The temporal and spatial variation of arthropod associations inhabiting non-crop vegetation in a sisal crop, agave sisalana in the caatinga biome

Sisal, Agave sisalana Perrine, is cultivated for fiber production, with Brazil being its leading producer. Nowadays, given the increasing interest in organic products, the market for sisal could become an economical alternative for rural areas with low economic inputs. However, sisal is threatened by different pests and diseases. Conservation biological control could contribute to the limitation of these plant enemies, but this agroecosystem is poorly known. In this context, we aimed: (i) to identify the diversity of plants and arthropods and their potential relations, (ii) to study the spatial patterns of arthropods and plants in function of the proximity to the margin of the field, and (iii) to determine the minimum sampling effort needed to record the occurring biodiversity in a sisal crop. Arthropods were sampled using pit-fall traps located close to the border and in the inner plant of the sisal crop from June to September. Simultaneously, plant species and their abundance in quadrats next to each pitfall were recorded. Diversity indexes were calculated to describe the biodiversity, a redundancy analysis was performed to analyze relations among arthropods and plants and the spatial distribution was evaluated using the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test. The redundancy analysis and the Wilcoxon test revealed a temporal and spatial distribution of arthropods and plants during the period of study. Results indicated (i) similar temporal diversity patterns from June to July for both plants and arthropods, with a maximum in July, whereas in September the biodiversity increased for arthropods and decreased for plants; (ii) the importance of particular plant species for Collembola; and (iii) that arthropods seem to colonize the sisal crop from the fields beyond the crop during the rainy season. These results provide new information about arthropods and plant biodiversity from an agroecosystem in a semi-arid region and raise further queries about the management of sisal crops.This research was funded by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) and CsF/CNPq (Programa Ciência Sem Fronteiras/CNPq).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Croton argyrophyllus Kunth and Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth: phytochemical characterization and bioactive properties

Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth and Croton argyrophyllus Kunth are endemic plant species from northeastern Brazil widely used in folk medicine and scarcely studied. In this context, the essential oils (EO's) and methanolic extracts (leaves and stalk) of both species were chemically characterized, and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were assessed. The chemical characterization of the EO's identified sixty components,being the major ones in C. argyrophyllus bicyclogermacrene (14.0%), β-pinene (8.9%) and spathulenol (8.7%), and in C. heliotropiifolius limonene (16.9%), α-pinene (13.3%) and caryophyllene (12.1%). Essential oils and methanolic extracts from leaves of C. argyrophyllus possess greater antioxidant potential, which could be related to the high levels of total phenols and flavonols. The antimicrobial activity of C. argyrophyllus essential oil proven to be more efficient than chloramphenicol (30 μg mL−1), with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 25 μL mL−1 against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 10 μL mL−1 against B. cereus. Leaf extracts presented high activity against yeasts (MIC = 50 mg mL−1) being C. heliotropiifolius effective against Candida albicans and C. parapsilosis, while C. argyrophyllus was effective against C. glabrata. Overall results showed that these plant species are potential sources of phytochemicals with interest in the fields of both pharmacology (e.g., antimicrobial) and human health (e.g., antioxidant). Furthermore, in the socio-economic aspect, these results can improve and disseminate the cultivation of these species, inducing improvements in the rural populations.This work was financially supported by CNPQ/CsF and CAPES and UID/AGR/00690/2013 – CIMO funded by FEDER – Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional through COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) – and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal. The authors are also grateful to UFRB Herbarium for the help with the plant species identification.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potential of the endophyte Penicillium commune in the control of olive anthracnose via induction of antifungal volatiles in host plant

Olive anthracnose, caused by several Colletotrichum species, is the most economically harmful fruit disease of the olive crop. This work aimed to evaluate the ability of the endophyte Penicillium commune CIMO 14FM009 to protect the olive tree against Colletotrichum nymphaeae via induction of plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Accordingly, olive tree branches were inoculated with the endophyte and one month later with the pathogen. After 0, 3, and 24 h of pathogen inoculation, the volatile composition of leaves and fruits was analyzed by HSSPME- GC/MS, and compared with controls (branches inoculated with buffer, endophyte, or pathogen). The effect of plant-derived volatiles on C. nymphaeae was also evaluated. Penicillium commune induced the release of VOCs on the olive trees, with the capacity to reduce significantly the growth (up to 1.4-fold) and sporulation (up to 1.2-fold) of C. nymphaeae. This effect was most notorious on olives than on leaves, and occurred 3 h after pathogen-challenge, suggesting the need for a stressful stimulus for the production of antifungal VOCs. The observed inhibition was associated to a specific set of VOCs released from olives (mostly belonging to the alcohols and esters chemical classes) and leaves (mostly belonging to the alkenes). Curiously, a set of VOCs belonging to alkene, alkane and ester classes, were emitted exclusively in olive branches inoculated with C. nymphaeae. These findings provide new possibilities for controlling olive anthracnose using P. commune and/or volatiles, which efficacy should be tested in future works.This work is supported by FEDER funds through the COMPETE (Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors) and by National funds through the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) in the scope of the project POCI-01–0145-FEDER-031133 “MicOlives - Exploiting plant induced resistance by beneficial fungi as a new sustainable approach to olive crop protection”, Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, in the scope of the project PRIMA/0002/2018 “INTOMED- Innovative tools to combat crop pests in the Mediterranean”, and IFAP via the project “Bio4Med - Implementation of innovative strategies to increase sustainability in perennial Mediterranean crops”, as well as the Mountain Research Center - CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020; UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Landscape composition and configuration affect the abundance of the olive moth (Prays oleae, Bernard) in olive groves

Landscape and crop management are important concepts for conservation biological control as they can influence the abundance of natural enemies. In this work we accomplished a multi-scale study focused on the effect of landscape structure and crop management on the olive moth, Prays oleae (Bernard), an important pest of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.). The olive moth was collected in different olive groves managed under organic farming and integrated production and surrounded by different landscape structures. Generalized additive mixed models were used to analyze the response of the pest to (i) landscape composition and configuration indices, (ii) the management system and (iii) pesticides applications at different scales. Results indicated that the landscape composition, through the effect of the Simpson’s diversity index, negatively influenced P. oleae abundance and that the effect was evident at larger scales. Also, the landscape configuration negatively affected P. oleae at larger scales. However, neither the crop management system nor the pesticide applications affected P. oleae abundance. This study emphasizes that the preservation or implementation of diverse and complex landscapes can contribute to maintain lower population levels of P. oleae when compared with homogenous landscape areas.The authors are grateful to the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through the projects EXCL/AGR-PRO/0591/2012 “Olive crop protection in sustainable production under global climatic changes: linking ecological infrastructures to ecosystem functions” and PTDC/ASP-PLA/30003/ 2017 – “OLIVESIM - Managing ecosystem services in olive groves using advanced landscape agent-based models” and CIMO (UIDB/00690/ 2020). María Villa also thanks to Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology for the Postdoctoral fellowship SFRH/BPD/119487/2016. The authors would like to thank to the farmers for allowing the access to their olive groves.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Oxidative Stress And Changes In The Content And Pattern Of Tissue Expression Of β-catenin Protein In Diversion Colitis

Objective: The aim of this study is to verify if oxidative stress is related to changes in content and pattern of β-catenin protein expression in an experimental model of diversion colitis. Methods: Sixty Wistar rats were submitted to intestinal bypass. The animals were divided into three groups according to the sacrifice to take place in six, 12 and 18 weeks. For each group, five animals only underwent laparotomy (control). The presence of colitis was diagnosed by histological study, and its severity, by inflammation grading scale. Cellular oxidative stress was measured by comet assay. Tissue expression of β-catenin protein was analyzed by the immunohistochemistry and quantification of its tissue content by computerized morphometry. Statistical analysis was performed with the Student's t-test, median, Mann-Whitney, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis, adopting a significance level of 5% (p <0.05). Results: Colon segments without fecal stream developed colitis, which worsened with time of exclusion. Segments without fecal stream suffer higher levels of oxidative stress when compared to those with stream, and it worsens with time of exclusion. The levels of cellular oxidative stress are directly related to the degree of inflammation. The total content of β-catenin in segments without fecal stream reduces after six weeks, and does not vary thereafter. The content of β-catenin in the apical portion of the colon crypts decreases with time, whereas in the basal region, it increases. The total content of β-catenin is inversely related to the degree of inflammation and levels of tissue oxidative stress levels. 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