Sugarcane is an important crop in Brazil, and this crop has social, economic and environmental impacts. Between the years 2012 and 2013, the area of sugarcane planted in Brazil was estimated at 9.8 million hectares (IBGE, 2013).
Endophytic microorganisms consist of fungi, bacteria, and actinomycetes that play important roles in the process of plant adaptation to the environment. Currently, the natural associations between microorganisms and plant species are being explored for a large number of biotechnological applications. In this study, 122 endophytic bacteria were isolated from 5 cultivars of Musa spp from the state of Amazonas (Brazil). Four strains were selected because they exhibited antagonistic activities against Fusarium oxysporum f.
Placusa pinearum, a newly described beetle species found living in pine shoot tunnels bored by the pine tip moth, Dioryctria rubella (Pyralidae), has potential as a vector to transport biological agents for controlling this moth pest of pine trees because of the high degree of niche overlap (co-occurrence) between them. In order to help determine the suitability of potential biological control vectors, it is useful to obtain knowledge concerning the intraspecific variation of the vector. We examined P.
Seven fungal isolates were identified as pan-global Hypocrea/Trichoderma species, from section Trichoderma, on the basis of their morphology. These species were H. lixii/T. harzianum and H. orientalis/T. longibrachiatum. PCR-based markers with primer M13 (core sequence of phage M13) and internal-transcribed spacer sequences of ribosomal DNA were used to confirm the identity of the two Trichoderma species.
The relationships between schistosomiasis and its intermediate host, mollusks of the genus Biomphalaria, have been a concern for decades. It is known that the vector mollusk shows different susceptibility against parasite infection, whose occurrence depends on the interaction between the forms of trematode larvae and the host defense cells. These cells are called amebocytes or hemocytes and are responsible for the recognition of foreign bodies and for phagocytosis and cytotoxic reactions.
The technology of mRNA-based differential display reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) was used to detect a 246-bp differentially expressed fragment from the nematophagous fungus Arthrobotrys oviformis when young mycelia were induced with the round worm Haemonchus contortus. The fragment was converted into an expressed sequence tag (EST) through characterization at the molecular level.
