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The effects of dietary essential oils extract from sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) (OEO) and/or lemon (Citrus limon) (LEO) peels on performance and health status of Nile tilapia were investigated. Seven triplicate groups (Control "CG", OEO1‰, OEO3‰, LEO0.75‰, LEO1‰, OEO1‰ × LEO0.75‰ and OEO3‰ × LEO1‰) of fish (16.42 ± 0.059 g, N = 210) were fed basal diet, basal diet contain OEO 1‰, OEO 3‰, LEO 0.75‰, LEO 1‰, OEO 1‰ × LEO 0.75‰ and OEO 3‰ × LEO1‰ respectively, for 60 day. Results showed significant improvement in growth (final weight, weight gain, specific growth rate and thermal growth coefficient), blood health (increased total protein, albumin, globulin and decreased aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose), immune response (phagocytic activity, phagocytic index and lysozyme activity) and oxidative status (super oxide dismutase and catalase) of fish received OEO or/and LEO in respect to CG (p < 0.05) with the best findings observed in OEO 3‰ × LEO1‰. In a dose‐dependent effect, liver insulin growth factor I (IGF‐I), super oxide dismutase (SOD) and tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) significantly upregulated in fish received OEO or/and LEO compared with CG (p < 0.05). Dietary supplementation of OEO or/and LEO significantly improved the intestinal morphometry (villi length, inter villi space and number of goblet cells) of fish compared to CG (p < 0.05) with the best results detected in OEO 3‰ × LEO1‰. Conclusively, OEO 3‰ × LEO1‰ have significant physiological, antioxidant and immunostimulant activities that could be used as natural constituents during the formulation of aquafeeds to improve fish welfare via dietary management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aimed to optimize olive fruit fly (OFF) Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) monitoring and integrated management, thereby ensuring optimal and less-costly decision-making and timely intervention. Field trials in Andalusia (Spain) were undertaken over 2 years to optimize trap model, color, size, and density for the accurate determination of pest spatial distribution and damage as a function of olive cultivar. McPhail traps and yellow sticky panels outperformed the other 4 models with respect to the number of OFF captured. However, McPhail traps caught more natural enemies than yellow sticky panels and so sticky panels were selected to unravel the effect of color on the number of both OFF and natural enemies [hymenopteran parasitoids (Psyttalia concolor) and lacewings (Chrysopidae)] captured. Yellow sticky panels outperformed white, green, and blue ones for the number of OFF captured and captured the fewest natural enemies. When comparing the surface area of yellow sticky panels, 20 × 25 and 10 × 25 cm double-sided panels were equally effective at catching OFF. However, large double-sided yellow sticky panels caught significantly more natural enemies than the small double-sided panels, a key result for developing a less costly and environmentally friendly monitoring system. Furthermore, it was shown that the damage curve had a cultivar-based shape, i.e., for the same population size of OFF the damage caused varied depending on cultivar. Finally, 15 sticky panels per hectare were the optimal number for estimation of OFF spatial distribution. The present research provides key information for new trap design, OFF forecasting, and IPM development., (© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.)

Entomopathogenic ascomycetes (EA) are an important part of the microbiota in most terrestrial ecosystems, where they can be found regulating natural populations of arthropod pests in both epigeous and hypogeous habitats while also establishing unique relationships with plants. These fungi offer direct benefits to agriculture and human welfare. In the present work, we conducted a systematic review to comprehensively assess the range of ecosystem services provided by EA, including direct and indirect pest biocontrol, plant growth promotion, plant defense against other biotic and abiotic stresses, nutrient cycling, and the production of new bioactive compounds with agricultural, pharmaceutical and medical importance. Moreover, EA are compatible with the ecosystem services provided by other microbial and macrobial biocontrol agents. This systematic review identified the need for future research to focus on evaluating the economic value of the ecological services provided by EA with a special emphasis on hypocrealean fungi. This evaluation is essential not only for the conservation but also for better regulation and exploitation of the benefits of EA in promoting agricultural sustainability, reducing the use of chemicals that enter the environment, and minimizing the negative impacts of crop protection on the carbon footprint and human health., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Endophytic insect pathogenic fungi have a multifunctional lifestyle; in addition to its well-known function as biocontrol agents, it may also help plants respond to other biotic and abiotic stresses, such as iron (Fe) deficiency. This study explores M. brunneum EAMa 01/58-Su strain attributes for Fe acquisition. Firstly, direct attributes include siderophore exudation (in vitro assay) and Fe content in shoots and in the substrate (in vivo assay) were evaluated for three strains of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium bruneum . The M. brunneum EAMa 01/58-Su strain showed a great ability to exudate iron siderophores (58.4% surface siderophores exudation) and provided higher Fe content in both dry matter and substrate compared to the control and was therefore selected for further research to unravel the possible induction of Fe deficiency responses, Ferric Reductase Activity (FRA), and relative expression of Fe acquisition genes by qRT-PCR in melon and cucumber plants.. In addition, root priming by M. brunneum EAMa 01/58-Su strain elicited Fe deficiency responses at transcriptional level. Our results show an early up-regulation (24, 48 or 72 h post inoculation) of the Fe acquisition genes FRO1 , FRO2 , IRT1 , HA1 , and FIT as well as the FRA. These results highlight the mechanisms involved in the Fe acquisition as mediated by IPF M. brunneum EAMa 01/58-Su strain.

The genus Metarhizium has an increasingly important role in the development of Integrated Pest Control against Tephritid fruit flies in aerial sprays targeting adults and soil treatments targeting preimaginals. Indeed, the soil is considered the main habitat and reservoir of Metarhizium spp., which may be a plant-beneficial microorganism due to its lifestyle as an endophyte and/or rhizosphere-competent fungus. This key role of Metarhizium spp. for eco-sustainable agriculture highlights the priority of developing proper monitoring tools not only to follow the presence of the fungus in the soil and to correlate it with its performance against Tephritid preimaginals but also for risk assessment studies for patenting and registering biocontrol strains. The present study aimed at understanding the population dynamics of M. brunneum strain EAMb 09/01-Su, which is a candidate strain for olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi, 1790) preimaginal control in the soil, when applied to the soil at the field using different formulations and propagules. For this, strain-specific DNA markers were developed and used to track the levels of EAMb 09/01-Su in the soil of 4 field trials. The fungus persists over 250 days in the soil, and the levels of the fungus remained higher when applied as an oil-dispersion formulation than when applied as a wettable powder or encapsulated microsclerotia. Peak concentrations of EAMb 09/01-Su depend on the exogenous input and weakly on environmental conditions. These results will help us to optimize the application patterns and perform accurate risk assessments during further development of this and other entomopathogenic fungus-based bioinsecticides.

Microsclerotia (MS) produced by some species of Metarhizium can be used as active ingredients in mycoinsecticides for the control of soil-dwelling stages of geophilic pests. In this study, the MS production potential of two Metarhizium brunneum strains and one M. robertsii strain was evaluated. The three strains were able to produce MS in liquid fermentation, yielding between 4.0 × 10 6 ( M. robertsii EAMa 01/158-Su strain) and 1.0 × 10 7 ( M. brunneum EAMa 01/58-Su strain) infective propagules (CFU) per gram of MS. The EAMa 01/58-Su strain was selected for further investigation into the effects of key abiotic factors on their survival and conidial yield. The MS were demonstrated to be stable at different storage temperatures (-80, -18, and 4 °C), with a shelf-life up to one year. The best temperature for MS storage was -80 °C, ensuring good viability of MS for up to one year (4.9 × 10 10 CFU/g MS). Moreover, soil texture significantly affected CFU production by MS; sandy soils were the best driver of infective propagule production. Finally, the best combination of soil temperature and humidity for MS germination was 22.7 °C and 7.3% ( wt. / wt. ), with no significant effect of UV-B exposure time on MS viability. These results provide key insights into the handling and storage of MS, and for decision making on MS dosage and timing of application.