A Trip Back Home: Resistance to Herbivores of Native and Non-Native Plant Populations of .

When colonizing new ranges, plant populations may benefit from the absence of the checks imposed by the enemies, herbivores, and pathogens that regulated their numbers in their original range. Therefore, rates of plant damage or infestation by natural enemies are expected to be lower in the new range. Exposing both non-native and native plant populations in the native range, where native herbivores are present, can be used to test whether resistance mechanisms have diverged between populations.

Spectroscopic and Microestructural Evidence for T-2 Toxin Adsorption Mechanism by Natural Bentonite Modified with Organic Cations.

Aluminosilicates are adsorbents able to bind mycotoxins, and their chemical modification increases their affinity to adsorb low-polarity mycotoxins. To further investigate if the inclusion of salts in bentonite modifies its adsorptive capacity, we studied T-2 toxin adsorption in natural bentonite (NB) and when modified with quaternary ammonium salts differing in polarity and chain length: myristyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (B14), cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (B16) and benzyl dimethyl stearyl ammonium chloride (B18). The results showed that quaternary salts made bentonite: displace monovalent (Na, K) and divalent (Mg, Ca) ions; reduce its porosity; change its compaction and structure, becoming more crystalline and ordered; and modify the charge balance of sheets.

Zearalenone Does Not Show Genotoxic Effects in the Wing Spot Test, but It Induces Oxidative Imbalance, Development, and Fecundity Alterations.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a non-steroidal mycoestrogen produced by the genus. ZEN and its metabolites compete with 17-beta estradiol for cytosolic estrogen receptors, causing reproductive alterations in vertebrates. ZEN has also been associated with toxic and genotoxic effects, as well as an increased risk for endometrial adenocarcinomas or hyperplasia, breast cancer, and oxidative damage, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Molecular Docking and In Vitro Studies of Ochratoxin A (OTA) Biodetoxification Testing Three Endopeptidases.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is considered one of the main mycotoxins responsible for health problems and considerable economic losses in the feed industry. The aim was to study OTA's detoxifying potential of commercial protease enzymes: (i) bromelain cysteine-protease, (ii) bovine trypsin serine-protease and (iii) neutral metalloendopeptidase. In silico studies were performed with reference ligands and T-2 toxin as control, and in vitro experiments.