CABI

About: CABI is a nonprofit organization based out in Wallingford, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Introduced species. The organization has 789 authors who have published 1759 publications receiving 73843 citations. The organization is also known as: Centre for Biosciences and Agriculture International.

On the Identity of Cereal Aphid Parasitoid Wasps Aphidius uzbekistanicus, Aphidius rhopalosiphi, and Aphidius avenaphis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) by Examination of COI Mitochondrial Gene, Geometric Morphometrics, and Morphology

Abstract: In this study, the relationships among and the taxonomic status of three closely related parasitic wasps that are widely used as biological control agents of cereal aphids, Aphidius uzbekistanicus Luzhetzki, Aphidius rhopalosiphi De Stefani Perez, and Aphidius avenaphis (Fitch), were examined. Genetic divergence at an average of 6% was recorded between A. uzbekistanicus and A. rhopalosiphi by using the mitochondrial (mt) gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcoding region. Identical mtCOI gene sequences were observed in A. uzbekistanicus specimens that originated from Eurasia and in the North American species A. avenaphis. The haplotype fluctuation in A. rhopalosiphi specimens that originated from the west Palaearctic was an average of 1.5% (maximum, 2.4%). In contrast, specimens of A. uzbekistanicus from central and western parts of Eurasia were largely homogenous, with only a single mutation recorded in a specimen from eastern Europe (Serbia). The morphological and genetic diversity found in A. rh...

Effects of multiple Bt proteins and GNA lectin on in vitro-reared honey bee larvae

Abstract: The honey bee is a key non-target arthropod in environmental risk assessments of genetically modified crops. We analyzed for the first time combined effects of three Bt proteins conferring insect resistances, and a CP4-protein conferring an herbicide resistance as simultaneously expressed in one GM maize. Furthermore, the biosafety of Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA lectin), a candidate protein for pest control was tested. Under worst-case exposure scenario, by using controlled in vitro larvae rearing, the combination of Bt proteins showed no adverse effects on bee larvae. In contrast, the GNA lectin was toxic at a 144 h LD50 of 16.3 μg/larva. The prepupal weight was found to differ between the larvae collection days and between the colonies used for the experiment, explaining up to five times more data variance than the protein treatments (N = 709 prepupae). In conclusion, neither single nor a mix of different Bt proteins were found harmful to honey bee larvae.

Plant and fungal collections: Current status, future perspectives

Abstract: 1Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, UK 2Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre and Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden 3Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK 4Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 5The National Herbarium, Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 6Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany 7Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, UK 8Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark 9CAB International, Egham, UK 10William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA 11SANBI, Pretoria, South Africa

Plantwise knowledge bank: delivering plant health information to developing country users

Abstract: The Plantwise knowledge bank is an open access, online resource that provides information to users involved in plant health systems in the developing world. The challenge was to deliver dependable information that could serve users with widely differing needs and understanding and to get actionable knowledge to subsistence farmers in particular. This was met by bringing together resources across CABI, particularly by supplementing core publishing capabilities with the knowledge, skills and understanding of the internationally based scientific staff and their network of collaborators. An iterative development process, with scoping, wireframes and prototype delivery, was undertaken with constant feedback from global users. Content needed to be repurposed from CABI's own databases, brought in from international partners and freshly created, and then delivered to each user in a structure that was easy to navigate and had easy‐to‐use tools to add value. The product has been widely well received and ongoing development will be guided by lessons learned and new requirements as the Plantwise programme expands.