Dieter Seidel‐65 Jahre

Fruit extract of Solanum xanthocarpum was evaluated for its toxicity against Alternaria brassicae, the causal agent of Alternaria blight of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. &; Coss]. The mass obtained after vacuum drying of the crude methanolic extract was utilised for further sequential fractionation using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and methanol. Among the crude and different fractions tested, methanolic fraction was most effective with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 62.5 μg/ml. The methanolic fraction was further fractionated using open column liquid chromatography into five subfractions (I–V) to identify the antifungal bioactive compounds. Among the five subfractions (SFs) tested SF IV was most effective at inhibiting A. brassicae conidial germination and thereby inhibited lesion development of Alternaria blight at a concentration of 15.625 μg/ml or higher. Furthermore, bioautography of SF IV with Alternaria alternata and diagnosis with Dragendorff reagent indicated that SF IV contains a mixture of bioactive alkaloids, namely a₁ (R_f = 0.12) and a₂ (R_f = 0.22). The potential of using S. xanthocarpum as a resource for the development of biofungicides is discussed.     

Phylogenetic relationships of Andean-Ecuadorian populations of Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann 1830) (Diptera: Tephritidae) inferred from COI and COII gene sequences

Phylogenetic relationships among Andean-Ecuadorian and other Neotropical populations of Anastrepha fraterculus and related species have been studied using two regions of mtDNA : 405 base pairs within Cytochrome Oxidase I ( COI) and 224 base pairs within Cytochrome Oxidase II (COII). Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using Maximun Parsimony (MP) method and haplotype networks. Andean-Ecuadorian populations of A. fraterculus are monomorphic at the COI locus and fall within a clade of South-American lowland populations of A. fraterculus. They appear to be unrelated with populations of northern Andes of Colombia and Venezuela also assigned to A. fraterculus, meaning that this species, as currently circumscribed, is not monophyletic and is composed of different biological entities that are little differentiated morphologically. At the COII locus, Andean-Ecuadorian populations of A. fraterculus show a major haplotype with a few variants, and form a clade with the lowland populations of southern Brazil an Argentina, but are clearly differentiated from them. Andean-Ecuadorian populations of Anastrepha fraterculus appear to be homogeneous with respect to their mitochondrial genome and thus their identity as members of a single gene pool is confirmed by these results.     

Evolution of pre‐zygotic and post‐zygotic barriers to gene flow among three cryptic species within the Anastrepha fraterculus complex

Tropical tephritids are ideally suited for studies on population divergence and speciation because they include species groups undergoing rapid radiation, in which morphologically cryptic species and sister species are abundant. The fraterculus species group in the Neotropical genus Anastrepha is a case in point, as it is composed of a complex of up to seven A. fraterculus morphotypes proposed to be cryptic species. Here, we document pre‐ and post‐zygotic barriers to gene flow among adults of the Mexican A. fraterculus morphotype and three populations (Argentina, Brazil, and Peru) belonging to two separate morphotypes (Brazilian 1 and Peruvian). We unveiled three forms of pre‐zygotic reproductive isolation resulting in strong assortative mating. In field cages, free‐ranging male and female A. fraterculus displayed a strong tendency to form couples with members of the opposite sex belonging to their own morphotype, suggesting that male pheromone emission, courtship displays, or both intervene in shaping female choice before actual contact and coupling. In addition, males and females of the Peruvian morphotype became receptive and mated significantly later than adults of the Mexican and Brazilian 1 morphotypes. After contact, Mexican females exhibited greater mating discrimination than males when facing adults of the opposite sex belonging to either the Peruvian or the Brazilian 1 morphotype as evidenced by vigorous resistance to penetration once they had been forcefully mounted by heterotypic males. Forced copulations resulted in production of F1 hybrids that were either less viable (and partially fertile) than parental crosses or even sterile. Our results suggest that the Mexican morphotype is a distinct biological entity and that pre‐zygotic reproductive isolation through divergence in courtship or male‐produced pheromone and other mechanisms appear to evolve faster than post‐zygotic isolation in the fraterculus species group.     

Toxicity of baited spinosad formulations to Ceratitis capitata: from the laboratory to the application

GF‐120, a fruit fly bait designed to attract and kill adult fruit flies, was tested in the laboratory and outdoors to determine effects of pre‐treatment diet and bait aging on mortality of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Two spinosad‐based compounds, GF‐120 and Tracer^® Ultra, had generated two distinctive dose–mortality responds, with LC⁸⁰, LC⁹⁰, and LC⁹⁹ values of 2.4, 2.8, and 4.1 p.p.m., and 255, 479, and 1 143 p.p.m., respectively. The residues of GF‐120 drops, after feeding to the flies, generated 14.3% mortality. The droplet size of the baited spray plays an important role. The toxicity of large drops lasted more than that of small droplets. In the field, exposure to the sun further deteriorates the compound, which lost 50% of its toxicity within 6 days. Disappearance of the compound in the field, due to consumption by various insects, also played a role as 50% of the GF‐120 drops disappeared within 7 days. As mortality was directly related to the amount of insecticide eaten, the effect of GF‐120 depended on the feeding status of the flies: well‐fed flies were almost unaffected compared with starved ones.     

Prey Spectra of Jaguar (Panthera onca) and Puma (Puma concolor) in Tropical Forests of Mexico

At the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Campeche, Mexico, the prey spectra of sympatric jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor) were studied by examination of their scats. 10 vertebrate species were identified for jaguars and 7 for pumas, mainly mammals and some birds. Based on these diet analyses, we conclude that jaguars and pumas coexist at Calakmul by means of different food habits.     

Single-Strand Conformation Polymorphism for Molecular Variability Studies of Six Viroid Species

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a popular food supplement. Earlier, we successfully produced CoQ10 in rice, which normally produces predominately CoQ9. Here we developed efficient production of CoQ10 in rice by introducing the gene for decaprenyl diphosphate synthase into rice sugary and shrunken mutants. These rices produced 1.3 to 1.6 times as much CoQ10 as the earlier enriched rice did.     

Changes in Structural Features of Free N-Glycan and Endoglycosidase Activity during Tomato Fruit Ripening

In developing plants, free N-glycans occur ubiquitously at micromolar concentrations. Such oligosaccharides have been proposed to be signaling molecules in plant development. As a part of a study to elucidate the physiological roles of de-N-glycosylation machinery involved in fruit ripening, we analyzed changes in the amounts and structural features of free N-glycans in tomato fruits at four ripening stages. The amount of high-mannose type free N-glycans increased significantly in accordance with fruit ripening, and the relative amounts of high-molecular size N-glycans, such as Man_8-9GlcNAc₁, became predominant. These observations suggest that the de-N-glycosylation machinery, including endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (ENGase) activity, is stimulated in the later stages of fruit ripening. But contrary to expectation, we found that total ENGase activities in the tomato fruits did not vary significantly with the ripening process, suggesting that ENGase activity must be maintained at a certain level, and that the expression of α-mannosidase involved in the clearance of free N-glycans decreases during tomato fruit ripening.     

Evolutionary history of almond tree domestication in the Mediterranean basin

Genetic diversity of contemporary domesticated species is shaped by both natural and human‐driven processes. However, until now, little is known about how domestication has imprinted the variation of fruit tree species. In this study, we reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of the domesticated almond tree, Prunus dulcis, around the Mediterranean basin, using a combination of nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites [i.e. simple sequence repeat (SSRs)] to investigate patterns of genetic diversity. Whereas conservative chloroplast SSRs show a widespread haplotype and rare locally distributed variants, nuclear SSRs show a pattern of isolation by distance with clines of diversity from the East to the West of the Mediterranean basin, while Bayesian genetic clustering reveals a substantial longitudinal genetic structure. Both kinds of markers thus support a single domestication event, in the eastern side of the Mediterranean basin. In addition, model‐based estimation of the timing of genetic divergence among those clusters is estimated sometime during the Holocene, a result that is compatible with human‐mediated dispersal of almond tree out of its centre of origin. Still, the detection of region‐specific alleles suggests that gene flow from relictual wild preglacial populations (in North Africa) or from wild counterparts (in the Near East) could account for a fraction of the diversity observed.     

不同生境与花部特征对巫山淫羊藿结实特性的影响

对不同生境中巫山淫羊藿结实特性进行比较研究。结果表明:(1)三个种群在繁殖时期中不同花部特征的植株繁殖投资差异不大,如每株分枝数、每株花序数和每株开花数差异均不显著;(2)三个种群中每株结实数、每株结实率、每花序结实数在不同花部特征中差异显著,PLS和SAA要显著大于PESS;(3)三种花部特征在不同生境中单株分枝数和单株花序数均无显著差异。在不同花部特征中种群1开花数量相较少,因而在结实方面均值均要小于种群2和种群3;(4)不同花部特征的果实饱满种子数、败育数和败育率均具有显著差异,而种子数差异不大,但在种群间均无显著的差异。说明种子的多少更多地受到花部特征的影响。总之,巫山淫羊藿的结实特性受到生境和花部特征的双重影响,其中花型比生境对巫山淫羊藿结实特性的影响更为明显。     

授粉处理对红富士苹果果实品质影响的综合评价

以“长富2号”红富士苹果(Malus domestica ‘Red Fuji',Nagafu No. 2)为母本,9个授粉品种为父本,进行人工授粉,研究授粉处理对红富士苹果成熟期果实品质的影响,并构建基于主成分分析的综合评价函数。结果表明:果实的花青苷、单果重、维生素C、固酸比、可溶性糖、可溶性蛋白、可滴定酸等主要经济性状,各授粉处理间差异较大,果形指数、硬度差异较小; 主成分分析提取6个主成分,累计方差贡献率达96.02%,根据主成分得分和方差相对贡献率构建综合评价函数,由综合评价函数确定9个授粉处理果实的综合品质由高到低的排序为雪球、美红、火焰、红星、道格、全家红、绚丽、荷红、粉芽。