Phytosanitary irradiation for export of fresh produce: commercial adoption in Hawaii and current issues

Hawaii is a pioneer in the use of phytosanitary irradiation. Irradiation is an approved treatment to control quarantine insect pests in 17 fruits and 7 vegetables for export from Hawaii to the US mainland. The commercial X-ray irradiation facility, Hawaii Pride LLC, has been shipping tropical fruits and vegetables to the US mainland using irradiation since 2000. Hawaiian purple sweet potato is the highest volume product with annual exports of more than 12 million lbs (5,500 tonnes). The advent of generic radiation treatments for tephritid fruit flies (150 Gy) and other insects (400 Gy) has accelerated commodity export approvals and facilitated adoption by foreign trading partners. Current impediments to wider adoption include the labeling requirement, the 1 kGy limit for fresh horticultural products, and non-acceptance of phytosanitary irradiation in Japan and the European Union. USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has restricted the use of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for irradiated fresh fruits exported to the US due to possible increased radiotolerance in the target insects. Data are presented for response of melon fly in papaya to several types of MAP with radiation treatment at 45–65 Gy. Low oxygen atmospheres can increase insect radio-tolerance, but the effect is dependent on oxygen concentration and radiation dose

Phytosanitary irradiation for export of fresh produce: commercial adoption in Hawaii and current issues

Hawaii is a pioneer in the use of phytosanitary irradiation. Irradiation is an approved treatment to control quarantine insect pests in 17 fruits and 7 vegetables for export from Hawaii to the US mainland. The commercial X-ray irradiation facility, Hawaii Pride LLC, has been shipping tropical fruits and vegetables to the US mainland using irradiation since 2000. Hawaiian purple sweet potato is the highest volume product with annual exports of more than 12 million lbs (5,500 tonnes). The advent of generic radiation treatments for tephritid fruit flies (150 Gy) and other insects (400 Gy) has accelerated commodity export approvals and facilitated adoption by foreign trading partners. Current impediments to wider adoption include the labeling requirement, the 1 kGy limit for fresh horticultural products, and non-acceptance of phytosanitary irradiation in Japan and the European Union. USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has restricted the use of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for irradiated fresh fruits exported to the US due to possible increased radiotolerance in the target insects. Data are presented for response of melon fly in papaya to several types of MAP with radiation treatment at 45–65 Gy. Low oxygen atmospheres can increase insect radio-tolerance, but the effect is dependent on oxygen concentration and radiation dose

Nontarget Effects—The Achilles’ Heel of Biological Control? Retrospective Analyses to Reduce Risk Associated with Biocontrol Introductions

Controversy exists over ecological risks in classical biological control. We reviewed 10 projects with quantitative data on nontarget effects. Ten patterns emerged: (a) Relatives of the pest are most likely to be attacked; (b) host-specificity testing defines physiological host range, but not ecological range; (c) prediction of ecological consequences requires population data; (d) level of impact varied, often in relation to environmental conditions; (e) information on magnitude of nontarget impact is sparse; ( f ) attack on rare native species can accelerate their decline; (g) nontarget effects can be indirect; (h) agents disperse from agroecosystems; (i) whole assemblages of species can be perturbed; and ( j ) no evidence on adaptation is available in these cases. The review leads to six recommendations: Avoid using generalists or adventive species; expand host-specificity testing; incorporate more ecological information; consider ecological risk in target selection; prioritize agents; and pursue genetic data on adaptation. We conclude that retrospective analyses suggest clear ways to further increase future safety of biocontrol

Laser-Plasma Interactions Enabled by Emerging Technologies

An overview from the past and an outlook for the future of fundamental laser-plasma interactions research enabled by emerging laser systems

Geographical distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes in blood donors:an international collaborative survey

The frequency of infection with the six classified major genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was investigated in 447 infected volunteer blood donors from the following nine countries: Scotland, Finland, The Netherlands, Hungary, Australia, Egypt, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Viral sequences in plasma from blood donors infected with HCV were amplified in the 5'-noncoding region and were typed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Electrophoresis of DNA fragments produced by cleavage with HaeIII-RsaI and ScrFI-HinfI allowed HCV types 1 (or 5), 2, 3, 4, and 6 to be identified. Further analysis with MvaI-HinfI allowed sequences of the type 5 genotype to be distinguished from sequences of type 1 genotype. Types 1, 2, and 3 accounted for almost all infections in donors from Scotland, Finland, The Netherlands, and Australia. Types 2 and 3 were not found in the eastern European country (Hungary), where all but one of the donors were infected with type 1. Donors from Japan and Taiwan were infected only with type 1 or 2, while types 1, 2, and 6 were found in those from Hong Kong. HCV infection among Egyptians was almost always by type 4. Donors infected with HCV type 1 showed broad serological reactivity with all four antigens of the second generation Chiron RIBA-2 assay (Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, Calif.), while infection with divergent HCV genotypes elicited antibodies mainly reactive to c22-3 and c33c. Reactivities with antibodies 5-1-1 and c100-3 were infrequent and were generally weak, irrespective of the geographical origin of the donor. Because the envelope region of HCV is even more variable than the NS-4 region, it is likely that vaccines based on these proteins need to be multivalent and perhaps specifically adapted for different geographical regions.link_to_subscribed_fulltex