Antenna morphology and sensilla microstructure of the male and female scarab beetle,Lepidiota mansueta Burmeister (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Studies on Lepidiota mansueta Burmeister were conducted to describe and compare the external morphology of the antenna and its sensilla of male and females. Distinct variations were observed in antennal segments between the sexes with males possessing longer scape, pedicel, flagellum and lamellar club segments. Variation was also seen in the antennal sensilla, with males possessing three different types of sensilla while the females possessed seven types of sensilla. Sensilla trichodea (TRS), sensilla placodea (PLAS) type I and sensilla placodea (PLAS) type II were common in both sexes while sensilla chaetica (CHS), sensilla auricilica (AUS) type I, sensilla auricilica (AUS) type II and sensilla auricilica (AUS) type III were found only in females.     

Preliminary screening for water stress tolerance and genetic diversity in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars from Sudan

The present study was carried out to screen 12 Sudanese wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars for their response to water stress at early germination stages and to characterize sources that could be used in breeding programs to develop wheat cultivars with better adaptation to water stress. The effect of osmotic stress on the early growing stages was evaluated, in vitro, using five concentrations of Polyethylene glycol. Genetic diversity was studied using 24 allele specific simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers associated with drought tolerance in wheat. The presence of the drought genes and their chromosomal location was also investigated by isolating and sequencing the dehydration responsive element binding protein (dreb1). Results of the in vitro screening among the cultivars showed significant differences in the root length, shoot length and root/shoot ratio. The 24 drought specific SSR markers used revealed 50 alleles, with an average of 2.0 alleles per locus. Of these, 60% were polymorphic with polymorphism information content (PIC) ranging from 0.16 to 0.89. A dendrogram based on the similarity values generated from the SSR data revealed three major clusters. Of the five specific primers for dreb1 genes, only primer P25F/PR produced amplification products with the expected fragment sizes. Sequencing and BLAST results of the cloned fragments excised from the gels showed 99% homology to the dreb1 gene on chromosome 3A.     

Genome-scale modeling of human metabolism – a systems biology approach

Altered metabolism is linked to the appearance of various human diseases and a better understanding of disease-associated metabolic changes may lead to the identification of novel prognostic biomarkers and the development of new therapies. Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) have been employed for studying human metabolism in a systematic manner, as well as for understanding complex human diseases. In the past decade, such metabolic models – one of the fundamental aspects of systems biology – have started contributing to the understanding of the mechanistic relationship between genotype and phenotype. In this review, we focus on the construction of the Human Metabolic Reaction database, the generation of healthy cell type- and cancer-specific GEMs using different procedures, and the potential applications of these developments in the study of human metabolism and in the identification of metabolic changes associated with various disorders. We further examine how in silico genome-scale reconstructions can be employed to simulate metabolic flux distributions and how high-throughput omics data can be analyzed in a context-dependent fashion. Insights yielded from this mechanistic modeling approach can be used for identifying new therapeutic agents and drug targets as well as for the discovery of novel biomarkers. Finally, recent advancements in genome-scale modeling and the future challenge of developing a model of whole-body metabolism are presented. The emergent contribution of GEMs to personalized and translational medicine is also discussed.     

Investigating neural efficiency of elite karate athletes during a mental arithmetic task using EEG

Neural efficiency is proposed as one of the neural mechanisms underlying elite athletic performances. Previous sports studies examined neural efficiency using tasks that involve motor functions. In this study we investigate the extent of neural efficiency beyond motor tasks by using a mental subtraction task. A group of elite karate athletes are compared to a matched group of non-athletes. Electroencephalogram is used to measure cognitive dynamics during resting and increased mental workload periods. Mainly posterior alpha band power of the karate players was found to be higher than control subjects under both tasks. Moreover, event related synchronization/desynchronization has been computed to investigate the neural efficiency hypothesis among subjects. Finally, this study is the first study to examine neural efficiency related to a cognitive task, not a motor task, in elite karate players using ERD/ERS analysis. The results suggest that the effect of neural efficiency in the brain is global rather than local and thus might be contributing to the elite athletic performances. Also the results are in line with the neural efficiency hypothesis tested for motor performance studies.