The a im of this work was to evalu ate the effects of ASM a nd Ecolife on the control of post-harvest antracnosis in banana. Banana fruits of Ma çã , Prata, Pacovan a nd Figo va rieties, a t intermedia te stage of maturation, were immersed in solutions of ASM and Ecolife and inoculated with Colletotrichum musae A completely randomized design wa s u sed, a t a factoria l scheme 4x2 (fou r va rieties x two products) with fou r replica tes. T he presented resu lts demonstrated the susceptibility of the fru its to the disea se, mainly Ma ça va riety v.36, n.3, p.237-239, 2010. with lesion of 17 ,9 9 mm. It was demosntra ted the effectiveness of products at concentrations of 5ml. L -1 (Ecolife) and 0.50g. L -1 (ASM) on a ntra cnosis control. T he Figo va riety presented the sma llest injuries when treated with Ecolife (5.79 mm). Regarding ASM effects, Prata va riety demonstrated the best performance, with 5.62 mm of injuries diameter. Throughout the maturation of the fruits the disease severity was declined in all varieties, except in the control treatment, where injuries continued growing until reaching the pulp.As doenças de pós-colheita em frutos de banana (Musa spp) são de grande importância, destacando-se a antracnose causada por Colletotrichum musae (Berk & Curtis) Arx. Embora se manifeste durante o período da pós-colheita, a infecção tem início no campo, ocasião em que os esporos dispersos no ar são depositados sobre os frutos, germinam, formam apressórios e penetram (2).Segundo Kuhn et al. (5), a indução de resistência envolve a ativação de mecanismos de defesa latentes existentes nas plantas em resposta ao tratamento com agentes bióticos ou abióticos.O Acibenzola-S-metil é um potente ativador de defesa de plantas e vem sendo largamente utilizado em diversos patossistemas. Foi utilizado a partir do produto comercial Bion ® . O ASM é rapidamente absorvido pelos tecidos foliares e confere à planta aumento de resistência. O produto comercial Ecolife, composto por bioflavonoides, além de melhorar a resistência das plantas a "stress", tem sido muito utilizado como ativador de resistência a doenças causadas por bactérias e fungos. Esse produto tem ação sinérgica entre seus componentes. Regula o vigor vegetativo, ocasionando um melhor direcionamento energético para necessidades reprodutivas das plantas (3,9).O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a ação dos produtos Acibenzolar-S-Metil (ASM) e de Ecolife, no controle da antracnose em pós-colheita em diferentes variedades de banana.Foram utilizados dezesseis frutos de cada variedade e quatro frutos por tratamento, que consistiu na imersão destes, por cinco minutos, em soluções dos produtos Acibenzolar-S-metil (ASM) e Ecolife, nas concentrações de 0,5 g/L e 5 mL/L, respectivamente, em dosagens d a a n t r a c n o se n a s va r i e da d e s a n a l isa d a s. e xc e to n o t r a t a me nt o t e st e mu nh a , q u e co n ti nu o u a pr e se nt a nd o a u m ento no ta ma nho da s lesõ es n os fru to s e a tin gir a po lpa a o fina l da ma tu ra çã o. NOTAS CIENTÍ...

Pestalotioid species (Pestalotiopsis, Pseudopestalotiopsis and Neopestalotiopsis) cause extremely damaging diseases in a wide range of hosts across the word. Recently, pestalotioid strains isolated from damaged guarana leaf tissue were subject to morphological and molecular characterization. Six monosporic isolates were obtained and analysed based on the following conidial characters: length, width, septation, absence or presence of basal appendage, number and length of apical appendages. For phylogenetic inference, sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer region (ITS), partial sequences of the genes encoding the translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1-α) and β-tubulin (tub2) were used. Three out of six strains analysed were identified as Neopestalotiopsis formicarum, while the three other isolates are described here as a new species of Pseudopestalotiopsis, named Ps. gilvanii sp. nov.. The pathogenicity of N. formicarum and Ps. gilvanii were confirmed following Koch’s postulate. Besides guarana, the potential of N. formicaram and Ps. gilvanii to cause diseases in other economically important tropical plants were investigated. Ps. gilvanii was pathogenic to açaí palms (Euterpe oleracea, E. precatoria), and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), but not to banana (Musa paradisiaca var. pacovan) and rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis). N. formicarum was not pathogenic to rubber trees but was pathogenic to other species tested. To our knowledge this is the first report of N. formicarum as a plant pathogen in the guarana plant, and Ps. gilvanii as novel plant pathogen capable of causing disease in important plant crops from tropical regions.

Rice is one of the world’s most consumed cereals, however, its production is affected by fungal diseases. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the severity of diseases and grain yield potential of upland rice with silicon fertilization combined with seed microbiolization with Bacillus methylotrophicus isolates. Two experiments were conducted, one in Igarapé do Meio, Maranhão (MA), Brazil, with rice seeds of the variety Palha-Murcha and one in São Bento MA with rice seeds of the variety BRS-Primavera. A randomized block experimental design in a split-plot arrangement with five replications were used in both experiments, with agro-silicon rates (0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 Mg ha-1) in the plots and microbiolized and non-microbiolized rice seeds with B. Methylotrophicus at concentration of 108 CFU ml-1 in the subplots. The seedling emergence, grain yield, number of panicles, plant height, plant dry weight and severity of brown leafspot, leaf scald and grain spot were evaluated. Soil fertilization with agro-silicon affected positively the plant height of the variety Palha-Murcha and the number of panicles, plant dry weight and grain yield of the variety BRS-Primavera, and negatively the germination of the variety BRS-Primavera. Leaf scald severity in the variety BRS-Primavera reduced with microbiolized seeds with B. methylotropicus. Microbiolization with B. methylotropicus had no effect on severity of brown leafspot and grain spot in the varieties evaluated.

RESUMO Os objetivos deste trabalho foram identificar as espécies virais presentes em vinhedos comerciais de duas regiões do Nordeste do Brasil e realizar a caracterização molecular parcial de isolados de três espécies virais. A diagnose foi realizada por meio de RT-PCR em tempo real para a detecção de Grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (GRSPaV), Grapevine virus A (GVA), Grapevine virus B (GVB), Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 2, 3 e 4 (GLRaV-2, -3 e -4), Grapevine fleck virus (GFkV), Grapevine rupestris vein feathering virus (GRVFV) e Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV). Exceto para GFLV, os vírus avaliados estão amplamente disseminados nas áreas amostradas, frequentemente em altas incidências e em infecções múltiplas ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to identify viral species infecting commercial vineyards in two regions of Northeastern Brazil and perform partial molecular characterization of isolates of three virus species. The diagnosis was performed by real time RT-PCR for detection of GRSPaV, GVA, GVB, GFkV, GRVFV and GFLV. Except for GFLV, the evaluated

Coffee is one of the main export commodities of Brazilian agribusiness. Phoma leaf spot [Phoma tarda (Stewart) Boerema & Bollen] is one of the most important coffee fungal diseases in Brazil. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the intensity of Phoma leaf spot in coffee seedlings supplied with different rates of Ca+2 and K+. The study was conducted under controlled conditions in a growth chamber, at the Department of Phytopathology - UFLA, from February 2010 to December 2011. The assay was repeated twice under the same conditions. The nutrient solutions consisted of five concentrations of K+ (3, 4, 5, 6, 7 mmol L-1) and Ca+2 (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mmol L-1). The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design, with 25 treatments and three replicates, with two plants per plot. The areas under incidence progress curve (AUIPC) and severity (AUSPC) were calculated. At the lowest rate of Ca2+ (2 mmol L-1) and highest K+ (6 and 7 mmol L-1), approximately, the AUIPC was the smallest. For the AUSPC, the lowest rates of Ca+2 and K+ resulted in the lowest severities. Supply of Ca+2 and K+ in nutrient solution reduced AUIPC and AUSPC of Phoma leaf spot, and these nutrients can be recommended for the management of the disease.