Search results for "interference"

The application of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing machinery in food and agricultural science: Current status, future perspectives, and associated cha…

2019

The recent progress in genetic engineering has brought multiple benefits to the food and agricultural industry by enhancing the essential characteristics of agronomic traits. Powerful tools in the field of genome editing, such as siRNA-mediated RNA interference for targeted suppression of gene expression and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) for DNA repair have been widely used for commercial purposes. However, in the last few years, the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 system has revolutionized genome editing and has attracted attention as a powerful tool for several industrial applications. Herein, we review current progresses in the uti…

Genetic variation in the mechanisms of direct mutual interference in a parasitic wasp: consequences in terms of patch-time allocation

2004

Summary 1. Direct mutual interference between insect parasitoids has always been considered to have major consequences for the population dynamics of parasitoid‐host systems. Furthermore, patch time allocation has also always been presented as an important behavioural component that is closely involved in the demographic features of host‐ parasitoid interactions. 2. Based on a detailed analysis of within-patch interactions between Trissolcus basalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) females, the present study aimed to understand accurately how direct mutual interference can influence patch time allocation in this species. 3. The genetic variation in the behavioural mechanisms involved in the inter…

Protein actors sustaining arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis: underground artists break the silence

2013

'Summary' 26 I. 'Casting for a scenario' 26 II. 'Nominees for a preliminary role' 27 III. 'Nominees for a leading role' 32 IV. 'Future artists' 37   'Acknowledgements' 38   References 38 Summary The roots of most land plants can enter a relationship with soil-borne fungi belonging to the phylum Glomeromycota. This symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi belongs to the so-called biotrophic interactions, involving the intracellular accommodation of a microorganism by a living plant cell without causing the death of the host. Although profiling technologies have generated an increasing depository of plant and fungal proteins eligible for sustaining AM accommodation and functioning, a …

The critical period of weed control in faba bean and chickpea in Mediterranean areas

2013

Weeds are often the major biological constraint to growing legume crops successfully, and an understanding of the critical period of weed control (CPWC) is important for developing environmentally sustainable weed management practices to prevent unacceptable yield loss. Therefore, we carried out two field experiments to identify the CPWC for two grain legume crops traditionally grown in Mediterranean areas: chickpea and faba bean. The experiments were conducted at two sites both located in the Sicilian inland (Italy). In chickpea, when weeds were left to compete with the crop for the whole cycle, the grain yield reduction was on average about 85% of the weed-free yield, whereas in faba bean…

RNA interference in Lepidoptera: an overview of successful and unsuccessful studies and implications for experimental design.

2011

International audience; Gene silencing through RNA interference (RNAi) has revolutionized the study of gene function, particularly in non-model insects. However, in Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) RNAi has many times proven to be difficult to achieve. Most of the negative results have been anecdotal and the positive experiments have not been collected in such a way that they are possible to analyze. In this review, we have collected detailed data from more than 150 experiments including all to date published and many unpublished experiments. Despite a large variation in the data, trends that are found are that RNAi is particularly successful in the family Saturniidae and in genes involv…

Arabidopsis SGS2 and SGS3 genes are required for posttranscriptional gene silencing and natural virus resistance.

2000

AbstractPosttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants results from the degradation of mRNAs and shows phenomenological similarities with quelling in fungi and RNAi in animals. Here, we report the isolation of sgs2 and sgs3 Arabidopsis mutants impaired in PTGS. We establish a mechanistic link between PTGS, quelling, and RNAi since the Arabidopsis SGS2 protein is similar to an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase like N. crassa QDE-1, controlling quelling, and C. elegans EGO-1, controlling RNAi. In contrast, SGS3 shows no significant similarity with any known or putative protein, thus defining a specific step of PTGS in plants. Both sgs2 and sgs3 mutants show enhanced susceptibility to virus, d…

Key carabid species drive spring weed seed predation of Viola arvensis

2020

Habitat assessment by parasitoids: consequences for population distribution

2006

International audience; The ideal free distribution (IFD) is a stable distribution of competitors among resource patches. For equally efficient competitors, equilibrium is reached when the per capita rate of intake equalizes across patches. The seminal version of the IFD assumes omniscience, but populations may still converge toward the equilibrium provided that competitors 1) accurately assess their environment by learning and 2) remain for an optimal (rate-maximizing) time on each encountered patch. In the companion article (Tentelier C, Desouhant E, Fauvergue X. 2006. Habitat assessment by parasitoids: mechanisms for patch time allocation. Behav Ecol. Forthcoming), it is shown that the p…

Towards Intelligent IoT Networks: Reinforcement Learning for Reliable Backscatter Communications

2019

Backscatter communication is becoming the focal point of research for low-powered Internet of things (IoT). However, the intelligence aspect of the backscattering devices is not well-defined. Since future IoT networks are going to be a formidable platform of intelligent sensing devices operating in a self-organizing manner, it is necessary to incorporate learning capabilities in backscatter devices. Motivated by this objective, this paper aims to employ reinforcement learning for improving the performance of backscatter networks. In particular, a multicluster backscatter communication model is developed for shortrange information sharing. This is followed by a power allocation algorithm usi…

Effect of resource availability on evolution of virulence and competition in an environmentally transmitted pathogen

2018

Understanding ecological and epidemiological factors driving pathogen evolution in contemporary time scales is a major challenge in modern health management. Pathogens that replicate outside the hosts are subject to selection imposed by ambient environmental conditions. Increased nutrient levels could increase pathogen virulence by pre-adapting for efficient use of resources upon contact to a nutrient rich host or by favouring transmission of fast-growing virulent strains. We measured changes in virulence and competition in Flavobacterium columnare, a bacterial pathogen of freshwater fish, under high and low nutrient levels. To test competition between strains in genotype mixtures, we devel…