Surveys of stem base diseases and fusarium ear diseases in winter wheat in England, Wales and Scotland, 1989–1990

An investigation into the incidence of stem base diseases and the pathogens associated with them was undertaken on winter wheat samples collected at growth stages 31 and 73–75 in 1989 and 1990. Symptoms at growth stage 31 were classified into 10 different types based on visual characteristics. Although Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides was associated mainly with eyespot lesions and Rhizoctonia spp. with sharp eyespot lesions, a significant number of isolates of each pathogen were taken from lesions classified as fusarium. Different types of fusarium lesion on stem bases at both growth stages were not associated with any one particular Fusarium or Microdochium species. 98% of P. herpotrichoides isolates obtained from eyespot lesions at growth stage 31 in 1989, and 87% of those obtained in 1990 were identified as the sub-species P. herpotrichoides var. acuformis, Microdochium nivale was more common than any of the Fusarium species at both growth stages, and was particularly prevalent in samples from Scotland at the earlier growth stage in 1989. Isolations from the top internodes at growth stage 73–75 indicated that systemic infection by Fusarium species, although present in some stems, was of little importance. Fusarium ear blight affected 0.4% of ears in 1989 and 0.5% in 1990. Glume spot lesions on the ears in 1990 were predominantly associated with Fusarium poae.     

Combined application of Bacillus subtilis NJ-18 with fungicides for control of sharp eyespot of wheat

Antagonistic bacterium, Bacillus subtilis NJ-18, can biologically control several plant diseases. A combined strategy of wheat sharp eyespot control consisting of B. subtilis NJ-18 and fungicides was evaluated. Greenhouse and field tests were conducted to determine the effect of combining the B. subtilis NJ-18 with the fungicides flutolanil and difenoconazole for the control of wheat sharp eyespot caused by Rhizoctonia cerealis Van der Hoeven. The sensitivity of B. subtilis NJ-18 to fungicides flutolanil and difenoconazole was tested. The growth of NJ-18 was unaffected by flutolanil in a broth medium, and the survival of NJ-18 spores on wheat seed was unaffected by difenoconazole. In greenhouse experiments, disease control obtained with a combination of NJ-18 and either fungicide was better than the control obtained with the bacterium or fungicides alone, and some combinations of bacterium plus fungicide demonstrated a small synergistic effect in reducing disease. Similar results were obtained with repeated field experiments. In addition to providing a highly effective disease control, the use of combinations enabled a reduced level of fungicide application. Overall, the results suggest that the combination of B. subtilis strain NJ-18 and flutolanil or difenoconazole represents a promising new tool for the control of sharp eyespot of wheat.     

Characterization of the Eyespot Regions of "Blind"Chlamydomonas Mutants after Restoration of Photophobic Responses

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exhibits photophobic and positive and negative phototactic responses that can be defined for cell populations using computerized cell tracking and motion analysis. Mutants CC-2359 and FN68 are pigment deficient mutants that are blocked in carotenoid synthesis and lack these photo responses. In particular, neither mutant exhibits flash-induced photophobic responses to visible light stimuli to which wild-type gametic cells exhibit a strong response, with several behavioral stages. Upon addition of all-trans retinal to these mutants, the photophobic responses are restored with minor quantitative differences from wild-type populations. Using both light and electron microscopy, we have compared the ultrastructural characteristics of wild-type C. reinhardtii to those of both mutants. As previously described, wild-type cells contain an eyespot consisting of 2–4 layers of pigmented granules encased within thylakoid membranes, located between the distal extremities of the flagellar root. This structure is also visible as an orange-red spot in light microscopy. The photoreceptor is thought to be concentrated in the plasma membrane above the eyespot. The mutant, CC-2359, lacks this eyespot as seen by both light and electron microscopy, even when the photophobic response has been restored. FN68-like mutants studied earlier by Morel-Laurens and Feinlieb and others contain an eyespot which can be seen only by electron microscopy. In FN-68, the eyespot generally has the same dimensions as in wt cells, differing mainly in pigment granule appearance. Consistent with these findings, several laboratories have shown that the full range of phototactic responses can be reconstituted in FN68 and CC-2359, but that negative phototaxis requires a significantly stronger light stimulus in the latter strain. We confirm the suggestion that the eyespot is not necessary for the photophobic response, and is not critical for the appropriate assembly and function of the photophobic response receptor in the membrane. Furthermore, the locus of reconstitution of the functional receptor is not the eyespot. Because of the definitive demonstration of the absence of the eyespot in CC-2359, however, the eyespot may play a role in negative phototaxis.     

Phototactic responses of four marine dinoflagellates with different types of eyespot and chloroplast

Great structural variety is seen in the eyespot of dinoflagellates, a structure involved in phototaxis. Although there are several works on the phototactic responses in some species of dinoflagellates, none of the dinoflagellates used in these studies possessed an eyespot and, therefore, we have no knowledge of the relationship between eyespot type and phototactic response. In this study, we determined wavelength dependency curves for phototaxis in four marine dinoflagellates that possess a different type of either eyespot or chloroplast. These include: (i) a dinoflagellate possessing a peridinin-containing ohioroplast with an eyespot (Scrippsiella hexapraecingula Horiguchi et Chihara); (ii) a dinoflagellate containing a diatom endosymbiont and with the type B eyespot sensu Dodge (1984; (Peridinium foli-aceum (Stein) Biecheler); (iii) a dinoflagellate with peri-dinin-containing chloroplasts, but lacking an eyespot (Atexandrium hiranoi Kita et Fukuyo); and (iv) a dinoflagellate with fucoxanthin, 19′-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin and 19′-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin, but lacking an eyespot (Gymnodinium mikimotoi Miyabe et Kominami ex Oda), Regardless of the eyespot or the chloroplast type, all four dinoflagellates showed similar wavelength dependency curves for phototaxis, with sensitivity between 380 and 520 nm, the highest peak at approximately 440 or 460 nm and smaller peaks or shoulders at 400–420 nm and 480–500 nm. Substantial peaks have also been noted in the ultraviolet range (260–280 nm). The ultrastructural study of the eye-spot of Scrippsiella hexapraecingula revealed that the eyespot consists of two layers of lipid globules and probably acts as a quarter-wave stack antenna.     

FLAGELLAR APPARATUS,EYESPOT AND BEHAVIOR OF MICROTHAMNION KUETZINGIANUM (CHLOROPHYCEAE) ZOOSPORES1,2,3

The flagellar apparatus of Microthamnion kuet-zingianum Naegeli differs from, that of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dangeard in that the zoospores can autonomously orient their basal bodies for different types of swimming behavior, including forward, and backward progression with, stationary intervals. Reorientation of the basal regions of the flagella and of the basal bodies were documented by cinefilms and by stroboscopic and electron micrographs. Even when the flagella. were sheared off, the remaining stubs (containing the basal bodies) were capable of being reoriented, by the organism. Thus the mechanism of basal body reorientation cannot reside in the 9 + 2 flagellar shaft. Rather, the reorienting process involves a shortening or lengthening of the distal fiber and of the plasma membrane region overlying an anterior papilla. In their helical and spiral motions, the zoospores trace complicated, but surprisingly regular curves. Such motion might result from the inherent 3-dimensional structure and beat of the flagella. The eyespot has an invariable, highly asymmetric location within the cell in direct proximity with a specific microtubular band (MT_E), but nevertheless may occur in either the anterior or posterior region of the chloroplast. Further, multiple eyespots may occur along the same side of MT_E. This observation is consistent with the discovery (in Fucus sperm) that microtubules serve to align individual eyespot granules in eyespot-ontogeny. By this means the position of the eyespot within a cell could well be determined.     

小麦抗纹枯病种质资源筛选

近年来,随着耕作制度的改变和气候的变化,纹枯病在我国黄淮冬麦区和长江中下游冬麦区广泛发生,并呈逐年加重的趋势。为了筛选出可在生产或育种中利用的抗病材料,本试验对从国内外收集到的79份小麦材料及1份小麦近缘材料荆州黑麦,同时在温室和大田进行纹枯病抗性鉴定,结果表明,品种间存在纹枯病抗性差异,在小麦品种中进行小麦纹枯病抗源选择是有效的,温室和大田同时抗性表现较好的有14份材料:CI 12633、丽麦16、ARz、Cooker 983、FHB143、Italy-2、GUADA-LYPE、Ovontun、白火麦、山红麦、山农12号、小偃22、紫秆子和荆州黑麦,为纹枯病抗病育种提供稳定可靠的抗源。     

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dangeard (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyceae) mutant with multiple eyespots

We have isolated a new Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dangeard (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyceae) mutant with from one up to more than four eyespots cell^?1. It was designated mes (multiple eyespots)‐10 A wild‐type cell has a single eyespot, located under the chloroplast envelope, at a certain position near the cell's equator where the chloroplast envelope is in contact with the cell membrane. The eyespot(s) in mes‐10, however, are located at various positions on its chloroplast. The mes‐10 cells displayed negative phototaxis to 480–500 nm light. This behavior differed from that of a similar mutant, ptx4, which has been shown to have multiple eyespots and display no phototaxis (Pazour et al., J. Cell Biol. 1995; 131 : 427–40). Mes‐10 may retain a functional photoreceptor and a photosignal transduction system independently of its multiple eyespots. This mutant should be useful for studying how C. reinhardtii responds to light signals, as well as how eyespots are formed in the cell.     

Screening Selected Fungi for Antagonism towards Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides (Fron) Deighton,the Cause of Eyespot Disease of Cereals

In the laboratory, a dual culture primary screen using wheat straw agar (WSA) showed that 64 out of 152 selected fungi inhibited the in vitro growth of Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides by 50% or more. An ‘asymmetric’ species of Penicillium isolated from wheat stubble was the most effective, inhibiting growth of the pathogen by 70%. The results were similar using both W‐type and R‐type isolates of P. herpotrichoides. Other fungi showing in vitro antagonism included: Trichoderma viride, T. koningii, T. harzianum, Chaetomium globosum, Acremonium persicum, Botryotrichum piluliferum, Sordaria alcina, Microdochium bolleyi, Rhizoctonia cerealis and Laetisaria arvalis.

In a glasshouse secondary screen, the 64 fungi showing antagonism in vitro were assessed further for their ability to reduce eyespot disease symptoms of wheat seedlings using a straw collar co‐inoculation technique. Of them, 13 fungi reduced disease symptoms significantly: a Chaetomium sp. from stubble, two Fusarium spp., a F. culmorum isolate T. viride, T. koningii, T. harzianum, B. piluliferum, M. bolleyi, L. arvalis, the ‘asymmetric’ Penicillium sp. and two unidentified fungi from stubble. A F. culmorum isolate was the most effective antagonist on average, giving disease reductions of 54 and 58% for the W‐type and R‐type of P. herpotrichoides respectively. M. bolleyi, T. harzianum and the F. culmorum isolate were the most effective antagonists of the W‐type, all three reducing disease by 54%. T. viride was most effective against the R‐type, reducing disease by 64%.     

Effects of crop debris and cultivations on the development of eyespot of wheat caused by Oculimacula spp.

Results from a series of crop sequence and single-year experiments that tested different straw and cultivation treatments in a total of 11 site–season combinations confirmed previous evidence that the development of eyespot disease in cereals can be decreased by debris in the seed bed even if that debris includes eyespot-infected stem bases, which are the principal sources of primary inoculum. Two of the experiments, which followed non-cereal break crops and tested the effects of crop debris applied after ploughing or tining on eyespot in winter wheat that was artificially inoculated with Oculimacula spp., provided convincing evidence that the effects can be attributed to the debris per se, and not to any associated husbandry practices. There were often larger effects on disease in summer than in spring or on severity than on incidence suggesting that the effects of debris cannot be explained solely by effects on inoculum or initial infection, and that debris has a disease-suppressive effect.     

Long-term performance of fungicides applied to control eyespot in winter wheat

Fungicide treatments, repeated twice yearly at timings suitable for controlling eyespot, to plots of continuous winter wheat over 17 yr (except for a year in “set‐aside”), resulted in altered population structures of the eyespot pathogens (Tapesia spp.) and performance of the fungicides. Carbendazim failed to control eyespot after 3 yr of the experiment because of rapid selection for resistance. Carbendazim often increased disease compared with that in untreated plots. This may have resulted from control of unknown antagonistic fungi or, possibly, from selection for increased fitness in carbendazim ‐resistant strains. In the final years of the experiment, prochloraz, applied with or without carbendazim, became ineffective. This gradual loss of efficacy is explained by selection in favour of T. acuformis rather than T. yallundae (which had a naturally narrower range of sensitivity levels in its populations) and for strains with least sensitivity within the T. acuformis population, although no resistance to prochloraz was found. Effects of treatments on yield were usually not statistically significant. This may be explained partly by the predominance of the more slowly developing T. acuformis in many of the plots.     

小麦种质抗纹枯病性的鉴定和遗传分析

对2300余份创新种质和引进种质抗纹枯病性进行了自然病地初步鉴定,在此基础上选择一批抗性好的种质进行了人工病圃鉴定,共评选出高抗纹枯病的创新种质14份,引进种质21份。这些种质都兼抗1－3种其它病害,且综合性状较好,其中创新种质最好,为抗纹枯病育种提供了良好的种质材料。还选用7个抗纹枯病性不同的亲本组配成半双列杂交组合。采用Hayman法进行了基因效应分析,结果表明,抗纹枯病性的遗传不符合加性－显性模型。     

人工合成抗纹枯病小麦新种质的鉴定

小麦纹枯病是影响我国小麦生产的主要土传病害。培育、推广抗纹枯病小麦品种是防治该病害最经济、有效的方法。普通小麦中抗源匮乏,严重制约抗纹枯病小麦育种的进展。为发掘人工合成小麦中纹枯病新抗源,本试验通过人工接种、抗病鉴定方法,在江苏省和北京市两地,对来源于国际玉米小麦改良中心的102份人工合成六倍体小麦品系,进行4年的纹枯病抗性的多环境鉴定。结果表明,人工合成小麦品系间对小麦纹枯病抗性存在差异,在其中进行小麦纹枯病抗源的筛选是有效的。与普通小麦品种扬麦158、扬麦12相比,这102份人工合成小麦的大部分对纹枯病的抗性表现抗或中抗水平,其中一些品系在多年多点鉴定中表现稳定抗性,如ZC93、ZC111、ZC112、ZC123、ZC172、ZC206和ZC221表现为抗病水平,病情指数低于目前最好的普通小麦抗源,可作为抗纹枯病小麦育种的新抗源。     

Eyespots divert attacks by fish

Eyespots (colour patterns consisting of concentric rings) are found in a wide range of animal taxa and are often assumed to have an anti-predator function. Previous experiments have found strong evidence for an intimidating effect of eyespots against passerine birds. Some eyespots have been suggested to increase prey survival by diverting attacks towards less vital body parts or a direction that would facilitate escape. While eyespots in aquatic environments are widespread, their function is extremely understudied. Therefore, we investigated the protective function of eyespots against attacking fish. We used artificial prey and predator-naive three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as predators to test both the diversion (deflection) and the intimidation hypothesis. Interestingly, our results showed that eyespots smaller than the fish’ own eye very effectively draw the attacks of the fish towards them. Furthermore, our experiment also showed that this was not due to the conspicuousness of the eyespot, because attack latency did not differ between prey items with and without eyespots. We found little support for an intimidating effect by larger eyespots. Even though also other markings might misdirect attacks, we can conclude that the misdirecting function may have played an important role in the evolution of eyespots in aquatic environments.     

Fungal Communities and Disease Symptoms on Stem Bases of Wheat and Barley and Effects of Seed Treatments Containing Fluquinconazole and Prochloraz

Three successive crops of winter wheat or barley were grown as second, third and fourth cereals. Communities of fungi on shoot bases, identified after isolation on agar media, were more diverse (determined by number of taxa identified) on wheat than on barley, and their diversity increased from year to year. Diversity was not affected by seed treatments containing fluquinconazole or prochloraz. Eyespot (caused by Tapesia spp.) and brown foot rot (caused by Fusarium spp. or Microdochium nivale ) increased from year to year. Eyespot, brown foot rot (after the first year) and sharp eyespot (which remained infrequent), assessed in summer (June), affected wheat more than barley. Eyespot severity was increased slightly on barley by treatments containing fluquinconazole, formulated with or without prochloraz, in the second year (third cereal), when it was also decreased slightly on wheat by fluquinconazole plus prochloraz, except in plots where the treatment had been applied for two successive years. The increases or decreases in eyespot in the second year were accompanied by, respectively, decreases or increases in the frequency of Idriella bolleyi where fluquinconazole was applied alone. Although the eyespot pathogen Tapesia yallundae (but not Tapesia acuformis ) is sensitive to fluquinconazole in vitro , seed treatment, applied principally to control take-all disease, is likely to have only a small effect against eyespot (or other stem-base diseases), and then only on wheat and when formulated with prochloraz.