Search results for "ef"
showing 10 items of 32085 documents
New Approaches to Optimize Somatic Embryogenesis in Maritime Pine
2019
Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) is a coniferous native of the Mediterranean basin. Because of its adaptability to a wide range of environmental conditions, the species have become a model for studies in coniferous forest management and functional genomics. Somatic embryogenesis (SE) has been so far, the preferred biotechnological strategy for maritime pine breeding programs initiated at the middle-end of the 20th century. To overcome the limitations of the induction and maturation phases in maritime pine SE, we analyzed the possible maternal influence on the embryogenic capability of megagametophytes from controlled crosses, as well as the effect of the temperature and water availabili…
Foraging behaviour of an egg parasitoid exploiting plant volatiles induced by pentatomids : The role of adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces
2017
Several phases of herbivorous insect attack including feeding and oviposition are known to induce plant defenses. Plants emit volatiles induced by herbivores to recruit insect parasitoids as an indirect defense strategy. So far, volatiles induced by herbivore walking and their putative role in the foraging behavior of egg parasitoids have not been investigated. In this paper we studied the response of the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis toward volatiles emitted by Vicia faba plants as consequence of the walking activity of the host Nezara viridula. Olfactometer bioassays were carried out to evaluate wasp responses to plants in which the abaxial or the adaxial surfaces were subjected to wa…
Preference for dietary fat: From detection to disease
2020
Recent advances in the field of taste physiology have clarified the role of different basic taste modalities and their implications in health and disease and proposed emphatically that there might be a distinct cue for oro-sensory detection of dietary long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Hence, fat taste can be categorized as a taste modality. During mastication, LCFAs activate tongue lipid sensors like CD36 and GPR120 triggering identical signaling pathways as the basic taste qualities do; however, the physico-chemical perception of fat is not as distinct as sweet or bitter or other taste sensations. The question arises whether "fat taste" is a basic or "alimentary" taste. There is compelling e…
Genome-Wide Profiling and Phylogenetic Analysis of the SWEET Sugar Transporter Gene Family in Walnut and Their Lack of Responsiveness to Xanthomonas …
2020
Following photosynthesis, sucrose is translocated to sink organs, where it provides the primary source of carbon and energy to sustain plant growth and development. Sugar transporters from the SWEET (sugar will eventually be exported transporter) family are rate-limiting factors that mediate sucrose transport across concentration gradients, sustain yields, and participate in reproductive development, plant senescence, stress responses, as well as support plant&ndash
Genomic stability through time despite decades of exploitation in cod on both sides of the Atlantic
2021
Significance Both theory and experiments suggest that fishing can drive the evolution of an earlier maturation age. However, determining whether changes in the wild are the result of fisheries-induced evolution has been difficult. Temporal, genome-wide datasets can directly reveal responses to selection. Here, we investigate the genomes of two wild Atlantic cod populations from samples that pre- and postdate periods of intensive fishing. Although phenotypic changes suggest fisheries-induced evolution, we do not find evidence for any strong genomic change or loss of genetic diversity. While evolution could have occurred through undetectable frequency changes at many loci, the irreversible lo…
Experimental evidence suggests that specular reflectance and glossy appearance help amplify warning signals
2017
AbstractSpecular reflection appears as a bright spot or highlight on any smooth glossy convex surface and is caused by a near mirror-like reflectance off the surface. Convex shapes always provide the ideal geometry for highlights, areas of very strong reflectance, regardless of the orientation of the surface or position of the receiver. Despite highlights and glossy appearance being common in chemically defended insects, their potential signalling function is unknown. We tested the role of highlights in warning colouration of a chemically defended, alpine leaf beetle, Oreina cacaliae. We reduced the beetles’ glossiness, hence their highlights, by applying a clear matt finish varnish on thei…
Embryonic survival and larval predator-avoidance ability in mutually ornamented whitefish
2011
Mutual ornamentation (i.e. the expression of secondary sexual characters) in both sexes is a relatively common but rarely studied phenomenon in the animal kingdom. In the present study, we investigated whether mutual ornamentation is indicative of offspring embryonic survival and predator-avoidance ability in whitefish. We crossed ten randomly selected females and ten randomly selected males in all possible combinations resulting in 100 sib groups, and hypothesized that fitness (measured as offspring survival) of elaborately ornamented parents would be higher in both sexes of whitefish. Parental effects were found in both studied traits: effects of female and female–male interaction were si…
Spreading introgression in the wake of a moving contact zone
2006
An increasing number of studies describe moving hybrid zones. This raises the issue of their actual frequency and emphasizes the need for methods that enable the detection of zone movements without historical records. Asymmetric introgression, usually considered as a signature of geographical shift, might be misleading when applied to mitochondrial or potentially non-neutral markers. We investigated mitochondrial and genomic introgression, using 30 AFLP derived markers, in a well-documented moving avian contact zone between two warblers. We found no instances of cross-species transmission of mitochondrial DNA but we detected nuclear introgression. Introgression levels were higher in the exp…
Parental care shapes evolution of aposematism and provides lifelong protection against predators
2019
ABSTRACTSocial interactions within species can modulate the response to selection and determine the extent of evolutionary change. Yet relatively little work has determined whether the social environment can influence the evolution of traits that are selected by interactions with other species - a major source of natural selection. Here we show that the amount of parental care received as an offspring can influence the expression, and potential evolution, of warning displays deployed against predators in adulthood. In theory, warning displays by prey are selected by predators for uniformity and to reliably advertise the extent to which individuals are chemically defended. However, the corre…
Ventilation and gas exchange before and after voluntary static surface breath-holds in clinically healthy bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus
2019
ABSTRACT We measured respiratory flow ( V ), breathing frequency ( f R ), tidal volume ( V T ), breath duration and end-expired O 2 content in bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) before and after static surface breath-holds ranging from 34 to 292 s. There was considerable variation in the end-expired O 2 , V T and f R following a breath-hold. The analysis suggests that the dolphins attempt to minimize recovery following a dive by altering V T and f R to rapidly replenish the O 2 stores. For the first breath following a surface breath-hold, the end-expired O 2 decreased with dive duration, while V T and f R increased. Throughout the recovery period, end-expired O 2 increased while the…