BACKGROUND The complex network of direct and indirect relationships determines not only the species abundances but also the community characteristics such as diversity and stability. In this context, seed predation is a direct interaction that affects the reproductive success of the plant. For Acrocomia aculeata, the seed predation by Pachymerus cardo and Speciomerus revoili in post-dispersal m...

Eggs of the indigenous laying hens are preferred by consumers to those obtained from commercial breeds. The present study aimed to compare the fatty acid (FA) composition of yolk lipids of indigenous eggs (Indigenous; n = 20) and conventional eggs (Conventional; n = 20). Indigenous and conventional eggs were collected from Lori layer hens reared under free-range condition and an commercial farm...

—Formalin is currently the only aquaculture drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the control of fungi on the eggs of all finfish. The efficacy of formalin for disinfecting hybrid catfish (channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus 3 blue catfish I. furcatus) eggs was examined and compared with that of three other potential chemotherapeutants. Two experiments were conducted to eva...

Esca disease of grapevine is gaining increasing importance in Central European wine-growing countries. Several fungi, all of which are wood-inhabiting, were found to be associated with the disease. The taxa thought to act as main causal agents are the basidiomycete, Fomitiporia mediterranea, and, less frequently, the deuteromycetes, Phaeomoniella chlamydospora and Phaeoacremonium aleophilum. In...

Adhesive conidia of the nematophagous fungus, Drechmeria coniospora (Drechsler) W. Gams and Jansson (Moniliales: Deuteromycetes), would occasionally attach but never penetrate the infective stages of insect parasitic Neoaplectana carpocapsae, N. glaseri, N. bibionis, N. intermedia, and Heterorhabditis helfothidis (Rhabditida). However, adult and pre-infective stages of Neoaplectana spp. became ...

The generally positive relationship between biodiversity of groups of directly or indirectly interacting organisms is one of the most important ecological concepts (Gaston, 2000 Nature, 405, 220-227; Scherber C, Eisenhauer N, Weisser WW et al., 2010 Nature, 468, 553-556). In a recent issue of Molecular Ecology, Gao C, Shi N-N, Liu Y-X et al. (2013: 22, 3403-3414) reported that the richness of p...

Multiplayer symbioses are common in nature, but our understanding of the ecological dynamics occurring in complex symbioses is limited. The tripartite mutualism between fungus-growing ants, their fungal cultivars, and antibiotic-producing bacteria exemplifies symbiotic complexity. Here we reveal how black yeasts, newly described symbionts of the ant-microbe system, compromise the efficiency of ...

Albinas Lugauskas, Jiirate Repeckiene, Jurgita Stakeniene Institute of Botany, ZalitU4. ezer4. St. 47, LT-2021 Vilnius, Lithuania, e-mail: [email protected]. [email protected] The diversity of fungi species spread on food products grown and processed under various ecological conditions were estimated during the researches carried out in 1998-2003. Fungi were isolated and identified from ...

In many semi-natural and natural ecosystems, mycorrhizal fungi are the most abundant and functionally important group of soil micro-organisms. They are almost wholly dependent on their host plants to supply them with photosynthate in return for which they enable the plant to access greater quantities of nutrients. Thus, there is considerable potential for plant communities to regulate the struc...