Insecticide resistance poses many challenges in insect pest control, particularly in the control of destructive pests such as red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta). In recent years, beta-cypermethrin and fipronil have been extensively used to manage invasive ants, but their effects on resistance development in S. invicta are still unknown. To investigate resistance development, S. invicta was collected from populations in five different cities in Guangdong, China. The results showed 105.71- and 2.98-fold higher resistance against fipronil and beta-cypermethrin, respectively, in the Guangzhou population. The enzymatic activities of acetylcholinesterase, carboxylases, and glutathione S-transferases significantly increased with increasing beta-cypermethrin and fipronil concentrations. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 117 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the BC-ck vs. BC-30 treatments (39 upregulated and 78 downregulated), 109 DEGs in F-ck vs. F-30 (33 upregulated and 76 downregulated), and 499 DEGs in BC-30 vs. F-30 (312 upregulated and 187 downregulated). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that DEGs associated with insecticide resistance were significantly enriched in metabolic pathways, the AMPK signaling pathway, the insulin signaling pathway, carbon metabolism, peroxisomes, fatty acid metabolism, drug metabolism enzymes and the metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450. Furthermore, we found that DEGs important for insecticide detoxification pathways were differentially regulated under both insecticide treatments in S. invicta. Comprehensive transcriptomic data confirmed that detoxification enzymes play a significant role in insecticide detoxification and resistance development in S. invicta in Guangdong Province. Numerous identified insecticide-related genes, GO terms, and KEGG pathways indicated the resistance of S. invicta workers to both insecticides. Importantly, this transcriptome profile variability serves as a starting point for future research on insecticide risk evaluation and the molecular mechanism of insecticide detoxification in invasive red imported fire ants.

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In traditional row and strip cowpea-sorghum intercropping systems, cowpea forage yield reduces significantly due to intense competition and dominance of sorghum in acquiring growth resources. This field study evaluated novel mixed strip intercropping systems of forage cowpea and sorghum having different number of crops rows arranged under different spatial arrangements. Cowpea was intercropped with sorghum in 8, 12 and 16 rows strips with row-row spacing of 30, 45 and 60 cm. In each strip, equal number of rows of cowpea and sorghum were maintained. Factorial arrangement of randomized complete block design with three replicates was used to execute the field trials during summer seasons of 2013 and 2014. Strips having 12 rows and 60 cm row-row spacing positively affected all agronomic variables of cowpea which led to maximum forage yield (22.2 and 23.7 t ha-1 during 2013 and 2014 respectively) and dry matter biomass (6.63 and 6.94 t ha-1 during 2013 and 2014 respectively). In contrast, 8-rows strips having line spacing of 30 cm outperformed other intercropping systems by yielding the maximum herbage yield and dry matter biomass of sorghum. The intercropping system comprising of 12-rows strips with 60 cm row-row spacing remained superior in recording the maximum crude protein, fats and total ash along with the minimum fiber content of cowpea. In addition, this intercropping system under rest of spatial arrangements also remained unmatched, while 16-rows strips under all planting geometries remained inferior to other intercropping systems. Thus, cowpea intercropping with sorghum in 12-rows strips having 60 cm spacing offers biologically viable solution to improve biomass and forage quality of cowpea in intercropping with sorghum.

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is a popular vegetable that is grown in both tropical and subtropical regions all year long. The crop is cultivated on small family farms and is a good source of income for resource-limited farmers in Pakistan. In early May 2019, leaf spots on eggplant (cv. Bemisaal) were observed in an experimental field (31°26'14.0"N 73°04'23.4"E) at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Early symptoms were small, circular, brown, necrotic spots uniformly distributed on leaves. The spots gradually enlarged and coalesced into large, nearly circular or irregularly shaped spots that could be up to 3 cm in length. The center of the spots was light tan, surrounded by a dark brown ring, a chlorotic halo, and tended to split in the later developmental stages. Disease incidence was approximately 35% in the infected field. The causal agent of this disease was isolated consistently by plating surface sterilized (1% NaOCl) sections of symptomatic leaf tissue onto potato dextrose agar (PDA). After 6 days incubation at 25°C with a 12-h photoperiod, fungal colonies had round margins and the cottony mycelia were dark olivaceous with a mean diameter of 7.5 cm. For conidial production, the fungus was grown on potato carrot agar (PCA) and V8 agar media under a 16-h/8-h light/ dark photoperiod at 25°C. Conidiophores were septate, light to olive golden brown with a conidial scar, from which conidia were produced. Conidia were borne singly or in short chains and were obpyriform to obclavate, measured 29 ± 4.8 × 13.25 ± 2.78 μm (n=30) with zero to three longitudinal and two to six transversal septa. The morphological characters matched those of Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keisel (Simmons et al. 2007). DNA was extracted using the DNAzol reagent (Thermo Fisher Scientific MA, USA). For molecular identification, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region between ITS1 and ITS2, actin gene (β-Actin), translation elongation factor (TEF-1α) gene, and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene of two representative isolates (JLUAF1 and JLUAF2) were amplified with primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), β-Actin 512 F/783 R, EF1-728F/-986R (Carbone et al. 1999), and gpd1/gpd2 (Berbee et al. 1999), respectively. The sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession nos. MT228734.1 and MT228735.1 for ITS; MT260151.1 and MT260152.1 for β-Actin, MT260163.1 and MT260164.1, for TEF-1a, and MT260157.1 and MT260158.1 for GAPDH). BLASTn analysis of these sequences showed 100% identity with the sequences of A. alternata for ITS rDNA, β-Actin, TEF-1α, and GAPDH, respectively. Based on the morphological characters and DNA sequences, the leaf spot isolates of eggplant were identified as A. alternata. To confirm the pathogenicity on eggplant, six-week old healthy potted eggplants of cv. Bemisaal were sprayed at the true leaf stage with conidial suspensions of A. alternata (106 conidia/ml; obtained from 1-week-old cultures) amended with 0.1% (vol/vol) of Tween 20 until runoff (1.5 to 2 ml per plant) using an atomizer in the greenhouse. Three plants were inoculated with each of the two isolates (JLUAF1 and JLUAF2), whereas three control plants were sprayed with sterile distilled water amended with 0.1% Tween 20. The plants were incubated at 25 ± 2°C in a greenhouse, and the experiment was conducted twice. After 10 days of inoculation, each isolate induced leaf spots which were similar to typical spots observed in the field, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The fungus was re-isolated from symptomatic tissues. Re-isolated fungal cultures were morphologically and molecularly identical to A. alternata, thus fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Previously, A. alternata has been reported to cause leaf spots on eggplant in India (Raina et al. 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. alternata causing leaf spot on eggplant in Pakistan. The disease could represent a threat for eggplant crops due to its increasing cultivation. It is important to develop disease management strategies for Alternaria alternata causing leaf spot of Eggplant in Pakistan.

Aquatic insect fauna remains an important tool for bio indication of environmental disturbance, while maintaining a healthy aquatic system. The purpose of the study was to document and to identify the diversity and distribution patterns of aquatic insect, a highly ignored aspect from the Qatar. Following the standard procedures, the samples were collected from aquatic habitats during the period October 2015 to May 2017 on monthly basis. A total of 11,287 individuals, belonging to 6 orders were captured. Dipterans were the abundant with the percentages of 71.01 (n=8,015), while the lowest percentage was observed for Coleoptera 0.04 (n=05). Twelve insects families were identified, among these five were reported under Diptera, followed by Hemiptera (03), while Coleoptera, Tricoptera, Odonata, and Ephemeroptera were represented by single families. Among the selected localities, Dipterans were collected from 10 stations, followed by Hemiptera (9), Coleoptera (4), Odonota (4), Ephemeroptera (3) and Trichoptera (1) respectively. Among the water bodies samples, streams were the most preferred habitats (n=2,767), while drinking water pools were the least (27). Moreover, the highest Simpson diversity index of 1.48 and lowest of 0.47 was recorded for flooded sewage pool and plastic containers respectively, while the low evenness values were observed for ponds, and less than 1 Margalef’s diversity values were seen for all habitats. This study documents the patterns of the diversity and distribution of aquatic insects, and provides a baseline for the future studies from Qatar.