Publicaties
Effects of root inoculation of entomopathogenic fungi on olfactory-mediated behavior and life-history traits of the parasitoid Aphidius ervi (Haliday) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) KU Leuven
BACKGROUND: Although most biological control programs use multiple biological agents to manage pest species, to date only a few programs have combined the use of agents from different guilds. Using sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), the entomopathogenic fungus Akanthomyces muscarius ARSEF 5128, the tobacco peach aphid Myzus persicae var. nicotianae and the aphid parasitoid Aphidius ervi as the experimental model, we explored whether root ...
Plastome phylogenomics and morphological traits analyses provide new insights into the phylogenetic position, species delimitation and speciation of Triplostegia (Caprifoliaceae) KU Leuven
BACKGROUND: The genus Triplostegia contains two recognized species, T. glandulifera and T. grandiflora, but its phylogenetic position and species delimitation remain controversial. In this study, we assembled plastid genomes and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) cistrons sampled from 22 wild Triplostegia individuals, each from a separate population, and examined these with 11 recently published Triplostegia plastomes. Morphological traits were ...
Metabarcoding read abundances of orchid mycorrhizal fungi are correlated to copy numbers estimated using ddPCR KU Leuven
Quantifying the abundances of fungi is key to understanding natural variation in mycorrhizal communities in relation to plant ecophysiology and environmental heterogeneity. High-throughput metabarcoding approaches have transformed our ability to characterize and compare complex mycorrhizal communities. However, it remains unclear how well metabarcoding read counts correlate with actual read abundances in the sample, potentially limiting their ...