From a sequential pattern,temporal adjustments emerge in hummingbird traplining

Animals that feed from resources that are constant in space and that refill may benefit from repeating the order in which they visit locations. This is a behavior known as traplining, a spatial phenomenon. Hummingbirds, like other central‐place foragers, use short traplines when moving between several rewarding sites. Here we investigated whether traplining hummingbirds also use relevant temporal information when choosing which flowers to visit. Wild rufous hummingbirds that were allowed to visit 3 artificial flower patches in which flowers were refilled 20 min after they had been depleted repeated the order in which they visited the 3 patches. Although they tended to visit the first 2 patches sooner than 20 min, they visited the third patch at approximately 20‐min intervals. The time between visits to the patches increased across the experiment, suggesting that the birds learned to wait longer before visiting a patch. The birds appeared to couple the sequential pattern of a trapline with temporal regularity, to some degree. This suggests that there is a temporal component to the repeated spatial movements flown by foraging wild hummingbirds.     

Expression and mode of inheritance of resistance in coffee to leaf miner Perileucoptera coffeella

The coffee leaf miner (Perileucoptera coffeella, Guérin-Méneville), is the most serious pest on coffee in Brazil. Coffee varieties with resistance to this pest have been developed in Brazil using genes from the Coffea racemosa Lour. species. Resistance to P. coffeella was studied in C. racemosa and in advanced breeding populations derived from BC3 and BC4 generations through artificial infestation of coffee leaves (laboratory) and natural infestation (greenhouse). Based on an analysis of variance carried out with notes attributed to lesions, two weeks after egg hatching, C. racemosa plants and BC4 progenies were classified in 3 groups according to their degree of resistance to the insect. The age of the leaves seemed to play a role in the expression of resistance of C. racemosa and of BC4 progenies to P. coffeella. The data seemed to show that resistance to P. coffeella derived from C. racemosa can be best explained by two complementary dominant genes. Segregations for resistance assessed in families obtained by selfing or open pollination or by back-crossing with a susceptible variety were similar to the expected segregation of 9 resistant: 7 susceptible or 1 resistant: 3 susceptible, respectively. The symbols Lm1, lm1, Lm2 and lm2 are proposed for the alleles. Consequences for breeding coffee varieties with resistance are discussed.     

Apparent Dough Stickiness of Selected 1BL/1RS Translocated Soft Wheat Flours

A new method, called the Schwarzlaff‐Shephard Dough Stripping Method, was used to determine apparent dough stickiness in seven 1BL/1RS translocated soft, red, winter wheat (SRWW) lines and five SRWW lines without the translocation. Pairwise comparisons of all 1BL/1RS versus all non‐1BL/1RS lines indicated that doughs made from the 1BL/1RS lines were significantly stickier, on average, than doughs made from the non‐1BL/1RS lines. However, there was no significant difference in the apparent dough stickiness of one set of sister lines that shared a similar pedigree, 1BL/1RS line VA 93‐54‐18 versus its non‐1BL/1RS sister line VA 94‐54‐21. Another 1BL/1RS line, VA 92‐52‐22, ranked last in apparent dough stickiness and was significantly less sticky than two non‐1BL/1RS lines. VA 92‐52‐22 has a distinctly different pedigree from the other 1BL/1RS lines that we evaluated. These findings suggest that there are strong genotypic effects on dough stickiness, making it possible to develop non‐sticky cultivars of 1BL/1RS SRWW.     

Alzheimer’s Disease and Toxins Produced by Marine Dinoflagellates: An Issue to Explore

This paper examined the toxins naturally produced by marine dinoflagellates and their effects on increases in β-amyloid plaques along with tau protein hyperphosphorylation, both major drivers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This approach is in line with the demand for certain natural compounds, namely those produced by marine invertebrates that have the potential to be used in the treatment of AD. Current advances in AD treatment are discussed as well as the main factors that potentially affect the puzzling global AD pattern. This study focused on yessotoxins (YTXs), gymnodimine (GYM), spirolides (SPXs), and gambierol, all toxins that have been shown to reduce β-amyloid plaques and tau hyperphosphorylation, thus preventing the neuronal or synaptic dysfunction that ultimately causes the cell death associated with AD (or other neurodegenerative diseases). Another group of toxins described, okadaic acid (OA) and its derivatives, inhibit protein phosphatase activity, which facilitates the presence of phosphorylated tau proteins. A few studies have used OA to trigger AD in zebrafish, providing an opportunity to test in vivo the effectiveness of new drugs in treating or attenuating AD. Constraints on the production of marine toxins for use in these tests have been considered. Different lines of research are anticipated regarding the action of the two groups of toxins.     

保加利亚的苹果生产与研究

保加利亚气候条件非常适宜苹果生长.1968年保加利亚苹果种植面积为3.04万hm2,但近年由于土地改革,苹果种植面积持续减少,现仅存5393hm2.笔者介绍了目前保加利亚苹果的种植面积、产量、主栽品种、砧木、树形及研究状况.     

Antifeedant effects of the limonoids from Entandrophragma candolei (Meliaceae) on the gram pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The biological activity of the limonoids prieurianin and epoxyprieurianin isolated from Entandrophragma candolei (Harms) (Meliaceae) and their respective acetates was assessed using the gram pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The compounds exhibited strong antifeedant activity in a diet choice bioassay with epoxyprieurianin acetate being most effective with 48.3 ppm deterring feeding by 50% (DI50) and prieurianin the least effective (DI50 = 91.4 ppm). The effect on growth of larvae was concomitant with the reduced feeding by neonate and third instar larvae. In nutritional assays, all the compounds reduced growth and consumption when fed to larvae without any effect on efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI), suggesting antifeedant activity alone. No toxicity was observed nor was there any significant affect on nutritional indices following topical application, further suggesting that prieurianin-type limonoids act specifically as feeding deterrents.     

A field guide for aging passerine nestlings using growth data and predictive modeling

Background: Accurate nestling age is valuable for studies on nesting strategies, productivity, and impacts on repro-ductive success. Most aging guides consist o...     

Quantification of a Sulfated Marine-Inspired Antifouling Compound in Several Aqueous Matrices: Biodegradation Studies and Leaching Assays from Polydimethylsiloxane Coatings

The development of marine-inspired compounds as non-toxic antifouling (AF) agents has been pursued in the last years. Sulfur is the third most common element in seawater. Sulfur is present in oxygenated seawater as sulfate anion (SO₄²⁻), which is the most stable combination of sulfur in seawater, and several promising AF secondary metabolites with sulfate groups have been described. However, sulfated compounds proved to be an analytical challenge to quantify by HPLC. Taking these facts into consideration, this work presents the development and validation of a method for the quantification of gallic acid persulfate (GAP) in seawater and ultrapure water matrix, based on hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). This method was used to evaluate GAP stability following several abiotic and biotic degradation assays, and to quantify its release in seawater from room-temperature-vulcanizing polydimethylsiloxane commercial coating. GAP was very stable in several water matrices, even at different pH values and in the presence/absence of marine microorganisms and presented a leaching value lower than 0.5%. This work discloses HILIC as an analytical method to overcome the difficulties in quantifying sulfated compounds in water matrices and highlights the potential of GAP as a promising long-lasting coating.     

Effects of Dermatan Sulfate from Marine Invertebrate Styela plicata in the Wound Healing Pathway: A Natural Resource Applied to Regenerative Therapy

Acute and chronic dermatological injuries need rapid tissue repair due to the susceptibility to infections. To effectively promote cutaneous wound recovery, it is essential to develop safe, low-cost, and affordable regenerative tools. Therefore, we aimed to identify the biological mechanisms involved in the wound healing properties of the glycosaminoglycan dermatan sulfate (DS), obtained from ascidian Styela plicata, a marine invertebrate, which in preliminary work from our group showed no toxicity and promoted a remarkable fibroblast proliferation and migration. In this study, 2,4-DS (50 µg/mL)-treated and control groups had the relative gene expression of 84 genes participating in the healing pathway evaluated. The results showed that 57% of the genes were overexpressed during treatment, 16% were underexpressed, and 9.52% were not detected. In silico analysis of metabolic interactions exhibited overexpression of genes related to: extracellular matrix organization, hemostasis, secretion of inflammatory mediators, and regulation of insulin-like growth factor transport and uptake. Furthermore, in C57BL/6 mice subjected to experimental wounds treated with 0.25% 2,4-DS, the histological parameters demonstrated a great capacity for vascular recovery. Additionally, this study confirmed that DS is a potent inducer of wound-healing cellular pathways and a promoter of neovascularization, being a natural ally in the tissue regeneration strategy.