Putting hornets on the genomic map.

Hornets are the largest of the social wasps, and are important regulators of insect populations in their native ranges. Hornets are also very successful as invasive species, with often devastating economic, ecological and societal effects. Understanding why these wasps are such successful invaders is critical to managing future introductions and minimising impact on native biodiversity.

N-(3-methylbutyl)butanamide: A novel amide in the venom of female social wasps, Vespula vulgaris.

In New Zealand's ancient Fuscospora spp. or beech forests, two invasive Vespula social wasps Vespula vulgaris (L.) and Vespula germanica (F.

Reproduction and signals regulating worker policing under identical hormonal control in social wasps.

In social Hymenoptera, fertility and fertility signalling are often under identical hormonal control, and it has been suggested that such hormonal pleiotropies can help to maintain signal honesty. In the common wasp Vespula vulgaris, for example, fertile queens have much higher juvenile hormone (JH) titers than workers, and JH also controls the production of chemical fertility cues present on the females' cuticle. To regulate reproductive division of labour, queens use these fertility cues in two distinct ways: as queen pheromones that directly suppress the workers' reproduction as well as to mark queen eggs and enable the workers to recognize and police eggs laid by other workers.

Use of Dual RNA-seq for Systems Biology Analysis of and Interaction.

The interaction between and is complex, and the identification of plant genes and pathways conferring resistance to the fungus has been challenging. Therefore, the authors undertook a systems biology approach involving dual RNA-seq to determine the simultaneous response from the host and the pathogen. What was dramatically highlighted in the analysis is the uniformity in the development patterns of gene expression of the host and the pathogen during infection.

Hydrocarbon Signatures of the Ectoparasitoid Shows Wasp Host Dependency.

often parasitizes nests of vespid wasps such as and . Inside the colonies, the ectoparasitic larvae feed on the immature forms of the wasps. There are two adult forms of .

Spectral-Based Screening Approach Evaluating Two Specific Maize Lines With Divergent Resistance to Invasion by Aflatoxigenic Fungi.

In an effort to control aflatoxin contamination in food and/or feed grains, a segment of research has focused on host resistance to eliminate aflatoxin from susceptible crops, including maize. To this end, screening tools are key to identifying resistant maize genotypes. The traditional field screening techniques, the kernel screening laboratory assay (KSA), and analytical methods (e.

A metatranscriptomic analysis of diseased social wasps (Vespula vulgaris) for pathogens, with an experimental infection of larvae and nests.

Social wasps are a major pest in many countries around the world. Pathogens may influence wasp populations and could provide an option for population management via biological control. We investigated the pathology of nests of apparently healthy common wasps, Vespula vulgaris, with nests apparently suffering disease.

Associative Learning of Food Odor by Social Wasps in a Natural Ecosystem.

The ability of insects to associate olfactory cues with food from their environment has been well documented with various insect orders. However, these studies were based on prior training of insects to associate odors with food sources in the laboratory or in the field with almost no evidence for the development of this phenomenon in natural ecosystems. In New Zealand's ancient Fuscospora spp.

Development of Electronic Chemotherapy Roadmaps for Pediatric Oncology Patients.

A chemotherapy roadmap is a summary of the chemotherapy plan for a pediatric oncology patient. Chemotherapy roadmaps exist as paper documents for most, if not all, pediatric oncology programs. Paper chemotherapy roadmaps are associated with risks that can negatively affect the safety of the chemotherapy process.

Temporal Effects on Internal Fluorescence Emissions Associated with Aflatoxin Contamination from Corn Kernel Cross-Sections Inoculated with Toxigenic and Atoxigenic .

Non-invasive, easy to use and cost-effective technology offers a valuable alternative for rapid detection of carcinogenic fungal metabolites, namely aflatoxins, in commodities. One relatively recent development in this area is the use of spectral technology. Fluorescence hyperspectral imaging, in particular, offers a potential rapid and non-invasive method for detecting the presence of aflatoxins in maize infected with the toxigenic fungus .

Recent developments and applications of hyperspectral imaging for rapid detection of mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi in food products.

Mycotoxins are the foremost naturally occurring contaminants of food products such as corn, peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat. As the secondary metabolites, mycotoxins are mainly synthesized by many species of the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium, and are considered highly toxic and carcinogenic to humans and animals. Most mycotoxins are detected and quantified by analytical chemistry-based methods.

Targeting Aflatoxin Biosynthetic Genes.

Chemical detoxification and physical destruction of aflatoxins in foods and feed commodities are mostly unattainable in a way that preserves the edibility of the food. Therefore, preventing mycotoxins in general and aflatoxins in particular from entering the food chain is a better approach. This requires early detection of the aflatoxin-causing organisms.

A Network Approach of Gene Co-expression in the / Pathosystem to Map Host/Pathogen Interaction Pathways.

A gene co-expression network (GEN) was generated using a dual RNA-seq study with the fungal pathogen and its plant host during the initial 3 days of infection. The analysis deciphered novel pathways and mapped genes of interest in both organisms during the infection. This network revealed a high degree of connectivity in many of the previously recognized pathways in such as jasmonic acid, ethylene, and reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Invasive Vespula Wasps Utilize Kairomones to Exploit Honeydew Produced by Sooty Scale Insects, Ultracoelostoma.

Vespula wasps are widely distributed invasive alien species that are able to reach high population densities in the 1.2 M ha of beech forests (Fuscospora spp.) of New Zealand's South Island.

A predicted protein interactome identifies conserved global networks and disease resistance subnetworks in maize.

Interactomes are genome-wide roadmaps of protein-protein interactions. They have been produced for humans, yeast, the fruit fly, and Arabidopsis thaliana and have become invaluable tools for generating and testing hypotheses. A predicted interactome for Zea mays (PiZeaM) is presented here as an aid to the research community for this valuable crop species.

Deep-UV microsphere projection lithography.

In this Letter, we present a single-exposure deep-UV projection lithography at 254-nm wavelength that produces nanopatterns in a scalable area with a feature size of 80 nm. In this method, a macroscopic lens projects a pixelated optical mask on a monolayer of hexagonally arranged microspheres that reside on the Fourier plane and image the mask's pattern into a photoresist film. Our macroscopic lens shrinks the size of the mask by providing an imaging magnification of ∼1.

Combining odours isolated from phylogenetically diverse sources yields a better lure for yellow jackets.

Background: Invasive wasps have major impacts on bird populations and other biodiversity in New Zealand beech forests, and new solutions are needed for their management. Baits were combined from four phylogenetically diverse sources (protein and carbohydrate) to improve attraction to a level that could be used as the basis for more powerful attract-and-kill systems. Many compounds from honey, scale insect honeydew, fermenting brown sugar and green-lipped mussels were highly attractive and, when combined, outcompeted known attractants.

ZmGns, a maize class I β-1,3-glucanase, is induced by biotic stresses and possesses strong antimicrobial activity.

Plant β-1,3-glucanases are members of the pathogenesis-related protein 2 (PR-2) family, which is one of the 17 PR protein families and plays important roles in biotic and abiotic stress responses. One of the differentially expressed proteins (spot 842) identified in a recent proteomic comparison between five pairs of closely related maize (Zea mays L.) lines differing in aflatoxin resistance was further investigated in the present study.

Co-inoculation of aflatoxigenic and non-aflatoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus to study fungal invasion, colonization, and competition in maize kernels.

A currently utilized pre-harvest biocontrol method involves field inoculations with non-aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strains, a tactic shown to strategically suppress native aflatoxin-producing strains and effectively decrease aflatoxin contamination in corn. The present in situ study focuses on tracking the invasion and colonization of an aflatoxigenic A. flavus strain (AF70), labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP), in the presence of a non-aflatoxigenic A.

Fluorescence imaging spectroscopy (FIS) for comparing spectra from corn ears naturally and artificially infected with aflatoxin producing fungus.

In an effort to address the problem of rapid detection of aflatoxin in grain, particularly oilseeds, the current study assessed the spectral differences of aflatoxin production in kernels from a cornfield inoculated with spores from 2 different strains of toxigenic Aspergillus flavus. Aflatoxin production in corn from the same field due to natural infestation was also assessed. A small corn plot in Baton Rouge, La.

Breeding aflatoxin-resistant maize lines using recent advances in technologies - a review.

Aflatoxin contamination caused by Aspergillus flavus infection of corn is a significant and chronic threat to corn being used as food or feed. Contamination of crops at levels of 20 ng g(-1) or higher (as regulated by the USFDA) by this toxin and potent carcinogen makes the crop unsalable, resulting in a significant economic burden on the producer. This review focuses on elimination of this contamination in corn which is a major US crop and the basis of many products.

Transcriptional profiles uncover Aspergillus flavus-induced resistance in maize kernels.

Aflatoxin contamination caused by the opportunistic pathogen A. flavus is a major concern in maize production prior to harvest and through storage. Previous studies have highlighted the constitutive production of proteins involved in maize kernel resistance against A.

Developing resistance to aflatoxin in maize and cottonseed.

At this time, no "magic bullet" for solving the aflatoxin contamination problem in maize and cottonseed has been identified, so several strategies must be utilized simultaneously to ensure a healthy crop, free of aflatoxins. The most widely explored strategy for the control of aflatoxin contamination is the development of preharvest host resistance. This is because A.

Loss of msnA, a putative stress regulatory gene, in Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus increased production of conidia, aflatoxins and kojic acid.

Production of the harmful carcinogenic aflatoxins by Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus has been postulated to be a mechanism to relieve oxidative stress. The msnA gene of A. parasiticus and A.

Economic security in an aging Canadian population.

Recent research indicates that today's retirees are doing very well in terms of their replacement ratios and that Canadian poverty rates among the elderly are low relative to other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Government-sponsored plans have been strengthened either through explicit expansion - for example, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) - or through the reform of the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans (C/QPP). Also important is the maturation of employer-sponsored pension plans, although coverage rates are down.