Search results for "gg"

Pace-of-life in a social insect: behavioral syndromes in ants shift along a climatic gradient

2017

Lay SummaryLinks between behavioral traits can shift with the local climate. We show that behavioral associations with temperature not only occur across, but also within populations. At warmer sites ant colonies increased their exploration and foraging activity, but were less aggressive. Moreover, at these warmer sites, more positive links were found between behaviors within populations compared to colder sites, where more negative links prevailed. Our study suggests that associations between behaviors shift along climatic gradients.

Nonmodal scutes patterns in the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta): a possible epigenetic effect?

2016

Eleven specimens of the threatened Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta (L., 1758)) were caught accidentally by fishermen in different parts of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea). Five of them showed an atypical number of carapacial and plastron scutes, making the immediate identification of the specimens as C. caretta difficult. Both genetic and epigenetic analysis were carried out on these specimens. Sequencing of a 649 bp sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene allowed us to classify all the individuals as C. caretta. Epigenetic analysis, performed by evaluating the total level of DNA cytosine methylation, showed a reduced and significant (F = 72.65, p < 0.01) globa…

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites

2018

Insect societies face many social parasites that exploit their altruistic behaviours or their resources. Due to the fitness costs these social parasites incur, hosts have evolved various behavioural, chemical, architectural and morphological defence traits. Similar to bacteria infecting multicellular hosts, social parasites have to successfully go through several steps to exploit their hosts. Here, we review how social insects try to interrupt this sequence of events. They can avoid parasite contact by choosing to nest in parasite-free locales or evade attacks by adapting their colony structure. Once social parasites attack, hosts attempt to detect them, which can be facilitated by adjustme…

2017

Males compete over mating and fertilization, and often harm females in the process. Inclusive fitness theory predicts that increasing relatedness within groups of males may relax competition and discourage male harm of females as males gain indirect benefits. Recent studies in Drosophila melanogaster are consistent with these predictions, and have found that within-group male relatedness increases female fitness, though others have found no effects. Importantly, these studies did not fully disentangle male genetic relatedness from larval familiarity, so the extent to which modulation of harm to females is explained by male familiarity remains unclear. Here we performed a fully factorial de…

Effect of antibiotic treatment and gamma-irradiation on cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and mate choice in tsetse flies (Glossina m. morsitans).

2018

Background Symbiotic microbes represent a driving force of evolutionary innovation by conferring novel ecological traits to their hosts. Many insects are associated with microbial symbionts that contribute to their host’s nutrition, digestion, detoxification, reproduction, immune homeostasis, and defense. In addition, recent studies suggest a microbial involvement in chemical communication and mating behavior, which can ultimately impact reproductive isolation and, hence, speciation. Here we investigated whether a disruption of the microbiota through antibiotic treatment or irradiation affects cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, and possibly mate choice behavior in the tsetse fly, Glossina mors…

An Arabidopsis Mutant Over-Expressing Subtilase SBT4.13 Uncovers the Role of Oxidative Stress in the Inhibition of Growth by Intracellular Acidificat…

2020

Intracellular acid stress inhibits plant growth by unknown mechanisms and it occurs in acidic soils and as consequence of other stresses. In order to identify mechanisms of acid toxicity, we screened activation-tagging lines of Arabidopsis thaliana for tolerance to intracellular acidification induced by organic acids. A dominant mutant, sbt4.13-1D, was isolated twice and shown to over-express subtilase SBT4.13, a protease secreted into endoplasmic reticulum. Activity measurements and immuno-detection indicate that the mutant contains less plasma membrane H+-ATPase (PMA) than wild type, explaining the small size, electrical depolarization and decreased cytosolic pH of the mutant but not orga…

Oxylipin mediated stress response of a miraculin-like protease inhibitor in Hexanoic acid primed eggplant plants infested by Colorado potato beetle

2017

Insect-plant interactions are governed by a complex equilibrium between the mechanisms through which plant recognize insect attack and orchestrate downstream signaling events that trigger plant defense responses, and the mechanisms by which insects overcome plant defenses. Due to this tight and dynamic interplay, insight into the nature of the plant defense response can be gained by analyzing changes in the insect herbivores digestive system upon plant feeding. In this work we have identified a Solanum melongena miraculin-like protease inhibitor in the midgut juice of Colorado potato larvae feeding on eggplant plants treated with the natural inducer of plant defenses hexanoic acid. We analy…

Extended winters entail long-term costs for insect offspring reared in an overwinter burrow

2018

International audience; Winter imposes an ecological challenge to animals living in colder climates, especially if these adverse conditions coincide with reproduction and offspring rearing. To overcome this challenge, some insects burrow in the soil to protect adults, larvae, or eggs from negative effects of winter. However, whether this protection is effective against any long-term consequences of changes in winter duration is unclear. Here, we investigated the long-term effects of winter length variation on eggs of the European earwig Forficula auricularia. In this insect, females construct and maintain a burrow between late autumn and spring, in which they provide extensive forms of care…

Identification of ABA-Mediated Genetic and Metabolic Responses to Soil Flooding in Tomato (

2021

Soil flooding is a compound abiotic stress that alters soil properties and limits atmospheric gas diffusion (O2 and CO2) to the roots. The involvement of abscisic acid (ABA) in the regulation of soil flooding-specific genetic and metabolic responses has been scarcely studied despite its key importance as regulator in other abiotic stress conditions. To attain this objective, wild type and ABA-deficient tomatoes were subjected to short-term (24 h) soil waterlogging. After this period, gas exchange parameters were reduced in the wild type but not in ABA-deficient plants that always had higher E and gs. Transcript and metabolite alterations were more intense in waterlogged tissues, with genoty…

Selection of indigenous yeast strains for the production of sparkling wines from native Apulian grape varieties.

2018

We report the first polyphasic characterization of native Saccharomyces cerevisiae in order to select candidate strains for the design of starter cultures tailored for Apulian sparkling wines obtained from local grape variety. In addition, it is the first survey in our region that propose the selection of autochthonous starter cultures for sparkling wine i) including a preliminary tailored genotypic and technological screening, and ii) monitoring analytical contribution during secondary fermentation in terms of volatile compounds (VOCs). Furthermore, we exploit the potential contribute of autochthonous cultures throughout the productive chain, including the possible improvement of base wine…