Search results for "insect"
showing 10 items of 2033 documents
Binding analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1 proteins in the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).
2015
Sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis, F.) is an important corn pest in South America and United States. The aim of the present study was to analyze the susceptibility and binding interactions of three Cry1A proteins and Cry1Fa in a Brazilian D. saccharalis population. The results showed that Cry1Ab was the most active, followed by Cry1Ac, Cry1Fa and Cry1Aa. All Cry1-biotinylated proteins tested bound specifically to the D. saccharalis brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV). Heterologous competition assays showed shared binding sites for all Cry1A proteins and another one shared by Cry1Fa and Cry1Ab. Thus, pyramiding Cry1Aa/Cry1Ac and Cry1F proteins would be a recommended strategy for managi…
Intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids of a true bug in semi-field and field conditions.
2014
International audience; Research on interspecific competitive interactions among insect parasitoids has often been characterized by laboratory studies in which host insects are exposed to female parasitoids of different species in various sequences and combinations. In the last years, an increasing number of studies have investigated interspecific interactions under field and semi-field conditions although just a few number of works focused on egg parasitoids. In this work, we undertook a two-year study to investigate interspecific interactions between Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), two egg para…
Data from: Multi-modal defenses in aphids offer redundant protection and increased costs likely impeding a protective mutualism
2018
1.The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, maintains extreme variation in resistance to its most common parasitoid wasp enemy, Aphidius ervi, which is sourced from two known mechanisms: protective bacterial symbionts, most commonly Hamiltonella defensa, or endogenously encoded defenses. We have recently found that individual aphids may employ each defense individually, occasionally both defenses together, or neither. 2.In field populations, Hamiltonella-infected aphids are found at low to moderate frequencies and while less is known about the frequency of resistant genotypes, they show up less often than susceptible genotypes in field collections. To better understand these patterns, we sought t…
Data from: Collective defence portfolios of ant hosts shift with social parasite pressure
2014
Host defences become increasingly costly as parasites breach successive lines of defence. Because selection favours hosts that successfully resist parasitism at the lowest possible cost, escalating coevolutionary arms races are likely to drive host defence portfolios towards ever more expensive strategies. We investigated the interplay between host defence portfolios and social parasite pressure by comparing 17 populations of two Temnothorax ant species. When successful, collective aggression not only prevents parasitation but also spares host colonies the cost of searching for and moving to a new nest site. However, once parasites breach the host's nest defence, host colonies should resort…
Data from: Targeting antibiotic resistant bacteria with phages reduces bacterial density in an insect host
2019
Phage therapy is attracting growing interest among clinicians as antibiotic resistance continues becoming harder to control. However, clinical trials and animal model studies on bacteriophage treatment are still scarce and results on the efficacy vary. Recent research suggests that using traditional antimicrobials in concert with phage could have desirable synergistic effects that hinder the evolution of resistance. Here, we present a novel insect gut model to study phage-antibiotic interaction in a system where antibiotic resistance initially exists in very low frequency and phage specifically targets the resistance bearing cells. We demonstrate that while phage therapy could not reduce th…
Data from: Fitness costs of worker specialisation for ant societies
2015
Division of labour is of fundamental importance for the success of societies, yet little is known about how individual specialization affects the fitness of the group as a whole. While specialized workers may be more efficient in the tasks they perform than generalists, they may also lack the flexibility to respond to rapid shifts in task needs. Such rigidity could impose fitness costs when societies face dynamic and unpredictable events, such as an attack by socially parasitic slavemakers. Here, we experimentally assess the colony-level fitness consequences of behavioural specialization in Temnothorax longispinosus ants that are attacked by the slavemaker ant T. americanus. We manipulated …
Data from: The parasite’s long arm: a tapeworm parasite induces behavioural changes in uninfected group members of its social host
2015
Parasites can induce alterations in host phenotypes in order to enhance their own survival and transmission. Parasites of social insects might not only benefit from altering their individual hosts, but also from inducing changes in uninfected group members. Temnothorax nylanderi ant workers infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis are known to be chemically distinct from nestmates and do not contribute to colony fitness, but are tolerated in their colonies and well cared-for. Here, we investigated how infected workers affect colony aggression by manipulating the presence of tapeworm-infected workers and analysing whether their absence or presence resulted in behavioural alterations in …
Data from: Gene expression is more strongly associated with behavioural specialisation than with age or fertility in ant workers
2018
The ecological success of social insects is based on division of labour, not only between queens and workers, but also among workers. Whether a worker tends the brood or forages is influenced by age, fertility and nutritional status, with brood carers being younger, more fecund and more corpulent. Here, we experimentally disentangle behavioural specialisation from age and fertility in Temnothorax longispinosus ant workers and analyse how these parameters are linked to whole-body gene expression. A total of 3644 genes were associated with behavioural specialisation which is ten times more than associated with age and 50 times more than associated with fertility. Brood carers were characteriz…
Description of an improved method for Blastocystis hominis culture and axenization
1996
An improved method for Blastocystis hominis culture and axenization was developed in the present study. Stool samples were cultured in prereduced Boeck-Drbohlav NHI modified medium (with several modifications) supplemented with antibiotics (0.4% ampicillin, 0.1% streptomycin, 0.0006% amphotericin B). Axenization was performed by the combination of partial purification of B. hominis by Ficoll-metrizoic acid gradient and inoculation in fresh medium containing active antibiotics against remaining bacteria. A total of 25 strains were obtained by this procedure. The time required for axenization ranged between 3 and 5 weeks. The generation time of axenic strains ranged from 6.6 to 12.1 h (mean +…
The banding pattern of polytene chromosomes of Drosophila guanche compared with that of D. subobscura.
1987
A detailed map of the salivary gland chromosomes of Drosophila guanche is presented and compared to the standard gene arrangements of D. subobscura. Generally, the polytene chromosomc banding patterns of the two species show a high degrce of homology. Only Segment I of the sex chromosome (Chromosome A) shows marked differences. The banding pattern proposed for this segment in D. guanche could have originated from a cluster of overlapping inversions including A1 arrangement.