Essential and nonessential fatty acid composition and use in overwintering monarch butterflies.

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) undertake one of the most remarkable long-distance insect migrations, travelling thousands of kilometres to overwinter in the central trans-volcanic belt of Mexico. This study explored how monarch butterflies use essential fatty acids (EFA) and nonessential fatty acids (NFA) during overwintering. We collected 150 (male/female) butterflies from the Sierra Chincua wintering colony from the time of arrival (December 2022) to before departure (February 2023) and analysed their lipid content.

Ontogeny shapes individual dietary specialization in female European brown bears (Ursus arctos).

Individual dietary specialization, where individuals occupy a subset of a population's wider dietary niche, is a key factor determining a species resilience against environmental change. However, the ontogeny of individual specialization, as well as associated underlying social learning, genetic, and environmental drivers, remain poorly understood. Using a multigenerational dataset of female European brown bears (Ursus arctos) followed since birth, we discerned the relative contributions of environmental similarity, genetic heritability, maternal effects, and offspring social learning from the mother to individual specialization.

Metabolite profiling of chickpea () in response to necrotrophic fungus .

Introduction: Ascochyta blight (AB) caused by the necrotrophic fungus is one of the most significant diseases that limit the production of chickpea. Understanding the metabolic mechanisms underlying chickpea- interactions will provide important clues to develop novel approaches to manage this disease.

Methods: We performed metabolite profiling of the aerial tissue (leaf and stem) of two chickpea accessions comprising a moderately resistant breeding line (CICA1841) and a highly susceptible cultivar (Kyabra) in response to one of the highly aggressive Australian isolates TR9571 via non-targeted metabolomics analysis using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Selection for Phytophthora Root Rot Resistance in Chickpea Crosses Affects Yield Potential of Chickpea × Backcross Derivatives.

Phytophthora root rot (PRR) of chickpea () caused by is an important disease. Partial resistance to PRR is sourced from . In this study, we evaluated if lines with low levels of PRR foliage symptoms in two contrasting recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations parented by chickpea cultivars (Yorker and Rupali) and 04067-81-2-1-1 (, interspecific breeding line) had a significant drag on yield parameters.

Winter-ground microhabitat use by differently coloured phenotypes affects return rate in a long-distance migratory bird.

Migratory bird populations are declining globally at alarming rates. Non-breeding site conditions affect breeding populations, but generalising non-breeding habitat conditions over large spatial regions cannot address potential fine-scale differences across landscapes or local populations. Plumage characteristics can mediate the effects of environmental conditions on individual fitness.