Biological control interventions reduce pest abundance and crop damage while maintaining natural enemies in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis (2022)
Journal Article
Ratto, F., Bruce, T., Chipabika, G., Mwamakamba, S., Mkandawire, R., Khan, Z., Mkindi, A., Pittchar, J., Sallu, S., Whitfield, S., Wilson, K., & Sait, S. (2022). Biological control interventions reduce pest abundance and crop damage while maintaining natural enemies in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1695

Insect pests are a major challenge to smallholder crop production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where access to synthetic pesticides, which are linked to environmental and health risks, is often limited. Biological control interventions could offer a... Read More about Biological control interventions reduce pest abundance and crop damage while maintaining natural enemies in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis.

Biological control interventions and botanical pesticides for insect pests of crops in sub-Saharan Africa: A mapping review (2022)
Journal Article
Ratto, F., Bruce, T., Chipabika, G., Mwamakamba, S., Mkandawire, R., Khan, Z., Mkindi, A., Pittchar, J., Chidawanyika, F., Sallu, S. M., Whitfield, S., Wilson, K., & Sait, S. M. (2022). Biological control interventions and botanical pesticides for insect pests of crops in sub-Saharan Africa: A mapping review. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6, Article ARTN 883975. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.883975

<jats:p>Agricultural productivity can be increased sustainably in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by reducing crop losses due to insect pest damage. As an alternative to environmentally-damaging chemical pesticides, biological control interventions and bota... Read More about Biological control interventions and botanical pesticides for insect pests of crops in sub-Saharan Africa: A mapping review.

Behavioural and Electrophysiological Responses of Female Anopheles gambiae Mosquitoes to Volatiles from a Mango Bait (2020)
Journal Article
Okumu, F., Tripet, F., Bruce, T., Sobhy, I., Roberts, J., & Meza, F. (2020). Behavioural and Electrophysiological Responses of Female Anopheles gambiae Mosquitoes to Volatiles from a Mango Bait. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 387-396. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-020-01172-8

Attractive Toxic Sugar Baits (ATSB) are used in a "lure-and-kill" approach for management of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, but the active chemicals were previously unknown. Here we collected volatiles from a mango, Mangifera indica, juice bai... Read More about Behavioural and Electrophysiological Responses of Female Anopheles gambiae Mosquitoes to Volatiles from a Mango Bait.

Cucumber mosaic virus and its 2b protein alter emission of host volatile organic compounds but not aphid vector settling in tobacco. (2017)
Journal Article
Tungadi, T., Groen, S., Murphy, A., Pate, A., Iqbal, J., Bruce, T., Cunniffe, N., & Carr, J. (2017). Cucumber mosaic virus and its 2b protein alter emission of host volatile organic compounds but not aphid vector settling in tobacco. Virology Journal, 14, Article 91. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-017-0754-0

BACKGROUND: Aphids, including the generalist herbivore Myzus persicae, transmit cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). CMV (strain Fny) infection affects M. persicae feeding behavior and performance on tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), Arabidopsis thaliana and cucu... Read More about Cucumber mosaic virus and its 2b protein alter emission of host volatile organic compounds but not aphid vector settling in tobacco..

Contrasting Roles of Deoxynivalenol and Nivalenol in Host-Mediated Interactions between Fusarium graminearum and Sitobion avenae (2016)
Journal Article
Drakulic, J., Kahar, M., Ajigboye, O., Bruce, T., & Ray, R. (2016). Contrasting Roles of Deoxynivalenol and Nivalenol in Host-Mediated Interactions between Fusarium graminearum and Sitobion avenae. Toxins, https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins8120353

Fusarium graminearum is the predominant causal species of Fusarium head blight in Europe and North America. Different chemotypes of the species exist, each producing a plethora of mycotoxins. Isolates of differing chemotypes produce nivalenol (NIV) a... Read More about Contrasting Roles of Deoxynivalenol and Nivalenol in Host-Mediated Interactions between Fusarium graminearum and Sitobion avenae.

Virus Infection of Plants Alters Pollinator Preference: A Payback for Susceptible Hosts? (2016)
Journal Article
Groen, S., Jiang, S., Murphy, A., Cunniffe, N., Westwood, J., Davey, M., Bruce, T., Caulfield, J., Furzer, O., Reed, A., Robinson, S., Miller, E., Davis, C., Pickett, J., Whitney, H., Glover, B., & Carr, J. (2016). Virus Infection of Plants Alters Pollinator Preference: A Payback for Susceptible Hosts?. PLOS pathogens a peer-reviewed open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science, e1005790 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005790

Plant volatiles play important roles in attraction of certain pollinators and in host location by herbivorous insects. Virus infection induces changes in plant volatile emission profiles, and this can make plants more attractive to insect herbivores,... Read More about Virus Infection of Plants Alters Pollinator Preference: A Payback for Susceptible Hosts?.

An Indirect Defence Trait Mediated through Egg-Induced Maize Volatiles from Neighbouring Plants. (2016)
Journal Article
Mutyambai, D., Khan, Z., Midega, C., Pickett, J., Bruce, T., & van den Berg, J. (2016). An Indirect Defence Trait Mediated through Egg-Induced Maize Volatiles from Neighbouring Plants. PloS one, e0158744 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158744

Attack of plants by herbivorous arthropods may result in considerable changes to the plant's chemical phenotype with respect to emission of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). These HIPVs have been shown to act as repellents to the attacking i... Read More about An Indirect Defence Trait Mediated through Egg-Induced Maize Volatiles from Neighbouring Plants..