Search results for "SMIS"

2021

Environmental heterogeneity is a central component influencing the virulence and epidemiology of infectious diseases. The number and distribution of susceptible hosts determines disease transmission opportunities, shifting the epidemiological threshold between the spread and fadeout of a disease. Similarly, the presence and diversity of other hosts, pathogens and environmental microbes, may inhibit or accelerate an epidemic. This has important applied implications in farming environments, where high numbers of susceptible hosts are maintained in conditions of minimal environmental heterogeneity. We investigated how the quantity and quality of aquaculture enrichments (few vs. many stones; cl…

First extensive characterization of the venom gland from an egg parasitoid: structure, transcriptome and functional role.

2018

The venom gland is a ubiquitous organ in Hymenoptera. In insect parasitoids, the venom gland has been shown to have multiple functions including regulation of host immune response, host paralysis, host castration and developmental alteration. However, the role played by the venom gland has been mainly studied in parasitoids developing in larval or pupal hosts while little is known for parasitoids developing in insect eggs. We conducted the first extensive characterization of the venom of the endoparasitoid Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev), a species that develops in eggs of the stink bug Nezara viridula (L.). In particular we investigated the structure of the venom apparatus, its functio…

Proposal of a Citrus translational genomic approach for early and infield detection of Flavescence dorée in Vitis

2014

Flavescence dore´e (FD) is one of the most widely known grapevine yellows disease and one of the most unabated worldwide in the viticulture sector. In this paper, we outline a strategy for developing an integrated system of technologies to enable rapid, early disease FD detection and diagnosis. We propose the deployment of a newly developed sensor device, the differential mobility spectrometer (DMS), which has shown positive results with a similar vector-borne disease in Citrus. We have previously demonstrated that the gas chromatograph DMS (GC/DMS) can distinguish various citrus diseases, and the system may also allow detection of volatile organic compound (VOC) signals from a tree of othe…

Molecular phylogeny and forms of photosynthesis in tribe Salsoleae (Chenopodiaceae).

2016

Evolution of C3–C4 intermediate and C4 lineages are resolved in Salsoleae (Chenopodiaceae), and a model for structural and biochemical changes for the evolution of the Salsoloid form of C4 is considered.

Survey of five major grapevine viruses infecting Blatina and Žilavka cultivars in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2021

The sanitary status of grapevines has not yet been considered sufficiently in vineyards throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). An extensive survey of five major grapevine viruses in the country was carried out in 2019. A total of 630 samples from the two dominant autochthonous cultivars, named Žilavka and Blatina, were tested by DAS-ELISA for the presence of grapevine leafroll-associated viruses (GLRaV-1 and 3), grapevine fleck virus (GFkV), grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) and Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV). Eighty-eight % of the samples were positive for at least one virus, and all five viruses were detected, thought with different incidence, i.e. GLRaV-3 (84%), GFLV (43%), GLRaV-1 (14%), GFk…

Kindness to the final host and vice versa: A trend for parasites providing easy prey?

2019

Traditionally the “extended phenotype” concept refers to parasites that manipulate host phenotype to increase parasite fitness. This includes parasites that render intermediate hosts more susceptible to predation by final hosts. We explore here the proposition that an evolutionary driver in such cases is the energetic benefit to the final host, in addition to increased parasite fitness. We will review some well-established host-manipulation models, where such a scenario seems likely. One example is provided by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which conspicuously impairs predator avoidance in rodents. Pathologies in humans that acquire T. gondii are known, but infection in adult feline defin…

Insect Vectors (Hemiptera: Cixiidae) and Pathogens Associated with the Disease Syndrome “Basses Richesses” of Sugar Beet in France

2019

International audience; The syndrome “basses richesses” (SBR) is a disease of sugar beet in eastern France associated with two phloem-restricted, nonculturable plant pathogens: a stolbur phytoplasma and a γ-3 proteobacterium, here called SBR bacterium. Three planthopper (Hemiptera: Cixiidae) species were found to live near and within sugar beet fields in eastern France: Cixius wagneri, Hyalesthes obsoletus, and Pentastiridius leporinus. The role of these planthoppers in spreading the two pathogens to sugar beet was studied. Based on its abundance and high frequency of infection with the SBR bacterium, P. leporinus was considered to be the economic vector of SBR disease. C. wagneri, the prim…

Eye fluke-induced cataracts in natural fish populations: is there potential for host manipulation?

2010

SUMMARYManipulation of host phenotype (e.g. behaviour, appearance) is suggested to be a common strategy to enhance transmission in trophically transmitted parasites. However, in many systems, evidence of manipulation comes exclusively from laboratory studies and its occurrence in natural host populations is poorly understood. Here, we examined the potential for host manipulation by Diplostomum eye flukes indirectly by quantifying the physiological effects of parasites on fish. Earlier laboratory studies have shown that Diplostomum infection predisposes fish to predation by birds (definitive hosts of the parasites) by reducing fish vision through cataract formation. However, occurrence of ca…

Constitutive expression of clathrin hub hinders elicitor-induced clathrin-mediated endocytosis and defense gene expression in plant cells.

2012

International audience; Endocytosis has been recently implicated in the signaling network associated with the recognition of microbes by plants. In a previous study, we showed that the elicitor cryptogein was able to induce clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) in tobacco suspension cells. Herein, we investigate further the induced CME by means of a GFP-tagged clathrin light chain and a CME inhibitor, the hub domain of clathrin heavy chain. Hub constitutive expression does affect neither cell growth nor constitutive endocytosis but abolishes cryptogein-induced CME. Such an inhibition has no impact on early events in the cryptogein signaling pathway but reduces the expression of defense-associ…

Synchronous attack is advantageous: mixed genotype infections lead to higher infection success in trematode parasites

2011

Co-infecting parasite genotypes typically compete for host resources limiting their fitness. The intensity of such competition depends on whether parasites are reproducing in a host, or using it primarily as a transmission vehicle while not multiplying in host tissues (referred to as ‘competition hypothesis’). Alternatively, simultaneous attack and co-infection by several parasite genotypes might facilitate parasite infection because such a diverse attack could present an additional challenge to host immune defence (referred to as ‘facilitation hypothesis’). We tested the competition hypothesis by comparing the production of transmission stages (cercariae) from snails infected with one or …