Effects of chlorpyrifos on enzymatic systems of Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) adults

The control program of codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.) in the Río Negro and Neuquén Valley is intended to neonate larvae. However, adults may be subjected to sublethal pesticide concentrations generating stress which might enhance both mutation rates and activity of the detoxification system. This study assessed the exposure effects of chlorpyrifos on target enzyme and, both detoxifying and antioxidant systems of surviving adults from both a laboratory susceptible strain (LSS) and a field population (FP). The results showed that the FP was as susceptible to chlorpyrifos as the LSS and, both exhibited a similar chlorpyrifos‐inhibitory concentration 50 (IC₅₀) of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The FP displayed higher carboxylesterase (CarE) and 7‐ethoxycoumarine O‐deethylase (ECOD) activities than LSS. Both LSS and FP showed an increase on CarE activity after the exposure to low‐chlorpyrifos concentrations, followed by enzyme inhibition at higher concentrations. There were no significant differences neither in the activities of glutathione S‐transferases (GST), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) nor in the reduced glutathione (GSH) content between LSS and FP. Moreover, these enzymes were unaffected by chlorpyrifos. In conclusion, control adults from the FP exhibited higher CarE and ECOD activities than control adults from the LSS. AChE and CarE activities were the most affected by chlorpyrifos. Control strategies used for C. pomonella, such as rotations of insecticides with different modes of action, will probably delay the evolution of insecticide resistance in FPs from the study area.     

Reduced proportions of natural killer T cells are present in the relatives of lupus patients and are associated with autoimmunity

Introduction

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a genetically complex disease. Currently, the precise allelic polymorphisms associated with this condition remain largely unidentified. In part this reflects the fact that multiple genes, each having a relatively minor effect, act in concert to produce disease. Given this complexity, analysis of subclinical phenotypes may aid in the identification of susceptibility alleles. Here, we used flow cytometry to investigate whether some of the immune abnormalities that are seen in the peripheral blood lymphocyte population of lupus patients are seen in their first-degree relatives.

Methods

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from the subjects, stained with fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies to identify various cellular subsets, and analyzed by flow cytometry.

Results

We found reduced proportions of natural killer (NK)T cells among 367 first-degree relatives of lupus patients as compared with 102 control individuals. There were also slightly increased proportions of memory B and T cells, suggesting increased chronic low-grade activation of the immune system in first-degree relatives. However, only the deficiency of NKT cells was associated with a positive anti-nuclear antibody test and clinical autoimmune disease in family members. There was a significant association between mean parental, sibling, and proband values for the proportion of NKT cells, suggesting that this is a heritable trait.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that analysis of cellular phenotypes may enhance the ability to detect subclinical lupus and that genetically determined altered immunoregulation by NKT cells predisposes first-degree relatives of lupus patients to the development of autoimmunity.     

A European focus on proteomics

A report on the First International Symposium of the Austrian Proteomics Platform, Seefeld, Austria, 26-29 January 2004.     

Mechanisms of resistance to DDT and pyrethroids in Patagonian populations of Simulium blackflies

Mixed populations of the pest blackflies Simulium bonaerense Coscarón & Wygodzinsky, S. wolffhuegeli (Enderlein) and S. nigristrigatum Wygodzinsky & Coscarón (Diptera: Simuliidae) are highly resistant to DDT and pyrethroids in the Neuquén Valley, a fruit-growing area of northern Patagonia, Argentina. As these insecticides have not been used for blackfly control, resistance is attributed to exposure to agricultural insecticides. Pre-treatment with the synergist piperonyl butoxide (PBO) reduced both DDT and fenvalerate resistance, indicating that resistance was partly due to monooxygenase inhibition. Pre-treatment with the synergist tribufos to inhibit esterases slightly increased fenvalerate toxicity in the resistant population. Even so, biochemical studies indicated almost three-fold higher esterase activity in the resistant population, compared to the susceptible. Starch gel electrophoresis confirmed higher frequency and staining intensity of esterase electromorphs in the resistant population. Incomplete synergism against metabolic resistance indicates additional involvement of a non-metabolic resistance mechanism, such as target site insensitivity, assumed to be kdr-like in this case. Glutathione S-transferase activities were low and inconsistent, indicating no role in Simulium resistance. Knowing these spectra of insecticide activity and resistance mechanisms facilitates the choice of more effective products for Simulium control and permits better coordination with agrochemical operations.     

Integrative analysis of multiple gene expression profiles with quality-adjusted effect size models

Background  

With the explosion of microarray studies, an enormous amount of data is being produced. Systematic integration of gene expression data from different sources increases statistical power of detecting differentially expressed genes and allows assessment of heterogeneity. The challenge, however, is in designing and implementing efficient analytic methodologies for combination of data generated by different research groups.     

The mycobiota of the sand fly Phlebotomus perniciosus: Involvement of yeast symbionts in uric acid metabolism

The knowledge of the fungal mycobiota of arthropods, including the vectors of human and animal diseases, is still limited. Here, the mycobiota associated with the sand fly Phlebotomus perniciosus, the main vector of leishmaniasis in the western Mediterranean area, by a culture‐dependent approach (microbiological analyses and sequencing of the 26S rRNA gene), internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA amplicon‐based next‐generation sequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH), and genome sequencing of the dominant yeast species was investigated. The dominant species was Meyerozyma guilliermondii, known for its biotechnological applications. The focus was on this yeast and its prevalence in adults, pupae and larvae of reared sand flies (overall prevalence: 57.5%) and of field‐collected individuals (overall prevalence: 9%) was investigated. Using whole‐mount FISH and microscopic examination, it was further showed that M. guilliermondii colonizes the midgut of females, males and larvae and the distal part of Malpighian tubules of female sand flies, suggesting a possible role in urate degradation. Finally, the sequencing and analysis of the genome of M. guilliermondii allowed predicting the complete uric acid degradation pathway, suggesting that the yeast could contribute to the removal of the excess of nitrogenous wastes after the blood meal of the insect host.     

A novel mechanism of phenotypic heterogeneity demonstrated by the effect of a polymorphism on a pathogenic mutation in the PRNP (prion protein gene)

Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a subacute dementing illness originally described in 1986. The phenotypic characteristics of this disease include progressive untreatable insomnia, dysautonomia, endocrine and motor disorders, preferential hypometabolism in the thalamus as determined by PET scanning, and selective thalamic atrophy. These characteristics readily distinguish FFI from other previously described neurodegenerative conditions. Recently, FFI was shown to be linked to a mutation in the prion protein gene (PRNP) at codon 178, which results in the substitution of asparagine for aspartic acid. As such, FFI represents the most recent addition to the growing family of prion protein-related diseases. The mutation that results in FFI had previously been linked to a subtype of familial Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (178^Asn CJD). The genotypic basis for the difference between FFI and 178^AsnCJD lies in a polymorphism at codon 129 of the mutant prion protein gene: 129^Met 178^Asn results in FFI, 129^Val 178^Asn in CJD. The finding that the combination of a polymorphism and a single pathogenic mutation result in two distinct conditions represents a singnificant advance in our understanding of phenotypic variability.     

Effects of impounding coastal salt marsh for mosquito control on microcrustacean populations

Populations of microcrustaceans were studied for 24 months in two New Jersey high salt marsh impoundments, and in three separate 14 month studies of high salt marsh pools in northeastern Massachusetts.In Massachusetts high marsh pools, dominants were all harpacticoids: Amphiascus pallidus, Cletocamptus deitersi, Harpacticus chelifer, Mesochra lilljeborgii, Metis jousseaumei, and Nitokra lacustris. The cyclopoids Apocyclops spartinus, Halicyclops sp. and the calanoid Eurytemora affinis were also numerically important. While there was extensive overlap, dominants varied to some extent from year to year and among the three studies. The New Jersey saline impoundment fauna showed extreme dominance (low equitability) in the first summer, somewhat less in the second and much less in the third. Total microcrustacean densities also declined each year. Variation in Apocyclops spartinus densities was the major factor, as this species comprised in three consecutive summers, 95, 85 and 51% of the total zooplankton at one station. Diversity as species richness was highest in a New Jersey freshwater impoundment which compared well with South Carolina salt marsh values. Impoundment diversity which was very low, and comparable with that found in a New Jersey Spartina patens marsh, increased each year becoming progressively more like that found in the Massachusetts pools.Vegetation changed significantly in the New Jersey impoundments over the three years. Spartina patens died-off in the first summer, while S. alterniflora gradually declined each year. A visit to the site twenty years later showed all emergent vegetation to be gone. These successional zooplankton and vegetation changes, together with the possible consequences of interrupted marsh-bay exchanges should be considered before undertaking any coastal mosquito control involving permanent flooding.     

A Rapid lmmunostaining Method for Frozen Sections

A simple and rapid one-step method for demonstrating immunohistochemical markers (leukocyte common antigen, cytokeratin, etc.) is described, which can help define the nature of poorly differentiated neoplasms for diagnosis using frozen section. Microwave irradiation was used to speed immunohistochemical analysis using “Enhanced Polymer One-step Staining” (EPOS) reagents on cryostat sections from a variety of pathologic samples. Reproducible results were obtained using EPOS reagents for leukocyte common antigen and cytokeratin. The overall procedure takes less than 10 min and can be completed during surgery.