The bean weevil, Acanthoscelides obtectus Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), causes severe post-harvest losses in the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L. The control of this insect is still poor and involves the use of conventional insecticides. There is an increasing demand in the search for new active substances and products for pest control towards reduction of adverse effects on human health and the environment. The protection of grains with alternative products, such as essential oils, is a possible alternative to meet the needs described above. Therefore, this investigation evaluated the applications of basil, Ocimum basilicum, and citronella, Cymbopogon winterianus, essential oils for A. obtectus control. These essential oils significantly reduced the bean weight losses and the number of beans damaged by A. obtectus at higher doses than 60 or 120 μL/sample. The number of holes per bean did not differ between the doses of basil essential oil, not even at the dose of 60 μL, while it was higher at 120 μL, probably due to a lower capacity of movement of the insects treated with this dose and/or the oil’s direct or indirect effects on the insects. Basil and citronella oils exhibited similar patterns of insecticidal activity over the insect, both directly in adult insects or indirectly over bean seeds. These essential oils affected the development of A. obtectus since the greatest doses applied on beans decreased the emergence of the bean weevil. The results prove the insecticidal capacity of the tested essential oils and hence their potential as active substances against A. obtectus in environmentally low risk pest control strategies. Supplementary trials should be conducted under real storage conditions.

Gentiana lutea L. (G. lutea L.) is an endangered plant, patchily distributed along the mountains of Central and Southern Europe. In this study, inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to investigate the genetic variation in this species within and among populations of G. lutea L. var. aurantiaca of the Cantabrian Mountains (Northwest Iberian Peninsula). Samples of G. lutea L. collected at different locations of the Pyrenees and samples of G. lutea L. subsp. vardjanii of the Dolomites Alps were also analyzed for comparison. Using nine ISSR primers, 106 bands were generated, and 89.6% of those were polymorphic. The populations from the Northwest Iberian Peninsula were clustered in three different groups, with a significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances. Gentiana lutea L. var. aurantiaca showed 19.8% private loci and demonstrated a remarkable level of genetic variation, both among populations and within populations; those populations with the highest level of isolation show the lowest genetic variation within populations. The low number of individuals, as well as the observed genetic structure of the analyzed populations makes it necessary to protect them to ensure their survival before they are too small to persist naturally.

The interest in the study of microbiological interactions mediated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has steadily increased in the last few years. Nevertheless, most assays still rely on the use of non-specific materials. We present a new tool, the volatile organic compound chamber (VOC chamber), specifically designed to perform these experiments. The novel devices were tested using four Trichoderma strains against Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani. We demonstrate that VOC chambers provide higher sensitivity and selectivity between treatments and higher homogeneity of results than the traditional method. VOC chambers are also able to test both vented and non-vented conditions. We prove that ventilation plays a very important role regarding volatile interactions, up to the point that some growth-inhibitory effects observed in closed environments switch to promoting ones when tested in vented conditions. This promoting activity seems to be related to the accumulation of squalene by T. harzianum. The VOC chambers proved to be an easy, homogeneous, flexible, and repeatable method, able to better select microorganisms with high biocontrol activity and to guide the future identification of new bioactive VOCs and their role in microbial interactions.

Xylotrechus arvicola (Olivier) is an emerging pest in vineyards ( Vitis vinifera ) in the Iberian Peninsula. Its reproductive biology has been studied in the laboratory in order to develop pest-control measures. Obtained results show that the oviposition period is significantly longer in wild females (16.6 ± 2.9 d) than in laboratory females (9.7 ± 1.3 d), but there are no significant differences in the egg-hatching periods between the wild and the laboratory females. Fecundity is significantly higher in laboratory females (93.9 ± 12.1 eggs per female) than in wild females (56.8 ± 9.2 eggs per female). On the other hand, viability (percentage of viable eggs per female) is significantly higher in wild females (53.7 ± 6.6%) than in laboratory females (22.9 ± 3.6%). Wild females lay fewer eggs over a longer period, while laboratory females concentrate on laying in the first 6 d. X. arvicola females (wild and laboratory) lay the highest number of eggs on the sixth day. The fecundity and viability of eggs are extended over a longer period in wild females than in laboratory females. So X. arvicola is a species in which larvae feed directly affects reproductive patterns. These results suggest that, when larvae feed directly from the natural host, the fecundity period and the viability of eggs increase. So the selection of a host plant could be influenced by the composition of the wood. This behavior of the species can also help to advance knowledge of the biology and ecology of this pest, to be applied in integrated control.

Fungi from the genus Trichoderma have a worldwide distribution and are commonly found in agricultural lands. Further, it has been described as a non-virulent and symbiont microorganism that can contribute to minimize the pernicious effects of pathogens. In the present work we have isolated Trichoderma spp. from bark of grapevine in different orchards in order to determine the influence of fungicide application and vine age on Trichoderma diversity in plant. An opposite correlation between the number of fungicides sprayed per campaign and the diversity of Trichoderma spp. isolates was found. Moreover, the older are grapevine plants the higher is the diversity of Trichoderma spp. isolates. The different Trichoderma strains isolated were tested against Phaeoacremonium minimum, a grapevine trunk pathogen, to evaluate their biocontrol capacity. Three Trichoderma strains shown a significant capacity to control P. minimum and were selected as candidates to be used as biological control agents. In addition, a rapid and easy method for isolating Trichoderma spp. from grapevine plants has been developed, which allowed to determine that the reduction in the amount of pesticide use, together with the preservation of old vineyards, lead to healthier agroecosystems containing higher levels of beneficial microorganisms.