Publications by authors named "Ramasamy Asokan"

Vitellogenin (Vg), a yolk protein precursor, plays an important role in the oocyte development of insects and is an important target of genetic pest management. Vg is synthesized in the fat body, transported through haemolymph and accumulates in developing oocytes. In this regard, the eggplant shoot and fruit borer, Leucinodes orbonalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is the major pest in South and South East Asia and a serious concern for farmers.

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In insect genome editing CRISPR/Cas9 is predominantly employed, while the potential of several classes of Cas enzymes such as Cas12a largely remain untested. As opposed to Cas9 which requires a GC-rich protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), Cas12a requires a T-rich PAM and causes staggered cleavage in the target DNA, opening possibilities for multiplexing. In this regard, the utility of Cas12a has been shown in only a few insect species such as fruit flies and the silkworm, but not in non-model insects such as the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a globally important invasive pest that defies most of the current management methods.

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Invasive insect pests, currently, pose a serious economic threat to several staple crops all over the world, one such being the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda. It was first observed in Africa since 2016, outside of its natural habitat in the Americas. Subsequently, it invaded several countries in South and South East Asia and also very recently in Australia.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers analyzed field and laboratory populations of Z. cucurbitae from Bangalore, India, identifying ten types of RNA viruses, with different infection profiles in the two populations indicating the potential for covert infections.
  • * The study further contributed to understanding the RNA virus diversity in Indian Z. cucurbitae populations and revealed persistent infections in lab settings, with additional discoveries of virus genomes in populations from Eastern Asia and Hawaii.
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Brain tumour can be cured if it is initially screened and given timely treatment to the patients. This proposed idea suggests a transform- and windowing-based optimization strategy for exposing and segmenting the tumour region in brain pictures. The processes of image processing that are included in the proposed idea include preprocessing, transformation, feature extraction, feature optimization, classification, and segmentation.

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Bemisia tabaci is a global invasive pest causing substantial loss on several economically important crops and has developed a very high level of resistance to insecticides making current management practices ineffective. Thus, the novel pest management strategy like RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a potential molecular tool in the management of insect pests particularly B. tabaci.

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Unlabelled: The Fall armyworm, , is a globally important invasive pest, primarily on corn, causing severe yield loss. Overuse of synthetic chemicals has caused significant ecological harm, and in many instances control has failed. Therefore, developing efficient, environmentally friendly substitutes for sustainable management of this pest is of high priority.

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Article Synopsis
  • The melon fly (Zeugodacus cucurbitae) is a significant pest affecting cucurbit crops, leading to considerable yield loss and economic impact.
  • The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a powerful genome editing tool that can target specific genes to create stable genetic changes, which can help manage pest traits more efficiently without needing extensive genetic data.
  • In this study, researchers successfully used CRISPR/Cas9 to mutate the white gene in melon flies, resulting in a white eye phenotype, which aids in understanding gene function and could lead to innovative pest control methods like precision guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT).
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Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), commonly called spotted wing Drosophila, is an important agricultural pest recognised worldwide. D. suzukii is a pest of soft-skinned fruits as females can lay eggs in ripening fruit before harvest.

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The Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda is a significant global pest causing serious yield loss on several staple crops. In this regard, this pest defies several management approaches based on chemicals, Bt transgenics etc., requiring effective alternatives.

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Identification of novel approaches for managing the global pest, the Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is the need of the hour, as it defies many management strategies including synthetic chemicals, Bt transgenics, and so on. Recently CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing opened up newer avenues to design novel pest management strategies such as precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT). In this regard, genes governing sex determination, egg reproduction, and spermatogenesis could be the prime targets for genome editing.

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Even with the most cutting-edge tools, treating and monitoring patients-including children, elders, and suspected COVID-19 patients-remains a challenging activity. This study aimed to track multiple COVID-19-related vital indicators using a wearable monitoring device with an Internet of Things (IOT) focus. Additionally, the technology automatically alerts the appropriate medical authorities about any breaches of confinement for potentially contagious patients by tracking patients' real-time GPS data.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Oriental fruit fly, a major pest, disrupts global fruit trade and requires effective management methods, with sterile insect technique (SIT) being a leading chemical-free option.
  • The rising use of CRISPR/Cas9 for precise genetic editing in pest control aims to create mutations without compromising the fitness of the fruit flies.
  • This study demonstrates a method to identify successful genomic edits in B. dorsalis through analysis of shed pupal cases, allowing for easier selection of edited individuals while bypassing the need to wait for adult life cycles.
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The South American pinworm (Meyrick) (Family: Gelechiidae) is one of the most devastating lepidopteran pests in the developing countries of South America, Africa, and Asia. This pest is classified as the most serious threat for tomato production worldwide. In the present study, we analyzed RNAi-mediated control through exogenously applied dsRNA delivery on tomato.

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Genome-wide analysis of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP) genes from the advanced genome project of the Leucinodes orbonalis and the expression analysis provided significant information about the metabolism-mediated insecticide resistance. A total of 72 putative CYP genes were identified from the genome and transcriptome of L. orbonalis.

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The Cicadellidae (Auchenorrhyncha: Hemiptera) are important agricultural, horticultural and ornamental pests. But it is very difficult to define nymphs and female adults using morphological characteristics. This research was aimed at understanding the variety of leafhoppers species and defining the prospective cause of the aster-yellow disease in China Aster, Marigold and Chrysanthemum.

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The gut microbial community structure of adult Thrips tabaci collected from 10 different agro-climatically diverse locations of India was characterized by using the Illumina MiSeq platform to amplify the V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria present in the sampled insects. Analyses were performed to study the bacterial communities associated with Thrips tabaci in India. The complete bacterial metagenome of T.

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Beetles of the subfamily Scolytinae are the most damaging insects in the world. Among which the black twig borer, (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), is one of the serious pests in coffee plantations. Their cryptic life cycle inside the host plant makes these insects difficult to control.

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The glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is a xylem-feeding leafhopper and an important vector of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa; the causal agent of Pierce's disease of grapevines. MicroRNAs are a class of small RNAs that play an important role in the functional development of various organisms including insects. In H.

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