Why some species cannot colonise restored habitats? The effects of seed and microsite availability

Restoration of calcareous grasslands was promoted as a conservation strategy to reduce the risks imposed by habitat loss and fragmentation. Restoration already provided promising results for several taxa, however some specialist species still fail at colonising restored habitats. We aimed at explaining this lack of colonisation success for three calcareous grasslands specialist species in southern Belgium: Pulsatilla vulgaris; Trifolium montanum; and, Veronica prostrata. We studied: (i) germination in control and outdoor conditions (cold, heat, smoke and litter effects); (ii) in situ seedling emergence patterns (effects of seed addition and germination microsites availability). The three species were able to germinate in Petri dishes in the absence of treatment. Cold enhanced the germination of V. prostrata. Fire-related treatments (heat shock and smoke exposure) did not enhance germination and were deleterious to V. prostrata. Litter cover improved P. vulgaris emergence in outdoor containers, but had a negative effect on V. prostrata. In the field, V. prostrata did not emerge. T. montanum seedlings were observed in the reference grasslands when seeds were added, but not in the restored grasslands. P. vulgaris emerged in the reference grasslands, and to a lower degree in the restored grasslands. The combination of seed addition and microsites availability for seed germination resulted in enhanced seedling emergence for P. vulgaris. Our results suggest that seed and microsite availability can be limiting factors for site colonisation, but the combination of both is likely much more limiting. Lower seedling emergence in restored than in reference grasslands suggests a lower habitat quality in restored grasslands.     

In Vivo Study of Spherical Gold Nanoparticles: Inflammatory Effects and Distribution in Mice

Objectives

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of 21 nm have been previously well characterized in vitro for their capacity to target macrophages via active uptake. However, the short-term impact of such AuNPs on physiological systems, in particular resident macrophages located in fat tissue in vivo, is largely unknown. This project investigated the distribution, organ toxicity and changes in inflammatory cytokines within the adipose tissue after mice were exposed to AuNPs.

Methods

Male C57BL/6 mice were injected intraperitoneally (IP) with a single dose of AuNPs (7.85 μg AuNPs/g). Body weight and energy intake were recorded daily. Tissues were collected at 1 h, 24 h and 72 h post-injection to test for organ toxicity. AuNP distribution was examined using electron microscopy. Proinflammatory cytokine expression and macrophage number within the abdominal fat pad were determined using real-time PCR.

Results

At 72 hours post AuNP injection, daily energy intake and body weight were found to be similar between Control and AuNP treated mice. However, fat mass was significantly smaller in AuNP-treated mice. Following IP injection, AuNPs rapidly accumulated within the abdominal fat tissue and some were seen in the liver. A reduction in TNFα and IL-6 mRNA levels in the fat were observed from 1 h to 72 h post AuNP injection, with no observable changes in macrophage number. There was no detectable toxicity to vital organs (liver and kidney).

Conclusion

Our 21 nm spherical AuNPs caused no measurable organ or cell toxicity in mice, but were correlated with significant fat loss and inhibition of inflammatory effects. With the growing incidence of obesity and obesity-related diseases, our findings offer a new avenue for the potential development of gold nanoparticles as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of such disorders.     

MicroRNA signature in hepatocellular carcinoma patients: identification of potential markers

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in liver pathologies and they are potential biomarkers for diagnosis of liver diseases progression. Changes in miRNA sera expression can be used as non-invasive biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of the study was to identify the miRNome profiling of HCC and its diagnostic value in distinguishing HCC from healthy individuals. Expression profiles of miRNAs in serum samples of 20 HCC patients and 10 healthy controls were detected. Whole miRNome profiling was done using next generation sequencing. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of the deregulated miRNAs for discriminating HCC cases from healthy controls. MiRNA 142 was highly expressed in HCC (P value?=?0.023) while miRNAs 191, 22, and 126 were higher in the controls (P value?=?0.005, 0.034, 0.010 respectively). We have identified 5 novel miRNAs and they were highly expressed in HCC than controls. Analysis of ROC curve demonstrated that these deregulated miRNAs can be used as a reliable biomarker for detection of HCC with high diagnostic accuracy (AUC?=?0.93). We have detected a panel of serum miRNAs that can be used as a reliable noninvasive screening biomarker of HCC. The study recommends further research to shed light on a possible role of the newly discovered novel miRNAs in HCC pathogenesis.

     

Estimation of economic injury level of Aphis craccivora Koch. (Homoptera: Aphididae) infesting faba bean in new reclaimed area

This work was based on field screening procedure to detect the population density of Aphis craccivora for two successive seasons (2004–2005) and (2005–2006) to emphasis the relation between the economic injury level (EIL) and yield loss.

Results obtained showed that the equilibrium position (steady point) during the first and second season was 9.06 and 3.32 individuals/five leaflets, respectively, while the injury level was 3.4 and 1.16 individuals/leaflets. When the bean plant was subjected to three successive insecticidal applications during the early growing, season is sufficient to decrease the yield loss significantly (yield capacity 21.43 Ard./fed.) with comparing to untreated plant (14.98 Ard./fed.), while the plants exposure for one treatment was 17.36 Ard./fed. The EIL was 8.6 individual of aphids/plant depending on the market price of bean and control cost during the season.     

Biocontrol agents against the leafminer,Liriomyza trifolii in faba bean fields

Effect of entomopathogenic fungi formulations, Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii, Metarhizium anisopliae and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus, in controlling Liriomyza trifolii (Burg.) (Diptera: Agromyzidae), compared with botanical insecticide, Nimbecidine against L. trifolii was studied. Investigated compounds were applied twice at 15?days interval between sprays. The percentage reduction in larvae population and crop yield was estimated. Results showed that M. anisopliae was the most efficient compound among the other entomopathogenic fungi. Also, there were no significant differences between Nimbecidine and Bio-Magic (M. anisopliae). However, Nimbecidine and Bio-Magic caused 69.9 and 68.9% reduction in live larvae population after two applications. Also, Nimbecidine and Bio-Magic plots achieved 14.7 and 10.0?kg dry weight seeds/100 plants, respectively, compared to 5.7?kg dry weight seeds/100 plants in control plots. Nimbecidine and Bio-Magic were considered promising compounds in controlling L. trifolii and it could be exploitation in the integrated pest management programme of faba bean crop.     

Efficiency of Nimbecidine and certain entomopathogenic fungi formulations against bean aphids,Aphis craccivora in broad bean field

This study investigates the effect of certain entomopathogenic fungi formulations (Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii, Metarhizium anisopliae and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus) compared with a botanical insecticide, Nimbecidine against Aphis craccivora in broad bean field. Bio-Catch (Verticillium lecanii) was the most effective insecticide to achieve 73.3% reduction followed by Nimbecidine (67.7%), Bio-Magic (61.6%), Priority (50.3%) and the least effective was Bio- Power (Beauveria bassiana) which caused 45.5% reduction in individual aphid populations after two sprayings at 15 days interval between the first and the second sprayings. Bio-Catch and Nimbecidine had promise compounds in controlling Aphis craccivora in faba bean fields.     

Integration between Steinernema feltiae and some of environmental friendly compounds to control Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The efficacy of different concentrations of the commercial neem-based insecticide, Nimbicidine^® and the ecdysone agonist compound Methoxyfenozide (RH-2485), was evaluated against larvae of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). RH-2485 and Nimbicidine^® significantly (p?<?0.001) reduced adult longevity by 2.7 and 1.9 d at the higher concentrations tested, respectively, but no significant differences were observed at low concentration. The tested compounds strongly affected the reproduction of S. littoralis by producing a high percentage of sterility. Fecundity and fertility were significantly affected by both insecticides. No egg laying has been recorded with the higher concentration 0.5% of Nimbicidine^® and 0.1?ppm of RH-2485, while no significant (p?>?0.05) difference was noticed on total number of eggs laid by the female when lower concentration 0.0001?ppm of RH-2485 was applied in the same stage as compared to the control. In the second part of this study, the invasion rate of Steinernema feltiae was affected by the addition of both Nimbicidine and RH-2485 to the diet of experimental host. At higher concentration of both compounds, the invasion rate was decreased despite the infection rate, while the percentage of invading nematodes increase to 56.7% with the combination treatment indicating a considerable improvement in the efficacy of S. feltiae nematode applied in combination with the lower concentration of Nimbicidine^® over that of nematode alone. On the other hand, the invasion of S. feltiae to the insects that were fed on the diet with the addition of ecdyson compound was strongly decreased with increasing concentration of RH-2485 in host diet.     

Phenotype and Micro-array characterization of duplication 11q22.1-q25 and review of the literature

Partial duplication of 11q is related to several malformations like growth retardation, intellectual disability, hypoplasia of corpus callosum, short nose, palate defects, cardiac, urinary tract abnormalities and neural tube defects. We have studied the clinical and molecular characteristics of a patient with severe intellectual disabilities, dysmorphic features, congenital inguinal hernia and congenital cerebral malformation which is referred to as cytogenetic exploration. We have used FISH and array CGH analysis for a better understanding of the double chromosomic aberration involving a 7p microdeletion along with a partial duplication of 11q due to adjacent segregation of a paternal reciprocal translocation t(7;11)(p22;q21) revealed after banding analysis. The patient's karyotype formula was: 46,XY,der(7)t(7;11)(p22;q21)pat. FISH study confirmed these rearrangement and array CGH technique showed precisely the loss of at least 140 Kb on chromosome7p22.3pter and 33.4 Mb on chromosome11q22.1q25. Dysmorphic features, severe intellectual disability and brain malformations could result from the 11q22.1q25 trisomy. Our study provides an additional case for better understanding and delineating the partial duplication 11q.