Ants impact the energy reserves of natural enemies through the shared honeydew exploitation

1. Ants, as well as many species of parasitoids and predators, rely on sugar-rich foods such as honeydew to fulfill their energetic needs. Thus, ants and natural enemies may interact through the shared honeydew exploitation. 2. Ant-exclusion experiments were performed in a citrus orchard to test the hypothesis that ants may impact the energy reserves of predators and parasitoids through the competition for honeydew. Through the use of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) the level of ant activity with the energy reserves and feeding history of individual specimens collected in the field during representative days of spring, summer, and autumn were related. 3. Out of 145 Aphytis chrysomphali Mercet parasitoids captured in the field, 65% were classified as sugar-fed and 24.7% as honeydew-fed. In summer, when ant activity peaked, there was a significant negative correlation between the level of ant activity and the total sugar content and honeydew feeding incidence by A. chrysomphali. Out of 47 individuals of the predator Chrysoperla carnea sensu lato (Stephens), captured in the field, 55.3% were classified as sugar-fed. We found a significant negative effect of the level of ant activity on the sugar-feeding incidence by C. carnea in spring. 4. The present study provides evidence that ants can interfere with the energy reserves of natural enemies. This interaction may be widespread in various ecosystems with important consequences for the arthropod community composition and with practical implications for biological control given that absence of sugar feeding is detrimental for the fitness of many species of predators and parasitoids.This work was supported by the project (RTA2010‐00012‐C02‐02) assigned to F. G. M from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Spain and the project (BIO2013‐48779‐C4‐1‐R) from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and COST action CM1303 on Systems Biocatalysis.Peer Reviewe

Seguimiento de los alumnos terminales y su integración en el mundo de la empresa

Propone elaborar un plan de seguimiento de los alumnos que acaban la Formación Profesional de segundo grado y se integran en el mundo laboral. Otros objetivos son: adecuar las programaciones a la realidad del mercado de trabajo y establecer una relación permanente entre el centro y las empresas del entorno. Además de las actividades, metodología y previsión por trimestres, incluye encuestas y fichas de recogida de datos. Concluye con una evaluación del proyecto en sus distintos aspectos y una relación de empresas madrileñas del ámbito eléctrico, electrónico y de telecomunicación..Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Consejería de Educación y CulturaMadridMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Subdirección General de Formación del Profesorado. CRIF Las Acacias; General Ricardos 179 - 28025 Madrid; Tel. + 34915250893ES

Organotropic dendrons with high potency as HIV-1, HIV-2 and EV-A71 cell entry inhibitors

Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Jan Balzarini (KU Leuven, Belgium), in recognition of his exem- plary life-long dedication to virology and con- stant encouragementWe have recently described a novel family of compounds of reduced size and dual anti-HIV and anti-EV71 ac- tivity that encompasses tripodal and tetrapodal derivatives. The tripodal prototype, AL-470, has a nitro group at the focal point of the central scaffold and three attached tryptophan residues, each of which bearing an iso- phthaloyl moiety at the C2 position of the indole ring. A nitro to amino substitution has allowed us now to introduce a chemically addressable functionality to perform further structural modifications consisting of both direct and linker-mediated attachment of several aromatic groups, including the fluorescent dye Alexa Fluor 647 and the antibody-recruiting 2,4-dinitrophenyl motif. Some of the derivatives turned out to be more potent and selective than AL-470 against HIV-1, HIV-2 and EV-A71. The fluorescent probe demonstrated a specific tropism for intestines and lungs, two important niches for the human microbiome in health and diseaseThis work was supported by the Spanish MICINN (Projects PID2019- 104070RB-C21 and PID2019-104070RB-C22), and by the Spanish “Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas” (CSIC, Projects CSIC-PIE-201980E100 and CSIC-PIE-201980E028). “The Cen- ters of Excellence” of the KU Leuven (EF-05/15 and PF-10/18), EU FP7 (FP7/2007-2013) Project EUVIRNA (Grant 408 Agreement 264286), EU FP7 SILVER (Contract HEALTH-F3-2010-260644), a grant from the Belgian Interuniversity Attraction Poles (IAP) Phase VII–P7/45 (BEL- VIR) and the EU FP7 Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways Project AIROPICO. The Spanish MEC/MINECO is also acknowledged for grants to B.M-G and O.M-M. We thank Charlotte Vanderheydt, Sandra Claes, Caroline Collard, Daisy Ceusters and Kim Donckers, for helping with the evaluation and processing of the antiviral data. This work has been awarded with the Ramón Madroñero (XX call) prize within the “Prizes for Young Researchers of the Spanish Society of Medicinal Chemistry (SEQT).Peer reviewe