Search results for "Red"
showing 10 items of 23890 documents
Widespread plant specialization in the polyphagous planthopper Hyalesthes obsoletus (Cixiidae), a major vector of stolbur phytoplasma: Evidence of cr…
2018
The stolbur phytoplasma vector Hyalesthes obsoletus is generally considered as a polyphagous species associated with numerous wild and cultivated plants. However, recent research in southeastern Europe, the distribution centre of H. obsoletus and the area of most stolbur-inflicted crop diseases, points toward specific host-plant associations of the vector, indicating specific vector-based transmission routes. Here, we study the specificity of populations associated with four host-plants using mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers, and we evaluate the evolution of host-shifts in H. obsoletus. Host-plant use was confirmed for Convolvulus arvensis, Urtica dioica, Vitex agnus-castus and Cre…
Italian Odonates in the Pandora’s Box: A Comprehensive DNA Barcoding Inventory Shows Taxonomic Warnings at the Holarctic Scale
2020
AbstractThe Odonata are considered among the most endangered freshwater faunal taxa. Their DNA-based monitoring relies on validated reference datasets that are often lacking or do not cover important biogeographical centres of diversification. This study presents the results of a DNA barcoding campaign on Odonata, based on the standard 658 bp 5’ end region of the mitochondrial COI gene, involving the collection of 812 specimens (409 of which barcoded) from peninsular Italy and its main islands (328 localities), belonging to all the 88 species (31 Zygoptera and 57 Anisoptera) known from the country. Additional BOLD and GenBank data from Holarctic samples expanded the dataset to 1294 DNA barc…
Thioredoxin (Trxo1) interacts with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and its overexpression affects the growth of tobacco cell culture.
2017
Thioredoxins (Trxs), key components of cellular redox regulation, act by controlling the redox status of many target proteins, and have been shown to play an essential role in cell survival and growth. The presence of a Trx system in the nucleus has received little attention in plants, and the nuclear targets of plant Trxs have not been conclusively identified. Thus, very little is known about the function of Trxs in this cellular compartment. Previously, we studied the intracellular localization of PsTrxo1 and confirmed its presence in mitochondria and, interestingly, in the nucleus under standard growth conditions. In investigating the nuclear function of PsTrxo1 we identified proliferati…
Extraction of lipids from wet microalga Auxenochlorella protothecoides using pulsed electric field treatment and ethanol-hexane blends
2017
Abstract Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) treatment was used as pre-treatment on the microalgae strain Auxenochlorella protothecoides (A.p.) prior to organic solvent extraction of lipids. Experiments were performed on fresh biomass from mixotrophic or autotrophic culture which both had an evaluated lipid content of 30–35% of cell dry weight. Lipid yield was determined gravimetrically and compared to the reference lipid content assessed by bead-milling and subsequent Soxhlet extraction. The biomass was concentrated at 10% w/w solids prior to PEF-treatment and further dewatered afterwards to approximately 25% w/w before extraction. PEF-treatment with an energy input of 1.5 MJ per kilogram of dry m…
Variable crab camouflage patterns defeat search image formation.
2021
Understanding what maintains the broad spectrum of variation in animal phenotypes and how this influences survival is a key question in biology. Frequency dependent selection – where predators temporarily focus on one morph at the expense of others by forming a “search image” – can help explain this phenomenon. However, past work has never tested real prey colour patterns, and rarely considered the role of different types of camouflage. Using a novel citizen science computer experiment that presented crab “prey” to humans against natural backgrounds in specific sequences, we were able to test a range of key hypotheses concerning the interactions between predator learning, camouflage and mor…
Polyamine Oxidase 5 loss-of-function mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana trigger metabolic and transcriptional reprogramming and promote salt stress to…
2017
The family of polyamine oxidases (PAO) in Arabidopsis (AtPAO1-5) mediates polyamine (PA) back-conversion, which reverses the PA biosynthetic pathway from spermine, and its structural isomer thermospermine (tSpm), into spermidine and then putrescine. Here, we have studied the involvement of PA back-conversion in Arabidopsis salinity tolerance. AtPAO5 is the Arabidopsis PAO gene member most transcriptionally induced by salt stress. Two independent loss-of-function mutants (atpao5-2 and atpao5-3) were found to exhibit constitutively higher tSpm levels, with associated increased salt tolerance. Using global transcriptional and metabolomic analyses, the underlying mechanisms were studied. Stimul…
Inhibition of NO Biosynthetic Activities during Rehydration of Ramalina farinacea Lichen Thalli Provokes Increases in Lipid Peroxidation
2019
Lichens are poikilohydrous symbiotic associations between a fungus, photosynthetic partners, and bacteria. They are tolerant to repeated desiccation/rehydration cycles and adapted to anhydrobiosis. Nitric oxide (NO) is a keystone for stress tolerance of lichens
Reaction norms of host immunity, host fitness and parasite performance in a mouse - intestinal nematode interaction.
2016
8 pages; International audience; The outcome of the encounter between a host and a parasite depends on the synergistic effects of the genetics of the two partners and the environment (sensulato) where the interaction takes place. Reaction norms can depict how host and parasite traits vary across environmental ranges for different genotypes. Here, we performed a large scale experiment where three strains of laboratory mice (SJL, BALB/c and CBA) were infected with four doses of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus. An increasing infective dose can be considered as a proxy for the environment-dependent risk incontracting the infection. We looked at the fitness traits of hosts and …
Parameterising a public good: how experiments on predation can be used to predict cheat frequencies
2016
Chemical defence is superficially easy to understand as a means for individuals to protect themselves from enemies. The evolution of chemical defence is however potentially complex because such defences may cause the generation of a public good, protecting members of the population as a whole as well as individuals that deploy toxins defensively. If a public good of protection exists, it may be exploited and degraded by “cheats” that do not invest in defence. This can in turn lead to complex frequency (and density) dependent effects in toxin evolution. To investigate this we used ecologically relevant predators (Great tits, Parus major) and examined how individual and public benefits vary d…
NO Signalling in Plant Immunity
2016
The importance of nitric oxide (NO) in innate and adaptive immunity in mammals is well recognised. NO exerts antimicrobial properties against invaders but also displays immunoregulatory functions in which S-nitrosylation represents a signalling process of major importance. Over the last two decades, a growing body of evidence suggests that NO is also a major component of plant immunity. Our understanding of its role in plant defence has been enriched by the identification and functional analysis of S-nitrosylated proteins. The recent identification of new S-nitrosylated proteins including the chaperone-like enzyme cell division cycle 48 (CDC48), histone deacetylases (HDACs) and calmodulin (…