Drought is considered to enhance susceptibility of Norway spruce (Picea abies) to infestations by the Eurasian spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus, Coleoptera: Curculionidae), although empirical evidence is scarce. We studied the impact of experimentally induced drought on tree water status and constitutive resin flow, and how physiological stress affects host acceptance and resistance. We esta...

Pleurostoma richardsiae is associated with host trunk diseases, known to cause dieback, cankers and wilting of woody trees, human infections. This fungus was isolated from wood tissues declining olive trees grapevines showing esca disease symptoms, in the Apulia region Italy. Fungus detection has been based on morphological molecular features, which are time-consuming identify require well-trai...

Processes shaping the distribution of foliar fungal endophyte species remain poorly understood. Despite increasing evidence that these cryptic fungal symbionts of plants mediate interactions with pathogens and herbivores, there remain basic questions regarding the extent to which dispersal limitation and host specificity might shape fungal endophyte community composition in rainforests. To asse...

The diversity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi on adult trees and seedlings of five species, Anthonotha fragrans, Anthonotha macrophylla, Cryptosepalum tetraphyllum, Paramacrolobium coeruleum and Uapaca esculenta, was determined in a tropical rain forest of Guinea. Ectomycorrhizae were sampled within a surface area of 1600 m(2), and fungal taxa were identified by sequencing the rDNA Internal Tran...

Several studies suggest that some bark beetle like to attack large trees. The invasive red turpentine beetle (RTB), Dendroctonus valens LeConte, one of the most destructive forest pests in China, is known to exhibit this behavior. Our previous study demonstrated that RTBs preferred to attack large-diameter trees (diameter at breast height, DBH ≥30 cm) over small-diameter trees (DBH ≤10 cm) in t...

Asian weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) are arboreal ants that are known to form mutualistic complexes with their host trees. They are eusocial ants that build elaborate nests in the canopy in tropical areas. A colony comprises of multiple nests, usually on multiple trees, and the boundaries of the colony may be difficult to identify. However, they provide the ideal model for studying group l...

The Argentine ant is well known for its affinity for honeydew and is often associated with hemipteran outbreaks in agricultural and urban environments. It has been suggested that Argentine ants may be controlled by restricting access to honeydew, thereby forcing the ants to move or by encouraging increased liquid toxicant intake. We tested this possible control strategy by restricting Argentine...

Different ambrosia beetle species can coexist in tree trunks, where their immature stages feed upon symbiotic fungi. Although most ambrosia beetles are not primary pests and their fungal symbionts are not pathogenic to the host tree, exceptional situations exist. Notably, Xyleborus glabratus carries a phytopathogenic symbiont, Raffaelea lauricola, which causes laurel wilt, a lethal disease of s...

Cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR), an enzyme central to the lignin biosynthetic pathway, represents a promising biotechnological target to reduce lignin levels and to improve the commercial viability of lignocellulosic biomass. However, silencing of the CCR gene results in considerable flux changes of the general and monolignol-specific lignin pathways, ultimately leading to the accumulation of var...

Selective logging is one of the major drivers of tropical forest degradation, causing important shifts in species composition. Whether such changes modify interactions between species and the networks in which they are embedded remain fundamental questions to assess the 'health' and ecosystem functionality of logged forests. We focus on interactions between lianas and their tree hosts within pr...