Emergency Mosquito Control on a Selected Area in Eastern North Carolina After Hurricane Irene

Natural disasters such as hurricanes may contribute to mosquito abundance and, consequently, arbovirus transmission risk. In 2011, flooding from Hurricane Irene in eastern North Carolina (NC) resulted in increased mosquito populations that hindered recovery efforts. Budget shortfalls in NC have reduced the functionality of long-term mosquito surveillance and control programs; hence, many counties rely on the Federal Emergency Management Agency for post-disaster mosquito control. This pilot study examines mosquito abundance pre- and post-aerial insecticide spraying at eight study sites in Washington and Tyrrell Counties in rural eastern NC after Hurricane Irene. Percent change was calculated and compared for traps in areas that received aerial pesticide application and those that did not. Traps in spray zones show decreases in mosquito abundance when compared to control traps (treatment: −52.93%; control: 3.55%), although no significant differences (P = 0.286) were found in mosquito abundance between groups. Implications of reactive rather than proactive mosquito control responses are discussed

Simultaneous consumption of pentose and hexose sugars: an optimal microbial phenotype for efficient fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass is an attractive carbon source for bio-based fuel and chemical production; however, its compositional heterogeneity hinders its commercial use. Since most microbes possess carbon catabolite repression (CCR), mixed sugars derived from the lignocellulose are consumed sequentially, reducing the efficacy of the overall process. To overcome this barrier, microbes that exhibit the simultaneous consumption of mixed sugars have been isolated and/or developed and evaluated for the lignocellulosic biomass utilization. Specific strains of Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Zymomonas mobilis have been engineered for simultaneous glucose and xylose utilization via mutagenesis or introduction of a xylose metabolic pathway. Other microbes, such as Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus buchneri, and Candida shehatae possess a relaxed CCR mechanism, showing simultaneous consumption of glucose and xylose. By exploiting CCR-negative phenotypes, various integrated processes have been developed that incorporate both enzyme hydrolysis of lignocellulosic material and mixed sugar fermentation, thereby enabling greater productivity and fermentation efficacy