Parasitoid vibrations as potential releasing stimulus of evasive behaviour in a leafminer

Abstract. The aim of this study was to characterize the vibratory signals produced by the parasitoid Sympiesis sericeicornis Nees (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) while foraging on apple leaves infested by one of its hosts, the spotted tentiform leafminer Phyllonorycter malella (Ger.) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae).This leafminer changes its behaviour as a function of the parasitoid's behaviour to escape parasitization.We propose that the leafminer uses vibrations triggered by the parasitoid to detect the presence of its enemy.We measured vibrations produced by a foraging parasitoid on a mine with a laser vibrometer.By recording concurrently the behaviour of the parasitoid on video, vibrations could be assigned to particular behaviours.Subsequently, vibrations were characterized by their dominant frequencies and intensities.The behaviours Landing and Take-off both produced strong impact-like vibrations characterized by an initial irregular phase during which frequencies up to 25 kHz occurred followed by a slow decaying regular phase.Vibrations elicited by Moving, Standing and Probing showed no clear temporal pattern.During Probing , dominant frequencies of up to 5.6 kHz were observed frequently at intensities well above the background noise (>10 dB).During Moving and Standing , vibrations were more scarce and of lower frequencies and intensities.Due to their impact-like nature, vibrations produced by Landing and Take-off are probably not specific to the parasitoid.Vibrations produced by Moving and Standing are difficult to detect and not reliable because of their non-specificity.Therefore, only Probing provides a reliable and detectable source of information for the host.The vibrations elicited during Probing could account for the evasive behaviour that is observed in this and other leafminers.     

Transgenic Brassica campestris Plants Expressing the gfp Gene

A protocol has been worked out for efficient regeneration and genetic transformation of summer rape (Brassica campestris L. var. oleifera). Cotyledons of the 5-day-old seedlings were transformed with Agrobacterium tumifaciens strain AGL cells comprising a binary vector with a selectable neomycin phosphotransferase II gene and a reporter gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP). Explants were cultured on a regeneration MS medium supplemented with ABA, and transformants were selected on the same medium (minus ABA and plus 70 mM AgNO₃ and 15 mg/l kanamycin). The frequency of shoot regeneration on explant petioles was 30–40%. Transgenic plants were identified by GFP fluorescence and by polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting analysis. The transformation efficiency was as high as 75% of the total number of regenerated shoots.     

Biological activity of chalone-like proteoglycans during ontogeny

A chalone-like proteoglycan was isolated from the liver of 2 and 24 month old cattle and Wistar rats which inhibited mitoses in the liver cells of C57BL mice starting from 5-6 days after birth. The effect of this proteoglycan was tissue but not species specific. We failed to isolate this proteoglycan from the liver of newborn rats, thus suggesting that either this substance is not produced by the cells of newborn animals or is produced in insignificant quantities. The proteoglycan isolated from the liver of the old rats, unlike that from the liver of 2 month old rats, was not effective in the same doses and this suggests changes in its chemical composition.     

Industrial barrens: extreme habitats created by non-ferrous metallurgy

Industrial barrens are bleak open landscapes evolved due to deposition of airborne pollutants, with only small patches of vegetation surrounded by bare land. These extreme environments appeared as a by-product of human activities about a century ago. The comparative analysis of information available from 36 industrial barrens worldwide allowed to identify factors and conditions that are necessary and sufficient for the appearance of these specific habitats. Vast majority of industrial barrens is associated with non-ferrous smelters, located predominantly in mountainous or hilly landscapes. Development of industrial barrens starts from gradual decline of vegetation due to severe pollution impact accompanied by other human-induced disturbances (primarily clearcutting) and is usually concluded by a fire, facilitated by accumulation of woody debris. Since vegetation recovery is hampered by soil toxicity caused by extreme contamination by heavy metals, soils remain bare and suffer from erosion enhanced by altered microclimate. In spite of general reduction in biodiversity, industrial barrens still support a variety of life, including regionally rare and endangered species, as well as populations that evolved specific adaptations to the harsh and toxic environment. Recently, most industrial barrens show some signs of natural recovery due to emission decline or closure of responsible polluters; some of barren sites have been or are being successfully revegetated. The remaining industrial barrens offer unique opportunities for conducting ‘basic’ ecological research, in particular for testing some general theories in an evolutionary novel stressful environment; some of barren habitats deserve conservation for scientific and educational purposes.     

Pollination ecology of Arum italicum (Araceae)

The pollination ecology of Arum italicum was studied in south-western France. This plant attracts olfactory dung-breeding flies through deceit. These insects are principally represented by Diptera, all belonging to saprophyte families. The volatilization of the odouriferous compounds, responsible for their attraction, is achieved through the production of heat by the appendix. The insects are trapped for 24 h in order to participate in both sexual phases of the protogynous inflorescence. The male flowers produce three heat events during flowering. These peaks of heat seem to be involved in the spathe movements, since they occur during the opening of the inflorescence and the liberation of the insects. The last male heat event may be linked with the liberation of pollen and its dispersion by stimulating trapped flies. According to their frequency and pollen-load, two Psychoda species appear to be the most efficient pollinators ( P. crassipenis and P. pusilla ). Nevertheless, each of the other attracted species could play a significant role under different spatio-temporal conditions. Experiments on self-pollination have shown that obligate cross-pollination is necessary for A. italicum to set seeds. Moreover, hand- and natural-pollinated plants showed similarly high abortion frequencies suggesting that seed set may be more constrained by resources rather than by pollination limitation.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 141 , 205–214.     

Effects of chorda tympani nerve anesthesia on taste responses in the NST

Human clinical and psychophysical observations suggest that the taste system is able to compensate for losses in peripheral nerve input, since patients do not commonly report decrements in whole mouth taste following chorda tympani nerve damage or anesthesia. Indeed, neurophysiological data from the rat nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) suggests that a release of inhibition (disinhibition) may occur centrally following chorda tympani nerve anesthesia. Our purpose was to study this possibility further. We recorded from 59 multi- and single- unit taste-responsive sites in the rat NST before, during and after recovery from chorda tympani nerve anesthesia. During anesthesia, average anterior tongue responses were eliminated but no compensatory increases in palatal or posterior tongue responses were observed. However, six individual sites displayed increased taste responsiveness during anesthesia. The average increase was 32.9%. Therefore, disinhibition of taste responses was observed, but infrequently and to a small degree in the NST At a subset of sites, chorda tympani-mediated responses decreased while greater superficial petrosal-mediated responses remained the same during anesthesia. Since this effect was accompanied by a decrease in spontaneous activity, we propose that taste compensation may result in part by a change in signal-to-noise ratio at a subset of sites.