Genome-Wide Identification and Transcriptome Analysis of the Hsp70 Gene Family in Reveals Its Role in Response to Nanoplastics Stress.

For marine invertebrates, the disruption of organismal physiology and behavior by nanoplastics (NPs) has been extensively reported. Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are important for redundant protein breakdown, environmental changes, and intracellular protein transport. An exhaustive identification of Hsp70 genes and an experiment where different concentrations of NPs were stressed were performed to study how Hsp70 genes respond to NPs stress in .

Chromosomal-scale genome assembly and annotation of the land slug (Meghimatium bilineatum).

Meghimatium bilineatum is a notorious pest land slug used as a medicinal resource to treat ailments in China. Although this no-model species is unique in terms of their ecological security and medicinal value, the genome resource of this slug is lacking to date. Here, we used the Illumina, PacBio, and Hi-C sequencing techniques to construct a chromosomal-level genome of M.

Fitness of Nutrition Regulation in a Caterpillar Pest (Walker): Insights from the Geometric Framework.

In nature, plants can contain variable nutrients depending upon the species, tissue, and developmental stage. Insect herbivores may regulate their nutrient intake behaviorally and physio- logically when encountering different foods. This study examined the nutritional regulation of the oriental armyworm, , for the first time.

The Effects of Diet on the Immune Responses of the Oriental Armyworm .

Nutrients can greatly affect host immune defenses against infection. Possessing a simple immune system, insects have been widely used as models to address the relationships between nutrition and immunity. The effects of high versus low protein-to-carbohydrate ratio (P:C) diets on insect immune responses vary in different studies.

Neutral Processes Provide an Insight Into the Structure and Function of Gut Microbiota in the Cotton Bollworm.

Gut-associated microbes can influence insect health and fitness. Understanding the structure of bacterial communities provides valuable insights on how different species may be selected and their functional characteristics in their hosts. The neutral model is powerful in predicting the structure of microbial communities, but its application in insects remains rare.

Understanding nutritive need in Harmonia axyridis larvae: Insights from nutritional geometry.

The multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is an important natural enemy in agricultural ecosystems. In spite of being a carnivore consuming protein-rich preys, the lady beetles often consume carbohydrate-rich food like nectar or honeydew. However, most studies on nutrition regulation of carnivores mainly focus on protein and lipid, two major macronutrients in preys.

Machine Learning Models Based on Molecular Fingerprints and an Extreme Gradient Boosting Method Lead to the Discovery of JAK2 Inhibitors.

Developing Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) inhibitors has become a significant focus for small-molecule drug discovery programs in recent years because the inhibition of JAK2 may be an effective approach for the treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasm. Here, based on three different types of fingerprints and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) methods, we developed three groups of models in that each group contained a classification model and a regression model to accurately acquire highly potent JAK2 kinase inhibitors from the ZINC database. The three classification models resulted in Matthews correlation coefficients of 0.

A Semi-Synthetic Diet and the Potential Important Chemicals for Mythimna separata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Armyworm feeding in large, destructive groups is hugely difficult to control and the oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata (Walk), is one such pest. In this study, we reported a semisynthetic artificial diet for the oriental armyworm. This diet is based on Ritter's diet, a formula developed for Heliothis zea.

Phylogeny and evolution of the cholesterol transporter NPC1 in insects.

Sterols are essential nutrients for eukaryotes. Insects are obligate sterol auxotrophs and must acquire this key nutrient from their diets. The digestive tract is the organ for absorbing nutrients as well as sterols from food.