Efficacy of biopesticides on spotted wing drosophila,Drosophila suzukii Matsumura in fall red raspberries

Drosophila suzukii Matsumura is a significant pest of soft‐skinned fruit. Larvae of D. suzukii develop within the fruit making it unmarketable as fresh berries and increasing the risk of rejection by processors. We evaluated selected biopesticides for control of D. suzukii in fall red raspberries, Rubus idaeus L. The trial results highlight a small number of biopesticides with the potential to reduce infestation of Drosophila larvae in raspberries. In addition to the standard biopesticide spinosad, we found that sabadilla alkaloids and Chromobacterium subtsugae both reduced the number of Drosophila larvae in raspberry fruit. Treatments that included corn syrup as a feeding stimulant showed no significant difference in their infestation levels compared to treatments without the syrup. In the final week of the 5‐week trial, treatments with rotations of either spinosad/C. subtsugae or spinosad/sabadilla alkaloids had a 67% and 57% reduction in infestation when compared to untreated raspberries. Treatments of spinosad alone on a 7 day rotation and C. subtsugae alone on a 3–5 day rotation both had a 62% and 61% reduction in larval infestation when compared to untreated raspberries. Third instar larvae, the largest and most damaging, were significantly reduced in plots treated with spinosad only, a rotation of spinosad/sabadilla alkaloids and the rotation of spinosad/C. subtsugae with corn syrup added when compared to untreated plots. This suggests that either of these biopesticides could be used as effective rotation partners along with spinosad for control of D. suzukii. Our results highlight that biopesticides can provide significant reduction in this devastating pest when used alone or in combination, providing options to support resistance management.     

End-of-Life Infrastructure Economics for "Clean Vehicles" in the United States

Rising fuel prices and concern over emissions are prompting automakers and legislators to introduce and evaluate "clean vehicles" throughout the United States. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are now on the roads, electric vehicles (EVs) have been test marketed, and niche vehicles such as high-fuel-economy microcars are being considered for introduction. As these vehicles proliferate and mature, they will eventually reach their end of life (EOL). In the United States, an extensive recycling infrastructure exists for conventional, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Its primary constituents are the disassembler and the shredder. These industries, as well as battery recyclers, are expected to play integral roles in the EOL processing of clean vehicles.
A model of the automobile-recycling infrastructure and goal programming techniques are used to assess the materials streams and process profitabilities for several different clean vehicles. Two-seat EVs with lead-acid or NiMH batteries are compared with two- and four-seat HEVs and microcars. Changes to the nonferrous content in the vehicle bodies are explored and compared for the effect on processing profit-ability. Despite limitations associated with the linearity of goal programming techniques, application of this tool can still provide informative first-order results. Results indicate that although these clean vehicles may not garner the same profit levels as conventional ICE vehicles, they are profitable to process if there are markets for parts and if there are sufficient quantities of nonferrous materials.     

Brominated lipids identify lipid binding sites on the surface of the reaction center from Rhodobacter sphaeroides

This study describes the use of brominated phospholipids to distinguish between lipid and detergent binding sites on the surface of a typical alpha-helical membrane protein. Reaction centers isolated from Rhodobacter sphaeroides were cocrystallized with added brominated phospholipids. X-ray structural analysis of these crystals has revealed the presence of two lipid binding sites from the characteristic strong X-ray scattering from the bromine atoms. These results demonstrate the usefulness of this approach to mapping lipid binding sites at the surface of membrane proteins.     

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase expression during apoptosis and proliferation of rat ventral prostate.

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a multifunctional enzyme known to play a critical role in neuronal apoptosis. We undertook the current studies to determine whether GAPDH also plays a role in prostate epithelial cell apoptosis in response to androgen deprivation. To do so, we analyzed GAPDH staining by immunohistochemistry during castration-induced involution and androgen-induced regeneration of rat ventral prostate. We found that GAPDH was undetectable in secretory epithelial cells at baseline and that staining did not increase in the epithelium during the period of peak apoptosis from 1 to 3 days after castration. However, GAPDH levels did increase within nuclei of some basal epithelial cells 5 days after castration and within the cytoplasm of all secretory epithelial cells 7 days after castration. GAPDH was also abundant within the cytoplasm of secretory epithelial cells during the period of maximal cell proliferation from 2 to 3 days after androgen replacement and was clearly apparent within nuclei of some epithelial cells 4 days after androgen replacement. Our studies suggest that GAPDH plays multiple roles during prostate epithelial cell apoptosis and proliferation.     

In Swedish families with hereditary prostate cancer, linkage to the HPC1 locus on chromosome 1q24-25 is restricted to families with early-onset prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer clusters in some families, and an estimated 5%-10% of all cases are estimated to result from inheritance of prostate cancer-susceptibility genes. We previously reported evidence of linkage to the 1q24-25 region (HPC1) in 91 North American and Swedish families each with multiple cases of prostate cancer (Smith et al. 1996). In the present report we analyze 40 (12 original and 28 newly identified) Swedish families with hereditary prostate cancer (HPC) that, on the basis of 40 markers spanning a 25-cM interval within 1q24-25, have evidence of linkage. In the complete set of families, a maximum two-point LOD score of 1.10 was observed at D1S413 (at a recombination fraction [theta] of.1), with a maximum NPL (nonparametric linkage) Z score of 1.64 at D1S202 (P=.05). The evidence of linkage to this region originated almost exclusively from the subset of 12 early-onset (age <65 years) families, which yielded a maximum LOD score of 2.38 at D1S413 (straight theta=0) and an NPL Z score of 1.95 at D1S422 (P=.03). Estimates from heterogeneity tests suggest that, within Sweden, as many as 50% of early-onset families had evidence of linkage to the HPC1 region. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of linkage to HPC1 in a subset of families with prostate cancer, particularly those with an early age at diagnosis.     

Amiloride does not alter NaCl avoidance in Fischer-344 rats

Fischer-344 (F-344) rats differ from other common rat strains in that they fail to show any preference for NaCl at any concentration in two- bottle preference tests. Because 100 microM amiloride partially blocks the NaCl-evoked chorda tympani (CT) response in electrophysiological studies, we tested NaCl preference (0.068-0.273 M) in F-344 rats with and without 100 microM amiloride solution as the solvent. A third group was tested with unadulterated NaCl solutions following CT transection. Amiloride had no significant effect on the NaCl preference-aversion function, whereas CT transection significantly reduced NaCl avoidance. These results suggest that the amiloride-sensitive component of the NaCl response is not necessary for F-344 rats to display avoidance of NaCl, but the entire CT input is.      

Genetic structure of cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis cingulata) populations across managed,unmanaged, and natural habitats

The cherry fruit fly (CFF), Rhagoletis cingulata Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae: Trypetini), is endemic to eastern North America and Mexico, where its primary native host is black cherry [Prunus serotina Ehrh. (Rosaceae)]. Cherry fruit fly is also a major economic pest of the fruit of cultivated sweet (Prunus avium L.) and tart (Prunus cerasus L.) cherries. Adult CFF that attack wild black cherry and introduced, domesticated cherries in commercial and abandoned orchards are active at different times of the summer, potentially generating allochronic isolation that could genetically differentiate native from sweet and tart CFF populations. Here, we test for host‐related genetic differences among CFF populations in Michigan attacking cherries in managed, unmanaged, and native habitats by scoring flies for 10 microsatellite loci. Little evidence for genetic differentiation was found across the three habitats or between the northern and southern Michigan CFF populations surveyed in the study. Local gene flow between native black cherry, commercial, and abandoned orchards may therefore be sufficient to overcome seasonal differences in adult CFF activity and prevent differentiation for microsatellites not directly associated with (tightly linked to) genes affecting eclosion time. The results do not support the existence of host‐associated races in CFF and imply that flies attacking native, managed, and unmanaged cherries should be considered to represent a single population for pest management purposes.     

Common sequence variants of the macrophage scavenger receptor 1 gene are associated with prostate cancer risk

Rare germline mutations of macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1) gene were reported to be associated with prostate cancer risk in families with hereditary prostate cancer (HPC) and in patients with non-HPC (Xu et al. 2002). To further evaluate the role of MSR1 in prostate cancer susceptibility, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, we studied five common variants of MSR1 in 301 patients with non-HPC who underwent prostate cancer treatment and in 250 control subjects who participated in prostate cancer-screening programs and had normal digital rectal examination and PSA levels (<4 ng/ml). Significantly different allele frequencies between case subjects and control subjects were observed for each of the five variants (P value range.01-.04). Haplotype analyses provided consistent findings, with a significant difference in the haplotype frequencies from a global score test (P=.01). Because the haplotype that is associated with the increased risk for prostate cancer did not harbor any of the known rare mutations, it appears that the observed association of common variants and prostate cancer risk are independent of the effect of the known rare mutations. These results consistently suggest that MSR1 may play an important role in prostate carcinogenesis.     

Canopy thinning,not agricultural history,determines early responses of wild bees to longleaf pine savanna restoration

Longleaf pine savannas are highly threatened, fire‐maintained ecosystems unique to the southeastern United States. Fire suppression and conversion to agriculture have strongly affected this ecosystem, altering overstory canopies, understory plant communities, and animal populations. Tree thinning to reinstate open canopies can benefit understory plant diversity, but effects on animal communities are less well understood. Moreover, agricultural land‐use legacies can have long‐lasting impacts on plant communities, but their effects on animal communities either alone or through interactions with restoration are unclear. Resolving these impacts is important due to the conservation potential of fire‐suppressed and post‐agricultural longleaf savannas. We evaluated how historical agricultural land use and canopy thinning affect the diversity and abundance of wild bees in longleaf pine savannas. We employed a replicated, large‐scale factorial block experiment in South Carolina, where canopy thinning was applied to longleaf pine savannas that were either post‐agricultural or remnant (no agricultural history). Bees were sampled using elevated bee bowls. In the second growing season after restoration, thinned plots supported a greater bee abundance and bee community richness. Additionally, restored plots had altered wild bee community composition when compared to unthinned plots, indicating that reduction of canopy cover by the thinning treatment best predicted wild bee diversity and composition. Conversely, we found little evidence for differences between sites with or without historical agricultural land use. Some abundant Lasioglossum species were the most sensitive to habitat changes. Our results highlight how restoration practices that reduce canopy cover in fire‐suppressed savannas can have rapid benefits for wild bee communities.     

Evaluation of organic insecticides for management of spotted‐wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) in berry crops

Spotted‐wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), is an invasive pest affecting fruit production in many regions of the world. Insecticides are the primary tactic for controlling D. suzukii in organic as well as conventional production systems. Organic growers have a greater challenge because fewer insecticides are approved for use in organic agriculture. The most effective organically approved product is spinosad, but alternatives are needed because of label restrictions limiting the number of applications per year, toxicity to beneficial arthropods and the risk of developing resistance. We evaluated several organically approved insecticides against D. suzukii in laboratory assays and field trials conducted on organic blueberry and raspberry farms. Spinosad was consistently the most effective insecticide, but a few other insecticides such as azadirachtin + pyrethrins, Chromobacterium subtsugae and sabadilla alkaloids showed moderate activity. None of the treatments had long residual activity. Mortality started to decline by 3 days after treatment, and by 5 days after application, the treatments were not different from the controls. These products may be useful in rotation programmes, necessary for reducing reliance on spinosad and mitigating resistance. Cultural and biological control approaches are needed in fruit production for D. suzukii management, but insecticides will likely continue to be the dominant management tactic while these other approaches are being optimized and adopted.