Publications by authors named "Philip Donkersley"

Gut microbiota stimulates the immune system and inhibits pathogens, and thus, it is critical for disease prevention. Probiotics represent an effective alternative to antibiotics used for the therapy and prevention of bacterial diseases. Probiotic bacteria are commonly used in vertebrates, although their use in invertebrates is still rare.

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The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment assessed ecosystem change, human wellbeing and scientific evidence for sustainable use of biological systems. Despite intergovernmental acknowledgement of the problem, global ecological decline has continued, including declines in insect biodiversity, which has received much media attention in recent years. Several roadmaps to averting biological declines have failed due to various economic and political factors, and so biodiversity loss continues, driven by several interacting human pressures.

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Invasive species pose a significant threat to biodiversity and agriculture world-wide. Natural enemies play an important part in controlling pest populations, yet we understand very little about the presence and prevalence of natural enemies during the early invasion stages. Microbial natural enemies of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda are known in its native region, however, they have not yet been identified in Africa where fall armyworm has been an invasive crop pest since 2016.

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Pollinators are being threatened globally by urbanisation and agricultural intensification, driven by a growing human population. Understanding these impacts on landscapes and pollinators is critical to ensuring a robust pollination system. Remote sensing data on land use attributes have previously linked honeybee nutrition to land use in the Western Honeybee ( L.

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It is becoming increasingly apparent that trans-generational immune priming (i.e. the transfer of the parental immunological experience to its progeny resulting in offspring protection from pathogens that persist across generations) is a common phenomenon not only in vertebrates, but also invertebrates.

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Global insect decline impacts ecosystem resilience; pollinators such as honeybees ( L.) have suffered extensive losses over the last decade, threatening food security. Research has focused discretely on in-hive threats (e.

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Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a known environmental endocrine disruptor that impairs development of testis and spermatogenesis. This study aims to explore the effects of STAT3/p53 and PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway on DEHP-induced reproductive toxicity in pubertal male rat. 24 6-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (Control, low-dose, middle-dose and high-dose group) and were treated with increasing concentration of DEHP (0, 250, 500, 1000 mg/kg/day) respectively for 28 consecutive days by intragastric administration.

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Cryptochromes (CRYs) are flavoproteins and play a pivotal role in circadian clocks which mediate behavior of organisms such as feeding, mating and migrating navigation. Herein, we identified novel transcripts in of six isoforms of and seven isoforms of by Sanger sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the transcripts of and align closely with other insect , indicating within-species divergence of .

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Potato virus Y (PVY) is a common pathogen affecting agricultural production worldwide and is mainly transmitted by Myzus persicae in a non-persistent manner. Insect-borne plant viruses can modify the abundance, performance, and behavior of their vectors by altering host plant features; however, most studies have overlooked the fact that the dynamic progression of virus infection in plants can have variable effects on their vectors. We addressed this point in the present study by dividing the PVY infection process in tobacco into three stages (early state, steady state and late state); delineated by viral copy number.

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Backgroud: Horizontal gene transfer and gene duplication are two major mechanisms contributing to the evolutionary adaptation of organisms. Previously, polygalacturonase genes (PGs) were independently horizontally transferred and underwent multiple duplications in insects (e.g.

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Biological invasions of vectorborne diseases can be devastating. Bioclimatic modeling provides an opportunity to assess and predict areas at risk from complex multitrophic interactions of pathogens, highlighting areas in need of increased monitoring effort. Here, we model the distribution of an economically critical vectorborne plant pathogen 'Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia', the etiological agent of Witches' Broom Disease of Lime.

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Microbial communities, associated with almost all metazoans, can be inherited from the environment. Although the honeybee ( L.) gut microbiome is well documented, studies of the gut focus on just a small component of the bee microbiome.

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Sufficiently diverse and abundant resources are essential for generalist consumers, and form an important part of a suite of conservation strategies for pollinators. Honey bees are generalist foragers and are dependent on diverse forage to adequately meet their nutritional needs. Through analysis of stored pollen (bee bread) samples obtained from 26 honey bee (Apis mellifera L.

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Complex multi-trophic interactions in vectorborne diseases limit our understanding and ability to predict outbreaks. Arthropod-vectored pathogens are especially problematic, with the potential for novel interspecific interactions during invasions. Variations and novelties in plant-arthropod-pathogen triumvirates present significant threats to global food security.

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Declines in insect pollinators in Europe have been linked to changes in land use. Pollinator nutrition is dependent on floral resources (i.e.

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