0000000000672910
AUTHOR
Mª. Dolores Garcerá
Evaluation of the effects of titanium dioxide and aluminum oxide nanoparticles through tarsal contact exposure in the model insect Oncopeltus fasciatus
Abstract Despite the increasing presence of metal nanoparticles in the biosphere as a consequence of their widespread use, knowledge about the impact of these nanoparticles on fauna, ecosystems and human health is far from completion. This is especially true for terrestrial invertebrates. Insects are environmentally exposed to nanoparticles by several ways, the ectopic contact being one of the most probable. The model insect Oncopeltus fasciatus, has been used in the present work for testing toxicity of nanoparticles present in a surface. Adverse effects of TiO2 nanoparticles and Al2O3 in nanoparticulated or bulk form on mortality, reproductive and embryonic developmental parameters have be…
Resistance toBacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac toxin in three strains ofHeliothis virescens: Proteolytic and SEM study of the larval midgut
In a previous study, we demonstrated that resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxins in Heliothis virescens might be related to differences in the composition of the proteolytic extracts from insect midgut. There, we found specific proteolytic bands present in the gut extracts of the resistant strain and absent from the susceptible one. Here we report related facts using a new resistant strain (KCB) and a cross between the two strains used in our previous study. As would be expected, no quantitative differences in total proteolytic activity were found between the strains, although qualitative differences related to the presence or absence of specific proteolytic activity bands using SDS-PA…