ABSTRACT Plant diseases severely constrain agricultural productivity, exacerbating food insecurity, economic instability, and environmental degradation. Global trade and climate change further intensify pathogen spread, emergence, and host shifts. While traditional diagnostics and targeted assays, such as polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, improve specificity, they depend on prior knowledge and are limited in detecting novel or mixed infections. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) has emerged as a transformative, unbiased platform that allows comprehensive detection of known and unknown pathogens through metagenomics and transcriptomics. By generating large-scale genomic data, HTS supports pathogen discovery, epidemiological surveillance, quarantine systems, and genome-informed disease management. It underpins advanced strategies, including Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins editing and RNA interference, and accelerates the breeding of resistance. Despite challenges – such as bioinformatics standardization, cost, and data interpretation – HTS, when integrated with classical diagnostics and biological validation, represents a foundational technology for sustainable, proactive plant health management and global phytosanitary resilience.
ABSTRACT Trichoderma sp., Fusarium sp., Beauveria sp., and Cordyceps sp. are among the most frequently reported endophytic fungi in sugarcane, a crop severely affected by the sugarcane weevil, Sphenophorus levis. This study aimed to isolate endophytic fungi from commercial sugarcane fields and evaluate their pathogenicity against S. levis. Two sampling campaigns were conducted in 2022 in three municipalities of São Paulo State, Brazil (Sertãozinho, Araras, and Paraguaçu Paulista). Leaf and root samples were surface-sterilized, disinfected, and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA), followed by incubation at 26 ± 1°C for five days. Isolates were initially characterized based on macroscopic traits and subsequently identified using molecular techniques. Pathogenicity bioassays were performed with adult S. levis (10–40 days old) in a completely randomized design consisting of five treatments (four conidial concentrations: 1×106, 1×107, 1×108, and 5×108 conidia/mL, plus a sterile water control), five replicates per treatment, and five insects per replicate. Mortality was recorded daily for seven days and analyzed by analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s test (p 0.05). The identified species included Beauveria bassiana, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium chrysogenum, Trichosporon asahii, Aspergillus sojae, and Fusarium andiyazi. Among them, F. oxysporum exhibited the highest pathogenicity, causing significantly greater mortality at all tested concentrations. These findings highlight the potential of sugarcane-associated endophytic fungi as promising biological control agents against S. levis.
ABSTRACT Dieback caused by fungi of the genus Lasiodiplodia is a significant disease of acerola in the semi-arid region of Brazil. Information regarding the influence of fungicides on Lasiodiplodia species associated with acerola remains unknown. Therefore, the effective concentration to reduce mycelial growth by 50% (EC50) of seven Lasiodiplodia species was estimated in vitro for the fungicide thiophanate-methyl. The optimal temperature, salinity, and fitness components were also measured for these species. The EC50 for the fungicide ranged from 0.742 to 2.702 µg·mL-1. Among the seven species studied, L. pseudotheobromae and L. iraniensis showed the highest sensitivity to thiophanate-methyl, followed by L. brasiliense, L. gonubiensis, L. euphorbicola, and L. hormozganensis, which are classified as moderately sensitive on a relative sensitivity scale; finally, L. theobromae was the species least sensitive to the fungicide. At extreme temperatures (10 and 40 °C), the Lasiodiplodia species did not develop. The optimal temperature for the mycelial growth of Lasiodiplodia species isolated from acerola was 25.3 °C. The species L. brasiliense, which is moderately sensitive to thiophanate-methyl, exhibited greater adaptability under salt-stress conditions.
This text aims to provide readers with an overview of the artificial intelligence that powers conversational agents and has become commonplace in recent years, after the launch of ChatGPT[1]. Also, we outline some benefits and potential risks associated with the misuse of this technology in the scientific research ecosystem. Finally, we suggest ways to mitigate these risks. [1] https://chatgpt.com
ABSTRACT The World Association for Buiatrics (WAB), founded in 1962, is a global scientific network connecting approximately 70 affiliated countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. This essay marks the beginning of a new WAB leadership – the first presidency exercised by a Brazilian and the first outside the traditional North America – Europe axis – and proposes a practical agenda for international technical integration. Buiatrics, conceived as the health and production management of production ruminants, is a structural component of food security: it supports herd health, sanitary credibility, and the safety of products reaching consumers. In a multipolar production landscape shaped by environmental pressures and intensified trade, the essay argues for scientific neutrality, ethical integration across the value chain, and operational mechanisms that convert expertise into measurable sanitary impact. Brazil’s experience with structured brucellosis and tuberculosis control is presented as a replicable model for other contexts. A global talent network is proposed as an instrument for knowledge transfer, capacity building, and sustained cooperation under a modern One Health framework.
