Efficacies of four plant essential oils as larvicide, pupicide and oviposition deterrent agents against dengue fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti Linn.(Diptera: Culicidae)

Objective:To evaluate larvicidal,pupicidal and oviposition deterrent activities of four plant essential oils from Alpinia galanga(L.)Willd rhizome,Anethum graveolens L.(An.graveolens)fruit,Foeniculum vulgare Mill.fruit,and Pimpinella anisum L.fruit against Aedes aegypti(Ae.aegypti).Methods:Four essential oils at 1%,5%and 10%concentrations were assessed for insecticidal activity against larvae and pupae of Ae.aegypti,following the procedure of a dipping method assay.Oviposition deterrent activity of four essential oils was evaluated on gravid female of Ae.aegypti by a dual-choice oviposition bioassay.Results:The results revealed that An.graveolens oil provided the strongest larvicidal activity against Ae.aegypti among four tested plant essential oils with the highest mortality rate of 100%and LC_(50)value of-0.3%.From the pupicidal experiment,An.graveolens also showed the highest toxicity against Ae.aegypti pupae with the highest mortality rate of 100%at 72 h and LC_(50)value of2.9%.In addition,10%An.graveolens had an oviposition deterrent effect against Ae.aegypti with effective repellency of 100%and an oviposition activity index of-1.0.Conclusions:An.graveolens oil has a good potential as a larvicidal,pupicidal and oviposition deterrent agent for controlling Ae.aegypti.

Larvicidal, pupicidal and oviposition deterrent activities of essential oils from Umbelliferae plants against house fly Musca domestica

To evaluate the toxicity against house fly Musca domestica L.(M. domestica)-larvicidal, pupicidal, and oviposition deterrent activities of essential oils(EOs) from five plants: Anethum graveolens L.(A. graveolens), Centratherum anthelminticum L.(C. anthelminticum), Foeniculum vulgare Mill.(F. vulgare), Pimpinella anisum L.(P. anisum), and Trachyspermum ammi L.(T. ammi) Sprague. Methods: Dipping, topical and dual-choice assays were performed by using each EO at three concentrations(1%, 5% and 10%) as well as cypermethrin(positive control) and ethyl alcohol(negative control) in order to determine their larvicidal, pupicidal and oviposition deterrent activities against M. domestica mortality rate and morphogenic abnormality of larvae and pupae were recorded after 3 and 10 days of incubation. Oviposition deterrent activity was recorded for 5 consecutive days from the beginning of the assay. Results: All EOs at the highest concentration(10%) were highly effective in oviposition deterrent with 100% effective repellency and an oviposition activity index of-1.00. Ten percent of F. vulgare oil exhibited the highest efficacy against the larvae with 89.6% mortality rate at 3 days and an LC50 value of 5.4%. Ten percent of A. graveolens and T. ammi oils showed the highest efficacy against the pupae with 100% mortality and an LC50 value ranging from 1.81%-2.24%. Conclusions: These results indicate that F. vulgare, A. graveolens and T. ammi EOs are effective larvicidal, pupicidal and oviposition deterrent agents against house fly M. domestica.

Toxicity of several botanical essential oils and their combinations against females of Aedes albopictus(Skuse) and Anopheles minimus(Theobald): Oviposition deterrent, ovicidal and adulticidal efficacies

Objective: To investigate the efficacies of 12 essential oil(EO) formulations from three Zingiberaceae plants(Alpinia galanga, Curcuma zedoaria, and Zingiber cassumunar) individually and in combination with an augmenting Eucalyptus globulus(E. globulus) EO against females of Aedes albopictus(Ae. albopictus) and Anopheles minimus(An. minimus). Methods: These formulations were evaluated for their ovicidal, oviposition deterrent and adulticidal activities against Ae. albopictus and An. minimus by a topical method, a double-choice method and a WHO susceptibility test, respectively. Results: It was found that all formulations of Zingiberaceae plants EOs augmented with E. globulus EO were more effective in oviposition deterrent, ovicidal, and adulticidal activities against the two mosquito species than all of the formulations used without E. globulus EO. Their oviposition deterrent, ovicidal and adulticidal activities were equivalent to those of 10% w/v cypermethrin. In contrast, 70% v/v ethyl alcohol as a control alone was not effective at all. The highest synergistic effect in effective repellency against Ae. albopictus was achieved by 5% Alpinia galanga EO + 5% E. globulus EO and against An. minimus was 5% Zingiber cassumunar EO + 5% E. globulus EO. Moreover, the highest synergistic effects in ovicidal activities against Ae. albopictus and An. minimus were achieved by 10% Zingiber cassumunar EO + 10% E. globulus EO and 5% Curcuma zedoaria EO + 5% E. globulus EO, respectively. For the adulticidal activities, the highest synergistic effect against two mosquitoes was achieved by 5% Curcuma zedoaria EO + 5% E. globulus EO. Conclusions: These results suggest that Zingiberaceae plant EOs augmented with E. globulus EO have a high potential to be developed into oviposition deterrent, ovicidal, and adulticidal agents for controlling populations of Ae. albopictus and An. minimus.

Adulticidal, larvicidal, pupicidal and oviposition deterrent activities of essential oil from Zanthoxylum limonella Alston(Rutaceae) against Aedes aegypti(L.) and Culex quinquefasciatus(Say)

Objective: To evaluate adulticidal, larvicidal and oviposition deterrent response of the essential oil from dried Zanthoxylum limonella(Z. limonella) fruit against Aedes aegypti(Ae. aegypti) and Culex quinquefasciatus(Cx. quinquefasciatus).Methods: Z. limonella oil was tested by biological assays at 1%, 5% and 10% concentrations in ethanol. Adulticidal efficacy was tested against the 2–3 day old adult females. Larvicidal activity was tested against immature stage of mosquitoes. Oviposition deterrence of the oil was evaluated on gravid females.Results: The adult mortality was observed after 24 h with the LC50 of 6.0% for Ae.aegypti, and 5.7% for Cx. quinquefasciatus. Larvicidal bioassay was carried out with the 10% Z. limonella oil against immature stages of Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus,which caused 100% mortality after 12 h and 24 h. In the larvicidal experiment,Z. limonella showed effective result at 1%, 5% and 10% concentrations with the values of LT50 Ae. aegypti = 9.78, 5.61, 0.24 h for larvae and LT50= 64.08, 21.23 h for pupae;Cx. quinquefasciatus had LT50= 28.46, 20.25, 1.01 h for larvae and LT50= 67.52, 27.96,4.11 h for pupae, respectively. Oviposition deterrence of the oil was evaluated on gravid females. In the study, 10% Z. limonella showed 100% repellency for Ae. aegypti and99.53% for Cx. quinquefasciatus. Likewise, oviposition activity indexes of these oil concentrations were all negative values ranging from–0.89 to-1.00 for Ae. aegypti and–0.64 to–0.99 for Cx. quinquefasciatus. The oviposition activity indexes values revealed that Z. limonella oil has deterrent effect, and it caused a remarkable negative response resulting in very few eggs.Conclusions: This result indicates that Z. limonella oil can be used as an effective adulticide, larvicide and oviposition deterrent against Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus.

Effect of Salts Stress on the Growth and Yield of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

In order to study the effect of salts stress on the growth and yield of wheat (cv. Inqalab), a pot experiment was conducted in the wire-house of the Department of Soil Science, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam. The soil was artificially salinized to a range of salinity levels i.e . EC 2.16, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 dS·m-1 with different salts (MgCl2 + CaCl2 + Na2SO4). The salinized soil used for the experiment was sandy clay in texture, alkaline in reaction (pH > 7.0) and moderate in organic matter (0.95%) content. The results showed that with increasing salinity there was an increase in the ECe, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Cl- and decrease in the K+, SAR and ESP values of the soil Increasing salinity, progressively decreased plant height, spike length, number of spikelets spike-1 1000 grain weight and yield (straw and grain). Adverse effects of salts on plants were associated with the accumulation of less K+ and more Na+ and Cl- in their flag leaf sap, grains and straw. This resulted in lower K+:5Na+ ratio in flag leaf sap, grains and straw of wheat plants. These results indicated that the effects of salts stress were greater at 10 than at 8, 6 and 4 EC dS·m-1.

昆虫种群生命表简化记录方法：以烟粉虱数据为例

【目的】使昆虫两性生命表研究能省时省力地记录产卵量,同时维持分析的准确性。【方法】本研究以每日记录产卵量的烟粉虱Bemisia tabaci MED隐种(通常称为Q型)感染与未感染Cardinium的2个品系的原始数据为基础,将产卵量按照每2,4和5 d进行简化记录,以验证这种方法的有效性及其对种群参数的影响,并进行显著性分析。【结果】除成虫产卵前期(adult preoviposition period,APOP)和产卵天数受到影响外,简化记录方法对内禀增长率(intrinsic rate of increase,r)、周限增长率(finite rate of increase,λ)、净增殖率(net reproductive rate,R0)、平均世代周期(mean generation time,T)、成虫前历期、繁殖力、雌雄虫寿命和总产卵前期(total preoviposition period,TPOP)均无显著性影响。【结论】结果说明,这种简化记录方法对生命表的主要参数无显著性影响,可用于生命表研究中以节省时间与劳力,并且减小每天检视可能对成虫造成的影响,有利于两性生命表的广泛应用。

New Thai herbal shampoos as pediculicides for killing head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer(Phthiraptera)

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Thai herbal shampoos [Cartoxylum formosum(C.formosum) + eucalyptus essential oil(EO), C. formosum + citrus EO, Solanum trilobatum+ eucalyptus EO, Solanum trilobatum + citrus EO, Moringa oleifera + eucalyptus EO and Moringa oleifera + citrus EO] for killing all stages of Pediculus humanus capitis(Phthiraptera).Methods: A filter paper contact method was applied with three concentrations(0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 mL/cm^2) of each Thai herbal shampoo as well as permethrin pediculicide(positive control) and drinking water(negative control) against eggs, nymphs and adults of Pediculus humanus capitis. Mortality rates of the eggs were recorded after 7 days of incubation while those of nymphs and adults were recorded after 5 minutes of contact. Results: All herbal shampoos at the high concentration were highly effective against nymphs and adults, but not effective against the eggs. C. formosum + eucalyptus EO and C. formosum + citrus EO shampoos at all concentrations exhibited the highest efficacy against nymphs and adults with100% mortality rate at 5 min and LC_(50) values of 0.004 and 0.005 mL/cm^2, respectively. All formulation of Solanum trilobatum and Moringa oleifera shampoos added with eucalyptus EO showed mortality rates against nymphs at 92.0%-100.0% and 76.0%-100.0% and against adults at 84.0%-100.0% and 20.0%-32.0%, respectively. Permethrin pediculicide was not effective against the eggs, but showed 68.0%-92.0% and 28.0%-60.0% mortality rates against nymphs and adults. Conclusions: These results indicate that C. formosum + eucalyptus EO shampoo can be used as an effective nymphicide and adulticide against Pediculus humanus capitis.

与大豆田间老化抗性连锁的分子标记的发掘及辅助选择应用研究(英文)

大豆种子成熟至收获期间如遇高温高湿天气,种子活力及活性会急剧下降,这就是所谓的田间老化(field weathering)。田间老化是热带、亚热带地区大豆生产的主要限制因素之一。本研究旨在寻找与田间老化性状相连锁的DNA标记并将其应用于辅助选择育种。为此,利用修改的培养箱老化法和人工控制老化法对大豆品种Chiangmai 60(敏感),GC10981(抵抗)及其F2群体(139个体)进行了鉴定。在两种处理条件下,F2代群体的种子发芽率及活性均为正态分布,说明大豆种子田间老化抗性受多个基因控制。根据F2代个体的种子发芽率及活性,6个高抗个体及7个高感个体的DNA分别被混合为抗性池和感性池,并利用AFLP标记进行了混合群体分析(BulkSegregant Analysis)。从扩增的2162个标记中,发现了5个可能于大豆种子田间抗性相连锁的片段。通过DNA克隆和测序,设计了5对引物用于从大豆总DNA中扩增相应的片段。其中3对引物扩增的片段差异太小或未能扩增正确大小的片段,没能用于F2群体。引物Eaag/Mcac-233和Eact/Mctt-157能扩增出差异明显的多态性,通过对F2代群体的分析,这2个标记属同一连锁群,遗传距离为25.8c M。QTL分析结果显示有一个QTL位于这两个标记之间,距Eaag/Mcac-233约14c M,可以解释29.7%的变异。用这两对引物对整个F2群体进行筛选,20个个体属于抗性群体,结合抗性鉴定的结果,7个个体被用于与Chiangmai60进行回交。18个BC1F1个体(41·9%)的抗性高于其亲本的平均值。说明这些标记进行可以被用于大豆田间老化抗性的辅助筛选研究。

Maize Cannot Be Grown in Xiengkhouang Province?

During a 2005 visit with National Agricultural and Forestry Institute (NAFRI) Director, Dr. Kouang Doungsila issued a challenge to these authors to determine if it was true that crops could not be grown in the extensive uplands of Xiengkhouang Province, Laos PDR. In response, a two-phase series of experiments was proposed and implemented. The Phase I experiment was to bring soil from the Xiengkhouang province uplands to a NAFRI greenhouse near Vientiane to assess possible nutrient requirements using a nutrient omission experiment. Simultaneously, soils were collected and analyzed from seven recognized agricultural regions of Laos. The initial Vientiane greenhouse experiment indicated that maize did grow, but there were multiple issues of extreme soil acidity and clear deficiencies of phosphorus and other nutrients. Phase II of the study included field studies on the site of soil selected for the greenhouse study. Field experiments were carried out for two years at the site with yields of maize exceeding 5500 kg⋅ha−1 in the first year and exceeding 6250 kg⋅ha−1 in a subsequent year. Intense symptoms of nutrient zinc (Zn) deficiency were observed, however. In 2008 another experiment was designed and carried out that included a Zn variable. The results from that experiment confirmed that maize yields nearing 6000 kg⋅ha−1 were indeed possible. Substantial amounts of lime were needed to correct the strong soil acidity, and a series of other nutrients including N, P, K, and Zn were also required. Ongoing issues are where to obtain the extensive amounts of limestone needed as well as an evaluation of the residual effect of the limestone The finely ground, very reactive burnt lime residual effect was, as expected, short-lived. The results clearly demonstrated that, indeed, it was possible for maize to be produced in the extensive uplands of Xiengkhouang province, in answer to Director Khouang’s challenging question.

A CASE FOR ASSESSING ALLOCASUARINA AND CASUARINA SPP.FOR USE IN AGROECOSYSTEM IMPROVEMENT IN SEMI-ARID AREAS WITH A FOCUS ON CENTRAL ANATOLIA,TURKEY

Agroecosystems in water-limited contexts—Mediterranean,semi-arid and arid climatic zones—are too frequently degraded systems that will not provide the needed ecosystem services to ensure a future of sustainable agricultural production.The processes that have created this situation continue and are being accelerated by anthropogenic climate change.Increasing arboreal vegetation in these areas through agroforestry is an important strategy to conserve and improve their agroecosystems.Actinorhizal trees and shrubs in the Casuarinaceae have a unique set of adaptations for heat and water stress,and/or infertile to hostile soils.Central Anatolia,Turkey is particularly at risk of increasing aridity and further degradation.Therefore,species of Allocasuarina and Casuarina have been evaluated for their potential use in agroecosystem improvement in semi-arid areas with a focus on Central Anatolia.Based on a semiquantitative environmental tolerance index and reported plant stature,eight species were identified as being of high(A.verticillata and C.pauper)to moderate(A.acutivalvis,A.decaisneana,A.dielsiana,A.huegeliana,C.cristata and C.obesa)priority for assessment,with none of these species having been adequately evaluated for agroforestry deployment in semi-arid agroecosystems in any context.