A molecular approach to unravel trophic interactions between parasitoids and hyperparasitoids associated with pecan aphids.

Advances in molecular ecology can overcome many challenges in understanding host-parasitoid interactions. Genetic characterization of the key-players in systems helps to confirm species and identify trophic linkages essential for ecological service delivery by biological control agents; however, relatively few agroecosystems have been explored using this approach. Pecan production consists of a large tree perennial system containing an assortment of seasonal pests and natural enemies.

The Aphelenchus avenae genome highlights evolutionary adaptation to desiccation.

Some organisms can withstand complete body water loss (losing up to 99% of body water) and stay in ametabolic state for decades until rehydration, which is known as anhydrobiosis. Few multicellular eukaryotes on their adult stage can withstand life without water. We still have an incomplete understanding of the mechanism for metazoan survival of anhydrobiosis.

MicroRNAs in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis: extending Drosophilid miRNA conservation to the Tephritidae.

Background: The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, is an important plant pest species in the family Tephritidae. It is a phytophagous species with broad host range, and while not established in the mainland United States, is a species of great concern for introduction. Despite the vast amount of information available from the closely related model organism Drosophila melanogaster, information at the genome and transcriptome level is still very limited for this species.

A genomic perspective to assessing quality of mass-reared SIT flies used in Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) eradication in California.

Background: Temperature sensitive lethal (tsl) mutants of the tephritid C. capitata are used extensively in control programs involving sterile insect technique in California. These flies are artificially reared and treated with ionizing radiation to render males sterile for further release en masse into the field to compete with wild males and disrupt establishment of invasive populations.

Midgut transcriptome profiling of Anoplophora glabripennis, a lignocellulose degrading cerambycid beetle.

Background: Wood-feeding insects often work in collaboration with microbial symbionts to degrade lignin biopolymers and release glucose and other fermentable sugars from recalcitrant plant cell wall carbohydrates, including cellulose and hemicellulose. Here, we present the midgut transcriptome of larval Anoplophora glabripennis, a wood-boring beetle with documented lignin-, cellulose-, and hemicellulose- degrading capabilities, which provides valuable insights into how this insect overcomes challenges associated with feeding in woody tissue.

Results: Transcripts from putative protein coding regions of over 9,000 insect-derived genes were identified in the A.

First Report of Pepper mottle virus Infecting Tomato in Hawaii.

In August 2011, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit from a University of Hawaii field trial displayed mottling symptoms similar to that caused by Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) or other tospoviruses. The foliage from affected plants, however, appeared symptomless.

Phylogenetic Analysis of Fusarium solani Associated with the Asian Longhorned Beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis.

Culture-independent analysis of the gut of a wood-boring insect, Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), revealed a consistent association between members of the fungal Fusarium solani species complex and the larval stage of both colony-derived and wild A. glabripennis populations. Using the translation elongation factor 1-alpha region for culture-independent phylogenetic and operational taxonomic unit (OTU)-based analyses, only two OTUs were detected, suggesting that genetic variance at this locus was low among A.

Allergenicity assessment of the papaya ringspot virus coat protein expressed in transgenic rainbow papaya.

The virus-resistant, transgenic commercial papaya Rainbow and SunUp (Carica papaya L.) have been consumed locally in Hawaii and elsewhere in the mainland United States and Canada since their release to planters in Hawaii in 1998. These papaya are derived from transgenic papaya line 55-1 and carry the coat protein (CP) gene of papaya ringspot virus (PRSV).