Cinchona officinalis, known locally as cascarilla or cinchona, is a plant species native to South America. It was used as a source of quinine to combat malaria in the 17th century. The species is threatened by various anthropogenic activities. Further, the propagation of the species depends on seed dispersal and its germination capacity. Therefore, it is necessary to conserve and propagate this species. Because C. officinalis seeds have a low germination capacity, we determined the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) on their germination and growth. A randomized design was employed with two treatments, one treated with mycorrhizae (CM) and another without mycorrhizae (SM). For each treatment, three replicates of 100 seeds were used. Germination, growth, and fungal characteristics were evaluated. In germination parameters, the CM treatment showed better performance, but the improvement was statistically insignificant. However, the application of AM significantly improved seedling height (cm), root length (cm), leaf area (cm²), and root number by 53.52, 28.72, 29.73, and 61.66%, respectively. Likewise, mycorrhization intensity (%), mycorrhization frequency (%), and extraradical mycelium length (cm) in the CM treatment were 37.13, 3.44, and 174.97% higher compared to the SM treatment, respectively. Therefore, the use of AM fungi proves to be advantageous in the propagation of C. officinalis, and these results provide a basis for the largescale and sustainable propagation of this species.

Physalis peruviana L. (known as aguaymanto or goldenberry) is a high-value Andean fruit crop with growing international demand due to its nutritional and nutraceutical properties. However, the development of advanced biotechnological tools for this species has been limited by the lack of efficient and reproducible in vitro regeneration protocols. Existing systems rely primarily on the use of zeatin, a highly effective but expensive cytokinin, which restricts their applicability in resource-limited laboratories. In this study, the synergistic effect of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and meta-topolin (mT) on adventitious shoot regeneration from cotyledonary explants of P. peruviana was evaluated. An initial cytokinin screening identified BAP + mT as the most promising combination, and subsequent optimization revealed that the combination of 9.12 µM BAP with 2.28 µM mT promoted the highest shoot regeneration rate (62.96 %), outperforming previously reported zeatin-based protocols. This treatment also significantly enhanced shoot elongation and rhizogenesis without inducing morphological abnormalities. These results position the BAP + mT combination as an economically viable alternative to replace the use of zeatin in regeneration protocols, with potential applications in genetic transformation programs, in vitro propagation, and the improvement of species in the genus Physalis.

Anthracnose is one of the most destructive diseases of avocado worldwide; however, foliar infections remain poorly documented in Peru. We investigated the etiology of necrotic leaf lesions observed in avocado plantations in Amazonas and assessed the in vitro antifungal activity of two Piper essential oils (EOs). Incidence was quantified in a 420-tree plot (n = 150 plants). Two representative isolates (MGS03, MGS04) were obtained from symptomatic leaves and characterized by morphology and multilocus sequencing (ITS, CHS-1, ACT, and TUB2). Maximum-likelihood phylogeny within the C. gloeosporioides species complex clustered with C. fructicola. Pathogenicity tests on detached leaves (unwounded inoculation) reproduced field symptoms and fulfilled Koch’s postulates. The antifungal activity of Piper carpunya and P. aduncum EOs (50–1000 µL L⁻¹) was evaluated using poisoned-medium assays, revealing a strong dose-dependent inhibition of mycelial growth. Inhibition reached >89.8% at 500 µL L⁻¹ and ~100% at 1000 µL L⁻¹, with P. aduncum showing slightly higher activity. This study provides the first confirmed record of C. fructicola associated with necrotic leaf lesions in avocado in Peru and demonstrates the promising antifungal potential of Piper EOs as eco-friendly candidates for anthracnose management.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based multispectral remote sensing has emerged as a promising tool for monitoring crop physiological status and supporting precision disease management. However, the capacity of multispectral vegetation indices to detect foliar diseases under commercial field conditions remains insufficiently understood, particularly in perennial crops grown in humid tropical environments. This study evaluated the potential of UAV-derived multispectral vegetation indices to assess the physiological response of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) canopies affected by anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum fructicola in Amazonas, Peru. Disease incidence and severity were assessed through field evaluations, while multispectral imagery was acquired using a UAV equipped with a MicaSense RedEdge-MX Dual sensor. Vegetation indices including the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI), Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Normalized Difference Red Edge Index (NDRE), Red Edge Chlorophyll Index (CIred-edge), Plant Senescence Reflectance Index (PSRI), and Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI) were calculated, and their relationships with anthracnose incidence were analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation. Field observations confirmed a high incidence of foliar anthracnose with a heterogeneous spatial distribution across the orchard. Multispectral imagery successfully characterized spatial variability in the canopy physiological condition, revealing differences in vegetation vigor, chlorophyll-related reflectance, and senescence among experimental blocks. Nevertheless, none of the evaluated vegetation indices showed statistically significant correlations with anthracnose incidence (p > 0.05), indicating that spectral variability primarily reflected the general canopy physiological status rather than a disease-specific spectral response. These findings demonstrate that UAV-derived multispectral vegetation indices are valuable for monitoring spatial variability in the avocado canopy condition but have limited capability for independently detecting anthracnose under humid tropical field conditions. Future studies integrating multi-temporal UAV acquisitions, hyperspectral and thermal imagery, LiDAR, environmental variables, and machine-learning approaches are expected to improve the early detection and spatial prediction of anthracnose in avocado production systems.

This study presents the genome sequencing of the MC3 strain of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), isolated from damaged banana (Musa sp.) tissue from

El estudio tuvo por objetivo evaluar el efecto de micorrizas arbusculares y abonos orgánicos en el comportamiento vegetativo de Cinchona officinalis en ambientes controlados. La investigación se instaló bajo un diseño completo al azar con arreglo trifactorial (4A: micorrizas x 3B: abonos x 2C: ambientes), contando con 72 unidades experimentales. Las plantas de quina fueron inoculadas en vivero e invernadero con 40 g de micorrizas procedentes de bosques naturales (San Jerónimo, Conila y Leymebamba) y abonadas con 40 g de gallinaza y humus de lombriz. Se encontró que la mortalidad de la quina se dio en el vivero y abonadas con gallinaza, con un 6.3 % en promedio, por su parte, no se reportó mortalidad a nivel de invernadero; respecto a la velocidad de crecimiento, los consorcios micorrízicos SJ y LEY tuvieron mayor efecto, juntamente con la aplicación de humus de lombriz a nivel de invernadero. Se concluye que, resulta factible propagar la quina, inoculando con micorrizas arbusculares autóctonas, potenciando su efectividad en complemento con humus de lombriz, pudiéndose usar como sustrato alternativo y sustituir a la turba de bosque; paralelamente, es indispensable manejar condiciones ambientales (temperatura y humedad relativa), para lograr una alta supervivencia y alta velocidad de crecimiento.