Oxylipin biosynthetic gene families of Cannabis sativa.

Cannabis sativa is a global multi-billion-dollar cash crop with numerous industrial uses, including in medicine and recreation where its value is largely owed to the production of pharmacological and psychoactive metabolites known as cannabinoids. Often underappreciated in this role, the lipoxygenase (LOX)-derived green leaf volatiles (GLVs), also known as the scent of cut grass, are the hypothetical origin of hexanoic acid, the initial substrate for cannabinoid biosynthesis. The LOX pathway is best known as the primary source of plant oxylipins, molecules analogous to the eicosanoids from mammalian systems.

The underdog invader: Breeding system and colony genetic structure of the dark rover ant ( Mayr).

Ants are among the most successful species at invading new environments. Their success undeniably comes from their various modes of reproduction and colony breeding structures, which influence their dispersal ability, reproductive potential, and foraging strategies. Almost all invasive ant species studied so far form supercolonies, a dense network of interconnected nests comprising numerous queens, without aggression toward non-nestmates.

Alate trap-based assessment of Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) dispersal flight phenology associated with an urbanized barrier island ecosystem.

During 2009, 2010, and 2011, the reproductive dispersal flight phenology of Formosan subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) was assessed on Galveston Island, TX, via LED light-based termite alate traps. In all three years, traps were deployed at sampling sites before the initiation of C. formosanus dispersal flights, and retrieved weekly until the cessation flights.