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This study focuses on interacting with insects and their ectosymbiont (lato sensu) microorganisms for environmentally safe plant production and protection. Some cases help compare insect-bearing, -driving, or -spreading relevant ectosymbiont microorganisms to endosymbionts’ behaviour. Ectosymbiotic bacteria can interact with insects by allowing them to improve the value of their pabula. In addition, some bacteria are essential for creating ecological niches that can host the development of pests. Insect-borne plant pathogens include bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These pathogens interact with their vectors to enhance reciprocal fitness. Knowing vector-phoront interaction could considerably increase chances for outbreak management, notably when sustained by quarantine vector ectosymbiont pathogens, such as the actual Xylella fastidiosa Mediterranean invasion episode. Insect pathogenic viruses have a close evolutionary relationship with their hosts, also being highly specific and obligate parasites. Sixteen virus families have been reported to infect insects and may be involved in the biological control of specific pests, including some economic weevils. Insects and fungi are among the most widespread organisms in nature and interact with each other, establishing symbiotic relationships ranging from mutualism to antagonism. The associations can influence the extent to which interacting organisms can exert their effects on plants and the proper management practices. Sustainable pest management also relies on entomopathogenic fungi; research on these species starts from their isolation from insect carcasses, followed by identification using conventional light or electron microscopy techniques. Thanks to the development of omics sciences, it is possible to identify entomopathogenic fungi with evolutionary histories that are less-shared with the target insect and can be proposed as pest antagonists. Many interesting omics can help detect the presence of entomopathogens in different natural matrices, such as soil or plants. The same techniques will help localize ectosymbionts, localization of recesses, or specialized morphological adaptation, greatly supporting the robust interpretation of the symbiont role. The manipulation and modulation of ectosymbionts could be a more promising way to counteract pests and borne pathogens, mitigating the impact of formulates and reducing food insecurity due to the lesser impact of direct damage and diseases. The promise has a preventive intent for more manageable and broader implications for pests, comparing what we can obtain using simpler, less-specific techniques and a less comprehensive approach to Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The present work acknowledges the support from: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreements No. 635646-POnTE “Pest Organisms Threatening Europe”, No. 727987-XF-ACTORS “Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research Strategy”, Grant number 952337-MycoTWIN “Enhancing Research and Innovation Capacity of Tubitak MAM Food Institute on Management of Mycotoxigenic Fungi and Mycotoxins”, and CURE-Xf, H2020-Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions—Research and Innovation Staff Exchange. Reference number: 634353, coordinated by CIHEAM Bari. The EU Funding Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. European Union’s StopMedWaste “Innovative Sustainable technologies TO extend the shelf-life of Perishable MEDiterranean fresh fruit, vegetables and aromatic plants and to reduce WASTE” a PRIMA project ID: 1556. European Union’s Euphresco BasicS “Basic substances as an environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides for plant protection” project ID: 2020-C-353. The work was partially carried out in the framework of the National Projects: RIGENERA, granted by MASAF n. 207631, 9 May 2022, and GENFORAGRIS, granted by MASAF n. 207631, 9 May 2022; and regional projects “Laboratory network for the selection, characterisation and conservation of germplasm and for preventing the spread of economically-relevant and quarantine pests (SELGE) No. 14”, founded by the Apulia Region, PO FESR 2007–2013—Axis I, Line of intervention 1.2., Action 1.2.1; Research for Innovation (REFIN) POR Puglia 2014–2020 Project: 8C6E699D, and PON AIM, COD. AIM 1809249-Attività 1 Linea 1.

Temperate trees require low temperatures during winter and subsequent warm conditions in early spring to flower and eventually bear fruit. Many parts of the Mediterranean region feature winters with low and sometimes marginal chill accumulation. To assess historic and future agroclimatic conditions for cultivating temperate trees (including almonds, pistachios, apricots, sweet cherries and apples), we mapped winter chill throughout this important growing region. We used on-site weather records (1974–2020) to calibrate a weather generator and produced data for historic and future scenarios. To broaden our analysis, we spatially interpolated chill for the whole Mediterranean basin. We supplemented our simulation outcomes by collecting expert knowledge (from farmers and researchers) regarding observed climate change impacts on temperate orchards as well as future risks and concerns generated by climate change. Results showed that northern African growing regions have experienced major chill losses, a likely cause of the irregular and delayed bloom highlighted by experts. The same regions, together with southern Europe, may lose up to 30 Chill Portions by 2050 under a moderate warming scenario. For the future, experts foresee increasing risk of spring frost in early-blooming cultivars, exacerbated bloom-related problems and increasing occurrence of heat waves. Our results provide evidence of likely climate change impacts on temperate orchards. Expert knowledge proved instrumental in interpreting the simulation results as well as in orienting climate change adaptation strategies. The results we present are useful for farmers and orchard managers planning new plantings, as well as for researchers and policy makers developing strategies to adapt fruit orchards to the impacts of climate change Open Access funding was enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. We thank the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA), a program supported under H2020, the European Union’s Framework program for research and innovation, for funding this research within the AdaMedOr project (grant number 01DH20012 of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research). We also thank national donors from the partner countries: the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Agencia Estatal de Investigación 10.13039/501100011033) and NextGeneration EU/PRTR (grants PCI2020-111966 and PID2020-115473RR-I00 in the case of CITA; grant PCI2020-112113 in the case of CEBAS); the Ministère de l’Education Nationale, de la Formation Professionnelle, de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique, Département de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (MENF-PESRS/DESRS- Maroc) in the case of Morocco; and the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the case of Tunisia Peer reviewed

Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biodegradable and biocompatible bio-based polyesters, which are used in various applications including packaging, medical and coating materials. In this study, an extremophilic hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium, previously isolated from saline sediment in the Tunisian desert, has been investigated for PHA production. The accumulation of intracellular PHA granules in Halomonas desertis G11 was detected by Nile blue A staining of the colonies. To achieve maximum PHA yield by the strain G11, the culture conditions were optimized through response surface methodology (RSM) employing a Box-Behnken Design (BBD) with three independent variables, namely, substrate concentration (1–5%), inoculum size (1–5%) and incubation time (5–15 days). Under optimized conditions, G11 strain produced 1.5 g/L (68% of DCW) of PHA using glycerol as a substrate. Application of NMR (1H and 13C) and FTIR spectroscopies showed that H. desertis accumulated PHA is a poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV). The genome analysis revealed the presence of typical structural genes involved in PHBV metabolism including phaA, phaB, phaC, phaP, phaZ, and phaR, coding for acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase, acetoacetyl-CoA reductase, class I polyhydroxyalkanoates synthases, phasin, polyhydroxyalkanoates depolymerase and polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesis repressor, respectively. Glycerol can be metabolized to 1) acetyl-CoA through the glycolysis pathway and subsequently converted to the 3HB monomer, and 2) to propionyl-CoA via the threonine biosynthetic pathway and subsequently converted to the 3HV monomer. In silico analysis of PhaC1 from H. desertis G11 indicated that this enzyme belongs to Class I PHA synthase family with a “lipase box”-like sequence (SYCVG). All these characteristics make the extremophilic bacterium H. desertis G11 a promising cell factory for the conversion of bio-renewable glycerol to high-value PHBV.

Increasing sea temperature is a driver of change for many fish traits, particularly for fast-growing epipelagic species with short life spans. With warming, altered spawning phenology and faster growth may produce substantially larger body sizes of the new cohort, affecting fishery productivity. We present an individual-based model (IBM) that predicts the distribution of fish length at catch under observed and projected thermal scenarios, accounting for mortality, temperature-dependent spawning phenology, temperature- and photoperiod- dependent growth. This IBM was demonstrated with Coryphaena hippurus (common dolphinfish), a circumglobally-distributed and highly thermophilic species sustaining commercial and recreational fisheries where it is present. The model projected a 13.2% increase in the average length at catch under marine heatwave conditions compared to the current thermal regime (1995–2005 average). Projections under RCP scenarios 4.5 and 8.5 by the end of the century led to 5.1% and 12.8% increase in average length, respectively. Furthermore, these thermal scenarios affected spawning phenology differently, producing higher variance in body size under RCP 8.5 scenario with respect to marine heatwave conditions. This study highlights how the environmental effects of climate change can alter the distribution of species length at catch. The present paper is part of the CERES project (H2020, EU 678193). Part of the data was obtained from the FAO-Copemed and FAO-Copemed II projects (http://www.faocopemed.org/). This study has been conducted using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information. V. Moltó acknowledges a predoctoral grant funded by the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands and the European Social Fund, A. Ospina Álvarez was supported by H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (746361), and S. Pérez-Mayol salary was founded by PN Project DREAMER (CTM2015-66676-C2-1-R). We also acknowledge Andreina Fenech, Marie Louise Pace, and Roberta Mifsud from the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Malta for the data collection and provision. Peer reviewed

Science is addressing global societal challenges, and due to limitations in research financing, scientists are turning to the public at large to jointly tackle specific environmental issues. Citizens are therefore increasingly involved in monitoring programs, appointed as citizen scientists with potential to delivering key data at near to no cost to address environmental challenges, therein fostering scientific knowledge and advising policy- and decision-makers. One of the first and most successful examples of marine citizen science in the Mediterranean is represented by the integrative and collaborative implementation of several jellyfish-spotting campaigns in Italy, Spain, Malta, and Tunisia starting in 2009. Altogether, in terms of time coverage, geographic extent, and number of citizen records, these represent the most effective marine citizen science campaigns thus far implemented in the Mediterranean Sea. Here, we analyzed a collective database merging records over the above four countries, featuring more than 100,000 records containing almost 25,000 observations of jellyfish specimens collected over a period of 3 to 7 years (from 2009 to 2015) by citizen scientists participating in any of the national citizen science programs included in this analysis. Such a wide citizen science exercise demonstrates a valuable and cost-effective tool to understanding ecological drivers of jellyfish proliferation over the Western and Central Mediterranean basins, as well as a powerful contribution to developing tailored adaptation and management strategies; mitigating jellyfish impacts on human activities in coastal zones; and supporting implementation of marine spatial planning, Blue Growth, and conservation strategies This work has received funding from the European Commission Horizon projects MED-JELLYRISK (GA I-A/1.3/098-ENPI CBCMED programme 2012–2015), VECTORS (Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life, Impact on Economic Sectors, GA n. 266445, FP7 programme, 2011–2015), COCONET “Towards COast to Coast NETworks of marine protected areas from the shore to the high and deep seas, coupled with sea-based wind energy potential” (GA no. 287844 FP7 programme 2012–2016), and CERES (Climate Change and European Aquatic Resources, GA no. 678193, Horizon 2020 programme). The authors are also indebted to the International Ocean Institute (IOI) for financially supporting the Spot the Jellyfish citizen science campaign in the Maltese Islands. A. Canepa was supported by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research–CONICYT (PAI/82140034, A Canepa) Special issue Patterns and Ecology of Jellyfish in Marine Environment.-- 26 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.3390/d13060274.-- Data Availability Statement: Please refer to suggested Data Availability Statements in section MDPI Research Data Policies at https://www.mdpi.com/ethics With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI) Peer reviewed

ABSTRACT To achieve a water‐secure world, water management should be approached from a multidimensional and integrative perspective, addressing the water‐related issues of health, household supply, economics, the environment, and resilience to water‐related and climate change hazards. Although water security has significantly improved since 2000 in Africa, there are still vast inequalities in access to water suitable in terms of quantity and quality, especially in rural areas. To achieve water‐related sustainable development of African economies, a broad scope of innovative technological and management solutions is required, involving governments, research institutions, private sector parties, and civil society. This special series, composed of 8 papers, illustrates a selection of the most relevant results achieved by the 7 research projects selected and financed by the European Union under 2 dedicated Horizon 2020 calls in 2015: Water‐5b‐2015 “A coordination platform” and Water‐5c‐2015 “Development of water supply and sanitation technology, systems and tools, and/or methodologies.” The innovations presented in this special series include both technological advancements and w'ater management approaches, given that the development of water‐related technologies in developing countries needs to be integrated into water management strategies and economic instruments. This special series aims to help policy makers take informed decisions on how to implement innovative approaches to increase water security in African countries. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:853–855. © 2020 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC) KEY POINTS To achieve a more water secure world, water management should be approached from a multidimensional and integrative perspective.This special series aims to help policy makers take informed decisions on how to implement innovative approaches to increase water security in African countries.