Biotec Visions 2010, January–February

News: Plastics from E. coli – Looking again (carefully) at thalidomide – Don't kiss the chimps – Imaging microbial interactions – Probiotics prevent intestinal diseases – Drug resistance in cancer stem cell populations – Triple tag technique turns up tight and loose complexes – It pays to have an immune mother – DNA hybridization mechanisms – Chip-based breast tissue analysis – Nutrient support for engineered tissue – Nano-spheres support axon recovery – Bop-a-hepcidin Environmental News: Blueprint for molecular basis of global warming – Environmental biosensors – Predicting the fate of underground carbon Journal Highlights: Focus on Biochips – Neglected tropical diseases – New online portal Opinion: Outwitting evolution: We should pay as much for strategy as technology Most Read Industry News: Life Sciences Industry – Collaboration on forensics – New center for Systems Biology Tips and tricks: Melting your DNA Special Broadcast: Watch 50 years of B&B on YouTube Writing Tips: Get the figures right – Figure or Table? – Figure legend Algae and plants in brief: Plasmid-based methods in mosses – Antibody production in algal chloroplasts – Polysaccharides from foam cultures Test your knowledge: Do you recognize this? WIREs Author Spotlight: Toxicity of Nanomaterials     

BiotecVisions 2010, March–April

News: Attraction of adipose tissue – Swine flu vaccine from insectcells – MicroRNA in multiple sclerosis – Proteomic detection of adenoma – Systematic engineering for arsenic removal – Bacterial cellulose to make blood vessels – The recipe for primordial soup: acid or bitter, hot or warm – Increased O₂ in hollow fiber bioreactors – Eye stem cells to treat immune disease – Super-strong collagen – Designing functional metalloproteins – Higher oil content in tobacco leaves – Alternative metabolic routes – New compass point blot helps find hTERT factors – Extracellular signals – doomed cells in the bacterial community Journal Highlights : Oils and fats for the chemical industry – Molecular Nutrition Reviews New from the Encyclopedia of Life Sciences: EM analysis of protein structure Opinion: Ethics body asks: How green are new biofuels? Most Cited in 2009 Tips and tricks: Storing bacterial strains Award: Garden Award 2010 Funding News: Euro 400.000 for new malaria drug – Cardiovascular biomarker research – Support to cholera surveillance Industry News: Human genome sequencing projects – Fighting Huntington's disease – Multiple sclerosis collaboration Book Highlights: AIDS and tuberculosis – Perinatal stem cells Test your knowledge: Do you recognize this? Meeting Preview: The 9th Annual Biological Production Forum 2010     

School for Skinks: Can Conditioned Taste Aversion Enable Bluetongue Lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) to Avoid Toxic Cane Toads (Rhinella marina) as Prey?

The invasion of cane toads (Rhinella marina) through Australia imperils native predators that are killed if they consume these toxic anurans. The magnitude of impact depends upon the predators’ capacity for aversion learning: toad impact is lower if predators can learn not to attack toads. In laboratory trials, we assessed whether bluetongue lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) – a species under severe threat from toads – are capable of learned taste aversion and whether we can facilitate that learning by exposing lizards to toad tissue combined with a nausea‐inducing chemical (lithium chloride). Captive bluetongues rapidly learned to avoid the ‘unpalatable’ food. Taste aversion also developed (albeit less strongly) in response to meals of minced cane toad alone. Our data suggest that taste aversion learning may help bluetongue lizards survive the onslaught of cane toads, but that many encounters will be fatal because the toxin content of toads is so high relative to lizard tolerance of those toxins. Thus, baiting with nausea‐inducing (but non‐lethal) toad products might provide a feasible management option to reduce the impact of cane toad invasion on these native predators.     

Biotech in Turkey: Paper watch

Turkish material for recombinant protein production Growth hormone production in Bacillus subtilis Network analysis in yeast signaling Fixed proteins on gold surfaces New software for microarray analysis Antibody purification on nanospheres CLEAN – Environmental news from Turkey     

An elemental and stable isotope assessment of water strider feeding ecology and lipid dynamics: synthesis of laboratory and field studies

1. Despite the ubiquity and abundance of water striders (Hemiptera: Gerridae) in temperate streams and rivers and their potential usefulness as sentinels in contaminant studies, little is known about their feeding ecology and lipid dynamics. 2. In this study we used stable isotopes of carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) and elemental carbon to nitrogen ratios (C/N) to assess dietary habits and lipid content, respectively, for water striders. 3. To determine diet‐tissue fractionation factors, nymphs of the most common species in New Brunswick, Canada, Aquarius remigis were reared in the laboratory for 73 days and exhibited rapid isotopic turnover in response to a switch in diet (C half‐life = 1.5 days, N half‐life = 7.8 days). Their lipid content increased towards the end of the growing season and resulted in lower δ¹³C values. Diet‐tissue fractionation factors were established after correction of δ¹³C data for the confounding effect of de novo lipid synthesis (strider δ¹³C_adj– diet δ¹³C_adj = 0.1‰, strider δ¹⁵N – diet δ¹⁵N = 2.7‰). 4. Water striders from the majority of 45 stream sites (83%) in New Brunswick had less than 50% contribution of aquatic carbon to their diets but showed a gradual increase in the contribution of this carbon source to their diet with increasing stream size. 5. These data indicate that striders exhibit a strong connection to terrestrial carbon sources, making them important users of energy subsidies to streams from the surrounding catchment. However, this dependence on terrestrial organic matter may limit their utility as indicators of contamination of aquatic systems by heavy metals and other pollutants.     

Introduction: The Politics of Order in Contemporary Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT

This collection of articles seeks to demonstrate that the concept of order – the intensive and extensive coordination of human action across space and time – is useful for answering some of the most pressing theoretical and practical questions in contemporary Papua New Guinea (PNG) today. Building on existing work in this field [Benda-Beckmann, K., and F. Pirie. 2007. “Introduction.” In Order and Disorder: Anthropological Perspectives, 1–15. New York: Berghahn Books] in this special issue we ask: How do people create enduring, stable, and routinised life in contemporary Melanesia today? We position our work as the next step in a growing movement to study contemporary institutions in PNG as order-making projects, rather than attempting to divide them into legitimate projects like ‘government’ and false or ineffective ones like ‘cargo cults’.     

Microbial control of Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) with Beauveria bassiana strain GHA: field applications

The effects of Beauveria bassiana strain GHA, applied as BotaniGard ES, on newly colonised and well-established populations of emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) were evaluated in the field using foliar and trunk sprays in Michigan in 2004–2005. Results from field trials at a newly colonised white ash site showed a 41% reduction in A. planipennis population in fungal-treated trees compared with that of untreated controls. In addition, fungal infection was also found in 20% of the larval population within 14 days of incubation under laboratory conditions. At a site with a well-established Agrilus planipennis population in green ash trees, larval density was reduced by 47% for trees treated with the fungus compared with that of the controls; 21% of larvae from the current generation were found infected after 14 days of laboratory incubation. Fungal-treated green ash trees also produced fewer adults emerging in the next generation, with a 63% reduction in adult density observed in treated trees compared to that of controls. As a result, fungal-treated trees sustained 42% less crown dieback than did controls. A. planipennis larval density was negatively correlated with trunk height above the ground, and positively correlated with log diameter. Results of laboratory leaf bioassays on A. planipennis adults showed that fungal conidia persisted well under field conditions, with mortality of 78–100% at 7 – days post – exposure for leaves collected between 2 and 264 h after application. Potential strategies for using B. bassiana strain GHA for managing A. planipennis are discussed.     

Parasitoid phorid flies of leaf‐cutting ants are negatively affected by loss of forest cover

Habitat fragmentation can have a high impact on parasitoid–ant interactions. Phorid flies are among the most important groups of natural enemies of leaf‐cutting ants. We studied the effects of loss in forest cover upon phorids of the leaf‐cutting ant Acromyrmex nigerSmith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini) in a fragmented area in the Southeastern Atlantic Forest, Brazil. We sampled 10 forest fragments, five large (>75 ha) and five small (<20 ha), as well as three areas of continuous forest (>1 000 ha). We marked 1–5 colonies of A. niger in the interior of each forest location. At each nest, we collected all of the phorids in interaction with the worker ants for a period of 15 min. We then collected ca. 200 worker ants, which we maintained in the laboratory for rearing phorids from them. We identified three phorid genera – Apocephalus, Myrmosicarius, and Neodohrniphora – which we both observed in the field and reared in the laboratory. The abundance and parasitism percentage were significantly greater in continuous forest sites than in forest fragments, whereas there were no significant differences between fragments of different sizes. These results provide further evidence for the effects of habitat size on the phorid‐Acromyrmex system in a tropical rain forest, based on the abundance of parasitoids both as adults in the field and as reared immature phorids in the laboratory.     

Against Anonymity

In ‘New Threats to Academic Freedom’ 1 1 Minerva, F. . New Threats to Academic Freedom . Bioethics 2013 ; DOI: 10.1111/bioe.12066 .
Francesca Minerva argues that anonymity for the authors of controversial articles is a prerequisite for academic freedom in the Internet age. This argument draws its intellectual and emotional power from the author's account of the reaction to the on‐line publication of ‘ After‐birth abortion: why should the baby live?’ 2 2 Giubilini, A. & Minerva, F. . After‐birth Abortion. Why Should the Baby Live? J Med Ethics 2013 ; 39 : 261 – 263 .
– an article that provoked cascades of hostile postings and e‐mails. Reflecting on these events, Minerva proposes that publishers should offer the authors of controversial articles the option of publishing their articles anonymously. This response reviews the history of anonymous publication and concludes that its reintroduction in the Internet era would recreate problems similar to those that led print journals to abandon the practice: corruption of scholarly discourse by invective and hate speech, masked conflicts of interest, and a diminution of editorial accountability. It also contends that Minerva misreads the intent of the hostile e‐mails provoked by ‘After‐birth abortion,’ and that ethicists who publish controversial articles should take responsibility by dialoguing with their critics – even those whose critiques are emotionally charged and hostile.     

New insights into tateid gastropods and their radiation on Fiji based on anatomical and molecular methods (Caenogastropoda: Truncatelloidea)

The South Pacific archipelago of Fiji is characterized by a predominantly Indo‐Malesian flora and fauna. We provide a first systematic study on Fiji's tateid gastropods – previously classified as Hydrobiidae – describing 18 new species, combining morphological, anatomical, and molecular data. The molecular phylogeny of tateid gastropods based on 16S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) showed that the species from Fiji were closer related to New Zealand than to Australian or New Caledonian taxa, which is rather exceptional. Performing an ancestral range reconstruction we inferred the colonization history across the two main islands. The radiation had its origin in southern Viti Levu, with a subsequent dispersal over the western and central parts of the island. The chronology of the radiation over eastern Viti Levu and Vanua Levu remained unresolved because of incomplete lineage sorting, a phenomenon typical for young radiations. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London     

Procellariiform remains and a new species from the latest Eocene of Antarctica

New remains from the La Meseta (Thanetian – Lutetian) and Submeseta (Lutetian – Rupelian) formations (Seymour Island, Antarctica) are tentatively assigned to Diomedeidae and Procellariidae (Procellariiformes). Based on the fossil record and several analyses that attempt to explain the evolutionary patterns of Diomedeidae, Notoleptos giglii gen. et sp. nov., based on a small tarsometatarsus, was an ancestral form that lived in Antarctica before the rise of large-sized albatrosses. Subsequent environmental cooling since the late Oligocene could have selected against small body size, to the detriment of small-sized albatrosses like Notoleptos, thus favoring large body size and setting the stage for the development of the specialized albatross flight.

ZooBank ID (LSID): urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C8D9C862-1536-4EA3-8A76-70903AA75639     

Assessing the risks of releasing a sap-sucking lace bug, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gargaphia decoris</Emphasis>, against the invasive tree <Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum mauritianum</Emphasis> in New Zealand

The South American tree Solanum mauritianum Scopoli (Solanaceae), a major environmental weed in South Africa and New Zealand, has been targeted for biological control, with releases of agents restricted to South Africa. The leaf-sucking lace bug, Gargaphia decoris Drake (Tingidae), so far the only agent released, has become established in South Africa with recent reports of severe damage at a few field sites. To evaluate the insect’s suitability for release in New Zealand, host-specificity testing was carried out in South Africa in laboratory and open-field trials, with selected cultivated and native species of Solanum from New Zealand. No-choice tests confirmed the results of earlier trials that none of the three native New Zealand Solanum species are acceptable as hosts. Although the cultivated Solanum muricatum Aiton and S. quitoense Lam. also proved unacceptable as hosts, some cultivars of S. melongena L. (eggplant) supported feeding, development and oviposition in the no-choice tests. Although eggplant was routinely accepted under laboratory no-choice conditions in this and previous studies, observations in the native and introduced range of G. decoris, open-field trials and risk assessment based on multiple measures of insect performance indicate that the insect has a host range restricted to S. mauritianum. These results strongly support the proposed release of G. decoris in New Zealand because risks to non-target native and cultivated Solanum species appear to be negligible. An application for permission to release G. decoris in New Zealand will be submitted to the regulatory authority. Handling editor: John Scott.     

Rinvenimenti floristici in Piemonte

Abstract

New discoveries concerning the Piedmont Flora. – The Author's research on the Piedmont Flora – corried on from 1969 up to 1974 – led to the discovery of new stations of the following entities, that are to be considered of special interest for the Flora in Piedmont. Here they are: Cyperus strigosus L.; Scirpus atrovirens Willd.; Platanus orientalis L.; Ulmus levis Pall.; Rumex paluster Sm. (= Rumex maritimus L. var. limosus (Thuill.); Mollugo verticillata L.; Cardamine flexuosa Wth.; Diplotaxis erucoides DC.; Spiraea japonica L.; Physocarpus opulifolius (L.); Potentilla supina L.; Acer saccarinus L.; Impatiens glandulifera Royle; Euphorbia prostrata Ait.; Euphorbia humifusa W.; Sicyos angulatus L.; Cyclamen hederifolium Aiton; Erigeron karwinskyanus DC. var. mucronalus DC.; Artemisia annua L.; Siegesbekia orientalis L.; Bidens frondosa L.; Ambrosia trifida L.

On the ground of the present contribution it results that some species – considered as rare or at least not very numerous in Piedmont – are probably more frequent than it was known in the past.

The Author's assumption that some of them – seen along the streams – are more widely distributed should proverright.     

Next issue (June 2007): Molecular Recognition Technologies

Edited by Professor Alois Jungbauer, Vienna, Austria Highlight articles: – High-throughput protein purification under denaturating conditions – Efficient solubilization of inclusion bodies – Affinity precipitation an option for early capture in bioprocessing – IgG-Fc ligands derived from a soluble peptide library – Recombinant glycerol dehydratase from Klebsiella pneumoniae – In vivo glyco-engineered antibody with improved lytic potential – Plasmid adsorption to anion-exchange matrices – Biotransformation and chromatography ... and much more: Read the next issue of BTJ!     

BiotecVisions 2010, May–June

News: Ethanol biofuels from orange peels – Targeting leukaemia's gene addiction – Pea-derived solar cells – HIV is a kick in the head – Nano-scale DNA reader – Membrane in black – Cheese improves the immune response of elderly – Synthetic proteins built from standard parts – Therapeutic proteins produced in algae – Biosensor detects 100 mycoplasma cells – Protecting maggots against bacteria – Advanced biofuels from microbes – Fluorescent bacterial uptake – Two disparate stem cell states – Brachypodium genome sequenced Encyclopedia of Life Sciences: Nuclear transfer for cell lines WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology: Nanoparticle detection of respiratory infection Journal Highlights: Biocatalysis – Synthetic Biology In the news: Nanobiotech to detect cancer Most Read Industry News: Biomarker assays for personalized medicine – Bioplastic industry defies economic crisis – SDS-PAGE monitoring of mAB Awards: BTJ Editors elected members of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Meeting highlight Writing tips: Figure preparation made simple – Some useful tutorials on the web Book Highlights: Molecular Biotechnology – Bacterial Signaling – Yeast Test your knowledge: Do you recognize this? WIREs Authors Spotlight: Nanotechnology and orthopedics     

New Zealand endemic open-habitat specialist,the Black-fronted Tern (Chlidonias albostriatus), experienced population expansion during Pleistocene glaciation and recent decline

Understanding how climatic and environmental changes, as well as human activities, induce changes in the distribution and population size of avian species refines our ability to predict future impacts on threatened species. Using multilocus genetic data, we show that the population of a threatened New Zealand endemic open-habitat specialist, the Black-fronted Tern Chlidonias albostriatus – in contrast to forest specialists – expanded during the last glacial period. The population has decreased subsequently despite the availability of extensive open habitat after human arrival to New Zealand. We conclude that population changes for open habitat specialists such as Black-fronted Terns in pre-human New Zealand were habitat-dependent, similar to Northern Hemisphere cold-adapted species, whereas post-human settlement populations were constrained by predators independent of habitat availability, similar to other island endemic species.     

Development and comparison of trunk traps to monitor movement of Halyomorpha halys nymphs on host trees

Halyomorpha halys Stål (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) has recently become a major orchard pest in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA. Large H. halys populations can develop on wild tree hosts adjacent to orchards, posing an ongoing threat to fruit. Adults and nymphs feed on tree fruit, causing economic injury. Understanding the seasonal patterns of nymphal host use among trees at the orchard‐woodland interface may aid the development of integrated pest management strategies for this pest. In laboratory and field experiments, modified versions of published trap designs – ‘Circle’, ‘Hanula’, ‘M&M’ (after Moeed & Meads) traps – were compared for their effectiveness for capturing H. halys nymphs walking up and down tree trunks. In the laboratory, second instars were released at the top and bottom of ailanthus (tree of heaven), Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle (Simaroubaceae), logs and captures were recorded after 24 h. Circle and M&M traps, respectively, were most effective for capturing nymphs walking up and down. In the field, traps were deployed on ailanthus trees next to apple orchards and captures were recorded weekly from 24 July to 11 September 2013. As in the laboratory, Circle and M&M traps captured the greatest number of upward‐ and downward‐walking nymphs. Hanula traps were least effective in both experiments. In the field, 88% of total captures were of nymphs walking up trees. This was at least partially explained by behavioral assays in the laboratory demonstrating that nymphs exhibited negative gravitaxis and positive phototaxis. Stage‐specific trends in captures of instars walking up during field sampling were observed. These results suggest that trunk traps can be used to address important ecological questions about seasonal patterns of host use by H. halys nymphs.     

Next issue (April 2007): Milk Processing

Edited by Prof. Knut Heller, Karlsruhe, Germany. Highlight articles: – Bacteriophages in dairy products: Pros and cons – Liberation of bioactive peptides from milk proteins – Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus for yoghurt with mild taste – Prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides production using Lactobacillus reuteri – Lactobacillus kefiri biotransformation of pentoxifylline – Modification of milk proteins by microbial transglutaminase ... and much more: Read the next issue of BTJ!     

BTJ future topical issues

Next issue: Biotech in Korea The May 2008 issue of BTJ is devoted to Biotech in Korea. Featuring articles on: – Recent progress in microbial genome projects of Korea – Bio-Vision 2016: the 2nd Base Plan for biotechnology promotion in Korea – Strategies for systems-level metabolic engineering – Cell engineering strategies for improved therapeutic protein production in CHO cells – Development of bioadhesives from marine mussels – Dynamical analysis of the calcium signaling pathway in cardiac myocytes – Systems biology of heart and calcium signaling networks – Non-labeled detection of waterborne pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum – Injectable and sustained delivery of human growth hormone: A new method – Exploring sequence space: Screening for ω-aminotransferases Many of these exciting articles are already available online under "Early View"! A sneak preview of other content can be found under “News”. http://www.biotechnology-journal.com     

Intercropping impacts the host location behaviour and population growth of aphids

Increasing intrafield plant diversity has been shown to regulate pest populations in various agroecosystems. Among the suggested mechanisms for this bottom-up pest control, the disruptive crop hypothesis states that herbivores' abilities to locate and colonize their host plants are reduced by the presence of non-host plants. Under laboratory conditions, we evaluated how intercropping wheat and legumes modifies the behaviour of apterous cereal aphids, Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), in terms of host plant location and population growth. We compared two intercropping systems – soft winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L. (Poaceae), associated with winter pea, Pisum sativum L., or with white clover, Trifolium repens L. (both Fabaceae) – and sole stands of soft winter wheat. Aphids needed more time to locate their wheat host plant and then spent less time on wheat when it was intercropped with clover. At the population level, and accounting for host plant biomass, only intercropping wheat with clover significantly reduced aphid densities on wheat, as this was particularly disruptive to S. avenae behaviour and population growth. Our laboratory study points out that the species used as non-host plants and their density are important parameters that should be taken into account in field studies on intercropping systems.