Search results for "EFE"

Data from: The cotton stainer's gut microbiota suppresses infection of a co-transmitted trypanosomatid parasite

2018

The evolutionary and ecological success of many insects is attributed to mutualistic partnerships with bacteria that confer hosts with novel traits including food digestion, nutrient supplementation, detoxification of harmful compounds and defense against natural enemies. Dysdercus fasciatus firebugs (Hemiptera: Pyrrhocoridae), commonly known as cotton stainers, possess a simple but distinctive gut bacterial community including B-vitamin supplementing Coriobacteriaceae symbionts. In addition, their guts are often infested with the intestinal trypanosomatid parasite Leptomonas pyrrhocoris (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). In this study, using experimental bioassays and fluorescence in situ…

Data from: De novo synthesis of chemical defences in an aposematic moth

2019

Many animals protect themselves from predation with chemicals, both self-made or sequestered from their diet. The potential drivers of the diversity of these chemicals have been long studied, but our knowledge them, and their acquisition mode, is heavily based on specialist herbivores that sequester their defences. The wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis, Linnaeus, 1758) is a well-studied aposematic species, but the nature of its chemical defences has not been fully described. Here we report the presence of two methoxypyrazines, 2-sec-butyl-3-methoxypyrazine and 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, in the moths’ defensive secretions. By raising larvae on an artificial diet, we confirm, for the fir…

Data from: The origin of the serpentine endemic Minuartia laricifolia subsp. ophiolitica by vicariance and competitive exclusion

2013

Serpentine soils harbour a unique flora that is rich in endemics. We examined the evolution of serpentine endemism in Minuartia laricifolia, which has two ecologically distinct subspecies with disjunct distributions: subsp. laricifolia on siliceous rocks in the western Alps and eastern Pyrenees and subsp. ophiolitica on serpentine in the northern Apennines. We analysed AFLPs and chloroplast sequences from 30 populations to examine their relationships and how their current distributions and ecologies were influenced by Quaternary climatic changes. Minuartia laricifolia was divided into four groups with a BAPS cluster analysis of the AFLP data, one group consisted only of subsp. ophiolitica, …

Data from: Ecological conditions alter cooperative behaviour and its costs in a chemically defended sawfly

2018

The evolution of cooperation and social behaviour is often studied in isolation from the ecology of organisms. Yet, the selective environment under which individuals evolve is much more complex in nature, consisting of ecological and abiotic interactions in addition to social ones. Here we measured the life-history costs of cooperative chemical defence in a gregarious social herbivore, Diprion pini pine sawfly larvae, and how these costs vary under different ecological conditions. We ran a rearing experiment where we manipulated diet (resin content) and attack intensity by repeatedly harassing larvae to produce a chemical defence. We show that forcing individuals to allocate more to coopera…

Data from: Collective defence portfolios of ant hosts shift with social parasite pressure

2014

Host defences become increasingly costly as parasites breach successive lines of defence. Because selection favours hosts that successfully resist parasitism at the lowest possible cost, escalating coevolutionary arms races are likely to drive host defence portfolios towards ever more expensive strategies. We investigated the interplay between host defence portfolios and social parasite pressure by comparing 17 populations of two Temnothorax ant species. When successful, collective aggression not only prevents parasitation but also spares host colonies the cost of searching for and moving to a new nest site. However, once parasites breach the host's nest defence, host colonies should resort…

Data from: Aposematism in the burying beetle? Dual function of anal fluid in parental care and chemical defense

2017

Burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides) bear distinctive and variable orange-black patterning on their elytra and produce an anal exudate from their abdomen when threatened. During breeding, the anal exudates contribute to the antimicrobial defense of the breeding resource. We investigated whether the anal exudates also provide a responsive chemical defense, which is advertised to potential avian predators by the beetle’s orange and black elytral markings. We found that that the orange-black elytral markings of the burying beetle are highly conspicuous for avian predators against range of backgrounds, by using computer simulations. Using bioassays with wood ants, we also showed that the …

ChemInform Abstract: Regioisomeric 5(3)-Aminomethyl-3(5)-phenylisoxazoles: Synthesis, Spectroscopic Discrimination, and Muscarinic Activity.

2010

The regioselective synthesis of isomeric 5(3)-aminomethyl-3(5)-phenyl isoxazoles using different methods is described. Spectroscopic data, especially mass spectrometric fragmentation, were used to identify and characterize the regioisomers. The muscarinic activity of these isoxazoles was assayed on isolated guinea-pig ileum and atria as well as on isolated rabbit vas deferens. Regioisomere 5(3)-Aminomethyl-3(5)-phenyl-isoxazole: Synthese, spektroskopische Unterscheidung und muskarinische Aktivitat Es werden verschiedene Verfahren zur regioselektiven Darstellung von 5(3)-Aminomethyl-3(5)-phenyl-isoxazolen beschrieben, die anhand ihrer spektroskopischen Daten, insbesondere der massenspektrosk…

2019

Ankle plantar flexor muscles are active in the stance phase of walking to propel the body forward. Increasing walking speed requires increased plantar flexor excitation, frequently assessed using surface electromyography (EMG). Despite its popularity, validity of surface EMG applied on shank muscles is mostly unclear. Thus, we examined the agreement between surface and intramuscular EMG at a range of walking speeds. Ten participants walked overground at slow, preferred, fast, and maximum walking speeds (1.01 ± 0.13, 1.43 ± 0.19, 1.84 ± 0.23, and 2.20 ± 0.38 m s-1, respectively) while surface and fine-wire EMG activities of flexor hallucis longus (FHL), soleus (SOL), medial gastrocnemius (MG…

Evaluation of a novel monoclonal antibody against tumor-associated MUC1 for diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer

2019

There is still a great unmet medical need concerning diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer which could be addressed by utilizing specific molecular targets. Tumor-associated MUC1 is expressed on over 90 % of all breast cancer entities and differs strongly from its physiological form on epithelial cells, therefore presenting a unique target for breast cancer diagnosis and antibody-mediated immune therapy. Utilizing an anti-tumor vaccine based on a synthetically prepared glycopeptide, we generated a monoclonal antibody (mAb) GGSK-1/30, selectively recognizing human tumor-associated MUC1. This antibody targets exclusively tumor-associated MUC1 in the absence of any binding to MUC1 on health…

Activation of a murine autoreactive B cell by immunization with human recombinant autoantigen La/SS-B: Characterization of the autoepitope

1995

Immunization of Balb/c mice with a homogeneously purified recombinant human La/SS-B protein resulted in activation of an autoreactive B cell secreting a novel monoclonal anti-La antibody termed La4B6. La4B6 reacted with La protein from a variety of sources including human, bovine, rat and mouse. ATP blocked the binding of La4B6 to recombinant La protein. The human epitope was identified as consisting of the amino acid sequence SKGRRFKGKGKGN, which includes the proposed ATP-binding site of the La protein. In the human and bovine La protein, the epitope exists as a continuous amino acid sequence. In rat and mouse the epitope was found to consist of the amino acid sequence SKG interrupted by a…