Detection of arboviruses in Culicoides(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) collected from animal farms in the border areas of Yunnan Province,China

Biting midges of the genus Culicoides(order Diptera, family Ceratopogonidae) are potential biological vectors for the transmission of certain arboviruses among humans, livestock, and wild animals. This study collected a total of 405 Culicoides individuals from seven animal farms located in five counties in the border areas of Yunnan Province, China, and examined the Culicoides species composition and the major arboviruses carried by the Culicoides species. The collected Culicoides were classified into seven species with variable abundances: Culicoides arakawae(5.43%, 22/405), Culicoides homotomus(1.23%, 5/405), Culicoides obsoletus(19.75%, 80/405), Culicoides orientalis(17.28%, 70/405), Culicoides oxystoma(29.38%, 119/405), Culicoides peregrinus(5.68%, 23/405), and Culicoides nipponensis(21.23%, 86/405). Among the seven species, C. oxystoma and C. nipponensis were distributed in all the five counties with abundances of 13.33–44.87% and 10.00–46.83%, respectively, suggesting that these were the dominant species of Culicoides widespread on animal farms in the border areas. PCR was used to detect major arboviruses in the collected Culicoides specimens, including bluetongue virus(BTV), Japanese encephalitis virus, Dengue virus, Zika virus, African swine fever virus, and African horse sickness virus. Among the tested viruses, only BTV serotype 1 was tested positive in C. oxystoma specimens collected from a buffalo farm. Culicoides oxystoma was the dominant species on animal farms in the sampled areas, but it has not previously been documented as positive for BTV in China. The current results thus suggest that C. oxystoma could be an important vector for BTV transmission in these border areas, which, however, needs to be confirmed by further comprehensive experiments. Overall, the present study provides the first profile of Culicoides species on animal farms in the China, Vietnam, and Myanmar border areas, establishes the prevalence of arboviruses carried by these Culicoides species, and suggests the vector potential of C. oxystoma species for the transmission of BTV.     

Therapeutic Intervention with Dietary Chitosan Nanoparticles Alleviates Fish Pathological and Molecular Systemic Inflammatory Responses against Infections

Marine bio-sourced chitosan nanoparticles (CSNP) are antimicrobial and immunomodulatory agents beneficial for fish medicine. Herein, dietary CSNP was investigated for the amelioration of the systemic inflammatory responses of an induced fish model. One hundred and forty-four rainbow trout were assigned to one pathogen-free and non-supplemented group (negative control), and three challenged groups: non-supplemented (positive control), CSNP-preventive, and CSNP-therapeutic. After a feeding experiment extended for 21 days, the organosomatic indices (OSI) and molecular aspects were assessed. After a challenge experiment extended for further 28 days, CSNP-therapeutic intervention was assessed on fish survival and systemic inflammatory responses on pathology, histo-morphology, and molecular aspects. With CSNP administration, OSI nonsignificantly decreased and the relative expression of targeted inflammatory-mediator genes was significantly increased. The CSNP-therapeutic fish showed an RPS of 80% as compared to the positive control group, and CSNP-therapeutic administration retained the highest gene expression augmentation up to 28 days after the challenge. Notably, the splenic reticulin fibers framework of the CSNP-therapeutic group retained the highest integrity among the groups during the infection. After recovery, reticulin fibers density in the CSNP-therapeutic samples was significantly higher than in the negative control group, which indicates high innate immunity. Thus, CSNP showed promising biotherapeutic features enhancing fish resistance against infections.     

Antimycotic Screening of 58 Malaysian Plants against Plant Pathogens

Ethanolic extracts of 58 Malaysian plants belonging to 24 different families were screened for antifungal activity against seven plant pathogens using the filter paper disc diffusion technique. Two varieties of Piper betle, showed strong activity against all the pathogens tested (Colletotrichum capsici, Fusarium pallidoroseum, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Alternaria alternata, Penicillium citrinum, Phomopsis caricae-papayae and Aspergillus niger), with inhibition diameters significantly (P<0·01) bigger than 2·5 mg ml⁻¹ prochloraz or 10 mg ml⁻¹ clotrimazole. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the ethanolic extracts of P. betle against these plant pathogens ranged between 0·01 mg ml⁻¹ and 1 mg ml⁻¹. Thirty-four other plants (Kucing gala, Limau batik, Bertholletia excelsa, Bixa orellana, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Cerbera odollam (fruits and leaves), Colocasia gigantea, Curcuma domestica, Curcuma manga, Derris eliptica, Elephantopus scaber, Eleusine indica, Eugenia polyantha, Euphorbia hirta, Euphorbia tirucalli, Gardenia florida, Hedyotis auricularia, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Juniperus chinensis (three varieties), Lawsonia inermis, Lecythis ollaria, Mentha arvensis, Mimusops elengi, Ocimum sanctum, Phyllanthus niruri, Piper nigrum, Piperomia pellucida, Pedilanthus tithymaloides, Polygonum minus, Spondias dulcis, Solanum nigrum, Tinospora tuberculata) showed selective antifungal activity, while 21 species were inactive.     

Predicting adoption of double cropping in paddy fields of northern Iran: a comparison of statistical methods

Factors affecting the adoption of double cropping were explored in rice farms of Fouman County of Guilan Province in northern Iran using artificial neural networks (ANNs), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and logistic regression (LGR). Eleven factors (age, education, occupation, family size, type of farm ownership, distance to the agricultural service center, attending agricultural extension courses, use of financial resources and bank loans, number of domestic animals, area under cultivation, and social participation) were examined. An additional objective was to compare the ability of the three models in predicting the adoption of double cropping. ANNs showed an overall predictive power of 89.8%. LDA showed an overall predictive power of 83.2%, with seven of the eleven independent variables being effective on the adoption of double cropping. LGR indicated an overall predictive power of 87.6%, with eight of the eleven independent variables being effective on the adoption of double-rice cropping. ANNs showed higher power than LGR and LDA in predicting the adoption of double cropping. Based on all three methods used for analysis, the most important independent variables were social participation and area under cultivation (positive factors) as well as distance to the agricultural service center and family members (negative factors). Establishment of cooperatives or other kinds of farmers’ associations to foster social participation could motivate adoption of double cropping, particularly among small-scale farmers. To increase agricultural services, more local centers should be created in rural areas. The government should promote double cropping through effective incentives and technology transfer to small-scale farmers.     

Perineal Nets of Proteoglycans and Glycoproteins in Albino Rat Hippocampus

Perineuronal nets (PNs) of condensed extracellular matrix (ECM) have been shown to characterize the microenvironment of individual neurons and the chemoarchitecture of some brain regions. In the present study, PNs in the hippocampus were visualized with a cationic iron colloid method for sulphated proteoglycan content and a plant lectin from Vicia villosa agglutinin (VVA) for N-acetylgalactosamine containing glycoconjugates. The ECM molecules were organized in reticular coats (PNs) around non-pyramidal cells in the Ammons horn (Corneu Ammons, CA) and subicular region, in addition to pyramidal neurons located in CA2 and CA3 regions. CA2 stratum pyramidale exhibited the most intense staining of its PNs and a diffuse intervening neutrophil labelling, while CA3 region showed a graded fashion of staining intensity. The subiculum displayed intensely stained perineuronal coats. Notably, the hippocampal perineuronal nets revealed overlapped staining characteristics with both staining methods. However, cell coats of the subicular neurons showed various degrees of labelling characteristics with both markers. It is suggested that the PNs in the hippocampus are correlated with the fast spiking inhibitory GABAergic neurons and their target pyramidal cells, and this is important to keep the excitatory elements under control and therefore control the information processes within the hippocampus.     

Cytotoxic,Cytostatic and HIV-1 PR Inhibitory Activities of the Soft Coral Litophyton arboreum

Bioassay-guided fractionation using different chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques in the analysis of the Red Sea soft coral Litophyton arboreum led to the isolation of nine compounds; sarcophytol M (1), alismol (2), 24-methylcholesta-5,24(28)-diene-3β-ol (3), 10-O-methyl alismoxide (4), alismoxide (5), (S)-chimyl alcohol (6), 7β-acetoxy-24-methylcholesta-5-24(28)-diene-3,19-diol (7), erythro-N-dodecanoyl-docosasphinga-(4E,8E)-dienine (8), and 24-methylcholesta-5,24(28)-diene-3β,7β,19-triol (9). Some of the isolated compounds demonstrated potent cytotoxic- and/or cytostatic activity against HeLa and U937 cancer cell lines and inhibitory activity against HIV-1 protease (PR). Compound 7 was strongly cytotoxic against HeLa cells (CC₅₀ 4.3 ± 0.75 µM), with selectivity index of SI 8.1, which was confirmed by real time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES). Compounds 2, 7, and 8 showed strong inhibitory activity against HIV-1 PR at IC₅₀s of 7.20 ± 0.7, 4.85 ± 0.18, and 4.80 ± 0.92 µM respectively. In silico docking of most compounds presented comparable scores to that of acetyl pepstatin, a known HIV-1 PR inhibitor. Interestingly, compound 8 showed potent HIV-1 PR inhibitory activity in the absence of cytotoxicity against the cell lines used. In addition, compounds 2 and 5 demonstrated cytostatic action in HeLa cells, revealing potential use in virostatic cocktails. Taken together, data presented here suggest Litophyton arboreum to contain promising compounds for further investigation against the diseases mentioned.     

The origin of mangosteen: A review

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana var. mangostana) is an obligate apomictic species which does not require a fertilization process to produce seeds. The absence...     

Effects of different high constant and alternating temperatures on the development and prey consumption of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dicyphus tamaninii</Emphasis> Wagner (Heteroptera,Miridae) with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aphis gossypii</Emphasis> Glover (Homoptera,Aphididae) as prey

The present work aimed to study the effects of high constant and alternating temperatures on the development and prey consumption by Dicyphus tamaninii Wagner (Het., Miridae) with Aphis gossypii Glover (Hom., Aphididae) as prey.Results showed that the predator was able to successfully develop and reach the adult stage, on average, after 20.1 () and 20.6 () days at a temperature of 30 ± 1 °C with A. gossypii as prey. On the other hand, it was not able to develop at 35 ± 1 °C, here all N₁ instars used at the beginning of the experiments had died even before moulting to N₂ instar. At alternating temperatures of 25/15 ± 1 °C, the predator reached the adult stage 23.7 () and 23.5 () days after egg hatching, whereas when the temperatures were increased to 35/22 ± 1 °C, it took a significantly shorter period: 20.6 () and 20.9 () days. In general, the highest mortality occurred during the first two nymphal instars. The total percentage mortality during development from N₁ to adult stage was 30 % and 100 % at the constant temperatures 30 ± 1 °C and 35 ± 1 °C, respectively. At the alternating temperatures of 25/15 ± 1 °C, it was lowest with 16.5 %, while at 35/22 ± 1 °C, it was 20 %.The results of the experiments on prey consumption showed that an individual D. tamaninii consumed during its development to adult stage at 30 ± 1 °C an average of 442.2 (), 433.6 () aphids. At the constant temperature of 35 ± 1 °C, the average daily prey consumption started with 4 aphids and decreased continuously till it approached nil on the 9th day, where all predatory nymphs died. At the alternating temperatures of 25/15 ± 1 °C, the total prey consumption during development was, on average, 359.3 () and 297.0 () aphids, while at 35/22 ± 1 °C it was 348.5 () and 334.0 () aphids. The effect of the four temperatures on the prey consumption by D. tamaninii during the first 10 days after emergence was also studied. At a constant temperature of 30 ± 1 °C, a total of 446.4 () and 372.0 () aphids were consumed, compared to 40.6 () and 39.0 () at 35 ± 1 °C. At alternating temperatures of 25/15 ± 1 °C, the predatory adult consumed, on average, a total of 267.0 () and 207.0 () aphids. Increasing the temperature to 35/22 ± 1 °C resulted in a higher prey consumption by the adult predator, reaching 351.5 () and 267.7 () aphids over the same period.In conclusion, results indicated that D. tamaninii is a promising predator of the melon aphid at a temperature spectrum ranging from 15 ± 1 °C up to 35 ± 1 °C.     

Two new flavonoids from Retama raetam

Two new flavones were isolated from the aerial parts of Retama raetam subsp. raetam. Their structures were established as luteolin 4'-O-neohesperidoside (1) and 5,4'-dihydroxy-(3",4"-dihydro-3", 4"-dihydroxy)-2",2"-dimethylpyrano-(5",6":7,8)-flavone (2) by means of spectroscopic methods. Also present was ephedroidin (4',5, 7-trihydroxy-8-(2-hydroxy-3-butenyl)-flavone).