Living mulch enhances soil enzyme activities, nitrogen pools and water retention in giant reed (Arundo donax L.) plantations.

Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is one of the most well-studied perennial biomass crops because of its high productivity and potential to store carbon. Yet, little information on controlling weeds in giant reed plantations and their influences on the soil ecosystem is available.

The Effect of Feeding with Central European Local Mulberry Genotypes on the Development and Health Status of Silkworms and Quality Parameters of Raw Silk.

Silkworm rearing activities ceased in the 1970's in several European countries. Attempts on the re-establishment of ecological and sustainable sericulture in Slovenia and Hungary are ongoing. The aim of the study was to assess the usability of locally adapted mulberry genotypes for sericulture and to estimate connections between leaf compound and silkworm performance parameters.

Broad Ultrastructural and Transcriptomic Changes Underlie the Multinucleated Giant Hemocyte Mediated Innate Immune Response against Parasitoids.

Multinucleated giant hemocytes (MGHs) represent a novel type of blood cell in insects that participate in a highly efficient immune response against parasitoid wasps involving isolation and killing of the parasite. Previously, we showed that circulating MGHs have high motility and the interaction with the parasitoid rapidly triggers encapsulation. However, structural and molecular mechanisms behind these processes remained elusive.

Immunoprofiling of Drosophila Hemocytes by Single-cell Mass Cytometry.

Single-cell mass cytometry (SCMC) combines features of traditional flow cytometry (i.e., fluorescence-activated cell sorting) with mass spectrometry, making it possible to measure several parameters at the single-cell level for a complex analysis of biological regulatory mechanisms.

Identification of reference markers for characterizing honey bee (Apis mellifera) hemocyte classes.

Cell mediated immunity of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) involves the activity of several hemocyte populations, currently defined by morphological features and lectin binding characteristics. The objective of the present study was to identify molecular markers capable of characterizing subsets of honey bee hemocytes. We developed and employed monoclonal antibodies with restricted reactions to functionally distinct hemocyte subpopulations.

Cellular Immune Response Involving Multinucleated Giant Hemocytes with Two-Step Genome Amplification in the Drosophilid Zaprionus indianus.

Previously, a novel cell type, the multinucleated giant hemocyte (MGH) was identified in the ananassae subgroup of Drosophilidae. These cells share several features with mammalian multinucleated giant cells, a syncytium of macrophages formed during granulomatous inflammation. We were able to show that MGHs also differentiate in Zaprionus indianus, an invasive species belonging to the vittiger subgroup of the family, highly resistant to a large number of parasitoid wasp species.

Two Nimrod receptors, NimC1 and Eater, synergistically contribute to bacterial phagocytosis in Drosophila melanogaster.

Eater and NimC1 are transmembrane receptors of the Drosophila Nimrod family, specifically expressed in haemocytes, the insect blood cells. Previous ex vivo and in vivoRNAi studies have pointed to their role in the phagocytosis of bacteria. Here, we have created a novel NimC1 null mutant to re-evaluate the role of NimC1, alone or in combination with Eater, in the cellular immune response.

Headcase is a Repressor of Lamellocyte Fate in Drosophila melanogaster.

Due to the evolutionary conservation of the regulation of hematopoiesis, provides an excellent model organism to study blood cell differentiation and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) maintenance. The larvae of respond to immune induction with the production of special effector blood cells, the lamellocytes, which encapsulate and subsequently kill the invader. Lamellocytes differentiate as a result of a concerted action of all three hematopoietic compartments of the larva: the lymph gland, the circulating hemocytes, and the sessile tissue.

From genomes to diaries: a 3-year prospective, real-life study of ragweed-specific sublingual immunotherapy.

During the last decades, the prevalence of allergy has dramatically increased. Allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only currently available medical intervention that has the potential to affect the natural course of the disease, but there are still many questions and unmet needs hindering its widespread use to fulfill its treatment potential and maximize its benefits for the society. To provide a comprehensive phenome-wide overview in sublingual immunotherapy, using ragweed allergy as a target, we planned and carried out a longitudinal, prospective, observational, open-label study (DesensIT).

Hemolectin expression reveals functional heterogeneity in honey bee (Apis mellifera) hemocytes.

The identification of molecular markers considerably facilitated the classification and functional analysis of blood cell types. Apis mellifera hemocytes have been classified by morphological criteria and lectin binding properties; however, the use of molecular markers has been minimal. Here we describe a monoclonal antibody to a non-phagocytic subpopulation of A.

Genes encoding cuticular proteins are components of the Nimrod gene cluster in Drosophila.

The Nimrod gene cluster, located on the second chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster, is the largest synthenic unit of the Drosophila genome. Nimrod genes show blood cell specific expression and code for phagocytosis receptors that play a major role in fruit fly innate immune functions. We previously identified three homologous genes (vajk-1, vajk-2 and vajk-3) located within the Nimrod cluster, which are unrelated to the Nimrod genes, but are homologous to a fourth gene (vajk-4) located outside the cluster.

The raspberry Gene Is Involved in the Regulation of the Cellular Immune Response in Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila is an extremely useful model organism for understanding how innate immune mechanisms defend against microbes and parasitoids. Large foreign objects trigger a potent cellular immune response in Drosophila larva. In the case of endoparasitoid wasp eggs, this response includes hemocyte proliferation, lamellocyte differentiation and eventual encapsulation of the egg.

Multinucleated Giant Hemocytes Are Effector Cells in Cell-Mediated Immune Responses of Drosophila.

We identified and characterized a so far unrecognized cell type, dubbed the multinucleated giant hemocyte (MGH), in the ananassae subgroup of Drosophilidae. Here, we describe the functional and ultrastructural characteristics of this novel blood cell type as well as its characterization with a set of discriminative immunological markers. MGHs are encapsulating cells that isolate and kill the parasite without melanization.

In vivo immunostaining of hemocyte compartments in Drosophila for live imaging.

In recent years, Drosophila melanogaster has become an attractive model organism in which to study the structure and development of the cellular immune components. The emergence of immunological markers greatly accelerated the identification of the immune cells (hemocytes), while the creation of genetic reporter constructs allowed unique insight into the structural organization of hematopoietic tissues. However, investigation of the hemocyte compartments by the means of immunological markers requires dissection and fixation, which regularly disrupt the delicate structure and hamper the microanatomical characterization.

A novel method for the identification of factors involved in host-pathogen interactions in Drosophila melanogaster.

A new method was established, standardized and validated for screening factors involved in the response to septic injury in Drosophila melanogaster. The method, based on inducing lesion by removing the tarsal segments of the first pair of legs of Drosophila adults and exposing them to different bacteria, imitates injury that often occurs in the natural habitat. The method is easy to perform, highly reproducible and suitable for large-scale genetic screens with the aim of identifying factors involved in host-pathogen interactions.

Variation of NimC1 expression in Drosophila stocks and transgenic strains.

The NimC1 molecule has been described as a phagocytosis receptor, and is being used as a marker for professional phagocytes, the plasmatocytes, in Drosophila melanogaster. In studies including tumor-biology, developmental biology, and cell mediated immunity, monoclonal antibodies (P1a and P1b) to the NimC1 antigen are used. As we observed that these antibodies did not react with plasmatocytes of several strains and genetic combinations, a molecular analysis was performed on the structure of the nimC1 gene.

The cell-mediated immunity of Drosophila melanogaster: hemocyte lineages, immune compartments, microanatomy and regulation.

In the animal kingdom, innate immunity is the first line of defense against invading pathogens. The dangers of microbial and parasitic attacks are countered by similar mechanisms, involving the prototypes of the cell-mediated immune responses, the phagocytosis and encapsulation. Work on Drosophila has played an important role in promoting an understanding of the basic mechanisms of phylogenetically conserved modules of innate immunity.

Cell lineage tracing reveals the plasticity of the hemocyte lineages and of the hematopoietic compartments in Drosophila melanogaster.

Much of our knowledge on hematopoiesis, hematopoietic compartments, hematopoietic cell lineages and immunity has been derived from studies on the vertebrate immune system. The sophisticated innate immunity of insects, the phylogenetic conservation and the power of Drosophila genetics allowed the investigation of immune cell (hemocyte) lineage relationships in Drosophila melanogaster. The development of the hemocyte lineages in Drosophila is a result of a precisely regulated succession of intracellular and intercellular events, though the nature and extent of these interactions are not known.

Drosophila Rab23 is involved in the regulation of the number and planar polarization of the adult cuticular hairs.

The planar coordination of cellular polarization is an important, yet not well-understood aspect of animal development. In a screen for genes regulating planar cell polarization in Drosophila, we identified Rab23, encoding a putative vesicular trafficking protein. Mutations in the Drosophila Rab23 ortholog result in abnormal trichome orientation and the formation of multiple hairs on the wing, leg, and abdomen.

In vivo detection of lamellocytes in Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila has recently become a powerful model organism for studies of innate immunity. The cellular elements of innate immunity in Drosophila, the hemocytes, have been characterized by morphological criteria, molecular markers, and cell-type-specific immunological markers. Here we suggest that an MiET1 GFP-reporter element insertion in the untranslated region of a gene (l1-atilla) - expressed in a subset of hemocytes, the lamellocytes - allows in vivo investigations of lamellocyte differentiation and facilitates genetic screens.

Evolution of genes and repeats in the Nimrod superfamily.

The recently identified Nimrod superfamily is characterized by the presence of a special type of EGF repeat, the NIM repeat, located right after a typical CCXGY/W amino acid motif. On the basis of structural features, nimrod genes can be divided into three types. The proteins encoded by Draper-type genes have an EMI domain at the N-terminal part and only one copy of the NIM motif, followed by a variable number of EGF-like repeats.

Definition of Drosophila hemocyte subsets by cell-type specific antigens.

We analyzed the heterogeneity of Drosophila hemocytes on the basis of the expression of cell-type specific antigens. The antigens characterize distinct subsets which partially overlap with those defined by morphological criteria. On the basis of the expression or the lack of expression of blood cell antigens the following hemocyte populations have been defined: crystal cells, plasmatocytes, lamellocytes and precursor cells.