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Copyright of Mustafa Kemal University Journal of Agricultural Sciences / Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi is the property of Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Agriculture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cydalima perspectalis (Walker 1859), the boxwood moth, is one of the important invasive pests spreading rapidly throughout Europe within a few years. The objective of the current research was to determine an alternative biological control agent for the control of C. perspectalis. Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus with high insecticidal activity, was isolated from the larvae of the pest that causes substantial economic losses on boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey, and its virulence was tested on it. Based on the morphological data and molecular characteristics, including the partial sequence of ITS (ITS1- 5.8S-ITS2 gene region) and EF1, the fungus was identified as an isolate of B. bassiana (CP1). In larval stage susceptibility tests, it was determined that larval mortality was higher in older stages. In concentration-response experiments using 1 × 104-8 conidia/ml, the LC50 value of the new isolate was calculated to be 1.7 × 104 conidia/ml within 10 days against C. perspectalis 6th instar larvae under laboratory conditions. This is a significant study to describe a novel B. bassiana CP1 isolate, and preliminary data suggests that the fungal isolate has considerable potential as an effective biopesticide for controlling C. perspectalis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family Poxviridae is divided into two subfamilies, the Chordopoxvirinae of vertebrates and the Entomopoxvirinae of invertebrates. The Amsacta mooreientomopoxvirus (AMEV, Entomopoxvirinae) has the potential to be used in gene therapy, as an expression vector, and as a biopesticide. It was suggested that AMV248 protein is a putative glycosyltransferase (GT) but was also shown to be an attachment protein to host receptors. GTs encoded by some other viruses catalyse the binding of sugars molecules to growth hormones of the host insects rendering the hormones inactive. Consequently, larval development is arrested and frequently results in larval mortality. In this study, AMV248 protein was shown to be a GT and the purified enzyme catalysed the production of uridine diphosphate (UDP) from the substrates UDP‐glucose and UDP‐N‐acetylglucosamine. This AMEV enzyme may behave much like the ecdysteroid UDP‐glucosyltransferase of baculoviruses. Various concentrations of the GT enzyme were tested for its insecticidal activity against gypsy moth Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), lackey moth Malacosoma neustria (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner, 1808) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae. It had varying deleterious effects on all test larvae but L. dispar was the most sensitive to the enzyme. While this enzyme exhibits properties with potential to be developed as an insecticide in biocontrol strategies, investigations are needed to ascertain its value in pest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua Hübner) is a polyphagous pest that causes significant economic losses and has a large host range that contains 170 plant species from 35 families in many countries. Feeding with leaves and fruits, S. exigua larvae cause plant growth to slow down and decrease, and significant crop losses. While various cultural, chemical, and biological methods are used for pest control, their effectiveness is low and the pest is still harmful to agricultural areas. In this study, we isolated two novel Spodoptera exigua multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SeMNPV) strains from S. exigua larval cadavers collected from provinces of Igdir and Sanliurfa in Turkey, and named them SeMNPV-I and SeMNPV-U, respectively. Light microscopy confirmed that both cadavers died from baculovirus infection. Scanning electron microscope observations showed that the polyhedral occlusion bodies (OBs) of the SeMNPV-I and SeMNPV-U were irregularly shaped. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that OBs of SeMNPV-I and SeMNPV-U were occupied with several virions in which multiple nucleocapsids were packaged by a viral envelope. Sequences and phylogenetic analyzes of polh, lef-8 and lef-9 revealed that these strains are closely related to baculoviruses isolates from Spodoptera species. Dose-response experiments with the isolates at 105-109 OBs/ml concentrations against S. exigua larvae led to varied mortality between 47% to 100%. The results of this study revealed that two local SeMNPV strains both have the potential to be used to control S. exigua. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis ( Cmm ) is an important plant-pathogenic bacterium that causes canker and wilt diseases. Biological control of the disease with bacteriophages is an alternative to conventional methods. In this study, Phage33 infecting Cmm was characterized based on morphological and genomic properties. Morphological characteristics such as shape and size were investigated using electron microscopy. The whole genome was sequenced using the Illumina Novaseq 6000 platform and the sequence was assembled and annotated. VICTOR and VIRIDIC were used for determining the phylogeny and comparing viral genomes, respectively. Electron microscopy showed that Phage33 has an icosahedral head with a diameter of ~55 nm and a long, thin, non-contractile tail ~169 nm in length. The genome of Phage33 is 56 324 bp in size, has a GC content of 62.49 % and encodes 67 open reading frames. Thirty-seven ORFs showed high homology to functionally annotated bacteriophage proteins in the NCBI database. The remaining 30 ORFs were identified as hypothetical with unknown functions. The genome contains no antimicrobial resistance, no lysogenicity and no virulence signatures, suggesting that it is a suitable candidate for biocontrol agents. The results of a blastn search showed similarity to the previously reported Xylella phage Sano, with an average nucleotide sequence identity of 92.37 % and query coverage of 91 %. This result was verified using VICTOR and VIRIDIC analysis, and suggests that Phage33 is a new member of the genus Sanovirus under the class Caudoviricetes.