Au Québec, la stratégie de lutte contre le tétranyque rouge du pommier (Panonychus ulmi) et le tétranyque à deux points (Tetranychus urticae) dans les vergers de pommier (Malus pumila) repose actuellement sur l'emploi d'acaricides coûteux. Par ailleurs, les consommateurs exigent de plus en plus des fruits exempts de pesticides. Dans ce contexte, l'utilisation de méthodes de lutte non chimiques suscite un grand intérêt auprès des pomiculteurs. Depuis plusieurs années, les efforts de recherche et les essais conduits aux États-Unis et en Europe ont donné un large essor à l'utilisation de souches d'acariens prédateurs résistants à certaines classes de pesticides. Au Québec, des expériences de lutte biologique avec l'acarien prédateur Amblyseius fallacis [Acarina: Phytoseiidae] ont été entreprises depuis quelques années. Cet article se propose d'exposer la problématique de la lutte contre les acariens nuisibles dans les vergers québécois ainsi que les perspectives d'avenir de l'utilisation de la lutte biologique contre ces ravageurs.

Competition between crops and weeds is a complex phenomenon. Comprehensive, process-oriented simulation models which treat competition in a mechanistic rather than an empirical fashion, can offer insight into relationships among competition, crop and weed density, relative time of emergence, various morphological and physiological traits, and resource levels. They can also be used for prediction as part of a Systems approach to weed management. This paper reviews the features of a number of recent simulation models of crop-weed competition, the species for which they have been parameterized, and their applications. To date, these models have been used primarily to predict crop yield losses due to weed competition. Their ability to simulate weed seed production in response to the environment has not been exploited. The next step is to link simulation models of crop-weed competition to weed population dynamics models, in order to improve our ability to predict the effect of various weed management strategies over time. Advantages and drawbacks of a modeling approach to weed management problems are discussed.

The study of weed community ecology involves aspects of species life forms, diversity, and spatial and temporal variability. Previously, Canadian research in this area focused on weed surveys, while recent research has been conducted on community composition as influenced by tillage System and crop rotation. New techniques in multivariate ordination have been used to analyse weeds at a community rather than a species level, with a resultant new understanding of community dynamics. Although the study of weed community ecology often involves tedious sampling, increased research in this area would provide the basis for the development of effective integrated weed management strategies. This paper discusses aspects of weed community ecology in light of Canadian research and makes recommendations for future studies.

Sphaeropsis hypodermia, isolated from a cankered American elm branch, was grown on agar medium (PDA), on autoclaved wiping paper (Kimwipes), and American elm (Ulmus americana) wood chips, or inoculated into greenhouse-grown American elm saplings. Samples from each treatment were double-fixed with glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide and examined with the light and the transmission electron microscopes. Ultrastructurally, the hyphae on PDA and inert substrates appeared surrounded by large extracellular sheaths which were delimited by rigid opaque bands of various thicknesses. The sheaths extended appreciable distances from the fungal cells, as evidenced by their adherence to rigid substrates. Individual or aggregated opaque bodies, even as large masses on elm wood chips, were the main components of the sheath. This opaque material was often associated with penetration and ruptures of the wood cells. Inoculated into elm trees, the fungus rapidly caused pronounced alterations of cambial tissues and colonized the adjoining bark and xylem cells. The prominent penetration and breakdown of the inner and outer bark cells by the fungus were associated with opaque material, particularly in cortical fibres. The material was structurally similar to the sheath formed on the rigid sterilized substrates. In the xylem, only the walls of the recently deposited cells were visibly altered, and although mature fibres were generally colonized, the passage of the fungus from one fibre to another was rarely observed, contrary to the passage from vessel and ray cells to adjoining cells. In that instance, only bands of opaque material present in the walls of fibres were connected with fungal cells in their lumen. In the inner bark and cambial regions, cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia occurred next to host walls that were altered and contained similar opaque material. The extracellular sheath of S. hypodermia under in vitro conditions and the opaque material associated with host wall alterations in vivo are considered to be analogous.

European strains of Armillaria cepistipes were reported to be interfertile with strains from three American Armillaria species known as North American Biological Species (NABS) V (A sinapina), NABS X and NABS XI. Such interfertility between species raises some doubts about using different Latin binomials for species capable of mating. This interfertility was reinvestigated by mating 24 haploid isolates of European A cepistipes with 23 isolates of A sinapinafrom North America and Asia. Individual pairings were independently performed at least once at Universite Laval, Canada and at INRA Clermont-Ferrand, France. From the 420 interspecific pairings performed at Laval, two were positive and seven were ambiguous for a total of 2.1% of all the pairings. From the 506 pairings made at Clermont-Ferrand, 10 were positive and 24 were ambiguous for a total of 6.7%. The differences in the pairing results may be explained by incubation temperatures, and the different types and concentrations of malt extract used at each laboratory. The low levels of interfertility found between A. cepistipes and A. sinapina may result from the absence of genetic barriers that are usually present between sympatric species. This low level of interfertility reflects differences in morphology, distribution, and habitat for these two species of Armillaria and this supports the retention of different species denominations.

Carbon dioxide can be used as an effective stored-grain fumigant in relatively air-tight bins. Carbon dioxide was added to wheat (Triticum aestivum) as a compressed gas and to barley (Hordeum vulgare) as a solid (dry ice) in 322-kg grain bulks. Wheat was stored at temperature decreasing from 18 to 10°C over a 12-wk period. Bins were left open, sealed without C02 added, or with C02 supplemented at 25,34, and 46% levels. Barley was stored at temperature decreasing from 25 to 20°C over an 8-wk period. Bins were left open, sealed without C02 added, or with C02 treatments of 23, 29, and 34%. The wheat and barley moisture content were 14.5-16.3% and 14.5-16.1%, respectively. Oxygen levels in the wheat reflected air displacement with C02, but lower O2 levels in the barley reflected a combination of air displacement by C02 and consumption of O2 by respiring grain and microorganisms at the warmer temperatures. The insects Cryptolestes ferrugineus and Tribolium castaneum were controlled in 2 wk at 34% C02 and 15% O2 at temperature decreasing from 18 to 10°C, or 29% C02 and 3% O2 at temperature decreasing from 25 to 20°C. The mites Tarsonemus granarius, Lepidoglyphus destructor, and Aeroglyphus robustus were killed in less than 2 wk at these C02 levels. Seed germination and microflora were unaffected by all gaseous environments.

Cet article porte sur un certain nombre d'activités enzymatiques d'origine végétale possédant la propriété d'altérer des polysaccharides pariétaux bactériens ou fongiques. Ces activités sont présentées selon les cinq aspects suivants. Premièrement, on traitera de la détection et de la diversité électrophorétiques de certaines enzymes à potentiel antimicrobien. Ces enzymes sont les chitinases, les déacétylases de la chitine, les chitosanases, les ß-1,3-glucanases, les lysozymes et d'autres activités hydrolysant les parois bactériennes ou fongiques. Deuxièmement, on présentera des résultats d'inhibition de croissance de certains microorganismes exposés à des enzymes végétales séparées électrophorétiquement. Troisièmement, certaines données sur des plants transgéniques exprimant des enzymes à potentiel antimicrobien seront discutées brièvement. Quatrièmement, quatre enzymes présentes chez les végétaux seront comparées à leur équivalent microbien ou animal. Ces enzymes sont les chitinases, les chitosanases, les ß-1,3-glucanases (laminarinases) et les lysozymes. La comparaison indique que toutes ces activités se trouvent chez certains microorganismes et animaux supérieurs en plus de leur présence chez les végétaux. Les chitosanases n'ont cependant pas encore été rapportées chez les animaux. Il s'agit là d'une exception fort intéressante par rapport aux autres enzymes mais dont la signification n'a pas été élucidée. Enfin, le cinquième aspect traitera de quatre types d'enzymes végétales à potentiel antimicrobien en fonction des protéines végétales reliées à la pathogenèse (protéines PR). Les protéines PR sont des protéines de stress dont la synthèse de novo est stimulée par divers agents biotiques ou abiotiques. Dans certaines conditions de stress, les chitinases, les chitosanases, les ß-1,3-glucanases (laminarinases) et les lysozymes d'origine végétale sont des protéines PR. Par contre, ces activités enzymatiques peuvent être aussi exprimées de façon constitutive et sous diverses formes moléculaires dans certains organes des plantes supérieures. Les organes reproducteurs semblent particulièrement une excellente source de certaines isoformes de ces enzymes à potentiel antimicrobien.

In 1986 and 1987, six maize inbred lines (CM47, A619, F2, CM107, CM7, and A654) were evaluated at four locations across Ontario and Quebec for their resistance to artificially infested univoltine and lst generation bivoltine strains of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis. Three criteria were used: leaf feeding, total plant damage at harvest and length of tunnels/plant height ratio. Substantial interactions in borer damage measurements were observed between locations and years, but inbred reaction was relatively consistent. For all criteria, the univoltine strain often caused significantly more damage than the bivoltine borer. In general, A619 had the greatest resistance-tolerance with good standability until harvest. Wherever possible, evaluation of genetic resistance in maize germplasm should be conducted using the univoltine borer strain.

The seasonal population fluctuations of the northern root-knot nematode Meloidogyne hapla on car rot (Daucus carota), onion (Allium cepa), and weeds were observed on organic soils in southwestern Quebec. Lowest population densities of M. hapla juveniles (J2) were recorded in July and August, followed by a peak in September and October in plots with carrot or weedy fallow. In onion, J2 densities remained near or below the detectable level during most of the sampling period, but a small trend in population increase was also detected in the fall. The vertical distribution of M. hapla was similar in carrot weedy fallow, and onion plots. J2 were regularly recovered from the four sampling depths (0-10,11-20, 21-30, and 31-40 cm). The numbers of J2 were greater in the 0-20 cm depth than the 21-40 cm depth, with 67, 68, and 60% of the total M. hapla population in the 0-20 strata for carrot, weedy fallow, and onion, respectively. The tomato bioassay method was more sensitive than the Baermann pan method for detecting low M. hapla densities. Because of the poor correlation between J2 densities in the soil and the number of galls on tomato roots in the bioassay, a measurement of J2 abundance such as the Baermann pan method shoud be supported by bioassay to further assist growers in their decision process for the management of M. hapla in organic soil.

Samples of wheat spikes (Triticum aestivum) were collected in the summer of 1995 from different crop districts in Quebec and the occurrence of orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana) and seed microflora were determined. Estimated yield loss caused by wheat midge larvae averaged 6.3%. The percentage of infested spikes was significantly correlated with total seed contamination by fungi and bacteria (r = 0.79). The specific occurrence of Fusarium graminearum in grains was also significantly correlated with number of larvae per spike (r = 0.67) or per spikelet (r = 0.67). Consequently, the wheat midge might play a role in dissemination of F. graminearum.