World Vegetable Center

About: World Vegetable Center is a nonprofit organization based out in Tainan City, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Agriculture. The organization has 294 authors who have published 364 publications receiving 8785 citations. The organization is also known as: AVRDC, Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center.

Occurrence and characterization of a nucleopolyhedrovirus from Maruca vitrata (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) isolated in Taiwan

Abstract: A nucleopolyhedrovirus (MaviMNPV) was isolated from diseased larvae of legume pod borer (LPB), Maruca vitrata, at Tainan in Taiwan. Electron microscopical studies on the ultrastructure of MaviMNPV occlusion bodies (OBs) showed several virions (up to 19) with multiple nucleocapsids (up to 6) packaged within a single viral envelope. The diameter of OBs was 0.9 to 1.3 µm with a mean of 1.152±0.116 µm. The complete sequence of the MaviMNPV polyhedrin (Polh) gene contained 735 nucleotides (GenBank accession number DQ399596). Phylogenetic analyses using the complete sequence of the Polh gene of MaviMNPV indicated that this virus clusters with Group I NPVs. The genome size of MaviMNPV estimated with restriction enzymes viz., HindIII, EcoRI, BglII and PstI was 113.41 ± 1.50 kbp. First instar LPB larvae were the most susceptible stage (LC50 2.053 × 102 OBs/ml) followed by second, third and fourth instars with the median lethal concentrations (LC50s) 1.410 × 103, 2.390 × 103 and 2.636 × 103 OBs/ml, respectively. This is the first record of this virus from this region.

Strengthening collective action to improve marketing performance: evidence from farmer groups in Central Africa

Abstract: Purpose: Several development organisations have implemented programs to enhance smallholder farmers’ crop productivity and market access through collective action with mixed results. Therefore, thi...

Complete mitochondrial genome of Scaphiodonichthys acanthopterus (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae)

Abstract: In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of Scaphiodonichthys acanthopterus (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae). This mitochondrial genome, consisting of 16,612 base pairs (bp), encoded genes for 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and one non-coding control region as those found in other vertebrates, with the gene order identical to that of typical vertebrates. The control region, of 941 bp in length, is located between tRNA Pro and tRNA Phe . The overall base composition of the heavy strand shows T 25.23%, C 26.85%, A 31.96%, and G 15.95%, with a slight AT bias of 57.19%.

Resistance to Taiwanese race 1 strains of Ralstonia solanacearum in wild tomato germplasm

Abstract: A total of 252 wild Solanum accessions and one population of 49 introgression lines of LA716 were screened for resistance to a race 1/biovar 4/phylotype I strain Pss186 of Ralstonia solanacearum. Most wild tomato accessions were highly susceptible. However, five accessions of S. pennellii, i.e. LA1943, LA716, LA1656, LA1732 and TL01845 were resistant to strain Pss186. These accessions were then challenged against two other race 1/phylotpye I strains Pss4 and Pss190, which were more aggressive. All the five S. pennellii accessions were susceptible to Pss4, but displayed high to moderate resistance to Pss190 with a percentage of wilted plants ranging from 0% to 60%. Pss190 is an aggressive strain that made a resistant tomato line Hawaii 7996 susceptible. Thus, the results found in this study provide evidence of the presence of strain-specific resistance. LA3501, which has an introgression segment on chromosome 6, was found to be resistant to Pss186 among the screened introgression lines. This confirms the importance of resistance trait loci on chromosome 6 that have been identified by other studies. This is the first report of S. pennellii being resistant to bacterial wilt. These new resistant sources will provide breeders with more resources to breed for stable resistance to bacterial wilt of tomato.