The Western Corn Rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica v. virgifera LeConte, [Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae], whose larvae cause damage to maize roots, is an important economic insect pest in America and Europe. Biological control options, such as entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) have played an important role as an alternative for synthetic chemical insecticides. Therefore, for the WCR larvae control we compared the effectiveness of inundative biological control on the basis of EPN Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar, (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae); (commercial product Dianem) and the conventional insecticides Force 1.5 G (a.i. tefluthrin) from the group of synthetic pyrethriods and Sonido (a.i. thiacloprid) from the group of neonicotinoids. Field experiments were carried out at two geographically different locations: a), Bučečovci (Prlekija; eastern Slovenia) and b), Šmartno (Gorenjska: northern Slovenia). The differences between the treatments were very similar at both locations. Statistical analysis showed that only in the treatment where EPN were used, significantly less WCR was caught than in the control. The findings found in this study are also directly applicable in the case of biotic strand control, which is the subject of this project.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5491048
We developed a method using hyperspectral imaging for distinguishing between plants in drought stress and those infested by the nematode Meloidogyne incognita. We were also able to determine infestation severity, even before any visible signs of infestation or drought stress developed.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5547880
The vascular plant pathogen Verticillium nonalfalfae causes Verticillium wilt in several important crops. In this study, we aimed to determine V. nonalfalfae candidate effectors, by analysing the available genomic and proteomic data, and the results of RNA-Seq experiments, and to confirm them with mutational analysis. From the annotated genetic models of V. nonalfafae, we initially identified in silico secretome enriched with enzymes involved in the degradation of cell walls, with proteases, lipases, cutinases and oxidoreductases, which corresponds to the hemibiotrophic life style of V. nonalfalfae. We further identified gene models expressed in planta, predicted candidate secretory effector proteins, and selected the best candidates based on the properties of already confirmed fungal effectors. We determined the expression of the most promising candidates by RT-qPCR in resistant and susceptible varieties of hop after infection with V. nonalfalfae. Using the ATMT method, we prepared five deletion mutants of candidates with the highest expression, and artificially inoculated susceptible varieties to determine their virulence.
COBISS.SI-ID: 8940665