Search results for "Health"
showing 10 items of 50124 documents
Oxidative stress and senescence in social insects: A significant but inconsistent link?
2021
The life-prolonging effects of antioxidants have long entered popular culture, but the scientific community still debates whether free radicals and the resulting oxidative stress negatively affect longevity. Social insects are intriguing models for analysing the relationship between oxidative stress and senescence because life histories differ vastly between long-lived reproductives and the genetically similar but short-lived workers. Here, we present the results of an experiment on the accumulation of oxidative damage to proteins, and a comparative analysis of the expression of 20 selected genes commonly involved in managing oxidative damage, across four species of social insects: a termit…
Aging parasites produce offspring with poor fitness prospects.
2017
Senescing individuals have poor survival prospects and low fecundity. They can also produce offspring with reduced survival and reproductive success. We tested the effect of parental age on the performance of descendants in the nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus , an intestinal parasite of rodents. We found that offspring of senescing worms had reduced within-host survival and reduced egg shedding over the first month post-infection compared with offspring produced by young parents. These results suggest that declining offspring quality is a component of senescence in parasitic nematodes and might have evolutionary consequences for the optimal schedule of age-dependent investment into repr…
Early Plasmodium-induced inflammation does not accelerate aging in mice
2019
10 pages; International audience; Aging is associated with a decline of performance leading to reduced reproductive output and survival. While the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of aging has attracted considerable attention, the molecular/physiological functions underlying the early-life benefits/late-life costs paradigm remain elusive. We tested the hypothesis that while early activation of the inflammatory response confers benefits in terms of protection against infection, it also incurs costs in terms of reduced reproductive output at old age and shortened longevity. We infected mice with the malaria parasite Plasmodium yoelii and increased the inflammatory response using an anti-IL-10 r…
Genetic variation and evolutionary analysis ofPepino mosaic virusin Sicily: insights into the dispersion and epidemiology
2017
Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) is a highly infectious potexvirus that causes a severe disease in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) crops worldwide. In Sicily, the first outbreak was detected in a single greenhouse in 2005 and it was promptly eradicated. However, in 2008, a large number of greenhouses were simultaneously affected, and it was impossible to eradicate or control the virus. This study addressed the dispersion and the genetic diversity of PepMV isolates obtained from the outbreak in Sicily, in comparison with worldwide PepMV isolates, to gain insight into the factors determining the evolution and epidemiology of the virus. A total of 1800 samples from plants with and without symptoms we…
Estimating the genetic diversity and structure ofQuercus trojanaWebb populations in Italy by SSRs: implications for management and conservation
2017
Studying the genetic diversity and structure of the current forest populations is essential for evaluating the ability to survive to future biotic and abiotic changes and planning conservation strategies. Quercus trojana is an eastern Mediterranean tree species with a fragmented distribution range, and its westernmost outposts are located in southern Italy. The demand for timber and cropland over the centuries has severely reduced it s occurrence in this part of the range. We assessed the genetic diversity and structure of the extant Italian populations of Q. trojana and derived conservation guidelines. A total of 322 samples were genotyped with six polymorphic nuclear microsatellite marker…
Amendment of the type locality of the endemic Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris Fritz et al. 2005, with some notes on the highest altitude reached …
2016
The type locality of the Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris is here amended, and its correct name and geographical coordinates are provided. The locus typicus of the species lies at 1007 m a.s.l., i.e. nearly 400 m below what previously thought. The updated altitudinal distribution range of the species, based on verified published localities only, is between 0 and 1036 m a.s.l.
Some like it cold: the glossiphoniid parasites of the Sicilian endemic pond turtle Emys trinacris (Testudines, Emydidae), an example of ‘parasite ine…
2016
The freshwater turtles of the genus Emys and some leech species of the family Glossiphoniidae are the only Palaearctic representatives of primarily Nearctic taxa, which jointly colonized Eurasia and the Maghreb during the Miocene. The strict trophic relationships occurring between the glossiphoniid parasite leech Placobdella costata and its host, the emydid Emys orbicularis, make them a prime example of host–parasite cophylogenetic evolution. In the light of the discovery of the Sicilian cryptic endemic species Emys trinacris, which is the sister species to the widespread Palaearctic E. orbicularis, the possible cophylogenetic divergence of the turtle hosts and their leech parasites was inv…
Through predators’ eyes: phenotype–environment associations in shore crab coloration at different spatial scales
2017
We thank Emil Aaltonen Foundation providing a young scientist grant for this research (O.N.). MS and AEL were supported by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) David Phillips Research Fellowship (BB/G022887/1).
ß-COP mutants show specific high sensitivity to chloride ions.
2021
Coat Protein I (COPI) consists of a complex (coatomer) formed by seven subunits (α-, β-, β’-, γ-, δ-, ε-, and ζ-COP) that is recruited to Golgi membranes to form vesicles that shuttle from the Golgi apparatus to the ER and between Golgi stacks. Recently, it has been described that loss of function mutants of the two Arabidopsis β-COP genes, β1-COP and β2-COP, showed increased sensitivity to salt stress (NaCl). Using a mixture of either Na(+) or Cl(−) salts, we have now found that β-COP mutants are specifically and highly sensitive to chloride ions.
Maternal condition determines offspring behavior toward family members in the European earwig
2015
International audience; Parental care confers benefits to juveniles but is usually associated with substantial costs for parents. These costs often depend on parental condition, which is thus considered as a key determinant of the level of parental care expressed during family life. However, how parental condition affects the behaviors that juveniles express toward their siblings and parents remains poorly explored. Here, we investigated these questions in the European earwig Forficula auricularia, an insect in which mothers provide extensive forms of care to their juveniles. We measured maternal body condition at egg hatching, subsequently manipulated maternal nutritional state, and finall…