Search results for " Insect"
showing 10 items of 280 documents
Structure Learning in Nested Effects Models
2007
Nested Effects Models (NEMs) are a class of graphical models introduced to analyze the results of gene perturbation screens. NEMs explore noisy subset relations between the high-dimensional outputs of phenotyping studies, e.g., the effects showing in gene expression profiles or as morphological features of the perturbed cell. In this paper we expand the statistical basis of NEMs in four directions. First, we derive a new formula for the likelihood function of a NEM, which generalizes previous results for binary data. Second, we prove model identifiability under mild assumptions. Third, we show that the new formulation of the likelihood allows efficiency in traversing model space. Fourth, we…
Möglichkeiten der genetischen Schädlingsbekämpfung1
2009
Possibilities of controlling insects by genetical methods. Up to this time only a few practical experiences are made in controlling insect pests by help of genetical methods. The differences between this method and the sterile male technique are shown and seven ways of genetic control are discussed.
The Insect Mushroom Bodies: a Paradigm of Neural Reuse
2013
This paper is devoted to discuss the implementation of models,which are inspired by the fly Drosophila melanogaster and able to handle open problems in the field of robotics such as attention, expectation and sequence learning. The role of the Mushroom Bodies (MBs) in solving these tasks is analyzed in detail and a unifying plausible biologically inspired model is proposed. The developed neural structure is able to show different capabilities in line with the paradigm of neural reuse. The same neural circuit can be exploited to accomplish multiple tasks showing interesting capabilities such as attention, expectation and delayed match-to-sample. The simulation results here reported suggest a…
Effect of the host plant on the immunity of a phytophagous insect : influence of grape variety on the ability of the European grapevine moth to defen…
2013
In tritrophic interactions involving phytophagous insects, host plants and natural enemies, trophic levels are highly dependent on each other. Host plant may strongly affect directly phytophagous insect and indirectly natural enemies growing on these phytophagous insects. When a natural enemy attacks a phytophagous insect, the host immune system constitutes the last chance for the host to survive to an infection. A great variation of insect immune system is generally found in populations for susceptibility to pathogens, suggesting that variable selection pressures may have shaped and driven adaptation of immune traits. This project aims to determine the influence of both host plant and natu…
High winter survival rate of acorn ants inside artificial nest sites (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
2022
Although most species of ants overwinter underground to avoid low temperatures, the acorn ants of the genus Temnothorax remain in nests situated at ground level. During a field experiment, I studied the winter mortality of acorn ants in nest sites situated aboveground, as well as in sites experimentally buried in the soil. Despite the low air temperatures (even reaching –19°C, recorded 1.5 m above the ground), the survivorship was very high: all of the 18 queens used in the experiment survived, while the survival rate of workers was 61.9-100%, and for most colonies it exceeded 95%. The rate of survival in the nest sites aboveground and those experimentally buried in the soil was similar. Su…
Characterization and DNA-binding properties of GRF, a novel monomeric binding orphan receptor related to GCNF and betaFTZ-F1
1999
0014-2956 (Print) Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; A PCR approach has been used to isolate, from Bombyx mori, a cDNA encoding a novel orphan receptor (GRF) that is most closely related to Bombyx betaFTZ-F1 and to the vertebrate germ cell nuclear factor. The major GRF mRNA is detected in most tissues as an 8-kb transcript whose amount follows the circulating ecdysteroid concentration with a delay. The expression pattern of GRF is similar to that of the Bombyx homologue of the Drosophila early-late gene DHR3, and precedes that of betaFTZ-F1 in all stages and tissues examined. The GRF protein is thus likely to be required in many tissues, but in a temporally …
Aberrant splicing of the Drosophila melanogaster phenylalanine hydroxylase pre-mRNA caused by the insertion of a B104/roo transposable element in the…
1999
Abstract We report the insertion of the transposable element B104 in the Phenylalanine hydroxylase gene of the Drosophila mutant Henna-recessive 3 . Its presence alters the Phenylalanine hydroxylase splicing pattern, producing at least two aberrant mRNAs which contain part of the B104 sequence interrupting the coding region. This aberrant splicing is provoked by the use of a cryptic donor site encoded by the B104 3′ long terminal repeat in combination with either the gene intron 3 acceptor site or a novel acceptor site generated by the target duplication caused by transposition. One of them, referred as mRNA type 1, encodes a truncated protein that could be predictably non-functional. In mR…
Spread of the autonomous transposable element hobo in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster.
1995
The transposable element hobo has been introduced into the previously empty Drosophila melanogaster strain Hikone so that its dynamics can be followed and it can be compared with the P element. Five transformed lines were followed over 58 generations. The results were highly dependent on the culture temperature, the spread of hobo element being more efficient at 25 degrees C. The multiplication of hobo sequences resulted in a change in the features of these lines in the hobo system of hybrid dysgenesis. The number of hobo elements remained low (two to seven copies) and the insertions always corresponded to complete sequences. Our findings suggest that, despite their genetic similarities, P …
Zooplankton assemblages in a Mediterranean restored area: patterns and processes of colonization and establishment
2016
Las charcas son sistemas excepcionalmente ricos en términos de biodiversidad, facilitan la conexión entre diferentes tipos de masas de agua y proveen de un gran número de servicios ecosistémicos como la posibilidad de investigar en torno a ellos. A pesar de su importancia ecológica, este tipo de sistemas acuáticos han sufrido y sufren una fuerte presión antrópica que deriva en numerosas amenazas. En este escenario, ha sido necesario el desarrollo de proyectos que restauren estos sistemas, tratando de recuperar las características ecológicas previas a su degradación. Durante el siglo XX, las charcas costeras mediterráneas sufrieron fuertes presiones, lo que llevó a la desaparición de muchas …
Fenología de los bracónidos (hymenoptera, ichneumonoidea, braconidae) del pirineo andorrano
2006
Phenology of the Braconidae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea) at Andorra has been conducted/studied using a Malaise trap after a one-year cycle during 1993. A total of 1.892 specimens, representing 23 subfamilies and 79 genera were sampled. About 93.7% of the captures were koinobiont braconids, whereas 6.3% belonged to idiobiont braconids. The annual phenology has been characterized through the correlation between the evolution of the collected braconids and the weather (meteorological conditions). The maximum of the populations were registered between the two rain periods. In fact, the family Braconidae shows an abundance peak from middle of May to end of August, due to the xerothermic conditi…