Förderung der funktionellen Biodiversität zur Bekämpfung der Kohlmottenschildlaus

Die Kohlmottenschildlaus (Aleyrodes proletella) hat sich innerhalb kurzer Zeit zu einem Hauptschädling im ökologischen und integrierten Kohlanbau entwickelt. Ein Grund ist der einseitige Nutzen des stetig gestiegenen Winterrapsanbaus für A. proletella nicht aber für dessen natürliche Gegenspieler. Projektziel war die spezifische Förderung dieser Gegenspieler mittels Banker Plants und Blühstreifen, um so den A. proletella-Befall, den ökonomischen Schaden und den Insektizideinsatz nachhaltig zu reduzieren. Zunächst wurden mit einer bundesweiten Erhebung die wichtigsten natürlichen Gegenspieler von A. proletella ermittelt und potentielle Banker Plant-Systeme zusammengestellt. Im Feld wurden zum einen einjährige Banker Plant-Systeme gegeneinander getestet. Zum anderen wurde die Überwinterung und Populationsdynamik von Alternativwirten und Gegenspielern auf mehrjährigen Banker Plants untersucht. Ein Versuch zur Kombination von Banker Plants mit einem spezifisch zusammengestellten Blühstreifen erfolgte im letzten Projektjahr. Der bedeutendste Parasitoid von A. proletella, Encarsia tricolor, wurde für die Entwicklung der Banker Plant-Systeme gewählt. Das beste ein-jährige System setzte sich aus E. tricolor (Gegenspieler) und Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Al-ternativwirt/-beute) auf Hokkaido-Kürbis zusammen. Im Feld erreichte dieses System auf kur-zer Distanz eine Reduktion des A. proletella-Befalls um durchschnittlich 28%. Um durchschnittlich 52% stieg die Parasitierung von A. proletella und auch das Vorkommen von Schwebfliegenlarven und Marienkäfern auf dem Kohl konnte erhöht werden. Mit einer kombi-nierten Strategie von Banker Plants mit Blühstreifen konnte kein zusätzlicher Erfolg beobachtet werden. Nelkenwurz (Geum urbanum) lieferte die besten Ergebnisse als mehrjährige Banker Plant zur permanenten Ansiedlung von Alternativwirten (Aleyrodes lonicerae) und natürlichen Gegenspielern. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass durch den Einsatz von Banker Plant-Sys-temen eine dauerhafte Förderung der funktionellen Biodiversität und eine signifikante Befallsreduktion von A. proletella erzielt werden kann. Möglichkeiten zur weiteren Optimierung der Banker Plant-Systeme und Vorschläge für zukünftige Untersuchungen bis zum praxistauglichen Einsatz werden diskutiert

Conservation of Non-Pest Whiteflies and Natural Enemies of the Cabbage Whitefly Aleyrodes proletella on Perennial Plants for Use in Non-Crop Habitats

Aleyrodes proletella causes severe economic damage to several Brassica crops. Its naturally occurring enemies often immigrate late in the season or appear in low numbers on cabbage. This field study aims to permanently increase the local abundance of A. proletella’s natural enemies by providing the non-pest whitefly Aleyrodes lonicerae as an alternative and overwintering host/prey. Therefore, the population dynamics of natural enemies on different perennial herbaceous plants pre-infested with A. lonicerae were determined at two field locations over two winter periods. Most A. lonicerae colonized (on average 166.22 puparia per m2) and overwintered (342.19 adults per m2 ) on wood avens Geum urbanum. Furthermore, the abundance of A. proletella main parasitoid Encarsia tricolor (28.50 parasitized puparia per m2 ) and spiders (12.13 per m2 ) was 3–74 times and 3–14 times higher, respectively, on G. urbanum compared to the other experimental plants. Conclusively, G. urbanum pre-infested with A. lonicerae permanently promoted natural enemies of A. proletella by serving as shelter, reproduction, and overwintering habitat. A potential implementation of G. urbanum in conservation biological control strategies (e.g., tailored flower strips, hedgerows) against A. proletella are discussed and suggestions for future research are given

Banker plants promote functional biodiversity and decrease populations of the cabbage whitefly Aleyrodes proletella

In this study, potential banker plant systems against the cabbage whitefly Aleyrodes proletella Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) were developed under controlled conditions. The two most promising banker plant systems, that is, the parasitoid Encarsia tricolor Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) either with Aleyrodes lonicerae Walker on European columbine (columbine system) or with Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) on Hokkaido squash (pumpkin system), were further evaluated in the field. Although the pumpkin system produced three times more parasitoids than the columbine system, both banker plants led to an 1.5-fold increase in A. proletella parasitism rates. However, only the pumpkin system increased the abundance of syrphid larvae on cabbage by 61.5% and reduced A. proletella populations on average by 4.4%–25.8% depending on the respective assessment date. In conclusion, the pumpkin system revealed to be a promising (supplementary) control measure against A. proletella. Options for further improvement and standardization of the pumpkin system as well as a potential implementation in cabbage production are discussed. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Applied Entomology published by Wiley-VCH Gmb

Dynamic pathway of the photoinduced phase transition of TbMnO3_3

We investigate the demagnetization dynamics of the cycloidal and sinusoidal phases of multiferroic TbMnO$_3$ by means of time-resolved resonant soft x-ray diffraction following excitation by an optical pump. Using orthogonal linear x-ray polarizations, we suceeded in disentangling the response of the multiferroic cycloidal spin order from the sinusoidal antiferromagnetic order in the time domain. This enables us to identify the transient magnetic phase created by intense photoexcitation of the electrons and subsequent heating of the spin system on a picosecond timescale. The transient phase is shown to be a spin density wave, as in the adiabatic case, which nevertheless retains the wave vector of the cycloidal long range order. Two different pump photon energies, 1.55 eV and 3.1 eV, lead to population of the conduction band predominantly via intersite $d$-$d$ transitions or intrasite $p$-$d$ transitions, respectively. We find that the nature of the optical excitation does not play an important role in determining the dynamics of magnetic order melting. Further, we observe that the orbital reconstruction, which is induced by the spin ordering, disappears on a timescale comparable to that of the cycloidal order, attesting to a direct coupling between magnetic and orbital orders. Our observations are discussed in the context of recent theoretical models of demagnetization dynamics in strongly correlated systems, revealing the potential of this type of measurement as a benchmark for such complex theoretical studies

Preliminary Results for the Multi-Robot, Multi-Partner, Multi-Mission, Planetary Exploration Analogue Campaign on Mount Etna

This paper was initially intended to report on the outcome of the twice postponed demonstration mission of the ARCHES project. Due to the global COVID pandemic, it has been postponed from 2020, then 2021, to 2022. Nevertheless, the development of our concepts and integration has progressed rapidly, and some of the preliminary results are worthwhile to share with the community to drive the dialog on robotics planetary exploration strategies. This paper includes an overview of the planned 4-week campaign, as well as the vision and relevance of the missiontowards the planned official space missions. Furthermore, the cooperative aspect of the robotic teams, the scientific motivation, the sub task achievements are summarised

Modelling human choices: MADeM and decision‑making

Research supported by FAPESP 2015/50122-0 and DFG-GRTK 1740/2. RP and AR are also part of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics FAPESP grant (2013/07699-0). RP is supported by a FAPESP scholarship (2013/25667-8). ACR is partially supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Comprehensive molecular characterization of microneedling therapy in a human three-dimensional skin model.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Microneedling therapy is a widely used technique in dermatology. However, little is known about the underlying molecular effects of this therapy on extracellular matrix remodeling, wound healing, and inflammation. The aim of this study was to examine morphological and molecular changes caused by microneedling treatment in a standardized in vitro full-thickness 3D model of human skin. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A microneedling device was used to treat full-thickness 3D skin models. Specimens were harvested at specified time points and qRT-PCR and microarray studies were performed. Frozen sections were examined histologically. RESULTS:Microneedling treatment caused morphological changes in the skin model resulting in an almost complete recovery of the epidermis five days after treatment. Microarray analysis identified an upregulation of genes that are associated with tissue remodeling and wound healing (e.g. COL3A1, COL8A1, TIMP3), epithelial proliferation and differentiation (KRT13, IGF1), immune cell recruitment (CCL11), and a member of the heat shock protein family (HSPB6). On the other hand, we detected a downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL1α, IL1β, IL24, IL36γ, IL36RN), and antimicrobial peptides (e.g. S100A7A, DEFB4). These data were confirmed by independent RT-PCR analyses. CONCLUSION:We present for the first time the direct molecular effects of microneedling therapy on epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts using a standardized 3D skin model. Treatment resulted in histological alterations and changed the expression of various genes related to epidermal differentiation, inflammation, and dermal remodeling. This data suggests that skin microneedling plays a role in dermal remodeling, increases epidermal differentiation, and might also have a direct effect on collagen synthesis. These findings may increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of human skin repair induced by microneedling therapy and will allow comparisons with competing applications, such as ablative laser therapies