Workers dominate male production in the neotropical bumblebee Bombus wilmattae (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Background

Cooperation and conflict in social insects are closely linked to the genetic structure of the colony. Kin selection theory predicts conflict over the production of males between the workers and the queen and between the workers themselves, depending on intra-colonial relatedness but also on other factors like colony efficiency, sex ratios, cost of worker reproduction and worker dominance behaviour. In most bumblebee (Bombus) species the queen wins this conflict and often dominates male production. However, most studies in bumblebees have been conducted with only a few selected, mostly single mated species from temperate climate regions. Here we study the genetic colony composition of the facultative polyandrous neotropical bumblebee Bombus wilmattae, to assess the outcome of the queen-worker conflict over male production and to detect potential worker policing.

Results

A total of 120 males from five colonies were genotyped with up to nine microsatellite markers to infer their parentage. Four of the five colonies were queen right at point of time of male sampling, while one had an uncertain queen status. The workers clearly dominated production of males with an average of 84.9% +/- 14.3% of males being worker sons. In the two doubly mated colonies 62.5% and 96.7% of the male offspring originated from workers and both patrilines participated in male production. Inferring the mother genotypes from the male offspring, between four to eight workers participated in the production of males.

Conclusions

In this study we show that the workers clearly win the queen-worker conflict over male production in B. wilmattae, which sets them apart from the temperate bumblebee species studied so far. Workers clearly dominated male production in the singly as well the doubly mated colonies, with up to eight workers producing male offspring in a single colony. Moreover no monopolization of reproduction by single workers occurred.     

A correlation between BCL-2 modifying factor,p53 and livin gene expressions in cancer colon patients

Accumulating evidence has revealed that livin gene and BCL-2 modifying factor (BMF) gene are closely associated with the initiation and progression of colon carcinoma by activating or suppressing multiple malignant processes. Those genes that can detect colon - cancer are a promising approach for cancer screening and diagnosis. This study aimed to evaluate correlation between livin, BMF and p53 genes expression in colon cancer tissues of patients included in the study, and their relationship with clinicopathological features and survival outcome in those patients. In this study, 50 pathologically diagnosed early cancer colon patients included and their tissue biopsy with 50 matched adjacent normal tissue, and 50 adenoma tissue specimens were analyzed for livin gene and BMF gene expressions using real time PCR. The relationship of those genes expressions with clinicopathological features, tumor markers, Time to Progression and overall survival for those patients were correlated in cancer colon group. In this study, there was a significant a reciprocal relationship between over expression of livin gene and down regulation of BMF and p53 genes in colon cancer cells. Livin mRNA was significantly higher, while BMF and p53 mRNA were significantly lower in colorectal cancer tissue compared to benign and normal colon tissue specimens (P < 0.001), however, this finding was absent between colon adenomas and normal mucosa. There was a significant association between up regulation of livin and down regulation of BMF and p53 expressions with more aggressive tumor (advanced TNM stage), rapid progression with metastasis and decreased overall survival in cancer colon patients, hence these genes can serve as significant prognostic markers of poor outcome in colon cancer patients. This work highlights the role of livin, BMF and p53 genes in colorectal tumorigenesis and the applicability of using those genes as a diagnostic and prognostic markers in patients with colon carcinoma and as a good target for cancer colon treatment in the future.     

Aspects of reproduction and their implications for the conservation of the endangered limpet,Patella ferruginea

Summary

The protandric limpet, Patella ferruginea G., is the most endangered marine species in the Western Mediterranean and is at serious risk of extinction. Nevertheless, its biology and ecology are little known. In the present work, several reproductive aspects are studied. Recruitment take place in June and the largest individuals are the most scarce. The sex ratio is slanted towards the largest sizes, and the species seems to show sex change at sizes from 60 mm upwards, although males can be observed up to 80 mm. There is no correlation between size of oocytes and shell length; however, the larger females contribute greatly to the reproductive event, with high fecundity and GSI values. The mean diameter of oocytes was observed to be 149.78 μm, whereas the heads of spermatozoa were 3.78 μm long. The results of the present study increase the maximum length for males by double that cited in previous literature and highlight the importance of strictly protecting females (i.e., most of the largest individuals, >60 mm), since their population percentage is very low, in order to develop adequate strategies to preserve the species.     

Metal tolerance in tissue cultures of anthoxanthum odoratum

Tissue cultures were initiated from one non-tolerant (S20) and two zinc and lead tolerant (T92 and T94) clones of Anthoxanthum odoratum. Growth of callus from the non-tolerant clone was reduced by the presence of zinc, lead, copper and nickel, whereas callus from the two tolerant clones showed no reduction of growth in the presence of zinc and lead but growth was reduced by copper and nickel. The specificity of metal tolerance shown by the parental material was maintained in the callus. Tolerant and non-tolerant callus accumulated similar amounts of zinc and lead.     

Cotton Leaf Curl Virus： Ionic Status of Leaves and Symptom Development

In the present study, the relationship between the nutritional status of leaves and the development of symptoms of cotton leaf curl virus （CLCuV） in two cotton （Gossypium hirsutum L.） cuItlvars （I.e. CIM-240 and S-12） was Investigated. The incidence of disease attack was found to be 100% In the S-12 cuItlvar and 16% in the CIM-240 cuItivar. Geminivirus particles in infected leaves were confirmed by transmission electron microscope examination of highly specific geminivirus coat protein antlsera-treated cell sap. The CLCuV Impaired the accumulation of different nutrients in both cuItivars. A marked decrease in the accumulation of Ca^2＋ and K^＋ was observed in infected leaves. However, the disease had no effect on leaf concentrations of Na^＋, N, and P. It was observed that the curling of leaf margins in CLCuV-Infected plants was associated with the leaf Ca^2＋ content; leaf curling was severe in plants with a significant reduction In Ca^2＋ content. Moreover, leaf K＆＋ content was found to be associated with resistance/susceptibility to CLCuV infection.     

Albumin depletion of human plasma also removes low abundance proteins including the cytokines

The use of proteomics for efficient, accurate, and complete analysis of clinical samples poses a variety of technical challenges. The presence of higher abundance proteins in the plasma, such as albumin, may mask the detection of lower abundance proteins such as the cytokines. Methods have been proposed to deplete the sample of these higher abundance proteins to facilitate detection of those with lower abundance. In this study, a commercially available albumin depletion kit was used to determine if removal of albumin would measurably reduce detection of lower abundance cytokine proteins in human plasma. The Montage Albumin Deplete Kit (Millipore) was used to deplete albumin from LPS-stimulated whole blood from 15 normal human donors. Albumin depletion was measured using the BCG reagent and SDS-PAGE, and cytokine recovery was determined by a microassay immunoassay that measures both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Average albumin depletion from the samples was 72%. However, several cytokines were also significantly reduced when the albumin was removed from the plasma. Additionally, there was a variable reduction in cytokine recovery from a known mixture of cytokines in a minimal amount of plasma that were loaded onto the columns. These data demonstrate that there may be a non-specific loss of cytokines following albumin depletion, which may confound subsequent proteomic analysis.     

Cotton Leaf Curl Virus: lonic Status of Leaves and Symptom Development

In the present study, the relationship between the nutritional status of leaves and the development of symptoms of cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) in two cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars (i.e. CIM-240 and S-12) was investigated. The incidence of disease attack was found to be 100% in the S-12 cultivar and 16% in the CIM-240 cultivar. Geminivirus particles in infected leaves were confirmed by transmission electron microscope examination of highly specific geminivirus coat protein antisera-treated cell sap. The CLCuV impaired the accumulation of different nutrients in both cultivars. A marked decrease in the accumulation of Ca2+ and K+ was observed in infected leaves. However, the disease had no effect on leaf concentrations of Na+, N, and P. It was observed that the curling of leaf margins in CLCuV-infected plants was associated with the leaf Ca2+ content; leaf curling was severe in plants with a significant reduction in Ca2+ content.Moreover, leaf K+ content was found to be associated with resistance/susceptibility to CLCuV infection.     

In vivo and in vitro management of Meloidogyne incognita (Tylenchida: Heteroderidae) using rhizosphere bacteria,Pseudomonas spp. and Serratia spp. compared with oxamyl

Biological control using rhizosphere bacteria, Pseudomonas spp. and Serratia spp. is a prospective alternative technique to overcome plant parasitic nematodes infection. So, the current study was conducted in vitro on five egg-masses, 100 free eggs and 100 infective juveniles (IJs) of Meloidogyne incognita as well as greenhouse treatments on Luffa aegyptiaca L. to evaluate the nematicidal potential of six strains belong to Pseudomonas spp. and Serratia spp. as compared to oxamyl.Results showed that the inhibitory effect and juvenile mortality varied according to bacteria species, strains and exposure time. All the tested bacteria significantly (P ≤ 0.05) inhibited egg hatching and increased juvenile mortality in vitro. After 3 days of treatment, Pseudomonas spp. were more effective against eggs (48.31to 55.15%) and IJs (20.98 to 25.30%) than Serratia spp. (44.55 to 49.75% with eggs) and (19.06 to 21.61% with IJs), respectively. In the pot experiment, Luffa aegyptiaca L. treated with Serratia spp. and Pseudomonas spp. displayed significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) levels of growth (as indicated by root length, fresh roots weight and fresh shoots weight) compared to control plants and significantly (P ≤ 0.05) suppressed galling (number of galls) and reproduction (as indicated by number of egg-masses on roots and number of eggs and juveniles in pot soil). Meanwhile, among the treated plants, Serratia spp. and Pseudomonas spp. gave the best results in shoot weight of pots infected by eggs of M. incognita than those infected with IJs as compared with positive control. While, oxamyl treatment gave the best results in pots infected by eggs and IJs.The lowest galling (gall index), number of eggs and juveniles in soil was observed in the treatment with mixture of Serratia spp. and Pseudomonas spp. as well as, enhanced growth of sponge gourd more than application each of them alone. Pots treated with oxamyl overwhelmed those treated with mixture of Serratia spp. and Pseudomonas spp.     

Bioreactor studies on the endophytic fungus Entrophospora infrequens for the production of an anticancer alkaloid camptothecin

Twigs (young and old) from Nothapodytes foetida growing in the Jammu and Mahabaleshwar regions in India were used for the isolation of 52 strains of endophytic fungi and were tested for their ability to produce the anticancer alkaloid camptothecin. One of the isolates from the inner bark tissue of the N. foetida plant growing in the Jammu region of J&K state, India, was found to produce detectable quantities of camptothecin and its derivatives when grown in a semi-synthetic liquid medium. Camptothecin was identified by physicochemical analysis and further confirmed by spectroscopic studies. No camptothecin was detected in zero time cultures or in uninoculated culture broth. The maximum yield of camptothecin was 0.575 +/- 0.031 mg/100 g of dry cell mass in 96 h in shake flasks, whereas 4.96 +/- 0.73 mg/100 g of dry mass was recorded in 48 h in a bioreactor.