The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relation between some climate parameters inside and outside the stable in the course of the year. Investigations were carried out from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008 at the School Farm in Žabčice. We monitored the following micro-climate pa­ra­me­ters: temperature (°C), relative humidity (%) and the temperature-humidity index (THI) inside and outside the stable. We used the statistical programme UNISTAT version 5.1.11 to calculate the average monthly temperatures, relative humidity and the THI inside and outside the stable.Measurements carried out throughout the whole year revealed that the average daily outdoor temperature was always lower than the temperature monitored inside the stable. The differences between the outdoor and indoor temperatures were more marked in winter; in summer the differences were considerably lower. The coefficient correlations confirmed this finding; the temperatures were the highest in July and the lowest in autumn and winter. The same results and tendencies were monitored in terms of the average daily THI values. Much like the temperatures also the differences in high average daily values of relative humidity between the outside and inside environment of the stable were lower. Since the relative humidity was higher in winter than in summer the differences between the indoor and outdoor stable values were more marked in summer than in winter. In contrast to the temperature and THI, in one half of the cases the average daily relative humidity was higher outside the stable than inside and vice versa.

In the past few years, huge economic and environmental losses have resulted by fungal pathogens in agriculture and food production worldwide. Fungal toxins also pose a threat for food production and animal health. In the last decade, the site-specific fungicides has been used in plant protection, providing highly efficient protection against phytopathogens. However, the use of pesticides boosted problems with resistance in the targeted organisms and increased negative environmental impact of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. Therefore, new methods are needed to control resistant populations of plant pathogens, including fungi. Mycoviruses are fungal viruses, i.e. viruses infecting fungi. Some mycoviruses affect the growth and virulence of the host fungus and may prevent successful infection of plant host. They have potential to reduce phytopathogens. In this review, the successful examples how mycoviruses alter hypovirulence in well-known phytopathogens are discussed. Mycoviruses could be useful as a one of new next generation pest-control products.

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We introduced here the first loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the identification of honey fungus, Armillaria ostoyae, a basidiomycote playing an important role in spruce declines in the Palaearctic region. In total, 101 isolates, representing three Armillaria species, were used to develop a new LAMP assay to determine species specific identification. We have here described LAMP primers enhanced with fluorescent dye that are able to amplify A. ostoyae DNA and detect fungi in a fast single step reaction. The detection limit of LAMP was 1 pg of genomic DNA per reaction. We optimized a new LAMP assay for the rapid detection of A. ostoyae using the translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1) marker and fluorescence labelled oligonucleotide assimilating probe. The LAMP assay does not require any specialized equipment, hence it can be used in the field for the rapid detection of A. ostoyae even using the portable and mobile device. The specificity of the assay was confirmed by the use of A. ostoyae strains and Armillaria cepistipes and Armillaria gallica strains, respectively. In conclusion, the assay could be a rapid, specific, sensitive and low-cost tool for identification of A. ostoyae as well as the first step for expansion of this method in practical applications.