2,345 results match your criteria: "Department of Entomology Texas A&M University College Station Texas USA.[Affiliation]"

We describe new species in the genus Ceroptres Hartig, 1840 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Ceroptresini) represented by voucher material sequenced by Ward et al. (2024). We describe 22 new species, all authored by Nastasi, Smith, & Davis: C.

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Orphanostigma haemorrhoidalis Guenée, 1854, was described from Brazil and introduced worldwide for the biological control of Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae). Orphanostigma futilalis (Barnes & McDunnough, 1914), rev.

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Free-living aquatic nematodes are abundant, diverse and of general environmental importance. However, knowledge of species distributions of both marine and freshwater nematodes is sparse. Species distribution data are crucial for evaluating environmental impacts from human activities and to conduct integrated nematode community assessments.

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A catalog of the species and subspecies of Neuropterida (Insecta: Neuroptera, Megaloptera, and Raphidioptera) occurring in modern India is presented, based primarily on an extensive review of relevant literature published through mid 2024. The currently known extant fauna comprises 3 orders, 15 families, 129 genera, 368 species, and 6 subspecies (Neuroptera: 11 families, 119 genera, 332 species; Megaloptera: 2 families, 8 genera, 31 species; Raphidioptera: 2 families, 2 genera, 5 species). In addition, one extinct species is known, †Spiloconis eominuta (Neuroptera: Coniopterygidae).

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Article Synopsis
  • The text discusses the importance of forecasting future health issues in the USA for effective planning and public awareness regarding disease and injury burdens.
  • It describes the methodology for predicting life expectancy, cause-specific mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) from 2022 to 2050 using the Global Burden of Diseases framework.
  • The forecasting includes various scenarios to assess the potential impacts of health risks and improvements across the country, focusing on demographic trends and health-related risk factors.
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Biowaste treatment using black soldier fly larvae: Effect of substrate macronutrients on process performance.

J Environ Manage

December 2024

DICEA, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 9, 35131, Padova, Italy; Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.

Article Synopsis
  • Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) present a promising method for treating biowaste, with their effectiveness influenced by factors such as the nutritional quality of the substrate used.
  • The study investigates how macronutrient composition, including proteins, non-fibre carbohydrates, and lipids, affects BSFL process performance, particularly survival rate (SR) and waste reduction efficiency (RE).
  • A systematic literature review using PRISMA methodology was conducted, leading to a tool that helps predict substrate suitability and optimize mixtures for better outcomes in BSFL biowaste treatment.
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Do different wheat ploidy levels respond differently against stripe rust infection: Interplay between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the antioxidant defense system?

Plant Physiol Biochem

November 2024

Division of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture (FoA), SKUAST-Kashmir, Wadura Campus, Sopore, 193201, J&K, India; Centre for Crop and Food Innovation, WA State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia. Electronic address:

Wheat stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, Pst) is the most damaging wheat disease, causing substantial losses in global wheat production and productivity.

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Evaluating the specificity of flavivirus proteases in Aedes aegypti cells for dengue virus 2-derived cleavage sites.

PLoS One

December 2024

Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States of America.

Flaviviruses are a diverse group of RNA viruses known for their significant impact on human health worldwide. We generated a series of reporters that included cleavage sequences from the dengue virus type 2 polyprotein and co-transfected with plasmids encoding various flavivirus proteases into Aedes aegypti cells, followed by fluorescent imaging and western blot analysis for the determination of proteolytic cleavage. Recombinant flavivirus NS2B3 proteases from medically significant and insect-specific flaviviruses were able to process reporters encoding cleavage sequences from the dengue virus type 2 polyprotein in vitro including proteases from dengue virus types 1-4, Zika virus, yellow fever virus, Aedes flavivirus, and cell-fusing agent virus.

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Western corn rootworm resistance in maize persists in the absence of jasmonic acid.

Planta

December 2024

Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.

Article Synopsis
  • Jasmonic acid (JA), a plant hormone linked to defense against insect feeding, was found not to influence larval growth, survival, or development speed in western corn rootworm (WCR) when present in low levels in maize.* -
  • A study used a double mutant of maize (opr7opr8) that does not produce JA to directly test JA's role in resistance to WCR and found no significant differences in the insects' growth or damage caused to roots.* -
  • However, there was a notable reduction in shoot growth related to WCR feeding in the JA-deficient mutant, suggesting JA plays a role in aboveground responses to herbivory rather than root resistance.*
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Accurate knowledge of species distributions is foundational for effective conservation efforts. Bats are a diverse group of mammals, with important roles in ecosystem functioning. However, our understanding of bats and their ecological importance is hindered by poorly defined ranges, mostly as a result of under-recording.

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Desert diversification: revision of Bruner, 1908 (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Melanoplinae) with descriptions of sixteen new species from the United States and Mexico.

Zookeys

November 2024

Mississippi Entomological Museum, Department of Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, USA Mississippi State University Starkville United States of America.

In this study, a morphological revision was conducted of Bruner, a group of grasshoppers inhabiting open xeric desert scrub, shrublands, and plains, spanning central Texas to central Mexico. The genus was originally described by Bruner in 1908, with two taxa added by Hebard in 1922. has remained unrevised despite numerous collections.

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The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is a globally distributed pest insect of medical, veterinary, and economic importance. Previous reference genome assemblies for this species were generated from short read sequencing data, resulting in a ~650 Mb composed of thousands of contigs. Here, we present a haplotype-resolved, chromosome-level reference genome, generated from an adult Harlen strain female specimen.

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Stress drives premature hive exiting behavior that leads to death in young honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers.

Biol Res

November 2024

Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-2475, USA.

Background: The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, is an economically important pollinator, as well as a tractable species for studying the behavioral intricacies of eusociality. Honey bees are currently being challenged by multiple biotic and environmental stressors, many of which act concomitantly to affect colony health and productivity. For instance, developmental stress can lead workers to become precocious foragers and to leave the hive prematurely.

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Retraction notice to "Cladophialophora bantiana metabolites are efficient in the larvicidal and ovicidal control of Aedes aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus and have low toxicity in zebrafish embryo" [Sci. Total Environ. 852 (2022) 158502].

Sci Total Environ

December 2024

Laboratory of Toxicology Applied to the Environment, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutaí, GO, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Conservation of Cerrado Natural Resources, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutaí, GO, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Ecology, Conservation, and Biodiversity, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Biotechnology and Biodiversity, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.

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The control of zoonotic and vector-borne pathogens is challenging due to the limited availability of intervention tools. West Nile virus (WNV) is an example of a globally distributed zoonotic arbovirus that circulates between Culex species (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes and avian hosts, with spillover transmission to humans, resulting in disease cases. Interventions delivering systemic insecticides to vertebrate hosts used by vector species, known as xenointoxication, are potential tools for managing vector populations by creating toxic bloodmeals.

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Article Synopsis
  • Amblyomma maculatum is a significant tick species in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, known for transmitting Rickettsia parkeri, which causes spotted fever.
  • Monthly trapping and mist netting in Cochise County, Arizona revealed a total of 1949 ticks from various small mammals and birds, providing data on the tick's seasonal activity.
  • The research indicated a univoltine life cycle tied to the North American monsoon seasons, with cotton rats having the highest infestation rates, suggesting they are key hosts in grass-dominated environments.
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Epigenetic modulation of fungal pathogens: a focus on .

Front Microbiol

October 2024

Department of Plant Pathology, Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida, IFAS, Lake Alfred, FL, United States.

Epigenetics has emerged as a potent field of study for understanding the factors influencing the effectiveness of human disease treatments and for identifying alternations induced by pathogens in host plants. However, there has been a paucity of research on the epigenetic control of the proliferation and pathogenicity of fungal plant pathogens. Fungal plant pathogens such as , a significant threat to global rice production, provide an important model for exploring how epigenetic mechanisms govern fungal proliferation and virulence.

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A footworm in the door: revising Onchocerca phylogeny with previously unknown cryptic species in wild North American ungulates.

Int J Parasitol

November 2024

Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. Electronic address:

Onchocerca is an important genus of vector-borne filarial nematodes that infect both humans and animals worldwide. Many Onchocerca spp., most of medical and veterinary health relevance, are the focus of a variety of diagnostic and molecular research.

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The fall armyworm, (J.E. Smith), is comprised of two genetically distinct strains that are morphologically identical yet exhibit differences in their behavior and physiology (C-strain and R-strain).

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Repeat mediated excision of gene drive elements for restoring wild-type populations.

PLoS Genet

November 2024

Department of Entomology and AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America.

Here, we demonstrate that single strand annealing (SSA) can be co-opted for the precise autocatalytic excision of a drive element. We have termed this technology Repeat Mediated Excision of a Drive Element (ReMEDE). By engineering direct repeats flanking the drive allele and inducing a double-strand DNA break (DSB) at a second endonuclease target site within the allele, we increased the utilization of SSA repair.

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Article Synopsis
  • Transgenic crops that produce Cry proteins, derived from the bacterium Bt, are widely used to combat key crop pests like the noctuid moth, but resistance to these proteins, particularly Cry1Ac, has been developing in pest populations.
  • A study investigated the genetic basis of this field-evolved resistance in moth populations from various locations in the southern U.S. and found extensive gene mixing among them.
  • Unlike previous lab findings, the resistance was linked to an increase in a cluster of nine trypsin genes rather than specific mutations in known resistance genes, indicating that there may be multiple genetic factors at play in the development of resistance.
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With about 1700 described species, the mining bee genus is a rapidly diversifying lineage and one of the most species-rich groups of bees. Recent phylogenomic advances have greatly improved our understanding of the phylogeny of the genus, yet many species still await description, subgeneric assignments that are in line with their evolutionary history, as well as study of their morphology and behavior. Here we provide a comprehensive account of a newly discovered species, n.

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Adult house flies (Musca domestica L.) are important reservoirs and mechanical vectors of bacteria in livestock operations. House fly bacterial communities are influenced by their local environment, yet a comprehensive understanding of bacterial diversity, pathogen prevalence, and bacterial source is not fully understood.

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