Effects of acaricides,pyrethroids and predator distributions on populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetranychus urticae</Emphasis> in apple orchards

We sampled mites in three apple orchards in Nova Scotia, Canada, that had been inoculated with pyrethroid-resistant Typhlodromus pyri and had a history of Tetranychus urticae outbreaks. The objective of this study was to monitor populations of T. urticae and phytoseiid predators on the ground and in trees and to track dispersal between the two habitats. Pesticides were the chief cause of differences in mite dynamics between orchards. In two orchards, application of favourably selective acaricides (abamectin, clofentezine) in 2002, coupled with predation by T. pyri in trees and Neoseiulus fallacis in ground cover, decreased high T. urticae counts and suppressed Panonychus ulmi. By 2003 phytoseiids kept the tetranychids at low levels. In a third orchard, application of pyrethroids (cypermethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin), plus an unfavourably selective acaricide (pyridaben) in 2003, suppressed phytoseiids, allowing exponential increases of T. urticae in the ground cover and in tree canopies. By 2004 however, increasing numbers of T. pyri and application of clofentezine strongly reduced densities of T. urticae in tree canopies despite high numbers crawling up from the ground cover. Another influence on T. urticae dynamics was the distribution of the phytoseiids, T. pyri and N. fallacis. When harsh pesticides were avoided, T. pyri were numerous in tree canopies. Conversely, only a few N. fallacis were found there, even when they were present in the ground cover and on tree trunks. Low numbers were sometimes due to pyrethroid applications or to scarcity of prey. Another factor was likely the abundance of T. pyri, which not only competes with N. fallacis, but also feeds on its larvae and nymphs. The scarcity of a specialist predator of spider mites in trees means that control of T. urticae largely depends on T. pyri, a generalist predator that is not particularly effective in regulating T. urticae. The Canadian Crown's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

New oxime reactivators connected with CH2O(CH2)nOCH2 linker and their reactivation potency for organophosphorus agents-inhibited acetylcholinesterase

New bis-pyridinium oxime reactivators 6 with CH₂O(CH₂)₂OCH₂ and CH₂O(CH₂)₄OCH₂ linkers between the two pyridinium rings were designed and synthesized. In the in vitro test of their potency to reactivate AChE inhibited by organophosphorus agents at 5 × 10⁻³ M concentration, the reactivation ability of 1,2-dimethoxy-ethylene-bis-N,N′-4-pyridiumaldoxime dichloride (6a) was 63% for housefly (HF) AChE inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphates (DFP), 51% for bovine red blood cell (RBC) AChE inhibited by DFP, 67% for HF-AChE inhibited by paraoxon, and 81% for RBC-AChE inhibited by paraoxon. Except in the case of DFP-inhibited HF AChE test of 2-PAM, the activities of 6a are much higher than the activities of 2-PAM and HI-6 which are AChE reactivators currently in use.     

菌株DLL-1降解土壤和韭菜中甲基对硫磷的研究

施甲基对硫磷7．5、15和22．5kg·hm^-2(a．i．)时,韭菜中最终平均农药残留量为0．633、1．270和1．901mg·kg^-1,自然降解率分别为98．94％、96．44％和96．04％．施用高效农药残留降解菌剂能显著地降低农药残留的含量,施用75kg·hm^-2降解菌剂时,韭菜与土壤中平均农药残留量分别为0．269、0．099mg·kg^-1,与不施菌对照相比,能使农药进一步降低78．82％和98．68％．降解率随着菌剂用量增加而升高,当用量超过75kg·hm^-2时降解率不再提高．菌剂施用时间以施药后3d为最好．     

抗除草剂作物对未来化学农药发展的影响

近年来,转基因抗除草剂植物已取得重大进展,在２１世纪,迅速发展的转基因抗除草剂植物将对传统的农药工业产生重大的影响,除草剂在农药中的比重将继续增加,高效、灭生性除草剂的开发将成为除草剂开发的主流,并由此带来新除草剂问世速度加快,开发费用下降。本文讨论了转基因植物对未来除草剂发展的影响,同时就转基因抗除草剂的有关问题展开了讨论。     

Assessing the influence of vegetation on reduction of pesticide concentration in experimental surface flow constructed wetlands: Application of the toxic units approach

In summer 2008, an experiment on retention of a mixture of five pesticides in the Lier experimental wetland site (Norway) was performed. Two vegetated cells with hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 280 min and 330 min and one cell without vegetation (HRT of 132 min) of 120 m² surface area each were investigated regarding their ability to reduce peak concentrations, pesticide masses and predicted adverse effects. Discrete water, plant and sediment samples were taken and analysed. The inlet peak concentrations of the pesticides dimethoate, dicamba, trifloxystrobin and tebuconazole ranged from 18 ng/L up to 5904 ng/L. The mean reduction of peak concentration was 72% in the non-vegetated cell and up to 91% in the vegetated cells. Less than 5% of the masses were retained within the wetlands. Uptake and sorption by plants was low (up to 4%), however, higher for the vegetated cell dominated by Phalaris arundinacea L. than for the one with Typha latifolia L. as dominant plant. The toxic units (TU) approach was used to describe the potential reduction of toxicity within the wetland cells. Calculated toxicity of the substances decreased by 79% in the non-vegetated cell and by 95% in the two vegetated cells. Despite the low mass retention, the vegetated wetland system reduced the toxic effects, expressed as toxic units from values of 0.24 to 0.01, i.e. a concentration two orders of magnitude below the acute toxicity threshold, within a distance of 40 m while the non vegetated would need to be about 64 m long for the same efficiency.     

Field evaluation of a tunnel sprayer and effects of spray volume at constant drop size on spray deposits and efficacy of disease control on apple

An air assisted tunnel sprayer (the Noric Joco EX2) incorporating CDA rotary atomisers (Volume Median Diameter (VMD) =c. 140 μm, volume rate = 50 litre ha^-1 forward speed = 3.9 km h^-1) gave at best equal but in some cases significantly poorer control of apple powdery mildew and scab than the standard commercial practice of spraying with an axial fan sprayer with Micron XI rotary atomisers (VMD =c. 90 μm, volume rate = 50 litre ha^-1, forward speed = 7.2 km h^-1). Approximately 30% of the spray volume applied was collected for recycling with the tunnel sprayer. Increasing spray volumes at approximately constant drop size (c. 140 μm) from 50 to 100 to 200 litre ha^-1 with the tunnel sprayer consistently improved efficiency of mildew and scab control. Bulk spray deposits on leaves, and their gross distribution in the tree, was similar with the different spraying methods and volumes. The mean percentage leaf area covered with spray deposit increased with spray volume as did the number of spray deposits per unit area. The tunnel sprayer at 50 litre ha^-1 gave a similar though less variable mean level of cover than the axial fan sprayer at the same volume rate. It gave 2–3 times more cover on upper than on lower leaf surfaces. The axial fan sprayer gave approximately equal cover on upper and lower leaf surfaces. The main limitations of the tunnel sprayer were its slow maximum forward speed and the restricted tree size and shape on which it can be used.     

Non-food bioactive products for insecticides (II): Investigation on stress responses of Tetranychus cinnabarinus Boisduval against a derivative of the alkaloid matrine

Besides structural modification of natural bioactive products to afford promising agrochemical candidates, investigation of their mechanisms of action against pests is also an important strategy to obtain novel potentially botanical pesticides. N-(p-Ethyl)phenylsulfonylmatrinic acid (2), derived from an natural alkaloid matrine (1), exhibited about 5.9-fold more pronounced acaricidal activity than 1 against the adult females of Tetranychus cinnabarinus Boisduval, and good control efficiency in the greenhouse. By comparison of nAChR, AChE and VGSC of treated and untreated T. cinnabarinus via RT-PCR and qRT-PCR analysis, it was found that compound 2 could activate nAChR and VGSC via up-regulation of nAChR α1, α4 and α5 subunits and VGSC expressions; compound 2 may be the AChE and AChE enzyme inhibitor. Importantly, a scheme of compound 2 interaction with nAChR, AChE and VGSC of T. cinnabarinus was proposed. It will lay the foundation for future optimization and application of matrine derivatives as agrochemicals.     

How management practices affect arthropod communities on Japanese golf courses?

Potentially, golf courses could act as wildlife refuges under adequate golf course management. We assessed the impacts of golf course managements on arthropod communities by analyzing arthropod community data. Arthropods were collected using a sweeping-net method from turf areas. Information of management applied in each golf course such as frequency of chemical use, length of grass was obtained by field measurements and also from interviews based on management records with green keepers. In total, 92 invertebrate families were collected. Of 44 frequently appearing families, the number of individuals in 22 arthropods families such as Delphacidae and Deltocephalidae were associated with some kind of course management features. Length of grass was the most influential factor to those families. After removing the effect of the grass length by regression analysis, herbicide affected six families. The effects of frequency of the use of fungicide and insecticide were not detected in this study.     

Revisiting glycoside hydrolase family 20 β-N-acetyl-d-hexosaminidases: Crystal structures,physiological substrates and specific inhibitors

Glycoside hydrolase family 20 β-N-acetyl-d-hexosaminidases (GH20s) catalyze the hydrolysis of glycosidic linkages in glycans, glycoproteins and glycolipids. The diverse substrates of GH20s account for their various roles in many important bioprocesses, such as glycoprotein modification, glycoconjugate metabolism, gamete recognition and chitin degradation in fungal cell walls and arthropod exoskeletons. Defects in human GH20s cause lysosomal storage diseases, Alzheimer's disease and osteoarthritis. Similarly, lower levels of GH20s arrest arthropod molting. Although GH20s are promising targets for drug and agrochemical development, designing bioactive molecules to target one specific enzyme is challenging because GH20s share a conserved catalytic mechanism. With the development of structural biology, the last two decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in crystallographic investigations of liganded and unliganded GH20s, providing core information for rational molecular designs. This critical review summarizes recent research advances in GH20s, with a focus on their structural basis of substrate specificity as well as on inhibitor design. As more crystal structures of targeted GH20s are determined and analyzed, dynamics of their catalysis and inhibition will also be elucidated, which will facilitate the development of new drugs, pesticides and agrochemicals.     

An environmental 1H NMR metabolomic study of the exposure of the marine mussel Mytilus edulis to atrazine, lindane, hypoxia and starvation

Marine mussels are useful, robust model organisms that have been widely used as biomonitors. In the natural environment they can be subjected simultaneously to a mixture of environmental stresses (hypoxia, starvation) and to pollutants. In this study Mytilus edulis was used to investigate the effects of two pesticides, atrazine and lindane, which have different modes of action but produce similar changes in behaviour (depression of ventilation and feeding) in the mussels, and can cause starvation and mild hypoxia. Acetonitrile/²H₂O (60/40% v/v) extracts of foot muscle from animals subjected to hypoxia, or starvation, or low or high doses of pesticide were analysed using ¹H NMR spectroscopy to produce metabolic fingerprints associated with these treatments. Discriminant analysis based on metabolites that showed significant differences between treated and control animals gave a clear separation between all treatment groups. The fingerprints of atrazine treated animals were clearly separated from those of animals that were starved or subjected to hypoxia. The high and low doses of atrazine were also well separated. Lindane treatment was separated from control animals in a dose dependent way, and was associated with an increase in the concentration of alanine, and a decrease in all of the other identified metabolites (including osmolytes). This is consistent with a general depression of activity. This limited study demonstrates the potential of the metabolomic approach to provide a separation of the effects of poisoning from those of environmental stress. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.