Production of macrosphelide A by the mycoparasite <i>Coniothyrium minitans</i>

&lt;i&gt;Coniothyrium minitans&lt;/i&gt;, a mycoparasite of sclerotia of &lt;i&gt;Sclerotinia sclerotiorum&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Sclerotium cepivorum&lt;/i&gt;, produced four closely related metabolites inhibitory to fungal growth. The major metabolite, identified as macrosphelide A, had IG&lt;sub&gt;50&lt;/sub&gt; values (the concentration of metabolite to inhibit growth by 50%) of 46.6 and 2.9 μg ml&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt; against &lt;i&gt;S. sclerotiorum&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;S. cepivorum&lt;/i&gt;, respectively. This is the first report of both antifungal activity due to macrosphelide A as well as isolation of macrosphelide A from &lt;i&gt;C. minitans&lt;/i&gt;

Reducing the impact of Sclerotinia disease by determining optimum crop rotations using dynamic programming

Sclerotinia rot is a disease caused by the fungus Sclerotinina sclerotiorum which affects a wide range of crops and causes major yield and economic losses. Crop rotation is an important strategy for minimising losses. A dynamic programming (DP) model was developed to study the trade-offs between state of the land, severity of sclerotinia and financial impacts as a result of different cropping decisions. Results showed that rotation and treatment against sclerotinia was financially justified yet permitted intensive yet sustainable production of susceptible food crops in the long-run. Allocation of even a small proportion of cropping decisions to break crops coupled with treatments in the rotation mitigated long-term build-up of sclerotia in land. However in the short-run, high proportions and high frequencies of cropping decisions need to be either allocated to break crops or treated-susceptible crops in order to avoid the disease and to generate profit. Results showed that DP methodology provides a useful framework to explore the trade-offs between crop rotation and growing high value susceptible crops in the long- and short-term in relation to plant diseases in arable agriculture that are at the heart of sustainable food production and land use

Reducing the impact of sclerotinia disease by determining optimum crop rotations using dynamic programming

Sclerotinia rot is a disease caused by the fungus Sclerotinina sclerotiorum which affects a wide range of crops and causes major yield and economic losses. Crop rotation is an important strategy for minimising losses. A dynamic programming (DP) model was developed to study the trade-offs between state of the land, severity of sclerotinia and financial impacts as a result of different cropping decisions. Results showed that rotation and treatment against sclerotinia was financially justified yet permitted intensive yet sustainable production of susceptible food crops in the long-run. Allocation of even a small proportion of cropping decisions to break crops coupled with treatments in the rotation mitigated long-term build-up of sclerotia in land. However in the short-run, high proportions and high frequencies of cropping decisions need to be either allocated to break crops or treated-susceptible crops in order to avoid the disease and to generate profit. Results showed that DP methodology provides a useful framework to explore the trade-offs between crop rotation and growing high value susceptible crops in the long- and short-term in relation to plant diseases in arable agriculture that are at the heart of sustainable food production and land use