Comparison of life cycle traits of a Helopeltis theivora Waterhouse (Heteroptera: Miridae) population infesting organic and conventional tea plantations, with emphasis on deltamethrin resistance

The tea mosquito bug, Helopeltis theivora (Waterhouse), is an important economic pest of tea in India. The development of resistance in H. theivora populations obtained from a conventional plantation as compared with a strain from an organic plantation was studied in the laboratory for five generations, and associated changes in life cycle traits were assessed. Selection using sublethal concentrations of deltamethrin resulted in a 5.19-fold increase in insecticide resistance ratio from the F1 to the F5 generation in the H. theivora population from the conventional plantation. By the F5 generation, nymphal duration and total developmental duration and adult longevity were higher and fecundity was lower in the deltamethrin-selected strain than in the non-selected strain from a conventional plantation and the susceptible strain from an organic plantation. These findings have practical implications for insecticide resistance management of this important sucking pest of tea

Illumina based whole mitochondrial genome of Junonia iphita reveals minor intraspecific variation

In the present study, the near complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Junonia iphita (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae) was determined to be 14,892 bp. The gene order and orientation are identical to those in other butterfly species. The phylogenetic tree constructed from the whole mitogenomes using the 13 protein coding genes (PCGs) defines the genetic relatedness of the two J. iphita species collected from two different regions. All the Junonia species clustered together, and were further subdivided into clade one consisting of J. almana and J. orithya and clade two comprising of the two J. iphita which were collected from Indo and Indochinese subregions separated by river barrier. Comparison between the two J. iphita sequences revealed minor variations and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms were identified at 51 sites amounting to 0.4% of the entire mitochondrial genome

Meta-barcoding in combination with palynological inference is a potent diagnostic marker for honey floral composition

Abstract Identification of floral samples present in honey is important in order to determine the medicinal value, enhance the production of honey as well as to conserve the honey bees. Traditional approaches for studying pollen samples are based on microscopic observation which is laborious, time intensive and requires specialized palynological knowledge. Present study compares two composite honey metagenome collected from 20 samples in Mizoram, Northeast India using three gene loci- rbcL, matK and ITS2 that was sequenced using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform (Illumina Miseq). Furthermore, a classical palynology study for all 20 samples was carried out to evaluate the NGS approach. NGS based approach and pollen microscopic studies were able to detect the most abundant floral components of honey. We investigated the plants that were frequently used by honey bees by examining the results obtained from both the techniques. Microscopic examination of pollens detected plants with a broad taxonomic range covering 26 families. NGS based multigene approach revealed diverse plant species, which was higher than in any other previously reported techniques using a single locus. Frequently found herbaceous species were from the family Poaceae, Myrtaceae, Fabaceae and Asteraceae. The future NGS based approach using multi-loci target, with the help of an improved and robust plant database, can be a potential replacement technique for tedious microscopic studies to identify the polleniferous plants

Correction to: Meta-barcoding in combination with palynological inference is a potent diagnostic marker for honey floral composition

In the version of this article that was originally published (Laha et al. 2017) the authors did not properly reference one paragraph in the Introduction section

MOESM1 of Meta-barcoding in combination with palynological inference is a potent diagnostic marker for honey floral composition

Additional file 1: Table S1. Palynological analysis of the honey samples

Pharmacological and therapeutic potential of honey bee antimicrobial peptides

365-384Honey bees (Apidae: Apini) and stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) act as the main pollinators for many wild and cultivated tropical plants, playing a vital role in the ecology, economy, and culture. Honey bees and stingless bees are one of the major sources of antimicrobial peptides/proteins (AMPs) synthesized in fat bodies and blood cells of bees. Bee AMPs are a class of small peptides having amino acid residues between 9 and 340, classified based on source, activity, structural characteristics, and amino acid-rich species. AMP's have a wide range of inhibitory effects against bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses. Four antimicrobial peptide families, i.e., apidaecins (proline-rich), abaecin (proline-rich), hymenoptaecin (glycine-rich), and defensin (cystine-rich) are synthesized in the haemolymph, signifying a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. Jelleines (I-IV), royalisin, apisimin (serine-valine-rich peptide), 10 HDA, apalbumin, and apisin, which are present in royal jelly, have antimicrobial, mast cell degranulating, and hemolysis activity. Bee venom also contains several bioactive peptides, such as apamin (leucine-cystine-rich), melittin (leucine-alanine-rich), melectin (lysine-rich), adolapin, secapin (proline-rich), and tertiapin (cystine-lysine-rich). Currently, AMPs databases are displaying an essential role in exploration, identification, characterization, and annotation. Several AMPs databases (CAMP, DRAMP, APD, InverPep, LAMP, ADAPTABLE, ADAM, AntiBP, AMPer, AVPpred, EFC-FCBF, and class AMP) are open-access resources that have been developed to enhance research on antimicrobial peptides. Bee immune responses are composed of a multifaceted group of individual immune mechanisms and special types of behavioral adaptations. Given the importance of drug discovery from honey bee AMPs, this review is aimed at providing an exhaustive screening of the AMPs detected in honey and honeybee products and their classification, databases, computational tools, physicochemical properties, signaling pathways, pharmaceutical and clinical uses, application status, prospects, and problems to be solve