Publications by authors named "Gabriela B Caldas-Garcia"
Parasitoid wasps act as natural biological control agents for several harmful insect species. However, there is a lack of information regarding the exogenous RNA viruses that infect parasitoids and may contribute to the success of their parasitism strategies. This study aimed to investigate the presence, abundance, and replication of known exogenous viruses in two parasitoid wasp species and their corresponding preys.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasitoid wasps are fundamental insects for the biological control of agricultural pests. Despite the importance of wasps as natural enemies for more sustainable and healthy agriculture, the factors that could impact their species richness, abundance, and fitness, such as viral diseases, remain almost unexplored. Parasitoid wasps have been studied with regard to the endogenization of viral elements and the transmission of endogenous viral proteins that facilitate parasitism.
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- STAT2 plays a crucial role in the immune response to viral infections, especially following type I interferon release, but many flaviviruses attack and impair STAT2 to weaken this defense.
- A study analyzed the STAT2 coding sequences from 28 rodent species and 49 primate species, finding various sites influenced by positive selection, particularly in relation to susceptibility to flavivirus infections.
- Results indicate that certain positively selected sites in the STAT2 gene contribute to the protein's stability and interaction with a flavivirus protein, suggesting that rodents may have a slight evolutionary edge over primates in defending against these viruses due to faster evolutionary rates.
The identification of thalidomide-Cereblon-induced SALL4 degradation has brought new understanding for thalidomide embryopathy (TE) differences across species. Some questions, however, regarding species variability, still remain. The aim of this study was to detect sequence divergences between species, affected or not by TE, and to evaluate the regulated gene co-expression in a murine model.
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- Scientists are still learning about the Zika virus and its effects since we don't know everything even after many studies since 2015.
- Musashi 1 (MSI1) is a special protein that helps nerve development and also helps the Zika virus make copies of itself.
- Research shows that different variations of MSI1 can affect how well the Zika virus can infect cells, suggesting that some versions of MSI1 might not work well with the virus.