Annette Reineke

Geisenheim University · Department of Crop Protection

Soil tillage or herbicide applications are commonly used in agriculture for weed control. These measures may also represent a disturbance for soil microbial communities and their functions. However, the generality of response patterns of microbial communities and functions to disturbance have rarely been studied at large geographical scales. We inv...

The impact of climate change drivers on cultivated plants and pest insects has come into research focus. One of the most significant drivers is atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is converted into primary plant metabolites by photosynthesis. Increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations therefore affect plant chemistry. The chemical composition of non-vo...

Characterizing the association of endophytic insect pathogenic fungi (EIPF) with plants is an important step in order to understand their ecology before using them in biological control programs. Since several methods are available, it is challenging to identify the most appropriate for such investigations. Here, we used two strains of Metarhizium...

ResBerry is a newly launched EU-project funded under Core Organic Cofund. The main objective of the project is to provide the necessary knowledge and demonstrate the effectiveness of specific tools to enhance above- and belowground biodiversity in European organic berry orchards in order to increase resilience of berries against major pests and dis...

Climate change can affect biological pest control by altering trophic interactions. Elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations can reduce host plant quality and, in turn, alter herbivore and natural enemy preference and performance. Using the Geisenheim VineyardFACE (free-air carbon dioxide enrichment) facility, we studied plant- and herbivore-me...

Healthy soils form the basis of sustainable viticulture, where soil characteristics have a direct impact on wine quantity and quality. Soil not only provides water and nutrients to vines, but is also a living medium containing micro- and macroorganisms that perform many ecological functions and provide ecosystem services. These organisms are involv...

Cover crops in vineyards do provide many important ecosystem functions, however wine growers are often reluctant to incorporate cover crops into their vineyard management as they are concerned about competition regarding water and nutrient availability. The objective of this study was to define the effects of three standard inter-row vegetation man...

The grape berry moth Eupoecilia ambiguella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is causing significant damage to grape berries, however, little is known on population genetics of this lepidopteran pest insect, hindered so far by the lack of suitable molecular markers. Here we report on the development of ten microsatellite markers of which six were used to c...

Im Rahmen des Verbundprojektes ‚mikroPraep‘, bestehend aus zwei Forschungsinstituten, einer Biotechnologie-Firma sowie einem assoziierten universitären Partner, soll ein auf dem Bakterium Lysobacter enzymogenes basierendes, marktfähiges Produkt für den integrierten und biologischen Pflanzenschutz entwickelt werden. Das Präparat soll gegen Oomyceten...

Preserving agro-biodiversity is one of the main means at the moment to counteract the global biodiversity crisis. Vineyard inter-rows offer vegetation covers which could function as foraging grounds for arthropods. Furthermore, organic management and enhanced landscape complexity often support biodiversity. Here, species richness and abundance of t...

Crop protection and biodiversity in agro-ecosystems The Scientific Advisory Board for the National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (NAP) advises the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). The Board has provided its opinion on the impact of crop protection on biodiversity in agro-ecosystems. This pub...

The expansion and intensification of agriculture are the main causes of current insect declines. Pollinators like cavity-nesting bees can be limited by reduced nesting and feeding opportunities in farmland. As insects constitute the bulk of terrestrial biodiversity and fulfill important ecological functions, there is an urgent need to identify ways...

The original version of this article unfortunately contained two mistakes in the "Materials and methods" section, subsection "DNA extraction and PCR" of the article. The correct information is given below.

Extended Abstract: Climate change can threaten our food production. Because of changing temperatures and concentrations of greenhouse gases, well-established pest insect control techniques may have to be adapted to the changing requirements to stay effective. In particular temperature, elevated carbon dioxide (CO 2) and ozone concentrations will ha...

Organic management has the potential to mitigate negative impacts of intensive farming on biodiversity. We aimed to determine the effects of management system (organic vs. conventional), local habitat conditions and the surrounding landscape on ground-dwelling spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in vineyards. We studied spider species richness, abundance...

Fungal entomopathogens like Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill. (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) are known as antagonist of insects with multiple functional and ecological roles and have attracted increased attention as biocontrol agents in integrated pest management programs. For some crop plants, it has been proven that endophytic B. bassiana, besides its...

In certain soils populations of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) decline. Understanding this effect may open up environmentally friendly management options. We identified such a suppressive soil containing virtually no PPN. Inoculated Meloidogyne hapla declined in this soil more than in a control soil and reproduction on tomato was reduced. The extr...

Phytoplasmas are cell wall-less plant pathogenic bacteria that colonize the phloem of their host plants and can be transferred by plant sap-sucking hemipteran insects or by vegetative propagation. In Rubus species such as red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus), phytoplasmas cause a disease which is referred to as Rubus s...

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the primary factors driving climate change impacts on plants, pests, and natural enemies. The present study reports the effects of different atmospheric CO2 concentrations on the vine mealybug Planococcus ficus (Signoret) and its parasitoid wasp Leptomastix dactylopii (Howard). We investigated the life-history paramet...

Entomopathogenic Ascomycetes: Hypocreales fungi occur worldwide in the soil; however, the abundance and distribution of these fungi in a vineyard environment is unknown. A survey of Australian vineyards was carried out in order to isolate and identify entomopathogenic fungi. A total of 240 soil samples were taken from eight vineyards in two states...

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations are among the chief factors shaping the mode and magnitude of interactions between plants and herbivorous insects. Here, we describe the first global analysis of systemic transcriptomic responses of grapevine Vitis vinifera plants to feeding of European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana larvae at future...

Phytoplasmas are cell wall‐less phytopathogenic bacteria which are associated with a disease in Rubus species known as Rubus stunt. Symptoms range from stunting, witches’ broom, small leaves, short internodes, enlarged sepals, phyllody and flower proliferation to fruit malformations. Phytoplasmas can be spread by vegetative propagation and by phloe...

Soil management strategies in viticulture should not only aim to optimize yield and quality of grapevines, but also sustain soil biodiversity and soil functioning. Here, we report on the combined effects of soil treatment and nitrogen fertilization on parameters related to soil fertility and litter decomposition, as well as plant, fungal, and bacte...

Phytoplasmas are plant-pathogenic bacteria that cause a disease in Rubus species which is referred to as Rubus stunt. As phytoplasmas can be spread by vegetative propagation and latency periods of Rubus stunt can be up to one year, the use of pathogen-free Rubus propagation material in plant nurseries is important in order to stop the spread of thi...

Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are important antagonists of soil-dwelling insect pests adapted to living in agricultural soils. Little is known about EPF in vineyards, where they could be effective against soil-borne pests such as grapevine phylloxera or larvae of the June beetle. However, the high frequency of fungicide applications might reduce the...

Fruit grey mould, caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, is known to be a harmful disease of strawberry at postharvest stage. However, effects of an application of biological control agents (BCAs) on strawberry fruit in terms of shift in the microbial community are still unknown. The present research aimed to investigate the effects of an applicati...

Fungal entomopathogens are known as microbial pathogens of insects, colonising multiple habitats and ecosystems. Besides being an entomopathogen, the fungus Beauveria bassiana can also establish as an endophyte in plants. Limited knowledge is so far available on the ability of plant-associated B. bassiana to influence plant-feeding insects. Here, w...

Rubus stunt is an economically important disease in the production of raspberries, blackberries , and loganberries. A fast, sensitive, and reliable diagnosis of phytoplasmas, the causal agent of the disease, is of prime importance to stop its spread by vegetative propagation and by insect vectors. Therefore, multiplex qPCR assays using TaqMan probe...

Sampled putative insect vectors. Individual insect samples with positive qPCR results for the presence of phytoplasmas are shaded in grey. (XLSX)

Accession numbers used in sequence alignment of secY genes of different phytoplasmas. (XLSX)

Publications in which qPCR assays for the detection of phytoplasmas were developed. (XLSX)

Sequence alignment of the phytoplasma strains used for testing specificity shown in Table 2 (except for palatinate grapevine yellows, as there was no sequence available), showing the binding sites of RuS-F02, RuS-P02, and RuS-R02. (AM397299) Rubus stunt 16SrV-E, (AY197686) flavescence dorée 16SrV, (AY197690) elm yellows 16SrV-A, (GU004329) ash yell...

Mean Cq-values and standard deviations of the multiplex TaqMan qPCR assay for DNA samples obtained from different proportions of phytoplasma infected and healthy leaf material. Each leaf sample was extracted in 3 independent replicates (designated as 1–3) and each DNA extract was analysed in triplicate in the qPCR. (XLSX)

Raspberry plant samples. Locations used for sampling as well as tissue types are presented. The same DNA extract was used for qPCR and nested PCR analysis. (XLSX)

Rapid worldwide spread and polyphagous nature of the spotted wing Drosophila Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae) calls for efficient and selective control strategies to prevent severe economic losses in various fruit crops. The use of insecticides is one option for management of this invasive pest insect. Efficacy of insecticides...

Fungi are important natural pathogens of arthropod pests and are successfully used as biocontrol agents in various crops. In addition to colonizing arthropods, evidence has accumulated that some entomopathogenic fungi like Beauveria bassiana can endophytically colonize a wide array of plant species. However, only limited information is currently av...

Using barcoded pyrosequencing fungal and bacterial communities associated with grape berry clusters (Vitis vinifera L.) obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic vineyard plots were investigated in two subsequent years at different stages during berry ripening. The four most abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on fungal ITS d...

Plant protection agents applied to the conventional, organic and biodynamic vineyard plots during the years 2006–2011. (DOCX)

Number of obtained fungal reads (OTU at species level without singletons) obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic grapes sampled at three maturation stages in 2010. (XLSX)

Computation of R values after analysis of similarities between fungal samples obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic grapes sampled at three different stages of berry maturation. R values obtained for 2010 samples are shown below the diagonal, R values for 2011 samples are printed in italics above the diagonal. (DOCX)

Number of obtained bacterial reads (OTUs at genus level without singletons) obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic grapes sampled at three maturation stages in 2010. (XLSX)

Map of the vineyard used for sampling of grapes in the present study in 2010 and 2011. (DOCX)

Climatic conditions 2010, obtained from a weather station of the German meteorological service DWD (Deutscher Wetterdienst) located next to the experimental vineyard in Geisenheim. (PDF)

Rarefaction curves illustrating the observed number of bacterial genera in grape samples obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic vineyard plots in 2010 and 2011. (DOCX)

Number of obtained fungal reads (OTU at species level without singletons) obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic grapes sampled at three maturation stages in 2011. (XLSX)

Simpson and Shannon diversity indices and Chao1 richness estimator for fungal communities present on conventional, organic and biodynamic grape berries. (XLSX)

Number of obtained bacterial reads (OTUs at genus level without singletons) obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic grapes sampled at three maturation stages in 2011. (XLSX)

Computation of R values after analysis of similarities between bacterial samples obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic grapes sampled at three different stages of berry maturation. R values obtained for 2010 samples are shown below the diagonal, R values for 2011 samples are printed in italics above the diagonal. (DOCX)

Rarefaction curves illustrating the observed number of fungal species in grape samples obtained from conventional, organic and biodynamic vineyard plots in 2010 and 2011. (DOCX)

Simpson and Shannon diversity indices and Chao1 richness estimator for bacterial communities present on conventional, organic and biodynamic grape berries. (XLSX)

We review direct and indirect effects of climate change on both the grapevine plant as a host for phytophagous insects, as well as on grape insect pests, their natural enemies and corresponding future grape plant protection strategies. Phenology, voltinism and distribution ranges are well known traits of many arthropods influenced by temperature as...

Phytoplasmas are small, cell wall-less bacteria that inhabit the phloem of plants as obligatory parasites and are transferred by phloem-feeding insects or by vegetative propagation of infected plants. In Rubus species they cause a disease called Rubus stunt. Symptoms range from stunted growth, flower proliferation, enlarged sepals, small leaves, an...

The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuillemin is commercially available as a bio insecticide. The expression of three genes previously identified to have a role in pathogenicity in in vitro studies was validated in vivo in three lepidopteran insects infected with B. bassiana. Expression of all three genes was observed in all the...

A series of experiments, using potted plants in a glasshouse, detached laterals in the laboratory and trees in the field, were undertaken to study wound size and number of Neonectria ditissima conidia required to produce European canker infections on freshly-made branch wounds in the apple cultivars 'Royal Gala' and 'Scilate'. The wound types were...

The recent introduction and rapid spread of the tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East poses a severe threat to future cultivation of tomato and other Solanaceae. Among the best practicable means for effective and sustainable control of this invasive insect pest are entomop...

The use of conventional chemical insecticides and bacterial toxins to control lepidopteran pests of global agriculture has imposed significant selection pressure leading to the rapid evolution of insecticide resistance. Transgenic crops (e.g., cotton) expressing the Bt Cry toxins are now used world wide to control these pests, including the highly...

Using a high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing approach a novel set of microsatellite markers was developed for one of the key grapevine insect pests, the European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). 20 primer pairs flanking a microsatellite motif were designed based on the sequences obtained and were subsequently evaluated in a...

Colonies of woolly apple aphids (Eriosoma lanigerum) were sampled from canker lesions from apple orchards in Motueka New Zealand between February and April 2015 to determine their ability to vector the fungus Neonectria ditissima the causal organism of European canker Five percent of collected aphids carried N ditissima conidia Galls formed on youn...

Rubus stunt is an economically important disease in the production of raspberries, blackberries, and loganberries. A fast, sensitive, and reliable detection of phytoplasmas, the agents associated with the disease, is of prime importance to stop its spread by vegetative propagation and by insect vectors. Therefore, two multiplex qPCR assays using Ta...

Plant response to insect feeding appears to be highly specific with regard to the organisms in the system. Here, we report on the interaction between grapevine Vitis vinifera L. plants and a phloem-feeding insect pest, the vine mealybug Planococcus ficus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Plants were exposed to P. ficus for periods of 6 and 96 h, respect...

The application of entomopathogenic fungi against weevils of the genus Otiorhynchus spp. might represent an environmentally friendly management option for biological control of these insects, which have recently increased in their importance as pests in a variety of horticultural plants. As only little information is available on the susceptibility...

Transposons and infection of fungal strains with mycoviruses can have significant effects on distinctive phenotypic traits of phytopathogenic fungi such as mycelial growth and sporulation, pathogenicity or fungicide resistance. Two transposable elements (TE), Boty and Flipper, are known to be associated with the ubiquitous fungus Botrytis cinerea....

A common approach to understanding the functional repertoire of a genome is through functional genomics. With systems biology burgeoning, bioinformatics has grown to a larger extent for plant genomes where several applications in the form of protein-protein interactions (PPI) are used to predict the function of proteins. With plant genes evolutiona...

Insect pathogenic fungi have a huge potential as microbial components of biopesticides which serve as benign components in plant protection. The infection cycle of these fungi is well known. Realising their potential and scope to improve their utility in phytomedicine, extensive work on the molecular biology of pathogenesis has been done in the pas...

Currently, there is little knowledge of the establishment of repeatedly applied biological control agents (BCAs) in the phyllosphere of plants and, in particular, their interactions with the resident microbiome. Under field conditions, the BCA Aureobasidium pullulans was applied as a model organism to organically grown strawberries during two subse...