed that both the genes were significantly upregulated in larvae feeding on resistant cultivar than in those feeding on susceptible cultivar. These results provide an opportunity to understand the gut physiology of the insect under compatible or incompatible interactions with the host. Phylogenetic analysis grouped these genes in the clade containing proteases of phytophagous insects away from hematophagous insects.

Autophagy pathway induced by a plant virus facilitates viral spread and transmission by its insect vector.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Chen

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Many viral pathogens are persistently transmitted by insect vectors and cause agricultural or health problems. Generally, an insect vector can use autophagy as an intrinsic antiviral defense mechanism against viral infection. Whether viruses can evolve to exploit autophagy to promote their transmission by insect vectors is still unknown. Here, we show that the autophagic process is triggered by the persistent replication of a plant reovirus, rice gall dwarf virus (RGDV in cultured leafhopper vector cells and in intact insects, as demonstrated by the appearance of obvious virus-containing double-membrane autophagosomes, conversion of ATG8-I to ATG8-II and increased level of autophagic flux. Such virus-containing autophagosomes seem able to mediate nonlytic viral release from cultured cells or facilitate viral spread in the leafhopper intestine. Applying the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine or silencing the expression of Atg5 significantly decrease viral spread in vitro and in vivo, whereas applying the autophagy inducer rapamycin or silencing the expression of Torc1 facilitate such viral spread. Furthermore, we find that activation of autophagy facilitates efficient viral transmission, whereas inhibiting autophagy blocks viral transmission by its insect vector. Together, these results indicate a plant virus can induce the formation of autophagosomes for carrying virions, thus facilitating viral spread and transmission by its insect vector. We believe that such a role for virus-induced autophagy is common for vector-borne persistent viruses during their transmission by insect vectors.

Prevention of vector transmitted diseases with clove oil insect repellent.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Rochel

2012-08-01

Vector repellent is one element in the prevention of vector-borne diseases. Families that neglect protecting their children against vectors risk their children contracting illnesses such as West Nile virus, eastern equine encephalitis, Lyme disease, malaria, dengue hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, babesiosis, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Southern tick-associated rash illness, ehrlichiosis, tick-borne relapsing fever, tularemia, and other insect and arthropod related diseases (CDC, 2011). Identification of families at risk includes screening of the underlying basis for reluctance to apply insect repellent. Nurses and physicians can participate in a positive role by assisting families to determine the proper prophylaxis by recommending insect repellent choices that are economical, safe, and easy to use. A holistic alternative might include the suggestion of clove oil in cases where families might have trepidations regarding the use of DEET on children. This article will explore the safety and effectiveness of clove oil and its use as an insect repellent. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Whitefly Bemisia tabaci Knottin-1 Gene Is Implicated in Regulating the Quantity of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus Ingested and Transmitted by the Insect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aliza Hariton Shalev

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a major pest to agricultural crops. It transmits begomoviruses, such as Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV, in a circular, persistent fashion. Transcriptome analyses revealed that B. tabaci knottin genes were responsive to various stresses. Upon ingestion of tomato begomoviruses, two of the four knottin genes were upregulated, knot-1 (with the highest expression and knot-3. In this study, we examined the involvement of B. tabaci knottin genes in relation to TYLCV circulative transmission. Knottins were silenced by feeding whiteflies with knottin dsRNA via detached tomato leaves. Large amounts of knot-1 transcripts were present in the abdomen of whiteflies, an obligatory transit site of begomoviruses in their circulative transmission pathway; knot-1 silencing significantly depleted the abdomen from knot-1 transcripts. Knot-1 silencing led to an increase in the amounts of TYLCV ingested by the insects and transmitted to tomato test plants by several orders of magnitude. This effect was not observed following knot-3 silencing. Hence, knot-1 plays a role in restricting the quantity of virions an insect may acquire and transmit. We suggest that knot-1 protects B. tabaci against deleterious effects caused by TYLCV by limiting the amount of virus associated with the whitefly vector.

The Potential of the Sterile Insect Technique and other Genetic Methods for Control of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitoes. Report of a Consultants Meeting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

This report updates information provided by a 1993 consultant group on the use of genetic methods for control of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes. Human malaria parasites of the genus Plasmodium are exclusively transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. Where these two groups co-exist, the transmission of the parasite to humans can create a major health problem. Malaria currently causes 2 million deaths world-wide and approximately 400 million clinical cases annually. There are ca. 15 major vector species and 30-40 vectors of lesser importance. This report considers the practicality of developing the sterile insect technique (SIT) or other genetic mechanisms in order to eradicate mosquito vectors from specific areas. This would interrupt transmission and eliminate malaria in those areas.

Systematic analysis of rice (Oryza sativa) metabolic responses to herbivory.

Science.gov (United States)

Alamgir, Kabir Md; Hojo, Yuko; Christeller, John T; Fukumoto, Kaori; Isshiki, Ryutaro; Shinya, Tomonori; Baldwin, Ian T; Galis, Ivan

2016-02-01

Plants defend against attack from herbivores by direct and indirect defence mechanisms mediated by the accumulation of phytoalexins and release of volatile signals, respectively. While the defensive arsenals of some plants, such as tobacco and Arabidopsis are well known, most of rice's (Oryza sativa) defence metabolites and their effectiveness against herbivores remain uncharacterized. Here, we used a non-biassed metabolomics approach to identify many novel herbivory-regulated metabolic signatures in rice. Most were up-regulated by herbivore attack while only a few were suppressed. Two of the most prominent up-regulated signatures were characterized as phenolamides (PAs), p-coumaroylputrescine and feruloylputrescine. PAs accumulated in response to attack by both chewing insects, i.e. feeding of the lawn armyworm (Spodoptera mauritia) and the rice skipper (Parnara guttata) larvae, and the attack of the sucking insect, the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens, BPH). In bioassays, BPH insects feeding on 15% sugar solution containing p-coumaroylputrescine or feruloylputrescine, at concentrations similar to those elicited by heavy BPH attack in rice, had a higher mortality compared to those feeding on sugar diet alone. Our results highlight PAs as a rapidly expanding new group of plant defence metabolites that are elicited by herbivore attack, and deter herbivores in rice and other plants. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Indica rice (Oryza sativa, BR29 and IR64).

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Karabi; Datta, Swapan Kumar

2006-01-01

Rice is the world's most important food crop. Indica-type rice provides the staple food for more than half of the world population. To satisfy the growing demand of the ever-increasing population, more sustained production of indica-type rice is needed. In addition, because of the high per capita consumption of indica rice, improvement of any traits including its nutritive value may have a significant positive health outcome for the rice-consuming population. Rice yield productivity is greatly affected by different biotic stresses, like diseases and insect pests, and abiotic stresses like drought, cold, and salinity. Attempts to improve resistance in rice to these stresses by conventional breeding through introgression of traits have limited success owing to a lack of resistance germplasm in the wild relatives. Gene transfer technology with genes from other sources can be used to make rice plants resistant or tolerant to insect pests, diseases, and different environmental stresses. For improving the nutritional value of the edible endosperm part of the rice, genes for increasing iron, beta-carotene, or better quality protein can be introduced in rice plants by genetic engineering. Different crops have been transformed using various gene transfer methods, such as protoplast transformation, biolistic, and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. This chapter describes the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol for indica-type rice. The selectable marker genes used are hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt), neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII), or phosphomannose isomerase (pmi), and, accordingly, the selection agents are hygromycin, kanamycin (G418), or mannose, respectively.

Molecular determinants of odorant receptor function in insects

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2014-07-20

Jul 20, 2014 ... other host-odor responsive receptors from vector insect spe- cies would .... those that mediate host-seeking behaviour in insect disease vectors and ... receptors are transmitted and processed via olfactory circuits. (Vosshall ...

Evolving ideas about genetics underlying insect virulence to plant resistance in rice-brown planthopper interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Tetsuya

2016-01-01

Many plant-parasite interactions that include major plant resistance genes have subsequently been shown to exhibit features of gene-for-gene interactions between plant Resistance genes and parasite Avirulence genes. The brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens is an important pest of rice (Oryza sativa). Historically, major Resistance genes have played an important role in agriculture. As is common in gene-for-gene interactions, evolution of BPH virulence compromises the effectiveness of singly-deployed resistance genes. It is therefore surprising that laboratory studies of BPH have supported the conclusion that virulence is conferred by changes in many genes rather than a change in a single gene, as is proposed by the gene-for-gene model. Here we review the behaviour, physiology and genetics of the BPH in the context of host plant resistance. A problem for genetic understanding has been the use of various insect populations that differ in frequencies of virulent genotypes. We show that the previously proposed polygenic inheritance of BPH virulence can be explained by the heterogeneity of parental populations. Genetic mapping of Avirulence genes indicates that virulence is a monogenic trait. These evolving concepts, which have brought the gene-for-gene model back into the picture, are accelerating our understanding of rice-BPH interactions at the molecular level. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rice Production without Insecticide in Smallholder Farmer's Field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. P. Ali

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Highlights:Use of perching, sweeping, and need based insecticide (IPM technique useage produce at par yields compared to prophylactic insecticide useage in rice fields.There exists a technique that can reduce 75% of insecticide useage in rice field.The results were obtained in cooperation between smallholder rice farmers and researchers of Bangladesh.Currently rice protection from insect pests solely depends on chemical pesticides which have tremendous impact on biodiversity, environment, animal, and human health. To reduce their impact from our society we need to cut pesticide use from agricultural practices. To address this issue, we did an experiment to identify realistic solutions that could help farmers build sustainable crop protection systems and minimize useage of insecticides and thus reduce the impact of pesticides in the environment. Innovations developed jointly by farmers and researchers and evaluated for their potential to be adopted by more farmers. In this paper we tested four management practices jointly with smallholder farmer fields in order to select the best one. Four management practices were used namely, T1 = Prophylactic use of insecticide where insecticide was applied in rice field at every 15 days interval without judging the infestation level; T2 = Perching (that is, placing roosting (perching sites for insectivorous birds within the rice field and concurrent sweep net samples along with need-based insecticide application; T3 = Perching only; and T4 = Farmer's own practices. The results revealed that routine application of insecticides for crop protection is not mandatory which is commonly found at use in rice farmers. In our experiment, where prophylactic method or farmers used 3–4 times insecticides without judging the insect pests infestation level, the similar pest population was found when compared to the field where insecticide was not applied. Our management system reduced by 75% the use of insecticides even

Evidence for Non-Transmission of Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV through Rice Seed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sy, AA.

2004-01-01

Full Text Available An indexing of the organs (radicle and plumule and components (husk, endosperm and embryo of rice seeds using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA was carried out to detect Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV and establish the exact location of the virus in the rice seed. RYMV was detected only in the husk (seed coat but not in the endosperm, plumule, radicle, nor embryo. None of the seedlings raised from the seeds expressed RYMV symptoms. No virus particle was detected by the ELISA test in the leaves of the screenhouse-reared plants obtained from seeds of infected plants. The results indicate that RYMV is apparently not transmitted through rice seed probably because the virus is seed-borne in the husk (seed coat of mature rice seeds.

Induced mutation for tungro resistance in rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, R.; Yumol, R.R.; Taura, S.

2001-01-01

Tungro is the most serious virus disease of rice in South and Southeast Asia. It is a composite disease of two kinds of viruses, rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) and rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV). Damage to the plant is mostly caused by RTBV, while RTSV acts to facilitate RTBV acquisition and transmission by insect vector. Both viruses are transmitted mainly by green leafhopper (GLH). Resistance to GLH is common in rice germplasm but extremely rare for the two viruses. To induce mutations for tungro resistance, a susceptible variety IR22 was treated with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNH) following the procedure of Satoh and Omura. The panicles of rice variety 'IR22' were soaked in 1 mM MNH solution for 45 minutes at 16 to 18 hours after flowering. Two thousand six hundred and forty fertile M 1 plants were produced. From these plants M 2 lines with 10 or more seedlings were planted in the field to evaluate their reaction against tungro under natural conditions in the 1990 dry season on the IRRI central research farm, Los Banos, the Philippines. Of these, 124 M 2 lines were selected by visual evaluation. Five plants were harvested individually from each selected line. A bulk was also made from all the remaining plants in the line. In the M 3 generation, each family consisted of five sister lines and one bulked line. One line (M 3 -723) showed no tungro symptoms and its related bulk segregated for resistance but all other M 3 lines from the same family were susceptible to tungro. The resistant line, M 3 -723, showed low infection with RTBV and RTSV when leaves were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to diagnose tungro infection. All M 4 lines from M 3 -723 showed uniform resistance in the field. They were not infected with RTBV and were resistant to RTSV infection

Machine learning for characterization of insect vector feeding

Science.gov (United States)

Insects that feed by ingesting plant and animal fluids cause devastating damage to humans, livestock, and agriculture worldwide, primarily by transmitting pathogens of plants and animals. The feeding processes required for successful pathogen transmission by sucking insects can be recorded by monito...

The insect ecdysone receptor is a good potential target for RNAi-based pest control.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Rong; Xu, Xinping; Liang, Yongkang; Tian, Honggang; Pan, Zhanqing; Jin, Shouheng; Wang, Na; Zhang, Wenqing

2014-01-01

RNA interference (RNAi) has great potential for use in insect pest control. However, some significant challenges must be overcome before RNAi-based pest control can become a reality. One challenge is the proper selection of a good target gene for RNAi. Here, we report that the insect ecdysone receptor (EcR) is a good potential target for RNAi-based pest control in the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, a serious insect pest of rice plants. We demonstrated that the use of a 360 bp fragment (NlEcR-c) that is common between NlEcR-A and NlEcR-B for feeding RNAi experiments significantly decreased the relative mRNA expression levels of NlEcR compared with those in the dsGFP control. Feeding RNAi also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of offspring per pair of N. lugens. Consequently, a transgenic rice line expressing NlEcR dsRNA was constructed by Agrobacterium- mediated transformation. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the total copy number of the target gene in all transgenic rice lines was 2. Northern blot analysis showed that the small RNA of the hairpin dsNlEcR-c was successfully expressed in the transgenic rice lines. After newly hatched nymphs of N. lugens fed on the transgenic rice lines, effective RNAi was observed. The NlEcR expression levels in all lines examined were decreased significantly compared with the control. In all lines, the survival rate of the nymphs was nearly 90%, and the average number of offspring per pair in the treated groups was significantly less than that observed in the control, with a decrease of 44.18-66.27%. These findings support an RNAi-based pest control strategy and are also important for the management of rice insect pests.

The influence of package and gamma radiation in the quarantine treatment of Sitophilus Orizae in rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Modolo, Debora M.; Oliveira, Ana Claudia S.; Silva, Lucia C.A.S.; Arthur, Valter; Harder, Marcia N.C.; Arthur, Paula B.; Lima, Roberta B.

2009-01-01

There are a variety of insect and pests that damage stored grains, therefore, the need for better conservation with advanced technology, high efficiency, absence of side effects, irradiation has been used as an alternative method to control these insects, being completely the opposite the chemical treatment, which leaves waste and is not always efficient enough. This study has the objective to use the gamma radiation from Cobalt-60 for the control of Sitophilus oryzae, in plastic package with previously infested rice and artificially reinfested. In this research was used 3 types of samples: 'Prato Fino' rice's package, crystal sugar's package and 'Namorado' rice's package. It were packages (bags) of 10x5cm for each type of sample, containing holes for gases exchange. Each pack contained 20g of wholemeal rice and 10 adult insects of the species S. oryzae. The samples were irradiated with dose of 1 kGy to make disinfestations under a dose rate of 0.560 Gy/hour and more the non-irradiated sample (control). After irradiation the bags were placed in a glass bottle with the volume of 3 liters and it were added 300 adult insects in the same bottle to induce reinfestation. This container was closed and after 60 days was calculated the number of living and dead insects existing in each package. The experiment was developed in a room with temperature 25 ± 5 deg C and relative humidity of 60 ± 5%. With the results obtained, it was concluded that the packages containing holes for gases exchange from inside to outside of the package showed more ease of penetration of insects, while the two packages without holes prevented the reinfestation of insects. The dose of 1 kGy was sufficient to induce disinfestations of rice. (author)

Prevalence and effect of schistosome and soil-transmitted helminth infection on labour input in rice-growing communities of Ogun State, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sammy Olufemi Sam-Wobo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH are public health problems in communities which lack basic social amenities with poor hygienic conditions. Studies were carried out to determine the prevalence and effect of schistosomes and soil-transmitted helminths infection on labour input on rice production in 9 rice-growing communities of Ogun State. Parasitological examinations of urine and faecal samples, and structured questionnaires were conducted on 243 consented individuals from May 2009 to March 2010. The results showed an overall prevalence of 17% for Ascaris lumbricoides, 12% for hookworms, 2% for Trichuris trichiura, 1% for Schistosoma haematobium and 1% for Schistosoma mansoni. A. lumbricoides and hookworms were more prevalent in Agbajege (25%, and varied in the other 8 communities. T. trichiura was prevalent in three communities, Agbajege (5%, Akodu (4.2%, and Moloko-Asipa (4.8 %; S. haematobium was prevalent only in Ayedere (2.6% and Lufoko (8%, while S. mansoni was prevalent only in Moloko-Asipa (9.5%. Infections among the gender were varied as 26.3 % of males and 33.8 % of females had an overall prevalence of: A. lumbricoides (16.8%, hookworms (11.8%, T. trichiura (1.6%, S. haematobium (1.1% and S. mansoni (1.1%. On frequency of infection to incapacitation per year, 45% of respondents were incapacitated 1-2 times, 27% 3-4 times and 19% were incapacitated more than 4 times. Understanding the effect of these two diseases will not only improve the health status of residents but also increase their productivity and ensure food security.

Migration of rice planthoppers and their vectored re-emerging and novel rice viruses in East Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Otuka, Akira

2013-10-28

This review examines recent studies of the migration of three rice planthoppers, Laodelphax striatellus, Sogatella furcifera, and Nilaparvata lugens, in East Asia. Laodelphax striatellus has recently broken out in Jiangsu province, eastern China. The population density in the province started to increase in the early 2000s and peaked in 2004. In 2005, Rice stripe virus (RSV) viruliferous rate of L. striatellus peaked at 31.3%. Since then, rice stripe disease spread severely across the whole province. Due to the migration of the RSV vectors, the rice stripe disease spread to neighboring countries Japan and Korea. An overseas migration of L. striatellus that occurred in 2008 was analyzed, when a slow-moving cold vortex, a type of low pressure system, reached western Japan from Jiangsu, carrying the insects into Japan. Subsequently the rice stripe diseases struck these areas in Japan severely. In Korea, similar situations occurred in 2009, 2011, and 2012. Their migration sources were also estimated to be in Jiangsu by backward trajectory analysis. Rice black-streaked dwarf virus, whose vector is L. striatellus, has recently re-emerged in eastern China, and the evidence for overseas migrations of the virus, just like the RSV's migrations, has been given. A method of predicting the overseas migration of L. striatellus has been developed by Japanese, Chinese, and Korean institutes. An evaluation of the prediction showed that this method properly predicted migration events that occurred in East Asia from 2008 to 2011. Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) was first found in Guangdong province. Its vector is S. furcifera. An outbreak of SRBSDV occurred in southern China in 2009 and spread to Vietnam the same year. This disease and virus were also found in Japan in 2010. The epidemic triggered many migration studies to investigate concrete spring-summer migration routes in China, and the addition of migration sources for early arrivals in Guangdong and Guangxi

Influence of intercrops on pests' populations in upland rice ( Oriza ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rice and groundnut (100,000 - 200,000 plants/ha) intercrop is recommended for reduced incidence of C. zacconius and N. viridula. This result demonstrates that a careful selection of crop combination and plant population could lead to reduced insect pests' incidence in upland rice. Key words: intercrops, plant populations, ...

Map-based Cloning and Characterization of the BPH18 Gene from Wild Rice Conferring Resistance to Brown Planthopper (BPH) Insect Pest.

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Ji, Hyeonso; Kim, Sung-Ryul; Kim, Yul-Ho; Suh, Jung-Pil; Park, Hyang-Mi; Sreenivasulu, Nese; Misra, Gopal; Kim, Suk-Man; Hechanova, Sherry Lou; Kim, Hakbum; Lee, Gang-Seob; Yoon, Ung-Han; Kim, Tae-Ho; Lim, Hyemin; Suh, Suk-Chul; Yang, Jungil; An, Gynheung; Jena, Kshirod K

2016-09-29

Brown planthopper (BPH) is a phloem sap-sucking insect pest of rice which causes severe yield loss. We cloned the BPH18 gene from the BPH-resistant introgression line derived from the wild rice species Oryza australiensis. Map-based cloning and complementation test revealed that the BPH18 encodes CC-NBS-NBS-LRR protein. BPH18 has two NBS domains, unlike the typical NBS-LRR proteins. The BPH18 promoter::GUS transgenic plants exhibited strong GUS expression in the vascular bundles of the leaf sheath, especially in phloem cells where the BPH attacks. The BPH18 proteins were widely localized to the endo-membranes in a cell, including the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, trans-Golgi network, and prevacuolar compartments, suggesting that BPH18 may recognize the BPH invasion at endo-membranes in phloem cells. Whole genome sequencing of the near-isogenic lines (NILs), NIL-BPH18 and NIL-BPH26, revealed that BPH18 located at the same locus of BPH26. However, these two genes have remarkable sequence differences and the independent NILs showed differential BPH resistance with different expression patterns of plant defense-related genes, indicating that BPH18 and BPH26 are functionally different alleles. These findings would facilitate elucidation of the molecular mechanism of BPH resistance and the identified novel alleles to fast track breeding BPH resistant rice cultivars.

Alfalfa Leaf Curl Virus: an Aphid-Transmitted Geminivirus.

Science.gov (United States)

Roumagnac, Philippe; Granier, Martine; Bernardo, Pauline; Deshoux, Maëlle; Ferdinand, Romain; Galzi, Serge; Fernandez, Emmanuel; Julian, Charlotte; Abt, Isabelle; Filloux, Denis; Mesléard, François; Varsani, Arvind; Blanc, Stéphane; Martin, Darren P; Peterschmitt, Michel

2015-09-01

The family Geminiviridae comprises seven genera differentiated by genome organization, sequence similarity, and insect vector. Capulavirus, an eighth genus, has been proposed to accommodate two newly discovered highly divergent geminiviruses that presently have no known vector. Alfalfa leaf curl virus, identified here as a third capulavirus, is shown to be transmitted by Aphis craccivora. This is the first report of an aphid-transmitted geminivirus. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Recycling rice husks for high-capacity lithium battery anodes.

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Jung, Dae Soo; Ryou, Myung-Hyun; Sung, Yong Joo; Park, Seung Bin; Choi, Jang Wook

2013-07-23

The rice husk is the outer covering of a rice kernel and protects the inner ingredients from external attack by insects and bacteria. To perform this function while ventilating air and moisture, rice plants have developed unique nanoporous silica layers in their husks through years of natural evolution. Despite the massive amount of annual production near 10(8) tons worldwide, so far rice husks have been recycled only for low-value agricultural items. In an effort to recycle rice husks for high-value applications, we convert the silica to silicon and use it for high-capacity lithium battery anodes. Taking advantage of the interconnected nanoporous structure naturally existing in rice husks, the converted silicon exhibits excellent electrochemical performance as a lithium battery anode, suggesting that rice husks can be a massive resource for use in high-capacity lithium battery negative electrodes.

Effect of Neem Seed Kernel Extracts in the Management of Rice ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Rice plant is an ideal host for a large number of insect pests in ... For farmers and researchers alike reducing the numbers of these pests is therefore a priority. In the ..... Development of a rational control system against insect ... Integration of some biopesticides and trichogramma chilonis for the sustainable management of.

Evaluation of Rice Resistance to Southern Rice Black-Streaked Dwarf Virus and Rice Ragged Stunt Virus through Combined Field Tests, Quantitative Real-Time PCR, and Proteome Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhenchao; Yu, Lu; Jin, Linhong; Wang, Wenli; Zhao, Qi; Ran, Longlu; Li, Xiangyang; Chen, Zhuo; Guo, Rong; Wei, Yongtian; Yang, Zhongcheng; Liu, Enlong; Hu, Deyu; Song, Baoan

2017-02-22

Diseases caused by southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) and rice ragged stunt virus (RRSV) considerably decrease grain yield. Therefore, determining rice cultivars with high resistance to SRBSDV and RRSV is necessary. In this study, rice cultivars with high resistance to SRBSDV and RRSV were evaluated through field trials in Shidian and Mangshi county, Yunnan province, China. SYBR Green I-based quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis was used to quantitatively detect virus gene expression levels in different rice varieties. The following parameters were applied to evaluate rice resistance: acre yield (A.Y.), incidence of infected plants (I.I.P.), virus load (V.L.), disease index (D.I.), and insect quantity (I.Q.) per 100 clusters. Zhongzheyou1 (Z1) and Liangyou2186 (L2186) were considered the most suitable varieties with integrated higher A.Y., lower I.I.P., V.L., D.I. and I.Q. In order to investigate the mechanism of rice resistance, comparative label-free shotgun liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) proteomic approaches were applied to comprehensively describe the proteomics of rice varieties' SRBSDV tolerance. Systemic acquired resistance (SAR)-related proteins in Z1 and L2186 may result in the superior resistance of these varieties compared with Fengyouxiangzhan (FYXZ).

The Commonly Used Bactericide Bismerthiazol Promotes Rice Defenses against Herbivores

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Pengyong Zhou

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Chemical elicitors that enhance plant resistance to pathogens have been extensively studied, however, chemical elicitors that induce plant defenses against insect pests have received little attention. Here, we found that the exogenous application of a commonly used bactericide, bismerthiazol, on rice induced the biosynthesis of constitutive and/or elicited jasmonic acid (JA, jasmonoyl-isoleucine conjugate (JA-Ile, ethylene and H2O2 but not salicylic acid. These activated signaling pathways altered the volatile profile of rice plants. White-backed planthopper (WBPH, Sogatella furcifera nymphs and gravid females showed a preference for feeding and/or oviposition on control plants: survival rates were better and more eggs were laid than on bismerthiazol-treated plants. Moreover, bismerthiazol treatment also increased both the parasitism rate of WBPH eggs laid on plants in the field by Anagrus nilaparvatae, and also the resistance of rice to the brown planthopper (BPH Nilaparvata lugens and the striped stem borer (SSB Chilo suppressalis. These findings suggest that the bactericide bismerthiazol can induce the direct and/or indirect resistance of rice to multiple insect pests, and so can be used as a broad-spectrum chemical elicitor.

Proteomic Analysis of Interaction between a Plant Virus and Its Vector Insect Reveals New Functions of Hemipteran Cuticular Protein.

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Liu, Wenwen; Gray, Stewart; Huo, Yan; Li, Li; Wei, Taiyun; Wang, Xifeng

2015-08-01

Numerous viruses can be transmitted by their corresponding vector insects; however, the molecular mechanisms enabling virus transmission by vector insects have been poorly understood, especially the identity of vector components interacting with the virus. Here, we used the yeast two-hybrid system to study proteomic interactions of a plant virus (Rice stripe virus, RSV, genus Tenuivirus) with its vector insect, small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus). Sixty-six proteins of L. striatellus that interacted with the nucleocapsid protein (pc3) of RSV were identified. A virus-insect interaction network, constructed for pc3 and 29 protein homologs of Drosophila melanogaster, suggested that nine proteins might directly interact with pc3. Of the 66 proteins, five (atlasin, a novel cuticular protein, jagunal, NAC domain protein, and vitellogenin) were most likely to be involved in viral movement, replication, and transovarial transmission. This work also provides evidence that the novel cuticular protein, CPR1, from L. striatellus is essential for RSV transmission by its vector insect. CPR1 binds the nucleocapsid protein (pc3) of RSV both in vivo and in vitro and colocalizes with RSV in the hemocytes of L. striatellus. Knockdown of CPR1 transcription using RNA interference resulted in a decrease in the concentration of RSV in the hemolymph, salivary glands and in viral transmission efficiency. These data suggest that CPR1 binds RSV in the insect and stabilizes the viral concentration in the hemolymph, perhaps to protect the virus or to help move the virus to the salivary tissues. Our studies provide direct experimental evidence that viruses can use existing vector proteins to aid their survival in the hemolymph. Identifying these putative vector molecules should lead to a better understanding of the interactions between viruses and vector insects. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Protection of Grain Products from Sitophilus oryzae (L.) Contamination by Anti-Insect Pest Repellent Sachet Containing Allyl Mercaptan Microcapsule.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yoonjee; Lee, Soo-Hyun; Na, Ja Hyun; Chang, Pahn-Shick; Han, Jaejoon

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was to develop an anti-insect pest repellent sachet to prevent Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) contamination in grain packaging. The anti-insect pest activities of essential oils (EOs) from garlic (Allium Sativum), ginger (Zingiber Officinalis), black pepper (Piper nigrum), onion (Allium cepa), and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) as well as major compounds (allyl disulfide, AD; allyl mercaptan, AM) isolated from of garlic and onion (AD and AM) were measured against S. oryzae. The results revealed that garlic EO, onion EO, AD, and AM showed strong fumigant insecticidal activities. Among these, AM showed the highest acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition rate, indicating that the fumigation insecticidal efficacy of AM is related with its AChE inhibition ability. Subsequently, the microcapsules were produced with a high efficiency (80.02%) by using AM as a core material and rice flour as a wall material. Finally, sachet composed of rice flour microcapsule containing 2% AM (RAM) was produced. Repellent assay was performed to measure anti-insect pest ability of the RAM sachet, showed remarkable repelling effect within 48 h both in the presence or absence of attractant. In a release profile of RAM sachet, it was expected to last over 20 mo during the distribution period of brown rice. Moreover, RAM sachet showed no undesirable changes to the sensory properties of the rice both before and after cooking. Taken together, these results suggest that the newly developed RAM sachet could be used as a packaging material to protect grain products from S. oryzae contamination. The rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), causes damages to stored products and its contamination in grain products has become a major problem in cereal market. To preserve brown rice, an anti-insect pest repellent sachet containing 2% allyl mercaptan was newly developed and it showed remarkable repellent abilities against S. oryzae. It

Electron beam treatment parameters for control of stored product insects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleghorn, D.A.; Nablo, S.V.; Ferro, D.N.; Hagstrum, D.W.

2002-01-01

The fluidized bed process (EBFB) has been evaluated for the disinfestation of cereal grains. The various life stages from egg to adult have been studied on the 225 kV pilot as a function of surface dose. Three of the most common pests were selected: the rice weevil (S. oryzae), the lesser grain borer (R. dominica) and the red flour beetle (T. castaneum). The major challenge to this process lies in those 'protected' life-stages active deeply within the endosperm of the grain kernel. The rice weevil is such an internal feeder in which the larvae develop through several molts during several weeks before pupation and adult emergence. Product velocities up to 2000 m/min have been used for infested hard winter wheat at dose levels up to 1000 Gy. Detailed depth of penetration studies at three life stages of S. oryzae larvae were conducted at 225-700 kV and demonstrated effective mortality at 400 kVx200 Gy. Mortality data are also presented for the radiation labile eggs of these insects as well as the (sterile) adults, which typically lived for several weeks before death. These results are compared with earlier 60 Co gamma-ray studies on these same insects. Based upon these studies, the effectiveness of the fluidized bed process employing self-shielded electron beam equipment for insect control in wheat/rice at sub-kilogray dose levels has been demonstrated

A Novel Reference Plasmid for the Qualitative Detection of Genetically Modified Rice in Food and Feed

OpenAIRE

Li, Liang; Dong, Mei; An, Na; Liang, Lixia; Wan, Yusong; Jin, Wujun

2015-01-01

Rice is one of the most important food crops in the world. Genetically modified (GM) technology has been used in rice to confer herbicide tolerance and pathogen or insect resistance. China invests heavily in research on GM rice. By the end of 2014, at least 250 transgenic rice lines had been developed in China. To monitor the presence of GM rice in food and feed, we collected information on foreign elements from 250 transgenic rice lines and found 5 elements, including the Agrobacterium tumef...

Radioisotope labelling of several major insect pest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutrisno, Singgih

1981-01-01

Radioisotope uptake by insects could take place through various parts i.e. mouth, cuticula, intersegmental, secretion and excretion organs. Usually insects are labelled internally by feeding them on an artificial diet containing radioisotope solution. Labelling of several insect pests of cabbage (Crocidolomia binotalis) Zell and Plutella maculipennis Curt and rice (Chilo suppressalis Walker) by dipping of the pupae in 32 P solution showed a promising result. Pupae of Crocidolomia binotalis Zell dipped in 3 ml solution of 32 P with specific activities of 1, 3, 5 and 7 μCi/ml had developed labelled adults of sufficiently high radioactivity levels for ecological studies. Similar results were also obtained with Plutella maculipennis Curt and Chilo suppressalis Walker with doses of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 μCi/ml 32 P solution. The best doses for radioisotope labelling by dipping of the insects Crocidolomia binotalis Zell, Plutella maculipennis Curt, and Chilo suppressalis Walker were 1, 9, and 7 μCi/ml respectivelly. (author)

Transcriptome Analysis of the Small Brown Planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus Carrying Rice stripe virus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joo Hyun Lee

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Rice stripe virus (RSV, the type member of the genus Tenuivirus, transmits by the feeding behavior of small brown planthopper (SBPH, Laodelphax striatellus. To investigate the interactions between the virus and vector insect, total RNA was extracted from RSV-viruliferous SBPH (RVLS and non-viruliferous SBPH (NVLS adults to construct expressed sequence tag databases for comparative transcriptome analysis. Over 30 million bases were sequenced by 454 pyrosequencing to construct 1,538 and 953 of isotigs from the mRNA of RVLS and NVLS, respectively. The gene ontology (GO analysis demonstrated that both libraries have similar GO structures, however, the gene expression pattern analysis revealed that 17.8% and 16.8% of isotigs were up- and down-regulated significantly in the RVLS, respectively. These RSV-dependently regulated genes possibly have important roles in the physiology of SBPH, transmission of RSV, and RSV and SBPH interaction.

The rice dwarf virus P2 protein interacts with ent-kaurene oxidases in vivo, leading to reduced biosynthesis of gibberellins and rice dwarf symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Shifeng; Gao, Feng; Cao, Xuesong; Chen, Mao; Ye, Gongyin; Wei, Chunhong; Li, Yi

2005-12-01

The mechanisms of viral diseases are a major focus of biology. Despite intensive investigations, how a plant virus interacts with host factors to cause diseases remains poorly understood. The Rice dwarf virus (RDV), a member of the genus Phytoreovirus, causes dwarfed growth phenotypes in infected rice (Oryza sativa) plants. The outer capsid protein P2 is essential during RDV infection of insects and thus influences transmission of RDV by the insect vector. However, its role during RDV infection within the rice host is unknown. By yeast two-hybrid and coimmunoprecipitation assays, we report that P2 of RDV interacts with ent-kaurene oxidases, which play a key role in the biosynthesis of plant growth hormones gibberellins, in infected plants. Furthermore, the expression of ent-kaurene oxidases was reduced in the infected plants. The level of endogenous GA1 (a major active gibberellin in rice vegetative tissues) in the RDV-infected plants was lower than that in healthy plants. Exogenous application of GA3 to RDV-infected rice plants restored the normal growth phenotypes. These results provide evidence that the P2 protein of RDV interferes with the function of a cellular factor, through direct physical interactions, that is important for the biosynthesis of a growth hormone leading to symptom expression. In addition, the interaction between P2 and rice ent-kaurene oxidase-like proteins may decrease phytoalexin biosynthesis and make plants more competent for virus replication. Moreover, P2 may provide a novel tool to investigate the regulation of GA metabolism for plant growth and development.

Comparative studies on physical-chemical properties and major nutritional components of rice grain in dwarf mutant resistant to insect pests and its parent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui Hairui; Wu Dianxing; Shen Shengquan; Shu Qingyao

2004-01-01

Starch characteristics and key nutritional compositions in the dwarf mutant from transgenic rice with crylAb gene were compared with its original parent, Xiushuill. It was found that peak viscosity, hot paste viscosity and cool paste viscosity of RVA profile between the dwarf mutant and its parent were significantly different at 1% level, but apparent amylose content, gel consistence existed and breakdown viscosity of RVA profile were similar, and no significant differences existed in contents of crude protein, crude fat, total ash, amino acids and mineral compositions. It was suggested that no notable changes occurred in grain quality traits in the dwarf mutant with insect resistance. (authors)

The Rice Dwarf Virus P2 Protein Interacts with ent-Kaurene Oxidases in Vivo, Leading to Reduced Biosynthesis of Gibberellins and Rice Dwarf Symptoms1

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Shifeng; Gao, Feng; Cao, Xuesong; Chen, Mao; Ye, Gongyin; Wei, Chunhong; Li, Yi

2005-01-01

The mechanisms of viral diseases are a major focus of biology. Despite intensive investigations, how a plant virus interacts with host factors to cause diseases remains poorly understood. The Rice dwarf virus (RDV), a member of the genus Phytoreovirus, causes dwarfed growth phenotypes in infected rice (Oryza sativa) plants. The outer capsid protein P2 is essential during RDV infection of insects and thus influences transmission of RDV by the insect vector. However, its role during RDV infection within the rice host is unknown. By yeast two-hybrid and coimmunoprecipitation assays, we report that P2 of RDV interacts with ent-kaurene oxidases, which play a key role in the biosynthesis of plant growth hormones gibberellins, in infected plants. Furthermore, the expression of ent-kaurene oxidases was reduced in the infected plants. The level of endogenous GA1 (a major active gibberellin in rice vegetative tissues) in the RDV-infected plants was lower than that in healthy plants. Exogenous application of GA3 to RDV-infected rice plants restored the normal growth phenotypes. These results provide evidence that the P2 protein of RDV interferes with the function of a cellular factor, through direct physical interactions, that is important for the biosynthesis of a growth hormone leading to symptom expression. In addition, the interaction between P2 and rice ent-kaurene oxidase-like proteins may decrease phytoalexin biosynthesis and make plants more competent for virus replication. Moreover, P2 may provide a novel tool to investigate the regulation of GA metabolism for plant growth and development. PMID:16299167

Transcriptional changes of rice in response to rice black-streaked dwarf virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Mohamed M S; Ji, Wen; Wang, Muyue; Bian, Shiquan; Xu, Meng; Wang, Weiyun; Zhang, Jiangxiang; Xu, Zhihao; Yu, Meimei; Liu, Qiaoquan; Zhang, Changquan; Zhang, Honggen; Tang, Shuzhu; Gu, Minghong; Yu, Hengxiu

2017-09-10

Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV), a member of the genus Fijivirus in the family Reoviridae, causes significant economic losses in rice production in China and many other Asian countries. Although a great deal of effort has been made to elucidate the interactions among the virus, insect vectors, host and environmental conditions, few RBSDV proteins involved in pathogenesis have been identified, and the biological basis of disease development in rice remains largely unknown. Transcriptomic information associated with the disease development in rice would be helpful to unravel the biological mechanism. To determine how the rice transcriptome changes in response to RBSDV infection, we carried out RNA-Seq to perform a genome-wide gene expression analysis of a susceptible rice cultivar KTWYJ3. The transcriptomes of RBSDV-infected samples were compared to those of RBSDV-free (healthy) at two time points (time points are represented by group I and II). The results derived from the differential expression analysis in RBSDV-infected libraries vs. healthy ones in group I revealed that 102 out of a total of 281 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were up-regulated and 179 DEGs were down-regulated. Of the 2592 identified DEGs in group II, 1588 DEGs were up-regulated and 1004 DEGs were down-regulated. A total of 66 DEGs were commonly identified in both groups. Of these 66 DEGs, expression patterns for 36 DEGs were similar in both groups. Our analysis demonstrated that some genes related to disease defense and stress resistance were up-regulated while genes associated with chloroplast were down-regulated in response to RBSDV infection. In addition, some genes associated with plant-height were differentially expressed. This result indicates those genes might be involved in dwarf symptoms caused by RBSDV. Taken together, our results provide a genome-wide transcriptome analysis for rice plants in response to RBSDV infection which may contribute to the

Use of P-32 for determining varietal resistance of rice to brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens stal)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuswadi, A.N. (National Atomic Energy Agency, Jakarta (Indonesia). Pasar Djumat Research Centre)

1981-07-01

The resistance was assessed based on the feeding activities of the insect on 15-day old seedling of six test varieties namely TN 1, Asahan, Brantas, Citarum, Serayu and Mudgo. A level of 175 ..mu..Ci per seedling appeared to give sufficiently high absorption of radiophosphorus by the brown planthoppers. The level of radioactivity in the brown planthopper fed for 24 hours on labelled rice plants appeared to be correlated with the susceptibility of the rice plant to brown planthopper. The radioactivity in the honeydew of those hoppers was less correlated with the rice susceptibility. The promising resistance screening method using P-32 tracer is thus more reliable when the radioactivity is detected in the insect rather than in the honeydew.

Labelling of rice seedlings and rice plants with 32P

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Achmad Nasroh, K.

1989-01-01

Labelling of rice seedlings and rice plants with 32 P. Labelled rice seedlings can be used to tag insect pests that feed on. Radioactivity counting of 32 P in the endosperm and in the shoot of rice seeds that soaked for 72 hours in KH 2 32 PO 4 solution of 1 μCi/ml were 29,300 and 9,500 cpm respectively. When these labelled seedlings were grown in unlabelled medium the radioactivity in the shoot increased. It was due to the 32 P that was translocated to the shoot from the endosperm. The 32 P translocation reached maximum about one week after the seedling were grown in the unlabelled medium. Labelled seedlings could also be produced by growing 5, 10 and 15 days old seedlings hydroponically in Kimura B solution containing 32 P. Ten days after growing, the radioactivity concentration of the seedlings stem reached about 115,000; 85,000 and 170,000 cpm/mg dry weight for the 5, 10 and 15 days old seedlings respectively. For the implementation of this method, 20 ml labelled Kimura B was needed for labelling of one seedling. The seedlings should be prepared in tap water. During the growth the 32 P in the labelled seedlings was distributed throughout the plant, so that new leaves and tillers became also radioactive. (author). 5 refs

Three-generation reproduction toxicity study of genetically modified rice with insect resistant genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yichun; Zhuo, Qin; Gong, Zhaolong; Piao, Jianhua; Yang, Xiaoguang

2017-01-01

In the present work, we evaluated the three generation reproductive toxicity of the genetically modified rice with insectresistant cry1Ac and sck genes. 120 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into three groups which were fed with genetically modified rice diet (GM group), parental control rice diet (PR group) and AIN-93 control diet (both used as negative control) respectively. Bodyweight, food consumption, reproductive data, hematological parameters, serum chemistry, relative organ weights and histopathology for each generation were examined respectively. All the hematology and serum chemistry parameters, organ/body weight indicators were within the normal range or no change to the adverse direction was observed, although several differences in hematology and serum chemistry parameters (WBC, BUN, LDH of male rat, PLT, PCT, MPV of female rats), reproductive data (rate of morphologically abnormal sperm) were observed between GM rice group and two control groups. No macroscopic or histological adverse effects were found or considered as treatment-related, either. Overall, the three generation study of genetically modified rice with cry1Ac and sck genes at a high level showed no unintended adverse effects on rats's reproductive system. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Rice yellow mottle virus is transmitted by cows, donkeys, and grass rats in irrigated rice crops

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sarra, S.; Peters, D.

2003-01-01

Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV), endemic in Africa, is believed to be spread by chrysomelid beetles, although the infections in a field often cannot be explained by the prevailing number of beetles. We show that the grass rat Arvicanthis niloticus, domestic cows (Bos spp.), and donkeys (Asinus spp.)

Transcriptome analysis of fat bodies from two brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) populations with different virulence levels in rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Haixin; Ji, Rui; Ye, Wenfeng; Chen, Hongdan; Lai, Wenxiang; Fu, Qiang; Lou, Yonggen

2014-01-01

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), one of the most serious rice insect pests in Asia, can quickly overcome rice resistance by evolving new virulent populations. The insect fat body plays essential roles in the life cycles of insects and in plant-insect interactions. However, whether differences in fat body transcriptomes exist between insect populations with different virulence levels and whether the transcriptomic differences are related to insect virulence remain largely unknown. In this study, we performed transcriptome-wide analyses on the fat bodies of two BPH populations with different virulence levels in rice. The populations were derived from rice variety TN1 (TN1 population) and Mudgo (M population). In total, 33,776 and 32,332 unigenes from the fat bodies of TN1 and M populations, respectively, were generated using Illumina technology. Gene ontology annotations and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) orthology classifications indicated that genes related to metabolism and immunity were significantly active in the fat bodies. In addition, a total of 339 unigenes showed homology to genes of yeast-like symbionts (YLSs) from 12 genera and endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. A comparative analysis of the two transcriptomes generated 7,860 differentially expressed genes. GO annotations and enrichment analysis of KEGG pathways indicated these differentially expressed transcripts might be involved in metabolism and immunity. Finally, 105 differentially expressed genes from YLSs and Wolbachia were identified, genes which might be associated with the formation of different virulent populations. This study was the first to compare the fat-body transcriptomes of two BPH populations having different virulence traits and to find genes that may be related to this difference. Our findings provide a molecular resource for future investigations of fat bodies and will be useful in examining the interactions between the fat body and virulence

Sexually transmitted nematodes affect spermatophylax production in the cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus

OpenAIRE

Lien T. Luong; Harry K. Kaya

2005-01-01

Parasites can influence various aspects of host reproduction and mating, including spermatophore production. In the cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus, males transfer to females a two-part spermatophore containing a sperm-filled ampulla and a gelatinous spermatophylax (nuptial gift). Here we investigate the effects of a sexually transmitted nematode on male spermatophylax production. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have the potential to reduce host fertility or fecundity in insect hosts. To o...

The use of P-32 for determining varietal resistance of rice to brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens stal)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuswadi, Achmad Nasroh

1981-01-01

The resistance was assessed uased on the feeding activities of the insect on 15-day old seedling of six test varietes namely TN 1, Asahan, Brantas, Citarum, Serayu and Mudgo. A level of 175 μCi per seedling appeared to give sufficiently high absorption of radiophosphorus by the brown planthoppers. The level of radioactivity in the brown planthopper fed for 24 hours on labelled rice plants appeared to be correlated with the susceptibility of the rice plant to brown planthopper. The radioactivity in the honeydew of those hoppers was less correlated with the rice susceptibility. The promising resistance screening method using P-32 tracer is thus more reliable when the radioactivity is detected in the insect rather than in the honeydew. (author)

[Exposure degree of important non-target arthropods to Cry2Aa in Bt rice fields].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qing-Ling; Li, Yun-He; Hua, Hong-Xia; Yang, Chang-Ju; Wu, Hong-Jin; Peng, Yu-Fa

2013-06-01

Based on the principle of "risk = hazard x exposure", the selected representative nontarget organisms in the assessment of the potential effects of insect-resistant genetically modified (GM) crops on non-target arthropods in laboratory are generally the arthropod species highly exposed to the insecticidal proteins expressed by the GM crops in farmland ecosystem. In order to understand the exposure degree of the important arthropod species to Cry proteins in Bt rice fields, and to select the appropriate non-target arthropods in the risk assessment of insect-resistant GM crops, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was conducted to measure the Cry2Aa protein concentration in the arthropods collected from the cry2Aa rice fields at different rice growth stages. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the Cry2Aa content protein concentration in different arthropod species. Some species did not contain Cry2Aa protein, while some species contained larger amounts of Cry2Aa protein. Relative to the arthropods colleted after rice anthesis, the arthropods colleted in rice anthesis contained relative higher concentrations of Cry2Aa protein, especially for the predacious arthropods. No Cry proteins were detected in parasitic arthropods. This study provided references for the laboratory assessment of the effects of GM rice on nontarget arthropods.

The application of secondary metabolites in the study of sorghum insect resistance

Science.gov (United States)

Chunming, Bai; Yifei, Liu; Xiaochun, Lu

2018-03-01

Insect attack is one of the main factors for limiting the production of rice and sorghum. To improve resistance to pests of rice and sorghum will be of great significance for meliorating their production and quality. However, the source and material of anti-pest was scarce. In this study, we will study on the expression patterns of hydrocyanic acid biosynthesis relative genes in sorghum firstly. And we will also genetically transform them into rice and sorghum by specific and constitutive promoters and verify their pest-resistant ability. Finally, high pest-resistant genetically modified new sorghum cultivars will be bred with favorable comprehensive agronomic traits.

RF and microwave dielectric properties of stored-grain insects and their implications for potential insect control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, S.O.; Bartley, P.G. Jr.; Lawrence, K.C.

1998-01-01

The permittivities of bulk samples of adult insects of the rice weevil, red flour beetle, sawtoothed grain beetle, and lesser grain borer were measured at single frequencies of 9.4 and 11.7 Ghz in X-band waveguide at about 23 degrees C, and permittivities of homogenized samples of the same species were measured from 0.2 to 20 GHz at temperatures from 10 to 70 degrees C with an open-ended coaxial-line probe and network analyzer. Sample densities for the coaxial-line probe measurements were determined from the X-band measurements with a linear relationship between the cube root of the dielectric constant and sample bulk density determined from permittivity measurements on bulk samples of the adult insects in a waveguide sample holder taken with the short-circuited line technique. Since linearity of the cube root of the dielectric constant with bulk density is consistent with the Landau and Lifshitz, Looyenga dielectric mixture equation, this equation was used to calculate estimated dielectric constants and loss factors of the insects from measured permittivities and volume fractions determined from measured bulk density and adult insect density determined by air-comparison pycnometer measurements. Estimated dielectric constants and loss factors of the insects are presented graphically for temperatures from 10 to 70 degrees C, and tabulated data are provided for range information and comparative purposes

Gibberellin regulates pollen viability and pollen tube growth in rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Chhun, Tory; Aya, Koichiro; Asano, Kenji; Yamamoto, Eiji; Morinaka, Yoichi; Watanabe, Masao; Kitano, Hidemi; Ashikari, Motoyuki; Matsuoka, Makoto; Ueguchi-Tanaka, Miyako

2007-12-01

Gibberellins (GAs) play many biological roles in higher plants. We collected and performed genetic analysis on rice (Oryza sativa) GA-related mutants, including GA-deficient and GA-insensitive mutants. Genetic analysis of the mutants revealed that rice GA-deficient mutations are not transmitted as Mendelian traits to the next generation following self-pollination of F1 heterozygous plants, although GA-insensitive mutations are transmitted normally. To understand these differences in transmission, we examined the effect of GA on microsporogenesis and pollen tube elongation in rice using new GA-deficient and GA-insensitive mutants that produce semifertile flowers. Phenotypic analysis revealed that the GA-deficient mutant reduced pollen elongation1 is defective in pollen tube elongation, resulting in a low fertilization frequency, whereas the GA-insensitive semidominant mutant Slr1-d3 is mainly defective in viable pollen production. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed that GA biosynthesis genes tested whose mutations are transmitted to the next generation at a lower frequency are preferentially expressed after meiosis during pollen development, but expression is absent or very low before the meiosis stage, whereas GA signal-related genes are actively expressed before meiosis. Based on these observations, we predict that the transmission of GA-signaling genes occurs in a sporophytic manner, since the protein products and/or mRNA transcripts of these genes may be introduced into pollen-carrying mutant alleles, whereas GA synthesis genes are transmitted in a gametophytic manner, since these genes are preferentially expressed after meiosis.

Analysis of the populations genetic variability of Tagosodes orizicolus (Homoptera: Delphacidae), virus vector of the rice white leaf

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez Alfaro, Myriam

2006-01-01

Tagosodes orizicolus (Homoptera: Delphacidae), is a monophagous insect of the rice and virus vector of the white leaf (RHBV). It is distributed in America Central, El Caribe, part of the America del Sur and in Costa Rica it is in all the producing zones of rice. The genetic variability was analyzed by means of RAPD-PCR of individuals from three populations of Costa Rica: Parrita, Guanacaste (Liberia) y San Carlos (Santa Clara), that they are found separated geographically. The technique consisted of amplifying regions at random of the genome of these insects utilizing five primers. A total of 72 polymorphic bands were obtained, that upon being analyzed statistically by means of the multivariate analysis program of numerical taxonomy could show a clear genetic distancing among said populations. The genetic distance observed in the molecular analysis can be explained for the climatic and/or geographical isolation of the populations or by the incident of Wolbachia, riquettsia that induces cytoplasmic sterility in insects. These symbionts are transmitted of generation in generation, of the mother to their offspring and they cause reproductive alterations as cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis and feminization. The presence of Wolbachia was determined by means of transmission electronic microscopy being observed in the greasy and muscular weave of the abdomen of T. orizicolus. Rickettsias present pleomorphic morphology and form small groups, that are characterized for the presence of electrondense material semidetached to the cell wall with an interior electronlucent. Its size in transverse cuts ranged between 520 nm of length X 470 nm of width. In addition, its presence was detected by means of the amplification by PCR of the genomic DNA of the insects; a specific primer for the DNA ribosomal 16S of Wolbachia was utilized for it. A 86% of insects of the San Carlos population were positive, a 96% was determined for Guanacaste, a 37% for Parrita and a 100% for

Effect of microwave energy on grain quality of four Spanish rice varieties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osca, J.M.; Marzal, A.; Castell, V.; Martínez, J.; Benedito, C.; Balbastre, J.V.; Sánchez-Hernández, D.

2005-01-01

A microwave system can be used as an alternative method to methyl bromide to control rice storage pests. Four rice varieties (Oryza sativa L.) grown in Spain (‘Bomba’, ‘Senia’, ‘Puntal’ and ‘Thainato’) were irradiated with three levels of microwave energy (0, 70 and 100 J g –1 ). Rice quality attributes were analysed to establish hypothetical quality changes in order to use microwave energy as an alternative method to control pests. Results of the factorial analysis showed that the analysed attributes differed more within varieties than among microwave treatments of the varieties, except for ‘Thainato’ which, after applying microwave energy of 100 J g –1 , presented a different adhesiveness from the other two treatments determined by factor 1 and ‘Puntal’ treated with microwaves presented a different water uptake and loss of solids in cooking water determined by factor 3 than the control. The increase in hardness and decrease in adhesiveness as a consequence of the microwave treatment could possibly damage rice quality. This aspect must be taken into account with this method. In conclusion, microwave energy can be used as an alternative method of insect control because it does not seriously affect rice quality. Microwave treatments did not leave undesirable residues and could be as effective at controlling insect infestation as any procedure currently available. (author) [es

Populations of Rice Grain Bug, Paraeuscosmetus pallicomis, (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) in Weed-free Paddy Field, Weedy Paddy Field and Paddy Dykes.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, Tamrin; Nasruddin, Andi; Agus, Nurariaty

2017-07-01

Research on the populations of rice grain bug Paraeuscosmetus pallicomis Dallas (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) in paddy field ecosystems was performed with the aim to determine the populations of rice grain bug in weed-free paddy field, weedy paddy field, and paddy dykes. Experiment was carried out in the village of Paccellekang in the district of Patallasang of Gowa Regency in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Observations were performed during the milky grain stage (85 days after planting), the mature grain stage (105 days after planting), and one day after harvest (115 days after transplanting). Results showed that 85 days after the transplanting, the populations of rice grain bug was significantly higher in the weedy paddy field compared to weed-free field and paddy dykes with total numbers of 1.75, 3.53, and 0.31 insects per 2 hills, respectively. Similarly, 105 days after the transplanting, 2.53, 5.53, and 0.11 insects per hill, respectively. However, one day after the harvest (115 days after transplanting) the number of insects in weed-free field decreased, while in the dykes increased, and the weedy plot still had the highest number of insects per 2 hills. Our results suggested that weeds played an important role in regulating the bug population by providing alternative shelter and foods for the insect.

Higher taxa as surrogates of species richness of spiders in insect-resistant transgenic rice

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Sheng Lin; Min-Sheng You; Liette Vasseur; Guang Yang; Feng-Jing Liu; Feng Guo

2012-01-01

Biodiversity assessments can often be time- and resource-consuming.Several alternative approaches have been proposed to reduce sampling efforts,including indicator taxa and surrogates.In this study,we examine the reliability of higher taxon surrogates to predict species richness in two experimental rice fields of Fujian Province,southeastern China during 2005 and 2009.Spider samples in transgenic and nontransgenic plots were collected using a suction sampler.Both the genus and family surrogates had significant and positive linear relationships with species richness in the transgenic and nontransgenic rice fields.The rice varieties did not significantly influence the linear relationships.Our findings suggest that higher-taxon surrogacy could be a useful alternative to complete species inventory for risk assessments of transgenic rice.

Horizontal Transmission of Intracellular Insect Symbionts via Plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Chrostek

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Experimental evidence is accumulating that endosymbionts of phytophagous insects may transmit horizontally via plants. Intracellular symbionts known for manipulating insect reproduction and altering fitness (Rickettsia, Cardinium, Wolbachia, and bacterial parasite of the leafhopper Euscelidius variegatus have been found to travel from infected insects into plants. Other insects, either of the same or different species can acquire the symbiont from the plant through feeding, and in some cases transfer it to their progeny. These reports prompt many questions regarding how intracellular insect symbionts are delivered to plants and how they affect them. Are symbionts passively transported along the insect-plant-insect path, or do they actively participate in the process? How widespread are these interactions? How does symbiont presence influence the plant? And what conditions are required for the new infection to establish in an insect? From an ecological, evolutionary, and applied perspective, this mode of horizontal transmission could have profound implications if occurring frequently enough or if new stable symbiont infections are established. Transmission of symbionts through plants likely represents an underappreciated means of infection, both in terms of symbiont epidemiology and the movement of symbionts to new host species.

THE SEGREGATION PATTERN OF INSECT RESISTANCE GENES IN THE PROGENIES AND CROSSES OF TRANSGENIC ROJOLELE RICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoto Satoto

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Successful application of genetic transformation technique, especially in developing rice variety resistant to brown plant hopper and stem borer, will depend on transgene being expressed and the gene inherited in a stable and predictable manner. This study aimed to analyse transgene segregation pattern of the progenies and the crosses of transgenic rice cv. Rojolele harboring cry1Ab and gna genes. The third generation (T2 of fivetransgenic Rojolele events containing gna and/or cry1Ab were evaluated for two generations to identify the homozygous lines and to study their inheritance. The homozygous lines were selected based on the result of PCR technique. The segregation patterns of gna and cry1Ab were studied in eight F2 populations derived from Rojolele x transgenic Rojolele homozygous for cry1Ab and or gna and their reciprocal crosses. Data  resulted from PCR of F2 population were analysed using a Chi Square test. The study obtained six homozygous lines for gna, namely A22- 1-32, A22-1-37, C72-1-9, F11-1-48, K21-1-39, K21-1-48, and two homozygous lines for cry1Ab, namely K21-1-39 and K21- 1-48. Both cry1Ab and gna transgenes had been inherited through selfing and crossing with their wild type as indicated from the F1 containing gna and cry1Ab as many as 48.4% and 47.4%, respectively. In six of the eight crosses, gna was inherited in a 3:1 ratio consistent with Mendelian inheritance of a single dominant locus, while in the remaining two crosses, gna was segregated in a 1:1 ratio. The presence of cry1Ab in F2 populations also showed a 3:1 segregation ratio in all crosses. In the F2 population derived from F1 plant containing cry1Ab and gna, both transgenes segregated in a 9:3:3:1 dihybrid segregation ratio. This study will add to the diversity of genetic sources for insect resistance and allow further use of these transgenic lines for pyramiding resistance to brown plant hopper and stem borer or  separately in rice breeding programs whenever

Genomics of interaction between the brown planthopper and rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Shengli; Zhao, Yan; Du, Bo; Chen, Rongzhi; Zhu, Lili; He, Guangcun

2017-02-01

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) and the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens (Stål)) form a model system for dissection of the mechanism of interaction between insect pest and crop. In this review, we focus on the genomics of BPH-rice interaction. On the side of rice, a number of BPH-resistance genes have been identified genetically. Thirteen of these genes have been cloned which shed a light on the molecular basis of the interaction. On the aspect of BPH, a lot of salivary proteins have been identified using transcriptome and proteome techniques. The genetic loci of virulence were mapped in BPH genome based on the linkage map. The understanding of interaction between BPH and rice will provide novel insights into efficient control of this pest. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acetic Acid Bacteria as Symbionts of Insects

KAUST Repository

Crotti, Elena; Chouaia, Bessem; Alma, Alberto; Favia, Guido; Bandi, Claudio; Bourtzis, Kostas; Daffonchio, Daniele

2016-01-01

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are being increasingly described as associating with different insect species that rely on sugar-based diets. AAB have been found in several insect orders, among them Diptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera, including several vectors of plant, animal, and human diseases. AAB have been shown to associate with the epithelia of different organs of the host, they are able to move within the insect’s body and to be transmitted horizontally and vertically. Here, we review the ecology of AAB and examine their relationships with different insect models including mosquitoes, leafhoppers, and honey bees. We also discuss the potential use of AAB in symbiont-based control strategies, such as “Trojan-horse” agents, to block the transmission of vector-borne diseases.

Acetic Acid Bacteria as Symbionts of Insects

KAUST Repository

Crotti, Elena

2016-06-14

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are being increasingly described as associating with different insect species that rely on sugar-based diets. AAB have been found in several insect orders, among them Diptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera, including several vectors of plant, animal, and human diseases. AAB have been shown to associate with the epithelia of different organs of the host, they are able to move within the insect’s body and to be transmitted horizontally and vertically. Here, we review the ecology of AAB and examine their relationships with different insect models including mosquitoes, leafhoppers, and honey bees. We also discuss the potential use of AAB in symbiont-based control strategies, such as “Trojan-horse” agents, to block the transmission of vector-borne diseases.

Current Insights into Research on Rice stripe virus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Won Kyong Cho

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Rice stripe virus (RSV is one of the most destructive viruses of rice, and greatly reduces rice production in China, Japan, and Korea, where mostly japonica cultivars of rice are grown. RSV is transmitted by the small brown plant-hopper (SBPH in a persistent and circulative-propagative manner. Several methods have been developed for detection of RSV, which is composed of four single-stranded RNAs that encode seven proteins. Genome sequence data and comparative phylogenetic analysis have been used to identify the origin and diversity of RSV isolates. Several rice varieties resistant to RSV have been selected and QTL analysis and fine mapping have been intensively performed to map RSV resistance loci or genes. RSV genes have been used to generate several genetically modified transgenic rice plants with RSV resistance. Recently, genome-wide transcriptome analyses and deep sequencing have been used to identify mRNAs and small RNAs involved in RSV infection; several rice host factors that interact with RSV proteins have also been identified. In this article, we review the current statues of RSV research and propose integrated approaches for the study of interactions among RSV, rice, and the SBPH.

A Survey of Myanmar Rice Production and Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.A.A. Naing

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Although modern high yielding varieties were introduced into Myanmar in the early 1980s, the national average of rice grain yield has stagnated at 3.2-3.4 t ha-1. To identify yield constraints, input intensities and the general practices of rice cultivation in Myanmar, a survey was conducted during the wet seasons of 2001 and 2002. A total of 98 farmers from five townships in Upper Myanmar and 16 in Lower Myanmar representing the most important areas of rice production were questioned on their management practices, yields, and perceived yield constraints over the previous four years. There was a recent decrease in the overall average rate of fertilizer application, an increase in the prevalence of rice-legume cropping systems, and only localized insect pest or disease problems. Additionally, rice yields were found to be higher in Upper Myanmar, likely the results of more suitable weather conditions, better irrigation, and ready market access. Furthermore, a number of critical factors affecting production are identified and possible solutions discussed.

Chemical and Plant-Based Insect Repellents: Efficacy, Safety, and Toxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, James H

2016-03-01

Most emerging infectious diseases today are arthropod-borne and cannot be prevented by vaccinations. Because insect repellents offer important topical barriers of personal protection from arthropod-borne infectious diseases, the main objectives of this article were to describe the growing threats to public health from emerging arthropod-borne infectious diseases, to define the differences between insect repellents and insecticides, and to compare the efficacies and toxicities of chemical and plant-derived insect repellents. Internet search engines were queried with key words to identify scientific articles on the efficacy, safety, and toxicity of chemical and plant-derived topical insect repellants and insecticides to meet these objectives. Data sources reviewed included case reports; case series; observational, longitudinal, and surveillance studies; and entomological and toxicological studies. Descriptive analysis of the data sources identified the most effective application of insect repellents as a combination of topical chemical repellents, either N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (formerly N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide, or DEET) or picaridin, and permethrin-impregnated or other pyrethroid-impregnated clothing over topically treated skin. The insecticide-treated clothing would provide contact-level insecticidal effects and provide better, longer lasting protection against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes and ticks than topical DEET or picaridin alone. In special cases, where environmental exposures to disease-transmitting ticks, biting midges, sandflies, or blackflies are anticipated, topical insect repellents containing IR3535, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus (p-menthane-3, 8-diol or PMD) would offer better topical protection than topical DEET alone. Copyright © 2016 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Plant-mediated interspecific horizontal transmission of an intracellular symbiont in insects.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonella, Elena; Pajoro, Massimo; Marzorati, Massimo; Crotti, Elena; Mandrioli, Mauro; Pontini, Marianna; Bulgari, Daniela; Negri, Ilaria; Sacchi, Luciano; Chouaia, Bessem; Daffonchio, Daniele; Alma, Alberto

2015-11-13

Intracellular reproductive manipulators, such as Candidatus Cardinium and Wolbachia are vertically transmitted to progeny but rarely show co-speciation with the host. In sap-feeding insects, plant tissues have been proposed as alternative horizontal routes of interspecific transmission, but experimental evidence is limited. Here we report results from experiments that show that Cardinium is horizontally transmitted between different phloem sap-feeding insect species through plants. Quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization experiments indicated that the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus releases Cardinium from its salivary glands during feeding on both artificial media and grapevine leaves. Successional time-course feeding experiments with S. titanus initially fed sugar solutions or small areas of grapevine leaves followed by feeding by the phytoplasma vector Macrosteles quadripunctulatus or the grapevine feeder Empoasca vitis revealed that the symbionts were transmitted to both species. Explaining interspecific horizontal transmission through plants improves our understanding of how symbionts spread, their lifestyle and the symbiont-host intermixed evolutionary pattern.

Plant-mediated interspecific horizontal transmission of an intracellular symbiont in insects

KAUST Repository

Gonella, Elena

2015-11-13

Intracellular reproductive manipulators, such as Candidatus Cardinium and Wolbachia are vertically transmitted to progeny but rarely show co-speciation with the host. In sap-feeding insects, plant tissues have been proposed as alternative horizontal routes of interspecific transmission, but experimental evidence is limited. Here we report results from experiments that show that Cardinium is horizontally transmitted between different phloem sap-feeding insect species through plants. Quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization experiments indicated that the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus releases Cardinium from its salivary glands during feeding on both artificial media and grapevine leaves. Successional time-course feeding experiments with S. titanus initially fed sugar solutions or small areas of grapevine leaves followed by feeding by the phytoplasma vector Macrosteles quadripunctulatus or the grapevine feeder Empoasca vitis revealed that the symbionts were transmitted to both species. Explaining interspecific horizontal transmission through plants improves our understanding of how symbionts spread, their lifestyle and the symbiont-host intermixed evolutionary pattern.

Delay-tolerant mobile network protocol for rice field monitoring using wireless sensor networks

Science.gov (United States)

Guitton, Alexandre; Andres, Frédéric; Cardoso, Jarbas Lopes; Kawtrakul, Asanee; Barbin, Silvio E.

2015-10-01

The monitoring of rice fields can improve productivity by helping farmers throughout the rice cultivation cycle, on various issues: when to harvest, when to treat the crops against disease, when to increase the water level, how to share observations and decisions made in a collaborative way, etc. In this paper, we propose an architecture to monitor a rice field by a wireless sensor network. Our architecture is based on static sensor nodes forming a disconnected network, and mobile nodes communicating with the sensor nodes in a delay-tolerant manner. The data collected by the static sensor nodes are transmitted to mobile nodes, which in turn transmit them to a gateway, connected to a database, for further analysis. We focus on the related architecture, as well as on the energy-efficient protocols intended to perform the data collection.

Marker-assisted improvement of the elite restorer line of rice, RPHR ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

V. ABHILASH KUMAR

% calorie requirement for more than 70%. Indians. The production of rice must be doubled to meet the requirement of the increasing population. This can be done only by enhancing the productivity and preventing losses caused by insect-pest ...

Chitin utilization by the insect-transmitted bacterium Xylella fastidiosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Killiny, Nabil; Prado, Simone S; Almeida, Rodrigo P P

2010-09-01

Xylella fastidiosa is an insect-borne bacterium that colonizes xylem vessels of a large number of host plants, including several crops of economic importance. Chitin is a polysaccharide present in the cuticle of leafhopper vectors of X. fastidiosa and may serve as a carbon source for this bacterium. Biological assays showed that X. fastidiosa reached larger populations in the presence of chitin. Additionally, chitin induced phenotypic changes in this bacterium, notably increasing adhesiveness. Quantitative PCR assays indicated transcriptional changes in the presence of chitin, and an enzymatic assay demonstrated chitinolytic activity by X. fastidiosa. An ortholog of the chitinase A gene (chiA) was identified in the X. fastidiosa genome. The in silico analysis revealed that the open reading frame of chiA encodes a protein of 351 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 40 kDa. chiA is in a locus that consists of genes implicated in polysaccharide degradation. Moreover, this locus was also found in the genomes of closely related bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas, which are plant but not insect associated. X. fastidiosa degraded chitin when grown on a solid chitin-yeast extract-agar medium and grew in liquid medium with chitin as the sole carbon source; ChiA was also determined to be secreted. The gene encoding ChiA was cloned into Escherichia coli, and endochitinase activity was detected in the transformant, showing that the gene is functional and involved in chitin degradation. The results suggest that X. fastidiosa may use its vectors' foregut surface as a carbon source. In addition, chitin may trigger X. fastidiosa's gene regulation and biofilm formation within vectors. Further work is necessary to characterize the role of chitin and its utilization in X. fastidiosa.

Transcriptome analysis of fat bodies from two brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens populations with different virulence levels in rice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haixin Yu

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål, one of the most serious rice insect pests in Asia, can quickly overcome rice resistance by evolving new virulent populations. The insect fat body plays essential roles in the life cycles of insects and in plant-insect interactions. However, whether differences in fat body transcriptomes exist between insect populations with different virulence levels and whether the transcriptomic differences are related to insect virulence remain largely unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, we performed transcriptome-wide analyses on the fat bodies of two BPH populations with different virulence levels in rice. The populations were derived from rice variety TN1 (TN1 population and Mudgo (M population. In total, 33,776 and 32,332 unigenes from the fat bodies of TN1 and M populations, respectively, were generated using Illumina technology. Gene ontology annotations and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG orthology classifications indicated that genes related to metabolism and immunity were significantly active in the fat bodies. In addition, a total of 339 unigenes showed homology to genes of yeast-like symbionts (YLSs from 12 genera and endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. A comparative analysis of the two transcriptomes generated 7,860 differentially expressed genes. GO annotations and enrichment analysis of KEGG pathways indicated these differentially expressed transcripts might be involved in metabolism and immunity. Finally, 105 differentially expressed genes from YLSs and Wolbachia were identified, genes which might be associated with the formation of different virulent populations. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study was the first to compare the fat-body transcriptomes of two BPH populations having different virulence traits and to find genes that may be related to this difference. Our findings provide a molecular resource for future investigations of fat bodies

Transcriptome Analysis of Fat Bodies from Two Brown Planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) Populations with Different Virulence Levels in Rice

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hongdan; Lai, Wenxiang; Fu, Qiang; Lou, Yonggen

2014-01-01

Background The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), one of the most serious rice insect pests in Asia, can quickly overcome rice resistance by evolving new virulent populations. The insect fat body plays essential roles in the life cycles of insects and in plant-insect interactions. However, whether differences in fat body transcriptomes exist between insect populations with different virulence levels and whether the transcriptomic differences are related to insect virulence remain largely unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we performed transcriptome-wide analyses on the fat bodies of two BPH populations with different virulence levels in rice. The populations were derived from rice variety TN1 (TN1 population) and Mudgo (M population). In total, 33,776 and 32,332 unigenes from the fat bodies of TN1 and M populations, respectively, were generated using Illumina technology. Gene ontology annotations and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) orthology classifications indicated that genes related to metabolism and immunity were significantly active in the fat bodies. In addition, a total of 339 unigenes showed homology to genes of yeast-like symbionts (YLSs) from 12 genera and endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. A comparative analysis of the two transcriptomes generated 7,860 differentially expressed genes. GO annotations and enrichment analysis of KEGG pathways indicated these differentially expressed transcripts might be involved in metabolism and immunity. Finally, 105 differentially expressed genes from YLSs and Wolbachia were identified, genes which might be associated with the formation of different virulent populations. Conclusions/Significance This study was the first to compare the fat-body transcriptomes of two BPH populations having different virulence traits and to find genes that may be related to this difference. Our findings provide a molecular resource for future investigations of fat bodies and will be useful

Effects of Transgenic cry1Ca Rice on the Development of Xenopus laevis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiuping Chen

Full Text Available In fields of genetically modified, insect-resistant rice expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt proteins, frogs are exposed to Bt Cry proteins by consuming both target and non-target insects, and through their highly permeable skin. In the present study, we assessed the potential risk posed by transgenic cry1Ca rice (T1C-19 on the development of a frog species by adding purified Cry1Ca protein or T1C-19 rice straw into the rearing water of Xenopus laevis tadpoles, and by feeding X. laevis froglets diets containing rice grains of T1C-19 or its non-transformed counterpart MH63. Our results showed that there were no significant differences among groups receiving 100 μg L-1 or 10 μg L-1 Cry1Ca and the blank control in terms of time to completed metamorphosis, survival rate, body weight, body length, organ weight and liver enzyme activity after being exposed to the Cry1Ca (P > 0.05. Although some detection indices in the rice straw groups were significantly different from those of the blank control group (P < 0.05, there was no significant difference between the T1C-19 and MH63 rice straw groups. Moreover, there were no significant differences in the mortality rate, body weight, daily weight gain, liver and fat body weight of the froglets between the T1C-19 and MH63 dietary groups after 90 days, and there were no abnormal pathological changes in the stomach, intestines, livers, spleens and gonads. Thus, we conclude that the planting of transgenic cry1Ca rice will not adversely affect frog development.

Market testing and consumer acceptance of irradiated rice (Oryza sativa indica Linn.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ungsunantwiwat, Ampai; Sophonsa, Sombut

2001-01-01

Special grade A fragrant rice (Jasmine rice) of 13% moisture content was obtained from a local miller in Bangkok. Low density polyethylene, 29.5 cm in width x 45 cm in length and 200 micron in thickness, was used to pack the rice with a net weight of 5 kg. The irradiated food label was printed on one side of the bag to comply with food control regulations. The color and the ink for marking were tested for gamma radiation compatibility. A total of 800 bags of rice, with a total gross weight of 4,000 kg, were irradiated at a minimum absorbed dose at 0.5 kGy for insect disinfestation. Radiation treatment was carried out using a multi-purpose, carrier type gamma irradiator (Model JS-8900, Serial No. IR-155) located at the Thai Irradiation Center. Irradiated rice was distributed on a weekly basis to food stores in Bangkok and Pathum Thani, as well as to various governmental organizations and interested individuals. The product was sold at 60 bahts per bag (approx. US$ 2.4) to retailers. Various commercial brands of non-irradiated rice of 5 kg size, were available in the market at 52 to 78 bahts per bag (approx. US $ 2.08 to 3.12), depending on quality and brand name. During the distribution, a leaflet of educational information was given to the consumer. A simple questionnaire used in the marketing trial indicated that 72% of the consumers bought irradiated rice because of the good quality of the product based on visual inspection, and 28% of them were willing to try the new product. Most consumers preferred irradiated rice to chemical treatment (fumigation) for insect disinfestation. However, most consumers were not sure if they would like to buy irradiated rice again unless its cooking quality was acceptable. Market testing of irradiated rice in the upper-class market or supermarket was unsuccessful because of limitations in the sale and service conditions. To meet the requirement of the supermarket retailer, irradiated rice had to be supplied on a monthly basis, with

Application of gamma-ray irradiation technique to select, create and develop super rice with high quality to substitute the imported hybrid rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tran Duy Quy; Tran Duy Vuong; Tran Duy Duong; Bui Huy Thuc

2015-01-01

Three varieties NPT3, BQ and TQ14 were selected by irradiation ray source Gamma Co-60 with dry seed, 13% grain moisture and created at 25-30 krad. NPT3 is super rice varieties with characteristics such as: extremely short growing period (105-110 day crop; 130- 135 days in the spring, the average yield of 9-10 tones/ha), quality, stem, leaf stand, suitable for intensive capability, able to resist pests and unfavorable conditions especially the elements of productivity (amylase from 15-16%) and mass produced including hybrid rice as Nhi Uu 868, Thien Nguyen Uu 9, HYT100, etc. BQ rice varieties were high quality, average productivity gain of 7.5- 8.0 ton/ha, equivalent to hybrid rice, short growth period (105-110 days in summer season; 120- 130 days in spring season), and quality rice: content 18-20% amylose, rice delicious, supple as BC15. TQ14 varieties was planted in 2 seasons/ year, with agricultural and biological characteristics as Khang-Dan18 mutant with wide adaptation, high yield potential, the average gain from 5.9 to 6.2 tones/ha, short growth period (105-110 days in summer season, 130-135 days in spring season), insect resistance, quality of rice suitable for manufacturing technology like noodles, instant noodles, rice noodles, Ethanol. (author)

Organic rice IPM research update in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

U.S. organic rice production has steadily increased over the past decade, with a majority of the acreage being grown in the southern region. Because of the warm and humid environments and the long growing season in the region, weed, disease and insect pests are among the primary factors limiting org...

Increasing rice production in Malaysia: Department of Agriculture approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asna Booty Othman; Chua Lee Kiang; Rathinam Thiagarajan; Aziziah Md Jan

2002-01-01

Increasing rice productivity will continue to be an important agenda in the agricultural development program of the country. This represents a challenge to the Department of Agriculture. To address this challenge, it calls for creativity, innovation, ideas and initiatives in the use of technologies that consist of land leveling, in the field water management, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), production and distribution of quality seeds, effective fertilizer usage and value added activities. Rice areas which have been leveled using laser guided technology have shown yield increase from 3.3 t/ha to 5.1 t/ha. In-field water management increases rice yield, reduces water wastage and ensures timeliness of operations and improve soil water bearing capacity. IPM has proven highly beneficial in the control of field rats, reducing the incidence of diseases such as rice blast, lowering the occurrence of insect pest outbreaks and weed infestation. Fish rearing and fattening of ducklings to adulthood in the rice fields have also been undertaken as profitable enterprises in the rice farming system. In its effort to modernise and increase rice productivity, the Department of Agriculture approach in acquisition of technology from research agencies, and its adaptation and adoption are discussed. Any technology promoted must be economically viable, socially acceptable and technologically feasible for effective implementation. (Author)

Phytoplasma protein effector SAP11 enhances insect vector reproduction by manipulating plant development and defense hormone biosynthesis

OpenAIRE

Sugio, Akiko; Kingdom, Heather N.; MacLean, Allyson M.; Grieve, Victoria M.; Hogenhout, Saskia A.

2011-01-01

Phytoplasmas are insect-transmitted phytopathogenic bacteria that can alter plant morphology and the longevity and reproduction rates and behavior of their insect vectors. There are various examples of animal and plant parasites that alter the host phenotype to attract insect vectors, but it is unclear how these parasites accomplish this. We hypothesized that phytoplasmas produce effectors that modulate specific targets in their hosts leading to the changes in plant development and insect per...

Cobalt-60 gamma radiation effects on degradation of pesticides used in stored rice and beans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groppo, Gerson A.

1988-02-01

The present work, carried out at CENA, an agriculture nuclear energy center - University of Sao Paulo - Brazil, investigates the Cobalt-60 gamma radiation effects on insecticides applied to stored rice and beans. The radiation dose applied - 200 Gy - to the stored rice and beans treated with insecticides was not sufficient to cause a noticeable chemical degradation through insect mortality. (author). 31 refs., 23 tabs

Phytoplasmas: bacteria that manipulate plants and insects.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogenhout, Saskia A; Oshima, Kenro; Ammar, El-Desouky; Kakizawa, Shigeyuki; Kingdom, Heather N; Namba, Shigetou

2008-07-01

Superkingdom Prokaryota; Kingdom Monera; Domain Bacteria; Phylum Firmicutes (low-G+C, Gram-positive eubacteria); Class Mollicutes; Candidatus (Ca.) genus Phytoplasma. Ca. Phytoplasma comprises approximately 30 distinct clades based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses of approximately 200 phytoplasmas. Phytoplasmas are mostly dependent on insect transmission for their spread and survival. The phytoplasma life cycle involves replication in insects and plants. They infect the insect but are phloem-limited in plants. Members of Ca. Phytoplasma asteris (16SrI group phytoplasmas) are found in 80 monocot and dicot plant species in most parts of the world. Experimentally, they can be transmitted by approximately 30, frequently polyphagous insect species, to 200 diverse plant species. In plants, phytoplasmas induce symptoms that suggest interference with plant development. Typical symptoms include: witches' broom (clustering of branches) of developing tissues; phyllody (retrograde metamorphosis of the floral organs to the condition of leaves); virescence (green coloration of non-green flower parts); bolting (growth of elongated stalks); formation of bunchy fibrous secondary roots; reddening of leaves and stems; generalized yellowing, decline and stunting of plants; and phloem necrosis. Phytoplasmas can be pathogenic to some insect hosts, but generally do not negatively affect the fitness of their major insect vector(s). In fact, phytoplasmas can increase fecundity and survival of insect vectors, and may influence flight behaviour and plant host preference of their insect hosts. The most common practices are the spraying of various insecticides to control insect vectors, and removal of symptomatic plants. Phytoplasma-resistant cultivars are not available for the vast majority of affected crops.

Plant-mediated interspecific horizontal transmission of an intracellular symbiont in insects

KAUST Repository

Gonella, Elena; Pajoro, Massimo; Marzorati, Massimo; Crotti, Elena; Mandrioli, Mauro; Pontini, Marianna; Bulgari, Daniela; Negri, Ilaria; Sacchi, Luciano; Chouaia, Bessem; Daffonchio, Daniele; Alma, Alberto

2015-01-01

Intracellular reproductive manipulators, such as Candidatus Cardinium and Wolbachia are vertically transmitted to progeny but rarely show co-speciation with the host. In sap-feeding insects, plant tissues have been proposed as alternative horizontal

Induction of Systemic Resistance against Aphids by Endophytic Bacillus velezensis YC7010 via Expressing PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4 in Arabidopsis

OpenAIRE

Rashid, Md. Harun-Or-; Khan, Ajmal; Hossain, Mohammad T.; Chung, Young R.

2017-01-01

Aphids are the most destructive insect pests. They suck the sap and transmit plant viruses, causing widespread yield loss of many crops. A multifunctional endophytic bacterial strain Bacillus velezensis YC7010 has been found to induce systemic resistance against bacterial and fungal pathogens of rice. However, its activity against insects attack and underlying cellular and molecular defense mechanisms are not elucidated yet. Here, we show that root drenching of Arabidopsis seedlings with B. v...

Effects of Irradiation on Insect Host-Parasite Relationship

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahalkar, G. W.; Ramakrishnan, V. [Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Bombay (India)

1968-06-15

Effects of host irradiation on the development of its parasite were investigated. Females of Bracon brevicomis readily accepted irradiated larvae of tile wax moth (Galleria mellonella) and rice moth (Corcyra cephalonica) for oviposition. However, irradiated wax moth larvae adversely influenced the viability of eggs laid on them and also the survival of the parasite grubs feeding on their bodies. The female grubs were affected more than the males. Rice moth larvae, on the other hand, exerted no significant influence on the viability of parasite eggs, but adversely affected the survival of the grubs. The progeny of parents that had been reared on irradiated larvae also exhibited some developmental changes although grown on non-irradiated host larvae, and these changes were more pronounced when G. mellonella was used as the host insect. (author)

Microwave radiation effects on the different stages of Sitophilus oryzae (Linne, 1763) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) evolutive cycle in rice, focusing its control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franco, Jose G.; Franco, Suely S.H., E-mail: gilmita@uol.com.br, E-mail: zegilmar60@gmail.com [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Franco, Caio H.; Arthur, Paula B.; Arthur, Valter, E-mail: caiohaddadfranco@lnbio.cnpem.com.br, E-mail: arthur@cena.usp.br [Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/USP), Piracicaba, SP (Brazil). Lab. de Radiobiologia e Ambiente

2013-07-01

As insects increase in radio tolerance as they develop and usually several developmental stages of pest may present in grain shipped commodity, it is important to know the microwave radiation susceptibility of stages of the target insect before the establishment of microwave radiation quarantine treatments. The current research had the aim to evaluate the microwave radiation effects on several phases of the rice weevil evolution cycle (S.oryzae), focusing its control. This specie is considered as on of the most serious worldwide pests for stored grains. The tests have been done in glass vials with 250 grams of whole grain (brown) rice and the irradiation was done in a 2,450 MHz commercial microwave oven, model Carousel II (potency of 800W). It was determined the exposure time needed to each phase control for the insect evolutive cycle, concluding that the immature phases (larvae and pupae), contained inside the rice, are more sensitive, requiring only 100 seconds to obtain 100% control while the egg phase requires a longer exposure (130 seconds). Referring to the grown phase, the time required to attain the lethal dose was 160 seconds. All the exposure time have been irradiated with a low potency (240 W). It also displayed that to greater quantities of rice (1.0 kg), with egg presence and forming a 2.0-centimeter layer on the microwave plate surface, it required an exposure time of 180 seconds. Therefore, in a more effective way, we can recommend these 180 seconds exposure time to the control of all phases concerning the insect evolutive cycle. (author)

Microwave radiation effects on the different stages of Sitophilus oryzae (Linne, 1763) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) evolutive cycle in rice, focusing its control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franco, Jose G.; Franco, Suely S.H.; Franco, Caio H.; Arthur, Paula B.; Arthur, Valter

2013-01-01

As insects increase in radio tolerance as they develop and usually several developmental stages of pest may present in grain shipped commodity, it is important to know the microwave radiation susceptibility of stages of the target insect before the establishment of microwave radiation quarantine treatments. The current research had the aim to evaluate the microwave radiation effects on several phases of the rice weevil evolution cycle (S.oryzae), focusing its control. This specie is considered as on of the most serious worldwide pests for stored grains. The tests have been done in glass vials with 250 grams of whole grain (brown) rice and the irradiation was done in a 2,450 MHz commercial microwave oven, model Carousel II (potency of 800W). It was determined the exposure time needed to each phase control for the insect evolutive cycle, concluding that the immature phases (larvae and pupae), contained inside the rice, are more sensitive, requiring only 100 seconds to obtain 100% control while the egg phase requires a longer exposure (130 seconds). Referring to the grown phase, the time required to attain the lethal dose was 160 seconds. All the exposure time have been irradiated with a low potency (240 W). It also displayed that to greater quantities of rice (1.0 kg), with egg presence and forming a 2.0-centimeter layer on the microwave plate surface, it required an exposure time of 180 seconds. Therefore, in a more effective way, we can recommend these 180 seconds exposure time to the control of all phases concerning the insect evolutive cycle. (author)

Impact of Ultraviolet-Blocking Plastic Films on Insect Vectors of Virus Diseases Infesting Crisp Lettuce

OpenAIRE

Díaz Desani, Beatriz M.; Biurrun, R.; Moreno, Aránzazu; Nebreda, Miguel; Fereres, Alberto

2006-01-01

Ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing plastic films are being used as a photoselective barrier to control insect vectors and associated virus diseases in different horticultural crops. A 2-year experiment was carried out in northeastern Spain (Navarra) to evaluate the impact of a UV-blocking film (AD-IR AV) on the population density of insect pests and the spread of insect-transmitted virus diseases associated with head lettuce [Lactuca sativa (L.)]. Results showed that the UV-absorbing plastic film did...

A Built-In Mechanism to Mitigate the Spread of Insect-Resistance and Herbicide-Tolerance Transgenes into Weedy Rice Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chengyi; Li, Jingjing; Gao, Jianhua; Shen, Zhicheng; Lu, Bao-Rong; Lin, Chaoyang

2012-01-01

Background The major challenge of cultivating genetically modified (GM) rice (Oryza sativa) at the commercial scale is to prevent the spread of transgenes from GM cultivated rice to its coexisting weedy rice (O. sativa f. spontanea). The strategic development of GM rice with a built-in control mechanism can mitigate transgene spread in weedy rice populations. Methodology/Principal Findings An RNAi cassette suppressing the expression of the bentazon detoxifying enzyme CYP81A6 was constructed into the T-DNA which contained two tightly linked transgenes expressing the Bt insecticidal protein Cry1Ab and the glyphosate tolerant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), respectively. GM rice plants developed from this T-DNA were resistant to lepidopteran pests and tolerant to glyphosate, but sensitive to bentazon. The application of bentazon of 2000 mg/L at the rate of 40 mL/m2, which is approximately the recommended dose for the field application to control common rice weeds, killed all F2 plants containing the transgenes generated from the Crop-weed hybrids between a GM rice line (CGH-13) and two weedy rice strains (PI-63 and PI-1401). Conclusions/Significance Weedy rice plants containing transgenes from GM rice through gene flow can be selectively killed by the spray of bentazon when a non-GM rice variety is cultivated alternately in a few-year interval. The built-in control mechanism in combination of cropping management is likely to mitigate the spread of transgenes into weedy rice populations. PMID:22359609

A built-in mechanism to mitigate the spread of insect-resistance and herbicide-tolerance transgenes into weedy rice populations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chengyi Liu

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The major challenge of cultivating genetically modified (GM rice (Oryza sativa at the commercial scale is to prevent the spread of transgenes from GM cultivated rice to its coexisting weedy rice (O. sativa f. spontanea. The strategic development of GM rice with a built-in control mechanism can mitigate transgene spread in weedy rice populations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: An RNAi cassette suppressing the expression of the bentazon detoxifying enzyme CYP81A6 was constructed into the T-DNA which contained two tightly linked transgenes expressing the Bt insecticidal protein Cry1Ab and the glyphosate tolerant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS, respectively. GM rice plants developed from this T-DNA were resistant to lepidopteran pests and tolerant to glyphosate, but sensitive to bentazon. The application of bentazon of 2000 mg/L at the rate of 40 mL/m(2, which is approximately the recommended dose for the field application to control common rice weeds, killed all F(2 plants containing the transgenes generated from the Crop-weed hybrids between a GM rice line (CGH-13 and two weedy rice strains (PI-63 and PI-1401. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Weedy rice plants containing transgenes from GM rice through gene flow can be selectively killed by the spray of bentazon when a non-GM rice variety is cultivated alternately in a few-year interval. The built-in control mechanism in combination of cropping management is likely to mitigate the spread of transgenes into weedy rice populations.

Dynamical roguing model for controlling the spread of tungro virus via Nephotettix Virescens in a rice field

Science.gov (United States)

Blas, Nikki; David, Guido

2017-10-01

Rice tungro disease is described as a cancer due to its major impact on the livelihood of farmers and the difficulty of controlling it. Tungro is a semi-persistent virus transmitted by green leafhoppers called Nephotettix Virescens. In this paper, we presented a compartmental plant-vector model of the Nephotettix Virescens - rice plant interaction based on a system of ordinary differential equations to simulate the effects of roguing in controlling the spread of Tungro virus in a model rice field of susceptible rice variety (Taichung Native 1).

Distribution and abundance of the main insect families in the MUDA area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maimon Abdullah; Azura Zainal Ratin; Noraini Dan

2002-01-01

Periodic sampling of invertebrates by the Sweeping Method was carried out in the Muda rice area. Two plots with three subplots were chosen incorporating both the recycled and non-recycled irrigation systems. Our results showed that there was a significant difference in abundance and diversity of insect families sampled within plots and between visits undertaken from 19 to 89 days after seeding (DAS). Plot comparison between the two irrigated systems shows that the recycled system supports a higher diversity of insects and arachnids compared to the non-recycled system. From a total of 2418 individuals analysed, some 87.43% was from the recycled plots. Of the four dominant families captured from both types of plots, the most abundant comprised Pyralidae, followed by Chironomidae, Coenagrionidae and Tetragnathidae families for the non-recycled plots, whilst ranking for the recycled plots was Chironomidae followed by Acrididae, Coenagrionidae and Cicadellidae families, respectively. The relative abundance and diversity of the various orders and families are also related to abiotic parameters and planting stage of rice. (Author)

Maize terpene volatiles serve as precursors to an array of defensive phytoalexins following insect and pathogen attack

Science.gov (United States)

Phytoalexins are inducible biochemicals that locally protect plant tissues against biotic attack. Due to their agronomic significance, maize and rice have been extensively investigated for their terpenoid-based defenses which include insect-inducible monoterpene and sesquiterpene vol...

Some factors affecting reproduction in the Rice weevil Sitophilus Oryzae (L.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasaballa, Z.A.; Abdelkawy, F.K.

1992-01-01

Laboratory investigations on the effects or radiation, type of food and population density on the reproductive potential of the rice weevil. Sitophilus Oryzae were conducted at 30 degree C. and 75% R.H. The results indicate that the survival number of adult weevils infesting wheat grains increased markedly after 45 and 90 days of infestation. The survival and reproductive potential of the rice weevils declined significantly after exposure to gamma rays. This decline was more pronounced after 90 days and appeared to be markedly dose dependent. It was noticed that the rate of reproduction of the rice weevils was greatly influenced by insect crowding, science adults of S. Oryzae reared under crowded conditions failed to increase in numbers for 3 months as was expected. The reproduction of S. Oryzae was affected by the type of food. Wheat grains were more suitable than rice and maize grains as the average survival numbers of S. Oryzae reared on wheat grains were more after 45 and 90 days than those reared on rice and maize grains.3 tab

Herbivore-induced callose deposition on the sieve plates of rice: an important mechanism for host resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Peiying; Liu, Caixiang; Wang, Yuanyuan; Chen, Rongzhi; Tang, Ming; Du, Bo; Zhu, Lili; He, Guangcun

2008-04-01

The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål; BPH) is a specialist herbivore on rice (Oryza sativa) that ingests phloem sap from the plant through its stylet mouthparts. Electronic penetration graphs revealed that BPH insects spent more time wandering over plants carrying the resistance genes Bph14 and Bph15, but less time ingesting phloem than they did on susceptible plants. They also showed that their feeding was frequently interrupted. Tests with [(14)C]sucrose showed that insects ingested much less phloem sap from the resistant than the susceptible plants. BPH feeding up-regulated callose synthase genes and induced callose deposition in the sieve tubes at the point where the stylet was inserted. The compact callose remained intact in the resistant plants, but genes encoding beta-1,3-glucanases were activated, causing unplugging of the sieve tube occlusions in susceptible plants. Continuing ingestion led to a remarkable reduction in the susceptible plants' sucrose content and activation of the RAmy3D gene, leading to starch hydrolysis and ultimately carbohydrate deprivation in the plants. Our results demonstrate that BPH feeding induces the deposition of callose on sieve plates in rice and that this is an important defense mechanism that prevents insects from ingesting phloem sap. In response, however, the BPH can unplug sieve tube occlusions by activating beta-1,3-glucanase genes in rice plants.

Agriculture and the promotion of insect pests: rice cultivation in river floodplains and malaria vectors in The Gambia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louca Vasilis

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Anthropogenic modification of natural habitats can create conditions in which pest species associated with humans can thrive. In order to mitigate for these changes, it is necessary to determine which aspects of human management are associated with the promotion of those pests. Anopheles gambiae, the main Africa malaria vector, often breeds in rice fields. Here the impact of the ancient practice of 'swamp rice' cultivation, on the floodplains of the Gambia River, on the production of anopheline mosquitoes was investigated. Methods Routine surveys were carried out along 500 m transects crossing rice fields from the landward edge of the floodplains to the river during the 2006 rainy season. Aquatic invertebrates were sampled using area samplers and emergence traps and fish sampled using nets. Semi-field experiments were used to investigate whether nutrients used for swamp rice cultivation affected mosquito larval abundance. Results At the beginning of the rainy season rice is grown on the landward edge of the floodplain; the first area to flood with fresh water and one rich in cattle dung. Later, rice plants are transplanted close to the river, the last area to dry out on the floodplain. Nearly all larval and adult stages of malaria vectors were collected 0–100 m from the landward edge of the floodplains, where immature rice plants were grown. These paddies contained stagnant freshwater with high quantities of cattle faeces. Semi-field studies demonstrated that cattle faeces nearly doubled the number of anopheline larvae compared with untreated water. Conclusion Swamp rice cultivation creates ideal breeding sites for malaria vectors. However, only those close to the landward edge harboured vectors. These sites were productive since they were large areas of standing freshwater, rich in nutrients, protected from fish, and situated close to human habitation, where egg-laying mosquitoes from the villages had short distances to

Insect and Pest Control Newsletter, No. 87, July 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-07-01

A year ago, in NL 85, we reported on the increasing demands from our FAO and IAEA Member States to expand our focus from developing and transferring the sterile insect technique (SIT) for major crop and livestock insect pests to major disease-transmitting mosquitoes. Since the mid-2000s, there have been several IAEA General Conference resolutions requesting the Joint FAO/IAEA Insect Pest Control Subprogramme to develop a complete “SIT package” for major mosquito species to be used as a component of area-wide integrated vector management (IVM) approaches. The first resolutions focussed on the malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis, but since 2010, also the dengue and chikungunya vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus were included. In view that the traditional chemical-based vector control strategies were facing serious challenges due to increased resistance of mosquitoes to insecticides and increased public concern of insecticide use in urban areas, there was a clear need for novel methods and complementary approaches to manage mosquito populations in an effective and more environmentally friendly and sustainable way. Furthermore, due to the absence of effective vaccines and drugs against some of these diseases, vector suppression approaches are widely seen as the most effective means to reduce these mosquito-transmitted diseases that pose an enormous economic and social burden, and whose incidence has increased drastically in recent years with the spread to new regions.

Identification of potential insect vectors of the Cape Saint Paul Wilt Disease of coconut in Ghana by PCR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pilet Fabian

2009-03-01

Full Text Available The vector of the phytoplasma responsible for the coconut lethal yellowing disease in West Africa is unknown to date. However, it is known that phytoplasmas are transmitted by leafhoppers and planthoppers, which are supposed to be the only ones able to inject the phytoplasma in the phloem. Whereas the presence of phytoplasma in the insect does not prove its capacity to transmit the disease. We have tested a large number of insects for the presence of phytoplamas by PCR (direct PCR and Nested PCR using both primer pairs specific for all phytoplasmas and those specific for the coconut lethal yellowing disease phytoplasma. In effect the evidence of one or several species carrying the phytoplasma would direct us on the insects to focus on in our transmission cages trials.

Degradation of chlorpyrifos in tropical rice soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Subhasis; Adhya, Tapan K

2015-04-01

Chlorpyrifos [O,O-diethyl O-(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol) phosphorothioate] is used worldwide as an agricultural insecticide against a broad spectrum of insect pests of economically important crops including rice, and soil application to control termites. The insecticide mostly undergoes hydrolysis to diethyl thiophosphoric acid (DETP) and 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP), and negligible amounts of other intermediate products. In a laboratory-cum-greenhouse study, chlorpyrifos, applied at a rate of 10 mg kg(-1) soil to five tropical rice soils of wide physico-chemical variability, degraded with a half-life ranging from 27.07 to 3.82 days. TCP was the major metabolite under both non-flooded and flooded conditions. Chlorpyrifos degradation had significant negative relationship with electrical conductivity (EC), cation exchange capacity (CEC), clay and sand contents of the soils under non-flooded conditions. Results indicate that degradation of chlorpyrifos was accelerated with increase in its application frequency, across the representative rice soils. Management regimes including moisture content and presence or absence of rice plants also influenced the process. Biotic factors also play an important role in the degradation of chlorpyrifos as demonstrated by its convincing degradation in mineral salts medium inoculated with non-sterile soil suspension. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and characterization of japonica rice lines carrying the brown planthopper-resistance genes BPH12 and BPH6.

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Qiu, Yongfu; Guo, Jianping; Jing, Shengli; Zhu, Lili; He, Guangcun

2012-02-01

The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål; BPH) has become a severe constraint on rice production. Identification and pyramiding BPH-resistance genes is an economical and effective solution to increase the resistance level of rice varieties. All the BPH-resistance genes identified to date have been from indica rice or wild species. The BPH12 gene in the indica rice accession B14 is derived from the wild species Oryza latifolia. Using an F(2) population from a cross between the indica cultivar 93-11 and B14, we mapped the BPH12 gene to a 1.9-cM region on chromosome 4, flanked by the markers RM16459 and RM1305. In this population, BPH12 appeared to be partially dominant and explained 73.8% of the phenotypic variance in BPH resistance. A near-isogenic line (NIL) containing the BPH12 locus in the background of the susceptible japonica variety Nipponbare was developed and crossed with a NIL carrying BPH6 to generate a pyramid line (PYL) with both genes. BPH insects showed significant differences in non-preference in comparisons between the lines harboring resistance genes (NILs and PYL) and Nipponbare. BPH growth and development were inhibited and survival rates were lower on the NIL-BPH12 and NIL-BPH6 plants compared to the recurrent parent Nipponbare. PYL-BPH6 + BPH12 exhibited 46.4, 26.8 and 72.1% reductions in population growth rates (PGR) compared to NIL-BPH12, NIL-BPH6 and Nipponbare, respectively. Furthermore, insect survival rates were the lowest on the PYL-BPH6 + BPH12 plants. These results demonstrated that pyramiding different BPH-resistance genes resulted in stronger antixenotic and antibiotic effects on the BPH insects. This gene pyramiding strategy should be of great benefit for the breeding of BPH-resistant japonica rice varieties.

Physico-chemical and sensorial characteristics of rice (Oryza sativa L.) irradiated and the effect in Sitophilus oryzae L. development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zanao, Cintia Fernanda Pedroso

2007-01-01

Rice is exposed to injuries especially due to the attack of insects, which represent great qualitative and quantitative losses. The aim of the present research was to verify the viability of the gamma irradiation as rice (Oryza sativa L.) conservation method; its efficiency in the control of an important pest for stored grains Sitophilus oryzae L. and the effects that irradiation may present in irradiated grains in relation to the sensory aspect and starch alterations. Samples were composed of polished rice and the gamma irradiation dosages used were 0.5; 1.0; 3.0; and 5.0 kGy, and kept at room temperature. Analyses of the grain breakage percentages during processing and the longevity and reproduction of the rice weevil were performed. Analyses of the centesimal composition, phytic acid, apparent amylose content and starch paste properties were also conducted, as well as analyses of the rice color (instrumental) and acceptability (hedonic test), aimed at the determination of the raw and cooked rice sensory quality. It was verified that the gamma irradiation did not change the grain breakage percentage significantly and caused a negative effect on the insect development. Irradiation did not change the centesimal composition significantly. No significant values of phytic acid were found because during rice processing, the outer part (bran) containing 85-92% of total phytates was removed. Values from 17.33 to 18.44% for the apparent amylose content were found, and irradiation did not affect the rice starch amylose content significantly. The paste properties results were significantly changed, where reduction on the paste temperature, decrease on the time for the occurrence of the peak viscosity, reduction on the final viscosity values were observed. The retrogradation tendency became less intense in starches with increasing irradiation dosages. Statistical differences (p<0.05) were detected in the sensory aspect between irradiated and non-irradiated samples, and the

Migration of rice planthoppers and their vectored re-emerging and novel rice viruses in East Asia

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Akira eOtuka

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This review examines recent studies of the migration of three rice planthoppers, Laodelphax striatellus, Sogatella furcifera, and Nilaparvata lugens, in East Asia. Laodelphax striatellus has recently broken out in Jiangsu province, eastern China. The population density in the province started to increase in the early 2000s and peaked in 2004. In 2005, Rice stripe virus (RSV viruliferous rate of L. striatellus peaked at 31.3%. Since then, rice stripe disease spread severely across the whole province. Due to the migration of the RSV vectors, the rice stripe disease spread to neighboring countries Japan and Korea. An overseas migration of L. striatellus that occurred in 2008 was analyzed, when a slow-moving cold vortex, a type of low pressure system, reached western Japan from Jiangsu, carrying the insects into Japan. Subsequently the rice stripe diseases struck these areas in Japan severely. In Korea, similar situations occurred in 2009, 2011, and 2012. Their migration sources were also estimated to be in Jiangsu by backward trajectory analysis. Rice black-streaked dwarf virus, whose vector is L. striatellus, has recently re-emerged in eastern China, and the evidence for overseas migrations of the virus, just like the RSV’s migrations, has been given. A method of predicting the overseas migration of L. striatellus has been developed by Japanese, Chinese, and Korean institutes. An evaluation of the prediction showed that this method properly predicted migration events that occurred in East Asia from 2008 to 2011. Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV was first found in Guangdong province. Its vector is S. furcifera. An outbreak of SRBSDV occurred in southern China in 2009 and spread to Vietnam the same year. This disease and virus were also found in Japan in 2010. The epidemic triggered many migration studies to investigate concrete spring-summer migration routes in China, and the addition of migration sources for early arrivals in

A review of semi-pilot scale study on the irradiation of rice in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norimah Yusof; Razley Mohamad Nordin.

1986-08-01

A semi-pilot scale study of milled-rice preservation using gamma irradiation project was started in 1984. The project was aimed to study the possibility of using irradiation in reducing losses during storage. Rice samples were subjected to doses ranging from 0.2 to kGy and stored in stack under conditions similar to a typical rice godown. Rice sampling was done every three to six months to determine the effect of gamma irradiation over 2 years of storage. After 9 months storage, radiation was found to reduce insect infestation with no effect on nutritional value (P 0.05) i.e. reducing sugar, water content, amino acid profile and fat acidity. However gel viscosity was markedly reduced with increase in radiation dose and storage time. Packaging materials (gunny sack, heavy duty plastic, woven laminated and woven non-laminated plastic) did not influence both chemical and physical quality of irradiated stored rice. (author)

The improvement of rice varieties for major pest and diseases resistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahi, I.; Silitonga, T.S.

1988-01-01

Since 1971, the rice breeding program in Indonesia has developed on intensive program to improve varieties for yield potential, resistancy to major pests and diseases, early maturity good grain and eating quality. In recent years, the attacks of insects and diseases are very severe in rice cultivation in Asia. Much of the losses were due to acontinuous planting or certain varieties. Between 1966 and 1973 tungro occured in epidemic proportions on separate occasions in Indonesia, Thailand, Nort East India, Bangladesh, and Philippine. Since 1973, investation of brown planthopper and green leafhopper several damaged rice crop in most parts of Indonesia. Presently, rice improvement are directed to develop high yielding rice varieties that are resistant to brown planthopper, ragged stunt virus, blast, green leafhopper, and gallmidge. Screening for pests and diseases are conducted in the laboratory as well as in the field. The adoption of those improved varieties by farmers has contributed greatly in our efforts to attain self sufficiency in rice production in Indonesia. GH 147 -M-40 krad-Pn-89 (irradiated Barito) showed resistant to brown planthopper biotype 1 and 2 and moderately resistant to biotype 3. Napa 40 krad-St-12 has resistant reaction to blast. (authors). 4 refs, 8 tabs

Genome-wide analysis of esterase-like genes in the striped rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis.

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Wang, Baoju; Wang, Ying; Zhang, Yang; Han, Ping; Li, Fei; Han, Zhaojun

2015-06-01

The striped rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis, a destructive pest of rice, has developed high levels of resistance to certain insecticides. Esterases are reported to be involved in insecticide resistance in several insects. Therefore, this study systematically analyzed esterase-like genes in C. suppressalis. Fifty-one esterase-like genes were identified in the draft genomic sequences of the species, and 20 cDNA sequences were derived which encoded full- or nearly full-length proteins. The putative esterase proteins derived from these full-length genes are overall highly diversified. However, key residues that are functionally important including the serine residue in the active site are conserved in 18 out of the 20 proteins. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that most of these genes have homologues in other lepidoptera insects. Genes CsuEst6, CsuEst10, CsuEst11, and CsuEst51 were induced by the insecticide triazophos, and genes CsuEst9, CsuEst11, CsuEst14, and CsuEst51 were induced by the insecticide chlorantraniliprole. Our results provide a foundation for future studies of insecticide resistance in C. suppressalis and for comparative research with esterase genes from other insect species.

Allelic diversity in an NLR gene BPH9 enables rice to combat planthopper variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yan; Huang, Jin; Wang, Zhizheng; Jing, Shengli; Wang, Yang; Ouyang, Yidan; Cai, Baodong; Xin, Xiu-Fang; Liu, Xin; Zhang, Chunxiao; Pan, Yufang; Ma, Rui; Li, Qiaofeng; Jiang, Weihua; Zeng, Ya; Shangguan, Xinxin; Wang, Huiying; Du, Bo; Zhu, Lili; Xu, Xun; Feng, Yu-Qi; He, Sheng Yang; Chen, Rongzhi; Zhang, Qifa; He, Guangcun

2016-10-24

Brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, is one of the most devastating insect pests of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Currently, 30 BPH-resistance genes have been genetically defined, most of which are clustered on specific chromosome regions. Here, we describe molecular cloning and characterization of a BPH-resistance gene, BPH9, mapped on the long arm of rice chromosome 12 (12L). BPH9 encodes a rare type of nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat (NLR)-containing protein that localizes to the endomembrane system and causes a cell death phenotype. BPH9 activates salicylic acid- and jasmonic acid-signaling pathways in rice plants and confers both antixenosis and antibiosis to BPH. We further demonstrated that the eight BPH-resistance genes that are clustered on chromosome 12L, including the widely used BPH1, are allelic with each other. To honor the priority in the literature, we thus designated this locus as BPH1/9 These eight genes can be classified into four allelotypes, BPH1/9-1, -2, -7, and -9 These allelotypes confer varying levels of resistance to different biotypes of BPH. The coding region of BPH1/9 shows a high level of diversity in rice germplasm. Homologous fragments of the nucleotide-binding (NB) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domains exist, which might have served as a repository for generating allele diversity. Our findings reveal a rice plant strategy for modifying the genetic information to gain the upper hand in the struggle against insect herbivores. Further exploration of natural allelic variation and artificial shuffling within this gene may allow breeding to be tailored to control emerging biotypes of BPH.

Population dynamics of Sesamia inferens on transgenic rice expressing Cry1Ac and CpTI in southern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Lanzhi; Liu, Peilei; Wu, Kongming; Peng, Yufa; Wang, Feng

2008-10-01

Genetically modified insect-resistant rice lines containing the cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or the CpTI (cowpea trypsin inhibitor) gene developed for the management of lepidopterous pests are highly resistant to the major target pests, Chilo suppressalis (Walker), Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée), and Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker), in the main rice-growing areas of China. However, the effects of these transgenic lines on Sesamia inferens (Walker), an important lepidopterous rice pest, are currently unknown. Because different insect species have varying susceptibility to Bt insecticidal proteins that may affect population dynamics, research into the effects of these transgenic rice lines on the population dynamics of S. inferens was conducted in Fuzhou, southern China, in 2005 and 2006. The results of laboratory, field cage, and field plot experiments show that S. inferens has comparatively high susceptibility to the transgenic line during the early growing season, with significant differences observed in larval density and infestation levels between transgenic and control lines. Because of a decrease in Cry1Ac levels in the plant as it ages, the transgenic line provided only a low potential for population suppression late in the growing season. There is a correlation between the changing expression of Cry1Ac and the impact of transgenic rice on the population dynamics of S. inferens during the season. These results indicate that S. inferens may become a major pest in fields of prospective commercially released transgenic rice, and more attention should be paid to developing an effective alternative management strategy.

Studies on controls of the insects infested on growing legume crops and stored grains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, K.H.; Kwon, S.H.; Lee, Y.I.; Shin, I.C.; Koh, Y.S.

1980-01-01

Present studies were carried out to control the insect pests which infest on rice, barley, wheat, redbeam and mungbeam grains during the storage period. For application of radiation to the pest controls, life spans of indian-meal moth (Plodia interpuctella Hubner) and bean weevil (Callosobruches chinensis L.) were investigated in different rearing conditions. Eggs and adults of the bean weevil were irradiated with various doses of γ-ray to determine radiosensitivities of the insect. For the ecological control of general legume insects, screening for varietal resistance to bean weevil and beanfly were performed in the experiment field. Radioisotope, P-32, was applied to screening of soybean resistant to aphid. Also, the germinability and the seedling height were measured in γ-ray irradiated mungbean for the grain storage. (author)

Identification of transcription factors potential related to brown planthopper resistance in rice via microarray expression profiling

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Wang Yubing

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens Stål, is one of the most destructive insect pests of rice. The molecular responses of plants to sucking insects resemble responses to pathogen infection. However, the molecular mechanism of BPH-resistance in rice remains unclear. Transcription factors (TF are up-stream regulators of various genes that bind to specific DNA sequences, thereby controlling the transcription from DNA to mRNA. They are key regulators for transcriptional expression in biological processes, and are probably involved in the BPH-induced pathways in resistant rice varieties. Results We conducted a microarray experiment to analyze TF genes related to BPH resistance in a Sri Lankan rice cultivar, Rathu Heenati (RHT. We compared the expression profiles of TF genes in RHT with those of the susceptible rice cultivar Taichun Native 1 (TN1. We detected 2038 TF genes showing differential expression signals between the two rice varieties. Of these, 442 TF genes were probably related to BPH-induced resistance in RHT and TN1, and 229 may be related to constitutive resistance only in RHT. These genes showed a fold change (FC of more than 2.0 (P10, there were 37 induced TF genes and 26 constitutive resistance TF genes. Of these, 13 were probably involved in BPH-induced resistance, and 8 in constitutive resistance to BPH in RHT. Conclusions We explored the molecular mechanism of resistance to BPH in rice by comparing expressions of TF genes between RHT and TN1. We speculate that the level of gene repression, especially for early TF genes, plays an important role in the defense response. The fundamental point of the resistance strategy is that plants protect themselves by reducing their metabolic level to inhibit feeding by BPH and prevent damage from water and nutrient loss. We have selected 21 TF genes related to BPH resistance for further analyses to understand the molecular responses to BPH feeding in rice.

Biodiversity Conservation in Rice Paddies in China: Toward Ecological Sustainability

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Yufeng Luo

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Rice paddies are artificial wetlands that supply people with food and provide wildlife with habitats, breeding areas, shelters, feeding grounds and other services, and rice paddies play an important part in agricultural ecological systems. However, modern agricultural practices with large-scale intensive farming have significantly accelerated the homogenization of the paddy field ecosystem. Modern agriculture mostly relies on chemically-driven modern varieties and irrigation to ensure high production, resulting in the deterioration and imbalance of the ecosystem. Consequently, outbreaks of diseases, insects and weeds have become more frequent in paddy fields. This paper describes the current situation of rice paddy biodiversity in China and analyzes the community characteristics of arthropods and weedy plants. Meanwhile, we discuss how biodiversity was affected by modern agriculture changes, which have brought about a mounting crisis threatening to animals and plants once common in rice paddies. Measures should be focused to firstly preventing further deterioration and, then, also, promoting restoration processes. Ecological sustainability can be achieved by restoring paddy field biodiversity through protecting the ecological environment surrounding the paddy fields, improving paddy cropping patterns, growing rice with less agricultural chemicals and chemical fertilizers, constructing paddy systems with animals and plants and promoting ecological education and public awareness.

Mechanisms of callose deposition in rice regulated by exogenous abscisic acid and its involvement in rice resistance to Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jinglan; Du, Haitao; Ding, Xu; Zhou, Yaodong; Xie, Pengfei; Wu, Jincai

2017-12-01

Callose is a plant cell wall polysaccharide controlled by β-1,3-glucanase and synthase. Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important plant hormone. Exogenous ABA promotes rice resistance to pests. Whether exogenous ABA could reduce the decline in rice yield after brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål; BPH) feeding is an important question, however, the mechanisms behind rice resistance induced by ABA remain obscure. Electronic penetration graph (EPG) recording indicated a significant increase in rice resistance to BPH, and the number of BPH eggs decreased significantly upon application of exogenous ABA. As the concentration of ABA increased, the reduction in rice yield decreased significantly after BPH feeding. Further studies showed that β-1,3-glucanase activity was significantly lower, but synthase activity was higher after ABA treatment than in controls. Our results demonstrated that exogenous ABA suppressed β-1,3-glucanase and induced synthase activity, and promoted callose deposition. This is an important defense mechanism that prevents BPH from ingesting phloem sap. These studies provide support for an insect-resistance mechanism after ABA treatment and provide a reference for the integrated management of other piercing-sucking pests. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Genetic and biochemical basis of Gall Midge resistance in some cultivars of Indica Rice. Final report for the period 1 October 1980 - 30 November 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reddy, G.M.

1986-01-01

The stability of high productivity of modern rice varieties is greatly affected by insect pests. Rice gall midge is a serious insect pest of rice that is prevalent in several south eastern asian countries. Gall midge resistance has been mainly attributed to antibiosis. No progress has so far been made in identifying the exact biochemical nature of resistance. In Indica subspecies the understanding of chemical nature of disease would be helpful in the control of the disease and also in breeding programme aimed at developing resistance varieties. Studies were undertaken to establish the biochemical basis of resistance. Biochemical characterization of resistant and susceptible varieties were carried out. The parameters considered were: total sugar and reducing sugar content, total phenol content, amino acid profile, post infectional changes in sugar and phenol, isozyme studies. 2 figs, 6 tabs

Genetic and biochemical basis of Gall Midge resistance in some cultivars of Indica Rice. Final report for the period 1 October 1980 - 30 November 1986

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reddy, G M [Osmania Univ., Hyderabad (India). Dept. of Genetics

1987-12-31

The stability of high productivity of modern rice varieties is greatly affected by insect pests. Rice gall midge is a serious insect pest of rice that is prevalent in several south eastern asian countries. Gall midge resistance has been mainly attributed to antibiosis. No progress has so far been made in identifying the exact biochemical nature of resistance. In Indica subspecies the understanding of chemical nature of disease would be helpful in the control of the disease and also in breeding programme aimed at developing resistance varieties. Studies were undertaken to establish the biochemical basis of resistance. Biochemical characterization of resistant and susceptible varieties were carried out. The parameters considered were: total sugar and reducing sugar content, total phenol content, amino acid profile, post infectional changes in sugar and phenol, isozyme studies. 2 figs, 6 tabs.

Tolerance of different rice genotypes (oryza sativa l.) against the infestation of rice stem borers under natural field conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarwar, M.; Ahmad, N.; Nasrullah; Tofique, M.

2010-01-01

The present studies report the genotypic responses of 61 rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes (35 aromatic and 26 non aromatic) against the infestation of rice stem borers under natural field conditions. The data obtained on these genotypes on larval infestation in combination with yield were the criteria to assess the resistance depicted by them. The studies showed that among aromatic genotypes, 'Khushboo-95' gave the best yield of grain and harboured the least pest infestation (2.81% dead hearts and 1.85% white heads); on the other hand variety 'Sonahri Sugdasi (P)' harboured the highest borers attack (10.37% and 19.30%) and yielded the lowest grain yield. Regarding non-aromatic genotypes, IR8-2.5-11 received least infestation (1.32% and 0.26% dead hearts and white heads, respectively) generating highest yield showing its tolerance to borer's attack, in contrast, genotype IR6-252 harboured the highest infestation (5.65%, 4.28%) and yielded minimum grain indicating its susceptibility. These results demonstrate the expression of resistance gene in the genome of tolerant rice genotypes that can provide season-long protection from the natural infestation of insect pests. (author)

Combination of Methoprene and Controlled Aeration to Manage Insects in Stored Wheat.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Samuel S; Arthur, Frank H; VanGundy, Douglas; Phillips, Thomas W

2016-06-17

A commercial formulation of the insect growth regulator methoprene was applied to wheat stored in small bins either alone or in combination with controlled aeration of the bins, to lower grain temperature for insect pest management of stored wheat. Grain temperatures were monitored and modified by a computer-controlled thermocouple system that also activated the aeration system at programmed set-points to move cool ambient air through the grain mass to lower grain temperature. Results from sampling insect populations in experimental storage bins along with laboratory mortality bioassays of insects placed on wheat taken from the bins over the course of the storage period showed that methoprene was very effective in controlling infestation by the externally-feeding stored grain insects Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), the Indian meal moth Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), the red flour beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), the rusty grain beetle, and also for the internal-feeding pest Rhyzopertha dominica( Fauvel), the lesser grain borer. Methoprene did not give good control of the internal-feeding pest Sitophilus oryzae (L.), the rice weevil. Aeration alone was somewhat effective in suppressing insect population development, while methoprene alone or when combined with aeration greatly enhanced insect control. Commercial grain grading for industry quality standards at the end of the storage period confirmed the impact of insect suppression on maintaining high quality of the stored wheat. This field experiment shows that methoprene combined with aeration to cool grain can be effective for pest management of stored wheat in the southern plains of the United States of America.

Combination of Methoprene and Controlled Aeration to Manage Insects in Stored Wheat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel S. Liu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A commercial formulation of the insect growth regulator methoprene was applied to wheat stored in small bins either alone or in combination with controlled aeration of the bins, to lower grain temperature for insect pest management of stored wheat. Grain temperatures were monitored and modified by a computer-controlled thermocouple system that also activated the aeration system at programmed set-points to move cool ambient air through the grain mass to lower grain temperature. Results from sampling insect populations in experimental storage bins along with laboratory mortality bioassays of insects placed on wheat taken from the bins over the course of the storage period showed that methoprene was very effective in controlling infestation by the externally-feeding stored grain insects Plodia interpunctella (Hübner, the Indian meal moth Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, the red flour beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens, the rusty grain beetle, and also for the internal-feeding pest Rhyzopertha dominica( Fauvel, the lesser grain borer. Methoprene did not give good control of the internal-feeding pest Sitophilus oryzae (L., the rice weevil. Aeration alone was somewhat effective in suppressing insect population development, while methoprene alone or when combined with aeration greatly enhanced insect control. Commercial grain grading for industry quality standards at the end of the storage period confirmed the impact of insect suppression on maintaining high quality of the stored wheat. This field experiment shows that methoprene combined with aeration to cool grain can be effective for pest management of stored wheat in the southern plains of the United States of America.

Qualitative evaluation of the DNA degradation in plague insects exposed to gamma radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortega, Yuriko; Agapito, Juan; Vargas, Johnny; Vivanco, Monica; Martinez, Norberta

2014-01-01

Insects produce large losses in stored grain depending on the type of cereal and storage time and other factors. The rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae L and the false flour beetle Tribolium confusum are important pests of stored grain. The study aimed to qualitatively evaluate the effect of gamma radiation on the DNA of two species of insect pests from samples stored Chullpi and white corn infested with adult weevils. Samples were treated with radiation doses of 100, 400, 1000 and 2000 Gy and DNA extraction was obtained by three methods: TNES-urea, CTAB and NaOH. The DNA damage induced by gamma radiation in weevils was determined by gel electrophoresis. As a result, it was found that exposure of adult weevils to a radiation dose of 100 Gy and 400 caused an average mortality of the insects, showing a degree of resistance to gamma radiation. However, radiation doses of 1000 and 2000 Gy caused 100 % mortality of insects. Preliminary results show that DNA damage is proportional to the amount of gamma radiation. (authors).

Radioisotope labelling of several major insect pest. Dipping the pupae in /sup 32/P solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sutrisno, S. (National Atomic Energy Agency, Jakarta (Indonesia). Pasar Djumat Research Centre)

1981-12-01

Radioisotope uptake by insects could take place through various parts i.e. mouth, cuticula, intersegmental, secretion and excretion organs. Usually insects are labelled internally by feeding them on an artificial diet containing radioisotope solution. Labelling of several insect pests of cabbage (Crocidolomia binotalis) Zell and Plutella maculipennis Curt and rice (Chilo suppressalis Walker) by dipping of the pupae in /sup 32/P solution showed a promising result. Pupae of Crocidolomia binotalis Zell dipped in 3 ml solution of /sup 32/P with specific activities of 1, 3, 5 and 7 ..mu..Ci/ml had developed labelled adults of sufficiently high radioactivity levels for ecological studies. Similar results were also obtained with Plutella maculipennis Curt and Chilo suppressalis Walker with doses of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 ..mu..Ci/ml /sup 32/P solution. The best doses for radioisotope labelling by dipping of the insects Crocidolomia binotalis Zell, Plutella maculipennis Curt, and Chilo suppressalis Walker were 1, 9, and 7 ..mu..Ci/ml respectivelly.

A Novel Reference Plasmid for the Qualitative Detection of Genetically Modified Rice in Food and Feed

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Liang Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Rice is one of the most important food crops in the world. Genetically modified (GM technology has been used in rice to confer herbicide tolerance and pathogen or insect resistance. China invests heavily in research on GM rice. By the end of 2014, at least 250 transgenic rice lines had been developed in China. To monitor the presence of GM rice in food and feed, we collected information on foreign elements from 250 transgenic rice lines and found 5 elements, including the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline synthase terminator (T-NOS, the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV35S, the ubiquitin gene (Ubi, the bar gene, and the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene (Hpt, that are commonly present in GM rice. Therefore, we constructed a novel plasmid (pBJGMM001 that contains fragments of these elements and two endogenous reference genes (the sucrose phosphate synthase gene, SPS, and the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase gene, PEPC. pBJGMM001 can serve as a standard for detecting 96% of GM rice lines in China. The primers, amplicons, reaction mixture, and PCR program were developed based on Chinese National Standards. The protocol was validated and determined to be suitable for practical use in monitoring and identifying GM rice.

A novel reference plasmid for the qualitative detection of genetically modified rice in food and feed.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liang; Dong, Mei; An, Na; Liang, Lixia; Wan, Yusong; Jin, Wujun

2015-01-01

Rice is one of the most important food crops in the world. Genetically modified (GM) technology has been used in rice to confer herbicide tolerance and pathogen or insect resistance. China invests heavily in research on GM rice. By the end of 2014, at least 250 transgenic rice lines had been developed in China. To monitor the presence of GM rice in food and feed, we collected information on foreign elements from 250 transgenic rice lines and found 5 elements, including the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline synthase terminator (T-NOS), the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV35S), the ubiquitin gene (Ubi), the bar gene, and the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene (Hpt), that are commonly present in GM rice. Therefore, we constructed a novel plasmid (pBJGMM001) that contains fragments of these elements and two endogenous reference genes (the sucrose phosphate synthase gene, SPS, and the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase gene, PEPC). pBJGMM001 can serve as a standard for detecting 96% of GM rice lines in China. The primers, amplicons, reaction mixture, and PCR program were developed based on Chinese National Standards. The protocol was validated and determined to be suitable for practical use in monitoring and identifying GM rice.

The Commonly Used Bactericide Bismerthiazol Promotes Rice Defenses against Herbivores

OpenAIRE

Pengyong Zhou; Xiaochang Mo; Wanwan Wang; Xia Chen; Yonggen Lou

2018-01-01

Chemical elicitors that enhance plant resistance to pathogens have been extensively studied, however, chemical elicitors that induce plant defenses against insect pests have received little attention. Here, we found that the exogenous application of a commonly used bactericide, bismerthiazol, on rice induced the biosynthesis of constitutive and/or elicited jasmonic acid (JA), jasmonoyl-isoleucine conjugate (JA-Ile), ethylene and H2O2 but not salicylic acid. These activated signaling pathways ...

Molecular diversity of Rice grassy stunt virus in Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Ta, Hoang-Anh; Nguyen, Doan-Phuong; Causse, Sandrine; Nguyen, Thanh-Duc; Ngo, Vinh-Vien; Hébrard, Eugénie

2013-04-01

Rice grassy stunt virus (RGSV, Tenuivirus) recently emerged on rice in Vietnam, causing high yield losses during 2006-2009. The genetic diversity of RGSV is poorly documented. In this study, the two genes encoded by each ambisense segment RNA3 and RNA5 of RGSV isolates from six provinces of South Vietnam were sequenced. P3 and Pc3 (RNA3) have unknown function, P5 (RNA5) encodes the putative silencing suppressor, and Pc5 (RNA5) encodes the nucleocapsid protein (N). The sequences of 17 Vietnamese isolates were compared with reference isolates from North and South Philippines. The average nucleotide diversity among the isolates was low. We confirmed a higher variability of RNA3 than RNA5 and Pc3 than P3. No relationships between the genetic diversity and the geographic distribution of RGSV isolates could be ascertained, likely because of the long-distance migration of the insect vector. This data will contribute to a better understanding on the RGSV epidemiology in South Vietnam, a prerequisite for further management of the disease and rice breeding for resistance.

Entomophagy – why should it bug you? The ethics of insect production for food and feed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gjerris, Mickey; Gamborg, Christian; Röcklinsberg, Helena

2015-01-01

Humans have, as far as the archeological records show, always eaten insects, reaching over 2000 edible species today. Given a growing global human population and high pressure on resources, interest in insects as a nutrious protein source for human food (entomophagy) and novel protein source...... for animal feed is developing. Compared to most other sources of animal protein insects are considered to be an environmentally low-impact source of nutrients. In a Western context the search for sustainable food and feed products has therefore lead to a growing interest in the area. However, as insects...... score low on the socio-zoological scale, but high on the ‘disgust’-scale, mainly based on culturally transmitted information, utilizing insects in the food sector will probably face consumer resistance. The use of insects as a major human food and feed source is thought to present two major challenges...

An EAR-motif-containing ERF transcription factor affects herbivore-induced signaling, defense and resistance in rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Jing; Ju, Hongping; Zhou, Guoxin; Zhu, Chuanshu; Erb, Matthias; Wang, Xiaopeng; Wang, Peng; Lou, Yonggen

2011-11-01

Ethylene responsive factors (ERFs) are a large family of plant-specific transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of plant development and stress responses. However, little to nothing is known about their role in herbivore-induced defense. We discovered a nucleus-localized ERF gene in rice (Oryza sativa), OsERF3, that was rapidly up-regulated in response to feeding by the rice striped stem borer (SSB) Chilo suppressalis. Antisense and over-expression of OsERF3 revealed that it positively affects transcript levels of two mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and two WRKY genes as well as concentrations of jasmonate (JA), salicylate (SA) and the activity of trypsin protease inhibitors (TrypPIs). OsERF3 was also found to mediate the resistance of rice to SSB. On the other hand, OsERF3 was slightly suppressed by the rice brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) and increased susceptibility to this piercing sucking insect, possibly by suppressing H(2)O(2) biosynthesis. We propose that OsERF3 affects early components of herbivore-induced defense responses by suppressing MAPK repressors and modulating JA, SA, ethylene and H(2)O(2) pathways as well as plant resistance. Our results also illustrate that OsERF3 acts as a central switch that gears the plant's metabolism towards an appropriate response to chewing or piercing/sucking insects. © 2011 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Expression of Cry1Ab and Cry2Ab by a polycistronic transgene with a self-cleavage peptide in rice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qichao Zhao

Full Text Available Insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt crystal protein is a major threat to the long-term use of transgenic Bt crops. Gene stacking is a readily deployable strategy to delay the development of insect resistance while it may also broaden insecticidal spectrum. Here, we report the creation of transgenic rice expressing discrete Cry1Ab and Cry2Ab simultaneously from a single expression cassette using 2A self-cleaving peptides, which are autonomous elements from virus guiding the polycistronic viral gene expression in eukaryotes. The synthetic coding sequences of Cry1Ab and Cry2Ab, linked by the coding sequence of a 2A peptide from either foot and mouth disease virus or porcine teschovirus-1, regardless of order, were all expressed as discrete Cry1Ab and Cry2Ab at high levels in the transgenic rice. Insect bioassays demonstrated that the transgenic plants were highly resistant to lepidopteran pests. This study suggested that 2A peptide can be utilized to express multiple Bt genes at high levels in transgenic crops.

The role of biotechnology to ensure rice food security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teng, P.S.

2002-01-01

Rice as a food is key to the survival of more than 60% of the world population, most of whom live in Asia. Food security in Asia is therefore strongly dependent on an adequate, available supply of affordable rice. Experts estimate that global rice supply would need to increase at an average of 1.7% per annum for the next 20 years, and average rice yields must roughly double in the next 20 years in both the irrigated and favourable rainfed lowland environments, if a global shortage is to be avoided. At the same time that the need to increase total production, and unit area productivity is being felt, society is also demanding that agricultural practices be environment friendly and be part of a sustainable agricultural system. Rice breeders have seen increased difficulties to source and utilize new genetic resources for genetic improvement of yield potential from within the rice genome. As with other cereals, rice yield potential has not been dramatically increased in the last decade when compared to the quantum increase of the early Green Revolution years. Furthermore, pest-induced losses currently account for up to 30% of the loss in yield potential. Biotechnology, especially recombinant DNA technology, offers tools to transfer genes from outside the rice genome to address the critical issues of raising the yield potential, increasing tolerance or resistance to insects, diseases and a biotic stresses, to increase the efficiency of pest management, and also to improve the nutritive value of the rice grain. Genetically modified crops have a demonstrated record of environmental and food safety, and all such crops undergo a process of safety assessment and regulatory approval before they are put into the marketplace. Serious social issues, however, arise in matching the capacity of biotechnology to change crops, and in what changes society is willing to accept; and at this early stage of biotechnology applications, science-based approaches are important so that emotion

Phytoplasma protein effector SAP11 enhances insect vector reproduction by manipulating plant development and defense hormone biosynthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugio, Akiko; Kingdom, Heather N; MacLean, Allyson M; Grieve, Victoria M; Hogenhout, Saskia A

2011-11-29

Phytoplasmas are insect-transmitted phytopathogenic bacteria that can alter plant morphology and the longevity and reproduction rates and behavior of their insect vectors. There are various examples of animal and plant parasites that alter the host phenotype to attract insect vectors, but it is unclear how these parasites accomplish this. We hypothesized that phytoplasmas produce effectors that modulate specific targets in their hosts leading to the changes in plant development and insect performance. Previously, we sequenced and mined the genome of Aster Yellows phytoplasma strain Witches' Broom (AY-WB) and identified 56 candidate effectors. Here, we report that the secreted AY-WB protein 11 (SAP11) effector modulates plant defense responses to the advantage of the AY-WB insect vector Macrosteles quadrilineatus. SAP11 binds and destabilizes Arabidopsis CINCINNATA (CIN)-related TEOSINTE BRANCHED1, CYCLOIDEA, PROLIFERATING CELL FACTORS 1 and 2 (TCP) transcription factors, which control plant development and promote the expression of lipoxygenase (LOX) genes involved in jasmonate (JA) synthesis. Both the Arabidopsis SAP11 lines and AY-WB-infected plants produce less JA on wounding. Furthermore, the AY-WB insect vector produces more offspring on AY-WB-infected plants, SAP11 transgenic lines, and plants impaired in CIN-TCP and JA synthesis. Thus, SAP11-mediated destabilization of CIN-TCPs leads to the down-regulation of LOX2 expression and JA synthesis and an increase in M. quadrilineatus progeny. Phytoplasmas are obligate inhabitants of their plant host and insect vectors, in which the latter transmits AY-WB to a diverse range of plant species. This finding demonstrates that pathogen effectors can reach beyond the pathogen-host interface to modulate a third organism in the biological interaction.

Status of Biological Control of Waterlettuce in Louisiana and Texas Using Insects.

Science.gov (United States)

1992-12-01

reduce recreational uses. Waterleett’je can block water intake valves where industrial and local municipalities receive water supplies. Water losses...to impact aquatic or semiaquatic agri- culture, includi g rice (Bua-ngam and Mercado 1975). Distinct changes in water quality have been documented in...1981. "An Introduction to the Study of Insects," Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, PA. Bua-ngam, T., and Mercado , B. L. 1975. "The Life Cycle

Improvement of traditional local rice varieties through induced mutations using nuclear techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pham Van Ro; Do Huu At

2001-01-01

'Improvement of local rice varieties for high yield, resistance to disease and insect pests (brown plant hopper and rice blast) and export quality through induced mutations for the Mekong Delta' started in 1993. After six years, it showed effecting on the field in the MD as well as at the south of Vietnam. TNDB-100 manifest very wide adaptation and yield stable variety. THDB is suitable for deepwater rice region, coastal area, where rice cultivation effected by acid sulphate and salinity conditions. Both varieties are good example for the method. Thank to good Co-operation from extension center from provinces, hundred classes of extension were organized to recommend to the farmers. And thank to the strongly supporting from IAEA so that nearly 400,000 ha of TNDB-100 occupied at the south of Vietnam as well as nearly 15,000 ha of THDB grown in the coastal as well as rainfed lowland rice areas at the South of Vietnam. To continue the rice improvement by this technique, seeds of six traditional local varieties were exposed under different dose of gamma rays to create new mutants. At present day hundred improved breeding lines were selected, a dozen of uniform lines were isolated and entranced the yield trail as well as regional testing program. From these improved varieties would be selected to contribute to the rice cultivation at the south of Vietnam in the next years. (author)

Improvement of traditional local rice varieties through induced mutations using nuclear techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pham Van Ro; Do Huu At [Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (Viet Nam)

2001-03-01

'Improvement of local rice varieties for high yield, resistance to disease and insect pests (brown plant hopper and rice blast) and export quality through induced mutations for the Mekong Delta' started in 1993. After six years, it showed effecting on the field in the MD as well as at the south of Vietnam. TNDB-100 manifest very wide adaptation and yield stable variety. THDB is suitable for deepwater rice region, coastal area, where rice cultivation effected by acid sulphate and salinity conditions. Both varieties are good example for the method. Thank to good Co-operation from extension center from provinces, hundred classes of extension were organized to recommend to the farmers. And thank to the strongly supporting from IAEA so that nearly 400,000 ha of TNDB-100 occupied at the south of Vietnam as well as nearly 15,000 ha of THDB grown in the coastal as well as rainfed lowland rice areas at the South of Vietnam. To continue the rice improvement by this technique, seeds of six traditional local varieties were exposed under different dose of gamma rays to create new mutants. At present day hundred improved breeding lines were selected, a dozen of uniform lines were isolated and entranced the yield trail as well as regional testing program. From these improved varieties would be selected to contribute to the rice cultivation at the south of Vietnam in the next years. (author)

Ion-beam technology for novel rice improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sobri Hussin; Azhar Mohammad; Abd Rahim Hussin; Rusli Ibrahim; Anna, L.P.K.

2009-01-01

In Malaysia, rice is the most important food crop and is cultivated in about 670,000 ha of arable land in the country. Conventional rice breeding carried out for the last 37 years resulted in the release of 34 modern varieties having an average yield of 5 t per/ha. The major objectives of the rice-breeding program in Malaysia are to develop high-yielding cultivars and to improve yield stability through higher levels of resistance to diseases, insect pests and other stresses. Most of these cultivars have been developed through conventional breeding. In this study, a new method through nuclear technology was used to develop novel superior cultivars. A total number of 100 seeds per dose (0, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 160, 200 Gy) of MR219 were exposed to carbone-ion irradiation (Ion Beam). The irradiated seeds were successfully planted under Controlled Environment Greenhouse for mutation frequency observation. After 2 months, it was revealed that the shoulder dose was significant obtained at 60 and 80 Gy. It was found that germination rates of the mutants were more than 60% for the doses range from 0 to 120 Gy and significantly decreased after 120 Gy. (Author)

Physical mapping of Bph3, a brown planthopper resistance locus in rice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jirapong Jairin

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Resistance to brown planthopper (BPH, a destructive phloem feeding insect pest, is an important objective in rice breeding programs in Thailand. The broad-spectrum resistance gene Bph3 is one of the major BPH resistance genes identified so far in cultivated rice and has been widely used in rice improvement programs. This resistance gene has been identified and mapped on the short arm of chromosome 6. In this study, physical mapping of Bph3 was performed using a BC3F3 population derived from a cross between Rathu Heenati and KDML105. Recombinant BC3F3 individuals with the Bph3 genotype were determined by phenotypic evaluation using modified mass tiller screening at the vegetative stage of rice plants. The recombination events surrounding the Bph3 locus were used to identify the co-segregate markers. According to the genome sequence of Nipponbare, the Bph3 locus was finally localized approximately in a 190 kb interval flanked by markers RM19291 and RM8072, which contain twenty-two putative genes. Additional phenotypic experiment revealed that the resistance in Rathu Heenati was decreased by increasing nitrogen content in rice plants through remobilization of nitrogen. This phenomenon should be helpful for identifying the Bph3 gene.

Predicting temporal shifts in the spring occurrence of overwintered Scotinophara lurida (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and rice phenology in Korea with climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyoseok; Kang, Wee Soo; Ahn, Mun Il; Cho, Kijong; Lee, Joon-Ho

2016-01-01

Climate change could shift the phenology of insects and plants and alter their linkage in space and time. We examined the synchrony of rice and its insect pest, Scotinophara lurida (Burmeister), under the representative concentration pathways (RCP) 8.5 climate change scenario by comparing the mean spring immigration time of overwintered S. lurida with the mean rice transplanting times in Korea. The immigration time of S. lurida was estimated using an overwintered adult flight model. The rice transplanting time of three cultivars (early, medium, and medium-late maturing) was estimated by forecasting the optimal cultivation period using leaf appearance and final leaf number models. A temperature increase significantly advanced the 99 % immigration time of S. lurida from Julian day 192.1 in the 2000s to 178.4 in the 2050s and 163.1 in the 2090s. In contrast, rice transplanting time was significantly delayed in the early-maturing cultivar from day 141.2 in the 2000s to 166.7 in the 2050s and 190.6 in the 2090s, in the medium-maturing cultivar from day 130.6 in the 2000s to 156.6 in the 2050s and 184.7 in the 2090s, and in the medium-late maturing cultivar from day 128.5 in 2000s to 152.9 in the 2050s and 182.3 in the 2090s. These simulation results predict a significant future phenological asynchrony between S. lurida and rice in Korea.

In silico Allergenicity Study of Insect resistant genetically Modified Rice (Oryza sativa L. for assessment of biosafety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.K. Das

2017-12-01

Full Text Available India is one of the world's largest producers of rice (Oryza sativa, accounting for 20% of all world rice production. However, lepidopteran pests severely impact the harvest of rice, which leads to environmental pollution and increase production cost. Alternatively, genetic engineering methods may be used to prevent rice pests and increase production of rice in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt genes have been widely used to generate genetically modified (GM crops because the expressed cry1Ab protein confers resistance to lepidopteron pests. The proteins expressed by these genes may lead to food safety problems. Thus, safety evaluations are necessary prior to commercialization. Bioinformatics analysis for allergenicity assessment of cry1Ab protein is performed using different allergen databases viz. FARRP SDAP, Allergome, and Algpred to identify any potential sequence matches to allergen proteins that might indicate allergenic cross-reactivity with the query sequence. A full FASTA search was performed to identify highly similar proteins. However; the full length search cannot identify discontinuous or conformational epitopes that depend upon the tertiary structure of the protein.So every possible contiguous 80-amino acid sequence of each query protein was searched for determining the similarity. The proteins sequence can be searched using FASTA/BLAST for broad homology to known allergens to identify any short sequence that might represent an allergenic epitope. The domains in the Cry protein sequences were searched using Interproscan for potential similarity at the domain level. The results showed neither significant alignment nor similarity of cry1Ab protein at full sequence, domain, and epitope level with any of the known allergen proteins in the full sequence matching. Matching the 80 amino acid and matching of 8 amino acids showed no similarity to determine the epitope potential. From literature survey

Spider assemblages associated with different crop stages of irrigated rice agroecosystems from eastern Uruguay.

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, Leticia; Ginella, Juaquín; Cadenazzi, Mónica; Castiglioni, Enrique A; Martínez, Sebastián; Casales, Luis; Caraballo, María P; Laborda, Álvaro; Simo, Miguel

2018-01-01

The rice crop and associated ecosystems constitute a rich mosaic of habitats that preserve a rich biological diversity. Spiders are an abundant and successful group of natural predators that are considered efficient in the biocontrol of the major insect pests in agroecosystems. Spider diversity in different stages of the rice crop growth from eastern Uruguay was analysed. Field study was developed on six rice farms with rotation system with pasture, installed during intercropping stage as cover crop. Six rice crops distributed in three locations were sampled with pitfall and entomological vaccum suction machine. Sixteen families, representing six guilds, were collected. Lycosidae, Linyphiidae, Anyphaenidae and Tetragnathidae were the most abundant families (26%, 25%, 20% and 12%, respectively) and comprised more than 80% of total abundance. Other hunters (29%), sheet web weavers (25%) and ground hunters (24%) were the most abundant guilds. Species composition along different crop stages was significantly different according to the ANOSIM test. The results showed higher spider abundance and diversity along the crop and intercrop stages. This study represents the first contribution to the knowledge of spider diversity associated with rice agroecosystem in the country.

Low Temperature Storage of Southern Rice Black-Streaked Dwarf Virus-Infected Rice Plants Cannot Sustain Virus Transmission by the Vector.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Danfeng; Li, Pei; Han, Yongqiang; Lei, Wenbin; Hou, Maolin

2016-02-01

Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) is a novel virus transmitted by white-backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera (Hováth) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). Due to low virus transmission efficiency by the planthopper, researchers are frequently confronted with shortage of viruliferous vectors or infected rice plants, especially in winter and the following spring. To find new ways to maintain virus-infected materials, viral rice plants were stored at -80°C for 45 or 140 d and evaluated as virus sources in virus transmission by the vector. SRBSDV virions were not degraded during storage at -80°C as indicated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and reverse transcription real-time PCR detection. The planthopper nymphs fed on the infected thawed plants for 48 h survived at about 40% and showed positive detection of SRBSDV, but they lost the virus after feeding for another 20 d (the circulative transmission period) on noninfected plants. Transmission electron microscope images indicated broken capsid of virions in infected thawed leaves in contrast to integrity capsid of virions in infected fresh leaves. These results show that low temperature storage of SRBSDV-infected rice plants cannot sustain virus transmission by white-backed planthopper. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Broader prevalence of Wolbachia in insects including potential human disease vectors.

Science.gov (United States)

de Oliveira, C D; Gonçalves, D S; Baton, L A; Shimabukuro, P H F; Carvalho, F D; Moreira, L A

2015-06-01

Wolbachia are intracellular, maternally transmitted bacteria considered the most abundant endosymbionts found in arthropods. They reproductively manipulate their host in order to increase their chances of being transmitted to the offspring, and currently are being used as a tool to control vector-borne diseases. Studies on distribution of Wolbachia among its arthropod hosts are important both for better understanding why this bacterium is so common, as well as for its potential use as a biological control agent. Here, we studied the incidence of Wolbachia in a broad range of insect species, collected from different regions of Brazil, using three genetic markers (16S rRNA, wsp and ftsZ), which varied in terms of their sensitivity to detect this bacterium. The overall incidence of Wolbachia among species belonging to 58 families and 14 orders was 61.9%. The most common positive insect orders were Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera and Hymenoptera, with Diptera and Hemiptera having the highest numbers of Wolbachia-positive families. They included potential human disease vectors whose infection status has never been reported before. Our study further shows the importance of using quantitative polymerase chain reaction for high-throughput and sensitive Wolbachia screening.

The control of stored rice pests by gamma irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiendl, F.M.

1983-01-01

The advantages of nuclear energy application in pest control of foods are emphasized. The following topics are ruled out: grain production; food storage and infestation; entomological researches with insects of stored products, specially rice; researches carried out in Brazil with Sitophilus zeamais Mots and Sitophilus oryzae L.; moths of greater power; the methodology applied to the study of radiation sterilizing doses for woodworms, weevils and moths that infest grains and stored products; palatability-and wholesomeness assays and, at least, stock maintenance. (M.A.) [pt

ANALISIS POLA INTERAKSI SERANGGA-GLMA PADA EKOSISTEM SAWAH SURJAN DAN LEMBARAN YANG DIKELOLA SECARA ORGANIK DAN KONVENSIONAL (Analysis of Insect-Weed Interaction Pattern in Surjan and Lembaran Rice Farm Ecosystems under Organic and Conventional

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tien Aminatun

2012-11-01

Full Text Available ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis struktur food web dalam pola interaksi serangga-gulma pada ekosistem sawah surjan dan lembaran yang dikelola secara organik dan konvensional.        Penelitian dilakukan pada enam petak sawah surjan dan enam petak sawah lembaran di daerah Kulon Progo dalam dua musim tanam pada bulan Desember 2009 sampai Juli 2010.  Baik sawah surjan maupun sawah lembaran, masing-masing dibedakan dalam dua pengelolaan, yaitu pengelolaan organik dan konvensional, dengan ulangan masing-masing tiga petak.  Lima plot ukuran 1x1 m ditempatkan pada masing-masing petak yang tidak diubah posisinya sampai berakhir satu musim tanam. Inti dari penelitian lapangan ini adalah menghitung jenis dan kelimpahan gulma setiap tiga minggu sekali untuk setiap petak, demikian juga untuk jenis dan kelimpahan dari serangga herbivora untuk setiap jenis tanaman/gulma pada setiap plot. Analisis data dilakukan dengan program Bipartite in R statistics 2.12.0, dan dilakukan uji pengaruh tipe sawah dan cara pengelolaan lahan terhadap struktur dan network level (jumlah jenis trofik atas, jumlah jenis trofik bawah, keterhubungan, diversitas Shannon, dan kemerataan interaksi dengan menggunakan General Linear Model (GLM dalam program SPSS 17.0. Hasil penelitian sawah surjan yang dikelola secara organik mempunyai pola interaksi serangga-gulma yang lebih kompleks dengan lebih banyak link interaksi, jumlah jenis trofik atas dan bawah, indeks diversitas Shannon, dan kemerataan interaksi yang lebih tinggi, serta keterhubungan (connectance yang lebih rendah.  ABSRACT The aims of this research was to analyse food web structure of insect-weed interaction in surjan and lembaran rice field ecosystems under organic and conventional managements. We observed six rice fields of local farms called “surjan” rice fields, and six rice fields of “lembaran” farms in Kulon Progo District, central Java, in two planting seasons in December 2009 until

Transfer of gaseous iodine from atmosphere to rough rice, brown rice and polished rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sumiya, Misako; Uchida, Shigeo; Muramatsu, Yasuyuki; Ohmomo, Yoichiro; Yamaguchi, Shuho; Obata, Hitoshi.

1987-01-01

Experiments were carried out in order to obtain information required for establishing transfer coefficients of gaseous iodine (I 2 ) to rough rice, brown rice and polished rice. The gaseous iodine deposited on young rice plants before the heading period was scarcely found in the rough rice harvested at the full ripe stage. The biological half life of iodine in hull, however, was much slower than that in leaves of 14 days. The translocation of iodine from leaves and stalks to rough rice was not clearly recognized. Therefore, it was deduced that iodine found in brown rice mainly should originate from that deposited on the hull. The distribution ratios of iodine between rough rice and brown rice, and between brown rice and polished rice were 100:4 and 100:30 on 100 grains basis, respectively. If average normalized deposition velocity (V d(m) ) or derived deposition velocity (V s ) are given, the transfer coefficients of gaseous iodine to rough rice (TF r ), brown rice (TF b ) and polished rice (TF p ) could be calculated. (author)

The Potential for Genetic Control of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitoes. Report of a Consultants Group Meeting. Working Material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1993-07-01

Since the beginning of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division Programme on the research and development of insect pest control methodology, emphasis has been placed on the basic and applied aspects of implementing the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). Special emphasis has always been directed at the assembly of technological progress into workable systems that can be implemented in developing countries. The general intention is to solve problems associated with insect pests that have an adverse impact on public health and the production of food and fibre. For certain insects, SIT has proven to be a powerful method for control, but for a variety of reasons this technology has not been tried on an operational scale for most of the pest species of insects that exact a toll on the endeavors of humans. The Joint FAO/IAEA Division convened a Consultants Group Meeting to examine 'The Potential for Genetic Control of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitoes', with emphasis to be placed on the SIT. A group of five scientists met, 26-30 April 1993, to examine the current status and the future potential of genetic control for malaria mosquitoes. In most of the tropical, developing countries, and to some extent in temperate regions of the world, Anopheles mosquitoes cause havoc by transmitting malaria, a dreaded disease that causes high mortality amongst children and diminishes productivity of adults. The importance of malaria as a deterrent to further economic growth in a large part of the world cannot be over-emphasized. Malaria is a severe problem because there are inadequacies in the technology available for control. As a result of the deliberations at the meeting, the consultants prepared a list of recommendations concerning the consensus opinions about the development of genetic control for malaria vector control. This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Consultants Group Meeting.

The Potential for Genetic Control of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitoes. Report of a Consultants Group Meeting. Working Material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

Since the beginning of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division Programme on the research and development of insect pest control methodology, emphasis has been placed on the basic and applied aspects of implementing the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). Special emphasis has always been directed at the assembly of technological progress into workable systems that can be implemented in developing countries. The general intention is to solve problems associated with insect pests that have an adverse impact on public health and the production of food and fibre. For certain insects, SIT has proven to be a powerful method for control, but for a variety of reasons this technology has not been tried on an operational scale for most of the pest species of insects that exact a toll on the endeavors of humans. The Joint FAO/IAEA Division convened a Consultants Group Meeting to examine 'The Potential for Genetic Control of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitoes', with emphasis to be placed on the SIT. A group of five scientists met, 26-30 April 1993, to examine the current status and the future potential of genetic control for malaria mosquitoes. In most of the tropical, developing countries, and to some extent in temperate regions of the world, Anopheles mosquitoes cause havoc by transmitting malaria, a dreaded disease that causes high mortality amongst children and diminishes productivity of adults. The importance of malaria as a deterrent to further economic growth in a large part of the world cannot be over-emphasized. Malaria is a severe problem because there are inadequacies in the technology available for control. As a result of the deliberations at the meeting, the consultants prepared a list of recommendations concerning the consensus opinions about the development of genetic control for malaria vector control. This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Consultants Group Meeting.

Two whitebacked planthopper resistance genes in rice share the same loci with those for brown planthopper resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, G X; Weng, Q M; Ren, X; Huang, Z; Zhu, L L; He, G C

2004-03-01

The whitebacked planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera, and brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens Stål are important sucking insects of rice (Oryza sativa L.) crops throughout the world. Rice 'B5', which has derived its resistance genes from the wild rice O. officinalis Wall ex Watt, is a line that is highly resistant to both WBPH and BPH. Previously, two resistance genes against BPH, Qbp1, and Qbp2 in 'B5' had been mapped onto chromosome 3 and chromosome 4, respectively. In this study, we employed a mapping population composed of 187 recombinant inbred lines (RILs), produced from a cross between 'B5' and susceptible variety 'Minghui63', to locate the WBPH and BPH resistance genes. A RFLP survey of the bulked extremes from the RIL population identified two genomic regions, one on chromosome 3 and the other on chromosome 4, likely containing the resistance genes to planthoppers. QTL analysis of the RILs further confirmed that two WBPH resistance genes were mapped on the same loci as Qbp1 and Qbp2, using a linkage map with 242 molecular markers distributed on 12 rice chromosomes. Of the two WBPH resistance genes, one designated Wbph7(t) was located within a 1.1-cM region between R1925 and G1318 on chromosome 3, the other designated Wbph8(t) was within a 0.3-cM region flanked by R288 and S11182 on chromosome 4. A two-way analysis of variance showed that two loci acted independently with each other in determining WBPH resistance. The results have significant implications in studying the interactions between sucking insects and plants and in breeding programs of resistance to rice planthoppers.

Radioactive probes as diagnostic tools for rice tungro viruses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azzam, O.; Arboleda, M.; Reyes. J. de los

1996-01-01

Rice tungro bacilliform (RTBV) and rice tungro spherical viruses (RTSV) are the two viral components responsible for rice tungro disease which has seriously affected the irrigated rice ecosystem in Southeast Asia for the last 30 years. RTBV has an 8 Kb double-stranded DNA circular genome, and it is primarily responsible for induction of symptoms in infected plants. RTSV has a 12 kb single-stranded RNA genome. It does not induce any apparent symptoms in the infected plant, and it is transmitted by greenleafhopper. RTBV depends upon RTSV for its own transmission. The two viruses are limited to the vascular tissue of the rice plant and are present at a low titer. Most of the detection methods used for the identification of these viruses have relied on the virus protein properties and therefore, early detection of the virus activity was not possible. We were interested in evaluating tissue printing, dot blot, and southern techniques for early detection of virus nucleic acids in rice plant using radioactive and non radioactive probes. 32 P-labeled T7 or SP6 RNA polymerase transcripts complementary to the RTBV genome and RTSV coat protein genes were used as probes of the positive stand of both viruses. For nonradioactive probes, RTBV DNA genome was labeled using the ECL detection kit (Amersham). Preliminary results show that viral nucleic acids of RTBV and RTSV could be detected using both labelling systems. Non radioactive probes were comparable in their sensitivity to the radioactive probes. Less than 100 pg of viral DNA was detected in the dot-blot assays. More data will be presented to compare the efficiency and reliability of these two techniques in detecting early virus activity in the rice plant. (author)

Induction of drought tolerant mutants of rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Hissewy, A.A.; Abd Allah, A.

2001-01-01

The ultimate goal of crop breeding is to develop varieties with a high yield potential and desirable agronomic characteristics. In Egypt, the most important qualities sought by breeders have been high yield potential, resistance to major diseases and insects, and improved grain and eating quality. However, breeding efforts should concentrate on varieties with the potential to minimize yield losses under unfavorable conditions such as drought, and to maximize yields when conditions are favorable. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Egypt is completely irrigated and a significant portion of the rice cultivated area is subject to water deficit resulting from an inadequate or insufficient irrigation supply. Drought tolerance is a complex trait in that it results from the interaction of histological and physiological characters of plant with environmental factors, both above-ground and under-ground. Accordingly, root characters are closely related to drought tolerance. Little attention has been paid in Egyptian breeding programs to root characters and their relation to shoot characters. Furthermore, induced mutations are considered as one of the most important methods to induce useful mutants, especially with improved root characters, to overcome the drought problem. The present investigation aimed to study the effect of different doses of gamma rays on several characters of three Egyptian rice varieties, i.e. 'Giza 171', 'Giza 175' and 'Giza 176' and to induce one or more mutants possessing drought tolerance

Bacillus thuringiensis monogenic strains: screening and interactions with insecticides used against rice pests

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Laura M.N.; Dörr, Natália C.; Ribeiro, Ana Paula A.; de Salles, Silvia M.; de Oliveira, Jaime V.; Menezes, Valmir G.; Fiuza, Lidia M.

2012-01-01

The screening of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry proteins with high potential to control insect pests has been the goal of numerous research groups. In this study, we evaluated six monogenic Bt strains (Bt dendrolimus HD-37, Bt kurstaki HD-1, Bt kurstaki HD-73, Bt thuringiensis 4412, Bt kurstaki NRD-12 and Bt entomocidus 60.5, which codify the cry1Aa, cry1Ab, cry1Ac, cry1Ba, cry1C, cry2A genes respectively) as potential insecticides for the most important insect pests of irrigated rice: Spodoptera frugiperda, Diatraea saccharalis, Oryzophagus oryzae, Oebalus poecilus and Tibraca limbativentris. We also analyzed their compatibility with chemical insecticides (thiamethoxam, labdacyhalothrin, malathion and fipronil), which are extensively used in rice crops. The bioassay results showed that Bt thuringiensis 4412 and Bt entomocidus 60.5 were the most toxic for the lepidopterans, with a 93% and 82% mortality rate for S. frugiperda and D. saccharalis, respectively. For O. oryzae, the Bt kurstaki NRD-12 (64%) and Bt dendrolimus HD-37 (62%) strains were the most toxic. The Bt dendrolimus HD-37 strain also caused high mortality (82%) to O. poecilus, however the strains assessed to T. limbativentris caused a maximum rate of 5%. The assays for the Bt strains interaction with insecticides revealed the compatibility of the six strains with the four insecticides tested. The results from this study showed the high potential of cry1Aa and cry1Ba genes for genetic engineering of rice plants or the strains to biopesticide formulations. PMID:24031872

Identification of transcription factors potential related to brown planthopper resistance in rice via microarray expression profiling.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yubing; Guo, Huimin; Li, Haichao; Zhang, Hao; Miao, Xuexia

2012-12-10

Brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, is one of the most destructive insect pests of rice. The molecular responses of plants to sucking insects resemble responses to pathogen infection. However, the molecular mechanism of BPH-resistance in rice remains unclear. Transcription factors (TF) are up-stream regulators of various genes that bind to specific DNA sequences, thereby controlling the transcription from DNA to mRNA. They are key regulators for transcriptional expression in biological processes, and are probably involved in the BPH-induced pathways in resistant rice varieties. We conducted a microarray experiment to analyze TF genes related to BPH resistance in a Sri Lankan rice cultivar, Rathu Heenati (RHT). We compared the expression profiles of TF genes in RHT with those of the susceptible rice cultivar Taichun Native 1 (TN1). We detected 2038 TF genes showing differential expression signals between the two rice varieties. Of these, 442 TF genes were probably related to BPH-induced resistance in RHT and TN1, and 229 may be related to constitutive resistance only in RHT. These genes showed a fold change (FC) of more than 2.0 (Pgenes related to BPH-induced resistance, most of them were readily induced in TN1 than in RHT by BPH feeding, for instance, 154 TF genes were up-regulated in TN1, but only 31 TF genes were up-regulated in RHT at 24 hours after BPH infestation; 2-4 times more TF genes were induced in TN1 than in RHT by BPH. At an FC threshold of >10, there were 37 induced TF genes and 26 constitutive resistance TF genes. Of these, 13 were probably involved in BPH-induced resistance, and 8 in constitutive resistance to BPH in RHT. We explored the molecular mechanism of resistance to BPH in rice by comparing expressions of TF genes between RHT and TN1. We speculate that the level of gene repression, especially for early TF genes, plays an important role in the defense response. The fundamental point of the resistance strategy is that plants

[Study on essential oils of medicinal plants in insect repellent].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hong-Zheng; Luo, Jiao-Yang; Liu, Qiu-Tao; Lv, Ze-Liang; Yang, Shi-Hai; Yang, Mei-Hua

2016-01-01

Mosquitoes are seriously harmful to human health for transmitting some mortal diseases. Among the methods of mosquito control, synthetical insecticides are the most popular. However, as a result of longterm use of these insecticides, high resistant mosquitos and heavy environmental pollution appear. Thus, eco-friendly prevention measures are taken into the agenda. Essential oils extracted from medicinal plants have repellent and smoked killing effects on mosquitoes. With abundant medical plants resources and low toxicity, they have the potential of being developed as a new type of mosquito and insect repellent agent. The recent application advances of essential oils of medicinal plants in insect repellent and its application limitations are overviewed. This review will provide references for the future development and in-depth study of essential oils. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Fine mapping and characterization of BPH27, a brown planthopper resistance gene from wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.).

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, D; Qiu, Y; Zhang, Y; Huang, F; Meng, J; Wei, S; Li, R; Chen, B

2013-01-01

The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål; BPH) is one of the most serious rice pests worldwide. Growing resistant varieties is the most effective way to manage this insect, and wild rice species are a valuable source of resistance genes for developing resistant cultivars. BPH27 derived from an accession of Guangxi wild rice, Oryza rufipogon Griff. (Accession no. 2183, hereafter named GX2183), was primarily mapped to a 17-cM region on the long arm of the chromosome four. In this study, fine mapping of BPH27 was conducted using two BC(1)F(2) populations derived from introgression lines of GX2183. Insect resistance was evaluated in the BC(1)F(2) populations with 6,010 individual offsprings, and 346 resistance extremes were obtained and employed for fine mapping of BPH27. High-resolution linkage analysis defined the BPH27 locus to an 86.3-kb region in Nipponbare. Regarding the sequence information of rice cultivars, Nipponbare and 93-11, all predicted open reading frames (ORFs) in the fine-mapping region have been annotated as 11 types of proteins, and three ORFs encode disease-related proteins. Moreover, the average BPH numbers showed significant differences in 96-120 h after release in comparisons between the preliminary near-isogenic lines (pre-NILs, lines harboring resistance genes) and BaiR54. BPH growth and development were inhibited and survival rates were lower in the pre-NIL plants compared with the recurrent parent BaiR54. The pre-NIL exhibited 50.7% reductions in population growth rates (PGR) compared to BaiR54. The new development in fine mapping of BPH27 will facilitate the efforts to clone this important resistant gene and to use it in BPH-resistance rice breeding.

Insect and Pest Control Newsletter, No. 88, January 2017

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

In our NL 84, we reported on the ground-breaking for the ReNuAL project (Renovation of the Nuclear Applications Laboratories), which includes the FAO/IAEA Agriculture & Biotechnology Laboratories. The laboratories are unique within the United Nations system in providing Member States with direct access to scientific training, technology and analytical services. ReNuAL is getting under way with the construction of a new Insect Pest Control Laboratory (IPCL), pictured on the previous page, due for completion by the end of 2017. In 2016, we also reported on the increasing demands from our FAO and IAEA Member States to expand our focus from developing and transferring the SIT for major crop and livestock insect pests to major disease-transmitting mosquitoes. Looking to the year ahead, we are organizing the Third FAO/IAEA International Conference on Area-wide Management of Insect Pests: Integrating the Sterile Insect and Related Nuclear and Other Techniques, at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 22–26 May 2017. The programme that is being prepared looks very promising and will cover relevant current scientific and applied topics. A number of prominent speakers have been invited to debate new developments and trends. We expect around 400 scientists from all continents and look forward to a successful conference and your active participation.

Diversity and role of cave-dwelling hematophagous insects in pathogen transmission in the Afrotropical region.

Science.gov (United States)

Obame-Nkoghe, Judicaël; Leroy, Eric-Maurice; Paupy, Christophe

2017-04-12

The progressive anthropization of caves for food resources or economic purposes increases human exposure to pathogens that naturally infect cave-dwelling animals. The presence of wild or domestic animals in the immediate surroundings of caves also may contribute to increasing the risk of emergence of such pathogens. Some zoonotic pathogens are transmitted through direct contact, but many others require arthropod vectors, such as blood-feeding insects. In Africa, hematophagous insects often play a key role in the epidemiology of many pathogens; however, their ecology in cave habitats remains poorly known. During the last decades, several investigations carried out in Afrotropical caves suggested the medical and veterinary importance particularly of insect taxa of the Diptera order. Therefore, the role of some of these insects as vectors of pathogens that infect cave-dwelling vertebrates has been studied. The present review summarizes these findings, brings insights into the diversity of cave-dwelling hematophagous Diptera and their involvement in pathogen transmission, and finally discusses new challenges and future research directions.

A Plant Bacterial Pathogen Manipulates Its Insect Vector's Energy Metabolism

Science.gov (United States)

Hijaz, Faraj; Ebert, Timothy A.; Rogers, Michael E.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Insect-transmitted plant-pathogenic bacteria may alter their vectors' fitness, survival, behavior, and metabolism. Because these pathogens interact with their vectors on the cellular and organismal levels, potential changes at the biochemical level might occur. “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” (CLas) is transmitted in a persistent, circulative, and propagative manner. The genome of CLas revealed the presence of an ATP translocase that mediates the uptake of ATP and other nucleotides from medium to achieve its biological processes, such as growth and multiplication. Here, we showed that the levels of ATP and many other nucleotides were significantly higher in CLas-infected than healthy psyllids. Gene expression analysis showed upregulation for ATP synthase subunits, while ATPase enzyme activity showed a decrease in ATPase activity. These results indicated that CLas stimulated Diaphorina citri to produce more ATP and many other energetic nucleotides, while it may inhibit their consumption by the insect. As a result of ATP accumulation, the adenylated energy charge (AEC) increased and the AMP/ATP and ADP/ATP ratios decreased in CLas-infected D. citri psyllids. Survival analysis confirmed a shorter life span for CLas-infected D. citri psyllids. In addition, electropenetrography showed a significant reduction in total nonprobing time, salivation time, and time from the last E2 (phloem ingestion) to the end of recording, indicating that CLas-infected psyllids were at a higher hunger level and they tended to forage more often. This increased feeding activity reflects the CLas-induced energetic stress. In conclusion, CLas alters the energy metabolism of its psyllid vector, D. citri, in order to secure its need for energetic nucleotides. IMPORTANCE Insect transmission of plant-pathogenic bacteria involves propagation and circulation of the bacteria within their vectors. The transmission process is complex and requires specific interactions at the molecular

Insect-Specific Virus Discovery: Significance for the Arbovirus Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bethany G. Bolling

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses, especially those transmitted by mosquitoes, are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and animals worldwide. Recent discoveries indicate that mosquitoes are naturally infected with a wide range of other viruses, many within taxa occupied by arboviruses that are considered insect-specific. Over the past ten years there has been a dramatic increase in the literature describing novel insect-specific virus detection in mosquitoes, which has provided new insights about viral diversity and evolution, including that of arboviruses. It has also raised questions about what effects the mosquito virome has on arbovirus transmission. Additionally, the discovery of these new viruses has generated interest in their potential use as biological control agents as well as novel vaccine platforms. The arbovirus community will benefit from the growing database of knowledge concerning these newly described viral endosymbionts, as their impacts will likely be far reaching.

Evaluation of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) rice varieties against stem borer (Chilo suppressalis).

Science.gov (United States)

Kiani, Ghaffar; Nematzadeh, Ghorban Ali; Ghareyazie, Behzad; Sattari, Majid

2008-02-15

Three transgenic rice varieties namely Khazar, Neda and Nemat, all containing a cry1Ab gene, were evaluated through PCR analysis and field examinations for their resistance at natural infestation of insect pests during 2007. The results showed that all transgenic varieties produced 1.2 kb PCR product derived from application of cry1Ab gene. In field conditions, transgenic varieties exhibited high levels of resistance against natural infestation of stem borer and the damaged plants based on dead heart or white heat for them were less than 1%. Moreover, in stem-cut bioassay 100% of released larvae died within four days after infestation. These results demonstrate that expression of cry1Ab gene in the genome of transgenic varieties provided season-long protection from the natural infestation of lepidopteran insects.

Insect symbiosis: derivation of yeast-like endosymbionts within an entomopathogenic filamentous lineage.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, S O; Noda, H; Blackwell, M

2001-06-01

Yeast-like endosymbionts (YLSs) of insects often are restricted to specific hosts and are essential to the host's survival. For example, in planthoppers (Homoptera: Delphacidae), endosymbionts function in sterol utilization and nitrogen recycling for the hosts. Our study, designed to investigate evolutionary changes in the YLS lineage involved in the planthopper association, strongly suggests an origin of the YLSs from within the filamentous ascomycetes (Euascomycetes), not the true yeasts (Saccharomycetes), as their morphology might indicate. During divergence of the planthopper YLSs, dramatic changes would have occurred in the insect-fungus interaction and the fungal morphology that have previously been undescribed in filamentous ascomycetes. Phylogenetic trees were based on individual and combined data sets of 2.6 kb of the nuclear small- and large-subunit ribosomal RNA genes for YLSs from three rice planthoppers (Laodelphax striatellus, Nilaparvata lugens, and Sogatella furcifera) compared with 56 other fungi. Parsimony analysis placed the planthopper YLSs within Cordyceps (Euascomycetes: Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae), a genus of filamentous insects and a few fungal pathogenic ascomycetes. Another YLS species restricted to the aphid Hamiltonaphis styraci (Homoptera: Aphididae) was a sister taxon to the planthopper YLSS: Filamentous insect pathogens (Metarhizium and Beauveria) specific to the same species of insect hosts as the YLSs also formed lineages within the Clavicipitaceae, but these were distinct from the clade comprising YLS species. Trees constrained to include the YLSs in families of the Hypocreales other than the Clavicipitaceae were rejected by the Kishino-Hasegawa test. In addition, the results of this study support a hypothesis of two independent origins of insect-associated YLSs from among filamentous ascomycetes: the planthopper YLSs in the Clavicipitaceae and the YLSs associated with anobiid beetles (Symbiotaphrina species). Several lineages of

Transgenesis and paratransgenesis to control insect-borne diseases: Current status and future challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Coutinho-Abreu, Iliano V.; Zhu, Kun Yan; Ramalho-Ortigao, Marcelo

2009-01-01

Insect-borne diseases cause significant human morbidity and mortality. Current control and preventive methods against vector-borne diseases rely mainly on insecticides. The emergence of insecticide resistance in many disease vectors highlights the necessity to develop new strategies to control these insects. Vector transgenesis and paratransgenesis are novel strategies that aim at reducing insect vectorial capacity, or seek to eliminate transmission of pathogens such as Plasmodium sp., Trypanosoma sp., and Dengue virus currently being developed. Vector transgenesis relies on direct genetic manipulation of disease vectors making them incapable of functioning as vectors of a given pathogen. Paratransgenesis focuses on utilizing genetically modified insect symbionts to express molecules within the vector that are deleterious to pathogens they transmit. Despite the many successes achieved in developing such techniques in the last several years, many significant barriers remain and need to be overcome prior to any of these approaches become a reality. Here, we highlight the current status of these strategies, pointing out advantages and constraints, and also explore issues that need to be resolved before the establishment of transgenesis and paratransgenesis as tools to prevent vector-borne diseases. PMID:19819346

Quantitative and qualitative damage caused by Oebalus poecilus (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae to upland rice cultivated in new agricultural frontier of the Amazon rainforest (Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diones Krinski

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Oebalus poecilus (Dallas 1851 is one of the stink bug species of great economic importance for rice producers in Brazil of irrigated, flood and upland cropping systems. These pentatomids are known as stink bugs of panicles, because both nymphs and adults feed mainly on panicles. Stink bug attacks result in pecky (spots seeds, lower mass, germinative reduction and deformed grains. Bearing these factors in mind, the aim of this study was to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative losses in commercial cultivars of upland rice (Cambará variety, submitted to different population levels of stink bugs of panicles, O. poecilus, at different reproductive growth stages. The results show that in upland rice (Cambará variety, the rice grains are susceptible to quantitative (number and weight and qualitative (pecky, atrophy, chalky and broken grains damage during all panicle development. However, when the insects feed during anthesis/caryopsis and milky stage cause significantly greater percentage of empty grains (up to 83% than when they feed of grains during later phases of panicle development. This characteristic was also observed for the reduction in grain weight. This information may benefit producers and other researchers, allowing them to focus on the monitoring efforts of O. poecilus in most susceptible phases of the attack of this insect. This will enable decision-making about what control measures should be taken, and when, in order to control stink bugs of panicles.

A study on the life cycle and the effect of radiation on rice weevil, sitophilus oryzae L.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1969-12-31

Studies on the life cycle and the effect of radiation on rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae L. were made. Each stage of development of rice weevil was determined. The egg, larval and pupal stage was 7-9, 13-17 and 7-11 days respectively. The highest rate of oviposition was at 3-6 days. Rice weevils in different stages were exposed to various doses of gamma-radiation and the effects were recorded. It was observed that the males were more susceptible to radiation than females. A dose of 3500-5000 rads induced sterility in adult stage and no hatchability was observed at a dose of 5000 rads. The LD{sub 50} in egg, larval, pupal and adult stage was 15, 120, 1300 and 28400 rads respectively. The response of adult weevils to gamma radiation obtained from Co-60 and the reactor (U{sup 235}) appeared nearly the same. No radioresistance was observed in the second and third generations of rice weevils when adult parents were irradiated at a dose of 2500 rads. There was no recovery of germ cells in male insects following radiation exposure of about 5000 rads. A decrease in the population of rice weevils was noted when the irradiated males were introduced to mate with the non-irradiated females. The Sterile Male Release Technique could be well applied to reduce the number of rice weevils in storage places.

Limites du riz Bt dans le contexte entomologique de la riziculture en Afrique sub-saharienne et à Madagascar (synthèse bibliographique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvie, P.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Limitations of Bt rice in the entomological rice cropping context in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. A review. In sub-Saharan African countries and Madagascar, rice crops host many insect species, which have been inventoried and studied for almost 40 years. Management of these rice pests using synthetic chemical pesticides is not common practice. In Asia, genetically modified rice varieties (Bt rice resistant to some insects were engineered in the 1990s. In 2009, two Bt rice varieties were authorized to be marketed in China. Bt rice is not grown in African countries. We therefore decided to analyze the published literature on Bt rice and to compare the findings with the current insect pest situation in African rice fields. The activity spectrum and the efficacy of Bt toxins represent the first limitation encountered in the use of currently available Bt rice varieties. For instance, the effect of Bt toxins against Diptera (Diopsidae species is unknown, since these species only occur in Africa. On the African continent and in Madagascar, it would be essential to enhance or promote taxonomic, biological and ecological knowledge concerning rice pests and to more accurately measure the impact of various insect species on crop yields. The broad range of rice insect pests, including insect vectors of disease, the risk of target insects developing resistance to Bt toxins and the lack of economic assessments suggest that, with the current state of knowledge in Africa, it would be inappropriate to introduce currently available Bt rice varieties there.

Field response of aboveground non-target arthropod community to transgenic Bt-Cry1Ab rice plant residues in postharvest seasons.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Yao-Yu; Yan, Rui-Hong; Ye, Gong-Yin; Huang, Fangneng; Wangila, David S; Wang, Jin-Jun; Cheng, Jia-An

2012-10-01

Risk assessments of ecological effects of transgenic rice expressing lepidoptera-Cry proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) on non-target arthropods have primarily focused on rice plants during cropping season, whereas few studies have investigated the effects in postharvest periods. Harvested rice fallow fields provide a critical over-wintering habitat for arthropods in the Chinese rice ecosystems, particularly in the southern region of the country. During 2006-08, two independent field trials were conducted in Chongqing, China to investigate the effects of transgenic Cry1Ab rice residues on non-target arthropod communities. In each trial, pitfall traps were used to sample arthropods in field plots planted with one non-Bt variety and two Bt rice lines expressing the Cry1Ab protein. Aboveground arthropods in the trial plots during the postharvest season were abundant, while community densities varied significantly between the two trials. A total of 52,386 individual insects and spiders, representing 93 families, was captured in the two trials. Predominant arthropods sampled were detritivores, which accounted for 91.9% of the total captures. Other arthropods sampled included predators (4.2%), herbivores (3.2%), and parasitoids (0.7%). In general, there were no significant differences among non-Bt and Bt rice plots in all arthropod community-specific parameters for both trials, suggesting no adverse impact of the Bt rice plant residues on the aboveground non-target arthropod communities during the postharvest season. The results of this study provide additional evidence that Bt rice is safe to non-target arthropod communities in the Chinese rice ecosystems.

Insect Cell Culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oers, van M.M.; Lynn, D.E.

2010-01-01

Insect cell cultures are widely used in studies on insect cell physiology, developmental biology and microbial pathology. In particular, insect cell culture is an indispensable tool for the study of insect viruses. The first continuously growing insect cell cultures were established from

Sterile insect technique and radiation in insect control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

Out of 39 papers and 6 summaries of the poster presentations published in this proceeding series, 23 respectively fall within the INIS subject scope. Four main topics were covered: a review of the sterile insect technique against various insect pests; its application to tsetse flies in eradication programmes; quality control of mass-reared insects for release; and the development of genetic approaches to insect mass rearing and control. Other topics emphasized integrated pest management, computer models and radioisotope labelling

Rice agroecosystem of the Muda irrigation scheme, Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nashriyah Mat; Ho Nai Kin; Ismail Sahid; Ahyaudin Ali; Lum Keng Yeang

1998-01-01

Pesticides have become one of the major components of modern farming practice. However, their usage needs to be properly carried out and regulated. Farmers need to be aware of the potential hazards arising out of improper use of pesticides, to them as well to the environment. This book presents the results of a comprehensive study on the impact of pesticide usage in the largest rice agroecosystem in Malaysia, the Muda Irrigation Scheme. The study, carried out by a group of local scientists, covers the impact of pesticide usage on biodiversity and bioresources (forest, weed, insect, fish and bird). In addition to farmers education, it shows the potential of crop establishment, irrigation method and double cropping of rice as useful factors that can be employed in minimizing the impact. The book also provides good foundation for future work and points out areas for further studies. It is a valuable reference to policy makers, researchers, regulators, agriculture-related agencies, chemical / fertilizer companies as well as those concerned with sustainable farming. The ecologists, chemists, biochemists, entomologists, zoologists, botanists, microbiologists, agronomists and medical practitioners involved in this study are congratulated for their efforts. (Nahrul Khair Alang Md Rashid)

Rice agroecosystem of the Muda irrigation scheme, Malaysia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mat, Nashriyah [Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research MINT, Bangi (Malaysia); Kin, Ho Nai [Muda Agricultural Development Authority MADA, Alor Setar (Malaysia); Sahid, Ismail [Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi (Malaysia); Ali, Ahyaudin [Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang (Malaysia); Yeang, Lum Keng [Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Serdang (Malaysia)

1998-07-01

Pesticides have become one of the major components of modern farming practice. However, their usage needs to be properly carried out and regulated. Farmers need to be aware of the potential hazards arising out of improper use of pesticides, to them as well to the environment. This book presents the results of a comprehensive study on the impact of pesticide usage in the largest rice agroecosystem in Malaysia, the Muda Irrigation Scheme. The study, carried out by a group of local scientists, covers the impact of pesticide usage on biodiversity and bioresources (forest, weed, insect, fish and bird). In addition to farmers education, it shows the potential of crop establishment, irrigation method and double cropping of rice as useful factors that can be employed in minimizing the impact. The book also provides good foundation for future work and points out areas for further studies. It is a valuable reference to policy makers, researchers, regulators, agriculture-related agencies, chemical / fertilizer companies as well as those concerned with sustainable farming. The ecologists, chemists, biochemists, entomologists, zoologists, botanists, microbiologists, agronomists and medical practitioners involved in this study are congratulated for their efforts. (Nahrul Khair Alang Md Rashid)

Insect biofuel cells using trehalose included in insect hemolymph leading to an insect-mountable biofuel cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Shoji, Kan; Akiyama, Yoshitake; Suzuki, Masato; Hoshino, Takayuki; Nakamura, Nobuhumi; Ohno, Hiroyuki; Morishima, Keisuke

2012-12-01

In this paper, an insect biofuel cell (BFC) using trehalose included in insect hemolymph was developed. The insect BFC is based on trehalase and glucose oxidase (GOD) reaction systems which oxidize β-glucose obtained by hydrolyzing trehalose. First, we confirmed by LC-MS that a sufficient amount of trehalose was present in the cockroach hemolymph (CHL). The maximum power density obtained using the insect BFC was 6.07 μW/cm(2). The power output was kept more than 10 % for 2.5 h by protecting the electrodes with a dialysis membrane. Furthermore, the maximum power density was increased to 10.5 μW/cm(2) by using an air diffusion cathode. Finally, we succeeded in driving a melody integrated circuit (IC) and a piezo speaker by connecting five insect BFCs in series. The results indicate that the insect BFC is a promising insect-mountable battery to power environmental monitoring micro-tools.

Expression of BrD1, a plant defensin from Brassica rapa, confers resistance against brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) in transgenic rices.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Man-Soo; Kim, Yul-Ho; Park, Hyang-Mi; Seo, Bo-Yoon; Jung, Jin-Kyo; Kim, Sun-Tae; Kim, Min-Chul; Shin, Dong-Bum; Yun, Hong-Tai; Choi, Im-Soo; Kim, Chung-Kon; Lee, Jang-Yong

2009-08-31

Plant defensins are small (5-10 kDa) basic peptides thought to be an important component of the defense pathway against fungal and/or bacterial pathogens. To understand the role of plant defensins in protecting plants against the brown planthopper, a type of insect herbivore, we isolated the Brassica rapa Defensin 1 (BrD1) gene and introduced it into rice (Oryza sativa L.) to produce stable transgenic plants. The BrD1 protein is homologous to other plant defensins and contains both an N-terminal endoplasmic reticulum signal sequence and a defensin domain, which are highly conserved in all plant defensins. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of the defensin domain of various plant defensins, we established that BrD1 belongs to a distinct subgroup of plant defensins. Relative to the wild type, transgenic rices expressing BrD1 exhibit strong resistance to brown planthopper nymphs and female adults. These results suggest that BrD1 exhibits insecticidal activity, and might be useful for developing cereal crop plants resistant to sap-sucking insects, such as the brown planthopper.

Beneficial Insects and Insect Pollinators on Milkweed in South Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

Insect pollinators are essential for the reproduction of more than two-thirds of the world’s crops, and beneficial insects play an important role in managing pest insects in agricultural farmscapes. These insects depend on nectar for their survival in these farmscapes. The flowers of tropical milkwe...

Surviving floods: leaf gas films improve O₂ and CO₂ exchange, root aeration, and growth of completely submerged rice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Ole; Rich, Sarah Meghan; Colmer, Timothy David

2009-01-01

When completely submerged, the leaves of some species retain a surface gas film. Leaf gas films on submerged plants have recently been termed 'plant plastrons', analogous with the plastrons of aquatic insects. In aquatic insects, surface gas layers (i.e. plastrons) enlarge the gas–water interface...... or when in light, was improved considerably when leaf gas films were present. Thus, leaf gas films contribute to the submergence tolerance of rice, in addition to those traits already recognized, such as the shoot-elongation response, aerenchyma and metabolic adjustments to O2 deficiency and oxidative...... stress....

Genomic insights into the glutathione S-transferase gene family of two rice planthoppers, Nilaparvata lugens (Stal and Sogatella furcifera (Horvath (Hemiptera: Delphacidae.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Wu Zhou

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Glutathione S-transferase (GST genes control crucial traits for the metabolism of various toxins encountered by insects in host plants and the wider environment, including insecticides. The planthoppers Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera are serious specialist pests of rice throughout eastern Asia. Their capacity to rapidly adapt to resistant rice varieties and to develop resistance to various insecticides has led to severe outbreaks over the last decade. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using the genome sequence of N. lugens, we identified for the first time the complete GST gene family of a delphacid insect whilst nine GST gene orthologs were identified from the closely related species S. furcifera. Nilaparvata lugens has 11 GST genes belonging to six cytosolic subclasses and a microsomal class, many fewer than seen in other insects with known genomes. Sigma is the largest GST subclass, and the intron-exon pattern deviates significantly from that of other species. Higher GST gene expression in the N. lugens adult migratory form reflects the higher risk of this life stage in encountering the toxins of non-host plants. After exposure to a sub-lethal dose of four insecticides, chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid, buprofezin or beta-cypermethrin, more GST genes were upregulated in S. furcifera than in N. lugens. RNA interference targeting two N. lugens GST genes, NlGSTe1 and NlGSTm2, significantly increased the sensitivity of fourth instar nymphs to chlorpyrifos but not to beta-cypermethrin. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study provides the first elucidation of the nature of the GST gene family in a delphacid species, offering new insights into the evolution of metabolic enzyme genes in insects. Further, the use of RNA interference to identify the GST genes induced by insecticides illustrates likely mechanisms for the tolerance of these insects.

Major QTLs Control Resistance to Rice Hoja Blanca Virus and Its Vector Tagosodes orizicolus

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, Luz E.; Lozano, Ivan; Garavito, Andrea; Carabali, Silvio J.; Triana, Monica; Villareal, Natalia; Reyes, Luis; Duque, Myriam C.; Martinez, César P.; Calvert, Lee; Lorieux, Mathias

2013-01-01

Rice hoja blanca (white leaf) disease can cause severe yield losses in rice in the Americas. The disease is caused by the rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV), which is transmitted by the planthopper vector Tagosodes orizicolus. Because classical breeding schemes for this disease rely on expensive, time-consuming screenings, there is a need for alternatives such as marker-aided selection. The varieties Fedearroz 2000 and Fedearroz 50, which are resistant to RHBV and to the feeding damage caused by T. orizicolus, were crossed with the susceptible line WC366 to produce segregating F2:3 populations. The F3 families were scored for their resistance level to RHBV and T. orizicolus. The F2:3 lines of both crosses were genotyped using microsatellite markers. One major QTL on the short arm of chromosome 4 was identified for resistance to RHBV in the two populations. Two major QTL on chromosomes 5 and 7 were identified for resistance to T. orizicolus in the Fd2000 × WC366 and Fd50 × WC366 crosses, respectively. This comparative study using two distinct rice populations allowed for a better understanding of how the resistance to RHBV and its vector are controlled genetically. Simple marker-aided breeding schemes based on QTL information can be designed to improve rice germplasm to reduce losses caused by this important disease. PMID:24240781

The insect pest complex and related problems of lowland rice cultivation in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Halteren, van P.

1979-01-01

CHAPTER 1.

The Department of Entomology of the Research Institute for Agriculture at Maros is concerned with insect pests of food crops, and serves the needs of farmers, most of them living near subsistance level, and of extension workers.

South Sulawesi, formerly known as South

Mixed genotype transmission bodies and virions contribute to the maintenance of diversity in an insect virus

Science.gov (United States)

Clavijo, Gabriel; Williams, Trevor; Muñoz, Delia; Caballero, Primitivo; López-Ferber, Miguel

2010-01-01

An insect nucleopolyhedrovirus naturally survives as a mixture of at least nine genotypes. Infection by multiple genotypes results in the production of virus occlusion bodies (OBs) with greater pathogenicity than those of any genotype alone. We tested the hypothesis that each OB contains a genotypically diverse population of virions. Few insects died following inoculation with an experimental two-genotype mixture at a dose of one OB per insect, but a high proportion of multiple infections were observed (50%), which differed significantly from the frequencies predicted by a non-associated transmission model in which genotypes are segregated into distinct OBs. By contrast, insects that consumed multiple OBs experienced higher mortality and infection frequencies did not differ significantly from those of the non-associated model. Inoculation with genotypically complex wild-type OBs indicated that genotypes tend to be transmitted in association, rather than as independent entities, irrespective of dose. To examine the hypothesis that virions may themselves be genotypically heterogeneous, cell culture plaques derived from individual virions were analysed to reveal that one-third of virions was of mixed genotype, irrespective of the genotypic composition of the OBs. We conclude that co-occlusion of genotypically distinct virions in each OB is an adaptive mechanism that favours the maintenance of virus diversity during insect-to-insect transmission. PMID:19939845

Variation of Body Size in Rice Water Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Its Associations with Population Biology

OpenAIRE

Huang, Yunshan; Ao, Yan; Jiang, Mingxing; Way, Michael O

2018-01-01

Abstract Life history characteristics help us to determine the ability of invasive species to establish and thrive in an exotic environment. However, so far, there have been very few reports concerning geographic variation in the body size of invasive insects and the associations between body size variation and population biology. In this study, we surveyed the geographic variation in body size of an invasive agricultural pest, the rice water weevil Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleopte...

A simple, rapid and inexpensive method for localization of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus and Potato leafroll virus in plant and insect vectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghanim, Murad; Brumin, Marina; Popovski, Smadar

2009-08-01

A simple, rapid, inexpensive method for the localization of virus transcripts in plant and insect vector tissues is reported here. The method based on fluorescent in situ hybridization using short DNA oligonucleotides complementary to an RNA segment representing a virus transcript in the infected plant or insect vector. The DNA probe harbors a fluorescent molecule at its 5' or 3' ends. The protocol: simple fixation, hybridization, minimal washing and confocal microscopy, provides a highly specific signal. The reliability of the protocol was tested by localizing two phloem-limited plant virus transcripts in infected plants and insect tissues: Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) (Begomovirus: Geminiviridae), exclusively transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) in a circulative non-propagative manner, and Potato leafroll virus (Polerovirus: Luteoviridae), similarly transmitted by the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer). Transcripts for both viruses were localized specifically to the phloem sieve elements of infected plants, while negative controls showed no signal. TYLCV transcripts were also localized to the digestive tract of B. tabaci, confirming TYLCV route of transmission. Compared to previous methods for localizing virus transcripts in plant and insect tissues that include complex steps for in-vitro probe preparation or antibody raising, tissue fixation, block preparation, sectioning and hybridization, the method described below provides very reliable, convincing, background-free results with much less time, effort and cost.

Broken rice kernels and the kinetics of rice hydration and texture during cooking.

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Mohammed; Meullenet, Jean-Francois

2013-05-01

During rice milling and processing, broken kernels are inevitably present, although to date it has been unclear as to how the presence of broken kernels affects rice hydration and cooked rice texture. Therefore, this work intended to study the effect of broken kernels in a rice sample on rice hydration and texture during cooking. Two medium-grain and two long-grain rice cultivars were harvested, dried and milled, and the broken kernels were separated from unbroken kernels. Broken rice kernels were subsequently combined with unbroken rice kernels forming treatments of 0, 40, 150, 350 or 1000 g kg(-1) broken kernels ratio. Rice samples were then cooked and the moisture content of the cooked rice, the moisture uptake rate, and rice hardness and stickiness were measured. As the amount of broken rice kernels increased, rice sample texture became increasingly softer (P hardness was negatively correlated to the percentage of broken kernels in rice samples. Differences in the proportions of broken rice in a milled rice sample play a major role in determining the texture properties of cooked rice. Variations in the moisture migration kinetics between broken and unbroken kernels caused faster hydration of the cores of broken rice kernels, with greater starch leach-out during cooking affecting the texture of the cooked rice. The texture of cooked rice can be controlled, to some extent, by varying the proportion of broken kernels in milled rice. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

Investigating differences in light stable isotopes between Thai jasmine rice and Sungyod rice

Science.gov (United States)

Kukusamude, C.; Kongsri, S.

2017-10-01

We report the differences in light stable isotopes between two kinds of Thai rice (Thai jasmine and Sungyod rice). Thai jasmine rice and Sungyod rice were cultivated in the northeast and the south of Thailand. Light isotopes including 13C, 15N and 18O of Thai jasmine rice and Sungyod rice samples were carried out using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). Thai jasmine rice (Khao Dawk Mali 105) was cultivated from Thung Kula Rong Hai area, whereas Sungyod rice was cultivated from Phathalung province. Hypothesis testing of difference of each isotope between Thai jasmine rice and Sungyod rice was also studied. The study was the feasibility test whether the light stable isotopes can be the variables to identify Thai jasmine rice and Sungyod rice. The result shows that there was difference in the isotope patterns of Thai jasmine rice and Sungyod rice. Our results may provide the useful information in term of stable isotope profiles of Thai rice.

Area-wide control of fruit flies and other insect pests. Joint proceedings of the international conference on area-wide control of insect pests and the fifth international symposium on fruit flies of economic importance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Keng-Hong

2000-01-01

With the world population attaining the six billion mark, the urgency of increasing quality food production and reducing the spread of diseases transmitted by insects, without affecting our fragile environment, will be of paramount importance. Losses currently experienced in agricultural production, due to insect pests and through diseases transmitted by insect vectors, are very high especially in developing and poor countries. Many insect pests and vectors are of economic importance, and several such as fruit flies, mosquitoes and tsetse flies have attracted international concerns. Most pests are traditionally controlled through heavy reliance on pesticides which can cause environmental pollution, pesticide resistance, and pest resurgence. The control, management or eradication of insect pests and vectors with minimal adverse impact on our food quality, environment, health and well-being should be of great concern to many agriculturists, biological and physical scientists as well as to national and international agencies responsible for pest control. Steps taken by the various concerned agencies to improve and implement the area-wide control will hopefully lead us into the next millennium free from major insect pests and vectors while at the same time protect our precarious global environment. This volume is the culmination of proceedings conducted in two recent international meetings, FAO/IAEA International Conference on Area-Wide Control of Insect Pests, 28 May - 2 June 1998, and the Fifth International Symposium on Fruit Flies of Economic Importance, 1-5 June 1998, held in Penang, Malaysia. Over three hundred papers (both oral contributions and posters) were presented at the two meetings. The manuscripts submitted by authors are divided according to broad topics into eighteen sections originally defined by the organisers as corresponding to the sessions of the meetings. The organisers identified one to several individuals in each of the sessions to deliver an

Edible Insects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huis, van A.; Dunkel, F.V.

2016-01-01

The interest in insects as human food in the Western world is increasingly considered as a viable alternative to other protein sources. In tropical countries it is common practice and about 2000 insect species are eaten. Insects emit low levels of greenhouse gases, need little water, and require

Insects: A nutritional alternative

Science.gov (United States)

Dufour, P. A.

1981-01-01

Insects are considered as potential food sources in space. Types of insects consumed are discussed. Hazards of insect ingestion are considered. Insect reproduction, requirements, and raw materials conversion are discussed. Nutrition properties and composition of insects are considered. Preparation of insects as human food is discussed.

Characterization and comparative profiling of the small RNA transcriptomes in the Hemipteran insect Nilaparvata lugens.

Science.gov (United States)

Zha, Wenjun; Zhou, Lei; Li, Sanhe; Liu, Kai; Yang, Guocai; Chen, Zhijun; Liu, Kai; Xu, Huashan; Li, Peide; Hussain, Saddam; You, Aiqing

2016-12-20

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small RNAs involved in various biological processes through negative regulation of mRNAs at the post-transcriptional level. The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is one of the most serious and destructive insect pests of rice. In the present study, two small RNA libraries of virulent N. lugens populations (Biotype I survives on susceptive rice variety TN1 and Biotype Y survives on moderately resistant rice variety YHY15) were constructed and sequenced using the high-throughput sequencing technology in order to identify the relationship between miRNAs of N.lugens and adaptation of BPH pests to rice resistance. In total 15,758,632 and 11,442,592 reads, corresponding to 3,144,026 and 2,550,049 unique sequences, were obtained in the two libraries (BPH-TN1 and BPH-YHY15 libraries), respectively. A total of 41 potential novel miRNAs were predicted in the two libraries, and 26 miRNAs showed significantly differential expression between two libraries. All miRNAs were significantly up-regulated in the BPH-TN1 library. Target genes likely regulated by these differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted using computational prediction. The functional annotation of target genes performed by Gene Ontology enrichment (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis (KEGG) indicated that a majority of differential miRNAs were involved in "Metabolism" pathway. These results provided an understanding of the role of miRNAs in BPH to adaptability of BPH on rice resistance, and will be useful in developing new control strategies for host defense against BPH. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of seed mixture sowing with resistant and susceptible rice on population dynamics of target planthoppers and non-target stemborers and leaffolders.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhuo; Wan, Guijun; Wang, Long; Parajulee, Megha N; Zhao, Zihua; Chen, Fajun

2018-07-01

The widespread planting of insect-resistant crops has caused a dramatic shift in agricultural landscapes, thus raising concerns about the potential impact on both target and non-target pests worldwide. In this study, we examined the potential effects of six seed mixture ratios of insect-resistance dominance [100% (R100), 95% (S05R95), 90% (S10R90), 80% (S20R80), 60% (S40R60), and 0% (S100)] on target and non-target pests in a 2-year field trial in southern China. The occurrence of the target pests Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera decreased with an increase in the ratio of resistant rice, and mixture ratios with ≥90% resistant rice significantly increased the pest suppression efficiency, with the lowest occurrences of the non-target pests Sesamia inferens, Chilo suppressalis and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis for S100 and S10R90 seed mixture ratios. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the 1000-grain dry weight and grain yield between R100 and other treatments with ≥80% resistant seeds in the mixture (S20R80, S10R90 and S05R95). S10R90 produced a good yield and provided the most effective control of both target and non-target pests, with the potential to significantly reduce the application of chemical pesticides for integrated pest management in paddy fields. It is further presumed that the strategy of seed mixture with resistant and susceptible rice would be advantageous for rice yield stability. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Extraction of rice bran oil from local rice husk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anwar, J.; Zaman, W.; Salman, M.; Jabeen, N.

2006-01-01

Rice Bran Oil is widely used in pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries due to its unique properties and high medicinal value. In the present work, extraction of rice bran oil from different samples of rice husk collected from local rice shellers by solvent extraction method has been studied. Experiments were conducted using a soxhelt apparatus, to extract rice bran oil using hexane, petroleum ether, ethanol and methanol as the solvents and the yields obtained under different conditions were compared. Batch extraction tests showed that the rate of extraction decreases with time and the solution approaches saturation at an exponential rate. (author)

Surviving floods: leaf gas films improve O₂ and CO₂ exchange, root aeration, and growth of completely submerged rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Ole; Rich, Sarah Meghan; Colmer, Timothy David

2009-04-01

When completely submerged, the leaves of some species retain a surface gas film. Leaf gas films on submerged plants have recently been termed 'plant plastrons', analogous with the plastrons of aquatic insects. In aquatic insects, surface gas layers (i.e. plastrons) enlarge the gas-water interface to promote O₂ uptake when under water; however, the function of leaf gas films has rarely been considered. The present study demonstrates that gas films on leaves of completely submerged rice facilitate entry of O₂ from floodwaters when in darkness and CO₂ entry when in light. O₂ microprofiles showed that the improved gas exchange was not caused by differences in diffusive boundary layers adjacent to submerged leaves with or without gas films; instead, reduced resistance to gas exchange was probably due to the enlarged water-gas interface (cf. aquatic insects). When gas films were removed artificially, underwater net photosynthesis declined to only 20% of the rate with gas films present, such that, after 7 days of complete submergence, tissue sugar levels declined, and both shoot and root growth were reduced. Internal aeration of roots in anoxic medium, when shoots were in aerobic floodwater in darkness or when in light, was improved considerably when leaf gas films were present. Thus, leaf gas films contribute to the submergence tolerance of rice, in addition to those traits already recognized, such as the shoot-elongation response, aerenchyma and metabolic adjustments to O₂ deficiency and oxidative stress. © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Application Of Induced Mutation Combined With Hybridization Method In Rice Improvement In Southern Vietnam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Do Khac Thinh; Dao Minh So; Nguyen Thi Cuc; Hung Phi Oanh; Hoang Duc Dung

2008-01-01

Rice plays an important role of social-economic issues in Vietnam, especially in Mekong River Delta (MRD). Rice mutation breeding was not initiated until 1992 in Southern Vietnam. Therefore, no mutant rice varieties were cultivated in MRD before 1995. Dry and germinated seeds of varieties as IR64, Tam Xoan, Nang Huong were exposed to 60 Co gamma rays at doses of 200-300 Gy. Population of 10,000-15,000 M1 plants were established by direct seeded practice. Mutant elite lines were used in hybridization program, assessed according to the standard system for rice (IRRI 1996) from M2 - M7 generations. The promising selected lines were tested in multi-location trials. The mutated characters developed so far consist of better resistance to lodging, disease and insect damages, higher tolerance to soil stresses such as acid sulphate, drought etc, and also earliness and higher yield potential. Mutation techniques have shown very useful in rice improvement, especially for characters controlled by close linked genes that are difficult to break by recombination. Some best mutant varieties: VND95-19, VND95-20, VND99-3, TNDB-100 have been released for large-scale production in MRD. Among them, VND95-20 has become one of the top 5 varieties for export and grown annually about 300,000 ha in Southern Vietnam. In combination with hybridization method, some mutants gave promising recombinants in aroma, tolerance to BPH, Grassy Stunt Virus and Ragged Stunt Virus diseases. Selected varieties as VN121, VN24-4 are largely released into production in recent time. (author)

Consuming insects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roos, N.; Huis, van A.

2017-01-01

How healthy are insects? This is a highly relevant question in view of the global interest in the potential of insects as a sustainable food source in food systems and diets. Edible insects, like other foods, can provide nutrients and dietary energy to meet the requirements of the human body as a

Influence of rice black streaked dwarf virus on the ecological fitness of non-vector planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Hong-Xing; He, Xiao-Chan; Zheng, Xu-Song; Yang, Ya-Jun; Lu, Zhong-Xian

2014-08-01

Rice black streak dwarf virus (RBSDV) is transmitted by the small brown planthopper (SBPH), Laodelphax striatellus (Fallen). Non-vector rice brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), shares the same host rice plants with SBPH in paddy fields. The changes in nutritional composition of rice plants infected by RBSDV and the ecological fitness of BPH feeding on the infected plants were studied under both artificial climate chamber and field conditions. Contents of 16 detected amino acids and soluble sugar in RBSDV infected rice plants were higher than those in the healthy ones. On the diseased plants BPH had significantly higher nymphal survival rates, nymphal duration of the males, weight of the female adults, as well as egg hatchability compared to BPH being fed on healthy plants. However, there was no obvious difference in female nymph duration, longevity and fecundity. Defense enzymes (superoxidase dismutase, SOD and catalase, CAT) and detoxifying enzymes (carboxylesterase, CAE and glutathione S-transferase, GST) in BPH adults fed on diseased plants had markedly higher activities. The results indicate rice plants infected by RBSDV improved the ecological fitness of the brown planthopper, a serious pest but not a transmitter of the RBSDV virus. © 2013 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

RiceAtlas, a spatial database of global rice calendars and production.

Science.gov (United States)

Laborte, Alice G; Gutierrez, Mary Anne; Balanza, Jane Girly; Saito, Kazuki; Zwart, Sander J; Boschetti, Mirco; Murty, M V R; Villano, Lorena; Aunario, Jorrel Khalil; Reinke, Russell; Koo, Jawoo; Hijmans, Robert J; Nelson, Andrew

2017-05-30

Knowing where, when, and how much rice is planted and harvested is crucial information for understanding the effects of policy, trade, and global and technological change on food security. We developed RiceAtlas, a spatial database on the seasonal distribution of the world's rice production. It consists of data on rice planting and harvesting dates by growing season and estimates of monthly production for all rice-producing countries. Sources used for planting and harvesting dates include global and regional databases, national publications, online reports, and expert knowledge. Monthly production data were estimated based on annual or seasonal production statistics, and planting and harvesting dates. RiceAtlas has 2,725 spatial units. Compared with available global crop calendars, RiceAtlas is nearly ten times more spatially detailed and has nearly seven times more spatial units, with at least two seasons of calendar data, making RiceAtlas the most comprehensive and detailed spatial database on rice calendar and production.

Phylogeny of economically important insect pests that infesting several crops species in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazali, Siti Zafirah; Zain, Badrul Munir Md.; Yaakop, Salmah

2014-09-01

This paper reported molecular data on insect pests of commercial crops in Peninsular Malaysia. Fifteen insect pests (Metisa plana, Calliteara horsefeldii, Cotesia vestalis, Bactrocera papayae, Bactrocera carambolae, Bactrocera latifrons, Conopomorpha cramella, Sesamia inferens, Chilo polychrysa, Rhynchophorus vulneratus, and Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) of nine crops were sampled (oil palm, coconut, paddy, cocoa, starfruit, angled loofah, guava, chili and mustard) and also four species that belong to the fern's pest (Herpetogramma platycapna) and storage and rice pests (Tribolium castaneum, Oryzaephilus surinamensis and Cadra cautella). The presented phylogeny summarized the initial phylogenetic hypothesis, which concerning by implementation of the economically important insect pests. In this paper, phylogenetic relationships among 39 individuals of 15 species that belonging to three orders under 12 genera were inferred from DNA sequences of mitochondrial marker, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear marker, ribosomal DNA 28S D2 region. The phylogenies resulted from the phylogenetic analyses of both genes are relatively similar, but differ in the sequence of evolution. Interestingly, this most recent molecular data of COI sequences data by using Bayesian Inference analysis resulted a more-resolved phylogeny that corroborated with traditional hypotheses of holometabolan relationships based on traditional hypotheses of holometabolan relationships and most of recently molecular study compared to 28S sequences. This finding provides the information on relationships of pests species, which infested several crops in Malaysia and also estimation on Holometabola's order relationships. The identification of the larval stages of insect pests could be done accurately, without waiting the emergence of adults and supported by the phylogenetic tree.

Expression Analysis of Genes Related to Rice Resistance Against Brown Planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panatda Jannoey

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Brown planthopper (BPH is an insect species that feeds on the vascular system of rice plants. To examine the defence mechanism of rice plants against BPH, the pathogenesis-related genes (PR1a, PR2, PR3, PR4, PR6, PR9, PR10a, PR13, PR15 and PRpha, signaling molecule synthesis genes (AOS, AXR, ACO and LOX, antioxidant-related genes (CAT, TRX, GST and SOD and lignin biosynthesis-related genes (CHS, CHI and C4H were investigated in a resistant rice variety. AOS, PR6, PR9 and PR15 genes showed significantly increased relative expression levels at 24.38-, 19.17-, 14.71-, and 12.74-fold compared to the control. Moderate increased relative expression levels of lignin biosynthesis-related gene (C4H, pathogenesis-related genes (PR4, PR10a and PRpha, and antioxidant-related gene (GST were found, while CHI, LOX, SOD, TRX1 and AXR showed decreased relative expression levels. It was thus clearly shown that wound-induced response genes were activated in rice plants after BPH attacks through AOS activation. Jasmonic acid signaling molecule may activate PR6, PR15, GST and CAT subsequently increasing their expression for H2O2 detoxification. PR6 were expressed at the highest relative level among the PR genes. These genes therefore have also a considerable synergistic role with the other genes against BPH by interfered their digestion tract system.

All insects are equal, but some insects are more equal than others

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Arnout R.H.; Steenbekkers, L.P.A.

2018-01-01

Purpose: Lack of acceptance of insects as food is considered a barrier against societal adoption of the potentially valuable contribution of insects to human foods. An underlying barrier may be that insects are lumped together as one group, while consumers typically try specific insects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which Dutch consumers, with and without insect tasting experience, are more or less willing to eat different insects. Design/methodology/approach: In a ...

Eficiência de Metarhizium anisopliae no controle do Percevejo-do-Colmo Tibraca limbativentris (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae em lavoura de arroz irrigado Efficiency of Metarhizium anisopliae on rice stem bug Tibraca limbativentris (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae control in flooded rice field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Francisco da Silva Martins

2004-12-01

, pode provavelmente reduzir a taxa de disseminação do fungo nos arrozais e, por conseqüência, ser desfavorável à ocorrência de epizootias.The rice stem bug, Tibraca limbativentris Stal, 1860 (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae, is an important pest of rice (Oryza sativa L. in Brazil, mainly in flooded system of cultivation. The effect of two ways of application (conidia in aqueous suspension and on rice grain of Metarhizium anisopliae strain 172 for the control of the rice stem bug, was evaluated in three experiments conducted in 1991, 1992 and 1994 in commercial irrigated rice. In 1991, the spraying of conidia suspension and manual distribution of rice grain covered with fungal material at dose of 7.2 x 10(13 conidia.ha-1, on soil and among rice stems, where the bugs were located, reduced significantly the insect natural population with control efficiencies of 52.6 and 61.8%, respectively. Studies about establishment and persistence of fungal conidia in soil, using the colony forming unity (CFU counts, indicated that the fungus persisted in the soil between two rice crop seasons, up to 216 days after application, when new rice crops were established. The number of CFU was greater in the plots treated with rice grain covered with fungal material. The linear growth of CFU in the control plots showed that the fungus spread to the untreated areas of the rice field. Significant control efficiency was obtained in 1993 for grain and aqueous fungus treatment with 48.2% and 51.8%, respectively. In 1994, the conidial suspension at dose of 5x10(13 conidia.ha-1 resulted in control efficiency of 39.5%. The level of insect mycosis, however, was low in both 1993 and 1994, reaching a maximum of 20% mycosis in 1993. The low numbers of insect with mycosis compared with the level of mortality, may probably reduce the rate of fungal dissemination in rice fields and, consequently, be detrimental to the occurrence of epizootics.

Transgene Flow from Glufosinate-Resistant Rice to Improved and Weedy Rice in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong-liang LU

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The development of transgenic rice with novel traits in China can increase rice productivity, but transgene flow to improved or weedy rice has become a major concern. We aimed to evaluate the potential maximum frequencies of transgene flow from glufosinate-resistant rice to improved rice cultivars and weedy rice. Treatments were arranged in randomized complete blocks with three replicates. Experiments were conducted between 2009 and 2010 at the Center for Environmental Safety Supervision and Inspection for Genetically Modified Plants, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, China. Glufosinate-resistant japonica rice 99-1 was the pollen donor. The pollen recipients were two inbred japonica rice (Chunjiang 016 and Xiushui 09, two inbred indica rice (Zhongzu 14 and Zhongzao 22, two indica hybrid rice (Zhongzheyou 1 and Guodao 1, and one weedy indica rice (Taizhou weedy rice. The offspring of recipients were planted in the field and sprayed with a commercial dose of glufosinate. Leaf tissues of survivors were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction to detect the presence of the transgene. The frequency of gene flow ranged from 0 to 0.488%. In 2009, the order of gene flow frequency was as follows: weedy rice > Chunjiang 016 > Xiushui 09 and Zhongzu 14 > Guodao 1, Zhongzheyou 1 and Zhongzao 22. Gene flow frequencies were generally higher in 2009 than in 2010, but did not differ significantly among rice materials. Gene flow frequency was the highest in weedy rice followed by the inbred japonica rice. The risk of gene flow differed significantly between years and year-to-year variance could mask risk differences among pollen recipients. Gene flow was generally lesser in taller pollen recipients than in shorter ones, but plant height only accounted for about 30% of variation in gene flow. When flowering synchrony was maximized, as in this study, low frequencies of gene flow occurred from herbicide-resistant japonica rice to other cultivars and

Combining 'omics and microscopy to visualize interactions between the Asian citrus psyllid vector and the Huanglongbing pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus in the insect gut

Science.gov (United States)

Huanglongbing, or citrus greening disease, is an economically devastating bacterial disease of citrus. It is associated with infection by the gram-negative bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). CLas is transmitted by Diaphorina citri, the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). For insect transmis...

Comparative acute toxicity of neonicotinoid and pyrethroid insecticides to non-target crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) associated with rice-crayfish crop rotations.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbee, Gary C; Stout, Michael J

2009-11-01

Most insecticides used to control rice water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuscel) infestations are pyrethroids. However, pyrethroids are highly toxic to non-target crayfish associated with rice-crayfish crop rotations. One solution to the near-exclusive reliance on pyrethroids in a rice-crayfish pest management program is to incorporate neonicotinoid insecticides, which are insect specific and effective against weevils but not extremely toxic to crayfish. This study aimed to take the first step to assess neonicotinoids as alternatives to pyrethroids in rice-crayfish crop rotations by measuring the acute toxicities of three candidate neonicotinoid insecticides, clothianidin, dinotefuran and thiamethoxam, to juvenile Procambarus clarkii (Girard) crayfish and comparing them with the acute toxicities of two currently used pyrethroid insecticides, lambda-cyhalothrin and etofenprox. Neonicotinoid insecticides are at least 2-3 orders of magnitude less acutely toxic (96 h LC(50)) than pyrethroids to juvenile Procambarid crayfish: lambda-cyhalothrin (0.16 microg AI L(-1)) = etofenprox (0.29 microg AI L(-1)) > clothianidin (59 microg AI L(-1)) > thiamethoxam (967 microg AI L(-1)) > dinotefuran (2032 microg AI L(-1)). Neonicotinoid insecticides appear to be much less hazardous alternatives to pyrethroids in rice-crayfish crop rotations. Further field-level neonicotinoid acute and chronic toxicity testing with crayfish is needed. (c) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry.

Rice production in relation to soil quality under different rice-based cropping systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tran Ba, Linh; Sleutel, Steven; Nguyen Van, Qui; Thi, Guong Vo; Le Van, Khoa; Cornelis, Wim

2016-04-01

Soil quality of shallow paddy soils may be improved by introducing upland crops and thus a more diverse crop cultivation pattern. Yet, the causal relationship between crop performance and enhanced soil traits in rice-upland crop rotations remains elusive. The objectives of this study were to (i) find correlations among soil properties under different rice-upland crop systems and link selected soil properties to rice growth and yield, (ii) present appropriate values of soil parameters for sustainable rice productivity in heavy clay soil, (iii) evaluate the effect of rotating rice with upland crops on rice yield and economic benefit in a long-term experiment. A rice-upland crop rotational field experiment in the Vietnamese Mekong delta was conducted for 10 years using a randomized complete block design with four treatments and four replications. Treatments were: (i) rice-rice-rice (control - conventional system as farmers' practice), (ii) rice-maize-rice, (iii) rice-mung bean-rice, and (iv) rice-mung bean-maize. Soil and plant sampling were performed after harvest of the rice crop at the end of the final winter-spring cropping season (i.e. year 10). Results show differences in rice growth and yield, and economic benefit as an effect of the crop rotation system. These differences were linked with changes in bulk density, soil porosity, soil aggregate stability index, soil penetration resistance, soil macro-porosity, soil organic carbon, acid hydrolysable soil C and soil nutrient elements, especially at soil depth of 20-30 cm. This is evidenced by the strong correlation (P < 0.01) between rice plant parameters, rice yield and soil properties such as bulk density, porosity, penetration resistance, soil organic carbon and Chydrolysable. It turned out that good rice root growth and rice yield corresponded to bulk density values lower than 1.3 Mg m-3, soil porosity higher than 50%, penetration resistance below 1.0 MPa, and soil organic carbon above 25 g kg-1. The optimal

Mycoplasmas, plants, insect vectors: a matrimonial triangle.

Science.gov (United States)

Garnier, M; Foissac, X; Gaurivaud, P; Laigret, F; Renaudin, J; Saillard, C; Bové, J M

2001-10-01

Plant pathogenic mycoplasmas were discovered by electron microscopy, in 1967, long after the discovery and culture in 1898 of the first pathogenic mycoplasma of animal origin, Mycoplasma mycoides. Mycoplasmas are Eubacteria of the class Mollicutes, a group of organisms phylogenetically related to Gram-positive bacteria. Their more characteristic features reside in the small size of their genomes, the low guanine (G) plus cytosine (C) content of their genomic DNA and the lack of a cell wall. Plant pathogenic mycoplasmas are responsible for several hundred diseases and belong to two groups: the phytoplasmas and the spiroplasmas. The phytoplasmas (previously called MLOs, for mycoplasma like organisms) were discovered first; they are pleiomorphic, and have so far resisted in vitro cultivation. Phytoplasmas represent the largest group of plant pathogenic Mollicutes. Only three plant pathogenic spiroplasmas are known today. Spiroplasma citri, the agent of citrus stubborn was discovered and cultured in 1970 and shown to be helical and motile. S. kunkelii is the causal agent of corn stunt. S. phoeniceum, responsible for periwinkle yellows, was discovered in Syria. There are many other spiroplasmas associated with insects and ticks. Plant pathogenic mycoplasmas are restricted to the phloem sieve tubes in which circulates the photosynthetically-enriched sap, the food for many phloem-feeding insects (aphids, leafhoppers, psyllids, etc.). Interestingly, phytopathogenic mycoplasmas are very specifically transmitted by leafhoppers or psyllid species. In this paper, the most recent knowledge on phytopathogenic mycoplasmas in relation with their insect and plant habitats is presented as well as the experiments carried out to control plant mycoplasma diseases, by expression of mycoplasma-directed-antibodies in plants (plantibodies).

RPAN: rice pan-genome browser for ∼3000 rice genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Chen; Hu, Zhiqiang; Zheng, Tianqing; Lu, Kuangchen; Zhao, Yue; Wang, Wensheng; Shi, Jianxin; Wang, Chunchao; Lu, Jinyuan; Zhang, Dabing; Li, Zhikang; Wei, Chaochun

2017-01-25

A pan-genome is the union of the gene sets of all the individuals of a clade or a species and it provides a new dimension of genome complexity with the presence/absence variations (PAVs) of genes among these genomes. With the progress of sequencing technologies, pan-genome study is becoming affordable for eukaryotes with large-sized genomes. The Asian cultivated rice, Oryza sativa L., is one of the major food sources for the world and a model organism in plant biology. Recently, the 3000 Rice Genome Project (3K RGP) sequenced more than 3000 rice genomes with a mean sequencing depth of 14.3×, which provided a tremendous resource for rice research. In this paper, we present a genome browser, Rice Pan-genome Browser (RPAN), as a tool to search and visualize the rice pan-genome derived from 3K RGP. RPAN contains a database of the basic information of 3010 rice accessions, including genomic sequences, gene annotations, PAV information and gene expression data of the rice pan-genome. At least 12 000 novel genes absent in the reference genome were included. RPAN also provides multiple search and visualization functions. RPAN can be a rich resource for rice biology and rice breeding. It is available at http://cgm.sjtu.edu.cn/3kricedb/ or http://www.rmbreeding.cn/pan3k. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Fungicidal and anti-aflatoxigenic effects of the essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf. (lemongrass) against Aspergillus flavus Link. isolated from stored rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Paranagama, P A; Abeysekera, K H T; Abeywickrama, K; Nugaliyadde, L

2003-01-01

To develop a natural fungicide against aflatoxigenic fungi, to protect stored rice, using the essential oil of lemongrass. Aspergillus flavus Link. was isolated from stored rice and identified as an aflatoxigenic strain. Lemongrass oil was tested against A. flavus and the test oil was fungistatic and fungicidal against the test pathogen at 0.6 and 1.0 mg ml(-1), respectively. Aflatoxin production was completely inhibited at 0.1 mg ml(-1). The results obtained from the thin layer chromatographic bioassay and gas chromatography indicated citral a and b as the fungicidal constituents in lemongrass oil. During the fumigant toxicity assay of lemongrass oil, the sporulation and the mycelial growth of the test pathogen were inhibited at the concentrations of 2.80 and 3.46 mg ml(-1), respectively. Lemongrass oil could be used to manage aflatoxin formation and fungal growth of A. flavus in stored rice. Currently, fungicides are not used to control fungal pests or mycotoxin production on stored rice. Rice treated with the essential oil of lemongrass could be used to manage fungal pests as well as the insect pests in stored rice. The essential oil is chemically safe and acceptable to consumers, as synthetic chemical fungicides can cause adverse health effects to consumers.

Turning poop into profit: Cost-effectiveness and soil transmitted helminth infection risk associated with human excreta reuse in Vietnam

OpenAIRE

Tran-Thi, Ngan; Lowe, Rachel J.; Schurer, Janna M.; Vu-Van, Tu; MacDonald, Lauren E.; Pham-Duc, Phuc

2017-01-01

Human excreta is a low cost source of nutrients vital to plant growth, but also a source of pathogens transmissible to people and animals. We investigated the cost-savings and infection risk of soil transmitted helminths (STHs) in four scenarios where farmers used either inorganic fertilizer or fresh/composted human excreta supplemented by inorganic fertilizer to meet the nutrient requirements of rice paddies in the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Our study included two main components: 1) a risk e...

Analysis of rice purchase decision on rice consumer in Bandung city

Science.gov (United States)

Kusno, K.; Imannurdin, A.; Syamsiyah, N.; Djuwendah, E.

2018-03-01

This study was conducted at three kinds of purchase location which were traditional market, rice kiosk, and supermarket in Bandung City, with survey data of 108 respondents which were selected by systematic random sampling. The aim of this study is to (1) identify consumer characteristics, (2) identify which atribute is considered by consumer in buying rice, and (3) analyze the relationship between purchase decision and income class. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis and Chi Square test. The results showed most consumers in the traditional market were middle-educated and lower middle-income, at the rice kiosk, the consumer were generally middle-educated and middle-income, and in the supermarkets, the majority were high-educated and upper middle-income consumers. “Kepulenan” be the first priority of most consumers, but for the lower-middle class, the main priority was price. Thus, in case of scarcity and rice price increase, the government should immediately arrange market operations which targeting to lower-middle class consumers. There was a significant relationship between (1) the quality of rice consumed, (2) the frequency of rice purchase per month, and (3) attitudes toward rice price increase; each with the income class. Although the price of rice increase, consumers of middle and upper-middle were remain loyal to the quality of rice they consumed. This indicates rice market in Bandung city is an ideal market for premium rice so that traders and producers are expected to maintain the quality of rice, such as keep using superior seeds and applying good cultivation based on Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) rules.

Insects and Scorpions

Science.gov (United States)

... insects or scorpions can be hazardous to outdoor workers. Stinging or biting insects include bees, wasps, hornets, and fire ants. The health effects of stinging or biting insects or scorpions range ...

PhosphoRice: a meta-predictor of rice-specific phosphorylation sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Que Shufu

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As a result of the growing body of protein phosphorylation sites data, the number of phosphoprotein databases is constantly increasing, and dozens of tools are available for predicting protein phosphorylation sites to achieve fast automatic results. However, none of the existing tools has been developed to predict protein phosphorylation sites in rice. Results In this paper, the phosphorylation site predictors, NetPhos 2.0, NetPhosK, Kinasephos, Scansite, Disphos and Predphosphos, were integrated to construct meta-predictors of rice-specific phosphorylation sites using several methods, including unweighted voting, unreduced weighted voting, reduced unweighted voting and weighted voting strategies. PhosphoRice, the meta-predictor produced by using weighted voting strategy with parameters selected by restricted grid search and conditional random search, performed the best at predicting phosphorylation sites in rice. Its Matthew's Correlation Coefficient (MCC and Accuracy (ACC reached to 0.474 and 73.8%, respectively. Compared to the best individual element predictor (Disphos_default, PhosphoRice archieved a significant increase in MCC of 0.071 (P Conclusions PhosphoRice is a powerful tool for predicting unidentified phosphorylation sites in rice. Compared to the existing methods, we found that our tool showed greater robustness in ACC and MCC. PhosphoRice is available to the public at http://bioinformatics.fafu.edu.cn/PhosphoRice.

A radioisotope technique for laboratory studies of the dispersal of rice weevil in grain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, M.Z.A.; Robertson, G.B.

1979-01-01

Adult rice weevils (Sitophilus oryzae (L.)) were marked with paint containing Scandium-46 and detected in a column of wheat 4.5 cm diam by means of a γ-scintillation counter. The radioactive paint had no effect on the mobility and longevity of the insects. Two weevils marked with Sc-46 could be located if they were more than 2.5 cm apart. An account is given of the use of the technique to follow the movements of a single pair of male and female weevils over 8 days. (Auth.)

Rice microstructure

Science.gov (United States)

An understanding of plant structure is desirable to obtain a clear idea of the overall impact of a crop. A mature rice plant consists of leafy components (left in the field post-harvest) and paddy rice (collected). The rice plant is supported by a hollow stem (culm) with leaf sheaths attached to nod...

[Nitrogen cycling in rice-duck mutual ecosystem during double cropping rice growth season].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Fan; Chen, Yuan-Quan; Sui, Peng; Gao, Wang-Sheng

2012-01-01

Raising duck in paddy rice field is an evolution of Chinese traditional agriculture. In May-October 2010, a field experiment was conducted in a double cropping rice region of Hunan Province, South-central China to study the nitrogen (N) cycling in rice-duck mutual ecosystem during early rice and late rice growth periods, taking a conventional paddy rice field as the control. Input-output analysis method was adopted. The N output in the early rice-duck mutual ecosystem was 239.5 kg x hm(-2), in which, 12.77 kg x hm(-2) were from ducks, and the N output in the late rice-duck mutual ecosystem was 338.7 kg x hm(-2), in which, 23.35 kg x hm(-2) were from ducks. At the present N input level, there existed soil N deficit during the growth seasons of both early rice and late rice. The N input from duck sub-system was mainly from the feed N, and the cycling rate of the duck feces N recycled within the system was 2.5% during early rice growth season and 3.5% during late rice growth season. After late rice harvested, the soil N sequestration was 178.6 kg x hm(-2).

All insects are equal, but some insects are more equal than others

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fischer, Arnout R.H.; Steenbekkers, L.P.A.

2018-01-01

Purpose: Lack of acceptance of insects as food is considered a barrier against societal adoption of the potentially valuable contribution of insects to human foods. An underlying barrier may be that insects are lumped together as one group, while consumers typically try specific insects. The purpose

Seasonal Abundance and Natural Inoculativity of Insect Vectors of Xylella fastidiosa in Oklahoma Tree Nurseries and Vineyards.

Science.gov (United States)

Overall, Lisa M; Rebek, Eric J

2015-12-01

Xylella fastidiosa is the causative agent of diseases of perennial plants including peach, plum, elm, oak, pecan, and grape. This bacterial pathogen is transmitted by xylem-feeding insects. In recent years, Pierce's disease of grape has been detected in 10 counties in central and northeastern Oklahoma, prompting further investigation of the disease epidemiology in this state. We surveyed vineyards and tree nurseries in Oklahoma for potential insect vectors to determine species composition, infectivity, and natural inoculativity of commonly captured insect vectors. Yellow sticky cards were used to sample insect fauna at each location. Insects were removed from sticky cards and screened for X. fastidiosa using immunocapture-PCR to determine their infectivity. A second objective was to test the natural inoculativity of insect vectors that are found in vineyards. Graphocephala versuta (Say), Graphocephala coccinea (Forster), Paraulacizes irrorata (F.), Oncometopia orbona (F.), Cuerna costalis (F.), and Entylia carinata Germar were collected from vineyards and taken back to the lab to determine their natural inoculativity. Immunocapture-PCR was used to test plant and insect samples for presence of X. fastidiosa. The three most frequently captured species from vineyards and tree nurseries were G. versuta, Clastoptera xanthocephala Germar, and O. orbona. Of those insects screened for X. fastidiosa, 2.4% tested positive for the bacterium. Field-collected G. versuta were inoculative to both ragweed and alfalfa. Following a 7-d inoculation access period, a higher percentage of alfalfa became infected than ragweed. Results from this study provide insight into the epidemiology of X. fastidiosa in Oklahoma. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Insect Repellents: Protect Your Child from Insect Bites

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... Español Text Size Email Print Share Choosing an Insect Repellent for Your Child Page Content Mosquitoes, biting ... sunscreen needs to be reapplied often. Reactions to Insect Repellents If you suspect that your child is ...

Harnessing Insect-Microbe Chemical Communications To Control Insect Pests of Agricultural Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, John J; Vannette, Rachel L

2017-01-11

Insect pests cause serious economic, yield, and food safety problems to managed crops worldwide. Compounding these problems, insect pests often vector pathogenic or toxigenic microbes to plants. Previous work has considered plant-insect and plant-microbe interactions separately. Although insects are well-understood to use plant volatiles to locate hosts, microorganisms can produce distinct and abundant volatile compounds that in some cases strongly attract insects. In this paper, we focus on the microbial contribution to plant volatile blends, highlighting the compounds emitted and the potential for variation in microbial emission. We suggest that these aspects of microbial volatile emission may make these compounds ideal for use in agricultural applications, as they may be more specific or enhance methods currently used in insect control or monitoring. Our survey of microbial volatiles in insect-plant interactions suggests that these emissions not only signal host suitability but may indicate a distinctive time frame for optimal conditions for both insect and microbe. Exploitation of these host-specific microbe semiochemicals may provide important microbe- and host-based attractants and a basis for future plant-insect-microbe chemical ecology investigations.

A nuclear insect appears

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Gi Hwal

1989-06-01

This book is dairy of a nuclear insect in A. F. era. It consists of 6 parts, which have fun pictures and titles. The contents are the letter that is sent the Homo sapiens by insect, exodus of nuclear insect F 100 years latter. The time that a nuclear insect is attacked in F 101, the time that a nuclear dinosaur is beat in AF 102, the time that a nuclear insect struggles in AF 104 and the time that a nuclear insect drifts in AF 104.

Effects of Extraction Methods on Phytochemicals of Rice Bran Oils Produced from Colored Rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Mingyai, Sukanya; Srikaeo, Khongsak; Kettawan, Aikkarach; Singanusong, Riantong; Nakagawa, Kiyotaka; Kimura, Fumiko; Ito, Junya

2018-02-01

Rice bran oil (RBO) especially from colored rice is rich in phytochemicals and has become popular in food, cosmetic, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications owing to its offering health benefits. This study determined the contents of phytochemicals including oryzanols, phytosterols, tocopherols (Toc) and tocotrienols (T3) in RBOs extracted using different methods namely cold-press extraction (CPE), solvent extraction (SE) and supercritical CO 2 extraction (SC-CO 2 ). Two colored rice, Red Jasmine rice (RJM, red rice) and Hom-nin rice (HN, black rice), were studied in comparison with the popular Thai fragrant rice Khao Dawk Mali 105 (KDML 105, white rice). RBOs were found to be the rich source of oryzanols, phytosterols, Toc and T3. Rice varieties had a greater effect on the phytochemicals concentrations than extraction methods. HN rice showed the significantly highest concentration of all phytochemicals, followed by RJM and KDML 105 rice, indicating that colored rice contained high concentration of phytochemicals in the oil than non-colored rice. The RBO samples extracted by the CPE method had a greater concentration of the phytochemicals than those extracted by the SC-CO 2 and SE methods, respectively. In terms of phytochemical contents, HN rice extracted using CPE method was found to be the best.

Genomic insights into the glutathione S-transferase gene family of two rice planthoppers, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) and Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Wen-Wu; Liang, Qing-Mei; Xu, Yi; Gurr, Geoff M; Bao, Yan-Yuan; Zhou, Xue-Ping; Zhang, Chuan-Xi; Cheng, Jiaan; Zhu, Zeng-Rong

2013-01-01

Glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes control crucial traits for the metabolism of various toxins encountered by insects in host plants and the wider environment, including insecticides. The planthoppers Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera are serious specialist pests of rice throughout eastern Asia. Their capacity to rapidly adapt to resistant rice varieties and to develop resistance to various insecticides has led to severe outbreaks over the last decade. Using the genome sequence of N. lugens, we identified for the first time the complete GST gene family of a delphacid insect whilst nine GST gene orthologs were identified from the closely related species S. furcifera. Nilaparvata lugens has 11 GST genes belonging to six cytosolic subclasses and a microsomal class, many fewer than seen in other insects with known genomes. Sigma is the largest GST subclass, and the intron-exon pattern deviates significantly from that of other species. Higher GST gene expression in the N. lugens adult migratory form reflects the higher risk of this life stage in encountering the toxins of non-host plants. After exposure to a sub-lethal dose of four insecticides, chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid, buprofezin or beta-cypermethrin, more GST genes were upregulated in S. furcifera than in N. lugens. RNA interference targeting two N. lugens GST genes, NlGSTe1 and NlGSTm2, significantly increased the sensitivity of fourth instar nymphs to chlorpyrifos but not to beta-cypermethrin. This study provides the first elucidation of the nature of the GST gene family in a delphacid species, offering new insights into the evolution of metabolic enzyme genes in insects. Further, the use of RNA interference to identify the GST genes induced by insecticides illustrates likely mechanisms for the tolerance of these insects.

Insect vectors of Leishmania: distribution, physiology and their control.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Umakant; Singh, Sarman

2008-12-01

Leishmaniasis is a deadly vector-borne disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Mediterranean regions. The causative agent of leishmaniasis is transmitted from man to man by a tiny insect called sandfly. Approximately, 600 species of sandflies are known but only 10% of these act as disease vectors. Further, only 30 species of these are important from public health point. Fauna of Indian sub-zone is represented by 46 species, of these, 11 belong to Phlebotomine species and 35 to Sergentomyia species. Phlebotomus argentipes is the proven vector of kala-azar or visceral leishmaniasis in India. This review gives an insight into the insect vectors of human leishmaniasis, their geographical distribution, recent taxonomic classification, habitat, and different control measures including indoor residual spraying (IRS), insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs), environmental management, biological control, and emerging resistance to DDT. Role of satellite remote sensing for early prediction of the disease by identifying the sandflygenic conditions cannot be undermined. The article also underlines the importance of synthetic pheromones which can be used in near future for the control of these vectors.

Evolutionary patchwork of an insecticidal toxin shared between plant-associated pseudomonads and the insect pathogens Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruffner, Beat; Péchy-Tarr, Maria; Höfte, Monica; Bloemberg, Guido; Grunder, Jürg; Keel, Christoph; Maurhofer, Monika

2015-08-16

Root-colonizing fluorescent pseudomonads are known for their excellent abilities to protect plants against soil-borne fungal pathogens. Some of these bacteria produce an insecticidal toxin (Fit) suggesting that they may exploit insect hosts as a secondary niche. However, the ecological relevance of insect toxicity and the mechanisms driving the evolution of toxin production remain puzzling. Screening a large collection of plant-associated pseudomonads for insecticidal activity and presence of the Fit toxin revealed that Fit is highly indicative of insecticidal activity and predicts that Pseudomonas protegens and P. chlororaphis are exclusive Fit producers. A comparative evolutionary analysis of Fit toxin-producing Pseudomonas including the insect-pathogenic bacteria Photorhabdus and Xenorhadus, which produce the Fit related Mcf toxin, showed that fit genes are part of a dynamic genomic region with substantial presence/absence polymorphism and local variation in GC base composition. The patchy distribution and phylogenetic incongruence of fit genes indicate that the Fit cluster evolved via horizontal transfer, followed by functional integration of vertically transmitted genes, generating a unique Pseudomonas-specific insect toxin cluster. Our findings suggest that multiple independent evolutionary events led to formation of at least three versions of the Mcf/Fit toxin highlighting the dynamic nature of insect toxin evolution.

Stinging Insect Matching Game

Science.gov (United States)

... for Kids ▸ Stinging Insect Matching Game Share | Stinging Insect Matching Game Stinging insects can ruin summer fun for those who are ... the difference between the different kinds of stinging insects in order to keep your summer safe and ...

Marine insects

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cheng, Lanna

1976-01-01

.... Not only are true insects, such as the Collembola and insect parasites of marine birds and mammals, considered, but also other kinds of intertidal air-breathing arthropods, notably spiders, scorpions...

Landscape changes have greater effects than climate changes on six insect pests in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zihua; Sandhu, Hardev S; Ouyang, Fang; Ge, Feng

2016-06-01

In recent years, global changes are the major causes of frequent, widespread outbreaks of pests in mosaic landscapes, which have received substantial attention worldwide. We collected data on global changes (landscape and climate) and economic damage caused by six main insect pests during 1951-2010 in China. Landscape changes had significant effects on all six insect pests. Pest damage increased significantly with increasing arable land area in agricultural landscapes. However, climate changes had no effect on damage caused by pests, except for the rice leaf roller (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenee) and armyworm (Mythimna separate (Walker)), which caused less damage to crops with increasing mean temperature. Our results indicate that there is slight evidence of possible offset effects of climate changes on the increasing damage from these two agricultural pests. Landscape changes have caused serious outbreaks of several species, which suggests the possibility of the use of landscape design for the control of pest populations through habitat rearrangement. Landscape manipulation may be used as a green method to achieve sustainable pest management with minimal use of insecticides and herbicides.

DETERMINATION OF SPATIAL INTEGRATION AND SUBSTITUTION OF FOREIGN RICE FOR LOCAL RICE IN GHANA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Kofi ADOM

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This study tested for spatial integration in the rice market and the substitution of imported rice for local rice in Ghana. It is established that the markets for domestic imported rice are well-integrated, but not complete. The imperfect spatial integration of domestic foreign rice markets implies that the market provides opportunities for arbitrage. Price leadership roles are found to be determined by the kind of sub-inter-regional-trade network defined. However, in all, the Accra market emerged as a dominant market leader in the domestic foreign rice market. There is evidence of significant regional substitution of foreign rice for local rice in the long run, but the result is mixed in the short run. The result that local rice is not a perfect substitute for imported rice implies that price disincentive measures such as increasing the import tariffs on foreign rice will only produce a mild effect on increasing the producer price faced by local rice farmers, but aggravate the burden on households’ budget.

Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaChance, L.E.; Klassen, W.

1991-01-01

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is basically a novel twentieth century approach to insect birth control. It is species specific and exploits the mate seeking behaviour of the insect. The basic principle is simple. Insects are mass reared in 'factories' and sexually sterilized by gamma rays from a 60 Co source. The sterile insects are then released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produced no progeny. If enough of these matings take place, reproduction of the pest population decreases. With continued release, the pest population can be controlled and in some cases eradicated. In the light of the many important applications of the SIT worldwide and the great potential that SIT concepts hold for insect and pest control in developing countries, two special benefits should be stressed. Of greatest significance is the fact that the SIT permits suppression and eradication of insect pests in an environmentally harmless manner. It combines nuclear techniques with genetic approaches and, in effect, replaces intensive use of chemicals in pest control. Although chemicals are used sparingly at the outset in some SIT programmes to reduce the size of the pest population before releases of sterilized insects are started, the total amount of chemicals used in an SIT programme is a mere fraction of what would be used without the SIT. It is also of great importance that the SIT is not designed strictly for the eradication of pest species but can readily be used in the suppression of insect populations. In fact, the SIT is ideally suited for use in conjunction with other agricultural pest control practices such as the use of parasites and predators, attractants and cultural controls (e.g. ploughing under or destruction of crop residues) in integrated pest management programmes to achieve control at the lowest possible price and with a minimum of chemical contamination of the environment

Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

LaChance, L E; Klassen, W [Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Vienna (Austria)

1991-09-01

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is basically a novel twentieth century approach to insect birth control. It is species specific and exploits the mate seeking behaviour of the insect. The basic principle is simple. Insects are mass reared in 'factories' and sexually sterilized by gamma rays from a {sup 60}Co source. The sterile insects are then released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produced no progeny. If enough of these matings take place, reproduction of the pest population decreases. With continued release, the pest population can be controlled and in some cases eradicated. In the light of the many important applications of the SIT worldwide and the great potential that SIT concepts hold for insect and pest control in developing countries, two special benefits should be stressed. Of greatest significance is the fact that the SIT permits suppression and eradication of insect pests in an environmentally harmless manner. It combines nuclear techniques with genetic approaches and, in effect, replaces intensive use of chemicals in pest control. Although chemicals are used sparingly at the outset in some SIT programmes to reduce the size of the pest population before releases of sterilized insects are started, the total amount of chemicals used in an SIT programme is a mere fraction of what would be used without the SIT. It is also of great importance that the SIT is not designed strictly for the eradication of pest species but can readily be used in the suppression of insect populations. In fact, the SIT is ideally suited for use in conjunction with other agricultural pest control practices such as the use of parasites and predators, attractants and cultural controls (e.g. ploughing under or destruction of crop residues) in integrated pest management programmes to achieve control at the lowest possible price and with a minimum of chemical contamination of the environment.

[Effects of fish on field resource utilization and rice growth in rice-fish coculture].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jian; Hu, Liang Liang; Ren, Wei Zheng; Guo, Liang; Wu, Min Fang; Tang, Jian Jun; Chen, Xin

2017-01-01

Rice field can provide habitat for fish and other aquatic animals. Rice-fish coculture can increase rice yield and simultaneously reduce the use of chemicals through reducing rice pest occurrence and nutrient complementary use. However, how fish uses food sources (e.g. phytoplankton, weeds, duckweed, macro-algal and snail) from rice field, and whether the nutrients releasing from those food sources due to fish transforming can improve rice growth are still unknown. Here, we conducted two field experiments to address these questions. One was to investigate the pattern of fish activity in the field using the method of video recording. The other was to examine the utilization of field resources by fish using stable isotope technology. Rice growth and rice yield were also exa-mined. Results showed that fish tended to be more active and significantly expanded the activity range in the rice-fish coculture compared to fish monoculture (fish not living together with rice plants). The contributions of 3 potential aquatic organisms (duckweed, phytoplankton and snail) to fish dietary were 22.7%, 34.8% and 30.0% respectively under rice-fish coculture without feed. Under the treatment with feed, however, the contributions of these 3 aquatic organisms to the fish die-tary were 8.9%, 5.9% and 1.6% respectively. The feed contribution was 71.0%. Rice-fish coculture significantly increased the nitrogen concentration in rice leaves, prolonged tillering stage by 10-12 days and increased rice spike rate and yield. The results suggested that raising fish in paddy field may transform the nutrients contained in field resources to bioavailable for rice plants through fish feeding activity, which can improve rice growth and rice yield.

Development of 25 near-isogenic lines (NILs) with ten BPH resistance genes in rice (Oryza sativa L.): production, resistance spectrum, and molecular analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jena, Kshirod K; Hechanova, Sherry Lou; Verdeprado, Holden; Prahalada, G D; Kim, Sung-Ryul

2017-11-01

A first set of 25 NILs carrying ten BPH resistance genes and their pyramids was developed in the background of indica variety IR24 for insect resistance breeding in rice. Brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stal.) is one of the most destructive insect pests in rice. Development of near-isogenic lines (NILs) is an important strategy for genetic analysis of brown planthopper (BPH) resistance (R) genes and their deployment against diverse BPH populations. A set of 25 NILs with 9 single R genes and 16 multiple R gene combinations consisting of 11 two-gene pyramids and 5 three-gene pyramids in the genetic background of the susceptible indica rice cultivar IR24 was developed through marker-assisted selection. The linked DNA markers for each of the R genes were used for foreground selection and confirming the introgressed regions of the BPH R genes. Modified seed box screening and feeding rate of BPH were used to evaluate the spectrum of resistance. BPH reaction of each of the NILs carrying different single genes was variable at the antibiosis level with the four BPH populations of the Philippines. The NILs with two- to three-pyramided genes showed a stronger level of antibiosis (49.3-99.0%) against BPH populations compared with NILs with a single R gene NILs (42.0-83.5%) and IR24 (10.0%). Background genotyping by high-density SNPs markers revealed that most of the chromosome regions of the NILs (BC 3 F 5 ) had IR24 genome recovery of 82.0-94.2%. Six major agronomic data of the NILs showed a phenotypically comparable agronomic performance with IR24. These newly developed NILs will be useful as new genetic resources for BPH resistance breeding and are valuable sources of genes in monitoring against the emerging BPH biotypes in different rice-growing countries.

Effects of White Rice, Brown Rice and Germinated Brown Rice on Antioxidant Status of Type 2 Diabetic Rats

OpenAIRE

Imam, Mustapha Umar; Musa, Siti Nor Asma; Azmi, Nur Hanisah; Ismail, Maznah

2012-01-01

Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, and can be increased by diet like white rice (WR). Though brown rice (BR) and germinated brown rice (GBR) have high antioxidant potentials as a result of their bioactive compounds, reports of their effects on oxidative stress-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes are lacking. We hypothesized therefore that if BR and GBR were to improve antioxidant status, they would be better for rice consuming populations inst...

Insects, isotopes and radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindquist, D.A.

1987-01-01

The article describes the increased use of nuclear techniques in controlling harmful insects. The sterile insect technique (SIT), which uses radiation to sexually sterilize insects and prevent reproduction, is particularly effective in eradication programmes. At the present time, there are approximately 10 species of insect pests being attacked by the SIT. Research and development is being conducted on other insect species and it is anticipated that the technology will be more widely used in the future

Protection against Mycobacterium ulcerans lesion development by exposure to aquatic insect saliva.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurent Marsollier

2007-02-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Buruli ulcer is a severe human skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. This disease is primarily diagnosed in West Africa with increasing incidence. Antimycobacterial drug therapy is relatively effective during the preulcerative stage of the disease, but surgical excision of lesions with skin grafting is often the ultimate treatment. The mode of transmission of this Mycobacterium species remains a matter of debate, and relevant interventions to prevent this disease lack (i the proper understanding of the M. ulcerans life history traits in its natural aquatic ecosystem and (ii immune signatures that could be correlates of protection. We previously set up a laboratory ecosystem with predatory aquatic insects of the family Naucoridae and laboratory mice and showed that (i M. ulcerans-carrying aquatic insects can transmit the mycobacterium through bites and (ii that their salivary glands are the only tissues hosting replicative M. ulcerans. Further investigation in natural settings revealed that 5%-10% of these aquatic insects captured in endemic areas have M. ulcerans-loaded salivary glands. In search of novel epidemiological features we noticed that individuals working close to aquatic environments inhabited by insect predators were less prone to developing Buruli ulcers than their relatives. Thus we set out to investigate whether those individuals might display any immune signatures of exposure to M. ulcerans-free insect predator bites, and whether those could correlate with protection. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We took a two-pronged approach in this study, first investigating whether the insect bites are protective in a mouse model, and subsequently looking for possibly protective immune signatures in humans. We found that, in contrast to control BALB/c mice, BALB/c mice exposed to Naucoris aquatic insect bites or sensitized to Naucoris salivary gland homogenates (SGHs displayed no lesion at the site of inoculation of M. ulcerans

Protection against Mycobacterium ulcerans lesion development by exposure to aquatic insect saliva.

Science.gov (United States)

Marsollier, Laurent; Deniaux, Estelle; Brodin, Priscille; Marot, Agnès; Wondje, Christelle Mbondji; Saint-André, Jean-Paul; Chauty, Annick; Johnson, Christian; Tekaia, Fredj; Yeramian, Edouard; Legras, Pierre; Carbonnelle, Bernard; Reysset, Gilles; Eyangoh, Sara; Milon, Geneviève; Cole, Stewart T; Aubry, Jacques

2007-02-01

Buruli ulcer is a severe human skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. This disease is primarily diagnosed in West Africa with increasing incidence. Antimycobacterial drug therapy is relatively effective during the preulcerative stage of the disease, but surgical excision of lesions with skin grafting is often the ultimate treatment. The mode of transmission of this Mycobacterium species remains a matter of debate, and relevant interventions to prevent this disease lack (i) the proper understanding of the M. ulcerans life history traits in its natural aquatic ecosystem and (ii) immune signatures that could be correlates of protection. We previously set up a laboratory ecosystem with predatory aquatic insects of the family Naucoridae and laboratory mice and showed that (i) M. ulcerans-carrying aquatic insects can transmit the mycobacterium through bites and (ii) that their salivary glands are the only tissues hosting replicative M. ulcerans. Further investigation in natural settings revealed that 5%-10% of these aquatic insects captured in endemic areas have M. ulcerans-loaded salivary glands. In search of novel epidemiological features we noticed that individuals working close to aquatic environments inhabited by insect predators were less prone to developing Buruli ulcers than their relatives. Thus we set out to investigate whether those individuals might display any immune signatures of exposure to M. ulcerans-free insect predator bites, and whether those could correlate with protection. We took a two-pronged approach in this study, first investigating whether the insect bites are protective in a mouse model, and subsequently looking for possibly protective immune signatures in humans. We found that, in contrast to control BALB/c mice, BALB/c mice exposed to Naucoris aquatic insect bites or sensitized to Naucoris salivary gland homogenates (SGHs) displayed no lesion at the site of inoculation of M. ulcerans coated with Naucoris SGH components. Then using

Toxicity of essential oils from leaves of Piperaceae species in rice stalk stink bug eggs, Tibraca limbativentris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diones Krinski

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Tibraca limbativentris to is an important rice pest and occurs in all rice-growing regions of Latin America. The control this insect is accomplished with synthetic chemical insecticides, however, new approaches are needed to reduce risks to the environment, to the natural enemies and also to avoid the onset of insecticides resistance. This study was designed to assess the toxicity of essential oils (EOs from leaves of Piper aduncum, P. gaudichaudianum, P. malacophyllum, P. marginatum and P. tuberculatum (Piperaceae on rice stalk stink bug eggs, T. limbativentris. Essential oils were extracted with steam distillation and dilutions were made for bioassays at concentrations of 0.25; 0.5; 1.0; 2.0 and 4.0%. Essential oils from all species of Piperaceae displayed ovicidal activity. The LC50 values indicated that both younger and older eggs were susceptible to these oils. Ovicidal activity is related to the potential toxicity of several compounds, especially dilapiolle, myristicin, cubebene, α-guaiene, longifolene, prezizane, spathulenol, sabinene and δ-2-carene. Thus, EOs tested showed promising results for use as biorational botanical insecticides.

Mutant-inducing effect of γ-ray irradiation for hybrid rice F1 derived from cross of black glutinous rice x wild rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao Dezhi; Tang Yilan

1998-01-01

The hybrid rice F 1 plant derived from the back crossing of glutinous rice x wild rice was irradiated with γ-ray. The result of investigation to the induced mutant showed that through the selection and backcross, a black glutinous rice strain with the short stem, cold tolerance and high yield was developed. The analysis of the ability of heredity variance showed that the selection was effective for the husk colour, black glutinous and black Indica rice, but ineffective for the white Indica rice and seed setting

Australian wild rice reveals pre-domestication origin of polymorphism deserts in rice genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Krishnan S, Gopala; Waters, Daniel L E; Henry, Robert J

2014-01-01

Rice is a major source of human food with a predominantly Asian production base. Domestication involved selection of traits that are desirable for agriculture and to human consumers. Wild relatives of crop plants are a source of useful variation which is of immense value for crop improvement. Australian wild rices have been isolated from the impacts of domestication in Asia and represents a source of novel diversity for global rice improvement. Oryza rufipogon is a perennial wild progenitor of cultivated rice. Oryza meridionalis is a related annual species in Australia. We have examined the sequence of the genomes of AA genome wild rices from Australia that are close relatives of cultivated rice through whole genome re-sequencing. Assembly of the resequencing data to the O. sativa ssp. japonica cv. Nipponbare shows that Australian wild rices possess 2.5 times more single nucleotide polymorphisms than in the Asian wild rice and cultivated O. sativa ssp. indica. Analysis of the genome of domesticated rice reveals regions of low diversity that show very little variation (polymorphism deserts). Both the perennial and annual wild rice from Australia show a high degree of conservation of sequence with that found in cultivated rice in the same 4.58 Mbp region on chromosome 5, which suggests that some of the 'polymorphism deserts' in this and other parts of the rice genome may have originated prior to domestication due to natural selection. Analysis of genes in the 'polymorphism deserts' indicates that this selection may have been due to biotic or abiotic stress in the environment of early rice relatives. Despite having closely related sequences in these genome regions, the Australian wild populations represent an invaluable source of diversity supporting rice food security.

Australian wild rice reveals pre-domestication origin of polymorphism deserts in rice genome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gopala Krishnan S

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Rice is a major source of human food with a predominantly Asian production base. Domestication involved selection of traits that are desirable for agriculture and to human consumers. Wild relatives of crop plants are a source of useful variation which is of immense value for crop improvement. Australian wild rices have been isolated from the impacts of domestication in Asia and represents a source of novel diversity for global rice improvement. Oryza rufipogon is a perennial wild progenitor of cultivated rice. Oryza meridionalis is a related annual species in Australia. RESULTS: We have examined the sequence of the genomes of AA genome wild rices from Australia that are close relatives of cultivated rice through whole genome re-sequencing. Assembly of the resequencing data to the O. sativa ssp. japonica cv. Nipponbare shows that Australian wild rices possess 2.5 times more single nucleotide polymorphisms than in the Asian wild rice and cultivated O. sativa ssp. indica. Analysis of the genome of domesticated rice reveals regions of low diversity that show very little variation (polymorphism deserts. Both the perennial and annual wild rice from Australia show a high degree of conservation of sequence with that found in cultivated rice in the same 4.58 Mbp region on chromosome 5, which suggests that some of the 'polymorphism deserts' in this and other parts of the rice genome may have originated prior to domestication due to natural selection. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of genes in the 'polymorphism deserts' indicates that this selection may have been due to biotic or abiotic stress in the environment of early rice relatives. Despite having closely related sequences in these genome regions, the Australian wild populations represent an invaluable source of diversity supporting rice food security.

Bt rice expressing Cry2Aa does not harm Cyrtorhinus lividipennis, a main predator of the nontarget herbivore Nilapavarta lugens.

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Yu Han

Full Text Available T2A-1 is a newly developed transgenic rice that expresses a synthesized cry2Aa gene driven by the maize ubiquitin promoter. T2A-1 exhibits high resistance against lepidopteran pests of rice. The brown planthopper, Nilapavarta lugens (Stål, is a main nontarget sap-sucking insect pest of rice, and Cyrtorhinus lividipennis (Reuter is the major predator of the eggs and young nymphs of planthoppers. As C. lividipennis may expose to the Cry2Aa protein via N. lugens, it is therefore essential to assess the potential effects of transgenic cry2Aa rice on this predator. In the present study, three experiments were conducted to evaluate the ecological risk of transgenic cry2Aa rice to C. lividipennis: (1 a direct feeding experiment in which C. lividipennis was fed an artificial diet containing Cry2Aa at the dose of 10-time higher than that it may encounter in the realistic field condition; (2 a tritrophic experiment in which the Cry2Aa protein was delivered to C. lividipennis indirectly through prey eggs or nymphs; (3 a realistic field experiment in which the population dynamics of C. lividipennis were investigated using vacuum-suction. Both direct exposure to elevated doses of the Cry2Aa protein and prey-mediated exposure to realistic doses of the protein did not result in significant detrimental effects on the development, survival, female ratio and body weight of C. lividipennis. No significant differences in population density and population dynamics were observed between C. lividipennis in transgenic cry2Aa and nontransgenic rice fields. It may be concluded that transgenic cry2Aa rice had no detrimental effects on C. lividipennis. This study represents the first report of an assessment continuum for the effects of transgenic cry2Aa rice on C. lividipennis.

The Study of Importance of the Balance Space Food with Insects

Science.gov (United States)

Katayama, Naomi; Yoshimura, Tuyoshi; Baba, Keiichi; Space Agriculture Task Force, J.

Providing foods to space crew is the important requirements to support long term manned space exploration. We designed joyful and healthy recipe with materials (plants, insects, fish and et.cet.), which can be produced by the bio-regenerative agricultural system operated at limited resources available in spaceship or on Moon and Mars. The fundamental composition of our recipe is unpolished rice, barley, soybean, sweat potato and green-yellow vegetables. Supplement food materials to fulfill the nutritional requirements we chose are loach, silkworm pupa, termite, snail, mud snail, bee, locust, cassava, quinoa and et. cet. And the space foods were made by using IH cooking heater and vacuum cooking machine. Nutritional analysis on the basic vegetable menu consisting of rice, barley, soybean, sweet potato cassava, quinoa and green reveals a shortage of vitamins D and B12, cholesterol and sodium salt. Since vitamin D deficiency results in demineralization of bone. Vitamin B12 is essential to prevent pernicious anemia.Fish contains both vitamins D and B12. The pupa of the silkworm becomes the impor-tant nourishment source as protein and lipid. The silk thread uses it as clothing and cosmetics and medical supplies. However, we can use the silk thread as food as protein after finish to use. A law of nature shakes high quality oils and fats included in termite for cooking. I use the bee as food after having used it for the pollination of the plant. Of course the honey becomes the important food, too. The snail and mud snail become the food as protein. We decided to use the menu consisting of the basic vegetarian menu plus insect and loach for further conceptual design of space agriculture. We succeeded to develop joyful and nutritious space recipe at the end. Because of less need of agricultural resources at choosing ecological members from the lower ladder of the food chain, our space recipe could be a proposal to solve the food problem on Earth.In addition, as for these

Ethanol production from rice on radioactively contaminated field toward sustainable rice farming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoyama, Shinya; Izumi, Bintaro; Oki, Kazuo

2011-01-01

Radioactive species such as 137 Cs were discharged from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant which was severely damaged by the enormous earthquake and tsunami. Cropland has been radioactively contaminated by 137 Cs etc. and it seems impossible to plant rice due to the non-suitability for food. According to the reports, 137 Cs transferred into the rice from soil is less than 1% on the average. Therefore, it is expected that the concentration of 137 Cs in bioethanol will be well below the tentative restriction value even if bioethanol could be produced from the rice. It is proposed that the rice field should be filled with water to avoid the flow of runoff contaminated by radioactive cesium compounds because they are insoluble in aqueous phase and that bioethanol should be produced from the rice in order to maintain the multifunction of rice field and to continue the agriculture. If rice farming is halted and neglected, agricultural function of rice field as well as local community will be permanently destroyed. (author)

Marketing insects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schiemer, Carolin; Halloran, Afton Marina Szasz; Jespersen, Kristjan

2018-01-01

In entering Western markets, edible insects are typically framed as the ‘solution’ to a number of challenges caused by unsustainable global food systems, such as climate change and global health issues. In addition, some media outlets also frame insects as the next ‘superfood’. Superfood is a mar......In entering Western markets, edible insects are typically framed as the ‘solution’ to a number of challenges caused by unsustainable global food systems, such as climate change and global health issues. In addition, some media outlets also frame insects as the next ‘superfood’. Superfood...... is a marketing term for nutrient-packed foods, which are successfully promoted to Western consumers with the promises of health, well-being and beauty. However, the increase in the demand in the West is argued to cause negative social, environmental, economic and cultural consequences – externalities – felt...

Prevalence of Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) on Rice Plants ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. Incidence of Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) on rice plants (ofada) grown in two local government areas (LGAs) of Ogun State had been evaluated during a two year field survey. Six month old rice plants were observed for symptom expression and leaf samples collected for serological indexing. Of the 60 leaf ...

Effect of Interplanting with Zero Tillage and Straw Manure on Rice Growth and Rice Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-ping LIU

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The interplanting with zero-tillage of rice, i.e. direct sowing rice 10–20 days before wheat harvesting, and remaining about 30-cm high stubble after cutting wheat or rice with no tillage, is a new cultivation technology in wheat-rice rotation system. To study the effects of interplanting with zero tillage and straw manure on rice growth and quality, an experiment was conducted in a wheat-rotation rotation system. Four treatments, i.e. ZIS (Zero-tillage, straw manure and rice interplanting, ZI (Zero-tillage, no straw manure and rice interplanting, PTS (Plowing tillage, straw manure and rice transplanting, and PT (Plowing tillage, no straw manure and rice transplanting, were used. ZIS reduced plant height, leaf area per plant and the biomass of rice plants, but the biomass accumulation of rice at the late stage was quicker than that under conventional transplanting cultivation. In the first year (2002, there was no significant difference in rice yield among the four treatments. However, rice yield decreased in interplanting with zero-tillage in the second year (2003. Compared with the transplanting treatments, the number of filled grains per panicle decreased but 1000-grain weight increased in interplanting with zero-tillage, which were the main factors resulting in higher yield. Interplanting with zero-tillage improved the milling and appearance qualities of rice. The rates of milled and head rice increased while chalky rice rate and chalkiness decreased in interplanting with zero-tillage. Zero-tillage and interplanting also affected rice nutritional and cooking qualities. In 2002, ZIS showed raised protein content, decreased amylose content, softer gel consistency, resulting in improved rice quality. In 2003, zero-tillage and interplanting decreased protein content and showed similar amylose content as compared with transplanting treatments. Moreover, protein content in PTS was obviously increased in comparison with the other three treatments

An overview of the sustainability of rice agroecosystem through rice-fish integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahyaudin Ali

2002-01-01

Rice-fish integration in the rice agroecosystem has been introduced and is expanding in Malaysia. This type of farm integration has resulted in land optimization, thus enabling farmers to grow both fish and rice in one farming system. Introducing fish into the ricefield has also increased seasonal income as well as reduced pesticide use. Although basic ecological knowledge on rice-fish integration has allowed rice-fish integration to be introduced, further research is required to allow for fine tuning of the methodologies used. Thus research on the ecology, management, production methods and the characterization of rice-fish farming system of Malaysia is needed. Further characterization and description is needed on the ecology of the rice-fish farming system of Malaysia in terms of production, food webs, nutrient flow and system diversity. To increase the sustainability efficiency and productivity of the system, implementation of management techniques formulated through research is required. (Author)

Formulating Phenological Equations for Rainfed Upland Rice in Bastar Plateau and Assessment of Genotype X Environment Interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, P.; Sao, A.; Salam, J. L.; Kanwar, R. R.; Kumari, P.

2016-01-01

Upland rice encompasses 12 percent of global rice production area in the lowest yielding ecosystem, produced by poorest farmers with 0.5 ha average operational holdings. Due to subtle selection over long period of time, upland rice has become drought tolerant potential crop and harbors great genetic potential for future water limited rice. It has also precious traits like high pestilent insect resistant possibility and short growing season. In present investigation, 18 new genotypes were tested for upland ecology during Kharif 2013 and 2014, to identify promising genotypes and formulate phenological relationships at phenotypic and genotypic levels and estimate G x E interactions with uncertain weather parameters. The test populations exhibited enough variation to carry on crop breeding research however, genotypes responded differentially to water stress and late season drought with respect to morphological and yield traits. Considering secondary productivity factors (SPF), days to flowering, plant height, panicles per unit area, spikelet fertility and harvest index was observed to be major contributors for water scarce survivals. Biased selection for earliness cause reduction in grain yield due to shortened vegetative phase hence, research is to be focused to minimize the yield penalty associated with earliness. Among the genotypes evaluated, IR-83381-B-B-137-3 and IR-86857-46-1-1-2 was found to be promising for rainfed breeding programme as parent material. Based on results of farmer field and station trials, existing upland rice variety CR 40 is concluded as promising for upland ecology and will be crucial to uplift the economy of poor and marginal farmers of Chhattisgarh. (author)

Influence of transgenic rice expressing a fused Cry1Ab/1Ac protein on frogs in paddy fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jia-Mei; Chen, Xiu-Ping; Liang, Yu-Yong; Zhu, Hao-Jun; Ding, Jia-Tong; Peng, Yu-Fa

2014-11-01

As genetic engineering in plants is increasingly used to control agricultural pests, it is important to determine whether such transgenic plants adversely affect non-target organisms within and around cultivated fields. The cry1Ab/1Ac fusion gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has insecticidal activity and has been introduced into rice line Minghui 63 (MH63). We evaluated the effect of transgenic cry1Ab/1Ac rice (Huahui 1, HH1) on paddy frogs by comparing HH1 and MH63 rice paddies with and without pesticide treatment. The density of tadpoles in rice fields was surveyed at regular intervals, and Cry1Ab/1Ac protein levels were determined in tissues of tadpoles and froglets collected from the paddy fields. In addition, Rana nigromaculata froglets were raised in purse nets placed within these experimental plots. The survival, body weight, feeding habits, and histological characteristics of the digestive tract of these froglets were analyzed. We found that the tadpole density was significantly decreased immediately after pesticide application, and the weight of R. nigromaculata froglets of pesticide groups was significantly reduced compared with no pesticide treatment, but we found no differences between Bt and non-Bt rice groups. Moreover, no Cry1Ab/1Ac protein was detected in tissue samples collected from 192 tadpoles and froglets representing all four experimental groups. In addition, R. nigromaculata froglets raised in purse seines fed primarily on stem borer and non-target insects, and showed no obvious abnormality in the microstructure of their digestive tracts. Based on these results, we conclude that cultivation of transgenic cry1Ab/1Ac rice does not adversely affect paddy frogs.

Insect (food) allergy and allergens.

Science.gov (United States)

de Gier, Steffie; Verhoeckx, Kitty

2018-05-03

Insects represent an alternative for meat and fish in satisfying the increasing demand for sustainable sources of nutrition. Approximately two billion people globally consume insects. They are particularly popular in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Most research on insect allergy has focussed on occupational or inhalation allergy. Research on insect food safety, including allergenicity, is therefore of great importance. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of cases reporting allergy following insect ingestion, studies on food allergy to insects, proteins involved in insect allergy including cross-reactive proteins, and the possibility to alter the allergenic potential of insects by food processing and digestion. Food allergy to insects has been described for silkworm, mealworm, caterpillars, Bruchus lentis, sago worm, locust, grasshopper, cicada, bee, Clanis bilineata, and the food additive carmine, which is derived from female Dactylopius coccus insects. For cockroaches, which are also edible insects, only studies on inhalation allergy have been described. Various insect allergens have been identified including tropomyosin and arginine kinase, which are both pan-allergens known for their cross-reactivity with homologous proteins in crustaceans and house dust mite. Cross-reactivity and/or co-sensitization of insect tropomyosin and arginine kinase has been demonstrated in house dust mite and seafood (e.g. prawn, shrimp) allergic patients. In addition, many other (allergenic) species (various non-edible insects, arachnids, mites, seafoods, mammals, nematoda, trematoda, plants, and fungi) have been identified with sequence alignment analysis to show potential cross-reactivity with allergens of edible insects. It was also shown that thermal processing and digestion did not eliminate insect protein allergenicity. Although purified natural allergens are scarce and yields are low, recombinant allergens from cockroach, silkworm, and Indian mealmoth are

A 90 day safety assessment of genetically modified rice expressing Cry1Ab/1Ac protein using an aquatic animal model.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hao-Jun; Chen, Yi; Li, Yun-He; Wang, Jia-Mei; Ding, Jia-Tong; Chen, Xiu-Ping; Peng, Yu-Fa

2015-04-15

In fields of transgenic Bt rice, frogs are exposed to Bt proteins through consumption of both target and nontarget insects. In the present study, we assessed the risk posed by transgenic rice expressing a Cry1Ab/1Ac fusion protein (Huahui 1, HH1) on the development of Xenopus laevis. For 90 days, froglets were fed a diet with 30% HH1 rice, 30% parental rice (Minghui 63, MH63), or no rice as a control. Body weight and length were measured every 15 days. After sacrificing the froglets, we performed a range of biological, clinical, and pathological assessments. No significant differences were found in body weight (on day 90: 27.7 ± 2.17, 27.4 ± 2.40, and 27.9 ± 1.67 g for HH1, MH63, and control, respectively), body length (on day 90: 60.2 ± 1.55, 59.3 ± 2.33, and 59.7 ± 1.64 mm for HH1, MH63, and control, respectively), animal behavior, organ weight, liver and kidney function, or the microstructure of some tissues between the froglets fed on the HH1-containing diet and those fed on the MH63-containing or control diets. This indicates that frog development was not adversely affected by dietary intake of Cry1Ab/1Ac protein.

Eating insects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tan, Hui Shan Grace

2017-01-01

In recent years, edible insects have gained global attention due to their nutritional and environmental advantages over conventional meat. While numerous species of edible insects are enjoyed in various cultures around the world, most Western consumers react with disgust and aversion towards

Objective evaluation of whiteness of cooked rice and rice cakes using a portable spectrophotometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Goto, Hajime; Asanome, Noriyuki; Suzuki, Keitaro; Sano, Tomoyoshi; Saito, Hiroshi; Abe, Yohei; Chuba, Masaru; Nishio, Takeshi

2014-03-01

The whiteness of cooked rice and rice cakes was evaluated using a portable spectrophotometer with a whiteness index (WI). Also, by using boiled rice for measurement of Mido values by Mido Meter, it was possible to infer the whiteness of cooked rice without rice cooking. In the analysis of varietal differences of cooked rice, 'Tsuyahime', 'Koshihikari' and 'Koshinokaori' showed high whiteness, while 'Satonoyuki' had inferior whiteness. The whiteness of rice cakes made from 'Koyukimochi' and 'Dewanomochi' was higher than the whiteness of those made from 'Himenomochi' and 'Koganemochi'. While there was a significant correlation (r = 0.84) between WI values and whiteness scores of cooked rice by the sensory test, no correlation was detected between the whiteness scores and Mido values, indicating that the values obtained by a spectrophotometer differ from those obtained by a Mido Meter. Thus, a spectrophotometer may be a novel device for measurement of rice eating quality.

Insect barcode information system.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratheepa, Maria; Jalali, Sushil Kumar; Arokiaraj, Robinson Silvester; Venkatesan, Thiruvengadam; Nagesh, Mandadi; Panda, Madhusmita; Pattar, Sharath

2014-01-01

Insect Barcode Information System called as Insect Barcode Informática (IBIn) is an online database resource developed by the National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects, Bangalore. This database provides acquisition, storage, analysis and publication of DNA barcode records of agriculturally important insects, for researchers specifically in India and other countries. It bridges a gap in bioinformatics by integrating molecular, morphological and distribution details of agriculturally important insects. IBIn was developed using PHP/My SQL by using relational database management concept. This database is based on the client- server architecture, where many clients can access data simultaneously. IBIn is freely available on-line and is user-friendly. IBIn allows the registered users to input new information, search and view information related to DNA barcode of agriculturally important insects.This paper provides a current status of insect barcode in India and brief introduction about the database IBIn. http://www.nabg-nbaii.res.in/barcode.

Puffing of okara/rice blends using a rice cake machine.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, M; Huff, H; Hsieh, F; Mustapha, A

2008-10-01

Okara is the insoluble byproduct of soymilk and tofu manufactures. It is cheap, high in nutrients, and possesses great potential to be applied to functional human foods. In this study, a puffed okara/rice cake product was developed with blends of okara pellets and parboiled rice. Consumer preference and acceptance tests were conducted for the product. Okara pellets were prepared by grinding the strands obtained from extruding a mixture of dried okara and rice flour (3:2, w/w) with a twin-screw extruder. Okara pellets and parboiled rice were blended in 4 ratios, 90:10, 70:30, 40:60, and 0:100 (w/w), and tempered to 14% and 17% moisture. The blends were puffed at 221, 232, and 243 degrees C for 4, 5, or 6 s. The okara/rice cakes were evaluated for specific volume (SPV), texture, color, and percent weight loss after tumbling. Overall, the decrease in okara content and increase in moisture, heating temperature and time led to greater specific volume (SPV) and hardness, lighter color, and lower percent weight loss after tumbling. The consumer tests indicated that the okara/rice cake containing 70% okara pellets was preferred and the 90% one was liked the least. The possible drivers of liking for the puffed okara/rice cakes could be the okara content, hardness, SPV, bright color, and percent weight loss after tumbling.

RiceAtlas, a spatial database of global rice calendars and production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laborte, Alice G.; Gutierrez, Mary Anne; Balanza, Jane Girly; Saito, Kazuki; Zwart, Sander; Boschetti, Mirco; Murty, M. V.R.; Villano, Lorena; Aunario, Jorrel Khalil; Reinke, Russell; Koo, Jawoo; Hijmans, Robert J.; Nelson, Andrew

2017-01-01

Knowing where, when, and how much rice is planted and harvested is crucial information for understanding the effects of policy, trade, and global and technological change on food security. We developed RiceAtlas, a spatial database on the seasonal distribution of the world's rice production. It

The Potency of White Rice (Oryza sativa), Black Rice (Oryza sativa L. indica), and Red Rice (Oryza nivara) as Antioxidant and Tyrosinase Inhibitor

Science.gov (United States)

Batubara, I.; Maharni, M.; Sadiah, S.

2017-04-01

Rice is known to have many beneficial biological activities and is often used as “bedak dingin”, a face powder. The content of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and several types of antioxidants, such as ferulic acid, phytic acid, tocopherol, and oryzanols [1-2] are predicted to be potential as a tyrosinase inhibitor. The purpose of this study is to determine the potency of extracts from there types of rice, namely white, red, and black rice as an antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitor. The rice was extracted with three different solvents, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol. The results showed that the highest antioxidant activity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl method was found in the methanol extract of black rice (IC50 290 μg/mL). Meanwhile, ethyl acetate extract of white rice has the highest antioxidant activity withphosphomolybdic acid method (41 mmol α-tocopherol equivalents/g sample). Thus, methanol extract of black rice and ethyl acetate extract of white rice are potential as an antioxidant. For tyrosinase inhibitor, n-hexane extract of red rice (IC50 3156 μg/mL) was the most active extract. The active component for radical scavenging is polar compound and for antioxidant by phosphomolybdate method is less polar compounds in black rice methanol extract based on TLC bioautogram. In conclusion, the black rice is the most potent in antioxidant while red rice is for tyrosinase inhibition.

Effect of Rice bran on the Quality of Rice Flour Breads (Gluten-free)

OpenAIRE

仲上, 晴世; 矢部, えん; Haruyo, Nakagami; En, Yabe

2016-01-01

Over recent years progress has been made in the development of substitute foods for allergy patients. One such is rice flour bread. However, typically rice flour bread uses polysaccharide thickener in substitution for the gluten in wheat. Most polysaccharide thickeners are of dietary fiber origin, and the nutritive value is poor. Therefore, in this study, I made rice flour bread adding rice bran in place of polysaccharide thickener. Various nutrients are included in rice bran, including vitam...

Understanding the immune system architecture and transcriptome responses to southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus in Sogatella furcifera.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lin; Tang, Nan; Gao, Xinlei; Guo, Dongyang; Chang, Zhaoxia; Fu, Yating; Akinyemi, Ibukun A; Wu, Qingfa

2016-11-02

Sogatella furcifera, the white-backed planthopper (WBPH), has become one of the most destructive pests in rice production owing to its plant sap-sucking behavior and efficient transmission of Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) in a circulative, propagative and persistent manner. The dynamic and complex SRBSDV-WBPH-rice plant interaction is still poorly understood. In this study, based on a homology-based genome-wide analysis, 348 immune-related genes belonging to 28 families were identified in WBPH. A transcriptome analysis of non-viruliferous (NVF) and viruliferous groups with high viral titers (HVT) and median viral titers (MVT) revealed that feeding on SRBSDV-infected rice plants has a significant impact on gene expression, regardless of viral titers in insects. We identified 278 up-regulated and 406 down-regulated genes shared among the NVF, MVT, and HVT groups and detected significant down-regulation of primary metabolism-related genes and oxidoreductase. In viruliferous WBPH with viral titer-specific transcriptome changes, 1,906 and 1,467 genes exhibited strict monotonically increasing and decreasing expression, respectively. The RNAi pathway was the major antiviral response to increasing viral titers among diverse immune responses. These results clarify the responses of immune genes and the transcriptome of WBPH to SRBSDV and improve our knowledge of the functional relationship between pathogen, vector, and host.

Effects of 90-day feeding of transgenic Bt rice TT51 on the reproductive system in male rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Er Hui; Yu, Zhou; Hu, Jing; Xu, Hai Bin

2013-12-01

Rice is a staple food crop; however, the threat of pests leads to a serious decline in its output and quality. The CryAb/CryAc gene, encodes a synthetic fusion Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal protein, was introduced into rice MingHui63 to produce insect-resistant rice TT51. This study was undertaken to investigate potential unintended effects of TT51 on the reproductive system in male rats. Male rats were treated with diets containing 60% of either TT51 or MingHui63 by weight, nutritionally balanced to an AIN93G diet, for 90days. An additional negative control group of rats were fed with a rice-based AIN93G diet. Body weights, food intake, hematology, serum chemistry, serum hormone levels, sperm parameters and relative organ/body weights were measured, and gross as well as microscopic pathology were examined. No diet-related significant differences in the values of response variables were observed between rats that were fed with diet containing transgenic TT51, MingHui63 and the control in this 90-day feeding study. In addition, necropsy and histopathology examination indicated no treatment-related changes. The results from the present study indicated that TT51 does not appear to exert any effect on the reproductive system in male rats compared with MingHui63 or the control. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of methoprene, an insect growth regulator, against malaria vectors in Fars, Iran: a field study.

Science.gov (United States)

Darabi, H; Vatandoost, H; Abaei, M R; Gharibi, O; Pakbaz, F

2011-01-01

Methoprene, an insect growth regulator, was evaluated under field conditions against the main malaria vectors in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The effect of 5, 10 and 20 kg ha(-1) concentration ofmethoprene granule formulation and 100 and 200 mL ha(-1) concentration of EC formulation was measured to determine any changes in Anophelini larval abundance and IE ratio in both rice fields and artificial ponds. In artificial ponds, granular methoprene at a dose of 20 kg ha(-1) inhibited adult emergence by 77.1% after 1 day and 65.9% after 3 days. The emulsifiable concentrate formulation of methoprene at 200 mL ha(-1) inhibited adult emergence by 83.7% after 1 day and 32.2% after 3 days. In rice fields, inhibition of emergence was 44.3% at 20 kg ha(-1) granule and 35.8% for emulsifiable concentrate at 200 mL ha(-1) after 3 days. The results vary depending on the mosquito species, treatment methods, breeding places and type of formulation.

Rice peasants and rice research in Colombia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spijkers, P.A.N.M.

1983-01-01

Rice has been grown as a food crop in Latin America from early colonial times. In Colombia rice became a prominent subsistence crop especially on the north coast where it has been grown since the 17th century, sometimes also as a commercial crop. During the last twenty years there has been a sharp

Leaf development of cultivated rice and weedy red rice under elevated temperature scenarios

OpenAIRE

Streck,Nereu A.; Uhlmann,Lilian O.; Gabriel,Luana F.

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to simulate leaf development of cultivated rice genotypes and weedy red rice biotypes in climate change scenarios at Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. A leaf appearance (LAR) model adapted for rice was used to simulate the accumulated leaf number, represented by the Haun Stage, from crop emergence to flag leaf appearance (EM-FL). Three cultivated rice genotypes and two weedy red rice biotypes in six emergence dates were used. The LAR model was run for each emergence dat...

Nutritional test of rice in rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horii, Masaji; Yoshikawa, Seiji

1980-01-01

Behaviors on N derived from rice were followed up by means of 15 N-labeled rice. In the first test, the single unpolished rice diet and the diet of rice and bean lecithin (4.5%) produced urinary excretion of 10 - 12% of 15 N, and that of rice and mannan from devil's tongue (3%), 16 - 20%. The single unpolished rice diet showed slightly more urinary excretion of 15 N, and the other 2 diets showed a similar proportion of 15 N in 3 days. The results indicated that the diet containing mannan from devil's tongue resulted in a poor N absorption by rice, a large quantity of N being excreted over a long period of time. This suggested differences and time lags in the excretion of rice N into the stool and urine depending on the diet constitution. With the unpolished rice diet, a small quantity of rice protein was not absorbed, but was excreted. In the 2nd test with 15 N-polished rice, the urinary excretion rate was 11.44% for a single rice diet, 11.16% for a mixed diet of rice and bean (1:1 in protein), 10.99% for rice and egg yolk, 9.66% for rice, bean and egg yolk and 8.10% for rice and bean lecithin. This decrease in urinary excretion indicated a corresponding increase in absorption of rice protein. (Chiba, N.)

High-resolution mapping of the brown planthopper resistance gene Bph6 in rice and characterizing its resistance in the 9311 and Nipponbare near isogenic backgrounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Yongfu; Guo, Jianping; Jing, Shengli; Zhu, Lili; He, Guangcun

2010-11-01

Brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål, BPH) is one of the most destructive insect pests of rice. Exploring resistance genes from diverse germplasms and incorporating them into cultivated varieties are critical for controlling this insect. The rice variety Swarnalata was reported to carry a resistance gene (designated Bph6), which has not yet been assigned to a chromosome location and the resistance mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we identified and mapped this gene using the F(2) and backcrossing populations and characterized its resistance in indica 9311 and japonica Nipponbare using near isogenic lines (NILs). In analysis of 9311/Swarnalata F(2) population, the Bph6 gene was located on the long arm of chromosome 4 between the SSR markers RM6997 and RM5742. The gene was further mapped precisely to a 25-kb region delimited between the STS markers Y19 and Y9; and the distance between these markers is 25-kb in Nipponbare genome. The Bph6 explained 77.5% of the phenotypic variance of BPH resistance in F(2) population and 84.9% in BC(2)F(2) population. Allele from Swarnalata significantly increased resistance to the BPH, resulted in a reduced damage score. In characterization of Bph6-mediated resistance, the BPH insects showed significant preference between NIL-9311 and 9311 in 3 h and between NIL-NIP and Nipponbare in 120 h after release. BPH growth and development were inhibited, and the insect's survival rates were lower on Bph6-NIL plants, compared with the parents 9311 and Nipponbare. The results indicate that the Bph6 exerted prolonged antixenotic and antibiotic effects in Bph6-NIL plants, and NIL-9311 plants showed a quicker and stronger effect toward BPH than NIL-NIP plants.

RNA interference: Applications and advances in insect toxicology and insect pest management.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young Ho; Soumaila Issa, Moustapha; Cooper, Anastasia M W; Zhu, Kun Yan

2015-05-01

Since its discovery, RNA interference (RNAi) has revolutionized functional genomic studies due to its sequence-specific nature of post-transcriptional gene silencing. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the recent literature and summarize the current knowledge and advances in the applications of RNAi technologies in the field of insect toxicology and insect pest management. Many recent studies have focused on identification and validation of the genes encoding insecticide target proteins, such as acetylcholinesterases, ion channels, Bacillus thuringiensis receptors, and other receptors in the nervous system. RNAi technologies have also been widely applied to reveal the role of genes encoding cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, carboxylesterases, and glutathione S-transferases in insecticide detoxification and resistance. More recently, studies have focused on understanding the mechanism of insecticide-mediated up-regulation of detoxification genes in insects. As RNAi has already shown great potentials for insect pest management, many recent studies have also focused on host-induced gene silencing, in which several RNAi-based transgenic plants have been developed and tested as proof of concept for insect pest management. These studies indicate that RNAi is a valuable tool to address various fundamental questions in insect toxicology and may soon become an effective strategy for insect pest management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

relationship between physical characteristics and susceptibility to sitotroga cerealella (oliv.) in paddy rice mutants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boshra, S.A.; Azer, S.A.

2004-01-01

some promising mutants of rice variety Giza 180 induced by using gamma rays were tested for susceptibility to infestation by angoumois grain moth, sitotroga cerealella in relation with grain physical characters. number of F1 progeny and percentage of adult emergence showed that mutants 7/1, 4/5 and 1/7 were the most susceptible o angoumois grain moth, while mutants 13/1,16/1 and 15/6 b were least susceptible . there was positive correlation between number of F1 adult progeny and grain weight loss. the development period of the insect ranged from 33.7 days on 1/7 to 42.9 days on 15/6 b and the adults that emerged from mutants 1/7,4/5,7/1,8/1,15/1 and 11/1 lived longer than those of the other ones. Grains of the mutants with thick and pubescent or intermediate hulls were the least susceptible to attack by this pest. the rice mutants 13/1,16/1,15/6 b and their parental cultivar Giza 180 had the highest grain yield

Glufosinate herbicide-tolerant (LibertyLink) rice vs. conventional rice in diets for growing-finishing swine.

Science.gov (United States)

Cromwell, G L; Henry, B J; Scott, A L; Gerngross, M F; Dusek, D L; Fletcher, D W

2005-05-01

Genetically modified (GM) rice (LibertyLink, event LLRICE62) that is tolerant to glufosinate ammonium (Liberty) herbicide was compared with a near-isogenic (NI) conventional medium-grain brown rice (cultivar, Bengal) and a commercially milled long-grain brown rice in diets for growing-finishing pigs. The GM and NI rice were grown in 2000. The GM rice was from fields treated (GM+) or not treated (GM-) with glufosinate herbicide. The GM- and NI rice were grown using herbicide regimens typical of southern United States rice production practices. The four rice grains were similar in composition. Growing-finishing pigs (n = 96) were fed fortified rice-soybean meal diets containing the four different rice grains from 25 to 106 kg BW. Diets contained 0.99% lysine initially (growing phase), with lysine decreased to 0.80% (early finishing phase) and 0.65% (late finishing phase), when pigs reached 51 and 77 kg, respectively. The percentage of rice in the four diets was constant during each of the three phases (72.8, 80.0, and 85.8% for the growing, early-finishing, and late-finishing phases, respectively). There were six pen replicates (three pens of barrows and three pens of gilts) and four pigs per pen for each dietary treatment. All pigs were slaughtered at the termination of the study to collect carcass data. At the end of the 98-d experiment, BW gain, feed intake (as-fed basis), and feed:gain ratio did not differ (P > 0.05) for pigs fed the GM+ vs. conventional rice diets, but growth performance traits of pigs fed the GM+ rice diets were superior (P glufosinate herbicide-tolerant rice was similar in composition and nutritional value to conventional rice for growing-finishing pigs.

Asian wild rice is a hybrid swarm with extensive gene flow and feralization from domesticated rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongru; Vieira, Filipe G; Crawford, Jacob E; Chu, Chengcai; Nielsen, Rasmus

2017-06-01

The domestication history of rice remains controversial, with multiple studies reaching different conclusions regarding its origin(s). These studies have generally assumed that populations of living wild rice, O. rufipogon , are descendants of the ancestral population that gave rise to domesticated rice, but relatively little attention has been paid to the origins and history of wild rice itself. Here, we investigate the genetic ancestry of wild rice by analyzing a diverse panel of rice genomes consisting of 203 domesticated and 435 wild rice accessions. We show that most modern wild rice is heavily admixed with domesticated rice through both pollen- and seed-mediated gene flow. In fact, much presumed wild rice may simply represent different stages of feralized domesticated rice. In line with this hypothesis, many presumed wild rice varieties show remnants of the effects of selective sweeps in previously identified domestication genes, as well as evidence of recent selection in flowering genes possibly associated with the feralization process. Furthermore, there is a distinct geographical pattern of gene flow from aus , indica , and japonica varieties into colocated wild rice. We also show that admixture from aus and indica is more recent than gene flow from japonica , possibly consistent with an earlier spread of japonica varieties. We argue that wild rice populations should be considered a hybrid swarm, connected to domesticated rice by continuous and extensive gene flow. © 2017 Wang et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

An Economic Risk Analysis of Weed Suppressive Rice Cultivars in Rice Production

Science.gov (United States)

Weeds are a major constraint to rice production. In the United States, most rice cultivars are not inherently weed-suppressive and require substantial herbicide inputs to achieve agronomic and economic viability. Intensive herbicide application in rice also has many potential drawbacks, resulting in...

Edible insects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huis, van A.

2017-01-01

Is it an impossible task to convince consumers to eat insects? This does not only apply to western consumers who are less familiar with this food habit than consumers in tropical countries. In the tropics too, many people do not consume insects, even though they are easier to collect as food than

Soil to rice transfer factors for 210Pb: a study on rice grown in India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karunakara, N.; Rao, Chetan; Ujwal, P.; Yashodhara, I.; Sudeep Kumara; Somashekarappa, H.M.; Bhaskara Shenoy, K.; Ravi, P.M.

2013-01-01

India is the second largest producer of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the world and rice is the essential component of the diet for the majority of the population of India. However, detailed studies aimed at evaluation of radionuclide transfer factors (F v ) for rice grown in India are almost non-existent. This paper presents soil to rice transfer factors for 210 Pb for rice grown in natural field conditions on the West Coast of India. A rice field was developed very close to the Kaiga nuclear power plant for the field studies. For a comparative study of radionuclide transfer factors, rice samples were also collected from the rice fields of nearby villages. The soil to un-hulled rice grain 210 Pb varied in the range <1.2 x10 -2 to 8.1 x 10 -1 with a mean of 1.4 x 10 -1 . The mean values of un-hulled grain to white rice processing retention factors (F r ) was 0.03 for 210 Pb. Using the processing retention factors the soil to white rice transfer factor was estimated and found to have the mean value of 4.2 x 10 -3 . The study has shown that the transfer of 210 Pb was retained in the root and its transfer to above ground organs of rice plant is significantly lower. (author)

Metabolic Interplay between the Asian Citrus Psyllid and Its Profftella Symbiont: An Achilles' Heel of the Citrus Greening Insect Vector.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John S Ramsey

Full Text Available 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (CLas, the bacterial pathogen associated with citrus greening disease, is transmitted by Diaphorina citri, the Asian citrus psyllid. Interactions among D. citri and its microbial endosymbionts, including 'Candidatus Profftella armatura', are likely to impact transmission of CLas. We used quantitative mass spectrometry to compare the proteomes of CLas(+ and CLas(- populations of D. citri, and found that proteins involved in polyketide biosynthesis by the endosymbiont Profftella were up-regulated in CLas(+ insects. Mass spectrometry analysis of the Profftella polyketide diaphorin in D. citri metabolite extracts revealed the presence of a novel diaphorin-related polyketide and the ratio of these two polyketides was changed in CLas(+ insects. Insect proteins differentially expressed between CLas(+ and CLas(- D. citri included defense and immunity proteins, proteins involved in energy storage and utilization, and proteins involved in endocytosis, cellular adhesion, and cytoskeletal remodeling which are associated with microbial invasion of host cells. Insight into the metabolic interdependence between the insect vector, its endosymbionts, and the citrus greening pathogen reveals novel opportunities for control of this disease, which is currently having a devastating impact on citrus production worldwide.

Insects and human nutrition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roos, Nanna

2018-01-01

Despite high diversity in species as well as metamorphological life-­stages, edible insects are essentially an animal-source food contributing high quality protein and fat when viewed in the context of human nutrition. The nutritional contribution of insects to diets in populations where insects ...

A comparative study of competitiveness between different genotypes of weedy rice (Oryza sativa) and cultivated rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Lei; Dai, Weimin; Song, Xiaoling; Lu, Baorong; Qiang, Sheng

2014-01-01

Competition from weedy rice can cause serious yield losses to cultivated rice. However, key traits that facilitate competitiveness are still not well understood. To explore the mechanisms behind the strong growth and competitive ability, replacement series experiments were established with six genotypes of weedy rice from different regions and one cultivated rice cultivar. (1) Weedy rice from southern China had the greatest impact on growth and yield of cultivated rice throughout the entire growing season. Weedy rice from the northeast was very competitive during the early vegetative stage while the competitive effects of eastern weedy rice were more detrimental at later crop-growth stages. (2) As the proportion of weedy rice increased, plant height, tillers, above-ground biomass, and yield of cultivated rice significantly declined; the crop always being at disadvantage regardless of proportion. (3) Weedy biotypes with greater diversity as estimated by their Shannon indexes were more detrimental to the growth and yield of cultivated rice. Geographic origin (latitude) of weedy rice biotype, its mixture proportion under competition with the crop and its genetic diversity are determinant factors of the outcome of competition and the associated decline in the rice crop yield. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Determination of behaviour of the corn weevil Sitophilus zeamais, Motschulsky, 1855 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) in corn, rice and wheat grains by using radioactive tracer iodine-131

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pacheco, I.A.

1989-01-01

The dispersion behaviour and distribution pattern of Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, 1855 through a bulk of corn, rice and wheat,leaving from a infestation focus, was investigated by means of tracer methodology. Adults insects were labeled with the gamma emitter 131 I, through bath in Na 131 I solution and released onto the top of grain mass deposited in cylinders each 430 mm height and 195 mm in diameter, filled to 20 mm of the top with grains. The cylinders were enclosed with lids. The insects were detected through the bulk of the grain by means of a crystal scintillator, in fourteen sites, zero 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after releasing. (author)

Molecular mapping and genetic analysis of a rice brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål) resistance gene.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Haiyuan; Ren, Xiang; Weng, Qingmei; Zhu, Lili; He, Guangcun

2002-01-01

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, is a serious insect pest of rice (Oryza saliva L.). We have determined the chromosomal location of a BPH resistance gene in rice using SSR and RFLP techniques. A rice line 'B14', derived from the wild rice Oryza latifolia, showed high resistance to BPH. For tagging the resistance gene in 'B14X', an F2 population and a recombinant inbred (RI) population from a cross between Taichung Native 1 and 'B14' were developed and evaluated for BPH resistance. The results showed that a single dominant gene controlled the resistance of 'B14' to BPH. Bulked segregant SSR analysis was employed for identification of DNA markers linked to the resistance gene. From the survey of 302 SSR primer pairs, three SSR (RM335, RM261, RM185) markers linked to the resistance gene were identified. The closest SSR marker RM261 was linked to the resistance gene at a distance of 1.8 cM. Regions surrounding the resistance gene and the SSR markers were examined with additional RFLP markers on chromosome 4 to define the location of the resistance gene. Linkage of RFLP markers C820, R288, C946 with the resistance gene further confirmed its location on the short arm of chromosome 4. Closely linked DNA markers will facilitate selection for resistant lines in breeding programs and provide the basis for map-based cloning of this resistance gene.

Diversity of global rice markets and the science required for consumer-targeted rice breeding

Science.gov (United States)

With the ever-increasing global demand for high quality rice in both local production regions and with Western consumers, we have a strong desire to understand better the importance of different quality traits that make up the rice grain and obtain a full picture of rice quality demographics. Rice ...

Insect Detectives

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2002-08-01

Aug 1, 2002 ... all life stages of insects from and around the corpse. The collected specimens are subjected to further analysis either in the field itself or in the laboratory. A forensic entomologist has three main objectives in his mind while analyzing the insect data: determination of place, time and mode of death, each of.

Insect Keepers

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Virginia J.; Chessin, Debby A.; Theobald, Becky

2010-01-01

Insects are fascinating creatures--especially when you and your students get up close and personal with them! To that end, the authors facilitated an inquiry-based investigation with an emphasis on identification of the different types of insects found in the school yard, their characteristics, their habitat, and what they eat, while engaging the…

Operational note effects of fipronil and lambda-cyhalothrin against larval Anopheles quadrimaculatus and nontarget aquatic mosquito predators in Arkansas small rice plots.

Science.gov (United States)

Dennett, James A; Bernhardt, John L; Meisch, Max V

2003-06-01

The effects of fipronil and lambda-cyhalothrin, applied at rates labeled for control of the rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus, on 3 nontarget indigenous insect species in Arkansas rice are described. Three replicates of untreated control checks and fipronil- and lambda-cyhalothrin-treated plots containing 3 sentinel cages each were performed. Ten 4th-stage larvae of Anopheles quadrimaculatus, 10 adult Tropisternus lateralis, or 10 adult Notonecta indica were placed within individual cages in small rice plots treated with ICON 6.2 FS (fipronil) at 0.025 lb active ingredient (AI)/acre (0.028 kg/ha) or KARATEZ 2.08 CS (lambda-cyhalothrin) at 0.03 lb AI/acre (0.033 kg/ha) applied over vegetation and water with a single-boom sprayer. At 24 h after treatment in fipronil plots, significantly higher control of An. quadrimaculatus and T. lateralis (69 and 48% control, respectively) was achieved, compared to N. indica (18%). In lambda-cyhalothrin plots 24 h after treatment, 100% reductions of both T. lateralis and N. indica were highly significant (P lambda-cyhalothrin plots 48 h after treatment, with 93 and 53% control of T. lateralis and N. indica, respectively, compared to 7% control of An. quadrimaculatus. A marked difference in susceptibility was found between selected nontarget organisms used in this study. When using lambda-cyhalothrin to control adult L. oryzophilus, populations of nontarget beneficial insects, such as T. lateralis and N. indica, could be adversely affected, whereas nontarget pestilent species, such as An. quadrimaculatus, could proliferate. Fipronil achieved higher percentages of control against An. quadrimaculatus, compared to lambda-cyhalothrin, and was less harmful to both nontarget predators.

Creation of transgenic rice plants producing small interfering RNA of Rice tungro spherical virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Dung Tien; Chu, Ha Duc; Sasaya, Takahide

2015-01-01

Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV), also known as Rice waika virus, does not cause visible symptoms in infected rice plants. However, the virus plays a critical role in spreading Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV), which is the major cause of severe symptoms of rice tungro disease. Recent studies showed that RNA interference (RNAi) can be used to develop virus-resistance transgenic rice plants. In this report, we presented simple procedures and protocols needed for the creation of transgenic rice plants capable of producing small interfering RNA specific against RTSV sequences. Notably, our study showed that 60 out of 64 individual hygromycin-resistant lines (putative transgenic lines) obtained through transformation carried transgenes designed for producing hairpin double-stranded RNA. Northern blot analyses revealed the presence of small interfering RNA of 21- to 24-mer in 46 out of 56 confirmed transgenic lines. Taken together, our study indicated that transgenic rice plants carrying an inverted repeat of 500-bp fragments encoding various proteins of RTSV can produce small interfering RNA from the hairpin RNA transcribed from that transgene. In light of recent studies with other viruses, it is possible that some of these transgenic rice lines might be resistant to RTSV.

A Non-destructive and Continuous Measurement of Gelatinization of Rice in Rice Cooking Process

OpenAIRE

Hagura, Yoshio; Suzuki, Kanichi

2002-01-01

A non-destructive and continuous method to measure gelatinization of rice samples in a rice-water system during rice cooking process was examined. An aluminum pot and a lid of a rice cooker were used as two electrode plates, and changes in dielectric properties (capacitance : C, and dielectric dissipation factor : tan δ) of the samples in the rice cooking process were measured by a capacitance meter. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to measure gelatinization enthalpy and to de...

7 CFR 868.310 - Grades and grade requirements for the classes Long Grain Milled Rice, Medium Grain Milled Rice...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Grain Milled Rice, Medium Grain Milled Rice, Short Grain Milled Rice, and Mixed Milled Rice. (See also Â... Milled Rice Principles Governing Application of Standards § 868.310 Grades and grade requirements for the classes Long Grain Milled Rice, Medium Grain Milled Rice, Short Grain Milled Rice, and Mixed Milled Rice...

Rice varieties in relation to rice bread quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Hye Min; Cho, Jun Hyeon; Kang, Hang Won; Koh, Bong Kyung

2012-05-01

It is difficult to predict rice bread quality only from the amylose content (AC) or dough characteristics of new lines produced by rice breeding programmes. This study investigated the AC relative to bread baking quality of rice varieties developed in Korea, and identified specific characteristics that contribute to rice bread quality. Manmibyeo, Jinsumi, Seolgaeng and Hanareumbyeo were classified as low AC, YR24088 Acp9, Suweon517, Chenmaai and Goamibyeo as intermediate AC and Milyang261 as high AC. Suweon517, Milyang261 and Manmibyeo had a high water absorption index (WAI), while Goamibyeo, YR24088 Acp9, Jinsumi, Seolgaeng, Hanareumbyeo and Chenmaai had a low WAI. The gelatinisation enthalpy of flour varied from 9.2 J g(-1) in Milyang261 to 14.8 J g(-1) in YR24088 Acp9. After 7 days of storage the rate of flour retrogradation and crumb firmness were weakly correlated, with the exception of Jinsumi. Bread volumes of Jinsumi, Chenmaai, YR24088 Acp9 and Goamibyeo were comparable to that of wheat flour, but the rest were unsuited to bread making because of their low volume and hard crumb texture. Based on volume, texture and crumb firmness ratio, Chenmaai and Goamibyeo were the most appropriate varieties for making bread. An intermediate AC and low WAI were the primary indicators of rice bread flour quality. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Sterile insect supply, emergence, and release

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dowell, R.V.; Worley, J.; Gomes, P.J.

2005-01-01

Insect mass-rearing for a sterile insect technique (SIT) programme is designed to move beyond the large-scale rearing of insects in a laboratory to the industrial production of consistently high-quality insects for sterilization and release. Each facility reflects the unique biology of the insect reared within it, but there are some generalities for all rearing facilities. Rearing insects in self-contained modules offers flexibility, and increased safety from catastrophic occurrences, compared with using a single building which houses all facets of the rearing process. Although mechanizing certain aspects of the rearing steps helps provide a consistently high-quality insect, successful mass-rearing and delivery depends largely upon the human component. Besides production in centralized facilities, insects can be produced from purchased eggs, or nowadays, adult insects are often obtained from specialized satellite emergence/collection facilities. Interest in commercializing insect production and release is increasing. Shipping sterile insects, sometimes over long distances, is now common practice. Procedures for handling and chilling adult insects, and providing food and water prior to release, are continually being improved. Sterile insects are released via static-release receptacles, ground-release systems, or most commonly from the air. The aerial release of chilled sterile insects is the most efficient method of release, especially when aircraft flight paths are guided by a Global Positioning System (GPS) linked to a computer-controlled release mechanism. (author)

Salinity alters the protein composition of rice endosperm and the physicochemical properties of rice flour.

Science.gov (United States)

Baxter, Graeme; Zhao, Jian; Blanchard, Christopher

2011-09-01

Salinity is one of the major threats to production of rice and other agricultural crops worldwide. Although numerous studies have shown that salinity can severely reduce rice yield, little is known about its impact on the chemical composition, processing and sensory characteristics of rice. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of salinity on the pasting and textural properties of rice flour as well as on the protein content and composition of rice endosperm. Rice grown under saline conditions had significantly lower yields but substantially higher protein content. The increase in protein content was mainly attributed to increases in the amount of glutelin, with lesser contributions from albumin. Salinity also altered the relative proportions of the individual peptides within the glutelin fraction. Flours obtained from rice grown under saline conditions showed significantly higher pasting temperatures, but lower peak and breakdown viscosities. Rice gels prepared from the flour showed significantly higher hardness and adhesiveness values, compared to the freshwater controls. Salinity can significantly affect the pasting and textural characteristics of rice flour. Although some of the effects could be attributed to changes in protein content of the rice flour, especially the increased glutelin level, the impact of salinity on the physicochemical properties of rice is rather complex and may involve the interrelated effects of other rice components such as starch and lipids. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Insects vis a vis radiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srivastava, Meera

2014-01-01

Insects have turned out to be much more radiation resistant. For most insects a dose of about 500-700 Gy is required to kill them within a few weeks of exposure; although cockroaches require 900-1000 Gy. Killing insects in less than a few days requires much higher doses. These doses are for mature insects, the immature stages of some insects can be killed by doses as low as 40 Gy. Some insects can be sterilized at even lower doses, and this has application in insect control. Screw-worms, for example, can be sterilized with doses of 25-50 Gy. By contrast, doses as low as 3 Gy caused death of humans in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and doses of about 6 Gy caused death of fire fighters in the Chernobyl accident. It is not exactly certain what the basis is for the resistance of insects to ionizing radiation. It is not animal size by itself, nor lack of penetration. It is also not because of few dividing cells as these are more radiosensitive than non-dividing ones. The speculation that insects might have lower oxygen tensions, and the lack of oxygen is known to protect cells from radiation also does not work. Insect cells might have an enhanced capacity to repair radiation damage also could not be proven. The number of chromosomes influenced radio-sensitivity, and that insects had fewer chromosomes could be true. The radiation resistance is inherent to the cells, since cells derived from insects are also radiation resistant when grown in cell culture. For example, a dose of 60 Gy is required to produce a 80% kill of insect cells, while doses of 1-2 Gy are sufficient to generate this level of killing in mammalian cells. But, nevertheless, according to recent researches, radiation from Japan's leaking Fukushima nuclear plant has caused mutations in some butterflies. It is therefore clear that insects are resistant to ionizing radiation and that this resistance is an inherent property of their cells. But it is not clear exactly what the basis of this cellular resistance is

Assessing the impacts of climate change on rice yields in the main rice areas of China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Fengmei; Xu, Yinglong; Lin, Erda; Yokozawa, Masayuki; Zhang, Jiahua

2007-01-01

This paper assesses the impact of climate change on irrigated rice yield using B2 climate change scenario from the Regional Climate Model (RCM) and CERES-rice model during 2071--2090. Eight typical rice stations ranging in latitude, longitude, and elevation that are located in the main rice ecological zones of China are selected for impact assessment. First, Crop Estimation through Resource and Environment Synthesis (CERES)-rice model is validated using farm experiment data in selected stations. The simulated results represent satisfactorily the trend of flowering duration and yields. The deviation of simulation within ± 10% of observed flowering duration and ± 15% of observed yield. Second, the errors of the outputs of RCM due to the difference of topography between station point and grid point is corrected. The corrected output of the RCM used for simulating rice flowering duration and yield is more reliable than the not corrected. Without CO2 direct effect on crop, the results from the assessment explore that B2 climate change scenario would have a negative impact on rice yield at most rice stations and have little impacts at Fuzhou and Kunming. To find the change of inter-annual rice yield, a preliminary assessment is made based on comparative cumulative probability at low and high yield and the coefficient variable of yield between the B2 scenario and baseline. Without the CO2 direct effect on rice yield, the result indicates that frequency for low yield would increase and it reverses for high yield, and the variance for rice yield would increase. It is concluded that high frequency at low yield and high variances of rice yield could pose a threat to rice yield at most selected stations in the main rice areas of China. With the CO2 direct effect on rice yield, rice yield increase in all selected stations

Assessing the impacts of climate change on rice yields in the main rice areas of China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yao, Fengmei [College of Earth Sciences, The Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A, Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049 (China); Xu, Yinglong; Lin, Erda [Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081 (China); Yokozawa, Masayuki [National Institute for Agro-environmental Sciences, Tsukuba 305-8604 (Japan); Zhang, Jiahua [Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081 (China)

2007-02-15

This paper assesses the impact of climate change on irrigated rice yield using B2 climate change scenario from the Regional Climate Model (RCM) and CERES-rice model during 2071--2090. Eight typical rice stations ranging in latitude, longitude, and elevation that are located in the main rice ecological zones of China are selected for impact assessment. First, Crop Estimation through Resource and Environment Synthesis (CERES)-rice model is validated using farm experiment data in selected stations. The simulated results represent satisfactorily the trend of flowering duration and yields. The deviation of simulation within {+-} 10% of observed flowering duration and {+-} 15% of observed yield. Second, the errors of the outputs of RCM due to the difference of topography between station point and grid point is corrected. The corrected output of the RCM used for simulating rice flowering duration and yield is more reliable than the not corrected. Without CO2 direct effect on crop, the results from the assessment explore that B2 climate change scenario would have a negative impact on rice yield at most rice stations and have little impacts at Fuzhou and Kunming. To find the change of inter-annual rice yield, a preliminary assessment is made based on comparative cumulative probability at low and high yield and the coefficient variable of yield between the B2 scenario and baseline. Without the CO2 direct effect on rice yield, the result indicates that frequency for low yield would increase and it reverses for high yield, and the variance for rice yield would increase. It is concluded that high frequency at low yield and high variances of rice yield could pose a threat to rice yield at most selected stations in the main rice areas of China. With the CO2 direct effect on rice yield, rice yield increase in all selected stations.

Transcriptomic response of the insect vector, Peregrinus maidis, to Maize mosaic rhabdovirus and identification of conserved responses to propagative viruses in hopper vectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Kathleen M; Barandoc-Alviar, Karen; Schneweis, Derek J; Stewart, Catherine L; Rotenberg, Dorith; Whitfield, Anna E

2017-09-01

Maize mosaic virus (MMV) is a plant-pathogenic rhabdovirus that is transmitted by the corn planthopper, Peregrinus maidis, in a propagative manner. P. maidis supports long-term MMV infections with no negative effects on insect performance. To elucidate whole-body transcriptome responses to virus infection, RNA-Seq was used to examine differential gene expression of virus-infected adult insects, and libraries were prepared from replicated groups of virus-exposed insects and non-exposed insects. From the 68,003 de novo-assembled transcripts, 144 were differentially-expressed (DE) during viral infection with comparable numbers up- and down-regulated. DE transcripts with similarity to genes associated with transposable elements (i.e., RNA-directed DNA polymerases) were enriched and may represent a mechanisim for modulating virus infection. Comparison of the P. maidis DE transcripts to published propagative virus-responsive transcript databases for two other hopper vectors revealed that 16% of the DE transcripts were shared across the three systems and may represent conserved responses to propagative viruses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fine mapping of the rice Bph1 gene, which confers resistance to the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens stal), and development of STS markers for marker-assisted selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Cha, Young-Soon; Ji, Hyeonso; Yun, Doh-Won; Ahn, Byoung-Ohg; Lee, Myung Chul; Suh, Seok-Cheol; Lee, Chun Seok; Ahn, Eok Keun; Jeon, Yong-Hee; Jin, Il-Doo; Sohn, Jae-Keun; Koh, Hee-Jong; Eun, Moo-Young

2008-08-31

The brown planthopper (BPH) is a major insect pest in rice, and damages these plants by sucking phloem-sap and transmitting viral diseases. Many BPH resistance genes have been identified in indica varieties and wild rice accessions, but none has yet been cloned. In the present study we report fine mapping of the region containing the Bph1 locus, which enabled us to perform marker-aided selection (MAS). We used 273 F8 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between Cheongcheongbyeo, an indica type variety harboring Bph1 from Mudgo, and Hwayeongbyeo, a BPH susceptible japonica variety. By random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis using 656 random 10-mer primers, three RAPD markers (OPH09, OPA10 and OPA15) linked to Bph1 were identified and converted to SCAR (sequence characterized amplified region) markers. These markers were found to be contained in two BAC clones derived from chromosome 12: OPH09 on OSJNBa0011B18, and both OPA10 and OPA15 on OSJNBa0040E10. By sequence analysis of ten additional BAC clones evenly distributed between OSJNBa0011B18 and OSJNBa0040E10, we developed 15 STS markers. Of these, pBPH4 and pBPH14 flanked Bph1 at distances of 0.2 cM and 0.8 cM, respectively. The STS markers pBPH9, pBPH19, pBPH20, and pBPH21 co-segregated with Bph1. These markers were shown to be very useful for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding populations of 32 F6 RILs from a cross between Andabyeo and IR71190, and 32 F5 RILs from a cross between Andabyeo and Suwon452.

Exploring Sound with Insects

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Laura; Meyer, John R.

2010-01-01

Differences in insect morphology and movement during singing provide a fascinating opportunity for students to investigate insects while learning about the characteristics of sound. In the activities described here, students use a free online computer software program to explore the songs of the major singing insects and experiment with making…

Radiation disinfestation of Basmati rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, V.S.; Gholap, A.S.; Adhikari, H.R.; Nair, P.M.

1994-01-01

Effect of low dose γ-radiation on prepackaged Basmati rice was studied in order to achieve disinfestation of rice. Basmati rice procured from local market was repacked in 1 kg pouches made from high density polyethylene (HDP) and biaxially oriented polypropylene: low density polyethylene (BOPP/LDP) laminate and irradiated at doses from 0.25-1.0 kGy. Within one month of storage at room temperature, unirradiated (control) Basmati rice developed heavy infestation. No infestation was observed in any of the irradiated samples even at 0.25 kGy and the rice could be stored for 6 months in a clean state. Irradiation (at 0.25 kGy) did not alter the moisture content of the rice. Likewise, no significant change was noted due to irradiation in the functional properties of rice such as swelling index and water absorption and in total volatile components responsible for flavour of Basmati rice. In organoleptic evaluation, no significant difference was found between the acceptability of irradiated (0.25 kGy) and control rice. These results are significant in view of the high export potential of Basmati rice and the transit losses at present due to infestation. (author). 24 refs., 5 tabs., 1 fig

Cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility gene provides direct evidence for some hybrid rice recently evolving into weedy rice

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jingxu; Lu, Zuomei; Dai, Weimin; Song, Xiaoling; Peng, Yufa; Valverde, Bernal E.; Qiang, Sheng

2015-01-01

Weedy rice infests paddy fields worldwide at an alarmingly increasing rate. There is substantial evidence indicating that many weedy rice forms originated from or are closely related to cultivated rice. There is suspicion that the outbreak of weedy rice in China may be related to widely grown hybrid rice due to its heterosis and the diversity of its progeny, but this notion remains unsupported by direct evidence. We screened weedy rice accessions by both genetic and molecular marker tests for the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes (Wild abortive, WA, and Boro type, BT) most widely used in the production of indica and japonica three-line hybrid rice as a diagnostic trait of direct parenthood. Sixteen weedy rice accessions of the 358 tested (4.5%) contained the CMS-WA gene; none contained the CMS-BT gene. These 16 accessions represent weedy rices recently evolved from maternal hybrid rice derivatives, given the primarily maternal inheritance of this trait. Our results provide key direct evidence that hybrid rice can be involved in the evolution of some weedy rice accessions, but is not a primary factor in the recent outbreak of weedy rice in China. PMID:26012494

Cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility gene provides direct evidence for some hybrid rice recently evolving into weedy rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jingxu; Lu, Zuomei; Dai, Weimin; Song, Xiaoling; Peng, Yufa; Valverde, Bernal E; Qiang, Sheng

2015-05-27

Weedy rice infests paddy fields worldwide at an alarmingly increasing rate. There is substantial evidence indicating that many weedy rice forms originated from or are closely related to cultivated rice. There is suspicion that the outbreak of weedy rice in China may be related to widely grown hybrid rice due to its heterosis and the diversity of its progeny, but this notion remains unsupported by direct evidence. We screened weedy rice accessions by both genetic and molecular marker tests for the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes (Wild abortive, WA, and Boro type, BT) most widely used in the production of indica and japonica three-line hybrid rice as a diagnostic trait of direct parenthood. Sixteen weedy rice accessions of the 358 tested (4.5%) contained the CMS-WA gene; none contained the CMS-BT gene. These 16 accessions represent weedy rices recently evolved from maternal hybrid rice derivatives, given the primarily maternal inheritance of this trait. Our results provide key direct evidence that hybrid rice can be involved in the evolution of some weedy rice accessions, but is not a primary factor in the recent outbreak of weedy rice in China.

Radiations: tool for insect pest management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swami, Kailash Kumar; Kiradoo, M.M.; Srivastava, Meera

2012-01-01

The discovery that X-rays or gamma radiation could cause sufficient genetic damage to insect reproductive systems to induce sterility resulted from work conducted by H.J. Muller starting in the 1920s. The sterilizing effect of radiation was noted by scientists of the US Department of Agriculture who had been seeking a method to sterilize insects for many years. These scientists had theorized that if large numbers of the target insect species were reared, sterilized, and released into the field, the sterile insects would mate with the wild insects. These mating would result in no offspring and thus a decline in the population would be obtained. They calculated that if sufficient numbers of sterile insects were released, reproductive rate for the wild population would rapidly decline and reach zero. In simple language, birth control of insects. Radiation sterilization was the answer. In a SIT operation, radiation is used to sexually sterilize insects. Since the SIT is species specific, the selection the insect pest or group of pests on which to work is of primary importance. The Joint Division of the IAEA Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been involved in the use of isotopes and radiation in insect control since 1964. Isotopes are used as tags or markers, for instance, of chemical molecules, insects, or plants. For example, with these tags one can follow the fate of insecticides within insects and the environment; the incorporation of nutrients into the insect; and the movements of insects under field conditions. They also can plants on which insects feed so that the quantity of consumed food can be measured and directly correlated with plant resistance. They can be used as well to follow parasites and predators of insects - for example, their movements, numbers, and ability to help control insect pests. Radiations therefore have come as a novel tool to combat insect pest problem and in future could be very helpful in various other ways, of be it be cost

Evolution of the Insects

Science.gov (United States)

Grimaldi, David; Engel, Michael S.

2005-05-01

This book chronicles the complete evolutionary history of insects--their living diversity and relationships as well as 400 million years of fossils. Introductory sections cover the living species diversity of insects, methods of reconstructing evolutionary relationships, basic insect structure, and the diverse modes of insect fossilization and major fossil deposits. Major sections then explore the relationships and evolution of each order of hexapods. The volume also chronicles major episodes in the evolutionary history of insects from their modest beginnings in the Devonian and the origin of wings hundreds of millions of years before pterosaurs and birds to the impact of mass extinctions and the explosive radiation of angiosperms on insects, and how they evolved into the most complex societies in nature. Whereas other volumes focus on either living species or fossils, this is the first comprehensive synthesis of all aspects of insect evolution. Illustrated with 955 photo- and electron- micrographs, drawings, diagrams, and field photos, many in full color and virtually all of them original, this reference will appeal to anyone engaged with insect diversity--professional entomologists and students, insect and fossil collectors, and naturalists. David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel have collectively published over 200 scientific articles and monographs on the relationships and fossil record of insects, including 10 articles in the journals Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. David Grimaldi is curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor at Cornell University, Columbia University, and the City University of New York. David Grimaldi has traveled in 40 countries on 6 continents, collecting and studying recent species of insects and conducting fossil excavations. He is the author of Amber: Window to the Past (Abrams, 2003). Michael S. Engel is an assistant professor in the

Asian wild rice is a hybrid swarm with extensive gene flow and feralization from domesticated rice

OpenAIRE

Wang, Hongru; Garrett Vieira, Filipe Jorge; Crawford, Jacob E.; Chu, Chengcai; Nielsen, Rasmus

2017-01-01

The domestication history of rice remains controversial, with multiple studies reaching different conclusions regarding its origin(s). These studies have generally assumed that populations of living wild rice, O. rufipogon, are descendants of the ancestral population that gave rise to domesticated rice, but relatively little attention has been paid to the origins and history of wild rice itself. Here, we investigate the genetic ancestry of wild rice by analyzing a diverse panel of rice genome...

Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaChance, L.E.; Klassen, W.

1991-01-01

The sterile insect technique involves the mass-rearing of insects, which are sterilized by gamma rays from a 60 Co source before being released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produce no progeny, and so if enough of these matings occur the pest population can be controlled or even eradicated. A modification of the technique, especially suitable for the suppression of the moths and butterflies, is called the F, or inherited sterility method. In this, lower radiation doses are used such that the released males are only partially sterile (30-60%) and the females are fully sterile. When released males mate with native females some progeny are produced, but they are completely sterile. Thus, full expression of the sterility is delayed by one generation. This article describes the use of the sterile insect technique in controlling the screwworm fly, the tsetse fly, the medfly, the pink bollworm and the melon fly, and of the F 1 sterility method in the eradication of local gypsy moth infestations. 18 refs, 5 figs, 1 tab

Side-effects of pesticides used in irrigated rice areas on Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae).

Science.gov (United States)

Pazini, Juliano de Bastos; Pasini, Rafael Antonio; Seidel, Enio Júnior; Rakes, Matheus; Martins, José Francisco da Silva; Grützmacher, Anderson Dionei

2017-08-01

Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) is an important agent for the biological control of stink bug eggs in irrigated rice areas and the best strategy for its preservation is the use of selective pesticides. The aim of this study was to know the side-effects of pesticides used in Brazilian irrigated rice areas on egg parasitoid T. podisi. We evaluated, under laboratory conditions, 13 insecticides, 11 fungicides, 11 herbicides, and a control (distilled water) in choice and no-choice tests. In the no-choice tests, the pesticides were sprayed at pre and post-parasitism stages (egg and larval stages of T. podisi). In the choice tests, sprays were conducted only at pre-parasitism stages. For all tests, we prepared cards with 25 eggs of the alternative host Euschistus heros (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) non-parasitized (pre-parasitism) and parasitized (post-parasitism), which were subjected to pesticide sprays. The parasitism and emergence rates of T. podisi were determined classifying the pesticides in terms of the reduction of parasitism or emergence rates compared to the control. The neurotoxic insecticide cypermethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, zeta-cypermethrin, etofenprox, thiamethoxam, thiamethoxam + lambda-cyhalothrin, acetamiprid + alpha-cypermethrin, and bifenthrin + alpha-cypermethrin + carbosulfan were more harmful to T. podisi and, therefore, are less suitable for the integrated management of insect pests in irrigated rice areas.

Integrated rice-duck farming mitigates the global warming potential in rice season.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Guochun; Liu, Xin; Wang, Qiangsheng; Yu, Xichen; Hang, Yuhao

2017-01-01

Integrated rice-duck farming (IRDF), as a mode of ecological agriculture, is an important way to realize sustainable development of agriculture. A 2-year split-plot field experiment was performed to evaluate the effects of IRDF on methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions and its ecological mechanism in rice season. This experiment was conducted with two rice farming systems (FS) of IRDF and conventional farming (CF) under four paddy-upland rotation systems (PUR): rice-fallow (RF), annual straw incorporating in rice-wheat rotation system (RWS), annual straw-based biogas residues incorporating in rice-wheat rotation system (RWB), and rice-green manure (RGM). During the rice growing seasons, IRDF decreased the CH 4 emission by 8.80-16.68%, while increased the N 2 O emission by 4.23-15.20%, when compared to CF. Given that CH 4 emission contributed to 85.83-96.22% of global warming potential (GWP), the strong reduction in CH 4 emission led to a significantly lower GWP of IRDF as compared to CF. The reason for this trend was because IRDF has significant effect on dissolved oxygen (DO) and soil redox potential (Eh), which were two pivotal factors for CH 4 and N 2 O emissions in this study. The IRDF not only mitigates the GWP, but also increases the rice yield by 0.76-2.43% compared to CF. Moreover, compared to RWS system, RF, RWB and RGM systems significantly reduced CH 4 emission by 50.17%, 44.89% and 39.51%, respectively, while increased N 2 O emission by 10.58%, 14.60% and 23.90%, respectively. And RWS system had the highest GWP. These findings suggest that mitigating GWP and improving rice yield could be simultaneously achieved by the IRDF, and employing suitable PUR would benefit for relieving greenhouse effect. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sexually transmitted diphtheria.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Anja; Lensing, Carmen; Konrad, Regina; Huber, Ingrid; Hogardt, Michael; Sing, Andreas

2013-03-01

Diphtheria is caused by diphtheria toxin-producing Corynebacterium species. While classical respiratory diphtheria is transmitted by droplets, cutaneous diphtheria often results from minor trauma. This report concerns the first case of sexually transmitted diphtheria in a patient with non-gonococcal urethritis after orogenital contact.

Edible insects are the future?

Science.gov (United States)

van Huis, Arnold

2016-08-01

The global increase in demand for meat and the limited land area available prompt the search for alternative protein sources. Also the sustainability of meat production has been questioned. Edible insects as an alternative protein source for human food and animal feed are interesting in terms of low greenhouse gas emissions, high feed conversion efficiency, low land use, and their ability to transform low value organic side streams into high value protein products. More than 2000 insect species are eaten mainly in tropical regions. The role of edible insects in the livelihoods and nutrition of people in tropical countries is discussed, but this food source is threatened. In the Western world, there is an increasing interest in edible insects, and examples are given. Insects as feed, in particular as aquafeed, have a large potential. Edible insects have about the same protein content as conventional meat and more PUFA. They may also have some beneficial health effects. Edible insects need to be processed and turned into palatable dishes. Food safety may be affected by toxicity of insects, contamination with pathogens, spoilage during conservation and allergies. Consumer attitude is a major issue in the Western world and a number of strategies are proposed to encourage insect consumption. We discuss research pathways to make insects a viable sector in food and agriculture: an appropriate disciplinary focus, quantifying its importance, comparing its nutritional value to conventional protein sources, environmental benefits, safeguarding food safety, optimising farming, consumer acceptance and gastronomy.

Bph32, a novel gene encoding an unknown SCR domain-containing protein, confers resistance against the brown planthopper in rice

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Juansheng; Gao, Fangyuan; Wu, Xianting; Lu, Xianjun; Zeng, Lihua; Lv, Jianqun; Su, Xiangwen; Luo, Hong; Ren, Guangjun

2016-01-01

An urgent need exists to identify more brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål, BPH) resistance genes, which will allow the development of rice varieties with resistance to BPH to counteract the increased incidence of this pest species. Here, using bioinformatics and DNA sequencing approaches, we identified a novel BPH resistance gene, LOC_Os06g03240 (MSU LOCUS ID), from the rice variety Ptb33 in the interval between the markers RM19291 and RM8072 on the short arm of chromosome 6, where a gene for resistance to BPH was mapped by Jirapong Jairin et al. and renamed as “Bph32”. This gene encodes a unique short consensus repeat (SCR) domain protein. Sequence comparison revealed that the Bph32 gene shares 100% sequence identity with its allele in Oryza latifolia. The transgenic introgression of Bph32 into a susceptible rice variety significantly improved resistance to BPH. Expression analysis revealed that Bph32 was highly expressed in the leaf sheaths, where BPH primarily settles and feeds, at 2 and 24 h after BPH infestation, suggesting that Bph32 may inhibit feeding in BPH. Western blotting revealed the presence of Pph (Ptb33) and Tph (TN1) proteins using a Penta-His antibody, and both proteins were insoluble. This study provides information regarding a valuable gene for rice defence against insect pests. PMID:27876888

Bph32, a novel gene encoding an unknown SCR domain-containing protein, confers resistance against the brown planthopper in rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Juansheng; Gao, Fangyuan; Wu, Xianting; Lu, Xianjun; Zeng, Lihua; Lv, Jianqun; Su, Xiangwen; Luo, Hong; Ren, Guangjun

2016-11-23

An urgent need exists to identify more brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål, BPH) resistance genes, which will allow the development of rice varieties with resistance to BPH to counteract the increased incidence of this pest species. Here, using bioinformatics and DNA sequencing approaches, we identified a novel BPH resistance gene, LOC_Os06g03240 (MSU LOCUS ID), from the rice variety Ptb33 in the interval between the markers RM19291 and RM8072 on the short arm of chromosome 6, where a gene for resistance to BPH was mapped by Jirapong Jairin et al. and renamed as "Bph32". This gene encodes a unique short consensus repeat (SCR) domain protein. Sequence comparison revealed that the Bph32 gene shares 100% sequence identity with its allele in Oryza latifolia. The transgenic introgression of Bph32 into a susceptible rice variety significantly improved resistance to BPH. Expression analysis revealed that Bph32 was highly expressed in the leaf sheaths, where BPH primarily settles and feeds, at 2 and 24 h after BPH infestation, suggesting that Bph32 may inhibit feeding in BPH. Western blotting revealed the presence of Pph (Ptb33) and Tph (TN1) proteins using a Penta-His antibody, and both proteins were insoluble. This study provides information regarding a valuable gene for rice defence against insect pests.

Engineered Dwarf Male-Sterile Rice: A Promising Genetic Tool for Facilitating Recurrent Selection in Rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ansari, Afsana; Wang, Chunlian; Wang, Jian; Wang, Fujun; Liu, Piqing; Gao, Ying; Tang, Yongchao; Zhao, Kaijun

2017-01-01

Rice is a crop feeding half of the world's population. With the continuous raise of yield potential via genetic improvement, rice breeding has entered an era where multiple genes conferring complex traits must be efficiently manipulated to increase rice yield further. Recurrent selection is a sound strategy for manipulating multiple genes and it has been successfully performed in allogamous crops. However, the difficulties in emasculation and hand pollination had obstructed efficient use of recurrent selection in autogamous rice. Here, we report development of the dwarf male-sterile rice that can facilitate recurrent selection in rice breeding. We adopted RNAi technology to synergistically regulate rice plant height and male fertility to create the dwarf male-sterile rice. The RNAi construct pTCK-EGGE, targeting the OsGA20ox2 and OsEAT1 genes, was constructed and used to transform rice via Agrobacterium -mediated transformation. The transgenic T0 plants showing largely reduced plant height and complete male-sterile phenotypes were designated as the dwarf male-sterile plants. Progenies of the dwarf male-sterile plants were obtained by pollinating them with pollens from the wild-type. In the T1 and T2 populations, half of the plants were still dwarf male-sterile; the other half displayed normal plant height and male fertility which were designated as tall and male-fertile plants. The tall and male-fertile plants are transgene-free and can be self-pollinated to generate new varieties. Since emasculation and hand pollination for dwarf male-sterile rice plants is no longer needed, the dwarf male-sterile rice can be used to perform recurrent selection in rice. A dwarf male-sterile rice-based recurrent selection model has been proposed.

Ingestion of Bt rice pollen does not reduce the survival or hypopharyngeal gland development of Apis mellifera adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuanyuan; Dai, Pingli; Chen, Xiuping; Romeis, Jörg; Shi, Jianrong; Peng, Yufa; Li, Yunhe

2017-05-01

Because of its ecological and economic importance, the honey bee Apis mellifera is commonly used to assess the environmental risk of insect-resistant, genetically modified plants. In the present study, feeding-exposure experiments were used to determine whether pollen from transgenic rice harms A. mellifera worker bees. In 1 experiment, the survival and mean acinus diameter of hypopharyngeal glands of adult bees were similar when bees were fed on pollen from Bt rice lines or from a non-Bt rice line, but bee survival was significantly reduced when they received pollen that was mixed with potassium arsenate as a positive control. In a second experiment, bee survival and hypopharyngeal gland development were not reduced when adult bees were fed on non-Bt pollen and a sucrose solution supplemented with Cry2A at 400 µg/g, Cry1C at 50 µg/g, or bovine serum albumin (BSA) at 400 µg/g, but bee survival and hypopharyngeal gland development were reduced when the diet was supplemented with soybean trypsin inhibitor as a positive control. In both experiments, the uptake of Cry proteins by adult bees was confirmed. Overall, the results indicate that the planting of Bt rice lines expressing Cry2A or Cry1C protein poses a negligible risk to A. mellifera worker bees. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1243-1248. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Insect bite reactions

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Sanjay Singh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods. Insect bite reactions are commonly seen in clinical practice. The present review touches upon the medically important insects and their places in the classification, the sparse literature on the epidemiology of insect bites in India, and different variables influencing the susceptibility of an individual to insect bites. Clinical features of mosquito bites, hypersensitivity to mosquito bites Epstein-Barr virus NK (HMB-EBV-NK disease, eruptive pseudoangiomatosis, Skeeter syndrome, papular pruritic eruption of HIV/AIDS, and clinical features produced by bed bugs, Mexican chicken bugs, assassin bugs, kissing bugs, fleas, black flies, Blandford flies, louse flies, tsetse flies, midges, and thrips are discussed. Brief account is presented of the immunogenic components of mosquito and bed bug saliva. Papular urticaria is discussed including its epidemiology, the 5 stages of skin reaction, the SCRATCH principle as an aid in diagnosis, and the recent evidence supporting participation of types I, III, and IV hypersensitivity reactions in its causation is summarized. Recent developments in the treatment of pediculosis capitis including spinosad 0.9% suspension, benzyl alcohol 5% lotion, dimethicone 4% lotion, isopropyl myristate 50% rinse, and other suffocants are discussed within the context of evidence derived from randomized controlled trials and key findings of a recent systematic review. We also touch upon a non-chemical treatment of head lice and the ineffectiveness of egg-loosening products. Knockdown resistance (kdr as the genetic mechanism making the lice nerves insensitive to permethrin is discussed along with the surprising contrary clinical evidence from Europe about efficacy of permethrin in children with head lice carrying kdr-like gene. The review also presents a brief account of insects as vectors of diseases and ends with discussion of prevention of insect bites and some

Perbandingan Efek Pemberian Bioinsektisida dan Ekstrak Kompos terhadap Produksi Padi Ratun dan Populasi Serangga Hama

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Siti Herlinda

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The advantages of ratooning rice are to save water, cost production, labor, preparation time for planting and harvesting, but the ratooning productivity is still low.  This research aimed to study the effect of the bioinsecticide and compost extract on ratooning rice production and insect populations. The ratooning rice was applied by bioinsecticide, compost extract, and combination of bioinsecticide and compost extract with dose 2 L ha-1  per application, respectively. Data of agronomic variables were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, whereas insect pest population data were analyzed using Chi Square test. The seedling height of ratoon applied by compost extract was the highest among treatments. The number of productive tillers per clumps and rice production on plot applied by compost extract were higher than the insecticide treatment. At the age of 17 day-ratooning rice, application bioinsecticide reduced the population of insect pests, such as Ciccadulina bipunctata, Recilia dorsalis, Nilaparvata lugens, and Nephotettix nigropictus. Thus, application of compost extract tended to improved the growth and production of the ratooning rice, while the bioinsecticide decreased the insect pest population.Keywords: Beauveria bassiana, rice growth, production

75 FR 56911 - Request for Public Comment on the United States Standards for Rough Rice, Brown Rice for...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-17

... for Rough Rice, Brown Rice for Processing, and Milled Rice AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and... reviewing the United States Standards and grading procedures for Rough Rice, Brown Rice for Processing, and Milled Rice under the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946 (AMA). Since the standards were last revised...

Functional Study of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes from the Brown Planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål) to Analyze Its Adaptation to BPH-Resistant Rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Lei; Zhao, Yan; Wang, Huiying; Song, Chengpan; Shangguan, Xinxin; Ma, Yinhua; Zhu, Lili; He, Guangcun

2017-01-01

Plant-insect interactions constitute a complex of system, whereby plants synthesize toxic compounds as the main defense strategy to combat herbivore assault, and insects deploy detoxification systems to cope with toxic plant compounds. Cytochrom P450s are among the main detoxification enzymes employed by insects to combat the chemical defenses of host plants. In this study, we used Nilaparvata lugens (BPH) to constitute an ideal system for studying plant-insect interactions. By feeding BPHs with artificial diets containing ethanol extracts, we show that biotype Y BPHs have a greater ability to metabolize exogenous substrates than biotype 1 BPHs. NlCPR knockdown inhibited the ability of BPHs to feed on YHY15. qRT-PCR was used to screen genes in the P450 family, and upregulation of CYP4C61, CYP6AX1 , and CYP6AY1 induced by YHY15 was investigated. When the three P450 genes were knocked down, only CYP4C61 dsRNA treatment was inhibited the ability of BPHs to feed on YHY15. These results indicate that BPH P450 enzymes are a key factor in the physiological functions of BPH when feeding on BPH-resistant rice.

Rice as commodity and anti-commodity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richards, P.

2016-01-01

On the Upper West Africa coast rice belongs to two species — African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) and Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.). African rice was domesticated in the region, perhaps three millennia ago, from a presumed wild ancestor, O. barthii. Asian rice was introduced via trans-Saharan

Sterilizing effects and lethal effects of gamma radiation on different phases of life cycle of the sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) in rice and maize

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arthur, V.

1985-01-01

The objective of this research to verify the effects of the gamma radiation on different phases of the life cycle of the gamma radiation on different phases of the life cycle of the moth grain Angoumois, Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier, 1819). For all the treatment with gamma radiation a Cobalt-60 source type Gammabeam-650 was used and the activity was approximately 3.1 x 10 sup(14) Bq., with dose rate of 3.01 kGy per hour. The LD sub(100) of gamma radiation for eggs of insects reared in rice and maize were respectively 100 Gy and 125 Gy. The sterilizing doses in adults which were irradiated at immature phases (larvae and pupae) were 100 Gy and 200 Gy in rice and 150 Gy and 250 Gy in maize, respectively. The sterilizing doses for females and males in maize were respectively 350 Gy and 500 Gy. The LD sub(100) for adult females were 4500 Gy and 4750 Gy for males, both in rice. The LD sub(100), for adult reared on maize was 4750 Gy for both sexes. (author)

Insect anaphylaxis: addressing clinical challenges.

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Tracy, James M; Lewis, Elena J; Demain, Jeffrey G

2011-08-01

Few allergic reactions are as potentially life-threatening, or frightening to the patient, as anaphylaxis. Food, medications, and insect stings are the three most common triggers of anaphylaxis, but insect allergy provides the best opportunity to understand the biology of anaphylaxis. If the physician can establish a diagnosis of insect allergy, treatment with nearly 98% effectiveness can be initiated. However, sometimes patients have a compelling history of insect sting anaphylaxis, but negative skin and blood tests. This situation presents us with a fascinating opportunity to understand the biology of insect anaphylaxis. Recent and ongoing work shows that occult mast cell disease may be critical in insect anaphylaxis. Mastocytosis, serum tryptase and basophil biology are key elements; genetic markers may potentially help us diagnose at-risk individuals and determine proper treatment. Understanding basophil activation may play an additional role both in diagnosis and knowing when therapy might be terminated. Mast cell disease, serum tryptase and basophil biology are providing an opportunity to better understand and manage insect allergy. This evolving understanding should improve long-term management of insect anaphylaxis and help us to better understand the clinical dilemma of appropriate management of the history-positive patient in which testing is unable to detect venom-specific IgE. Furthermore, omalizumab's immunomodulatory effects may play a role in difficult-to-treat insect allergy and mastocytosis. Finally, unrelated to these, but still important as an ongoing risk factor, is the continued underutilization of epinephrine for both acute and long-term management of insect anaphylaxis.

Effects of seed mixture sowing with transgenic Bt rice and its parental line on the population dynamics of target stemborers and leafrollers, and non-target planthoppers.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhuo; Li, Li-Kun; Liu, Bin; Wang, Long; Parajulee, Megha N; Chen, Fa-Jun

2018-01-24

The widespread planting of insect-resistant crops has caused a dramatic shift in agricultural landscapes, thus raising concerns about the potential impacts on both target and non-target pests. In this study, we examined the potential effects of intra-specific seed mixture sowing with transgenic Bt rice (Bt) and its parental non-transgenic line (Nt) (100% Bt rice [Bt 100 ], 5% Nt+95% Bt [Nt 05 Bt 95 ], 10% Nt+90% Bt [Nt 10 Bt 90 ], 20% Nt+80% Bt [Nt 20 Bt 80 ], 40% Nt+60% Bt [Nt 40 Bt 60 ] and 100% Nt rice [Nt 100 ]) on target and non-target pests in a 2-year field trial in southern China. The occurrence of target pests, Sesamia inferens, Chilo suppressalis and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, decreased with the increased ratio of Bt rice, and the mixture ratios with more than 90% Bt rice (Bt 100 and Nt 05 Bt 95 ) significantly increased the pest suppression efficiency, with the lowest occurrences of non-target planthoppers, Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera in Nt 100 and Nt 05 Bt 95 . Furthermore, there were no significant differences in 1000-grain dry weight and grain dry weight per 100 plants between Bt 100 and Nt 05 Bt 95 . Seed mixture sowing of Bt rice with ≤10% (especially 5%) of its parent line was sufficient to overcome potential compliance issues that exist with the use of block or structured refuge to provide most effective control of both target and non-target pests without compromising the grain yield. It is also expected that the strategy of seed mixture sowing with transgenic Bt rice and the non-transgenic parental line would provide rice yield stability while decreasing the insecticide use frequency in rice production. © 2018 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Environmental RNAi in herbivorous insects.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivashuta, Sergey; Zhang, Yuanji; Wiggins, B Elizabeth; Ramaseshadri, Partha; Segers, Gerrit C; Johnson, Steven; Meyer, Steve E; Kerstetter, Randy A; McNulty, Brian C; Bolognesi, Renata; Heck, Gregory R

2015-05-01

Environmental RNAi (eRNAi) is a sequence-specific regulation of endogenous gene expression in a receptive organism by exogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Although demonstrated under artificial dietary conditions and via transgenic plant presentations in several herbivorous insects, the magnitude and consequence of exogenous dsRNA uptake and the role of eRNAi remains unknown under natural insect living conditions. Our analysis of coleopteran insects sensitive to eRNAi fed on wild-type plants revealed uptake of plant endogenous long dsRNAs, but not small RNAs. Subsequently, the dsRNAs were processed into 21 nt siRNAs by insects and accumulated in high quantities in insect cells. No accumulation of host plant-derived siRNAs was observed in lepidopteran larvae that are recalcitrant to eRNAi. Stability of ingested dsRNA in coleopteran larval gut followed by uptake and transport from the gut to distal tissues appeared to be enabling factors for eRNAi. Although a relatively large number of distinct coleopteran insect-processed plant-derived siRNAs had sequence complementarity to insect transcripts, the vast majority of the siRNAs were present in relatively low abundance, and RNA-seq analysis did not detect a significant effect of plant-derived siRNAs on insect transcriptome. In summary, we observed a broad genome-wide uptake of plant endogenous dsRNA and subsequent processing of ingested dsRNA into 21 nt siRNAs in eRNAi-sensitive insects under natural feeding conditions. In addition to dsRNA stability in gut lumen and uptake, dosage of siRNAs targeting a given insect transcript is likely an important factor in order to achieve measurable eRNAi-based regulation in eRNAi-competent insects that lack an apparent silencing amplification mechanism. © 2015 Ivashuta et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society.

RICD: A rice indica cDNA database resource for rice functional genomics

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Zhang Qifa

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Oryza sativa L. indica subspecies is the most widely cultivated rice. During the last few years, we have collected over 20,000 putative full-length cDNAs and over 40,000 ESTs isolated from various cDNA libraries of two indica varieties Guangluai 4 and Minghui 63. A database of the rice indica cDNAs was therefore built to provide a comprehensive web data source for searching and retrieving the indica cDNA clones. Results Rice Indica cDNA Database (RICD is an online MySQL-PHP driven database with a user-friendly web interface. It allows investigators to query the cDNA clones by keyword, genome position, nucleotide or protein sequence, and putative function. It also provides a series of information, including sequences, protein domain annotations, similarity search results, SNPs and InDels information, and hyperlinks to gene annotation in both The Rice Annotation Project Database (RAP-DB and The TIGR Rice Genome Annotation Resource, expression atlas in RiceGE and variation report in Gramene of each cDNA. Conclusion The online rice indica cDNA database provides cDNA resource with comprehensive information to researchers for functional analysis of indica subspecies and for comparative genomics. The RICD database is available through our website http://www.ncgr.ac.cn/ricd.

Physicochemical and Antioxidant Properties of Rice Bran Oils Produced from Colored Rice Using Different Extraction Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Mingyai, Sukanya; Kettawan, Aikkarach; Srikaeo, Khongsak; Singanusong, Riantong

2017-06-01

This study investigated the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of rice bran oil (RBO) produced from the bran of three rice varities; Khao Dawk Mali 105 (white rice), Red Jasmine rice (red rice) and Hom-nin rice (black rice) using three extraction methods including cold-press extraction (CPE), solvent extraction (SE) and supercritical CO 2 extraction (SC-CO 2 ). Yields, color, acid value (AV), free fatty acid (FFA), peroxide value (PV), iodine value (IV), total phenolic compound (TPC), γ-oryzanol, α-tocopherol and fatty acid profile were analyzed. It was found that the yields obtained from SE, SC-CO 2 and CPE extractions were 17.35-20.19%, 14.76-18.16% and 3.22-6.22%, respectively. The RBO from the bran of red and black rice samples exhibited high antioxidant activities. They also contained higher amount of γ-oryzanol and α-tocopherol than those of white rice sample. In terms of extraction methods, SC-CO 2 provided better qualities of RBO as evidenced by their physicochemical and antioxidant properties. This study found that RBO produced from the bran of black rice samples using SC-CO 2 extraction method showed the best physicochemical and antioxidant properties.

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Genomic Imprinting: Common Themes in the Regulation of Imprinted Regions in Mammals, Plants, and Insects

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William A. MacDonald

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Genomic imprinting is a form of epigenetic inheritance whereby the regulation of a gene or chromosomal region is dependent on the sex of the transmitting parent. During gametogenesis, imprinted regions of DNA are differentially marked in accordance to the sex of the parent, resulting in parent-specific expression. While mice are the primary research model used to study genomic imprinting, imprinted regions have been described in a broad variety of organisms, including other mammals, plants, and insects. Each of these organisms employs multiple, interrelated, epigenetic mechanisms to maintain parent-specific expression. While imprinted genes and imprint control regions are often species and locus-specific, the same suites of epigenetic mechanisms are often used to achieve imprinted expression. This review examines some examples of the epigenetic mechanisms responsible for genomic imprinting in mammals, plants, and insects.

Dynamic viscoelasticity of protease-treated rice batters for gluten-free rice bread making.

Science.gov (United States)

Honda, Yuji; Inoue, Nanami; Sugimoto, Reina; Matsumoto, Kenji; Koda, Tomonori; Nishioka, Akihiro

2018-03-01

Papain (cysteine protease), subtilisin (Protin SD-AY10, serine protease), and bacillolysin (Protin SD-NY10, metallo protease) increased the specific volume of gluten-free rice breads by 19-63% compared to untreated bread. In contrast, Newlase F (aspartyl protease) did not expand the volume of the rice bread. In a rheological analysis, the viscoelastic properties of the gluten-free rice batters also depended on the protease categories. Principal component analysis (PCA) analysis suggested that the storage and loss moduli (G' and G″, respectively) at 35 °C, and the maximum values of G' and G″, were important factors in the volume expansion. Judging from the PCA of the viscoelastic parameters of the rice batters, papain and Protin SD-AY10 improved the viscoelasticity for gluten-free rice bread making, and Protin SD-NY effectively expanded the gluten-free rice bread. The rheological properties differed between Protin SD-NY and the other protease treatments.

TALEN-Based Mutagenesis of Lipoxygenase LOX3 Enhances the Storage Tolerance of Rice (Oryza sativa) Seeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Lei; Zhu, Fugui; Li, Zhenwei; Zhang, Jianfu; Li, Xin; Dong, Jiangli; Wang, Tao

2015-01-01

The deterioration of rice grain reduces the quality of rice, resulting in serious economic losses for farmers. Lipoxygenases (LOXs) catalyze the dioxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids with at least one cis,cis-1,4-pentadiene to form hydroperoxide, which is a major factor influencing seed longevity and viability. Recently, genome editing, an essential tool employed in reverse genetics, has been used experimentally to investigate basic plant biology or to modify crop plants for the improvement of important agricultural traits. In this study, we performed targeted mutagenesis in rice using transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) to improve seed storability. A modified ligation-independent cloning method (LIC) was employed to allow for the quick and efficient directional insertion of TALEN monomer modules into destination vectors used in plants. We demonstrated the feasibility and flexibility of the technology by developing a set of modular vectors for genome editing. After construction and validation, the TALEN pairs were used to create stable transgenic rice lines via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. One heterozygous mutant (4%) was recovered from 25 transgenic NPTII-resistant lines, and the mutation was transmitted to the next generation. Further molecular and protein level experiments verified LOX3 deficiency and demonstrated the improvement of seed storability. Our work provides a flexible genome editing tool for improving important agronomic traits, as well as direct evidence that Lox3 has only a limited impact on seed longevity.

TALEN-Based Mutagenesis of Lipoxygenase LOX3 Enhances the Storage Tolerance of Rice (Oryza sativa Seeds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Ma

Full Text Available The deterioration of rice grain reduces the quality of rice, resulting in serious economic losses for farmers. Lipoxygenases (LOXs catalyze the dioxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids with at least one cis,cis-1,4-pentadiene to form hydroperoxide, which is a major factor influencing seed longevity and viability. Recently, genome editing, an essential tool employed in reverse genetics, has been used experimentally to investigate basic plant biology or to modify crop plants for the improvement of important agricultural traits. In this study, we performed targeted mutagenesis in rice using transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs to improve seed storability. A modified ligation-independent cloning method (LIC was employed to allow for the quick and efficient directional insertion of TALEN monomer modules into destination vectors used in plants. We demonstrated the feasibility and flexibility of the technology by developing a set of modular vectors for genome editing. After construction and validation, the TALEN pairs were used to create stable transgenic rice lines via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. One heterozygous mutant (4% was recovered from 25 transgenic NPTII-resistant lines, and the mutation was transmitted to the next generation. Further molecular and protein level experiments verified LOX3 deficiency and demonstrated the improvement of seed storability. Our work provides a flexible genome editing tool for improving important agronomic traits, as well as direct evidence that Lox3 has only a limited impact on seed longevity.

Identification and profiling of conserved and novel microRNAs in Laodelphax striatellus in response to rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun-Min Li

2015-03-01

Full Text Available MicroRNAs (miRNAs are small non-coding endogenous RNA molecules that play important roles in various biological processes. This study examined microRNA profiles of Laodelphax striatellus using the small RNA libraries derived from virus free (VF and rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV infected (RB insects. A total of 59 mature miRNAs (46 miRNA families were identified as conserved insect miRNAs in both VF and RB libraries. Among these conserved miRNAs, 24 were derived from the two arms of 12 miRNA precursors. Nine conserved L. striatellus miRNAs were up-regulated and 12 were down-regulated in response to RBSDV infection. In addition, a total of 20 potential novel miRNA candidates were predicted in the VF and RB libraries. The miRNA transcriptome profiles and the identification of L. striatellus miRNAs differentially expressed in response to RBSDV infection will contribute to future studies to elucidate the complex miRNA-mediated regulatory network activated by pathogen challenge in insect vectors.

The use of mutant stock for semi-dwarf plant type and early maturity as cross-breeding materials in rice (coordinated programme on semi-dwarf mutants for rice improvement in Asia and the Pacific Region - RCA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pookamana, P.

1985-11-01

Development of semi-dwarf type varieties has led to a substantial yield increase in Thailand, where rice is cultivated on areas of about 8 million hectars. Of 19 recommended Thai rice varieties, 10 possess the DGWG gene which determines semi-dwarf character. This situation can create some problems in terms of genetic vulnerability towards pests, diseases and other adverse stresses. The authors found that susceptibility to disease and insect pests as well as poor grain quality are major drawbacks associated with the DGWG gene. With this background, the major project goal was to obtain, by mutation techniques, a new genetic source of semi-dwarfness. For this purpose 3 tall local Thai varieties (Leaung Awn 29, Niaw Sanpah Tawng and Khao Dawk Mali) with very good grain quality, were chosen as parent material. Using radiation techniques 2 glutinous and 7 non-glutinous semi-dwarf mutants were obtained. Results of agronomic trials indicated that the mutants from local varieties were more promising and higher yielding in comparison to introduced varieties from IRRI, Taiwan, China, France and the USA. The preliminary genetics analysis of these mutants indicated an allelic relationship to the DGWG gene. This result is very important for the rice breeding programme because it made available the semi-dwarf gene in a new genetic background - with desirable characteristics for cultivation in Thailand. These positive results stimulated efforts to obtain new semi-dwarf mutants from other local, lowland rice varieties such as Leaung Tawang and Leb Mue Nahng 111. 49 and 35 semi-dwarf mutants were already selected after irradiation and are now under agronomic evaluation

Characterization of Volatile Flavor Compounds in Chinese Rice Wine Fermented from Enzymatic Extruded Rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Enbo; Long, Jie; Wu, Zhengzong; Li, Hongyan; Wang, Fang; Xu, Xueming; Jin, Zhengyu; Jiao, Aiquan

2015-07-01

Enzymatic extrusion, instead of traditional steam cooking, to treat rice is an efficient and alternative pretreatment for Chinese rice wine fermentation. In order to determine the formation of volatiles in enzymatic extrusion-processed rice wine (EE), and to confirm its characteristic flavor compounds, headspace solid-phase micro-extraction followed by GC-MS was used. A total of 66 volatile compounds were identified in EE. During fermentation, most volatiles generated from enzymatic extruded rice had the similar trends with those from steam-cooked rice, but the differences in the concentration of volatiles indicated a changed balance of flavors release caused by enzymatic extrusion. Besides, the concentrations and sorts of volatiles in EEs fermented from different rice particle sizes, were not dramatically different. By principal component analysis, EE could be distinctly separated from other traditional Chinese rice wines according to its characteristic volatiles, namely, 2-heptanol, 1-octen-3-ol, ethyl 4-hydroxybenzoate, methylpentyl 2-propenoate, γ-hexalactone, and 4-vinylguaiacol. Enzymatic extrusion liquefaction has been a popular thermal treatment for cereals, and gradually being applied in fermentation and liquor-making industry all over the world. The characterization of volatile flavor compounds in Chinese rice wine processed by enzymatic extrusion liquefaction pretreatment, might be made use not only for a better understanding of this new-type rice wine, but for the further utilization of enzymatic extrusion in other wine or alcohol production as well. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

A 90-day subchronic feeding study of genetically modified rice expressing Cry1Ab protein in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Huan; He, Xiaoyun; Zou, Shiying; Zhang, Teng; Luo, Yunbo; Huang, Kunlun; Zhu, Zhen; Xu, Wentao

2015-04-01

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) transgenic rice line (mfb-MH86) expressing a synthetic cry1Ab gene can be protected against feeding damage from Lepidopteran insects, including Sesamia inferens, Chilo suppressalis, Tryporyza incertulas and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis. Rice flour from mfb-MH86 and its near-isogenic control MH86 was separately formulated into rodent diets at concentrations of 17.5, 35 and 70 % (w/w) for a 90-day feeding test with rats, and all of the diets were nutritionally balanced. In this study, the responses of rats fed diets containing mfb-MH86 were compared to those of rats fed flour from MH86. Overall health, body weight and food consumption were comparable between groups fed diets containing mfb-MH86 and MH86. Blood samples were collected prior to sacrifice and a few significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in haematological and biochemical parameters between rats fed genetically modified (GM) and non-GM diets. However, the values of these parameters were within the normal ranges of values for rats of this age and sex, thus not considered treatment related. In addition, upon sacrifice a large number of organs were weighed, macroscopic and histopathological examinations were performed with only minor changes to report. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that no toxic effect was observed in the conditions of the experiment, based on the different parameters assessed. GM rice mfb-MH86 is as safe and nutritious as non-GM rice.

Edible insects of Northern Angola

OpenAIRE

Lautenschläger,Thea; Neinhuis,Christoph; Monizi,Mawunu; Mandombe,José Lau; Förster,Anke; Henle,Thomas; Nuss,Matthias

2017-01-01

From 2013–2017, we accompanied and interviewed local people harvesting edible insects in the Northern Angolan province of Uíge. Insect and host plant samples were collected for species identification and nutritive analyses. Additionally, live caterpillars were taken to feed and keep until pupation and eclosion of the imago, necessary for morphological species identification. Altogether, 18 insect species eaten by humans were recorded. Twenty four edible insect species were formerly known from...

Pathogen avoidance by insect predators

OpenAIRE

Meyling, Nicolai V.; Ormond, Emma; Roy, Helen E.; Pell, Judith K.

2008-01-01

Insects can detect cues related to the risk of attack by their natural enemies. Pathogens are among the natural enemies of insects and entomopathogenic fungi attack a wide array of host species. Evidence documents that social insects in particular have adapted behavioural mechanisms to avoid infection by fungal pathogens. These mechanisms are referred to as 'behavioural resistance'. However, there is little evidence for similar adaptations in non-social insects. We have conducted experime...

Rice Cluster I, an Important Group of Archaea Producing Methane in Rice Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Conrad, R.

2006-12-01

Rice fields are an important source for the greenhouse gas methane. Methane is a major degradation product of organic matter in the anoxic soil, is partially oxidized in the rhizosphere and is emitted into the atmosphere through the aerenchyma system of the plants. Anaerobic degradation of organic matter by fermenting bacteria eventually results in the production of acetate and hydrogen, the two major substrates for microbial methanogenesis. The community of methanogenic archaea consists of several major orders or families including hydrogen-utilizing Rice Cluster-I (RC-I). Environmental conditions affect the methanogenic degradation process and the community structure of the methanogenic archaea in soil and rhizosphere. For example, populations of acetoclastic Methanosaetaceae and Methanosarcinaceae are enhanced by low and high acetate concentrations, respectively. Stable isotope probing of 16S rRNA showed that RC-I methanogens are mainly active on rice roots and at low H2 concentrations. Growth and population size is largely consistent with energetic conditions. RC-I methanogens on roots seem to be responsible for methane production from plant photosynthates that account for a major part of the emitted methane. Populations of RC-I methanogens in rice field soil are also enhanced at elevated temperatures (40-50°C). Moderately thermophilic members of RC-I methanogens or other methanogenic families were found to be ubiquitously present in soils from rice fields and river marshes. The genome of a RC-I methanogen was completely sequenced out of an enrichment culture using a metagenome approach. Genes found are consistent with life in the rhizosphere and in temporarily drained, oxic soil. We found that the methanogenic community structure on the rice roots is mainly determined by the respective community structure of the soil, but is in addition affected by the rice cultivar. Rice microcosms in which soil and rice roots are mainly colonized by RC-I methanogens produce

Effect of waxy rice flour and cassava starch on freeze-thaw stability of rice starch gels.

Science.gov (United States)

Charoenrein, Sanguansri; Preechathammawong, Nutsuda

2012-10-01

Repeatedly frozen and thawed rice starch gel affects quality. This study investigated how incorporating waxy rice flour (WF) and cassava starch (CS) in rice starch gel affects factors used to measure quality. When rice starch gels containing 0-2% WF and CS were subjected to 5 freeze-thaw cycles, both WF and CS reduced the syneresis in first few cycles. However CS was more effective in reducing syneresis than WF. The different composite arrangement of rice starch with WF or CS caused different mechanisms associated with the rice starch gel retardation of retrogradation, reduced the spongy structure and lowered syneresis. Both swollen granules of rice starch and CS caused an increase in the hardness of the unfrozen and freeze-thawed starch gel while highly swollen WF granules caused softer gels. These results suggested that WF and CS were effective in preserving quality in frozen rice starch based products. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation from rice husk in Indian rice mills: potential and financial viability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapur, T.; Kandpal, T.C.; Garg, H.P.

1998-01-01

Rice husk generated as a by-product of rice processing is an important energy resource. The availability of this resource in India has been assessed and the technologies for exploitation of its energy potential in the rice processing industry discussed. Nomographs have been developed for estimation of the husk required to meet the energy of parboiling, drying and milling operations. The unit cost of electricity using rice husk gasifier-based power generation systems has been calculated and its financial feasibility assessed in comparison with utility-supplied and diesel-generated electricity. With the cost and efficiency data assumed here, the unit cost of electricity produced by rice husk gasifier-dual fuel engine-generator system varies between Rs 2/kWh and Rs 7/kWh. (35 Rs approximates to SUS 1.). (author)

Electricity generation from rice husk in Indian rice mills: potential and financial viability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kapur, T.; Kandpal, T.C.; Garg, H.P. [Indian Inst. of Technology, Centre for Energy Studies, New Delhi (India)

1998-12-31

Rice husk generated as a by-product of rice processing is an important energy resource. The availability of this resource in India has been assessed and the technologies for exploitation of its energy potential in the rice processing industry discussed. Nomographs have been developed for estimation of the husk required to meet the energy of parboiling, drying and milling operations. The unit cost of electricity using rice husk gasifier-based power generation systems has been calculated and its financial feasibility assessed in comparison with utility-supplied and diesel-generated electricity. With the cost and efficiency data assumed here, the unit cost of electricity produced by rice husk gasifier-dual fuel engine-generator system varies between Rs 2/kWh and Rs 7/kWh. (35 Rs approximates to SUS 1.). (author)

Edible insects in China: Utilization and prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Ying; Chen, Xiao-Ming; Zhao, Min; He, Zhao; Sun, Long; Wang, Cheng-Ye; Ding, Wei-Feng

2018-04-01

The use of edible insects has a long history in China, where they have been consumed for more than 2000 years. In general, the level of acceptance is high for the consumption of insects in China. Many studies on edible insects have been conducted in the last 20 years, and the scope of the research includes the culture of entomophagy and the identification, nutritional value, farming and breeding of edible insects, in addition to food production and safety. Currently, 324 species of insects from 11 orders are documented that are either edible or associated with entomophagy in China, which include the common edible species, some less commonly consumed species and some medicinal insects. However, only approximately 10 to 20 types of insects are regularly consumed. The nutritional values for 174 species are available in China, including edible, feed and medicinal species. Although the nutritional values vary among species, all the insects examined contain protein, fat, vitamins and minerals at levels that meet human nutritional requirements. Edible insects were, and continue to be, consumed by different ethnic groups in many parts of China. People directly consume insects or food products made from insects. The processing of products from insect protein powder, oil and chitin, and the development of healthcare foods has been studied in China. People also consume insects indirectly by eating livestock that were fed insects, which may be a more acceptable pathway to use insects in human diets. Although limited, the data on the food safety of insects indicate that insects are safe for food or feed. Incidences of allergic reactions after consuming silkworm pupae, cicadas and crickets have been reported in China. Insect farming is a unique breeding industry in rural China and is a source of income for local people. Insects are reared and bred for human food, medicine and animal feed using two approaches in China: the insects are either fully domesticated and reared

Impact of bio-processing on rice

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ANCA NICOLAU

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The usual way of preparing rice is boiling, thermal process that gives it a lower digestibility as compared to instantiation, extrusion or expandation. Having in view this fact, the possibility to biotechnologically improve the boiled rice digestibility was investigated in a laboratory study. In this respect, boiled rice wassolid state fermented using a strain of Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, an amylase producing yeast originating from ragi. Fermented rice was then analyzed from the point of view of its content in easily assimilable sugars, protein, amino-acids, phosphorus and vitamins from B group. Biochemical analyses revealed that the fermented rice has a ten times higher content of reducing sugars than boiled rice, due to starch hydrolysis, while chromatographic studies proved that the fermented rice contains glucose, maltose, maltotriose and maltotetrose that are easily assimilable carbohydrates.Fermented rice has a protein content that is two times higher than that of boiled rice because it contains the yeast biomass, and is enriched in vitamins from B group (B1, B2, and B6 that are synthesized by the yeast. Inorganic phosphorus present in rice doubles its concentration in fermented rice, which means thatphosphorus bioavailability is increased.The sensorial profile of boiled rice is also improved by fermentation.This study proves the possibility to have a processing method which is relatively cheap, practical and of which the resulting product has good nutritive qualities and does not pose safety problems due to pure culture utilization as starter.

Storage stability of flour-blasted brown rice

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Brown rice was blasted with rice flour rather than sand in a sand blaster to make microscopic nicks and cuts so that water can easily penetrate into the brown rice endosperm and cook the rice in a shorter time. The flour-blasted American Basmati brown rice, long grain brown rice, and parboiled long...

Evaluation of rice mutant lines for resistance to brown planthopper, nilaparvata lugens stall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mugiono

1985-01-01

The most important and common insect in rice cultivation in South East Asia is brown planthopper, nilaparvata lugens stall. Seven rice mutant lines produced by the National Atomic Energy Agency, Indonesia, were tested at IRRI, the Philippines for resistance to brown planthopper. Those mutant lines were Atomita 1, 627/10-3/PsJ, Atomita 2 and 627/4-E/PsJ originated from Pelita 1/1 which was irradiated with 0.2 kGy of gamma rays and A227/2/PsJ, A227/3/PsJ and A227/5/PsJ, originated from early maturing mutant A23/PsJ/72K from irradiated Pelita 1/1 which was irradiated with 0.1 kGy of gamma rays. Evaluation of resistance was carried out by seedling bulk screening, honeydew excretion, survival and population build up tests by using brown planthopper biotype 1, 2 and 3. Results of these tests showed that the seven tested mutant lines were resistant to biotype 1 but susceptible to biotype 2. Reaction to biotype 3 showed that six mutant lines tested were moderately resistant and only one mutant of 627/4-E/PsJ was susceptible. Reactions of the mutant lines to biotype 1, 2 and 3 were different from the resistant varieties, Mudgo or ASD-7. This indicated that mutant lines might have gene(s) for resistance which differed from those of resistant varieties. The results showed that resistance to brown planthopper is possible to be introduced in Indonesian rice varieties by means of mutations. (author)

Mapping paddy rice planting area in rice-wetland coexistent areas through analysis of Landsat 8 OLI and MODIS images.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yuting; Xiao, Xiangming; Qin, Yuanwei; Dong, Jinwei; Zhang, Geli; Kou, Weili; Jin, Cui; Wang, Jie; Li, Xiangping

2016-04-01

Accurate and up-to-date information on the spatial distribution of paddy rice fields is necessary for the studies of trace gas emissions, water source management, and food security. The phenology-based paddy rice mapping algorithm, which identifies the unique flooding stage of paddy rice, has been widely used. However, identification and mapping of paddy rice in rice-wetland coexistent areas is still a challenging task. In this study, we found that the flooding/transplanting periods of paddy rice and natural wetlands were different. The natural wetlands flood earlier and have a shorter duration than paddy rice in the Panjin Plain, a temperate region in China. We used this asynchronous flooding stage to extract the paddy rice planting area from the rice-wetland coexistent area. MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data was used to derive the temperature-defined plant growing season. Landsat 8 OLI imagery was used to detect the flooding signal and then paddy rice was extracted using the difference in flooding stages between paddy rice and natural wetlands. The resultant paddy rice map was evaluated with in-situ ground-truth data and Google Earth images. The estimated overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient were 95% and 0.90, respectively. The spatial pattern of OLI-derived paddy rice map agrees well with the paddy rice layer from the National Land Cover Dataset from 2010 (NLCD-2010). The differences between Rice Landsat and Rice NLCD are in the range of ±20% for most 1-km grid cell. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of the phenology-based paddy rice mapping algorithm, via integrating MODIS and Landsat 8 OLI images, to map paddy rice fields in complex landscapes of paddy rice and natural wetland in the temperate region.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yu-Peng; Li, Jie; Zhao, Jin-Liang; Su, Tian-Juan; Luo, A-Rong; Fan, Ren-Jun; Chen, Ming-Chang; Wu, Chun-Sheng; Zhu, Chao-Dong

2012-01-01

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica Stainton (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was determined as a circular molecular of 15,273 bp in size. The mitogenome composition (37 genes) and gene order are the same as the other lepidopterans. Nucleotide composition of the C. cephalonica mitogenome is highly A+T biased (80.43%) like other insects. Twelve protein-coding genes start with a typical ATN codon, with the exception of coxl gene, which uses CGA as the initial codon. Nine protein-coding genes have the common stop codon TAA, and the nad2, cox1, cox2, and nad4 have single T as the incomplete stop codon. 22 tRNA genes demonstrated cloverleaf secondary structure. The mitogenome has several large intergenic spacer regions, the spacer1 between trnQ gene and nad2 gene, which is common in Lepidoptera. The spacer 3 between trnE and trnF includes microsatellite-like repeat regions (AT)18 and (TTAT)(3). The spacer 4 (16 bp) between trnS2 gene and nad1 gene has a motif ATACTAT; another species, Sesamia inferens encodes ATCATAT at the same position, while other lepidopteran insects encode a similar ATACTAA motif. The spacer 6 is A+T rich region, include motif ATAGA and a 20-bp poly(T) stretch and two microsatellite (AT)(9), (AT)(8) elements.

International tourist preference of Lodok Rice Field natural elements, the cultural rice field from Manggarai - Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

March Syahadat, Ray; Trie Putra, Priambudi; Nuraini; Nailufar, Balqis; Fatmala Makhmud, Desy

2017-10-01

Lodok Rice Field or usually known as spiderweb rice field is a system of land division. It cultural rice field only found on Manggarai, Province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The landscape of Lodok Rice Field was aesthetic and it has big potential for tourism development. The aim of this study was to know the perception of natural elements of Lodok Rice Field landscape that could influence international tourist to visited Lodok Rice Field. If we know the elements that could influenced the international tourist, we could used the landscape image for tourism media promotion. The methods of this study used scenic beauty estimation (SBE) by 85 respondents from 34 countries and Kruskal Wallis H test. The countries grouped by five continents (Asia, America, Europe, Africa, and Oceania). The result showed that the Asian respondents liked the elements of sky, mountain, and the rice field. Then, the other respondent from another continent liked the elements of sunshine, mountain, and the rice field. Although the Asian had different perception about landscape elements of rice field’s good view, it’s not differ significantly by Kruskal Wallis H test.

Defensive Responses of Rice Genotypes for Resistance Against Rice Leaffolder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis

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M. PUNITHAVALLI

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The experiment was carried out to assess the reaction of different categories of rice genotypes viz., resistant, susceptible, hybrid, scented, popular and wild in response to the infestation by rice leaffolder (RLF, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee and to explore the possible use of these genotypes in developing RLF-resistant rice varieties. The changes of various biochemical constituents such as leaf soluble protein, phenol, ortho-dihydroxy phenol, tannin and enzymes viz., peroxidase, phenyl alanine ammonia lyase (PAL were assessed spectrophotometrically in all the rice genotypes before and after RLF infestation. The protein profile was analyzed using sodium dodecyl sulphate-poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE method. A significant constituent of biochemical content such as tannin, phenol and ortho-dihydroxy phenol has been increased along with enzyme activities of peroxidase and PAL in the infested resistant (Ptb 33, TKM6 and LFR831311 and wild rice genotypes (Oryza minuta and O. rhizomatis. A decrease in leaf protein content was evident invariably in all the infested rice genotypes. It is also evident that the contents of biochemicals such as phenol, ortho-dihydroxy phenol and tannin were negatively correlated with leaffolder damage. However, leaf protein content was positively correlated with the damage by rice leaffolder. SDS-PAGE analysis for total protein profiling of healthy and C. medinalis-infested genotypes revealed the enhanced expression of a high molecular weight (> 97 kDa protein in all the genotypes. Besides, there was also an increased induction of a 38 kDa protein in C. medinalis infested resistant genotypes, which was absent in uninfested plants. The present investigation proved that the elevated levels of biochemicals and enzymes may play a vital role in rice plants resistance to RLF.

Efficacy of ferterra 0.4% GR (chlorantraniliprole) against stem borers and leaffolder insect-pests of basmati rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarao, P S; Kaur, H

2014-09-01

Field experiments were conducted during three kharif seasons from 2009 to 2011 at Sudhar village, Ludhiana and Rice Research Area of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Four doses of Ferterra 0.4% GR (chlorantraniliprole) a new chemistry @ 20, 30, 40 and 50 g a.i. ha(-1) and standard check Cartap hydrochloride 4 G @ 1000 g a.i. ha(-1) was tested against stem borers and leaffolder infesting basmati rice. Over the years, dead heart in all the Ferterra doses and standard check (1.01-1.80%) were at par70 DAT, whereas, at 80 DAT doses @ 40, 50 and standard check were at par (1.04-1.13%) but significantly better than lower doses and untreated control. Similarly, over the years, Ferterra doses @ 40 and 50 g a.i. ha(-1) was significantly better than control in reducing white ear incidence, whereas, at 30 g a.i. ha(-1) and standard check intermediately reduced the white ears incidence. Leaffolder infestation at all the Ferterra doses were at par with standard check 70 DAT (2.69-3.87%), whereas, 80 DAT, Ferterra doses @ 30, 40, 50 and standard check were at par (2.95-3.49%) but significantly better than lower dose and untreated control. Over the years the cost : benefit ratio was maximum (1 : 23.67) in the Ferterra @40 g a.i. ha(-1) dose followed by 50 g a.i. ha(-1) dose.

Lead in rice: analysis of baseline lead levels in market and field collected rice grains.

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Gareth J; Williams, Paul N; Adomako, Eureka E; Price, Adam H; Zhu, Yongguan; Zhao, Fang-Jie; McGrath, Steve; Deacon, Claire M; Villada, Antia; Sommella, Alessia; Lu, Ying; Ming, Lei; De Silva, P Mangala C S; Brammer, Hugh; Dasgupta, Tapash; Islam, M Rafiqul; Meharg, Andrew A

2014-07-01

In a large scale survey of rice grains from markets (13 countries) and fields (6 countries), a total of 1578 rice grain samples were analysed for lead. From the market collected samples, only 0.6% of the samples exceeded the Chinese and EU limit of 0.2 μg g(-1) lead in rice (when excluding samples collected from known contaminated/mine impacted regions). When evaluating the rice grain samples against the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) provisional total tolerable intake (PTTI) values for children and pregnant women, it was found that only people consuming large quantities of rice were at risk of exceeding the PTTI from rice alone. Furthermore, 6 field experiments were conducted to evaluate the proportion of the variation in lead concentration in rice grains due to genetics. A total of 4 of the 6 field experiments had significant differences between genotypes, but when the genotypes common across all six field sites were assessed, only 4% of the variation was explained by genotype, with 9.5% and 11% of the variation explained by the environment and genotype by environment interaction respectively. Further work is needed to identify the sources of lead contamination in rice, with detailed information obtained on the locations and environments where the rice is sampled, so that specific risk assessments can be performed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Double-ambient CO2 concentration affects the growth, development and sucking behavior of non-target brown plant hopper Nilaparvata lugens fed on transgenic Bt rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yong Qing; Dai, Yang; Yu, Xiu Ying; Yu, Fu-Lan; Jiang, Shou Lin; Zhou, Zong Yuan; Chen, Fa Jun

2018-02-01

In recent years, the two issues of climate change including elevated CO 2 etc., and resistance of transgenic Bt crops against non-target insect pests have received widespread attention. Elevated CO 2 can affect the herbivorous insects. To date, there is no consensus about the effect of elevated CO 2 on the suck-feeding insect pests (non-target insect pests of transgenic Bt crops). Its effects on the suck-feeding behavior have rarely been reported. In this study, CO 2 levels were set up in artificial climate chamber to examined the effects of ambient (400 μL·L -1 ) and double-ambient (800 μL·L -1 ) CO 2 levels on the suck-feeding behavior, growth, development, and reproduction of the non-target insect pest of transgenic Bt rice, brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. The results showed that CO 2 level significantly affected the egg and nymph duration, longevity and body mass of adults, and feeding behavior of the 4th and 5th instar nymphs, while had no effect on the fecundity of N. lugens. The duration of eggs and nymphs, and the longevity of female adults were significantly shortened by 4.0%, 4.2% and 6.6% respectively, the proportion of the macropterous adults was significantly increased by 11.6%, and the body mass of newly hatched female adults was significantly decreased by 2.2% by elevated CO 2 . In addition, elevated CO 2 significantly enhanced the stylet puncturing efficiency of the 4th and 5th instar nymphs of N. lugens. The duration ofphloem ingestion of the N4b waveform was significantly prolonged by 60.0% and 50.1%, and the frequency significantly was increased by 230.0% and 155.9% for the 4th and 5th instar nymphs of N. lugens by elevated CO 2 , respectively. It was concluded that double-ambient CO 2 could promote the growth and development of N. lugens through enhancing its suck-feeding, shorten the generation life-span and increase the macropertous adults' proportion of N. lugens. Thus, it could result in the occurrence of non-target rice

Insect immunology and hematopoiesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hillyer, Julián F

2016-05-01

Insects combat infection by mounting powerful immune responses that are mediated by hemocytes, the fat body, the midgut, the salivary glands and other tissues. Foreign organisms that have entered the body of an insect are recognized by the immune system when pathogen-associated molecular patterns bind host-derived pattern recognition receptors. This, in turn, activates immune signaling pathways that amplify the immune response, induce the production of factors with antimicrobial activity, and activate effector pathways. Among the immune signaling pathways are the Toll, Imd, Jak/Stat, JNK, and insulin pathways. Activation of these and other pathways leads to pathogen killing via phagocytosis, melanization, cellular encapsulation, nodulation, lysis, RNAi-mediated virus destruction, autophagy and apoptosis. This review details these and other aspects of immunity in insects, and discusses how the immune and circulatory systems have co-adapted to combat infection, how hemocyte replication and differentiation takes place (hematopoiesis), how an infection prepares an insect for a subsequent infection (immune priming), how environmental factors such as temperature and the age of the insect impact the immune response, and how social immunity protects entire groups. Finally, this review highlights some underexplored areas in the field of insect immunobiology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genomic dissection of small RNAs in wild rice (Oryza rufipogon): lessons for rice domestication.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yu; Bai, Xuefei; Yan, Chenghai; Gui, Yiejie; Wei, Xinghua; Zhu, Qian-Hao; Guo, Longbiao; Fan, Longjiang

2012-11-01

The lack of a MIRNA set and genome sequence of wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) has prevented us from determining the role of MIRNA genes in rice domestication. In this study, a genome, three small RNA populations and a degradome of O. rufipogon were sequenced by Illumina platform and the expression levels of microRNAs (miRNAs) were investigated by miRNA chips. A de novo O. rufipogon genome was assembled using c. 55× coverage of raw sequencing data and a total of 387 MIRNAs were identified in the O. rufipogon genome based on c. 5.2 million unique small RNA reads from three different tissues of O. rufipogon. Of these, O. rufipogon MIRNAs, 259 were not found in the cultivated rice, suggesting a loss of these MIRNAs in the cultivated rice. We also found that 48 MIRNAs were novel in the cultivated rice, suggesting that they were potential targets of domestication selection. Some miRNAs showed significant expression differences between wild and cultivated rice, suggesting that expression of miRNA could also be a target of domestication, as demonstrated for the miR164 family. Our results illustrated that MIRNA genes, like protein-coding genes, might have been significantly shaped during rice domestication and could be one of the driving forces that contributed to rice domestication. © 2012 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2012 New Phytologist Trust.

Sterilizing insects with ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakri, A.; Mehta, K.; Lance, D.R.

2005-01-01

Exposure to ionizing radiation is currently the method of choice for rendering insects reproductively sterile for area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes that integrate the sterile insect technique (SIT). Gamma radiation from isotopic sources (cobalt-60 or caesium-137) is most often used, but high-energy electrons and X-rays are other practical options. Insect irradiation is safe and reliable when established safety and quality-assurance guidelines are followed. The key processing parameter is absorbed dose, which must be tightly controlled to ensure that treated insects are sufficiently sterile in their reproductive cells and yet able to compete for mates with wild insects. To that end, accurate dosimetry (measurement of absorbed dose) is critical. Irradiation data generated since the 1950s, covering over 300 arthropod species, indicate that the dose needed for sterilization of arthropods varies from less than 5 Gy for blaberid cockroaches to 300 Gy or more for some arctiid and pyralid moths. Factors such as oxygen level, and insect age and stage during irradiation, and many others, influence both the absorbed dose required for sterilization and the viability of irradiated insects. Consideration of these factors in the design of irradiation protocols can help to find a balance between the sterility and competitiveness of insects produced for programmes that release sterile insects. Many programmes apply 'precautionary' radiation doses to increase the security margin of sterilization, but this overdosing often lowers competitiveness to the point where the overall induced sterility in the wild population is reduced significantly. (author)

Field trial of GABA-fortified rice plants and oral administration of milled rice in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Kowaka, Emi; Shimajiri, Yasuka; Kawakami, Kouhei; Tongu, Miki; Akama, Kazuhito

2015-06-01

Hypertension is one of the most critical risk factors accompanying cardiovascular diseases. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-protein amino acid that functions as a major neurotransmitter in mammals and also as a blood-pressure lowering agent. We previously produced GABA-fortified rice lines of a popular Japonica rice cultivar 'Koshihikari' by genetic manipulation of GABA shunt-related genes. In the study reported here, we grew these same novel rice lines in a field trial and administered the milled rice orally to rats. The yield parameters of the transgenic rice plants were almost unchanged compared to those of untransformed cv. 'Koshihikari' plants, while the rice grains of the transgenic plants contained a high GABA content (3.5 g GABA/kg brown rice; 0.75-0.85 GABA g/kg milled rice) in a greenhouse trial. Oral administration of a diet containing 2.5% GABA-fortified rice, with a daily intake for 8 weeks, had an approximately 20 mmHg anti-hypertensive effect in spontaneous hypertensive rats but not in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats. These results suggest that GABA-fortified rice may be applicable as a staple food to control or prevent hypertension.

Effect of acetic acid on rice seeds coated with rice husk ash

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lizandro Ciciliano Tavares

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Flooded rice cultivation promotes anaerobic conditions, favoring the formation of short chain organic acids such as acetic acid, which may be toxic to the crop. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of acetic acid on rice seeds coated with rice husk ash. The experiment was arranged in a 2 x 5 x 5 factorial randomized design, with two cultivars (IRGA 424 and BRS Querência, five doses of coating material (0, 2, 3,4 e 5 g kg-1 seed and five concentrations of acetic acid (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 mM, with 4 replications, totaling 50 treatments. The variables first count of germination, germination, shoot and root length, dry weight of shoots and roots were recorded. The results showed that coating rice seeds with rice husk ash up to 5 g kg-1 seed does not influence the performance of rice seeds of cultivars IRGA 424 and BRS Querência when exposed to concentrations of 12 mM acetic acid. The presence of acetic acid in the substrates used for seed germination reduced the vigor and viability of seeds of cultivars IRGA 424 and BRS Querência, as well as seedling development, affecting mainly the roots of BRS Querência.

The impact of herbicide-resistant rice technology on phenotypic diversity and population structure of United States weedy rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgos, Nilda Roma; Singh, Vijay; Tseng, Te Ming; Black, Howard; Young, Nelson D; Huang, Zhongyun; Hyma, Katie E; Gealy, David R; Caicedo, Ana L

2014-11-01

The use of herbicide-resistant (HR) Clearfield rice (Oryza sativa) to control weedy rice has increased in the past 12 years to constitute about 60% of rice acreage in Arkansas, where most U.S. rice is grown. To assess the impact of HR cultivated rice on the herbicide resistance and population structure of weedy rice, weedy samples were collected from commercial fields with a history of Clearfield rice. Panicles from each weedy type were harvested and tested for resistance to imazethapyr. The majority of plants sampled had at least 20% resistant offspring. These resistant weeds were 97 to 199 cm tall and initiated flowering from 78 to 128 d, generally later than recorded for accessions collected prior to the widespread use of Clearfield rice (i.e. historical accessions). Whereas the majority (70%) of historical accessions had straw-colored hulls, only 30% of contemporary HR weedy rice had straw-colored hulls. Analysis of genotyping-by-sequencing data showed that HR weeds were not genetically structured according to hull color, whereas historical weedy rice was separated into straw-hull and black-hull populations. A significant portion of the local rice crop genome was introgressed into HR weedy rice, which was rare in historical weedy accessions. Admixture analyses showed that HR weeds tend to possess crop haplotypes in the portion of chromosome 2 containing the ACETOLACTATE SYNTHASE gene, which confers herbicide resistance to Clearfield rice. Thus, U.S. HR weedy rice is a distinct population relative to historical weedy rice and shows modifications in morphology and phenology that are relevant to weed management. © 2014 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Residues and accumulation of molinate in rice crops and aquatic weeds in the MUDA rice agroecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nashriyah Mat; Sabri Junoh; Nuriati Nurdin; Ramli Ishak

2002-01-01

Plant and soil residue levels and its accumulation in rice crops and rice aquatic weed plants were studied. Molinate residue levels in rice, weeds and soil were not significantly different between the recycled and the non-recycled area, even though they were higher in the non-recycled area. In the rice plant, the residue level at 10 DAT (days after treatment) was significantly higher than 30 DAT in the recycled area. In rice aquatic weed plants, the residue level was significantly higher at 10 DAT as compared to 30 DAT in the non-recycled area. Molinate residue levels in soil at 10 DAT and 30 DAT were similar. Molinate accumulated (ratio of molinate concentration in plant over soil) more in the rice crop as compared to rice aquatic weeds at 10 DAT, in both the recycled and the non-recycled areas. (Author)

Eating insects

OpenAIRE

Tan, Hui Shan Grace

2017-01-01

In recent years, edible insects have gained global attention due to their nutritional and environmental advantages over conventional meat. While numerous species of edible insects are enjoyed in various cultures around the world, most Western consumers react with disgust and aversion towards eating creatures that are not regarded as food. The low consumer acceptance of this culturally inappropriate food is currently considered to be one of the key barriers to attaining the benefits of this po...

Arsenic accumulation in rice: Consequences of rice genotypes and management practices to reduce human health risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Shofiqul; Rahman, Mohammad Mahmudur; Islam, M R; Naidu, Ravi

2016-11-01

Rice is an essential staple food and feeds over half of the world's population. Consumption of rice has increased from limited intake in Western countries some 50years ago to major dietary intake now. Rice consumption represents a major route for inorganic arsenic (As) exposure in many countries, especially for people with a large proportion of rice in their daily diet as much as 60%. Rice plants are more efficient in assimilating As into its grains than other cereal crops and the accumulation may also adversely affect the quality of rice and their nutrition. Rice is generally grown as a lowland crop in flooded soils under reducing conditions. Under these conditions the bioavailability of As is greatly enhanced leading to excessive As bioaccumulation compared to that under oxidizing upland conditions. Inorganic As species are carcinogenic to humans and even at low levels in the diet pose a considerable risk to humans. There is a substantial genetic variation among the rice genotypes in grain-As accumulation as well as speciation. Identifying the extent of genetic variation in grain-As concentration and speciation of As compounds are crucial to determining the rice varieties which accumulate low inorganic As. Varietal selection, irrigation water management, use of fertilizer and soil amendments, cooking practices etc. play a vital role in reducing As exposure from rice grains. In the meantime assessing the bioavailability of As from rice is crucial to understanding human health exposure and reducing the risk. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Effects of rice cleaning and cooking process on the residues of flutolanil, fenobucarb, silafluofen and buprofezin in rice].

Science.gov (United States)

Satoh, Motoaki; Sakaguchi, Masayuki; Kobata, Masakazu; Sakaguchi, Yoko; Tanizawa, Haruna; Miura, Yuri; Sasano, Ryoichi; Nakanishi, Yutaka

2003-02-01

We studied the effect of cleaning and cooking on the residues of flutolanil, fenobucarb, silafluofen and buprofezin in rice. The rice had been sprayed in a paddy field in Wakayama city, with 3 kinds of pesticide application protocols: spraying once at the usual concentration of pesticides, repeated spraying (3 times) with the usual concentration of pesticides and spraying once with 3 times the usual concentration of pesticides. The residue levels of pesticide decreased during the rice cleaning process. Silafluofen, which has a higher log Pow value, remained in the hull of the rice. Fenobucarb, which has a lower log Pow value, penetrated inside the rice. The residue concentration of pesticide in polished rice was higher than that in pre-washed rice processed ready for cooking. During the cooking procedure, the reduction of pesticides in polished rice was higher than that in brown rice.

The promise of insect genomics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grimmelikhuijzen, Cornelis J P; Cazzamali, Giuseppe; Williamson, Michael

2007-01-01

Insects are the largest animal group in the world and are ecologically and economically extremely important. This importance of insects is reflected by the existence of currently 24 insect genome projects. Our perspective discusses the state-of-the-art of these genome projects and the impacts...

Molecular evolution of the rice blast resistance gene Pi-ta in invasive weedy rice in the USA.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seonghee Lee

Full Text Available The Pi-ta gene in rice has been effectively used to control rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae worldwide. Despite a number of studies that reported the Pi-ta gene in domesticated rice and wild species, little is known about how the Pi-ta gene has evolved in US weedy rice, a major weed of rice. To investigate the genome organization of the Pi-ta gene in weedy rice and its relationship to gene flow between cultivated and weedy rice in the US, we analyzed nucleotide sequence variation at the Pi-ta gene and its surrounding 2 Mb region in 156 weedy, domesticated and wild rice relatives. We found that the region at and around the Pi-ta gene shows very low genetic diversity in US weedy rice. The patterns of molecular diversity in weeds are more similar to cultivated rice (indica and aus, which have never been cultivated in the US, rather than the wild rice species, Oryza rufipogon. In addition, the resistant Pi-ta allele (Pi-ta found in the majority of US weedy rice belongs to the weedy group strawhull awnless (SH, suggesting a single source of origin for Pi-ta. Weeds with Pi-ta were resistant to two M. oryzae races, IC17 and IB49, except for three accessions, suggesting that component(s required for the Pi-ta mediated resistance may be missing in these accessions. Signatures of flanking sequences of the Pi-ta gene and SSR markers on chromosome 12 suggest that the susceptible pi-ta allele (pi-ta, not Pi-ta, has been introgressed from cultivated to weedy rice by out-crossing.

Molecular Evolution of the Rice Blast Resistance Gene Pi-ta in Invasive Weedy Rice in the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seonghee; Jia, Yulin; Jia, Melissa; Gealy, David R.; Olsen, Kenneth M.; Caicedo, Ana L.

2011-01-01

The Pi-ta gene in rice has been effectively used to control rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae worldwide. Despite a number of studies that reported the Pi-ta gene in domesticated rice and wild species, little is known about how the Pi-ta gene has evolved in US weedy rice, a major weed of rice. To investigate the genome organization of the Pi-ta gene in weedy rice and its relationship to gene flow between cultivated and weedy rice in the US, we analyzed nucleotide sequence variation at the Pi-ta gene and its surrounding 2 Mb region in 156 weedy, domesticated and wild rice relatives. We found that the region at and around the Pi-ta gene shows very low genetic diversity in US weedy rice. The patterns of molecular diversity in weeds are more similar to cultivated rice (indica and aus), which have never been cultivated in the US, rather than the wild rice species, Oryza rufipogon. In addition, the resistant Pi-ta allele (Pi-ta) found in the majority of US weedy rice belongs to the weedy group strawhull awnless (SH), suggesting a single source of origin for Pi-ta. Weeds with Pi-ta were resistant to two M. oryzae races, IC17 and IB49, except for three accessions, suggesting that component(s) required for the Pi-ta mediated resistance may be missing in these accessions. Signatures of flanking sequences of the Pi-ta gene and SSR markers on chromosome 12 suggest that the susceptible pi-ta allele (pi-ta), not Pi-ta, has been introgressed from cultivated to weedy rice by out-crossing. PMID:22043312

The Native Hawaiian Insect Microbiome Initiative: A Critical Perspective for Hawaiian Insect Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsten E. Poff

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Insects associate with a diversity of microbes that can shape host ecology and diversity by providing essential biological and adaptive services. For most insect groups, the evolutionary implications of host–microbe interactions remain poorly understood. Geographically discrete areas with high biodiversity offer powerful, simplified model systems to better understand insect–microbe interactions. Hawaii boasts a diverse endemic insect fauna (~6000 species characterized by spectacular adaptive radiations. Despite this, little is known about the role of bacteria in shaping this diversity. To address this knowledge gap, we inaugurate the Native Hawaiian Insect Microbiome Initiative (NHIMI. The NHIMI is an effort intended to develop a framework for informing evolutionary and biological studies in Hawaii. To initiate this effort, we have sequenced the bacterial microbiomes of thirteen species representing iconic, endemic Hawaiian insect groups. Our results show that native Hawaiian insects associate with a diversity of bacteria that exhibit a wide phylogenetic breadth. Several groups show predictable associations with obligate microbes that permit diet specialization. Others exhibit unique ecological transitions that are correlated with shifts in their microbiomes (e.g., transition to carrion feeding from plant-feeding in Nysius wekiuicola. Finally, some groups, such as the Hawaiian Drosophila, have relatively diverse microbiomes with a conserved core of bacterial taxa across multiple species and islands.

Insects and diseases

Science.gov (United States)

John W. Couston

2009-01-01

Insects and diseases are a natural part of forested ecosystems. Their activity is partially regulated by biotic factors, e.g., host abundance, host quality; physical factors, e.g., soil, climate; and disturbances (Berryman 1986). Insects and diseases can influence both forest patterns and forest processes by causing, for example, defoliation and mortality. These...

Protecting Yourself from Stinging Insects

Science.gov (United States)

... from St ing in g In sect s Flying Insects Outdoor workers are at risk of being stung by flying insects (bees, wasps, and hornets) and fire ants. While ... If a worker is stung by a stinging insect: ■■ Have someone stay with the worker to be ...

Genome-wide analysis of Dongxiang wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) to investigate lost/acquired genes during rice domestication.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Fantao; Xu, Tao; Mao, Linyong; Yan, Shuangyong; Chen, Xiwen; Wu, Zhenfeng; Chen, Rui; Luo, Xiangdong; Xie, Jiankun; Gao, Shan

2016-04-26

It is widely accepted that cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) was domesticated from common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.). Compared to other studies which concentrate on rice origin, this study is to genetically elucidate the substantially phenotypic and physiological changes from wild rice to cultivated rice at the whole genome level. Instead of comparing two assembled genomes, this study directly compared the Dongxiang wild rice (DXWR) Illumina sequencing reads with the Nipponbare (O. sativa) complete genome without assembly of the DXWR genome. Based on the results from the comparative genomics analysis, structural variations (SVs) between DXWR and Nipponbare were determined to locate deleted genes which could have been acquired by Nipponbare during rice domestication. To overcome the limit of the SV detection, the DXWR transcriptome was also sequenced and compared with the Nipponbare transcriptome to discover the genes which could have been lost in DXWR during domestication. Both 1591 Nipponbare-acquired genes and 206 DXWR-lost transcripts were further analyzed using annotations from multiple sources. The NGS data are available in the NCBI SRA database with ID SRP070627. These results help better understanding the domestication from wild rice to cultivated rice at the whole genome level and provide a genomic data resource for rice genetic research or breeding. One finding confirmed transposable elements contribute greatly to the genome evolution from wild rice to cultivated rice. Another finding suggested the photophosphorylation and oxidative phosphorylation system in cultivated rice could have adapted to environmental changes simultaneously during domestication.

An Integrated Molecular Database on Indian Insects.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratheepa, Maria; Venkatesan, Thiruvengadam; Gracy, Gandhi; Jalali, Sushil Kumar; Rangheswaran, Rajagopal; Antony, Jomin Cruz; Rai, Anil

2018-01-01

MOlecular Database on Indian Insects (MODII) is an online database linking several databases like Insect Pest Info, Insect Barcode Information System (IBIn), Insect Whole Genome sequence, Other Genomic Resources of National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR), Whole Genome sequencing of Honey bee viruses, Insecticide resistance gene database and Genomic tools. This database was developed with a holistic approach for collecting information about phenomic and genomic information of agriculturally important insects. This insect resource database is available online for free at http://cib.res.in. http://cib.res.in/.

Plant defense against insect herbivores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fürstenberg-Hägg, Joel; Zagrobelny, Mika; Bak, Søren

2013-01-01

, defense compounds. These bioactive specialized plant defense compounds may repel or intoxicate insects, while defense proteins often interfere with their digestion. Volatiles are released upon herbivory to repel herbivores, attract predators or for communication between leaves or plants, and to induce......Plants have been interacting with insects for several hundred million years, leading to complex defense approaches against various insect feeding strategies. Some defenses are constitutive while others are induced, although the insecticidal defense compound or protein classes are often similar...... defense responses. Plants also apply morphological features like waxes, trichomes and latices to make the feeding more difficult for the insects. Extrafloral nectar, food bodies and nesting or refuge sites are produced to accommodate and feed the predators of the herbivores. Meanwhile, herbivorous insects...

Insects: An Interdisciplinary Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Leger, Heather

2007-01-01

The author talks about an interdisciplinary unit on insects, and presents activities that can help students practice communication skills (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and learn about insects with hands-on activities.

Effect of Red Yeast Rice and Coconut, Rice Bran or Sunflower Oil Combination in Rats on Hypercholesterolemic Diet.

Science.gov (United States)

Govindarajan, Sumitra; Vellingiri, Kishore

2016-04-01

Dietary supplements provide a novel population based health approach for treating hyperlipidemias. Red yeast rice is known to have lipid lowering effects. Combination of red yeast rice with various oils is taken by different population around the world. In this present work, we aimed to compare the effects of red yeast rice with different oil (coconut, rice bran and sunflower oil) supplementations on lipid levels and oxidative stress in rats fed on hypercholesterolemic diet. A Randomized controlled study was conducted on 28 male Sprague Dawley rats. It included 4 arms-Control arm (hypercholesterolemic diet), Test arm A (hypercholesterolemic diet +Red yeast rice + Rice bran oil), arm B (hypercholesterolemic diet +Red yeast rice + Coconut oil) and arm C (hypercholesterolemic diet +Red yeast rice + Sunflower oil). At the end of one month, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, MDA and paraoxonase was measured. The mean values of analytes between the different groups were compared using student 't-' test. The rats fed with red yeast rice and rice bran oil combination showed significantly lower levels of serum cholesterol, triglycerides and MDA when compared to the controls. The serum paraoxonase levels were significantly higher in this group when compared to the controls. The rats fed with red yeast rice and coconut oil combination showed significantly lower serum cholesterol and MDA levels when compared to the controls. The mean triglyceride and paraoxonase levels did not show any statistically significant difference from the controls. The rats on red yeast rice and sunflower oil combination did not show any statistically significant difference in the lipid levels and oxidative stress parameters. The food combination which had best outcome in preventing the development of hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress in rats fed with hypercholesterolemic diet was red yeast rice and rice bran oil. Combining red yeast rice with coconut oil and sunflower oil gave suboptimal benefits.

Rice-eating quality among consumers in different rice grain preference countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suwannaporn, P.; Linnemann, A.R.

2008-01-01

More rice is eaten nowadays in traditionally nonrice-eating countries. This study investigated consumer eating quality preferences among consumers in target rice export countries to identify opportunities and strategic implications. A quantitative study with 1,128 consumers of target nationalities

[The main nutrients digestibility of genetically modified rice and parental rice in the terminal ileum of pigs].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Min; Hu, Yi-chun; Piao, Jian-hua; Yang, Xiao-guang

2010-10-01

To compare the digestibility of main nutrients in genetically modified rice with double antisense starch-branching enzyme gene and parental rice. Seven Wuzhishan healthy adult barrows were surgically fitted with a T-cannula at the terminal ileum. After surgery, seven pigs were randomly divided into two groups, and fed genetically modified rice and parental rice by a crossover model. Ileal digesta were collected for analysis of main nutrient digestibility. The apparent digestibility levels of protein in genetically modified rice and parental rice were 69.50% ± 4.50%, 69.61% ± 8.40%, respectively (t = 0.01, P = 0.994); true digestibility levels of protein were 87.55% ± 4.95%, 87.64% ± 9.40%, respectively (t = 0.01, P = 0.994); fat digestibility levels were 72.86% ± 0.34%, 77.89% ± 13.09%, respectively (t = 0.95, P = 0.378); carbohydrate digestibility levels were 72.92% ± 7.43%, 92.35% ± 5.88%, respectively (t = 4.27, P = 0.005). The apparent and true digestibility of 17 amino acids had no significant difference in the two rice. Carbohydrate digestibility in genetically modified rice was significantly lower than that in non-genetically modified rice, other main nutrients digestibility in the two rice have substantial equivalence.

Insect Biometrics: Optoacoustic Signal Processing and Its Applications to Remote Monitoring of McPhail Type Traps.

Science.gov (United States)

Potamitis, Ilyas; Rigakis, Iraklis; Fysarakis, Konstantinos

2015-01-01

Monitoring traps are important components of integrated pest management applied against important fruit fly pests, including Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) and Ceratitis capitata (Widemann), Diptera of the Tephritidae family, which effect a crop-loss/per year calculated in billions of euros worldwide. Pests can be controlled with ground pesticide sprays, the efficiency of which depends on knowing the time, location and extent of infestations as early as possible. Trap inspection is currently carried out manually, using the McPhail trap, and the mass spraying is decided based on a decision protocol. We introduce the term 'insect biometrics' in the context of entomology as a measure of a characteristic of the insect (in our case, the spectrum of its wingbeat) that allows us to identify its species and make devices to help face old enemies with modern means. We modify a McPhail type trap into becoming electronic by installing an array of photoreceptors coupled to an infrared emitter, guarding the entrance of the trap. The beating wings of insects flying in the trap intercept the light and the light fluctuation is turned to a recording. Custom-made electronics are developed that are placed as an external add-on kit, without altering the internal space of the trap. Counts from the trap are transmitted using a mobile communication network. This trap introduces a new automated remote-monitoring method different to audio and vision-based systems. We evaluate our trap in large number of insects in the laboratory by enclosing the electronic trap in insectary cages. Our experiments assess the potential of delivering reliable data that can be used to initialize reliably the spraying process at large scales but to also monitor the impact of the spraying process as it eliminates the time-lag between acquiring and delivering insect counts to a central agency.

Insects: Bugged Out!

Science.gov (United States)

Piehl, Kathy

2011-01-01

Insects really need no introduction. They have lived on earth much longer than humans and vastly outnumber people and all other animal species combined. People encounter them daily in their houses and yards. Yet, when children want to investigate insects, books can help them start their explorations. "Paleo Bugs" carries readers back to the time…

Respiration in Aquatic Insects.

Science.gov (United States)

MacFarland, John

1985-01-01

This article: (1) explains the respiratory patterns of several freshwater insects; (2) describes the differences and mechanisms of spiracular cutaneous, and gill respiration; and (3) discusses behavioral aspects of selected aquatic insects. (ML)

Predicting the potential establishment of two insect species using the simulation environment INSIM (INsect SIMulation)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hemerik, Lia; Nes, van Egbert H.

2016-01-01

Degree-day models have long been used to predict events in the life cycle of insects and therewith the timing of outbreaks of insect pests and their natural enemies. This approach assumes, however, that the effect of temperature is linear, whereas developmental rates of insects are non-linearly

Processing Conditions, Rice Properties, Health and Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nobutaka Nakamura

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Rice is the staple food for nearly two-thirds of the world’s population. Food components and environmental load of rice depends on the rice form that is resulted by different processing conditions. Brown rice (BR, germinated brown rice (GBR and partially-milled rice (PMR contains more health beneficial food components compared to the well milled rice (WMR. Although the arsenic concentration in cooked rice depends on the cooking methods, parboiled rice (PBR seems to be relatively prone to arsenic contamination compared to that of untreated rice, if contaminated water is used for parboiling and cooking. A change in consumption patterns from PBR to untreated rice (non-parboiled, and WMR to PMR or BR may conserve about 43–54 million tons of rice and reduce the risk from arsenic contamination in the arsenic prone area. This study also reveals that a change in rice consumption patterns not only supply more food components but also reduces environmental loads. A switch in production and consumption patterns would improve food security where food grains are scarce, and provide more health beneficial food components, may prevent some diseases and ease the burden on the Earth. However, motivation and awareness of the environment and health, and even a nominal incentive may require for a method switching which may help in building a sustainable society.

Linkage relationship between semi-dwarfing gene sd-1 and gene for grain shattering in rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oba, S.; Kikuchi, F.

1990-01-01

Full text: Most semidwarf rice cultivars carry the same gene sd-1. We observed an association between semi-dwarfness and grain shattering in isogenic lines carrying sd-1 from different sources in the background of the Japanese tall cultivar 'Norin 28'. The shattering was found to be caused by a single recessive gene, sh-2, linked to the sd-1 locus. The shattering gene seems to have been transmitted to many semi-dwarf cultivars together with sd-1, not only from 'Dee-geo-woo-gen' but also from the indica-cultivar 'Ai-jio-nan-te' and the japonica cultivar 'Shiranui'. (author)

Development of Ozone Technology Rice Storage Systems (OTRISS) for Quality Improvement of Rice Production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nur, M; Kusdiyantini, E; Wuryanti, W; Winarni, T A; Widyanto, S A; Muharam, H

2015-01-01

This research has been carried out by using ozone to address the rapidly declining quality of rice in storage. In the first year, research has focused on the rice storage with ozone technology for small capacity (e.g., household) and the medium capacity (e.g., dormitories, hospitals). Ozone was produced by an ozone generator with Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma (DBDP). Ozone technology rice storage system (OTRISS) is using ozone charateristic which is a strong oxidizer. Ozone have a short endurance of existence and then decompose, as a result produce oxygen and radicals of oxygen. These characteristics could kill microorganisms and pests, reduce air humidity and enrich oxygen. All components used in SPBTO assembled using raw materials available in the big cities in Indonesia. Provider of high voltage (High Voltage Power Supply, 40-70 kV, 23 KH, AC) is one of components that have been assembled and tested. Ozone generator is assembled with 7 reactors of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma (DBDP). Rice container that have been prepared for OTRISS have adjusted so can be integrated with generator, power supply and blower to blow air. OTRISS with a capacity of 75 kg and 100 kg have been made and tested. The ability of ozone to eliminate bacteria and fungi have been tested and resulted in a decrease of microorganisms at 3 log CFU/g. Testing in food chemistry showed that ozone treatment of rice had not changed the chemical content that still meet the standard of chemical content and nutritional applicable to ISO standard milled rice. The results of this study are very likely to be used as an alternative to rice storage systems in warehouse. Test and scale-up is being carried out in a mini warehouse whose condition is mimicked to rice in National Rice Storage of Indonesia (Bulog) to ensure quality. Next adaptations would be installed in the rice storage system in the Bulog. (paper)

Insects and Bugs

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, Karen

2009-01-01

They have been around for centuries. They sting, they bite. They cause intense itching or painful sores. They even cause allergic reactions and sometimes death. There are two types of insects that are pests to humans--those that sting and those that bite. The insects that bite do so with their mouths and include mosquitoes, chiggers, and ticks.…

Mechanisms of UVB-resistance in rice: Cultivar differences in the sensitivity to UVB radiation in rice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidema, J.

2001-01-01

In a study on the sensitivity to UVB radiation of rice cultivars of 5 Asian rice ecotypes, results showed that the rice cultivars widely varied in UVB sensitivity; among the Japanese rice cultivars, Sasanishiki was more resistant to UVB, while Norin 1 was less resistant; UV-sensitive Norin 1 was deficient in photorepair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (UV-induced DNA damage), and the sensitivity to UVB radiation significantly correlated with deficient CPD photorepair; and that this deficiency in Norin 1 resulted from a functionally altered photolyase. The results suggest that photorepair capacity is a principal factor in determining UVB sensitivity in rice. The effects of supplemental UVB radiation on the growth and yield of Japanese rice cultivars under field conditions were also studied in Japan since 1993. The results indicate that supplemental UVB radiation had inhibitory effects on the growth and yield of rice. Furthermore, grain size was smaller with supplemental UVB radiation