Analysis and Functional Annotation of Expressed Sequence Tags from the Asian Longhorned Beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis

The Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is one of the most economically and ecologically devastating forest insects to invade North America in recent years. Despite its substantial impact, limited effort has been expended to define the genetic and molecular make-up of this species. Considering the significant role played by late-stadia larvae in host tree decimation, a small-scale EST sequencing project was done using a cDNA library constructed from 5th -instar A. glabripennis. The resultant dataset consisted of 599 high quality ESTs that, upon assembly, yielded 381 potentially unique transcripts. Each of these transcripts was catalogued as to putative molecular function, biological process, and associated cellular component according to the Gene Ontology classification system. Using this annotated dataset, a subset of assembled sequences was identified that are putatively associated with A. glabnpennis development and metamorphosis. This work will contribute to understanding of the diverse molecular mechanisms that underlie coleopteran morphogenesis and enable the future development of novel control strategies for management of this insect pest

Detroit's East Side Village Health Worker Partnership: Community-Based Lay Health Advisor Intervention in an Urban Area

In recent years, there have been few reports in the literature of interventions using a lay health advisor approach in an urban area. Consequently, little is known about how implementation of this type of community health worker model, which has been used extensively in rural areas, may differ in an urban area. This article describes the implementation of the East Side Village Health Worker Partnership, a lay health advisor intervention, in Detroit, Michigan, and notes how participatory action research methods and principles for community-based partnership research are being used to guide the intervention. Findings are presented on how the urban context is affecting the design and implementation of this intervention. Implications of the findings for health educators are also presented and include the utility of a participatory action research approach, the importance of considering the context and history of a community in designing a health education intervention, and the importance of recognizing and considering the differences between rural and urban settings when designing a health education intervention.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67390/2/10.1177_109019819802500104.pd

Cadophora margaritata sp. nov. and other fungi associated with the longhorn beetles Anoplophora glabripennis and Saperda carcharias in Finland

Symbiosis with microbes is crucial for survival and development of wood-inhabiting longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Thus, knowledge of the endemic fungal associates of insects would facilitate risk assessment in cases where a new invasive pest occupies the same ecological niche. However, the diversity of fungi associated with insects remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate fungi associated with the native large poplar longhorn beetle (Saperda carcharias) and the recently introduced Asian longhorn beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) infesting hardwood trees in Finland. We studied the cultivable fungal associates obtained from Populus tremula colonised by S. carcharias, and Betula pendula and Salix caprea infested by A. glabripennis, and compared these to the samples collected from intact wood material. This study detected a number of plant pathogenic and saprotrophic fungi, and species with known potential for enzymatic degradation of wood components. Phylogenetic analyses of the most commonly encountered fungi isolated from the longhorn beetles revealed an association with fungi residing in the Cadophora-Mollisia species complex. A commonly encountered fungus was Cadophora spadicis, a recently described fungus associated with wood-decay. In addition, a novel species of Cadophora, for which the name Cadophora margaritata sp. nov. is provided, was isolated from the colonised wood.Peer reviewe

Patterns of tree species usage by long-horned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Fiji

This study investigated cerambycid long-horned beetles in a lowland tropical forest in Fiji and produced 18 new records of beetle-tree associations along with data on beetle phenology and development times. Beetles were reared from timber baits exposed for 1 month to ovipositing females in the Savura Forest Park, Viti Levu. Twelve native, locally common tree species representing 10 families were examined. For each tree, two baits consisting of 16 kg of freshly cut branches were exposed in each of four time periods between June 2008 and May 2009. Eighteen cerambycid species and 557 individual beetles were reared from the 96 baits, with three of the beetle species probably being undescribed. Ceresium was the most abundant genus, representing almost 90% of all individuals reared, with most adults emerging between 4 and 6 months after the timber baits were exposed. Seventeen of the 18 beetle species each emerged from timber belonging to a single tree species, although more rearing records are required to support the high level of host-plant specificity reported here