Genome characterization of brugmansia latent virus, a novel tobamovirus.

A novel tobamovirus, brugmansia latent virus (BrLV), was discovered during a study of brugmansia (Brugmansia spp.) in the living collections held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of BrLV, which is 6,397 nucleotides long and contains the four open reading frames (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, methyltransferase/helicase, movement, and coat proteins) typical of tobamoviruses. The complete genome sequence of BrLV shares 69.7% nucleotide sequence identity with brugmansia mild mottle virus (BrMMV) and 66.7 to 68.7% identity with other tobamoviruses naturally infecting members of the Solanaceae plant family. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genome nucleotide sequence and the deduced amino acid sequences of the four tobamovirus proteins place BrLV in a subcluster with BrMMV within the Solanaceae-infecting tobamovirus subgroup as a new species.

New directions in pollinator research: diversity, conflict and response to global change.

Interactions between pollinators and their plant hosts are central to maintaining global biodiversity and ensuring our food security. In this special issue, we compile reviews that summarize existing knowledge and point out key outstanding research areas to understand and safeguard pollinators, pollinators-host plant interactions and the pollination ecosystem services they provide. The vast diversity of the pollinator-plant interactions that exists on this planet still remains poorly explored, with many being associations involving a specialist pollinator partner, although historically most focus has been given to generalist pollinators, such as the honeybee. Two areas highlighted here are the ecology and evolution of oligolectic bee species, and the often-neglected groups of pollinators that forage solely at night. Advances in automated detection technologies could offer potential and complementary solutions to the current shortfall in knowledge on interactions occurring between less well-documented plant-pollinator associations, by increasing the collection range and capacity of flower visitation data over space and time. Pollinator-host plant interactions can be affected by external biotic factors, with herbivores and pathogens playing particularly important roles. Such interactions can be disrupted by modifying plant volatile and reward chemistry, with possible effects on pollinator attraction and pollination success. Mechanisms which underpin interactions between plants and their pollinators also face many anthropogenic disturbances. Reviews in this issue discuss threats from parasites and climate change to pollinator populations and plant-pollinator networks, and suggest new ways to mitigate these threats. While the protection of existing plant-pollinator networks will be a crucial goal for conservation biology, more research is needed to understand how lost interactions in degraded habitats may be restored with mutual benefits to plants and pollinators.

Nocturnal pollination: an overlooked ecosystem service vulnerable to environmental change.

Existing assessments of the ecosystem service of pollination have been largely restricted to diurnal insects, with a particular focus on generalist foragers such as wild and honey bees. As knowledge of how these plant-pollinator systems function, their relevance to food security and biodiversity, and the fragility of these mutually beneficial interactions increases, attention is diverting to other, less well-studied pollinator groups. One such group are those that forage at night. In this review, we document evidence that nocturnal species are providers of pollination services (including pollination of economically valuable and culturally important crops, as well as wild plants of conservation concern), but highlight how little is known about the scale of such services. We discuss the primary mechanisms involved in night-time communication between plants and insect pollen-vectors, including floral scent, visual cues (and associated specialized visual systems), and thermogenic sensitivity (associated with thermogenic flowers). We highlight that these mechanisms are vulnerable to direct and indirect disruption by a range of anthropogenic drivers of environmental change, including air and soil pollution, artificial light at night, and climate change. Lastly, we highlight a number of directions for future research that will be important if nocturnal pollination services are to be fully understood and ultimately conserved.

Mechanisms in mutualisms: a chemically mediated thrips pollination strategy in common elder.

MAIN CONCLUSION: This study provides first evidence of a thrips species pollinating Sambucus nigra and describes how interactions are driven by plant biochemical signalling and moderated by temporal changes in floral chemistry. The concept of flower-feeding thrips as pollinating insects in temperate regions is rarely considered as they are more frequently regarded to be destructive florivores feeding on pollen and surrounding plant tissue. Combining laboratory and field-based studies we examined interactions between Sambucus nigra (elderflower) and Thrips major within their native range to ascertain the role of thrips in the pollination of this species and to determine if floral chemicals mediated flower visits. If thrips provide a pollination service to S. nigra, then this will likely manifest in traits that attract the pollinating taxa at temporally critical points in floral development. T. major were highly abundant in inflorescences of S. nigra, entering flowers when stigmas were pollen-receptive and anthers were immature. When thrips were excluded from the inflorescences, fruit-set failed. Linalool was the major component of the inflorescence headspace with peak abundance coinciding with the highest number of adult thrips visiting flowers. Thrips were absent in buds and their numbers declined again in senescing flowers inversely correlating with the concentration of cyanogenic glycosides recorded in the floral tissue. Our data show that S. nigra floral chemistry mediates the behaviour of pollen-feeding thrips by attracting adults in high numbers to the flowers at pre-anthesis stage, while producing deterrent compounds prior to fruit development. Taking an integrative approach to studying thrips behaviour and floral biology we provide a new insight into the previously ambiguously defined pollination strategies of S. nigra and provide evidence suggesting that the relationship between T. major and S. nigra is mutualistic.

Protoilludane, Illudane, Illudalane, and Norilludane Sesquiterpenoids from Granulobasidium vellereum.

Two new and seven known sesquiterpene compounds were isolated from an agar plate culture of Granulobasidium vellereum, isolated from a log of Ulmus sp. The two new structures were elucidated with spectroscopic methods as an illudalane derivative, granulolactone (1), and a 15-norilludane, granulodione (9). The acaricidal and insecticidal activities of the isolated compounds were examined in vitro against two major horticultural pests, the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae and the glasshouse thrips Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis, respectively.

Leaf trichomes and foliar chemistry mediate defence against glasshouse thrips; Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouché) in Rhododendron simsii.

Herbivore defence mechanisms are a costly diversion of resources away from growth and reproduction. Thus time-limited and tissue specific expression in critical plant parts is more efficient as defined by optimal defence theory. Surprisingly little is known about Rhododendron herbivore defence but it may be mediated by combined chemical and physical mechanisms. Rhododendron simsii Planch. survives cyclic infestations of a leaf-feeding thrips, Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouché), which severely damage mature leaves but avoid terminal young leaves suggesting specific, localised defence expression. We examined correlations between the distribution of thrips and feeding damage with density of trichomes and the concentration of the diterpenoid, grayanotoxin I, a compound implicated in but not previously reported to mediate invertebrate defence in Rhododendron. Our data show that as leaves matured the number of thrips and area of feeding damage increased as trichome density and grayanotoxin I concentration decreased, this inverse correlation suggesting trichomes and grayanotoxin I mediate defence in younger leaf tissue. Grayanotoxin I was tested against H. haemorrhoidalis and was toxic to immature life stages and repellent to the adult thrips, reducing numbers of first instars emerging on leaves when applied at ecologically relevant concentrations. This work demonstrates that the pattern of defensive traits in foliage of a species of Rhododendron is key to its ability to tolerate cyclic infestations of a generalist herbivore, effectively conserving vital tissues required for growth and reproduction.

Influence of a short exposure to teflubenzuron residues on the predation of thrips by Iphiseius degenerans (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and Orius laevigatus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae).

A short duration (24h) leaf-disc bioassay was used to determine the effects of teflubenzuron residues on the predation levels of two predators, Iphiseius degenerans (Berlese) and Orius laevigatus (Fieber), foraging on nymphs of two species of thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) and Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouche), on a range of different species of plant. Teflubenzuron did cause thrips mortality during the 24-h bioassay; it was more active against H haemorrhoidalis than F occidentalis. Teflubenzuron did not cause significant mortality to either species of predator, although on some plants the effectiveness of both predators was reduced in the presence of teflubenzuron.