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Quantification of Ceratitis capitata gut bacterial community in relation to host fruit and its influence on nutritional reserves and the activity of digestive enzymes

Quantification de la charge microbienne intestinale de la Cératite (Ceratitis capitata) en fonction des fruits hôtes et son influence sur les réserves nutritionnelles et l’activité des enzymes digestives





F. DHAOUADI1

M. MSAAD GUERFALI1*

H. HAMDEN1

S. FADHL1

W. DJOBBI1

CHARAABI K.1



1 Laboratory of biotechnology and nuclear technologies, LR16CNSTN01, National centre of nuclear sciences and technologies, Technopole Sidi Thabet, Tunis, Tunisia.



Abstract–The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is one of the most devastating pests in the world and specially in the Mediterranean area. Various approaches are applied to control medfly. The use of the sterile insect technique (SIT) has been approved in many countries. SIT is a biocontrol method that requires the release of competitive medfly sterile males against wild ones to compete for wild females. Several studies have focused on improving the performance of the released males through the study of their intestinal microbiota. We focused on the quantification of the bacterial community of the intestinal tract in wild Ceratitis derived from several host fruits as well as that of the laboratory strain treated and not treated by irradiation. The total bacterial load in all the wild adults analyzed, does not vary according to the host fruit. On the other hand, it decreases drastically when the pupae have undergone irradiation treatment. Our results did not show any difference between the nutritional reserves in the different sampled wild adults and those of the laboratory. However, we have noticed that the insect adapts very well to the environment in which it evolves. As far as proteolytic activity is concerned, our results showed an important activity on hemoglobin.

Keywords: Medfly, SIT, biocontrol, Microbiota, digestive enzymes, reserves.

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A preliminary checklist and survey of the diurnal entomofauna associated to Citrus orchards in the region of Mograne (Zaghouan) in Tunisia within environmental parameters

M. ELIMEM1

M. GUESMI1*

C. LAHFEF1,4

B. JAMMELI2

B. BESSOUDA1

R. FERSI3





1High School of Agriculture of Mograne (ESAMo), Mograne, Zaghouan, University of Carthage, Tunisia

2High School of Agriculture of Mateur (ESAMa), Mateur, University of Carthage, Tunisia

3Co-founder and CEO at iFarming solutions, Station F, Founders Program, Guild #5 14 Rue Eugène Freyssinet, 75013 Paris – France

4National Agronomy Institute of Tunis (INAT), University of Tunis. 43 Avenue Charles Nicolle, Tunis 1082, Tunisia



Abstract –The study of the biodiversity of the diurnal entomofauna associated to citrus orchard in the region of Mograne in Zaghouan led us to spot many insects’ groups containing both pests and beneficial insects. According to the obtained results, nine orders have been reported. Many predators were spotted such as the Chrysoperla carnea complex belonging to the Neuroptera order. The Coccinellidae family that belongs to the Coleoptera order was present with just one species during the study period which was Scymnus sp. concerning pests, many Orders have been listed where the most important ones based on the economic damage level are Diptera; like the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata, and Hemiptera such as Aphididae and Aleyrodidae. In the same order, many mealybugs species were noticed Parlatoria ziziphi and Parlatoria pergandii, Planococcus citri, Coccus hesperidum, Coccus pseudomagnolarium, Saissetia oleae, Aonidiella aurantii, Icerya purchasi, Coccus viridis and Ceroplastes sinensis. Regarding the Thysanoptera order four species were identified: Frankliniella occidentalis, Thrips tabaci, Thrips angusticeps and Pezothrips kellyanus. Monitoring diurnal entomofauna dynamic populations associated to the Citrus orchards, within the temperature and relative humidity, allowed to determine critical time of appearance and damages during hot season to establish a reasonable program of Integrated Pest Management in the future.

Keywords: Citrus, Biodiversity, beneficial insects, relative humidity, temperature, thrips, scale insects

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Resilience of livestock systems in the Sahelian band of Chad (case of the Kanem region): Adaptation tools to climate change

Résilience des systèmes d’élevage dans la bande sahélienne du Tchad (cas de la région de Kanem) : Outils d’adaptation au changement climatique

 

 

A. ABRAHAM1

A. MOHAMED-BRAHMI2*

M. NGOUNDO3

 

1 Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie. Spécialité : Valorisation et gestion durable des ressources animales.

2 Laboratoire de durabilité des systèmes de production dans la région nord-ouest de la Tunisie. Ecole Supérieure d'Agriculture (ESAK). Boulifa 7119, Kef. Université de Jendouba. Tunisie.

3 Chargé de programme au bureau de représentation de la FAO au Tchad.

 

Abstract – Climate change has become a major problem that negatively impacts the development of agricultural activities. In the case of our study conducted in the Sahelian band of Chad, 90 farmers in the Kanem region responded to questions related to the perception of climate change and adaptation tools. The climatic parameters considered are the rainfall and the temperatures and the adaptation tools essentially concerning the management of the breeding. Our results show that all (100%) of respondents in Kanem perceive a decrease in the amount of rain and the length of the rainy seasons over the last twenty years. With regard to temperature, 100% of respondents perceive an increase in temperatures during both the rainy season and the dry season. They say that the duration of the cold period has decreased and that on the contrary the duration of the heat period has increased. For the impact of climate change on pastoral activities, all (100%) respondents perceive a decrease in pastoral resources and pastoral areas and a decrease in livestock production over the last twenty years. Faced with these difficulties, pastoral pastoralists are developing certain adaptation tools at the local level. Of these, mobility is practiced 98% by respondents, the diversification of activities is adopted by 97% of respondents. Crop residues and mineral supplements are used by all (100%) of the breeders surveyed. Kanem breeders perceive climate change and its impact and develop different tools to adapt to it. However, a good organization of pastoralists and the promotion of forage crops would strengthen the resilience of pastoralists to climate change.

Keywords: Climate change, sahel, pastors, adaptation, Tchad

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Copyright

This article is published under license to Journal of New Sciences. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

CC BY 4.0