Suchergebnisse

Olive knot (OK) is a widespread bacterial disease, caused by Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi (Pss), which currently has not effective control methods. The use of naturally occurring microbial antagonists, such as bacteria, as biocontrol agents could be a strategy to manage this disease. The objective of this work was to select bacteria from olive tree phyllosphere able to antagonize Pss using in vitro and in planta experiments. The elucidation of their modes of action and the potential relationship between antagonism and bacteria origin has been investigated, as well. To this end, 60 bacterial isolates obtained from the surface and inner tissues of different organs (leaves, twigs, and knots), from two olive cultivars of varying susceptibilities to OK, were screened for their in vitro antagonistic effect against Pss. A total of 27 bacterial strains were able to significantly inhibit Pss growth, being this effect linked to bacteria origin. Strains from OK-susceptible cultivar and colonizing the surface of plant tissues showed the strongest antagonistic potential. The antagonistic activity was potentially due to the production of volatile compounds, siderophores and lytic enzymes. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens P41 was the most effective antagonistic strain and their capacity to control OK disease was subsequently assayed using in planta experiments. This strain significantly reduces OK disease severity (43.7%), knots weight (55.4%) and population size of Pss (26.8%), while increasing the shoot dry weight (55.0%) and root water content (39.6%) of Pss-infected olive plantlets. Bacterial isolates characterized in this study, in particular B. amyloliquefaciens P41, may be considered as promising biocontrol candidates for controlling OK disease. ; This work was funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE (Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade), national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) and by Horizon 2020, the European Union's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, within the project PRIMA/0002/2018 (INTOMED – Innovative tools to combat crop pests in the Mediterranean), and the Mountain Research Center – CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDB/04046/2020). DM thanks FCT for SFRH-BD-105341/2014 grant. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Plant-inhabiting microorganisms interact directly with each other affecting disease progression. However, the role of host plant and plant habitat in shaping pathobiome composition and their implication for host susceptibility/resistance to a particular disease are currently unknown. For the elucidation of these questions, both epiphytic and endophytic bacterial communities, present in asymptomatic and symptomatic twigs from olive cultivars displaying different susceptibilities to olive knot (OK) disease, were investigated using culturing methods. OK disease was the main driver of the bacterial community, causing changes on their diversity, abundance and composition. OK disease effect was most notorious on OK-susceptible cultivar and when considering the endophytic communities. Plant habitat (epiphytes vs. endophytes) also contributed to the bacterial community assembling, in particular on symptomatic twigs (knots) of OK-susceptible cultivar. In contrast, host cultivar had little effect on the bacterial community composition, but OK-symptomatic twigs (knots) revealed to be more affected by this driver. Overall, the pathobiome seems to result from an intricate interaction between the pathogen, the resident bacteria, and the plant host. Specific bacterial genera were associated to the presence or absence of OK disease in each cultivar. Their ability to trigger and/or suppress disease should be studied in the future. ; The authors are grateful to the FEDER and Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) and BioISI (UID/MULTI/04046/2013), as well as the Horizon 2020, the European Union's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, for financial support the project PRIMA/0002/2018 INTOMED - Innovative tools to combat crop pests in the Mediterranean. D. Mina thanks FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE for SFRH-BD-105341/2014 grant. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Realizzato nell'ambito del progetto "Ricerca ed Innovazione per l'Olivicoltura Meridionale", finanziato dal MiPAAF ; Olive as other woody perennial crops can be affected by several systemic pathogens, including bacteria, fungi and several vector-borne viruses. The most important olive diseases, caused by different pathogens, are described in this text. Pathogen biology, diagnostic technique and control strategies are reported for each disease. The main and widespread bacterial disease, caused by Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi, is the olive knot. As concerns the most important and widespread fungal diseases, in this text are described the olive leaf spot, Verticillum wilt, cercosporiosis, anthracnose, fruit rot, parasitic brusca, root rot, sooty mold and wood rot. Infections caused by viruses are generally symptomless and do not result in diseased plants. Although, viruses do not cause detrimental disease on olive varieties, the infected olive trees represent a reservoir of virus inoculum for other crops, where these viruses are known to cause severe disease. Detection of these viruses represent an important critical step in the sanitary improvement of this crop. Recently, molecularbased assays have been effectively implemented to detect at least 8 of the 15 viruses known to infect this crop. Sanitation program using in vitro culture of shoot tip and thermotherapy have been recently described to recover virus-free plantlets. ; MiPAAF - Ministero delle politiche agricole alimentari e forestali

China's photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing industry has grown significantly since 2000, from being almost nonexistent to providing over 50% of the market share of solar panels in 2012. However, due to the high tariff resulting from an anti-dumping investigation by the US and a shrinking export market, Chinese PV manufacturers are faced with a large amount of challenges. This paper investigated 1) the general issues influencing the success of this industry; 2) the current market channels and the advertising methods; 3) the comparison of supports from government and utility between desired and perceived; 4) the attitude of manufacturers towards external opportunity and threats; 5) the operational issues. Based on the surveys distributed to PV manufacturers at the 2014 SNEC PV Expo in China, the results suggest potential strategies manufacturers, government, and utility companies

The PV Rebate Program (now the Solar Homes and Communities Program) operated from 2000 to mid 2009. Over this time, more than 40,000 PV systems were installed, about half of which were installed in the first half of 2009, and about a quarter of which were in NSW. This paper presents analysis of the characteristics of NSW PV rebate recipients, using surveys carried out by the NSW Government between 2000 and 2007, and a 2008 survey undertaken for the Commonwealth Government after it took over Program management. The surveys included questions about customer demographics, energy use and awareness, as well as PV information sources and reason for purchasing PV. The analysis in this paper is limited to grid-connected, residential rebate recipients in NSW, but the findings can be considered representative of the situation in Australia as a whole. Over the life of the Program both the grants and the customer base have changed. The most recent changes to the Program include the doubling of the grant in 2007 and the imposition of a means test in 2008. Variations to customer demographics and investment decisions are evident following these changes. The data provides a useful glimpse into Australian energy knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and hence provides useful guidance for future programs. This paper summarises a much larger report for the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, funded through the Low Emissions Technology and Abatement Program.