One of the most dangerous and quarantine diseases of fruit crops of the Rosaceae family is fire blight which affected on plants. Its causative agent Erwinia amylovora causes necrosis of all organs of host plants. In the territory of Republic of Kazakhstan, the disease belongs to a limited number of quarantine species. A special place is given to laboratory diagnostics of E.amylovora, which is necessary for reliable detection of the pathogen. Bacteriological analyses of diseased samples of fruit crops were carried out under laboratory conditions to isolate pathogens into pure cultures. Isolating of the quarantine and causative agent of fire blight into a pure culture was carried out on King B nutrient media, Levan and Miller Schroth selective media. They were tested for pathogenicity on indicator plants of indoor geranium by hypersensitivity reaction by the infectious-infiltration method of Clement. The pathogenicity of isolated bacteria was also tested by testing on unripe pear fruits, on which the damaging bacteria caused the release of milky-white exudate. After the selected isolates of the fire blight pathogen were identified by two pairs of specific primers PEANT F/PEANT2 R and FER F/rgER2-R approved by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization. For molecular differentiation, the nucleotide sequences of 16S rRNA genes were compared

The predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii is widely used as a biological control agent against phloem-feeding pests in vegetable production. However, its mass rearing is constrained by the lack of standardized and cost-effective artificial diets (ADs). In this study, the effects of various AD compositions on the development and viability of A. swirskii were assessed at lab-scale. A basal diet was supplemented with eggs of Sitotroga cerealella, Galleria mellonella, Tetranychus turkestani, and decapsulated Artemia salina cysts. The feeder mite Carpoglyphus lactis served as a control. Developmental duration, survival, adult longevity, feeding intensity, and fertility were evaluated. The shortest pre-imaginal development (2.9 ± 0.1 days) and highest survival (78%) were observed on S. cerealella eggs, while the longest adult lifespan (10.5 ± 0.3 days) and weakest survival (38%) occurred with A. salina. In contrast, G. mellonella eggs proved to be the least suitable, resulting in minimal survival and reproduction. Study findings support S. cerealella and A. salina as promising AD components, with further optimization needed for improving reproductive output.

Паутинный клещ Tetranychus urticae Koch является одним из наиболее вредоносных полифагных вредителей, поражающих широкий спектр сельскохозяйственных культур. Повышенная репродуктивная активность, способность быстро развивать устойчивость к инсектицидам и акарицидам, а также высокая пластичность в условиях окружающей среды делают его серьезной угрозой для растениеводства. В настоящем исследовании впервые оценивалась устойчивость лабораторной и полевой популяций T. urticae из Алматинской области к двум широко применяемым пестицидам - абамектину и лямбда-цигалотрину. Для подтверждения видовой принадлежности клещей была проведена молекулярная идентификация на основе амплификации и секвенирования фрагмента митохондриального гена цитохромоксидазы I (COI). Полученные нуклеотидные последовательности показали высокую степень сходства (≥99%) с референсными последовательностями T. urticae. Токсичность пестицидов оценивали методом погружения листьев с последующим пробит-анализом для расчета летальных концентраций. Результаты показали, что лабораторная популяция продемонстрировала высокую чувствительность к обоим препаратам, тогда как полевая популяция сохранила чувствительность к абамектину, но проявила признаки снижения чувствительности (низкую и умеренную устойчивость) к лямбда-цигалотрину. Полученные данные указывают на необходимость проведения регулярного мониторинга популяций паутинного клеща на предмет устойчивости к препаратам, особенно в условиях интенсивного применения химических средств защиты. Это позволит своевременно корректировать схемы обработки и разрабатывать интегрированные стратегии борьбы, сочетающие химические, биологические и агротехнические методы для эффективного управления вредителем и предотвращения дальнейшего развития резистентности.

Bacterial soft rot of potato is predominantly associated with members of the genera Pectobacterium and Dickeya, whereas the contribution of other bacterial taxa to the etiology of the disease remains insufficiently characterized. This study aimed to characterize a bacterial isolate recovered from potato tubers exhibiting naturally occurring soft rot symptoms in Kazakhstan and to evaluate its pathogenic potential. Twelve bacterial isolates were obtained from symptomatic tissue, of which only isolate ZA4 reproducibly caused pronounced tissue softening and maceration following wound inoculation of healthy tubers, whereas disease development remained minimal in the negative control. Reproduction of characteristic symptoms and subsequent reisolation of the bacterium from experimentally affected tissue fulfilled the principal criteria of Koch’s postulates. Multilocus phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA, gyrB, rpoB, and pyrE sequences assigned isolate ZA4 to Bacillus altitudinis. When tested across five potato cultivars and one commercial sample of unknown cultivar identity, the proportion of macerated tissue ranged from approximately 60–85% at 24 h and varied among the tested materials, increasing to 95–98% at 48 h, indicating rapid progression of tissue maceration under the bioassay conditions. ZA4 also exhibited pectinolytic, cellulolytic, proteolytic, and amylolytic activities. These findings demonstrate that B. altitudinis ZA4 is capable of inducing pronounced tissue maceration and soft-rot symptoms in wounded potato tubers under artificial wound inoculation conditions. However, broader studies encompassing a larger number of samples and a wider geographic area are required to determine the occurrence and epidemiological significance of B. altitudinis in association with potato soft rot in Kazakhstan.

Cuscuta campestris Yunck. is one of the most destructive parasitic weeds worldwide, causing substantial economic losses because of its broad host range, prolific seed production, and long-term persistence in the soil seed bank. The limited effectiveness and environmental constraints of conventional control measures have intensified the search for sustainable biological alternatives. This study investigated indigenous fungi associated with C. campestris in Kazakhstan as prospective biological control candidates. During field surveys conducted in southern and southeastern Kazakhstan in 2024–2025, symptomatic dodder plants were collected, and 109 fungal isolates were recovered from stems and seeds, including representatives of Fusarium, Alternaria, and Ascochyta, together with several saprophytic genera. Preliminary in vitro seed assays identified Fusarium proliferatum F6 and Alternaria alternata A5 and A19 as producing the highest percentages of affected seeds, reaching 100% by day 15. No visible disease symptoms were observed in soybean or alfalfa during a seven-day preliminary non-target assay. These findings support further greenhouse, field, and host-range evaluation of the selected isolates and provide a basis for continued development of fungal agents against C. campestris.