The molecular architecture of Drosophila melanogaster defense against Beauveria bassiana explored through evolve and resequence and quantitative trait locus mapping.

Little is known about the genetic architecture of antifungal immunity in natural populations. Using two population genetic approaches, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and evolve and resequence (E&R), we explored D. melanogaster immune defense against infection with the fungus Beauveria bassiana.

New Toxicology Tools and the Emerging Paradigm Shift in Environmental Health Decision-Making.

Background: Numerous types of rapid toxicity or exposure assays and platforms are providing information relevant to human hazard and exposure identification. They offer the promise of aiding decision-making in a variety of contexts including the regulatory management of chemicals, evaluation of products and environmental media, and emergency response. There is a need to consider both the scientific validity of the new methods and the values applied to a given decision using this new information to ensure that the new methods are employed in ways that enhance public health and environmental protection.

Effect of Bark Application With Beauveria bassiana and Permethrin Insecticide on the Walnut Twig Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Black Walnut Bolts.

Formulations of entomopathogenic (insect-killing) fungi represent alternatives to synthetic insecticides in the management of forest and shade tree insects. We evaluated bark spray applications of the entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) strain GHA (BotaniGardES), permethrin insecticide (Astro), and water (control) on colonization of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) (Fagales: Juglandaceae) bolts by the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis Blackman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), vector of the fungus that causes thousand cankers disease.

Sexual dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster survival of Beauveria bassiana infection depends on core immune signaling.

In many animal species, females and males differ in physiology, lifespan, and immune function. The magnitude and direction of the sexual dimorphism in immune function varies greatly and the genetic and mechanistic bases for this dimorphism are often unknown. Here we show that Drosophila melanogaster females are more likely than males to die from infection with several strains of the fungal entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana.

Application of epigenetic data in human health risk assessment.

Despite the many recent advances in the field of epigenetics, application of this knowledge in environmental health risk assessment has been limited. In this paper, we identify opportunities for application of epigenetic data to support health risk assessment. We consider current applications and present a vision for the future.

The Next Generation of Risk Assessment Multi-Year Study-Highlights of Findings, Applications to Risk Assessment, and Future Directions.

Background: The Next Generation (NexGen) of Risk Assessment effort is a multi-year collaboration among several organizations evaluating new, potentially more efficient molecular, computational, and systems biology approaches to risk assessment. This article summarizes our findings, suggests applications to risk assessment, and identifies strategic research directions.

Objective: Our specific objectives were to test whether advanced biological data and methods could better inform our understanding of public health risks posed by environmental exposures.

Residential metal contamination and potential health risks of exposure in adobe brick houses in Potosí, Bolivia.

Potosí, Bolivia, is the site of centuries of historic and present-day mining of the Cerro Rico, a mountain known for its rich polymetallic deposits, and was the site of large-scale Colonial era silver refining operations. In this study, the concentrations of several metal and metalloid elements were quantified in adobe brick, dirt floor, and surface dust samples from 49 houses in Potosí. Median concentrations of total mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and arsenic (As) were significantly greater than concentrations measured in Sucre, Bolivia, a non-mining town, and exceeded US-based soil screening levels.

Mercury hair levels and factors that influence exposure for residents of Huancavelica, Peru.

Between 1564 and 1810, nearly 17,000 metric tons of mercury (Hg) vapor was released to the environment during cinnabar refining in the small town of Huancavelica, Peru. The present study characterizes individual exposure to mercury using total and speciated Hg from residential samples, total Hg in hair, and self-reported questionnaire data regarding factors influencing exposure (e.g.

Quantifying the impact of woodpecker predation on population dynamics of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis).

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is an invasive beetle that has killed millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) since it was accidentally introduced to North America in the 1990s. Understanding how predators such as woodpeckers (Picidae) affect the population dynamics of EAB should enable us to more effectively manage the spread of this beetle, and toward this end we combined two experimental approaches to elucidate the relative importance of woodpecker predation on EAB populations.

Scientific considerations for evaluating cancer bioassays conducted by the Ramazzini Institute.

Background: The Ramazzini Institute (RI) has completed nearly 400 cancer bioassays on > 200 compounds. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and others have suggested that study design and protocol differences between the RI and other laboratories by may contribute to controversy regarding cancer hazard findings, principally findings on lymphoma/leukemia diagnoses.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate RI study design, protocol differences, and accuracy of tumor diagnoses for their impact on carcinogenic hazard characterization.

Residential mercury contamination in adobe brick homes in Huancavelica, Peru.

This is the first study of adobe brick contamination anywhere in the world. Huancavelica, Peru is the site of historic cinnabar refining and one of the most mercury (Hg) contaminated urban areas in the world. Over 80% of homes in Huancavelica are constructed with adobe bricks made from Hg contaminated soil.

Estimations of historical atmospheric mercury concentrations from mercury refining and present-day soil concentrations of total mercury in Huancavelica, Peru.

Detailed Spanish records of cinnabar mining and mercury production during the colonial period in Huancavelica, Peru were examined to estimate historical health risks to the community from exposure to elemental mercury (Hg) vapor resulting from cinnabar refining operations. Between 1564 and 1810, nearly 17,000 metric tons of Hg were released to the atmosphere in Huancavelica from Hg production. AERMOD was used with estimated emissions and source characteristics to approximate historic atmospheric concentrations of mercury vapor.

Susceptibility of two hymenopteran parasitoids of Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) to the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Ascomycota: Hypocreales).

Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, native to Asia, is killing ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) across 15 states and southeastern Canada. Integrated pest management using biological control is the only viable long-term approach for controlling the spread of EAB outside of host resistance.

Emerging contaminants: presentations at the 2009 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference.

A session entitled "Emerging Contaminants" was held in April 2009 in Cincinnati, OH at the 2009 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference. The purpose of the session was to share information on both programmatic and technical aspects associated with emerging contaminants. Emerging contaminants are chemicals or materials that are characterized by a perceived or real threat to human health or environment, a lack of published health standards or an evolving standard.

Meeting report: Estimating the benefits of reducing hazardous air pollutants--summary of 2009 workshop and future considerations.

Background: Quantifying the benefits of reducing hazardous air pollutants (HAPs, or air toxics) has been limited by gaps in toxicological data, uncertainties in extrapolating results from high-dose animal experiments to estimate human effects at lower doses, limited ambient and personal exposure monitoring data, and insufficient economic research to support valuation of the health impacts often associated with exposure to individual air toxics.

Objectives: To address some of these issues, the U.S.

Identification of a hybrid PKS-NRPS required for the biosynthesis of NG-391 in Metarhizium robertsii.

The fungal entomopathogen Metarhizium robertsii (formerly known as M. anisopliae var. anisopliae) is a prolific producer of secondary metabolites of which very little is known at the genetic level.

Formaldehyde and leukemia: epidemiology, potential mechanisms, and implications for risk assessment.

Formaldehyde is widely used in the United States and other countries. Occupational and environmental exposures to formaldehyde may be associated with an increased risk of leukemia in exposed individuals. However, risk assessment of formaldehyde and leukemia has been challenging due to inconsistencies in human and animal studies and the lack of a known mechanism for leukemia induction.

Meeting report: moving upstream-evaluating adverse upstream end points for improved risk assessment and decision-making.

Background: Assessing adverse effects from environmental chemical exposure is integral to public health policies. Toxicology assays identifying early biological changes from chemical exposure are increasing our ability to evaluate links between early biological disturbances and subsequent overt downstream effects. A workshop was held to consider how the resulting data inform consideration of an "adverse effect" in the context of hazard identification and risk assessment.

Agrobacterium-mediated disruption of a nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene in the invertebrate pathogen Metarhizium anisopliae reveals a peptide spore factor.

Numerous secondary metabolites have been isolated from the insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, but the roles of these compounds as virulence factors in disease development are poorly understood. We targeted for disruption by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation a putative nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NPS) gene, MaNPS1. Four of six gene disruption mutants identified were examined further.

U.S. air quality management: local, regional and global approaches.

The purpose of this article is to review approaches to air quality management (AQM) in the United States. To characterize AQM in the United States, four examples that addressed local, regional, and global scale air pollution are described. These examples include: (1) the Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) program, (2) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program, (3) "Cap & Trade" programs, and (4) U.

The complexities of air pollution regulation: the need for an integrated research and regulatory perspective.

The Clean Air Act mandates the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to periodically reassess existing and new science that underlie the regulation of major ambient pollutants -- particulate matter (PM) and tropospheric ozone being most notable.

Production of mutagenic metabolites by Metarhizium anisopliae.

NG-391 (1) and NG-393 (2), previously reported from undescribed Fusarium species as nerve-cell growth stimulants, were identified from fermentation extracts of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. These compounds are 7-desmethyl analogues of fusarin C and (8Z)-fusarin C, mutagenic toxins from Fusarium species that contaminate corn. A mutant strain of M.

Perspectives on air quality policy issues in Europe and North America.

This article presents an overview of progress and future directions in air quality management in Europe, the United States, and Canada. The article describes the role of the European Commission, the Clean Air for Europe program, and the World Health Organization (WHO) in devising policies to reduce health risks due to air pollution in Europe. U.

The role of air quality management programs in improving public health: a brief synopsis.

Observations of adverse effects of air pollution on public health, illustrated by the London smog events in the 1950s, led to legislation in the United States requiring development of federal, state, and local air quality management programs. The implementation of management programs has resulted in significant reductions in air pollutant emissions from stationary and mobile sources and hence their ambient concentrations and associated health risks. Evidence of benefits from improvements in air quality can be identified from studies in which rapid changes in air quality have occurred.