Differences in the semi-natural vegetation of field margins will affect the biological control services derived from the presence of these semi-natural habitats adjacent to fields. Of the plant functional traits that are most relevant for insects, plant life forms reflect different aspects of plant structure and functioning that can help predict the value of marginal vegetation for arthropods in agricultural systems. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the vegetation structure of field margins on cereal aphids and on some of their natural enemies (parasitoids, hoverflies and ladybugs) in terms of plant life forms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDNA double-strand breaks can be repaired by non-homologous end-joining or homologous recombination. Which pathway is used depends on the balance between the tumor suppressors 53BP1 and BRCA1 and on the availability of an undamaged template DNA for homology-directed repair. How cells switch from a 53BP1-dominated to a BRCA1-governed homologous recombination response as they progress through the cell cycle is incompletely understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn environmental survey was conducted in order to assess the frequency of detection of picobirnavirus (PBV), human adenovirus (HAdV) and infective enterovirus (iEV) as indicators of faecal contamination in freshwater, and to determine their potential as reporters of the presence of other enteric viruses, such as group A rotavirus (RVA). The study was carried out over a three-year period (2013-2015) in the San Roque Dam, Córdoba, Argentina. The overall frequency detection was 62.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study determined the efficacy of UV-C as a decontamination process against some foodborne bacteria in dried whole black peppercorns. Artificially-inoculated Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus were subjected to UV-C with a surface irradiance of 0.43 mW/cm and were all found to exhibit a biphasic inactivation pattern with fast log-linear inactivation followed by a tail.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe DNA replication machinery frequently encounters impediments that slow replication fork progression and threaten timely and error-free replication. The CHK1 protein kinase is essential to deal with replication stress (RS) and ensure genome integrity and cell survival, yet how basal levels and activity of CHK1 are maintained under physiological, unstressed conditions is not well understood. Here, we reveal that CHK1 stability is controlled by its steady-state activity during unchallenged cell proliferation.
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