Brazil Nut (brazil + nut)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Seed Predation on Brazil Nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) by Macaws (Psittacidae) in Madre de Dios, Peru

BIOTROPICA, Issue 1 2004
Mandar R. Trivedi
ABSTRACT We investigated the impact of seed predation by large macaws (Ara spp.) on Brazil nut, the seed of Bertholletia excelsa (Lecythidaceae). Counts of macaw-damaged fruit below 50 focal trees in a Peruvian Brazil nut harvesting concession indicated that macaws destroyed about 10 percent of the concession's crop. We compared this impact to other sources of variation in profits from harvesting and suggest methods to compensate harvesters while encouraging them to conserve macaws in their concessions. RESUMEN Se investigó el impacto causado por guacamayos (Ara spp.) en la depredación de semillas de castaña (Bertholletia excelsa: Lecythidaceae) en un rodal castañero en el Perú. En una muestra de 50 árboles se contó el número de frutos afectados por guacamayos encontrados en el suelo, y los resultados indican que alrededor del 10 porciento de la producción total del área de aprovechamiento ha sido eliminada por acción de guacamayos. Se comparó este impacto con otras causas de variabilidad en la rentabilidad de la cosecha, presentándose recomendaciones para compensar a los castañeros por la pérdida de producción, proporcionando incentivos para la conservación de guacamayos en sus áreas de aprovechamiento. [source]

Characterization of Aspergillus flavus strains from Brazilian Brazil nuts and cashew by RAPD and ribosomal DNA analysis

LETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
G.E.O. Midorikawa
Abstract Aims:, The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variability in Aspergillus flavus populations from Brazil nut and cashew and develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection method. Methods and Results:, Chomatography analysis of 48 isolates identified 36 as aflatoxigenic (75%). One hundred and forty-one DNA bands were generated with 11 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers and analysed via unweighted pair group analysis, using arithmetic means (UPGMA). Isolates grouped according to host, with differentiation of those from A. occidentale also according to geographical origin. Aspergillus flavus -specific PCR primers ASPITSF2 and ASPITSR3 were designed from ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS 1 and 2), and an internal amplification control was developed, to prevent false negative results. Specificity to only A. flavus was confirmed against DNA from additional aspergilli and other fungi. Conclusions:, RAPD-based characterization differentiated isolates according to plant host. The PCR primer pair developed showed specificity to A. flavus, with a detection limit of 10 fg. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Genetic variability observed in A. flavus isolates from two Brazilian agroecosystems suggested reproductive isolation. The PCR detection method developed for A. flavus represents progress towards multiplex PCR detection of aflatoxigenic and nonaflatoxigenic strains in Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point systems. [source]

Seed Predation on Brazil Nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) by Macaws (Psittacidae) in Madre de Dios, Peru

BIOTROPICA, Issue 1 2004
Mandar R. Trivedi
ABSTRACT We investigated the impact of seed predation by large macaws (Ara spp.) on Brazil nut, the seed of Bertholletia excelsa (Lecythidaceae). Counts of macaw-damaged fruit below 50 focal trees in a Peruvian Brazil nut harvesting concession indicated that macaws destroyed about 10 percent of the concession's crop. We compared this impact to other sources of variation in profits from harvesting and suggest methods to compensate harvesters while encouraging them to conserve macaws in their concessions. RESUMEN Se investigó el impacto causado por guacamayos (Ara spp.) en la depredación de semillas de castaña (Bertholletia excelsa: Lecythidaceae) en un rodal castañero en el Perú. En una muestra de 50 árboles se contó el número de frutos afectados por guacamayos encontrados en el suelo, y los resultados indican que alrededor del 10 porciento de la producción total del área de aprovechamiento ha sido eliminada por acción de guacamayos. Se comparó este impacto con otras causas de variabilidad en la rentabilidad de la cosecha, presentándose recomendaciones para compensar a los castañeros por la pérdida de producción, proporcionando incentivos para la conservación de guacamayos en sus áreas de aprovechamiento. [source]

Characterization of Aspergillus flavus strains from Brazilian Brazil nuts and cashew by RAPD and ribosomal DNA analysis

LETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
G.E.O. Midorikawa
Abstract Aims:, The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variability in Aspergillus flavus populations from Brazil nut and cashew and develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection method. Methods and Results:, Chomatography analysis of 48 isolates identified 36 as aflatoxigenic (75%). One hundred and forty-one DNA bands were generated with 11 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers and analysed via unweighted pair group analysis, using arithmetic means (UPGMA). Isolates grouped according to host, with differentiation of those from A. occidentale also according to geographical origin. Aspergillus flavus -specific PCR primers ASPITSF2 and ASPITSR3 were designed from ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS 1 and 2), and an internal amplification control was developed, to prevent false negative results. Specificity to only A. flavus was confirmed against DNA from additional aspergilli and other fungi. Conclusions:, RAPD-based characterization differentiated isolates according to plant host. The PCR primer pair developed showed specificity to A. flavus, with a detection limit of 10 fg. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Genetic variability observed in A. flavus isolates from two Brazilian agroecosystems suggested reproductive isolation. The PCR detection method developed for A. flavus represents progress towards multiplex PCR detection of aflatoxigenic and nonaflatoxigenic strains in Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point systems. [source]

Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) of importance to the Australian macadamia industry: an integrative taxonomic approach to species diagnostics

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Andrew Mitchell
Abstract Bark beetles are emerging as pests of macadamias, both in the native range of macadamias in Australia and worldwide wherever macadamias are cultivated. Multiple species have been detected on macadamias in Australia; however, little has been known about the identity of the species involved, other than that some belong to the genera Hypothenemus Westwood (1836) and Cryphalus Erichson (1836). Hypothenemus is a large and cosmopolitan genus, which contains two exotic species that are regulated pests for Australia: the tropical nut borer, Hypothenemus obscurus (Fabricius), is a pest of macadamias and Brazil nuts in the Americas and the Pacific, and the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari), is a pest of coffee found in coffee-growing areas worldwide, but not in Australia. It is essential that biosecurity authorities have reliable species diagnostic tools available in order to detect incursions of these species in Australia. However, the taxonomic literature on the relevant species is scattered and sparse, and the lack of molecular diagnostic methods means that identification of eggs and larvae has been impossible to date because the immature life stages are morphologically homogeneous. This study fills some crucial gaps in our ability to identify these species, developing diagnostic methods for the major pest species on macadamia in Australia, and for key exotic species, including both regulated pests. An integrative taxonomic approach was used incorporating both traditional morphological taxonomy and DNA barcode data in an iterative process to both identify beetles and develop robust diagnostics for them. DNA barcodes provide unambiguous discrimination of all species examined in this study, albeit a limited sample, and have the advantage that they can be used to identify all life stages of the species. [source]