The total diversity of bacterial and fungal communities associated with the phyllosphere (fruits and leaves) of the ‘Williams’ pear variety was analyzed in two phenological stages during fruit development and maturation. The antagonistic potential of autochthonous bacterial and yeast isolates against phytopathogenic fungi was also evaluated. A metabarcoding approach revealed Pantoea, Sphingomonas, Hymenobacter, Massilia, and Pseudomonas as dominant bacterial constituents of the pear phyllosphere, whilst most abundant among the fungal representatives identified were Metschnikowia, Filobasidium, Aureobasidiumpullulans, Botrytis cinerea, and Taphrina. The traditional culturable approach revealed that the Pseudomonas genus with P. graminis, P. putida, and P. congelans was most prevalent. The most frequently cultivated fungal representatives belonged to the genus Fusarium with six identified species. A broad range of the antagonistic activity was detected for the Hannaella luteola and Metschnikowia pulcherrima yeasts, significantly affecting the growth of many fungal isolates in the range of 53–70%. Fusarium sporotrichioides was the most susceptible fungal isolate. The autochthonous antagonistic yeasts H. luteola and M. pulcherrima might be powerful biological control agents of postharvest diseases caused by Fusarium spp. and common pathogens like Monilinia laxa, Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria tenuissima, and Cladosporium cladosporioides.

Root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne luci Carneiro, Correa, Almeida, Gomes, Deimi, Castagnone-Sereno, and Karssen, 2014 was described from Brazil, Chile and Iran, parasitizing in various crops (Car...

Plants that grow in contaminated soil absorb and accumulate heavy metals in its above ground organs. Research was conducted in which content of heavy metals in wheat stem in phenophases of tillering and beginning of stemgrowth, and also stem hight of wheat from soil level to tip of appical leaf. The aim of research was to determine the influence of heavy metals on first stages of wheat varieties Pobeda and Ljiljana. Trial was conducted in pots with controled conditions of heat and moisture with adding different concentrations of heavy metals mixture. Higher concentrations of heavy metals had significant effect reducing the growht and wheat stem development of both wheat varieties. Significant concentration of heavy metals was detected throug analisis in stems of wheat.

We investigated whether sowing a mixture of wheat cultivars could reduce the occurrence of winged aphids in crops. Aphid presence was monitored using yellow water traps. Three wheat cultivars—Simonida, NS 40S, and NS Rani otkos—and their mixtures were used in the study. The results indicate that alate aphid captures in cultivar mixtures are often lower than in pure stands. However, this effect is not consistent across all mixtures, and the impact of individual varieties and their mixtures varies between the autumn and spring vegetation phases. In autumn, aphid species that overwinter on wheat and serve as potential virus vectors dominate, primarily Rhopalosiphum padi and Sitobion avenae, while in spring, polyphagous aphid species are more prevalent. During autumn, the least attractive cultivar for vector species was NS Rani otkos, which, in mixtures with the other two cultivars, also decreased its attractiveness. With lower vector abundance, the potential for viral infection is reduced. In spring, the number of alate aphids and vectors captured in mixtures was lower than in pure stands. The reduction in aphid presence in mixtures was particularly pronounced during weeks with the highest aphid abundance.