Preliminary molecular identification of drug resistant cyathostomes in Italy

Veterinary Research Communications -     

Metabolic diversity in apple germplasm

We analysed metabolic diversity in apples from wild species, elite material and a F₁ population, using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF‐MS). The evaluated elite material appeared to have strongly reduced levels of phenolic compounds, down to 1% of the concentrations in the investigated wild germplasm. In one quarter of the F₁ population, the concentrations of phenolic compounds such as quercetin derivatives, procyanidin, catechin and epicatechin were further significantly reduced, due to accumulation of recessive alleles of putatively leucoanthocyanidin reductase, a structural gene that is located at the top of LG16. In another part of F₁ progeny, putatively glycosylated forms of β‐glycols were up to 50 times more abundant compared to both parents. These metabolites were mapped with high logarithm of odds (LOD) scores at the top of LG8, and progeny that was homozygous recessive for the candidate gene showed the elevated levels. We hypothesize that this was caused by inheritance of non‐functional alleles of enoyl‐CoA hydratase gene. Both examples of transgressive segregation, where some progeny significantly deviated from both parents, were caused by accumulation of recessive alleles.     

Sex chromosomes and quantitative sex expression in monoecious hemp (Cannabis sativa L.)

Hemp (Cannabis sativa) has a highly variable sexual phenotype. In dioecious hemp, the sex is controlled by heteromorphic sex chromosomes according to an X-to-autosomes equilibrium. However, in monoecious hemp, the sex determinism remains widely unknown and has never been related to a quantitative approach of sex expression. The present paper aims to contribute to the comprehension of the sex determinism in monoecious hemp by assessing the genotypic variability of its sex expression and establishing its sex chromosomes. Five monoecious and one dioecious cultivars were grown in controlled conditions under several photoperiods. The monoecy degree of 194 monoecious plants was recorded at each node by a figure ranging from 0 (male flowers only) to 6 (female flowers only). The genome size of 55 plants was determined by flow cytometry. The DNA of 115 monoecious plants was screened with the male-associated marker MADC2. The monoecy degree varied significantly among monoecious cultivars from 3.36 ± 2.28 in ‘Uso 31’ to 5.70 ± 0.81 in the most feminised ‘Epsilon 68’. The variation of monoecy degree among cultivars remained consistent across trials despite a significant “cultivar × trial” interaction and partly agreed with their earliness. The genome size of monoecious plants (1.791 ± 0.017 pg) was not different from that of females (1.789 ± 0.019 pg) but significantly lower than that of males (1.835 ± 0.019 pg). MADC2 was absent from all monoecious plants. These results strongly support that cultivars of monoecious hemp have the XX constitution and that their sex expression has a genetic basis.     

Influence of feeding-damaged plants on the oviposition responses within a community of female moths

Competitive or facilitative interactions characterise phytophagous insect communities that utilise the same resources. These interactions are often mediated by the host plant. Plant mediation influences the oviposition choices that a community of insects, sharing the same host plant make. In this context, the oviposition choices of females within a community of lepidopteran cereal stemborers namely Busseola fusca, Sesamia calamistis and Chilo partellus were studied in plant choice-experiments under laboratory and field conditions. Gravid females of each species were presented with a choice between maize plants infested by conspecific or heterospecific larvae and uninfested maize plants. The number of eggs and egg batches laid on plants were used to quantify oviposition. Results showed that none of the three stemborer species avoided oviposition on infested maize plants. In some cases a significant preference for infested maize plants were observed. Similarly, data from field trials under natural stemborer infestation, with B. fusca as the only species, showed that the wild ovipositing moths were not avoiding infested plants. Host plant mediation may influence the incidence of multi-species infestations by stemborer species often found in the field. The potential roles of herbivore-induced and egg-deposited-induced plant volatiles in this mechanism are discussed.     

trans-C18:1 isomers in cheeses enriched in unsaturated fatty acids and manufactured with different milk fat globule sizes

Increasing the knowledge on dietary fat composition, mainly the minor components, will improve the nutritional value of foods and their labeling. In this study, we examined the trans-octadecenoic acid (C18:1) composition of Emmental cheeses enriched in unsaturated fatty acids (FA) and manufactured with milks produced by cows selected to produce small and large fat globules. The FA composition of the milks was not significantly ( P > 0.05) different from the FA composition of the corresponding Emmental cheeses. Increasing the unsaturated FA content of the cheeses using dietary manipulations lead to an increase in the trans-C18:1 and changed their isomeric profiles. In milk fat produced with the linseed-enriched diet, the trans-10 C18:1 concentration was greater than trans-11 C18:1 (vaccenic acid), which is classically the major trans-C18:1 in milk fat. The content in trans-C18:1 and more particularly in trans-10 C18:1 was negatively correlated with the size of fat globules ( r (2) = 0. 82 and 0.87, respectively) and related to milk fat depression. The trans-C18:1 content was negatively correlated with the saturated FA (slope = -0.35; r (2) = 0.81) and positively correlated with the unsaturated (slope = 0.29; r (2) = 0.85) and monounsaturated (slope = 0.32; r (2) = 0.81) FA. Focusing on the health-related considerations of fat in food products, further nutritional studies are needed to elucidate the role of trans-C18:1 isomers.     

Characterization of metabolites of fungicidal cymoxanil in a sensitive strain of Botrytis cinerea

The metabolism of cymoxanil [1-(2-cyano-2-methoxyiminoacetyl)-3-ethyl urea] by a very sensitive strain of Botrytis cinerea toward this fungicide was studied by using [2-(14)C]-cymoxanil. Labeled cymoxanil was added either in a culture of this strain or in its enzymatic extract. The main metabolites, detected in biological samples, were isolated and identified by mass and NMR spectrometry. Their identification allowed us to show that this strain quickly metabolized cymoxanil according to at least three enzymatic pathways: (i) cyclization leading, after hydrolysis, to ethyl parabanic acid, (ii) reduction giving demethoxylated cymoxanil, and (iii) hydrolysis and reduction followed by acetylation leading to N-acetylcyanoglycine. In a cell-free extract of the same strain, only the first and the second enzymatic reactions, quoted above, occurred. Biological tests showed that, among all the metabolites, only N-acetylcyanoglycine is fungitoxic toward this sensitive strain.