The long-distance flight behavior of supports an agent-based model for wind-assisted dispersal in insects.

Despite the ecological importance of long-distance dispersal in insects, its mechanistic basis is poorly understood in genetic model species, in which advanced molecular tools are readily available. One critical question is how insects interact with the wind to detect attractive odor plumes and increase their travel distance as they disperse. To gain insight into dispersal, we conducted release-and-recapture experiments in the Mojave Desert using the fruit fly, We deployed chemically baited traps in a 1 km radius ring around the release site, equipped with cameras that captured the arrival times of flies as they landed.

Correlations Between LC-MS/MS-Detected Glycomics and NMR-Detected Metabolomics in Development.

This study examined the relationship between glycans, metabolites, and development in . Samples of N2 animals were synchronized and grown to five different time points ranging from L1 to a mixed population of adults, gravid adults, and offspring. Each time point was replicated seven times.

Dereplication of plant phenolics using a mass-spectrometry database independent method.

Introduction: Dereplication, an approach to sidestep the efforts involved in the isolation of known compounds, is generally accepted as being the first stage of novel discoveries in natural product research. It is based on metabolite profiling analysis of complex natural extracts.

Objective: To present the application of LipidXplorer for automatic targeted dereplication of phenolics in plant crude extracts based on direct infusion high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry data.

Metabolomics and Natural-Products Strategies to Study Chemical Ecology in Nematodes.

This review provides an overview of two complementary approaches to identify biologically active compounds for studies in chemical ecology. The first is activity-guided fractionation and the second is metabolomics, particularly focusing on a new liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based method called isotopic ratio outlier analysis. To illustrate examples using these approaches, we review recent experiments using Caenorhabditis elegans and related free-living nematodes.

Evolution of Manduca sexta hornworms and relatives: biogeographical analysis reveals an ancestral diversification in Central America.

The hawkmoth genus Manduca is a diverse group of very large, conspicuous moths that has served as an important model across many biological disciplines. Two species in particular, the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) and the tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculatus) have been researched extensively. Studies across biological fields have referred to these two species as being closely related or even sister species, but the extent to which these two model organisms are related remains largely unknown.