This study describes a new genus and species of microsporidia which is a pathogen of the elm leaf beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola Muller, 1776 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). The beetles were collected from Istanbul in Turkey. All developmental stages are uninucleate and in direct contact with the host cell cytoplasm. Giemsa-stained mature spores are oval in shape and measured 3.40 ± 0.37 μm in length and 1.63 ± 0.20 μm in width. These uninucleate spores have an isofilar polar filament with 11 turns. The spore wall was trilaminar (75 to 115 nm) with a rugose, electron-dense exospore (34 to 45 nm) and a thickened, electron-lucent endospore (65 to 80 nm) overlaying the plasmalemma. Morphological, ultrastructural, and molecular features indicate that the described microsporidium is dissimilar to all known microsporidian taxa and confirm that it has different taxonomic characters than other microsporidia infecting X. luteola and is named here as Rugispora istanbulensis n. gen., n. sp.
The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say, 1824 (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera), is a major problem for conventional potato production in all over the world. Bioactive molecules that originated from plants, have long been claimed as alternatives to synthetic chemicals for pest management Similarly, we investigated antifeedant effect of essential oils obtained from three different Lamiaceae species; Thymus transcaucasicus RONNIGER, Thymus pseudopulegioides KLOKOV and DES.-SHOST, Thymus leucotrichus HAL. against L. decemlineata Say, 1824 (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) larvae. T. leucotrichus showed the most powerful and weakest antifeedant effect of the three plant species in different doses (r = 0.409, P < 0.01). The highest AFI value (AFI = 65.548) was obtained on the third day at 2000 ppm (P < 0.05) and the lowest AFI value was measured on the second day at 1000 ppm (AFI = 0.560). According to these results, T. leucotrichus essential oil is the most effective phytochemical against L. decemlineata larvae.
Nosema leptinotarsae Lipa, 1968 is a microsporidian pathogen of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). To determine the phylogenetic status of N. leptinotarsae, the 16S SSU rRNA gene was sequenced (GenBank Accession No. MN841279) and compared phylogenetically against 21 microsporidian 16S SSU rRNA sequences using neighbour-joining and maximum-parsimony methods. The per cent identities of the N. leptinotarsae and other members of the Nosema–Vairimorpha clade ranged from 78.1 to 98.5%. Pairwise phylogenetic distances between the N. leptinotarsae and other species ranged from 0.009 to 0.320. Phylogenetic analysis shows clearly that N. leptinotarsae is a member of the Vairimorpha clade rather than the Nosema clade. The sequence divergence and morphological traits separated the N. leptinotarsae from other species in the Vairimorpha complex. As a result, a new assignment of Vairimorpha leptinotarsae comb. nov. has been implemented for N. leptinotarsae according to the phylogenetical positioning in the present study.
Antifeedant activity of essential oils obtained from Mentha longifolia subsp. longifolia L. HUDSON (Lamiaceae) against S. vigintiquatuorpunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) adults that are collected from Ordu were tested in Turkey. In general, protection of plants against pests is performed using chemical insecticides, However the use of chemical insecticides on control of the insects creates serious risks on the ecosystem. Lately, scientists are focused on studies about using essential oils obtained from plants (phytochemicals) as alternatives to chemicals insecticides for pest control. Similarly essential oils obtained from M. longifolia subsp. longifolia L. was prepared in 5 different doses (312.5, 625, 1250, 2500 and 5000 ppm). As a result, essential oils obtained from M. longifolia subsp. longifolia L. were seen to have strong antifeedant effects. It were determined positive correlation (r = 0.733, P < 0.005) between increasing concentrations of the essential oils obtained from Mentha longifolia L. and AFI indices. The AFI value reached a maximum at 5000 ppm. The AFI value for 5000 ppm is 71.88 ± 6.4. Additionally, chemical composition of essential oil of M. longifolia subsp. longifolia leaves were determined by GC-MS analysis. The main component of essential oil of M. longifolia subsp. longifolia was 2-Cyclohexen-1-one (39.58) and second one was p-Menthone (16.97%).
In the present study, one cephaline (septate) gregarine and mermithid infections were reported from the Cantharidae family for the first time. These infections were determined from different populations of Cantharis livida L. 1758 (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) in Turkey. During the observations, the main life stages of the current gregarine like trophozoite, gamont associative form (syzygy) and gametocyst stages were observed. The gamont stage which separated into two parts by septum as protomerite and deutomerite was the most common stage in the host gut and ovocylindrical gamonts measured 240.4 ± 29.0 (154.5-306.2; n=40) μm in length. The mermithid infection was observed only in two samples which were collected from Rize (total infection rate 3.22%). The determined juvenile forms were measured 270-281 μm in width and 68.6-79.98 mm in length.
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