Risk-sensitive decisions during nesting may increase maternal provisioning capacity in the subsocial shield bug Parastrachia japonensis

Abstract 1. Females of the monophagous shield bug Parastrachia japonensis Scott provision their nymph-containing nests with high-quality drupes of the single host tree, Schoepfia jasminodora , a resource that is poor and unstable, under an array of variable environmental constraints.
2. Although the number of drupes provisioned is correlated positively with enhanced nymphal development and survival, there is great variability in the number of drupes that females provide.
3. The ability to adjust behaviour and/or physiology, i.e. make risk-sensitive decisions, should be adaptive for organisms such as P. japonensis that are confronted with extreme variability in food availability and in the conditions under which they must forage. To assess whether females of this species use risk-sensitivity to improve their provisioning success, data on the parameters of provisioning activity obtained during a long-term field study were analysed. The relationships between variation in three female-controlled factors during nesting (nest site, active stage during the provisioning season, duration of provisioning activity) and the conditions of three environmental factors (drupe availability, intraspecific competition, weather) were examined. The relationships between all of these factors and provisioning capacity of females were investigated.
5. Nest site, intraspecific competition, and timing of provisioning activity only affected provisioning capacity when drupe availability was extremely good or bad or weather was particularly bad.
6. The findings suggest that females use risk-sensitive decisions to increase provisioning capacity under extreme conditions of low and high drupe availability and inclement weather.     

New anthracenedione derivatives: Interaction with DNA and biological effects

Two anthracenedione derivatives [1 - (ω - diethylaminopropylamido) - 4 - hydroxy - 9,10 - anthracenedione hydrochloride (I) and 1 - (ω - diethylamino-propylamido) - 2 - methoxy - 4 - hydroxy - 9,10 - anthracenedione hydrochloride (II)], having an electron-rich planar chromophore and an amino-substituted side chain, have been synthesized. Their binding ability to DNA was investigated by means of spectroscopic, equilibrium dialysis and fluorescence measurements. Their inhibition efficiency on nucleic acid synthesis was also evaluated both in mouse and human cells. Our results indicate that, in comparison with adriamycin, compound I shows a slightly weaker complexation ability to DNA, while compound II interacts with DNA at a substantially lower level. These data match quite well with the biological response on the inhibition of DNA and RNA synthesis exhibited by the above mentioned compounds; in fact compound I is slightly less efficient than adriamycin and about ten times more efficient than compound II. The close relationship between the results of physicochemical and biological studies is discussed.     

Multi-parent populations in crops: a toolbox integrating genomics and genetic mapping with breeding

Crop populations derived from experimental crosses enable the genetic dissection of complex traits and support modern plant breeding. Among these, multi-parent populations now play a central role. By mixing and recombining the genomes of multiple founders, multi-parent populations combine many commonly sought beneficial properties of genetic mapping populations. For example, they have high power and resolution for mapping quantitative trait loci, high genetic diversity and minimal population structure. Many multi-parent populations have been constructed in crop species, and their inbred germplasm and associated phenotypic and genotypic data serve as enduring resources. Their utility has grown from being a tool for mapping quantitative trait loci to a means of providing germplasm for breeding programmes. Genomics approaches, including de novo genome assemblies and gene annotations for the population founders, have allowed the imputation of rich sequence information into the descendent population, expanding the breadth of research and breeding applications of multi-parent populations. Here, we report recent successes from crop multi-parent populations in crops. We also propose an ideal genotypic, phenotypic and germplasm ‘package’ that multi-parent populations should feature to optimise their use as powerful community resources for crop research, development and breeding.Subject terms: Plant genetics, Plant breeding, Agricultural genetics, Quantitative trait

Over recent years, numerous multi-parent populations (MPPs) have been successfully developed in crops (Huang et al. 2015; Cockram and Mackay 2018). MPPs bring together key genomic, phenotypic and germplasm resources to form a platform for research and development. In this review, we examine three themes covering new developments in crop MPP research: (1) we survey the rapidly expanding variety of crop MPPs, explaining how differences in their design and construction affect their power and precision in mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL), on which we provide a brief primer. (2) We review the use of genomic technologies in MPPs, which have proven particularly suitable for gathering dense genomic information across large populations. We make general recommendations for collecting genotypic resources in MPPs. (3) We discuss successful applications of MPPs, particularly where they have been used for breeding and pre-breeding. This includes the identification of QTL, the application of genomic prediction to MPPs, and the direct use of MPP lines as germplasm for varietal release or pre-breeding. These recent developments have shown the potential of MPPs for crop improvement.     

Laminin synthesis by NK cells and modulation of its expression by TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate)

Natural killer (NK) cells have been suggested to play a major role in resistance against metastatic spread of tumors. This study was aimed at understanding whether laminin (LM), a component of the extracellular matrix involved in the mechanism of tumor invasion and cell interaction, is expressed by NK cells. The results indicate that NK cells can synthesize and display on the cell surface LM and that TPA can modulate its expression. Our findings suggest that the presence of LM on NK cells could be relevant in the control of tumor invasion by NK cells.     

Small animal irradiator dose distribution verification using radioluminescence imaging

The main objective of this work was the development of a novel 2D dosimetry approach for small animal external radiotherapy using radioluminescence imaging (RLI) with a commercial complementary metal oxide semiconductor detector. Measurements of RLI were performed on the small animal image‐guided platform SmART, RLI data were corrected for perspective distortion using Matlab. Four irradiation fields were tested and the planar 2D dose distributions and dose profiles were compared against dose calculations performed with a Monte Carlo based treatment planning system and gafchromic film. System linearity and RLI image noise against dose were also measured. The maximum difference between beam size measured with RLI and nominal beam size was less than 8% for all the tested beams. The image correction procedure was able to reduce perspective distortion. A novel RLI approach for quality assurance of a small animal irradiator was presented and tested. Results are in agreement with MC dose calculations and gafchromic film measurements.