Screening of Brazilian Bacillus sphaericus strains for high toxicity against Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti

Abstract:  In this work, 246 Bacillus sphaericus strains were evaluated against Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus larvae to select the most effective ones to be used as the basis of a national product. All strains were isolated from different regions of Brazil and they are stored in a Bacillus spp. collection at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology. The selected strains were characterized by biochemical and molecular methods. Based on selective bioassays, 87 strains were identified as toxic to one or both target species. All of these strains contain genes that encode the 42, 51 kDa proteins that constitute the binary toxin and the 100 kDa Mtx1 toxin. All toxic strains presented a very high LC₅₀ against A. aegypti , so, a product based on any of these B. sphaericus strains would not be recommended for use in programmes to control A. aegypti . S201 had highest activity against C. quinquefasciatus , presenting the lowest LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ in bioassays.     

Elimination of protein-food ingested into the crop, and failure of ovarian development in female mosquitoes, Culex pipiens pollens.

ABSTRACT. Sugar-free egg albumin solution was 'force fed' to female C.pipiens pallens Coquillett, by first stimulating their labella briefly with 1.0 M sucrose, so that they then took the protein meal into the crop. This protein-food was nevertheless easily eliminated by the females, totally undigested, so that it failed to activate oogenesis, just as sugared albumin fails to do so also.     

Silent,generic and plant kairomone sensitive odorant receptors from the Southern house mosquito

The Southern house mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus has the largest repertoire of odorant receptors (ORs) of all mosquitoes and dipteran species whose genomes have been sequenced to date. Previously, we have identified and de-orphanized two ORs expressed in female antennae, CquiOR2 and CquiOR10, which are sensitive to oviposition attractants. In view of a new nomenclature for the Culex genome (VectorBase) we renamed these ORs as CquiOR21 (formerly CquiOR10) and CquiOR121 (CquiOR2). In addition, we selected ORs from six different phylogenetic groups for deorphanization. We cloned four of them by using cDNA from female antennae as a template. Attempts to clone CquiOR87 and CquiOR110 were unsuccessful either because they are pseudogenes or are not expressed in adult female antennae, the main olfactory tissue. By contrast, CquiOR1, CquiOR44, CquiOR73, and CquiOR161 were highly expressed in female antennae. To de-orphanize these ORs, we employed the Xenopus oocyte recording system. CquiORx–CquiOrco-expressed oocytes were challenged with a panel of 90 compounds, including known oviposition attractants, human and vertebrate host odorants, plant kairomones, and naturally occurring repellents. While CquiOR161 did not respond to any test compound in two different laboratories, CquiOR1 showed the features of a generic OR, with strong responses to 1-octen-3-ol and other ligands. CquiOR44 and CquiOR73 showed preference to plant-derived terpenoids and phenolic compounds, respectively. While fenchone was the best ligand for the former, 3,5-dimethylphenol elicited the strongest responses in the latter. The newly de-orphanized ORs may be involved in reception of plant kairomones and/or natural repellents.     

银沙槐内生放线菌抗菌活性及其与内生细菌的拮抗关系

从荒漠濒危植物银沙槐根部分离到内生放线菌12株和内生细菌31株.以大肠杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和枯草芽孢杆菌为指示菌对内生放线菌进行了抗菌活性筛选.结果表明：3株放线菌对3种指示菌均有抑制作用,2株完全无抑菌作用.采用菌块抑制法分析内生放线菌对来自同一植物内生细菌的抑制效果,44.9%的组合出现抑制现象,最大抑菌圈直径为28.5mm,最小者仅8.25 mm,主要抑制对象是革兰氏阴性菌和芽孢菌;55.1%的组合无抑制现象.说明内生菌的相互作用具有多样性.     

长江口棘头梅童鱼食物组成和摄食习性的季节变

棘头梅童鱼是长江口水域的常见小型经济鱼类,具有一定的捕捞价值.为了解长江口棘头梅童鱼食物组成和摄食习性的季节变化,本研究利用胃含物分析法对2013年11月—2014年8月在长江口水域捕获的棘头梅童鱼样本进行了分析.结果表明：长江口棘头梅童鱼全年摄食的饵料生物有8目30种,其中虾类(游泳亚目)是主要饵料生物,相对重要性指数百分比(IRI%)为38.5,优势指数(Ip)为79.1;其次为糠虾目和磷虾目.全年饵料生物中的主要优势种类为葛氏长臂虾、安氏白虾、脊尾白虾、长额刺糠虾、短额刺糠虾、光背节鞭水虱和中华哲水蚤等.饵料生物优势种存在季节差异,春季和夏季的主要优势种均为葛氏长臂虾、安氏白虾和短额刺糠虾,秋季主要优势种为长额刺糠虾、短额刺糠虾和脊尾白虾,冬季主要优势种为葛氏长臂虾、中华哲水蚤和中华假磷虾.长江口棘头梅童鱼全年空胃率为10.4%,冬季最高,秋季最低;全年平均胃饱满系数为0.6%,冬季最低,春季最高,摄食习性存在季节变化.     

影响库蚊幼虫摄食鱼腥藻的因素

在实验室条件下,致乏库蚊幼虫可大量摄食鱼腥藻,并能消化利用,完成生活史。鱼腥藻在蚊幼虫肠道中滞留时间约6h,酵母约5h,鱼腥藻比酵母稍难消化。对比幼虫孵化至化蛹周期,饲喂鱼腥藻为194h,而饲喂酵母则为142h,饲喂鱼腥藻比饲喂酵母延缓了蚊幼虫期52h。致乏库蚊幼虫摄食鱼腥藻的适宜条件为:pH7-8,温度25-30℃,藻液浓度愈高,摄食越多。随着蚊幼虫的生长,摄食量递增。     

拟南芥花粉管与柱头互作的乙醇代谢耦合模型

依据拟南芥公开的代谢途径数据库,构建了基于酶与酶的拟南芥代谢网络模型。利用拟南芥花粉管与柱头互作过程中的转录组数据,挖掘出花粉管与柱头在互作过程中的特异表达基因,进一步将特异表达的酶基因匹配到已构建的拟南芥代谢网络中,根据网络拓扑模型中的节点(酶)之间的共表达关联性,最后给出了一个拟南芥花粉管与柱头互作的乙醇代谢耦合模型。