Dariusz Piesik

Occurrence of crioceris spp. of ten european asparagus cultivars depending on drip irrigation

Occurrence of Crioceris Spp. of Ten European Asparagus Cultivars Depending on Drip Irrigation The influence of drip irrigation of 10 European asparagus cultivars on the occurrence of Crioceris duodecimpunctata (L.) and Crioceris asparagi (L.) was studied. We tested 5 German cultivars (‘Ravel’, ‘Rambo’, ‘Rally’, ‘Ramada’, ‘Rapsody’), 2 Spanish cv. (‘Cipres’ and ‘Plaverd’), 2 Dutch cv. (‘Backlim’ and ‘Grolim’) and French cv. ‘Orane’ in the field conditions. The field experiment was carried out in two consecutive years (2005-2006) at Kruszyn Krajeński near Bydgoszcz on a sandy soil. Adults and larvae of C. duodecimpunctata (twelvespotted asparagus beetles - T-SAB) and C. asparagi (common asparagus beetles - CAB) reached over 91% of all insects settled on asparagus summer stalks. The German cultivars ‘Rambo’ and ‘Rally’ were considerably settled by adults and larvae of T-SAB. The highest number of individuals (adults and larvae) of CAB on the Dutch cv. ‘Backlim’ were observed. However, German cv. ‘Rapsody’ were significantly less numerous (both CAB and T-SAB). Moreover Dutch cv. ‘Backlim’ was more occupied by adults and larvae of CAB in drip irrigation plots than all five tested German cultivars. Also adults and larvae of T-SAB as well as CAB often prefer drip irrigated asparagus summer stalks. Występowanie Poskrzypek (Crioceris Spp.) na 10 Europejskich Odmianach Szparaga w Zależności od Nawadniania Kroplowego Badano wpływ nawadniania kroplowego 10 europejskich odmian szparaga na występowanie Crioceris duodecimpunctata (L.) i Crioceris asparagi (L.). W warunkach polowych badano 5 niemieckich odmian szparaga (‘Ravel’, ‘Rambo’, ‘Rally’, ‘Ramada’, ‘Rapsody’), 2 hiszpańskie (‘Cipres’, ‘Plaverd’), 2 holenderskie (‘Backlim’, ‘Grolim’) i 1 francuską (‘Orane’). Badania polowe prowadzono w latach 2005-2006 w Kruszynie Krajeńskim koło Bydgoszczy na glebie lekkiej. Osobniki dorosłe i larwy dwóch gatunków poskrzypek stanowiły 91% wszystkich oznaczonych owadów zasiedlających rośliny szparaga. C. duodecimpunctata najchętniej zasiedlały niemieckie odmiany ‘Rambo’ i ‘Rally’. Zaobserwowano najwyższą liczebność C. asparagi na holenderskiej odmianie ‘Backlim’, jednakże na niemieckiej odmianie ‘Rapsody’ było istotnie najmniej, zarówno C. duodecimpunctata, jak i C. asparagi. Ponadto holenderska odmiana ‘Backlim’ była chętniej zasiedlana przez larwy i osobniki dorosłe C. asparagi na poletkach nawadnianych niż testowane odmiany niemieckie. Zarówno dorosłe osobniki, jak i larwy C. duodecimpunctata i C. asparagi preferowały nawadniane pędy asymilacyjne szparaga.

Volatile organic compounds released by maize following herbivory or insect extract application and communication between plants

To protect themselves from herbivory, plants have evolved an arsenal of physical and chemical defences and release a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). By releasing these VOCs, a signalling plant can both reduce herbivory, sometimes by more than 90%, and also warn neighbouring plants about an attack. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of herbivory and insect extract application on VOC release by damaged/treated and nearby undamaged/untreated maize plants. We confirmed that European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) larvae attack or larvae extract application induced maize VOC release. Greater amounts of (Z)‐3‐hexenal, (E)‐2‐hexenal, (Z)‐3‐hexen‐1‐ol, (E)‐2‐hexen‐1‐ol, β‐myrcene, (Z)‐3‐hexen‐1‐yl acetate, 1‐hexyl acetate, (Z)‐ocimene, linalool, benzyl acetate, methyl salicylate, indole, methyl anthranilate, geranyl acetate, β‐caryophyllene, (E)‐β‐farnesene and (Z)‐3‐hexenal, (Z)‐3‐hexen‐1‐ol, (Z)‐3‐hexen‐1‐yl acetate, (Z)‐ocimene, linalool, indole, methyl anthranilate, geranyl acetate, β‐caryophyllene and (E)‐β‐farnesene were released as a result of biotic stress after insect attack or insect extract application. The amounts of each VOC released were qualitatively and quantitatively distinct and dependent on time after biotic stress exposure. However, for all biotic stresses, significantly lower VOC induction was measured when leaves were damaged/treated for three days, as compared to seven days. Our work also demonstrated that undamaged/untreated neighbouring plants also release significant amounts of VOCs. This suggests that VOC emission by a damaged/treated plant stimulates VOC induction in nearby undamaged/untreated plants. However, the concentrations of all VOCs released by neighbouring undamaged/untreated maize plants were lower than those from damaged/treated plants and were negatively correlated with distance from a damaged/treated plant. Still, significant VOC induction occurred in undamaged/untreated plants even at 3 m distance from a damaged/infected plant. Our work suggests that maize plant protective defence responses (VOC emission) can be induced via application of European corn borer extracts.

Path analysis and estimation of additive and epistatic gene effects of barley SSD lines

Abstract In the paper presented, 99 single seed descent barley lines as well as their parental forms Roland and Apex were studied. The grain weight components and their interrelations were analyzed using simple coefficients of correlation. The direct and indirect effects of such components on grain weight per plant and 1000-grain weight were estimated using path analysis. In the 2006 and 2007, the spike length and number of spikelets per spike were the determinants of grain weight. Genetic parameters as additive and epistasis effects were estimated for all studied traits. The results indicate the importance of both additive and epistasis gene effects of number of spikes per plant, grain weight per spike, grain number per plant and grain weight per plant in this study.

The influence of potassium to mineral fertilizers on the maize health

Abstract Field experiments (2009–2011) were conducted at the Department of Agronomy at Poznan University of Life Sciences on the fields of the Research Institute in Swadzim. We evaluated the health of maize plants of two types, depending on the variations in mineral fertilization. The conducted research recorded the occurrence of pests such as oscinella frit ( Oscinella frit L.) and the European corn borer ( Pyrausta nubilalis Hbn.). Diseases recorded during the research included two pathogenes: Fusarium ( Fusarium ssp.) and corn smut ( Ustilago maydis Corda). It was shown that the meteorological conditions during the maize vegetation had a significant influence on the occurrence of pests. Adding potassium to mineral fertilizers increased the maize resistance to Fusarium. Cultivation of “stay-green” cultivar shall be considered as an element of integrated maize protection. The occurrence of oscinella frit was correlated with the occurrence of Fusarium as well as the occurrence of the European corn borer for both examined cultivars.

Volatile organic compounds released by Rumex confertus following Hypera rumicis herbivory and weevil responses to volatiles

We report in this study large induction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a single inflorescence of mossy sorrel (Rumex confertus Willd., Polygonaceae), by herbivory of the weevil (Hypera rumicis L., Coleoptera: Curculionidae). VOCs blend induced by the weevil herbivory included 1 green leaf volatiles (GLVs) ((Z)‐3‐hexen‐1‐yl acetate), five terpenes ((Z)‐β‐ocimene, linalool, geranyl acetate, β‐caryophyllene and (E)‐β‐farnesene), three esters (benzyl acetate, methyl salicylate and methyl anthranilate) and one aromatic heterocyclic organic compound (indole). Uninjured plants produced only detectable amounts of VOCs. A Y‐tube experiment revealed that both females and males of H. rumicis were not attracted to any of tested concentrations (1, 5, 25, 125 ng/min). Also both females and males were significantly repelled by the highest concentrations (25 and 125 ng/min). Additionally, concentration of 5 ng/min proved to be repellent for females of H. rumicis.

Cereal leaf beetles (Oulema spp., Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) control following various dates of wheat sowing and insecticidal treatments

ABSTRACT In this paper, we report the sowing date and intensity of chemical control on presence of the cereal leaf beetles (CLB) on spring wheat. The CLB monitoring (Oulema melanopus L. and Oulema gallaeciana Voet.) was conducted in May–June of each year, following the announcement of the IOR-PiB in Poznań (Institute of Plant Protection, National Research Institute), that economic threshold levels in Poland of this pest is observed. For the spring sowing dates between (20 March–20 April) and late autumn sowings (21 November–7 December) larger amounts of CLB adults (1.6–1.1) in comparison to early autumn sowings (25 October–02 November) were noticed (0.4). Following the insecticidal seed treatment with imidacloprid, the occurrence of adults was 0.2–0.7 individual per stem, while the use of fungicidal treatment with triadimenol–imazalil–fuberidazol resulted in average 1.1–2.2 individual per stem. The reduction in the number of larvae per stem was 7–10 fold larger following the foliar application (pirimicarb + dimethoate + cypermethrin) compared to the seed treatment with imidacloprid. The lowest grain yield (3.83 t ha−1) from the spring crop without any insecticide was obtained. Foliar application with blend of pirimicarb + dimethoate + cypermethrin increased the yield crop by 0.41 t ha−1 (10.7%) and additionally by 0.78 t ha−1 (20.4%) to compare to the fungicidal control when imidacloprid was used. Wheat seed treatment with imidacloprid and sowing date in autumn showed to be suitable and economically efficient preventive strategies for controlling the pest population.

Testing of uniformity of seven Lathyrus species using Bennett’s and Miller’s methods

In this paper we focused on uniformity of seven Lathyrus species: Lathyrus aphaca, L. cicero, L. clymenum, L. hirsutus, L. ochrus, L. sativus and L. tingitanus. Two statistical methods, the Bennett’s and the Miller’s were compared. In both methods, coefficient of variation for evaluation of the uniformity of crop varieties was used. Four quantitative traits were analyzed: length of the pod, width of the pod, weight of seeds from the pod and 100 seed weight. The results of the study demonstrated that, the Bennett’s method is less restrictive (lesser species were found to be uniform in analyzed traits) compared to the Miller’s one.

Maize Voc Induction after Infection by the Bacterial Pathogen, Pantoea ananatis, Alters Neighbouring Plant Voc Emissions

Plants induce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after pathogen infection and exposure to a neighbouring infected plant. In a greenhouse, we measured VOCs from maize cv. ‘Prosna’ 3 or 7 d following foliar, or 42 d following soil, inoculation of Panteoa ananatis, a bacterial pathogen, as well as from uninfected neighbouring maize located 1 or 3 m from each infected plant treatment. We predicted the degree of VOC induction to be greatest 7 d post-foliar > 3 d post-foliar > 42 d post-soil inoculation; also, infected plant VOC induction > 1 m uninfected neighbour > 3 m uninfected neighbour. Maize infected by P. ananatis induced six common green leaf volatiles (GLVs), four common terpenes, and one common skikimic acid pathway derivative. Our results in general confirmed these two predictions, but there was an interaction. While 3 d post-foliar inoculated plants had greater VOC induction than an uninfected neighbour exposed 1 m from a 7 d post-foliar inoculated plant, 42 d post-soil inoculated plants had lower VOC induction than an uninfected neighbour exposed 1 m from a 3 d post-foliar inoculated plant. Thus, infected maize did not always emit higher VOC concentrations than uninfected maize exposed to an infected plant; it depended on the route of infection (foliar vs. soil inoculation) for the infected plant and which infected plant treatment was exposed to an uninfected plant. The VOC blend of maize cv. ‘Prosna’ after P. ananatis infection appears to be quantitatively different when compared to infection by a Fusarium spp. blend. The relevance of these maize VOC blend differences after infection by different pathogens needs to be studied, but our results suggest that maize responds with quantitatively different VOC blends depending on the infecting pathogen.