Sixty-two endophytic bacteria from the leaves, roots, and stems of healthy Lepidium perfoliatum L. were isolated and characterised. From the results, 89, 87, 90, and 97% isolates could tolerate 12% NaCl, 30% PEG 6000, 50°C and pH 10, respectively. 74% isolates could form a biofilm. Besides, 28 isolates could improve the germination rate of host seeds under different degree of drought stress. These data suggest that the endophyte isolates show considerable resistance to abiotic stress and assist their plant hosts to germinate under drought stress.

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For those who know Alois Honěk personally it is hard to believe that he celebrated his 70 th birthday last year, as he has never stopped emitting and sharing his youthful enthusiasm and energy.His fitness and denial of passing time are manifested not only in performing labour-demanding field experiments by himself, but also by regularly hiking in the mountains and his cycling to the institute every day, irrespective of weather or time of the year.Scientists who know Alois Honěk from his published work are frequently amased by his annual scientific productivity, which is not declining with age … just the opposite.Alois Honěk is one of the most influential and productive Czech insect and agricultural ecologists of his generations.His work is enormously respected and widely and extensively cited, mainly because of his great ability to address problems that are of interest to both applied and basic scientists.Below I shall briefly review some of the key events in his outstanding scientific career.

An isolate of Fusarium denominated as NHP-Fusa-2 from tea wilt and root-rot diseased sample collected in Vietnam was identified as Fusarium oxysporum based on molecular analysis of translation elongation factor-1α sequence. Interestingly, it is the first time F. oxysporum is reported as a causal pathogen of wilt and root-rot disease of tea in Vietnam. Chaetomium spp. were investigated to control F. oxysporum NHP-Fusa-2 in in vitro test. Three antagonists (Ch. cupreum CC3003, Ch. globosum CG05, and Ch. lucknowense CL01) inhibited mycelial growth by 31.69-34.03% and reduced conidial production of the pathogen by 67.25-75.92% in the bi-culture antagonistic test after 30 days with non-significant difference in their effect. All the crude extracts of these antagonists significantly inhibited mycelial growth and conidial production of NHP-Fusa-2. MeOH extract of CC3003 was more effective in conidial inhibition of the pathogen than the others, the effective dose (ED50) was 85.30 μg/ml of which, it was hexane (49.32 μg/ml) and EtOAc extract (62.17 μg/ml) in the case of CG05 and CL01, respectively.

Fungicide resistance continues to generate disease control problems in many crops. Experience amassed over the past fifty years has emphasised the importance of diversity in modes of action in anti-resistance strategies. Because of losses, not only from resistance, but increasingly from environmental and health concerns, the number of modes of action has become dangerously small. This paper considers three challenges facing crop protection in the search for durable disease control systems. Greater understanding of the biochemistry surrounding fungal development and pathogenicity provides opportunities for the discovery and development of novel modes of action, and some recent advances in this area are discussed. To ensure sufficient resources available to take a novel discovery forward to a commercial product, a second challenge facing manufacturers involves early assessment of resistance risk. A third challenge facing researchers, manufacturers and growers requires translation of resistance risk into effective and durable disease control strategies in actual crops. At the core of this challenge is using resistance risk evidence obtained in laboratory and glasshouse studies using individual isolates of target pathogens, to evaluate the fitness cost of resistance in pathogen populations in field crops. Increasingly, management of resistance is seen as the integration of fungicides with non-chemical disease control methods. But success of any Integrated Disease Management (IDM) strategy ultimately depends on the ability of growers to maintain production and profitability.

Emsen B., Yildirim E., Aslan A. (2015): Insecticidal activities of extracts of three lichen species on Sitophilus granarius (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Plant Protect. Sci., 51: 155–161. Four different concentrations of extracts obtained from three lichen species ( Lecanora muralis (Schreb.) Rabenh., Letharia vulpina (L.) Hue, and Peltigera rufescens (Weiss) Humb) were tested against adults of Sitophilus granarius (L.) in Petri dishes. After treatments, mortalities of the adults were determined after 24, 48, and 96 h. Expectedly, higher concentration and longer exposure time resulted in higher S. granarius mortality. Mortalities 96 h after treatments with the highest concentration (20 mg/ml) of extracts of L. vulpina, P. rufescens, and L. muralis were determined as 100, 100, and 86.86% , respectively. However, there were no dead insects in the control group. Values of LC 50 after 96 h for L. muralis, L. vulpina, and P. rufescens extracts were 0.666, 0.505, and 0.328 mg/ml, respectively.

Silvertop is a serious disease of grasses, and severe infestations cause a great deal of damage every year (particularly to seed producers). Inflorescences of infected plants dry prematurely and are sterile. The genera Festuca, Poa, Agrostis, Trisetum, and Cynosurus are the most frequent hosts of this disease, which has newly been reported in a loloid-type intergeneric Festulolium hybrid. The disease was also observed in the genus Lolium, with only rare previous description. The suspicion that Fusarium poae is the causal agent of severe silvertop was confirmed, and the pathogen was morphologically described and confirmed by molecular analysis. The meadow plant bug (Leptopterna dolabrata) may be a vector transferring the pathogen to plants, although a direct pathogen transfer was not demonstrated. Grass colonisation by the pathogen therefore apparently occurs after plant tissues injury by sucking of the meadow plant bug.

Essential oils of Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad, Ocimum basilicum L., Myrtus communis L., Thymus daenensis Celak, Mentha spicata L., and Eugenia caryophyllus (Sprengel) were evaluated for nutritional indices and mortality of the 4<sup>th</sup> instar larvae and adults of Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). Relative growth rate, relative consumption rate, efficiency of conversion of ingested food and feeding deterrent index were measured. Results showed that the most efficient essential oil on the 4<sup>th</sup> instar larvae and adults was S. khuzistanica (LC<sub>50</sub> = 23.36 and 167.96 ppm, respectively). Even if all essential oils were effective on feeding deterrence of both stages of L. decemlineata, the essential oil of S. khuzistanica was the most effective. So, these essential oils can be used as potential control agents against both stages of L. decemlineata.  

In order to find an effective elimination method of Blueberry red ringspot virus (BRRV), shoot tips of 2–3 mm size originating from buds of highbush blueberry cv. Darrow naturally infected by BRRV and collected in winter months were regenerated and multiplied on woody-plant medium (WPM) with 1.5 mg/l zeatin and 20 g/l sucrose. Developed shoots tested negative by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for BRRV were transferred onto a rooting medium consisting of WPM supplemented with 1 mg/l indole-3-butyric acid. Rooting plants were transferred into soil and tested twice by PCR 6 months apart. Ninety per cent eradication of BRRV was achieved while isolating shoot tips, multiplying them in one vegetative generation, and regenerating whole 50–60 cm high plants within 30 months. All plants developed rich fruits after their overwintering in a cold greenhouse and were tested BRRV negative in summer 2013.