Management of Antracnosis with Electrochemically Activated Salt Solutions (EASSs) on Bean Culture.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important crop for food security and for national economics for several countries worldwide. One of the most important factors of risk in common bean production is the fungal disease anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, which, in some cases, causes complete yield losses; this kind of plant disease is usually managed through the application of chemical products such as fungicides that are commonly not accepted by society. This rejection is based on the relationship of pesticides with health damage and environmental contamination. In order to help in solving these drawbacks, the present work proposes the use of electrochemically activated salt solutions (EASSs) as a safer pathogen control agent in crops, due to it having shown an elicitor and biostimulant effect on plants. With this background, this manuscript presents in vitro results of the evaluation of the inhibitory effect for multiple bean pathogens and in vivo results of EASS in the common bean-Colletotrichum pathosystem by evaluation of the infection severity and defense activation, such as secondary metabolite production and antioxidant activity. EASS presence in growth media had a strong inhibitory effect at the beginning of experiments for some of the evaluated fungi. EASSs showed an effect against the development of the disease when applied in specific doses to prevent distress in plants.

Phytophthora capsici epidemic dispersion on commercial pepper fields in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Chili pepper blight observed on pepper farms from north Aguascalientes was monitored for the presence of Phytophthora capsici during 2008-2010. Initially, ELISA tests were directed to plant samples from greenhouses and rustic nurseries, showing an 86% of positive samples. Later, samples of wilted plants from the farms during the first survey were tested with ELISA. The subsequent survey on soil samples included mycelia isolation and PCR amplification of a 560 bp fragment of ITS-specific DNA sequence of P. capsici. Data was analyzed according to four geographical areas defined by coordinates to ease the dispersal assessment. In general, one-third of the samples from surveyed fields contained P. capsici, inferring that this may be the pathogen responsible of the observed wilt. Nevertheless, only five sites from a total of 92 were consistently negative to P. capsici. The presence of this pathogen was detected through ELISA and confirmed through PCR. The other two-thirds of the negative samples may be attributable to Fusarium and Rhizoctonia, both isolated instead of Phytophthora in these areas. Due to these striking results, this information would be of interest for local plant protection committees and farmers to avoid further dispersal of pathogens to new lands.

Effect of Fragmented DNA From Plant Pathogens on the Protection Against Wilt and Root Rot of Capsicum annuum L. Plants.

Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) production is affected by wilt and root rot, the most devastating disease caused by the pathogen complex of oomycete Phytophthora capsici Leon and the fungi Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht and Rhizoctonia solani Kühn, infecting roots, stems, leaves, and fruits. Fungicides are currently inefficient against this disease and have a high environmental impact. The use of elicitors is a sustainable alternative for inducing resistance to wilting and root rot. DNA fragments of an organism's own origin (conspecific or self-DNA) have shown the ability to inhibit growth and activate defense mechanisms in some plant species. In this investigation, the effect of the fragmented DNA mixture of Phytophthora capsici L., Fusarium oxysporum S., and Rhizoctonia solani K. on the protection against wilt and root rot of Capsicum annuum L. plants was evaluated. Changes in plant performance, phenolics, and flavonoids contents, as well as gene expression involved in the production of defense metabolites after the fragmented and unfragmented DNA mixture in three concentrations (20, 60, and 100 µg mL-1) in chili peppers, were studied. The results obtained showed a decrease in plant height in 60 and 100 µg mL-1 concentrations in absence of pathogens. Moreover, the treatment with fragmented DNA 100 µg mL-1 showed significant increase in the content of phenolic compounds and total flavonoids as well as gene expression associated to plant defense in comparison with control plants. Interestingly, foliar application of DNA fragments of the pathogen complex to a concentration of 100 µg mL-1 caused a 40% decrease in the mortality of infected plants with the pathogens at 30 days post-inoculation compared with control plants inoculated with the pathogen complex but not sprayed with DNA fragments. These results suggested a perspective for application of fragmented DNA of these pathogens at the agricultural level in crop protection strategies to cope with wilt and root rot in Capsicum.

Expression of ornithine decarboxylase of Coccidioides immitis in three Escherichia coli strains carrying the lambda DE3 lysogen and an E. coli EWH319 strain odc- null mutant.

Ornithine decarboxylase from respiratory fungal pathogen, Coccidioides immitis, cloned in the pETCiODC plasmid under control of T7lac promoter, was produced in E. coli BL21(DE3), BL21(DE3)pLysS, BLR(DE3) and EWH319 transformant strains. E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS-pETCiODC expressed the highest specific activity of ODC, suggesting that this strain could be successfully used for protein structure and drug testing studies.