Assessment of plant secondary metabolites in oil palm seedlings after being treated with calcium,copper ions and salicylic acid

The effect of calcium, copper ions and salicylic acid (SA) amendment on the incidence of basal stem rot and activity of secondary metabolites in oil palm seedlings were investigated in glasshouse study. Disease incidence (DI) in positive control (T8) was 75% at nine months after inoculation (9 MAI). However, weekly pre-immunisation with Ca^2+?+^?Cu^2+?+^?SA prior to inoculation significantly suppressed DI and delayed disease onset as noted in T7. In the present study, the lowest %DI was observed in T7 (15%) followed by T1, T5, T6, T3, T4 and T2. The Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺ and SA amendments were resulted in earlier and higher accumulation of plant secondary metabolites as noted in leaves, stems and root tissues in response to invasion by Ganoderma boninense. High total phenolic content concentration was detected in T7 (leaf: 233.38 ± 0.12 mg/g; stem: 132.78 ± 0.04 mg/g and root: 86.98 ± 0.28 mg/g). Similar trend was obtained in peroxidase activity, total lignin content and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity. These results suggested that it could be due to the accumulation of phenolics, peroxidase activities, lignin content and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activities in oil palm seedling tissues which might have collectively contributed to induce resistance against G. boninense.     

Relationships between Fusarium population structure, soil nutrient status and disease incidence in field-grown asparagus

Fusarium species cause important diseases in many crops. Lack of knowledge on how Fusarium species and strains interact with their environment hampers growth management strategies to control root diseases. A field experiment involving asparagus as host plant and three phosphorus fertilization levels was designed to examine the seasonal changes and ecological relationships between Fusarium populations and their soil and plant environments. Fusarium taxa were identified and assessed using PCR-denaturing gradient electrophoresis of the EF1-alpha gene. Resulting profiles were analyzed with respect to 17 ecological parameters measured during the three main asparagus phenological phases across a growing season. Multivariate statistical analysis showed that Fusarium population structure was strongly influenced by soil P level while seasonal variation was less important. A significant relationship between Fusarium population composition and Fusarium crown and root rot incidence was also found in September. Canonical analysis further revealed significant relationships between Fusarium population structure, and plant manganese and iron contents, soil dehydrogenase activity and soil calcium concentration. If higher Fusarium crown and root rot incidence is related to the Fusarium community structure, strategies to reduce the incidence in asparagus plantations may be found through manipulation of the soil fertility.     

There it is! Fusarium pseudograminearum did not lose the fusaristatin gene cluster after all

Fusarium pseudograminearum is a significant pathogen of cereals in arid regions worldwide and has the ability to produce numerous bioactive secondary metabolites. The genome sequences of seven F. pseudograminearum strains have been published and in one of these strains, C5834, we identified an intact gene cluster responsible for biosynthesis of the cyclic lipopeptide fusaristatin A. The high level of sequence identity of the fusaristatin cluster remnant in strains that do not produce fusaristatin suggests that the absence of the cluster evolved once, and subsequently the resulting locus with the cluster fragments became widely dispersed among strains of F. pseudograminearum in Australia. We examined a selection of 99 Australian F. pseudograminearum isolates to determine how widespread the ability to produce fusaristatin A is in F. pseudograminearum. We identified 15 fusaristatin producing strains, all originating from Western Australia. Phylogenetic analyses could not support a division of F. pseudograminearum into fusaristatin producing and nonproducing populations, which could indicate the loss has occurred relatively recent.     

Analysis of expressed sequence tags from cDNA library of Fusarium culmorum infected barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) roots

Fusarium culmorum is one of the most common and globally important causal agent of root and crown rot diseases of cereals. These diseases cause grain yield loss and reduced grain quality in barley. In this study, we have analyzed an expressed sequence tag (EST) database derived from F. culmorum infected barley root tissues available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The 2294 sequences were assembled into 1619 non-redundant sequences consisting of 359 contigs and 1260 singletons using the program CAP3. BLASTX analysis for these sequences was conducted in order to find similar sequences in all databases. Gene Ontology search, enzyme search, KEGG mapping and InterProScan search were done using Blast2GO 3.0.7 tool. By BLASTX analysis, 41.7%, 7.7%, 3.2% and 47.4% of ESTs were categorized as annotated, unannotated, not mapping and without blast hits, respectively. BLASTX analysis revealed that the majority of top hits were barley proteins (43.5%). Based on Gene Ontology classification, 38.3%, 31.3%, and 16% of ESTs were assigned to molecular function, biological process, and cellular component GO terms, respectively. Most abundant GO terms were as follows: 157 sequences were related to response to stress (biological process), 207 sequences were related to ion binding (molecular function), and 160 sequences were related to plastid (cellular component). Furthermore, based on KEGG mapping, 369 sequences could be assigned to 264 enzymes and 83 different KEGG pathways. According to Enzyme Commission (EC) distribution; 94 sequences were transferases (EC2) while 70 sequences were hydrolases (EC3).     

渐狭蜡蚧菌产生的几丁质酶对芦笋茎枯病菌的抑制作用

目的:研究渐狭蜡蚧菌产生的几丁质酶及其对芦笋茎枯病菌天门冬拟茎点霉的抑制效果。方法:通过乙酰葡萄糖胺法、对硝基苯酚法和活性电泳法测定渐狭蜡蚧菌CGMCC5328的产几丁质酶特性及其粗酶液对芦笋茎枯病菌的抑菌效果。结果:渐狭蜡蚧菌CGMCC5328几丁质酶粗提取液的几丁质降解酶系活性第4 d达到高峰期;几丁质外切酶活性第6 d达到高峰期;活性染色检测到5条几丁质酶谱带,相对分子质量分别为32.9×103、42.1×103、54.1×103、65.6×103和79.6×103。用该几丁质酶粗酶液处理芦笋茎枯病菌,与灭活酶液处理相比较,抑菌效果明显,酶液处理导致菌丝畸形。结论:渐狭蜡蚧菌CGMCC5328产生的几丁质酶对芦笋茎枯病菌有抑制作用。     

Susceptibility of Thirty Cherry Genotypes on Phytophthora cactorum, P. citrophthora, P. citricola and P. parasitica

The diseases Phytophthor a crown and root rot consist of the most important problems in cherry cultivation. In this study, the susceptibility of 30 cherry genotypes to Phytophthora cactorum , P. citrophthora, P. parasitica and P. citricola was evaluated by using excised twig assay, excised shoot method and stem inoculation method. The results showed that all cherry genotypes tested were susceptible to all Phytophthora isolates used. Phytophthora parasitica and P. citrophthora were the most aggressive species. Host specificity of the Phytophthora isolates used in this study was not found although these isolates were from different plant species. In conclusion, because none of the cherry genotype showed a level of resistance to these pathogens, caution should be taken when these genotypes are used in locations, where these diseases are endemic.     

穆棱林区野生东北马鹿种群冬季食物组成模式与植物代谢产物的关系

高纬度地带,在冬季食物资源有限的环境中,野生大型有蹄类动物满足营养需求的同时,需要对植物中次生代谢产物进行平衡,回避有害物质并选择对机体有益的成分,从而形成特定的食物组成模式。以东北马鹿（Cervus elaphus xanthopygus）为研究对象,于2020年11月,在黑龙江穆棱东北红豆杉国家级自然保护区境内,采集东北马鹿粪便和植物样本。通过粪便显微分析法确定保护区内马鹿冬季食物组成,采用k-means聚类分析揭示马鹿冬季食物组成模式。应用广泛靶向代谢组技术对部分植物中次生代谢产物的含量进行全覆盖定性和相对定量检测,将食物组成与次生代谢产物数据整合,进行曼特尔检验（Mantel test）分析,以探究植物次生代谢产物对马鹿种群内食物组成模式的影响。结果表明,林区内马鹿种群冬季共采食30种植物,其中木本植物占92.48%;且种群内分别呈现出以东北红豆杉（Taxus cuspidata）,簇毛槭（Acer barbinerve）,毛榛子（Corylus mandshurica）为主要食物的不同食物组成模式。广泛靶向代谢组技术共检测出638种次生代谢产物,有25种代谢物与马鹿采食频率显著相关,其中多数萜类物质抑制马鹿采食,而鞣质类物质对马鹿的采食选择有一定的正向作用;Mantel test结果显示,上述25种物质中黄酮、鞣质、萜类化合物相对含量与不同马鹿个体食物组成显著相关,说明这些代谢物相对含量和性质的差异会造成种群内不同个体食物组成的差异,是种群内形成不同食物组成模式的原因之一。从植物次生代谢产物角度揭示了该地区东北马鹿种群冬季食物组成模式呈现差异的可能因素,为进一步研究大型有蹄类营养策略和植物化学防御关系提供基础依据。     

Peroxidase, catalase, amine oxidase and acid phosphatase activities in Pisum sativum during infection with Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani

Two genotypes (cv. Smaragd and line DP1059) of Pisum sativum with different susceptibility to Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani and influence of pathogenesis on enzyme activities were studied. The increase of activity of studied enzymes was mostly observed in both roots and shoots during pathogenesis. Only activity of acid phosphatase decreased in the root and increased in shoots. The correlation between enzyme activity change and susceptibility of pea cultivars to F. oxysporum or F. solani was observed.     

New β-carboline and indole alkaloids from Actinomycete Actinomadura sp. BCC 24717

Four new β-carbolines 1–4 and two new indoles 5–6 were isolated together with thirteen known compounds from actinomycete, Actinomadura BCC 24717. Structures of the new compounds, 1–6, were determined by NMR spectroscopic and MS spectrometric analyses. Compound 4 exhibited cytotoxicity to Vero cells and compound 6 showed antifungal activity with IC₅₀ 35.91 μg/mL and 41.97 μg/mL, respectively.