Search Results (607)

Myrciaria floribunda is a plant found in the Northeast region of Brazil with several insecticidal properties that remain little explored. In this sense, this study aims to investigate the harmful effects of essential oil (EO) from M. floribunda leaves against Sitophilus zeamais, an important corn pest. The EO was applied in toxicity tests by fumigation, contact, and ingestion, as well as in in vitro assays to evaluate its effects on the activity of the enzymes α-amylase, trypsin, and acetylcholinesterase. Chromatographic analysis of the oil revealed (E)-caryophyllene (56.41%), viridiflorol (4.02%) and α-selinene (3.85%) as the main compounds. The essential oil (EO) showed fumigation toxicity, with an LC₅₀ of 3.2 μL/L of air, and (E)-caryophyllene with an LC₅₀ of 3.97 μL/L of air. The EO inhibited insect feeding, altering growth rate and feed conversion efficiency starting at 62.5 μL/g. In this study, an increase in amylase and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was observed. This increase in AChE activity may cause an imbalance in the nervous system, leading to insect death. Thus, the EO of M. floribunda may serve as an alternative for the control of S. zeamais in stored corn and help prevent significant post-harvest losses for farmers. Full article

The cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne, is a globally important pest of stored products, and prolonged fumigant use has accelerated resistance development. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are key phase II detoxification enzymes that mediate insect tolerance to xenobiotics. In this study, we identified nine GST genes (LsGSTs) in L. serricorne and classified them into four cytosolic classes, namely epsilon, delta, theta, and sigma, based on phylogenetic analysis. Most LsGSTs were predominantly expressed during larval stages, while LsGSTs7 showed peak expression in adults. Tissue-specific profiling revealed predominant expression in metabolically active organs, including the fat body, Malpighian tubules, and midgut. Inhibition of GST activity using diethyl maleate (DEM) significantly increased larval susceptibility to three emerging fumigants: ethyl formate, benzothiazole, and methyl isothiocyanate. Exposure to LC₃₀ and LC₅₀ concentrations of these fumigants induced up-regulation of multiple LsGSTs, highlighting fumigant-specific detoxification responses. RNA interference targeting nine fumigant-inducible LsGSTs markedly elevated mortality and decreased total GST activity under fumigant stress. Furthermore, recombinant LsGSTs6 protein effectively metabolized methyl isothiocyanate, confirming their direct role in fumigant detoxification. Collectively, these findings provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying GST-mediated tolerance in L. serricorne and identify specific GST isoenzymes as promising molecular targets for innovative resistance management strategies in stored-product pest control. Full article

This paper presents the application of ozone for pest control in large-scale systems, with the potential for industrial implementation. The designed ozone generation system is capable of producing an ozone concentration of 550 ppm within 30 min in a controlled chamber. Ozone technology was applied for the control of insect pests in the orchid export industry, both for current use and future applications. A high-concentration ozone generator was designed to operate at temperatures ranging from 30 to 35 degrees Celsius. The total operating time of the system was 90 min, with a power consumption of 2647 watts. Experimental results indicated that the orchids were not adversely affected by the ozone exposure and that no chemical residues remained after treatment. Furthermore, the research evaluated the effectiveness of ozone fumigation against common orchid pests, namely aphids and red spider mites. When exposed to ozone concentrations ranging from 550 to 650 ppm for 60 min, the system achieved a 100% pest elimination rate for both species. These findings suggest that ozone treatment is a promising alternative to chemical pesticides for pest control in the orchid industry. Full article

Sulfur fumigation, as a highly effective method for preservation and appearance enhancement, has been widely applied in fruits, vegetables, and food products. However, excessive sulfur fumigation can pose safety risks. Currently, there is limited research on the bound sulfites produced by sulfur fumigation, and no consensus has been reached regarding their structure and toxicity. Using ultra-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS), a total of 34 compounds were identified in 12 lily bulb samples subjected to different sulfur fumigation durations. These derivatives were all hypothesized to form via nucleophilic addition to carbon–carbon double bonds. Based on multivariate statistical analysis, 9 characteristic markers were established to rapidly differentiate between non-fumigated (NF) and sulfur-fumigated (SF) samples. The practicality of this strategy was validated using 18 commercial batches. Molecular docking simulations predicted that the modifications might enhance toxicity toward liver injury-related targets, both by altering the spatial conformation of the compounds and because the sulfonic acid group itself serves as an ideal hydrogen-bond acceptor. Overall, mild fumigation led to a gradual accumulation of free sulfur dioxide in lily bulbs, increased the total content of phenolic components and antioxidant capacity, and did not generate excessive bound sulfur dioxide. However, with further extension of fumigation time, the content of sulfur-containing derivatives rose rapidly, accompanied by a noticeable decline in antioxidant activity. This study elucidates the sulfur-driven chemical transformation mechanisms in lily bulbs and establishes a targeted methodology for the quality control and safety assessment of processed herbal products. Full article

The control of agricultural insect pests is currently based on synthetic insecticides that raise concerns about health and environmental safety. Given the need for sustainable alternatives, this study investigated the insecticidal potential of Mentha pulegium essential oil and its main components. The oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and characterized by GC-MS. The larvicidal and fumigant toxicity on Drosophila melanogaster was evaluated, in addition to exploring its in vitro and in silico inhibitory effect on the acetylcholinesterase enzyme. Chemical analysis revealed pulegone as the major compound (63.76%), followed by menthone (5.79%). In larvae, pulegone exhibited the highest activity (LC₅₀ = 119.15 µg/mL), showing no significant difference compared to the positive control carvacrol. The essential oil and menthone were significantly less toxic to the larvae. In the fumigant test, the essential oil stood out for its high efficacy, achieving 100% mortality at all concentrations tested. Pulegone led the inhibition of AChE (IC₅₀ = 45.88 µg/mL), supported by molecular docking simulations that showed high affinity and hydrogen bond formation with key residues of the enzyme’s active site. The study validates the use of M. pulegium as a promising natural alternative for the control of dipteran pests. Full article

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a widely available alternative fuel, easily stored in liquid form, capable of displacing diesel fuel in compression-ignition engines. Bio-LPG extends this pathway because it is a renewable drop-in form of LPG; its distinguishing advantage is not a different in-cylinder combustion chemistry, but a lower life-cycle greenhouse-gas intensity that depends on feedstock and production route. This review, therefore, combines a systematic synthesis of CI-engine LPG combustion evidence with a Bio-LPG transition perspective. A PRISMA-guided search of major databases (2000–2025) yielded 47 studies with matched diesel baseline. Evidence was categorized by LPG utilization pathway, distinguishing between fumigation, gaseous port injection, and in-cylinder LPG direct injection (gaseous or liquid), alongside engine class, pilot fuel fraction, and key operating parameters (injection timing/quantity, intake conditioning, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), and boost). Data were normalized as percentage deviations relative to diesel and synthesized across standardized load bins (25/50/75/100%). Among studies reporting nitrogen oxides (NO_x), 20 of 37 showed net reductions, while results in 12 studies were load-dependent; particulate matter (PM), smoke, and soot indicators decreased in 17 of 27 cases. While intake-path strategies generally reduced NO_x and smoke, they often increased CO and HC emissions at low loads. The limited emerging liquid-phase direct-injection evidence shows the closest diesel-like efficiency response, although the evidence base remains limited. Overall, the engine-level findings identify the most promising LPG/Bio-LPG deployment pathways, while the specific additional climate benefit of Bio-LPG lies in its lower well-to-wheel greenhouse-gas intensity. Full article

Soil fumigation effectively mitigates replanting obstacles induced by intensive cultivation, yet its non-targeted biocidal effects can suppress beneficial microbial activity, potentially compromising agricultural sustainability. Microbial inoculation, as a strategy to supplement beneficial microorganisms, is often employed to restore soil microbial communities. However, in practice, commonly used exogenous microbial consortia exhibit poor adaptability in non-native environments, frequently resulting in limited efficacy. To address this limitation, we propose an ecological intervention based on the reintroduction of indigenous cultivable microorganisms: cultivable microbial communities were isolated from healthy adjacent soils and inoculated into fumigated soils affected by replanting obstacles. The experimental soil consisted of black soil under continuous cropping, collected from Northeast China. The three treatments were continuous cropping soil (control), fumigated continuous cropping soil and fumigated continuous cropping soil after inoculation of indigenous cultivable microorganisms. Using high-throughput sequencing and agronomic–chemical analyses, combined with cross-domain networks and procrustes analysis, we systematically assessed the ecological effects of this approach on microbial restoration and the alleviation of replanting obstacles. The results showed that indigenous cultivable microorganism inoculation significantly increased the richness of bacterial and fungal communities in fumigated soils within 21 days, extending microbial richness and diversity. Furthermore, inoculation accelerated the reconstruction of dominant microbial community structures, with the relative abundance of dominant species reaching up to 80%. Positive synergistic interactions between bacteria and fungi increased by approximately 10%, enhancing network stability. Key bacterial taxa, such as Paenibacillus and Mycobacterium, were significantly correlated with available potassium and phosphorus content, while Micromonospora, Massilia, and Flavisolibacter influenced plant fresh weight, total nitrogen, and potassium accumulation. Key fungal taxa, such as Cryptococcus and Phialemonium, were significantly associated with soil organic matter stability, maize photosynthetic efficiency, plant dry weight, and total phosphorus content. This study confirms the ecological adaptability and functionality of indigenous cultivable microorganisms in soil ecosystem restoration, offering a low-risk, highly effective localized intervention strategy for sustainable agriculture. Full article

Timely identification of canopy decline in commercial strawberry production is challenging because visual scouting often misses subtle or spatially heterogeneous symptoms. We developed a plant-level UAV-based monitoring framework that integrates repeated multispectral imagery, canopy-derived metrics, unsupervised clustering, and Random Survival Forest (RSF) time-to-event modeling. The framework was applied across three commercial strawberry fields in Oxnard, California using nine UAV surveys collected from December 2022 to June 2023, yielding 159,220 plant-level monitoring units. NDRE- and Redness Index-based classifications quantified proportional and absolute canopy dieback within standardized hexagonal units and supported survival-based modeling of canopy decline progression. Across withheld test plants from all survey dates, overall concordance indices ranged from 0.88 to 0.95 across fields, indicating strong ability to rank plants by time-to-decline risk under heterogeneous field conditions. Spatial risk maps revealed localized high-risk clusters that expanded over time in fields with greater canopy deterioration, while fields with minimal visible decline exhibited diffuse but stable risk distributions. Post-hoc comparison with operational fumigation rates (280, 336, and 392 kg Pic-Clor 60/ha) showed no consistent association with predicted canopy decline risk. These results demonstrate that framing repeated UAV observations as a time-to-event process enables fine-scale spatiotemporal modeling of canopy decline dynamics and supports risk stratification for targeted field monitoring in commercial strawberry systems. Full article

Recently, the occurrence of phosphine-resistant pests has been increasingly reported in many countries. In this study, the efficacy of carbonyl sulfide (COS) on phosphine-resistant and phosphine-susceptible strains of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae, was evaluated to determine the applicability of COS as a fumigant to control phosphine resistance. S. oryzae at the egg, larval and adult stages was treated with phosphine and COS to determine the 50 and 99% lethal concentration time (LCt₅₀ and LCt₉₉, respectively) values. The LCt₅₀ values of phosphine for phosphine-susceptible S. oryzae at the egg, larval and adult stages were 1.44, 0.63, and 0.66 mg h/L, respectively, and those for phosphine-resistant S. oryzae were 30.65, 17.60, and 8.37 mg h/L, respectively. In contrast, the LCt₅₀ values of COS for phosphine-susceptible S. oryzae at the egg, larval, and adult stages were 284.19, 171.11 and 212.55 mg h/L, respectively, and those for phosphine-resistant S. oryzae were 289.78, 149.87 and 229.06 mg h/L, respectively. The COS-resistance ratios were 1.02, 0.88, and 1.08 for S. oryzae at the egg, larval, and adult stages, respectively. These results indicate that the efficacy of COS is similar for phosphine-susceptible and phosphine-resistant pests, suggesting that COS can be used to control phosphine-resistant grain pests. Full article

Soil-borne diseases have become increasingly serious due to continuous planting. Soil fumigation may be inadequate because of the persistence of soil-borne pathogens on ginger seed rhizome. A combined strategy of soil fumigation and seed rhizome disinfection would be necessary to achieve synergistic control. In this study, the approach of soil fumigation with chloropicrin (CP) coupled with seed rhizome disinfection (Copper, Cu) was first adopted to evaluate the synergistic effects on soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activities and microbial communities, and therefore reveal mechanisms for soil microecological health and crop yield promotion. The results showed the comprehensive strategy could reduce NO₃⁻-N content, and the activities of soil enzymes, while increased NH₄⁺-N content, EX-Cu, and OXI-Cu content, which were positively correlated with ginger yield but negatively correlated with soil-borne pathogens and plant mortality. On the other hand, there was a reduction in bacterial diversity and richness, which was positively correlated with the abundance of soil-borne pathogens. Moreover, some beneficial soil microorganisms’ relative abundance (such as Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacillus, and Sphingomonas.) was increased. The strategy decreased the abundance of Fusarium spp. and Phytophthora spp. by 49.41–90.07% and 43.34–89.21%, respectively. Compared with other treatments, the combination decreased the ginger mortality by 5.70–57.02% and increased the growth of ginger plants and yield by 3.58–139.96%, and 13.11–399.74%, respectively. This study highlights a prospect to promote ginger growth and yield by blocking the transmission of primary infection pathogens in ginger cultivation and improving soil ecological environment. Full article

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) propagation has evolved significantly over the past 20 years, transitioning from traditional field nursery systems to advanced, controlled, environment production. This review synthesizes recent advances in propagation methods, environmental regulation, and disease management strategies. Traditional field systems face mounting challenges from soilborne pathogens (Neopestalotiopsis species, Phytophthora cactorum, Verticillium dahliae) and regulatory restrictions on methyl bromide fumigation. Plug plant technology offers 80–95% disease reduction and 3–7-week production cycles versus 12–16-weeks traditional cycles, although at higher unit costs. Advanced tray plant systems developed in the Netherlands enable 10–11 months cold storage and programmed year-round production schedules. Elevated bench propagation systems have emerged as dominant commercial technology in East Asian regions, particularly Korea and Japan, where disease pressure necessitated alternatives to conventional nurseries. Micropropagation via temporary immersion bioreactors achieves 50–100% higher multiplication rates, while ensuring virus-free status. Environmental control research reveals complex photoperiod–temperature-chilling interactions regulating dormancy and flowering. Emerging technologies include F₁ hybrid seed propagation and AI-driven automation, achieving 15–25% energy efficiency gains. Despite progress, challenges remain in cost optimization, climate adaptation, and region-specific protocols. This review provides a comparative framework for nursery system selection under evolving climatic and regulatory constraints, identifying critical knowledge gaps and future research priorities for sustainable strawberry propagation. Full article

Dual fuel engines utilize two different fuels consisting of a high reactivity fuel (HRF) injected into the cylinder and a low reactivity fuel (LRF), typically fumigated into the intake manifold. To reduce engine-out emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), early start of injection (SOI) of HRF may be employed in dual fuel combustion, albeit at the expense of higher engine-out emissions of unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO). This study compares performance and emissions of diesel–propane and poly-oxy methylene dimethyl ether (POMDME)-propane dual fuel combustion for a heavy-duty single-cylinder research engine (SCRE) platform based on a production PACCAR MX-11 engine at a low load of 5 bar IMEPg and a constant speed (“B Speed”) of 1339 rpm. While POMDME-natural gas combustion has been explored in previous work, the novelty of the present work lies in the direct comparison of diesel–propane and POMDME–propane combustion for the same SCRE under fixed constraints of NO_x < 1 g/kWh, COV of IMEP < 5%, and a maximum pressure rise rate < 10 bar/CAD. By optimizing HRF injection parameters, boost pressure, and propane energy substitution, the present work demonstrates diesel–propane HC and CO emissions improvements of ~86% and ~67%, respectively, while POMDME–propane HC and CO emissions improved by ~91% and ~86% respectively, compared to the corresponding unoptimized baseline values. These improvements were obtained while achieving very low engine-out NO_x emissions (diesel–propane ~0.7 g/kWh, POMDME–propane ~0.1 g/kWh) and very good gross indicated fuel conversion efficiencies (diesel–propane ~51%, POMDME–propane ~48%). Additionally, POMDME–propane demonstrated near-zero measurable smoke emissions for all engine operating conditions. Full article

Outbreaks of stored grain pests can pose significant threats to food security. In-depth analyses of sudden outbreaks are key to achieving effective prevention and control. To address the issue of models’ insufficient reasoning capability arising from complex causal relationships in stored grain pest events, this study proposes an Event Patterns Enhancing Causal Reasoning (EPECR) method incorporating category theory. Specifically, we focus on common pests such as Sitophilus zeamais (maize weevil) and Sitotroga cerealella (Angoumois grain moth). We formally map the domain ontology—including entities like environmental factors (e.g., temperature, humidity) and control measures (e.g., fumigation)—to categories, and represent their inter-relationships (e.g., inhibition, promotion) as functors. To handle complex scenarios, we model multi-cause events (e.g., high temperature and humidity jointly accelerating pest reproduction) using functor products, and represent multi-hop events (e.g., environmental changes leading to pest outbreak and subsequent grain loss) through functor compositions. This formal expression enables Large Language Models (LLMs) to extract reliable event patterns. Based on these patterns, this study constructed 1440 structured datasets and adopted the Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) strategy to fine-tune the LLMs. Experiments on the domain-specific Stored Grain Pest Events Dataset (SGPE) demonstrate that EPECR achieves a reasoning accuracy of 85.9% on in-distribution data and 79.9% on out-of-distribution data, effectively identifying correct causal chains for pest logic. This method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art domain method-Naive Augmentations (NA)-by 4.9%, providing precise decision support for the early warning and control of specific pest incidents. Full article

In line with sustainability goals, biological alternatives to chemical fumigants are increasingly in demand to support intensive baby leaf lettuce cultivation systems. This study evaluated the combined effects of soil disinfestation strategies and foliar biostimulants on crop performance and nutritional quality. With the aim of evaluating the interactive effects of biofumigation and the application of Trichoderma spp., Ascophyllum nodosum extract, and vegetable protein hydrolysate, an experiment was conducted under controlled growing conditions, integrating microbial and foliar treatments on two lettuce cycles. Soil microbial load, plant biometric traits, ionic profiles, antioxidant activity, and polyphenolic compounds were quantified. Biofumigation induced a marked recovery of bacterial populations, while both soil treatments resulted in sustained fungal suppression and the absence of detectable Fusarium spp. Biofumigation consistently increased fresh and dry biomass, highlighting its dual sanitizing and fertilizing role. Foliar biostimulants, particularly vegetable protein hydrolysate, significantly enhanced dry matter accumulation, reduced nitrate concentration, and improved cation uptake. Antioxidant activity and phenolic metabolism were strongly stimulated by Trichoderma spp. and protein hydrolysate, with significant synergistic effects on key hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids. These findings indicate that integrating biological soil disinfestation with foliar biostimulation improves yield stability and nutritional quality, supporting a sustainable framework for high-value baby leaf lettuce production. Full article

Botrytis cinerea poses a major threat to postharvest strawberries, causing significant losses due to gray mold. As a plant-derived antifungal agent, Rhodiola rosea L. essential oil (REO) possesses considerable healthcare benefits. However, its effectiveness and underlying mechanisms in the maintenance of postharvest products remain poorly understood. This study demonstrated that REO at 0.5 µL/mL completely inhibited the growth of B. cinerea under in vitro conditions. In vivo fumigation treatment with REO alleviated the severity of gray mold in strawberry fruit. Additionally, REO decreased natural decay and positively impacted marketability, as evidenced by higher firmness, total soluble solids, and ascorbic acid contents, as well as more favorable color attributes. Further investigations involving scanning electron microscopy, calcofluor white (CFW) staining, propidium iodide (PI) staining, 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate assay, and cellular leakage tests were conducted to investigate the effects of REO treatment on gray mold mycelium. Results showed that REO treatment induced severe morphological distortions and collapse of mycelium. Within 30 min of exposure, REO triggered a sharp increase in PI fluorescence accompanied by a decrease in CFW fluorescence, without inducing an elevation in intracellular reactive oxygen species levels. The elevated leakage of nucleic acids and soluble proteins further confirmed that REO compromised the integrity of the cell barrier in B. cinerea. Collectively, these findings indicate that REO exerts potent antifungal activity by disrupting the integrity and functionality of B. cinerea cellular barriers, thereby reducing postharvest decay and positively impacting the marketability of strawberry fruit. Taken together, our findings suggest that REO represents a promising natural alternative for environmentally sustainable postharvest protection of strawberries. Full article