Synergisms in Science: Climate Change and Integrated Pest Management Through the Lens of Communication—2019 Student Debates

Every year, the Student Debates Subcommittee (SDS) of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) for the annual Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting organizes the Student Debates. This year, the SAC selected topics based on their synergistic effect or ability to ignite exponential positive change when addressed as a whole. For the 2019 Student Debates, the SAC SDS identified these topic areas for teams to debate and unbiased introduction speakers to address: 1) how to better communicate science to engage the public, particularly in the area of integrated pest management (IPM), 2) the influential impacts of climate change on agriculturally and medically relevant insect pests, and 3) sustainable agriculture techniques that promote the use of IPM to promote food security. Three unbiased introduction speakers gave a foundation for our audience to understand each debate topic, while each of six debate teams provided a strong case to support their stance or perspective on a topic. Debate teams submitted for a competitive spot for the annual ESA Student Debates and trained for the better part of a year to showcase their talents in presenting logical arguments for a particular topic. Both the debate teams and unbiased introduction speakers provided their insight toward a better understanding of the complexities of each topic and established a foundation to delve further into the topics of science advocacy and communication, climate change, and the many facets of integrated pest management.     

Rice Bran Oil: Emerging Trends in Extraction,Health Benefit,and Its Industrial Application

Rice bran oil(RBO) is unique among edible vegetable oils because of its unique fatty acid composition, phenolic compound(γ-oryzanol, ferulic acid) and vitamin E(tocopherol and tocotrienol). It has become a great choice of cooking oil because of its very high burning point, neutral taste and delicate flavour. Non-conventional methods of RBO extraction are more efficient and environmentally friendly than conventional extraction methods. Advances in RBO extraction using innovative extraction strategies like super/sub-critical CO_2, microwave-assisted, subcritical H_2 O, enzyme-assisted aqueous and ultrasoundassisted aqueous extraction methods have proven to significantly improve the yields along with improved nutritional profile of RBO. The compositions and strategies for stabilization of RBO are well discussed. The constituents are present in the RBO contribute to antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antidiabetic and anti-cancerous properties to RBO. This has helped RBO to become an important substrate for the application in food(cooking oil, milk product and meat product) and non-food industries(polymer, lubricant, biofuel, structural lipid and cosmetic). This review provided comprehensive information on RBO extraction methods, oil stabilization, existing applications and health benefits.     

Molecular mechanism for switching of P. falciparum invasion pathways into human erythrocytes

The malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, exploits multiple ligand-receptor interactions, called invasion pathways, to invade the host erythrocyte. Strains of P. falciparum vary in their dependency on sialated red cell receptors for invasion. We show that switching from sialic acid-dependent to -independent invasion is reversible and depends on parasite ligand use. Expression of P. falciparum reticulocyte-binding like homolog 4 (PfRh4) correlates with sialic acid-independent invasion, and PfRh4 is essential for switching invasion pathways. Differential activation of PfRh4 represents a previously unknown mechanism to switch invasion pathways and provides P. falciparum with exquisite adaptability in the face of erythrocyte receptor polymorphisms and host immune responses.     

Protocol: a medium-throughput method for determination of cellulose content from single stem pieces of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis>

Background

Lignocellulosic biomass is an important renewable resource for biofuels and materials. How plants synthesise cellulose is not completely understood. It is known that cellulose synthase complex (CSCs) moving in the plasma membrane synthesise the cellulose. CESA proteins are the core components of CSC. In Arabidopsis, in vitro mutagenesis of proteins followed by complementation analysis of mutants lacking the gene represents an important tool for studying any biological process, including cellulose biosynthesis. Analysis of a large number of plants is crucial for these types of studies.

Results

By using aspiration rather than centrifugation to remove liquids during various stages of protocol, we were able to increase the throughput of the method as well as minimise the sample loss. As a test case, we determined cellulose content of wild type and secondary wall cesa mutants across the length of primary shoot which was fond to be rather uniform in 7-week-old plants. Additionally, we found that the cellulose content of single mutants was comparable to the higher order mutants.

Conclusions

Here we describe a medium-throughput adaptation of Updegraff’s method that allowed us to determine cellulose content of 200 samples each week.

     

Effect of pruning intensity on peach yield and fruit quality

Light, medium and heavy pruning treatments were used with one unpruned as check (control) in Flordasun, Flordaking and Saharanpur Prabhat peaches. Fruit yield decreased with the increase in severity of pruning in Flordaking and Saharanpur Prabhat peaches, whereas, medium pruning treatment gave highest yield in Flordasun peach. Pulp weight, stone weight, pulp-stone ratio, ascorbic acid, sugar acid ratio and moisture content were not affected by pruning levels. However, fruit weight, size, TSS, sugar and acid content were significantly increased by pruning in Flordasun peach. Almost all the physico-chemical characters were significantly affected by pruning in Flordaking and Saharanpur Prabhat peaches, in which medium and heavy pruning treatments performed better, respectively.     

Tracheal Morphologic and Protein Alterations Following Short-Term Cigarette Mainstream Smoke Exposure to Rats

A short-term 5-day nose-only cigarette smoke exposure study was conducted in Fisher 344 rats to identify smoke-induced tracheal protein changes. Groups of 10 male and female 5 week old rats were assigned to 1 of 4 exposure groups. Animals received filtered air, or 75, 200 or 400 mg total particulate matter (TPM)/m³ of diluted 3R4F Kentucky reference cigarette mainstream smoke. Exposures were conducted for 3 hrs/day, for 5 consecutive days. Tracheas from half the rats were processed for pathology, and tracheas from the other half of the rats frozen immediately for proteomics. We hypothesized that smoke will activate tracheal inflammatory, apoptotic, proliferative, and stress-induced pathways. Mucosal epithelial toxicity from the inhaled material was evidenced by cilia shortening and loss of tracheal mucosal epithelium in smoke-exposed animals. Mucosal thinning occurred in all smoke-exposed groups with hyperplastic reparative responses in the 200 and 400 mg TPM/m³ groups. Tracheal lysates from control vs. treated animals were screened for 800 proteins using antibody-based microarray technology and subsequently the most changed proteins evaluated by Western blot. Tracheal proteins expressed at high levels that were markedly increased or decreased by smoke exposure depended on dose and gender and included caspase 5, ERK 1/2 and p38. Signaling pathways common between the morphologic and protein changes were stress, apoptosis, cell cycle control, cell proliferation and survival. Changes in identified proteins affected by smoke exposure were associated with tracheal mucosal pathology, may induce functional tracheal changes, and could serve as early indicators of tracheal damage and associated disease.     

Transmission risk of human trichinellosis

Trichinella is a food-borne parasitic zoonoses and human cases are still reported in Europe mainly due to the consumption of pig meat originating from small backyard farms. Infections originating from industrialized pig farming have not been reported for decades in Europe, due to control measures to prevent the transmission of Trichinella from wildlife by indoor housing and good management practices. Therefore, risk-based monitoring programs might replace individual carcass control in industrialized pig farming as described in EU legislation SANCO 2075/2005. Transmission of Trichinella species between wildlife and the risk that may pose to humans via consumption of contaminated pork meat has not been studied quantitatively. One pathway by which human trichinellosis can occur is the rat–pig–human route. To evaluate the transmission risk though this pathway the dose responses of rat, pig, and human were studied. Experimental T. spiralis infection was performed in rats with doses of as few as 10 parasites and the data set was analysed using a newly developed dose response model that describes larvae per gram (LPG). Experimental T. spiralis infection in pig was analysed in a similar way. Furthermore nine published outbreaks of human trichinellosis were analysed to determine the dose response in humans. The risk of human trichinellosis via the rat–pig–human transmission was simulated by the Monte Carlo method. A pair of female and male parasites representing the lowest infection pressure from the environment, led to the probability of human trichinellosis by consumption of 100 g of raw pork meat equal to 5% via the studied rat–pig–human pathway. In the absence of rodent control near the farm, a low infection pressure from wildlife presents a relatively high risk of human trichinellosis via consumption of uncooked pork meat.     

A DOC2 protein identified by mutational profiling is essential for apicomplexan parasite exocytosis

Exocytosis is essential to the lytic cycle of apicomplexan parasites and required for the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis and malaria. DOC2 proteins recruit the membrane fusion machinery required for exocytosis in a Ca(2+)-dependent fashion. Here, the phenotype of a Toxoplasma gondii conditional mutant impaired in host cell invasion and egress was pinpointed to a defect in secretion of the micronemes, an apicomplexan-specific organelle that contains adhesion proteins. Whole-genome sequencing identified the etiological point mutation in TgDOC2.1. A conditional allele of the orthologous gene engineered into Plasmodium falciparum was also defective in microneme secretion. However, the major effect was on invasion, suggesting that microneme secretion is dispensable for Plasmodium egress.     

Potential Inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 and Functional Food Components as Nutritional Supplement for COVID-19: A Review

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - The severe acute respiratory syndrome is a viral respiratory infection and commonly called as COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2...     

水分胁迫下外源ABA对甘蔗叶绿素荧光特性的影响（英文）

以抗旱甘蔗品种ROC 22与不抗旱品种ROC 16为材料,研究水分胁迫条件下外源ABA对2个甘蔗品种叶片叶绿素含量及叶绿素荧光特性的影响。结果表明,水分胁迫下,ROC 16的叶绿素降解程度高于ROC 22,而外源ABA能够缓解这种降解作用;随着水分胁迫的加剧,两个甘蔗品种叶片的基础荧光（Fo）显著升高,PSⅡ原初光能转化效率（Fv/Fm）和PSⅡ的潜在活性（Fv/Fo）显著下降,光适应下PSⅡ最大光化学效率（Fv’/Fm’）、PSⅡ实际光化学效率（ΦPS2）、光化学猝灭系数（qP）显著下降,表明水分胁迫使甘蔗叶片PSⅡ反应中心受到伤害,施加外源ABA能部分减轻这种伤害,以对ROC 22作用尤为显著。