A Preliminary List of the Acarina of Iowa

In 1886, Professor Herbert Osborn and Professor L. M. Underwood published, in the Canadian Entomologist, a preliminary list of the Acarina of North America. This list included 99 species in 28 genera. In 1907, Nathan Banks published his Catalog of the Acarina, or Mites, of the United States, which includes about 450 species in 133 genera. This number probably represents less than one-third of our mite population

Observation on the Habits of a Tarantula in Captivity

On July 17, 1920, Mr. Robert Clark of Gilbert, Iowa presented the writer with a live female tarantula which he found in a bunch of bananas in his grocery store. He believed that the specimen must have been in hiding for several weeks prior to its capture as it was not observed until the last bananas were removed. A battery jar, with sand in the bottom, in the writer\u27s home, served as a cage for the fifteen months the creature remained in captivity

Distribution of the European Elm Scale

On May 27, 1919, an American elm on the Iowa State College grounds at Ames was found to be infested with European elm scale (Gossyparia spuria). Since the above date several other Iowa records have been added to our list and a considerable amount of information has been obtained regarding the distribution of this species in the United States and Canada through correspondence with State Entomologists, the U. S. Bureau of Entomology and Agricultural Experiment Station workers in states in which scale was thought likely to occur

Bionomics and control of the potato leafhopper, Empoasca mali Le Baron

The potato leafhopper (Empoassca mali, LeB) is the most serious insect pest affecting the potato crop in Iowa, and probably in the Mississippi valley. Thru its feeding activities, it produces a pathological condition in the leaves of many of its host plants which is characterized by a distortion of the leaf veins, especially near the tip and a yellowing of the tissue supplied by them around the margin and at the tip. Often this yellowing is followed by a necrosis of the leaf tissue. Especially is this true on the potato and with this plant the burning is accompanied by a rolling upward and inward of the leaf margin

Control of the Potato Leafhopper

Potato fields In Iowa for several years have suffered from burning, which has seriously cut the yield of this crop. The trouble has been called tlpburn. Its cause was unknown until recently, when It was discovered that It Is due chiefly to the potato leafhopper, a little green, fly-llke Insect that appears In enormous numbers during the summer. The Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station has verified this connection between the leafhopper and tlpburn or hopperburn and control measures have been devised

The Genus Empoasca in North America

While the writer was connected with the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station the potato leafhopper (Empoasca mali) appeared in immense numbers in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Investigations were carried on during the summers of 1919, 1920 and 1921 at Ames, Iowa, to establish definitely the relation of this insect to the disease it transmits, commonly called tipburn or hopperburn of potatoes, which was causing severe damage to the potato crop, and if possible devise means for its control. The difficulty experienced in separating closely related species of Empoasca, which had been confused by former investigators, led to the desire to trace the systematic relationships of this group in the hope of establishing a more satisfactory means of identification, which has resulted in a systematic revision of the genus. The need of more biological data, especially of those species which are of economic importance, prompted a detailed study of the life histories of the potato leafhopper (Empoasca mali) and its closely related species, the apple leafhopper (E. unicolor) to remove the confusion that has until recently existed in the economic literature regarding these forms. A detailed life history of the latter species is here presented with a summary of the writer\u27s work on the life history of mali

Expression of Genes Encoding Multi-Transmembrane Proteins in Specific Primate Taste Cell Populations

BACKGROUND: Using fungiform (FG) and circumvallate (CV) taste buds isolated by laser capture microdissection and analyzed using gene arrays, we previously constructed a comprehensive database of gene expression in primates, which revealed over 2,300 taste bud-associated genes. Bioinformatics analyses identified hundreds of genes predicted to encode multi-transmembrane domain proteins with no previous association with taste function. A first step in elucidating the roles these gene products play in gustation is to identify the specific taste cell types in which they are expressed. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using double label in situ hybridization analyses, we identified seven new genes expressed in specific taste cell types, including sweet, bitter, and umami cells (TRPM5-positive), sour cells (PKD2L1-positive), as well as other taste cell populations. Transmembrane protein 44 (TMEM44), a protein with seven predicted transmembrane domains with no homology to GPCRs, is expressed in a TRPM5-negative and PKD2L1-negative population that is enriched in the bottom portion of taste buds and may represent developmentally immature taste cells. Calcium homeostasis modulator 1 (CALHM1), a component of a novel calcium channel, along with family members CALHM2 and CALHM3; multiple C2 domains; transmembrane 1 (MCTP1), a calcium-binding transmembrane protein; and anoctamin 7 (ANO7), a member of the recently identified calcium-gated chloride channel family, are all expressed in TRPM5 cells. These proteins may modulate and effect calcium signalling stemming from sweet, bitter, and umami receptor activation. Synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2B (SV2B), a regulator of synaptic vesicle exocytosis, is expressed in PKD2L1 cells, suggesting that this taste cell population transmits tastant information to gustatory afferent nerve fibers via exocytic neurotransmitter release. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Identification of genes encoding multi-transmembrane domain proteins expressed in primate taste buds provides new insights into the processes of taste cell development, signal transduction, and information coding. Discrete taste cell populations exhibit highly specific gene expression patterns, supporting a model whereby each mature taste receptor cell is responsible for sensing, transmitting, and coding a specific taste quality