Comparative Biology and Life Cycle of The Barley Stem Gall Midge and Hessian fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Morocco

The barley stem gall midge, Mayetiola hordei (Keiffer) is the most serious pest of barley in Morocco. The biology and life cycle of this insect were studied in a laboratory and under natural weather conditions. The results showed that similarly to Hessian fly, barley stem gall midge has two feeding instars and a third non-feeding instar. The generation time was longer for barley stem gall midge than for Hessian fly (45 vs 32 days at 18 ± 1°C, and a 12:12 (L: D) h photoperiod). The eggs of barley stem gall midge hatched in 7 days compared to 4 days for Hessian fly. The largest discrepancy in developmental time was for second instar and pupa. Second instars and pupae of barley stem gall midge required twice as long as those of Hessian fly to develop and molt into next stage (12 vs. 6 days). The first and third instars of barley stem gall midge also required a little bit longer to complete development (9 and 10 days vs. 7 and 8 days for Hessian fly). Like for Hessian fly, barley stem gall midge reproduces mostly by unisexual progenies. Four progeny classes were observed; unisexual female progenies, unisexual male progenies, predominantly female progenies, and predominantly male progenies. The proportion of unisexual female and male progenies and the proportion of predominantly female and predominantly male progenies were similar. Overall, the sex ratio of both species was about 1:1. Under field weather conditions that prevail in the Chaouia region of Morocco, barley stem gall midge has two complete generations and a third partial one. The first generation starts late October, and ends late December. The second generation develops from January until early March. A high proportion of third instars of this generation fail to pupate (35%). The third generation is only partial; adults of the second generation emerge during March, oviposit and larvae develop to third instars but all go into summer diapause.

Evaluating the cost and gain from genetic resistance to Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor (say)) in durum wheat in Morocco using recombinant inbred lines

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) is an important food crop in the Mediterranean region. Hessian fly is the most important insect pest of wheat in the dry land areas in Morocco.  Breeding wheat for genetic resistance to pests is the most sustainable control strategy because genetic resistance brings yield advantage under pest attack. However, there are fears that this resistance could have its price in terms of yield potential under pest free situation. The objective of this study was to quantify the yield gains in the presence of H. fly and verify the assumption of resistance cost in the absence of the pest. One hundred and eighty recombinant inbred lines of durum wheat (RILs) derived from the crosses (CI115 / Bzaiz-AHF/CM829/Cando -H25) segregated for Hessian fly resistance and adapted to dry areas were planted in two experimental domains of INRA, differing in Hessian fly infestation levels (Sidi El Aidi and Jemaa-Shaim) in the 2012-2013 season. Plants were evaluated for agronomic and phenological traits as well as for yield components. The data indicated that under severe H. fly attacks, the yield losses avoided by resistant lines may reach 100% and that under pest free situation, the mean values of each parameter measured are similar between resistant and susceptible groups of lines. These results indicated that resistance had no negative effect on genetic potential of studied characters in this case study. In addition, the phenotypic correlations between different traits are similar between groups under differing situations and this confirms the above results. The conclusion is that incorporating genetic resistance to Hessian fly has a positive effect on phenological and agro-morphologic traits, as well as on yield and yield components under H. fly attack, and has no negative effect on these parameters in a fly free situation

What You Feel Is What I Do: A Study of Dynamic Haptic Interaction in Distributed Collaborative Virtual Environment

In this paper we present the concept of “What You Feel Is What I Do (WYFIWID)”. The concept is fundamentally based on a haptic guide that allows an expert to control the hand of a remot trainee. When haptic guide is active then all movements of the expert’s hand (via input device) in the 3D space are haptically reproduced by the trainee’s hand via a force feedback device. We use haptic guide to control the trainee’s hand for writing alphabets and drawing geometrical forms. Twenty subjects participated in the experiments to evaluate

Sélection de nouvelles lignées de blé tendre hautement productives et résistantes à la cécidomyie, Mayetiola destructor (Say), au Maroc

Le blé (Triticum sp.) constitue l’alimentation de base de la population Marocaine. Toutefois, cette culture est attaquée par plusieurs maladies et ravageurs, dont la mouche de Hesse. Cet insecte est le ravageur le plus redoutable du blé, causant des pertes annuelles en rendement de plus de 30%. Dans le but de sélectionner un germoplasme qui combine la résistance à la cécidomyie, Mayetiola destructor (Say), et un haut potentiel de rendement, une pépinière de blé tendre HF_SBWYT_MOR_ON de 160 lignées provenant de l’ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) a été évaluée pour la résistance à la cécidomyie de blé et pour le potentiel de rendement sous serre, et dans quatre environnements (sites) du Maroc: Chaouia, Abda, Doukkala et Tadla, représentés par les domaines expérimentaux de Sidi El Aidi, Jemaa Shaim, Khemis Zemamra et Deroua. L'analyse de la variance a montré des effets hautement significatifs (P<0,0001) des paramètres site, génotype et l’interaction site x génotype, pour les tests de résistance à la cécidomyie ou de rendement grain. L’évaluation sous serre a révéléque 87,5% des lignées de la pépinière sont résistantes, 9,4 % hétérogènes et 3,1 sensibles. Les lignées sont dérivées de parents résistants et expriment l’antibiosis comme mécanisme de résistance. Les meilleurs rendements en grain ont été obtenus dans la station expérimentale de Deroua conduite sous régime irrigué : 23,7 à 86 qx/ha dépassant largement la moyenne nationale (18 qx/ha). Les plus faibles rendements ont été obtenus à Khemis Zemamra: 7,7 à 41,3 qx/ha.

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century