Biofumigation is an effective, non-chemical method to control soil-borne pests and diseases and to maximize crop yield. We studied the responses of soil bacterial and fungal communities, the soil’s nutritional state and strawberry yield, when the soil was biofumigated each year for five consecutive years using fresh chicken manure (BioFum). BioFum significantly increased the soil’s NH4+-N, NO3−-N, available P and K and organic matter. Fusarium spp. and Phytophthora spp. which are known to cause plant disease, were significantly decreased after BioFum. In addition, Biofum increased the soil’s temperature, enhanced chlorophyll levels in the leaves of strawberry plants, and the soluble sugar and ascorbic acid content in strawberry fruit. We used high-throughput gene sequencing to monitor changes in the soil’s bacterial and fungal communities. Although BioFum significantly decreased the diversity of these communities, it increased the relative abundance of some biological control agents in the phylum Actinobacteria and the genera Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Chaetomium. An increase in these biological control agents would reduce the incidence of soil-borne pathogens and plant disease. Although strawberry marketable yield using BioFum was higher in the first three years, the decline in the final two years could be due to the accumulation of P and K which may have delayed flowering and fruiting. Methods to overcome yield losses using BioFum need to be developed in the future. Our research, however, showed that BioFum enhanced soil fertility, reduced the presence of soil pathogens, increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria and fungi and improved strawberry quality. Unlike chemical soil treatments that can cause pest and disease resistance when used continuously over many years, our multi-year research program on BioFum showed that this treatment provided significant benefits to the soil, plant and strawberry fruit.

Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR), a soil-borne plant disease, cause the yield loss of oilseed rape. Selenium (Se), a beneficial element of plant, improves plant resistance to pathogens, and regulates microbial communities in soil. Soil microbial communities has been identified to play an important role in plant health. We studied whether the changes in soil microbiome under influence of Se associated with oilseed rape health. SSR disease incidence of oilseed rape and soil biochemical properties were investigated in Enshi district, “The World Capital of Selenium”, and soil bacterial and fungal communities were analyzed by 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing, respectively. Results showed that Se had a strong effect on SSR incidence, and disease incidence inversely related with plant Se concentration. Besides, soil Se enhanced the microbiome diversities and the relative abundance of PGPR (plant growth promoting rhizobacteria), such as Bryobacter, Nitrospirae, Rhizobiales, Xanthobacteraceae, Nitrosomonadaceae and Basidiomycota. Furthermore, Soil Se decreased the relative abundance of pathogenic fungi, such as Olpidium, Armillaria, Coniosporium, Microbotryomycetes and Chytridiomycetes. Additionally, Se increased nitrogen metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and cell processes related functional profiles in soil. The enrichment of Se in plants and improvement of soil microbial community were related to increased plant resistance to pathogen infection. These findings suggested that Se has potential to be developed as an ecological fungicide for biological control of SSR.

Nano-TiO2 is immunotoxic to fish and reduces the bactericidal function of fish neutrophils. Here, fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to low and high environmentally relevant concentration of nano-TiO2 (2 ng g−1 and 10 μg g−1 body weight, respectively), and were challenged with common fish bacterial pathogens, Aeromonas hydrophila or Edwardsiella ictaluri. Pre-exposure to nano-TiO2 significantly increased fish mortality during bacterial challenge. Nano-TiO2 concentrated in the kidney and spleen. Phagocytosis assay demonstrated that nano-TiO2 has the ability to diminish neutrophil phagocytosis of A. hydrophila. Fish injected with TiO2 nanoparticles displayed significant histopathology when compared to control fish. The interplay between nanoparticle exposure, immune system, histopathology, and infectious disease pathogenesis in any animal model has not been described before. By modulating fish immune responses and interfering with resistance to bacterial pathogens, manufactured nano-TiO2 has the potential to affect fish survival in a disease outbreak.

Mycotoxins are increasingly considered as micropollutants in the environment. Fumonisins, as one of the most important mycotoxins, cause potential health threats to humans and animals due to their ubiquitous contamination on cereals, fruit, vegetables and other environmental samples around the world. However, the contribution of fumonisins to the interaction of fungi with plant hosts is not still fully understood. Here, we investigated the effect of fumonisin B1 (FB1) on the infection of Fusarium proliferatum on banana fruit and the underlying mechanisms from the host perspective. Our results found that FB1 treatment increased the aggressiveness of F. proliferatum on banana fruit and inhibited the defense ability of banana fruit via decreasing phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), β-1,3-glucanase (GLU) and chitinase (CHI) activities. Meanwhile, FB1 accelerated cell death, indicated by higher relative conductivity, MDA content and higher transcripts of cell death-related genes. FB1 treatment resulted in higher hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) content possibly due to MaRBOHs induction. These consequences accelerated the ROS-dependent cell death, which subsequently result in reduction of disease resistance of banana fruit. Additionally, energy metabolism and MaDORN1s-mediated eATP signaling might involve in FB1-meidiated suppression of banana defense responses. Collectively, results of the current study indicated that FB1 contamination triggered the cell death of banana peel, subsequently instigating the invasion and growth of F. proliferatum on banana fruit. In summary, for the first time, we demonstrated a previously unidentified role of fumonisins as a potential virulence factor of F. proliferatum in modulating fruit defense response, which provides new insight on the biological roles of fumonisins.

This study evaluated the impact of oral perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on Japanese quail at concentrations found in American and Belgian workers at PFOA manufacturing facilities. Three arms of the immune system were tested; T cell, B cell, and innate immunity. After 6 weeks exposure, quail were challenged with E. coli infection to test the ultimate measure of immunotoxicity, disease resistance. The T cell response was lower in the high exposure groups. Antibody mediated, and innate immune responses were not different. Growth rate was higher, whereas thyroid hormone levels were lower in PFOA-exposed birds. Morbidity/mortality from disease challenge was not different among the control and PFOA-exposed groups, and no overt PFOA toxicity was observed pre-disease challenge.Although PFOA at ‘worst case scenario’ levels caused T cell immunosuppression, this did not translate into increased disease susceptibility, demonstrating that immunotoxicity testing must be interpreted with caution since disease resistance is the ultimate concern.

The aquatic ecosystem is seriously damaged because of the heavy use of pesticides and antibiotics. Fish is the indispensable link between environmental pollution and human health. However, the toxic effects of environment-related concentrations of pesticides and antibiotics in fish have not been thoroughly studied. In this study, grass carps exposed to cypermethrin (CMN, 0.651 μg/L) or/and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ, 0.3 μg/L) for 42 days caused oxidative stress, apoptosis and immunodeficiency in the spleen of grass carps. CMN or/and SMZ exposure led to oxidative damage (consumption of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase)) and lipid peroxidation (accumulation of malondialdehyde), induced apoptosis (increases in TUNEL index, Bax/bcl-2, p53, puma and Caspase family expression). In addition, the levels of immunoglobulin M (IgM), complement 3 (C3) were significantly decreased in all treatment groups, which trend was also found in C-reactive protein in CMN and MIX group, and lysozyme in MIX group. Transcription of almost all genes involved in the Toll-like receptors (TLR) signaling pathway was up-regulated under CMN or/and SMZ exposure. However, when subsequently attacked by Aeromonas hydrophila for 2 days, the TLR pathway was inhibited in spleens of all treatment groups accompanied by higher mortality. Overall, the environmentally relevant concentration of CMN and SMZ damages the immune system, triggering oxidative stress and apoptosis in carps. And by affecting the conduction of TLR signaling pathway, CMN or/and SMZ exposure inhibits the innate immune response of fish and reducing their disease resistance. This study highlights the importance of rational and regulated use of these pesticides and antibiotics.

The growth-differentiation balance hypothesis (GDBH) predicts changes in susceptibility of plants against herbivores with changing resource availability. In the presented study we tested the validity of the GDBH for trees infected with a root pathogen. For this purpose Fagus sylvatica seedlings grown under different atmospheric CO2- and soil nitrogen regimes were infected with the root pathogen Phytophthora citricola. High nitrogen supply increased total biomass of beech regardless of the CO2-treatment, whereas elevated CO2 enhanced biomass only in the high nitrogen treatment. The responses of beech under the different growing regimes to the Phytophthora root infection were not in line with the predictions of the GDBH. Enhanced susceptibility of beech against P. citricola was found in seedlings grown under elevated CO2 and low nitrogen supply. Fifteen months after inoculation these plants were characterized by enhanced water use efficiency, by altered root–shoot ratios, and by enhanced specific root tip densities. Susceptibility of Fagus sylvatica to the root pathogen Phytophthora citricola increased under elevated CO2

Aluminum smelter-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in outmigrant juvenile Chinook salmon were evaluated in Kitimat Arm, British Columbia, Canada from 2000 to 2004, and in 2015. Decades of continual smelter operations by Rio Tinto resulted in PAH contamination of marine sediments at levels associated with adverse effects in juvenile salmon. Recently, smelter operations have undergone process changes to reduce PAH input to the environment. The PAH concentrations in juvenile Chinook salmon observed in 2000 to 2004, at sites nearest the smelter were comparable to salmon in other urban areas where reduced disease resistance was observed; the levels were lower in 2015 than 2000–2004 suggesting that the recent process changes were effective. Further, these data establish a benchmark for assessing any future changes affecting PAH input and the potential risks to the receiving environment.

Human-induced global change is expected to amplify the disease risk for marine biota. However, the role of disease in the rapid global decline of seagrass is largely unknown. Global change may enhance seagrass susceptibility to disease through enhanced physiological stress, while simultaneously promoting pathogen development. This review outlines the characteristics of disease-forming organisms and potential impacts of global change on three groups of known seagrass pathogens: labyrinthulids, oomycetes and Phytomyxea. We propose that hypersalinity, climate warming and eutrophication pose the greatest risk for increasing frequency of disease outbreaks in seagrasses by increasing seagrass stress and lowering seagrass resilience. In some instances, global change may also promote pathogen development. However, there is currently a paucity of information on these seagrass pathosystems. We emphasise the need to expand current research to better understand the seagrass-pathogen relationships, serving to inform predicative modelling and management of seagrass disease under future global change scenarios.

Lactococcosis is prevalent on grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) in Hong Kong aquaculture resulting in serious economic loss. A compound formulation of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) (modified Huanglian Jiedu decoction (HLJDD)) comprising Rhizoma coptidis, Radix scutellaria, Cortex phellodendri, Fructus gardeniae, Fructus forsythiae and Flos lonicerae japonicae (in a ratio of 3:2:2:3:3:5) were applied as feed supplements to deal with the disease. The Nitroblue tetrazolium activity in blood, bactericidal activity and total immunoglobulin in plasma were significantly enhanced after feeding 1% of this TCM for 28days. The disease resistances to Lactococcus garvieae in 1% and 2% TCM feeding groups were significantly enhanced. In the in vitro study, the modified HLJDD also activated the plasma bactericidal activities (p<0.01). Based on this study, 1% modified HLJDD feeding for 28days may be an optimal dose to prevent L. garvieae infection and could be used in aquaculture industries.