Search results for "Original Research"
showing 10 items of 2207 documents
Eutrophic status influences the impact of pesticide mixtures and predation on Daphnia pulex populations
2021
Abstract Pesticides, nutrients, and ecological stressors such as competition or predation co‐occur in freshwater ecosystems impacted by agriculture. The extent to which combinations of these stressors affect aquatic populations and the role of nutrients availability in modulating these responses requires further understanding. In this study, we assessed how pesticides affecting different taxonomic groups and predation influence the response of Daphnia pulex populations under different trophic conditions. An outdoor experiment was designed following a factorial design, with the insecticide chlorpyrifos, the herbicide diuron, and the predation by Notonecta sp. individuals as key stressors. Th…
The role of novel forest ecosystems in the conservation of wood-inhabiting fungi in boreal broadleaved forests
2016
The increasing human impact on the earth’s biosphere is inflicting changes at all spatial scales. As well as deterioration and fragmentation of natural biological systems, these changes also led to other, unprecedented effects and emergence of novel habitats. In boreal zone, intensive forest management has negatively impacted a multitude of deadwood-associated species. This is especially alarming given the important role wood-inhabiting fungi have in the natural decay processes. In the boreal zone, natural broad-leaved-dominated, herb-rich forests are threatened habitats which have high wood-inhabiting fungal species richness. Fungal diversity in other broadleaved forest habitat types is po…
Soybean and casein hydrolysates induce grapevine immune responses and resistance against Plasmopara viticola
2014
International audience; Plasmopara viticola, the causal agent of grapevine downy mildew, is one of the most devastating grape pathogen in Europe and North America. Although phytochemicals are used to control pathogen infections, the appearance of resistant strains and the concern for possible adverse effects on environment and human health are increasing the search for alternative strategies. In the present investigation, we successfully tested two protein hydrolysates from soybean (soy) and casein (cas) to trigger grapevine resistance against P. viticola. On Vitis vinifera cv. Marselan plants, the application of soy and cas reduced the infected leaf surface by 76 and 63%, as compared to th…
An Egg Parasitoid Efficiently Exploits Cues From a Coevolved Host But Not Those From a Novel Host
2019
Egg parasitoids have evolved adaptations to exploit host-associated cues, especially oviposition-induced plant volatiles and odors of gravid females, when foraging for hosts. The entire host selection process is critical for successful parasitism and relevant in defining host specificity of parasitoids. We hypothesized that naïve egg parasitoid females reared on their coevolved host are able to exploit cues related to the coevolved host but not those from a novel host. We used the egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus, its coevolved host Halyomorpha halys, and the non-coevolved host Podisus maculiventris to evaluate this hypothesis. H. halys, a polyphagous pest native from Eastern Asia, has i…
Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: A mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed feeding by carabid beetl…
2021
Abstract Ecological networks are valuable for ecosystem analysis but their use is often limited by a lack of data because many types of ecological interaction, for example, predation, are short‐lived and difficult to observe or detect. While there are different methods for inferring the presence of interactions, they have rarely been used to predict the interaction strengths that are required to construct weighted, or quantitative, ecological networks.Here, we develop a trait‐based approach suitable for inferring weighted networks, that is, with varying interaction strengths. We developed the method for seed‐feeding carabid ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) although the principles can …
Water temperature, not fish morph, determines parasite infections of sympatric Icelandic threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
2013
Parasite communities of fishes are known to respond directly to the abiotic environment of the host, for example, to water quality and water temperature. Biotic factors are also important as they affect the exposure profile through heterogeneities in parasite distribution in the environment. Parasites in a particular environment may pose a strong selection on fish. For example, ecological differences in selection by parasites have been hypothesized to facilitate evolutionary differentiation of freshwater fish morphs specializing on different food types. However, as parasites may also respond directly to abiotic environment the parasite risk does not depend only on biotic features of the hos…
A population genomics analysis of the native Irish Galway sheep breed.
2019
SUMMARYThe Galway sheep population is the only native Irish sheep breed and represents an important livestock genetic resource, which is currently categorised as “at-risk”. In the present study, comparative population genomics analyses of Galway sheep and other sheep populations of European origin were used to investigate the microevolution and recent genetic history of the breed. These analyses support the hypothesis that British Leicester sheep were used in the formation of the Galway breed and suggest more recent gene flow from the Suffolk sheep breed. When compared to conventional and endangered breeds, the Galway breed was intermediate in effective population size, genomic inbreeding a…
Betulinic Acid Exerts Cytotoxic Activity Against Multidrug-Resistant Tumor Cells via Targeting Autocrine Motility Factor Receptor (AMFR).
2018
Betulinic acid (BetA) is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpene isolated from the outer bark of white-barked birch trees and many other medicinal plants. Here, we studied betulinic acid's cytotoxic activity against drug-resistant tumor cell lines. P-glycoprotein (MDR1/ABCB1) and BCRP (ABCG2) are known ATP-binding cassette (ABC) drug transporters that mediating MDR. ABCB5 is a close relative to ABCB1, which also mediates MDR. Constitutive activation of the EGF receptor is tightly linked to the development of chemotherapeutic resistance. BetA inhibited P-gp, BCRP, ABCB5 and mutation activated EGFR overexpressing cells with similar efficacy as their drug-sensitive parental counterparts. …
Anti-Acne Activity of Italian Medicinal Plants Used for Skin Infection
2016
Propionibacterium acnes is implicated in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris, which impacts >85% of teenagers. Novel therapies are in high demand and an ethnopharmacological approach to discovering new plant sources of anti-acne therapeutics could contribute to filling this void in effective therapies. The aims of our study were two-fold: (1) To determine if species identified in ethnopharmacological field studies as having traditional uses for skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) exhibit significantly more activity against P. acnes than species with no such reported use; and (2) Chemically characterize active extracts and assess their suitability for future investigation. Extracts of Ita…
A Natural Xenogeneic Endometrial Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel Toward Improving Current Human in vitro Models and Future in vivo Applications
2021
Decellularization techniques support the creation of biocompatible extracellular matrix hydrogels, providing tissue-specific environments for both in vitro cell culture and in vivo tissue regeneration. We obtained endometrium derived from porcine decellularized uteri to create endometrial extracellular matrix (EndoECM) hydrogels. After decellularization and detergent removal, we investigated the physicochemical features of the EndoECM, including gelation kinetics, ultrastructure, and proteomic profile. The matrisome showed conservation of structural and tissue-specific components with low amounts of immunoreactive molecules. EndoECM supported in vitro culture of human endometrial cells in t…