Dry cured meat production is a costly and long term investment for producers. Ham mites (Tyrophagus putrescentiae) are a common pest of dry cured products and cause devastating effects, potentially nullifying producers' investments due to loss of salable product, as well as regulatory concerns. Methyl bromide, a chemical fumigant used to control mite populations, is damaging to stratospheric ozone and will no longer be available. Presently, no alternative control measure has been approved to combat the ham mite; therefore, it is essential to identify potential alternatives. Interest in safe alternatives to control arthropod pest populations is gaining momentum, and garlic (Allium sativum) has been used to control other arthropod species including the northern fowl mite, mosquitos, and aphids. We chose to explore the efficacy of garlic juice in controlling T. putrescentiae. Using a choice test design, approximately 65% of the inoculated mites colonized on the control ham cubes, while no mites remained on garlic juice-dipped cubes. Garlic was ineffective when examined for volatile efficacy, but was effective in direct contact assays. However, as garlic juice was aged and diluted, efficacy was reduced even after treatments with antioxidants, metal chelators, and pH neutralization. In total, garlic juice acted as a short term repellent and showed efficacy in contact models, but application is time sensitive due to variable enzymatic degradation. / Master of Science

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Transposable elements (TEs) are interspersed repetitive sequences that are present in most genomes. Miniature inverted repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are the most numerous Class II elements in higher eukaryotes. Little is known about their origin, transposition and function. In this study, three novel MITE families (Kiddo, MDM1 and MDM2) were identified in the rice genome. They bear terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) and show target site duplications (TSDs) at the insertion sites. Each family is present in hundreds of copies with length that range from 200 bp to 400 bp. An evolutionary relationship between Mutator elements and MDM1 and MDM2 family was established. The absence of an observed transposition event, together with the mutated ancestral elements identified by in silico analysis, led to a conclusion that Kiddo and its autonomous elements are not presently active. To overcome laborious and time consuming manual analysis of MITEs on a genomic scale, MAK, a computational tool kit, was developed to automatically retrieve MITE sequences, their neighboring genes and ancestral elements from genome sequences. MAK has been functionally tested and is now available to the research community. Studies on the effect of MITE (Kiddo and MDM1) insertions into a rice ubiquitin (rubq2) promoter revealed a two-edged role of MITEs on gene regulation. While Kiddo and MDM1 contribute ~40% to rubq2 promoter activity, they also induce progressive silencing of this promoter. The evolutionary implications of the two-edged role of MITEs in gene regulation are discussed.

There are very few morphological and ecological studies On Acari. This neglect is partly due to the small aize and little known economic importance of the mites. Allothtrombium lerouxi Moss is a comparatively big red velvet mite, approximately 3mm. long, belonging to the family Trombidiidae of the order Acari. It is predatory in nature and feeds On all stages of a number of insects injurious to the apple crop as well as on dying or dead arthropods. In Quebec, the species is found in the orchard undercover throughout the growing season but is mainly seen in early spring and late fall when adults are present. [...]

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Experiments were conducted to determine the impact of twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, on cotton injury and yield. Artificial infestations were initiated at the three leaf stage of cotton growth and removed after specified durations of infestation. Yields were reduced for durations of infestation 21 days or greater. In a second experiment, the interactions between twospotted spider mite, thrips, at-planting insecticides, and foliar insecticides were studied to determine their impact on cotton yields. Twospotted spider mites and thrips reduced cotton yield. In a third experiment, twospotted spider mites were released from a central point in 0.024 hectare blocks of cotton and injury was recorded at various distances from that point. Injury was clearly visible seven meters from the infestation point within 16-28 days after infestation. Twospotted spider mites caused significant yield losses in cotton in all of these experiments.

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