Influence of overflooding ratios on fruit damage and population growth of Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick): implications for the sterile insect technique program.

Background: Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a significant pest of citrus in South Africa. A key management strategy to control this pest is the sterile insect technique, which relies on releasing high numbers of sterile T. leucotreta in citrus orchards.

Development and Evaluation of Preharvest Citrus Fruit Infestation Monitoring for Inclusion in a Systems Approach.

, an important citrus pest in southern Africa, is subject to phytosanitary regulations for certain export markets. A systems approach has been developed as an alternative to standalone postharvest disinfestation methods, integrating multiple risk mitigation steps, including preharvest infestation monitoring. This study aimed to validate an existing preharvest monitoring protocol based on fallen fruit collected under designated data trees and to develop a novel monitoring system based on sampling of sanitation fruit.

Naturally Occurring Yeasts Associated with Can Enhance the Efficacy of the Cryptophlebia Leucotreta Granulovirus.

Yeasts associated with lepidopteran pests have been shown to play a role in their survival, development, and oviposition preference. It has been demonstrated that combining these yeasts with existing biological control agents can enhance their efficacy. The tortricid is a phytosanitary pest in the South African citrus industry, with the baculovirus Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV) being one of the components that can control this pest.

Variable Region Sequences Influence 16S rRNA Performance.

16S rRNA gene sequences are commonly analyzed for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies because they contain variable regions that can help distinguish different genera. However, intra-genus distinction using variable region homology is often impossible due to the high overall sequence identities among closely related species, even though some residues may be conserved within respective species. Using a computational method that included the allelic diversity within individual genomes, we discovered that certain Escherichia and species can be distinguished by a multi-allelic 16S rRNA variable region single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP).

E-Cigarette Aerosol Exposure Favors the Growth and Colonization of Oral Streptococcus mutans Compared to Commensal Streptococci.

E-cigarettes (e-cigs) have drastically increased in popularity during the last decade, especially among teenagers. While recent studies have started to explore the effect of e-cigs in the oral cavity, little is known about their effects on the oral microbiota and how they could affect oral health and potentially lead to disease, including periodontitis and head and neck cancers. To explore the impact of e-cigs on oral bacteria, we selected members of the genus Streptococcus, which are abundant in the oral cavity.

Mutualism between Gut-Borne Yeasts and Their Host, Thaumatotibia leucotreta, and Potential Usefulness in Pest Management.

Thaumatotibia leucotreta is endemic to southern Africa and is highly significant for various fruit industries, including the South African citrus industry, due to its classification as a phytosanitary pest. Mutualistic associations between C. pomonella, closely related to T.

E-Cigarette Aerosols Promote Oral Colonization by Delaying an Immune Response and Bacterial Clearing.

E-cigarette (e-cig) vapor has been shown to play a pathological role in oral health and alter the oral microbiota, providing growth advantages for opportunistic pathogens. Enrichment of , a commensal resident in the oral cavity, correlates with the progression of periodontal disease, suggesting a role as an opportunistic pathogen. Environmental conditions, such as cigarette smoke, are known to increase virulence, yet the role of in periodontitis and oral preneoplasia is unknown.

Microbial Communities in Retail Draft Beers and the Biofilms They Produce.

In the beer brewing industry, microbial spoilage presents a consistent threat that must be monitored and controlled to ensure the palatability of a finished product. Many of the predominant beer spoilage microbes have been identified and characterized, but the mechanisms of contamination and persistence remain an open area of study. Postproduction, many beers are distributed as kegs that are attached to draft delivery systems in retail settings where ample opportunities for microbial spoilage are present.

Crowdsourcing biocuration: The Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO).

Experimental data about gene functions curated from the primary literature have enormous value for research scientists in understanding biology. Using the Gene Ontology (GO), manual curation by experts has provided an important resource for studying gene function, especially within model organisms. Unprecedented expansion of the scientific literature and validation of the predicted proteins have increased both data value and the challenges of keeping pace.

Exopolysaccharide anchoring creates an extreme resistance to sedimentation.

By evolving strains of that hyper-resist sedimentation, we discovered an uncharacterized mechanism that bacteria can use to remain in suspension indefinitely without expending energy. This unusual phenotype was traced to the anchoring of long colanic acid polymers (CAP) that project from the cell surface. Although each characterized mutant activated this same mechanism, the genes responsible and the strengths of the phenotypes varied.

Modeling Small Structural and Environmental Differences in Solids with N NMR Chemical Shift Tensors.

The ability to theoretically predict accurate NMR chemical shifts in solids is increasingly important due to the role such shifts play in selecting among proposed model structures. Herein, two theoretical methods are evaluated for their ability to assign N shifts from guanosine dihydrate to one of the two independent molecules present in the lattice. The NMR data consist of N shift tensors from 10 resonances.

Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (): A Case Study.

, known as the false codling moth, is a pest of citrus and other crops in sub-Saharan Africa. As it is endemic to this region and as South Africa exports most of its citrus around the world, has phytosanitary status for most markets. This means that there is zero tolerance for any infestation with live larvae in the market.

Ribosome collisions alter frameshifting at translational reprogramming motifs in bacterial mRNAs.

Translational frameshifting involves the repositioning of ribosomes on their messages into decoding frames that differ from those dictated during initiation. Some messenger RNAs (mRNAs) contain motifs that promote deliberate frameshifting to regulate production of the encoded proteins. The mechanisms of frameshifting have been investigated in many systems, and the resulting models generally involve single ribosomes responding to stimulator sequences in their engaged mRNAs.

Genome Analysis of A Novel South African Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV-SA) with Resistance-Breaking Potential.

The complete genome of an endemic South African Cydia pomonella granulovirus isolate was sequenced and analyzed. Several missing or truncated open reading frames (ORFs) were identified, including a 24 bp deletion in the pe38 gene which is reported to be associated with type I resistance-breaking potential. Comparison of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with five other fully sequenced CpGV isolates identified 67 unique events, 47 of which occurred within ORFs, leading to several amino acid changes.

Cryptophlebia peltastica Nucleopolyhedrovirus Is Highly Infectious to Codling Moth Larvae and Cells.

Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV) is a cornerstone of codling moth () control in integrated and organic pome fruit production, though different types of resistance to CpGV products have been recorded in codling moth field populations in Europe for several years. Recently, a novel baculovirus named Cryptophlebia peltastica nucleopolyhedrovirus (CrpeNPV) was isolated from a laboratory culture of the litchi moth, , in South Africa. Along with CpGV, it is the third known baculovirus that is infectious to codling moth.

New Method for Differentiation of Granuloviruses (Betabaculoviruses) Based on Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (Real-Time PCR).

is a highly diverse family of rod-shaped viruses with double-stranded DNA. To date, almost 100 species have had their complete genomic sequences deposited in the GenBank database, a quarter of which comprises granuloviruses (GVs). Many of the genomes are sequenced using next-generation sequencing, which is currently considered the best method for characterizing new species, but it is time-consuming and expensive.

Development of a Postharvest Cold Treatment for Cryptophlebia peltastica (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) for Export of Litchis From South Africa.

The litchi moth, Cryptophlebia peltastica (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and certain Indian Ocean islands. It is an important pest of litchis and to a lesser extent macadamias. Litchis are exported to certain markets that consider C.

A Solvent-Free Approach for Converting Cellulose Waste into Volatile Organic Compounds with Endophytic Fungi.

Simple sugars produced from a solvent-free mechanocatalytic degradation of cellulose were evaluated for suitability as a growth medium carbon source for fungi that produce volatile organic compounds. An endophytic sp. (CI-4) known to produce volatiles having potential value as fuels was initially evaluated.

Morphological, genetic and biological characterisation of a novel alphabaculovirus isolated from Cryptophlebia peltastica (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

Cryptophlebia peltastica is an agricultural pest of litchis and macadamias in South Africa with phytosanitary status for certain markets. Current control methods rely on chemical, cultural and classical biological control. However, a microbial control option has not been developed.

New Method for Differentiation of Granuloviruses (Betabaculoviruses) Based on Multitemperature Single Stranded Conformational Polymorphism.

Baculoviruses have been used as biopesticides for decades. Recently, due to the excessive use of chemical pesticides there is a need for finding new agents that may be useful in biological protection. Sometimes few isolates or species are discovered in one host.

Genome Analysis and Genetic Stability of the Cryptophlebia leucotreta Granulovirus (CrleGV-SA) after 15 Years of Commercial Use as a Biopesticide.

Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is an indigenous pest in southern Africa which attacks citrus fruits and other crops. To control in South Africa, an integrated pest management (IPM) programme incorporating the baculovirus granulovirus (CrleGV-SA) as a biopesticide has been implemented. This study investigated the genetic stability of a commercially produced CrleGV-SA product that has been applied in the field since 2000.

The large ribosomal subunit protein L9 enables the growth of EF-P deficient cells and enhances small subunit maturation.

The loss of the large ribosomal protein L9 causes a reduction in translation fidelity by an unknown mechanism. To identify pathways affected by L9, we identified mutants of E. coli that require L9 for fitness.

The Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus-10 years of commercial field use.

In the last 15 years, extensive work on the Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV) has been conducted in South Africa, initially in the laboratory, but subsequently also in the field. This culminated in the registration of the first CrleGV-based biopesticide in 2004 (hence, the 10 years of commercial use in the field) and the second one three years later. Since 2000, more than 50 field trials have been conducted with CrleGV against the false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta, on citrus in South Africa.