Biometric variations and oxidative stress responses in juvenile Clarias gariepinus exposed to Termex®

The current study investigated the effects of termite insecticide, Termex® (imidacloprid 35.50% SC), on biometric variations and oxidative stress biomarkers in Clarias gariepinus. Fish were exposed to 4.00 and 6.00 µg l^–1 sublethal Termex® concentrations in 2017. The gill and liver tissues were sampled on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 and the results indicated that hepatosomatic index (HSI) decreased significantly when compared with the control on days 14, 21 and 28. The condition factor (CF) and viscera-somatic index (VSI) also decreased during the study period. The decrease was greater at 6.00 µg l^–1 Termex® concentration on days 21 and 28 for CF and days 14 to 28 for VSI, respectively. The lipid peroxidation (LPO) in both tissues was highest in the 6.00 µg l^?1 Termex® and increased with the duration. There was significant decrease (p < 0.05) in superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase values, but significant increase in catalase activity in both tissues. The values of glutathione reductase in both tissues were comparable to the control, except on days 21 and 28 in the liver. There was negative correlation between the LPO in tissues and the HSI, CF and VSI values. The use of Termex® in the environment should be monitored to safeguard the health of aquatic organisms.     

Phylogenetic utility of elongation factor-1 alpha in noctuoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera): the limits of synonymous substitution

To test its phylogenetic utility, nucleotide sequence variation in a 1,240-bp fragment of the elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1 alpha) gene was examined in 49 moth species representing the major groups of the superfamily Noctuoidea. Both parsimony and distance analyses supported the monophyly of nearly all groups for which there are clear morphological synapomorphies. Clades of subfamily rank and lower, probably mid-Tertiary and younger, were strongly supported. The third codon position contains 88% of variable sites, and approaches saturation at approximately 20% sequence divergence, possibly due to among-site rate heterogeneity and composition bias; higher divergences occur only in association with shifts in composition. Surprisingly, the few nonsynonymous changes appear no more phylogenetically reliable than synonymous changes. Signal strength for basal divergences is weak and fails to improve with character weighting; thus, dense taxon sampling is probably needed for strong inference from EF-1 alpha regarding deeper splits in Noctuoidea (probably early Tertiary). EF-1 alpha synonymous changes show promise for phylogeny reconstruction within Noctuidae and other groups of Tertiary age.      

Molecular phylogeny of the major arthropod groups indicates polyphyly of crustaceans and a new hypothesis for the origin of hexapods

A phylogeny of the arthropods was inferred from analyses of amino acid sequences derived from the nuclear genes encoding elongation factor-1 alpha and the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II using maximum- parsimony, neighbor-joining, and maximum-likelihood methods. Analyses of elongation factor-1 alpha from 17 arthropods and 4 outgroup taxa recovered many arthropod clades supported by previous morphological studies, including Diplopoda, Myriapoda, Insecta, Hexapoda, Branchiopoda (Crustacea), Araneae, Tetrapulmonata, Arachnida, Chelicerata, and Malacostraca (Crustacea). However, counter to previous studies, elongation factor-1 alpha placed Malacostraca as sister group to the other arthropods. Branchiopod crustaceans were found to be more closely related to hexapods and myriapods than to malacostracan crustaceans. Sequences for RNA polymerase II were obtained from 11 arthropod taxa and were analyzed separately and in combination with elongation factor-1 alpha. Results from these analyses were concordant with those derived from elongation factor-1 alpha alone and provided support for a Hexapoda/Branchiopoda clade, thus arguing against the monophyly of the traditionally defined Atelocerata (Hexapoda + Myriapoda).      

Fungal degradation of lipophilic extractives in eucalyptus globulus wood

Solid-state fermentation of eucalypt wood with several fungal strains was investigated as a possible biological pretreatment for decreasing the content of compounds responsible for pitch deposition during Cl2-free manufacture of paper pulp. First, different pitch deposits were characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry (MS). The chemical species identified arose from lipophilic wood extractives that survived the pulping and bleaching processes. Second, a detailed GC-MS analysis of the lipophilic fraction after fungal treatment of wood was carried out, and different degradation patterns were observed. The results showed that some basidiomycetes that decreased the lipophilic fraction also released significant amounts of polar extractives, which were identified by thermochemolysis as originating from lignin depolymerization. Therefore, the abilities of fungi to control pitch should be evaluated after analysis of compounds involved in deposit formation and not simply by estimating the decrease in the total extractive content. In this way, Phlebia radiata, Funalia trogii, Bjerkandera adusta, and Poria subvermispora strains were identified as the most promising organisms for pitch biocontrol, since they degraded 75 to 100% of both free and esterified sterols, as well as other lipophilic components of the eucalypt wood extractives. Ophiostoma piliferum, a fungus used commercially for pitch control, hydrolyzed the sterol esters and triglycerides, but it did not appear to be suitable for eucalypt wood treatment because it increased the content of free sitosterol, a major compound in pitch deposits.     

Interaction of neuronal nitric-oxide synthase with alpha1-syntrophin in rat brain

Neuronal nitric-oxide synthase (nNOS) has a PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1 (PDZ) domain that can interact with multiple proteins. nNOS has been known to interact with PSD-95 and a related protein, PSD-93, in brain and with alpha1-syntrophin in skeletal muscle in mammals. In this study, we have purified an nNOS-interacting protein from bovine brain using an affinity column made of Sepharose conjugated with glutathione S-transferase-rat nNOS fusion protein and identified it as alpha1-syntrophin by microsequencing. Immunostaining of primary cultures of rat embryonic brain neuronal cells with antibodies against these proteins showed that nNOS and alpha1-syntrophin were colocalized in neuronal cell bodies and neurites. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that the nNOS- and alpha1-syntrophin-like immunoreactive substances were highly expressed in the rat hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and paraventricular nucleus. In the SCN, nNOS- and alpha1-syntrophin-like immunoreactive substances were colocalized in the same neurons as detected by confocal microscopy. These results indicate that nNOS in brain interacts with alpha1-syntrophin in specific neurons of the SCN and paraventricular nucleus and that this interaction might play a physiological role in functions of these neurons.     

Chronic PYY3-36 treatment promotes fat oxidation and ameliorates insulin resistance in C57BL6 mice

PYY(3-36) is a gut-derived hormone acting on hypothalamic nuclei to inhibit food intake. We recently showed that PYY(3-36) acutely reinforces insulin action on glucose disposal in mice. We aimed to evaluate effects of PYY(3-36) on energy metabolism and the impact of chronic PYY(3-36) treatment on insulin sensitivity. Mice received a single injection of PYY(3-36) or were injected once daily for 7 days, and energy metabolism was subsequently measured in a metabolic cage. Furthermore, the effects of chronic PYY(3-36) administration (continuous and intermittent) on glucose turnover were determined during a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. PYY(3-36) inhibited cumulative food intake for 30 min of refeeding after an overnight fast (0.29 +/- 0.04 vs. 0.56 +/- 0.12 g, P = 0.036) in an acute setting, but not after 7 days of daily dosing. Body weight, total energy expenditure, and physical activity were not affected by PYY(3-36). However, it significantly decreased the respiratory quotient. Both continuous and intermittent PYY(3-36) treatment significantly enhanced insulin-mediated whole body glucose disposal compared with vehicle treatment (81.2 +/- 6.2 vs. 77.1 +/- 5.2 vs. 63.4 +/- 5.5 micromol.min(-1).kg(-1), respectively). In particular, PYY(3-36) treatment increased glucose uptake in adipose tissue, whereas its impact on glucose disposal in muscle did not attain statistical significance. PYY(3-36) treatment shifts the balance of fuel use in favor of fatty acids and enhances insulin sensitivity in mice, where it particularly promotes insulin-mediated glucose disposal. Notably, these metabolic effects of PYY(3-36) remain unabated after chronic administration, in contrast to its anorexic effects.     

Zika,contraception and the non‐identity problem

The 2016 outbreak of the Zika arbovirus was associated with large numbers of cases of the newly‐recognised Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS). This novel teratogenic epidemic raises significant ethical and practical issues. Many of these arise from strategies used to avoid cases of CZS, with contraception in particular being one proposed strategy that is atypical in epidemic control. Using contraception to reduce the burden of CZS has an ethical complication: interventions that impact the timing of conception alter which people will exist in the future. This so‐called ‘non‐identity problem’ potentially has significant social justice implications for evaluating contraception, that may affect our prioritisation of interventions to tackle Zika. This paper combines ethical analysis of the non‐identity problem with empirical data from a novel survey about the general public's moral intuitions. The ethical analysis examines different perspectives on the non‐identity problem, and their implications for using contraception in response to Zika. The empirical section reports the results of an online survey of 93 members of the US general public exploring their intuitions about the non‐identity problem in the context of the Zika epidemic. Respondents indicated a general preference for a person‐affecting intervention (mosquito control) over an impersonal intervention (contraception). However, their responses did not appear to be strongly influenced by the non‐identity problem. Despite its potential philosophical significance, we conclude from both theoretical considerations and analysis of the attitudes of the community that the non‐identity problem should not affect how we prioritise contraception relative to other interventions to avoid CZS.