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Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) damages potato, tomato, and eggplant, and is one of the most serious agricultural pests all over the world. Due to its resistance against chemical insecticides and some biopesticides, new biocontrol agents compatible with different ecological conditions are needed urgently for the integrated pest management programs of this pest. For this purpose, we studied the insecticidal effects of thirteen indigenous microbial isolates including entomopathogenic bacteria, fungi, and nematodes from our culture collection against L. decemlineata with screening and dose-response tests under laboratory conditions. Bacillus thuringiensis strain Xd3 caused 83% and 73% mortality against larvae and adults of the pest at 10⁹ CFU mL^-1 concentration within 10 days, respectively. While fungal isolate Metarhizium anisopliae Gg-12 yielded 98% mortality with 10⁷ conidia mL^-1 concentration on larvae at 15 days, mortality provided by Gg-12 on adults reached 100% at the same concentration and period. Steinernema websteri AS1 was determined as the most effective entomopathogenic nematode with 92% mortality within seven days on larvae. Based on probit analysis, the LC₅₀ values of B. thuringiensis Xd3 against larvae and adults were calculated as, respectively, 1.73×10⁶ and 1.69×10⁷ CFU mL^-1, and that of M. anisopliae Gg12 were 1.18×10⁴ and 6.2×10³ conidia mL^-1, and that of S. websteri AS1 was 117 IJs mL^-1. Considering these results, the biopesticides developed from these isolates can be used safely and successfully in the pest management control programs of Colorado potato beetle.

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Tomato is one of the worldwide major foods consumed fresh, cooked, or processed. Mineral elements, vitamins, and antioxidant content of tomatoes are of interest because of their nutritional value and beneficial health effects. The present study was performed to evaluate the macro- and micro-elements contents of leaves and fruits of seven wild tomato species, in addition to morphological traits. Wild tomato species had variations for all elements in fruits. Coefficient of variation was calculated for elements as 18.50 to 94.32% for potassium and phosphor, respectively. Most of the wild tomato species had higher content of all mineral elements than cultivated tomato. Resistance genes (Frl, I-2, I-3, Mi-3, Pto Ty-1, Ty-3 and Sw-5) of wild tomato species were screened using molecular markers. LA1971, with six resistant genes, and LA1393 and LA1777, with five resistant genes, were considered the most promising parental candidates for breeding. The results of the analysis of mineral elements of seven wild tomatoes species are useful for future tomato breeding.

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Worldwide, one of the most damaging diseases in beekeeping is American Foulbrood (AFB). The causative agent of the disease is Paenibacillus larvae, which can remain in spore form in the environment for decades and does not lose its virulence. In the management of this disease, it is inevitable to find an alternative method to the use of antibiotics and burning the hives. In this study, after determining the Total Phenolic (TPC) and Total Flavonoid Contents (TFC) of seven different Anatolian honey bee products (bee venom, bee bread, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, queen bee larvae, drone brood larvae), in vitro antimicrobial activities of these products against two different P. larvae strains were tested. As a result of Folin-Ciocalteu and AlCl₃ colorimetric methods, there were significant differences between the samples, and the highest content values were obtained from the propolis samples. The antimicrobial activity results showed that, P. larvae strains were susceptible to all bee products, except queen bee larvae and drone brood larvae. The most significant inhibition was obtained from Anatolian bee venom with the lowest MIC dose 6.25 µg mL^-1, Bacterial strains showed susceptibility to Anatolian beebread with an effective dose of 7.81 µg mL^-1 following bee venom. This study is an important first step in identifying new active compounds for the use of in-hive natural products in the development of new preventive treatments against AFB disease, alternative to conventional antibiotic treatments.