The Effects of Different Wavelengths of Light on Tribolium castaneum

Citation: Pfannenstiel, L. (2017). The Effects of Different Wavelengths of Light on Tribolium castaneum . 1st Annual Undergraduate Research Experience in Entomology Symposium, November 16, 2016. Manhattam, KS.Insects are known to be able to see different wavelengths of lights than humans can see. Because of this, there has been a lot of research done into using light to prevent damage caused by storedproduct pests. Common pests that research has been performed on are psocids (Diaz-Montano et al., 2015) and fruit flies (Saranwong et al., 2011). One of the biggest pests of stored-products is the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Research on the attraction of different wavelengths of light has already been done on these beetles and published (Duehl et al., 2011), and my project mirrors that research. My hypothesis was that the shorter wavelengths of light would attract red flour beetles while the longer wavelengths of light would have no effect. My results show that, compared to a white light, the shorter wavelength light attracted more beetles. Compared to no light, there wasn’t a definite trend in wavelength of lights and attractiveness. The attractiveness of short-wavelength lights could be used to make traps for red flour beetles more effective and prevent damage to storedgrains

Exploring the molecular interface between hypoxia-inducible factor signalling and mitochondria.

Oxygen is required for the survival of the majority of eukaryotic organisms, as it is important for many cellular processes. Eukaryotic cells utilize oxygen for the production of biochemical energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) generated from the catabolism of carbon-rich fuels such as glucose, lipids and glutamine. The intracellular sites of oxygen consumption-coupled ATP production are the mitochondria, double-membraned organelles that provide a dynamic and multifaceted role in cell signalling and metabolism. Highly evolutionarily conserved molecular mechanisms exist to sense and respond to changes in cellular oxygen levels. The primary transcriptional regulators of the response to decreased oxygen levels (hypoxia) are the hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), which play important roles in both physiological and pathophysiological contexts. In this review we explore the relationship between HIF-regulated signalling pathways and the mitochondria, including the regulation of mitochondrial metabolism, biogenesis and distribution

Survey of Trogoderma species (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) associated with international trade of dried distiller’s grains and solubles in the USA: Presentation

Dried distiller’s grains and solubles, DDGS, is a valuable commodity with substantial international trade. Vietnam discovered an infestation of Trogoderma inclusum, an actionable quarantine pest, in DDGS from the USA in 2012. All subsequent shipments to Vietnam were required to be fumigated. A shipment to Vietnam from the USA 2015 was then discovered with T. variabile. We surveyed the presence and activity of T. inclusum and T. variabile at locations in the USA that provide DDGSs for shipment to Vietnam. Seven facilities in four states that either produced DDGSs or that facilitated bulk shipments were studied. Pheromone traps were deployed at each location and monitored for several weeks. T. variaible was trapped at all seven sites while T. inclusum was trapped at just five of these. T. variabile were captured in nearly every trapping period and at higher numbers than T. inclusum at five locations, while two locations captured more T. inclusum than T. variabile. Spatial variation seemed to occur within each site, but there was no common pattern among facilities. Substantial numbers of beetles were caught in the outdoor sticky flight traps for most locations, except for relatively low flight trap numbers at locations 1, 4 and 6. The results show that T. variabile and T. inclusum are commonly associated with DDGSs produced in the USA, that these beetles could infest product being shipped overseas, and provide information that can be used to develop risk assessment and pest management programs for the future.Dried distiller’s grains and solubles, DDGS, is a valuable commodity with substantial international trade. Vietnam discovered an infestation of Trogoderma inclusum, an actionable quarantine pest, in DDGS from the USA in 2012. All subsequent shipments to Vietnam were required to be fumigated. A shipment to Vietnam from the USA 2015 was then discovered with T. variabile. We surveyed the presence and activity of T. inclusum and T. variabile at locations in the USA that provide DDGSs for shipment to Vietnam. Seven facilities in four states that either produced DDGSs or that facilitated bulk shipments were studied. Pheromone traps were deployed at each location and monitored for several weeks. T. variaible was trapped at all seven sites while T. inclusum was trapped at just five of these. T. variabile were captured in nearly every trapping period and at higher numbers than T. inclusum at five locations, while two locations captured more T. inclusum than T. variabile. Spatial variation seemed to occur within each site, but there was no common pattern among facilities. Substantial numbers of beetles were caught in the outdoor sticky flight traps for most locations, except for relatively low flight trap numbers at locations 1, 4 and 6. The results show that T. variabile and T. inclusum are commonly associated with DDGSs produced in the USA, that these beetles could infest product being shipped overseas, and provide information that can be used to develop risk assessment and pest management programs for the future

Propositionalism without propositions, objectualism without objects

Propositionalism is the view that all intentional states are propositional states, which are states with a propositional content, while objectualism is the view that at least some intentional states are objectual states, which are states with objectual contents, such as objects, properties, and kinds. This paper argues that there are two distinct ways of understanding propositionalism and objectualism: (1) as views about the deep nature of the contents of intentional states, and (2) as views about the superficial character of the contents of intentional states. I argue that we should understand the views in the second way. I also argue that the propositionalism debate is fairly independent from debates over the deep nature of intentionality, and that this has implications for arguments for propositionalism and objectualism from claims about the nature of intentional content. I close with a short discussion of how related points apply to the debate over singular content

The Contextual Essentiality of Mitochondrial Genes in Cancer

Mitochondria are key organelles in eukaryotic evolution that perform crucial roles as metabolic and cellular signaling hubs. Mitochondrial function and dysfunction are associated with a range of diseases, including cancer. Mitochondria support cancer cell proliferation through biosynthetic reactions and their role in signaling, and can also promote tumorigenesis via processes such as the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The advent of (nuclear) genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 deletion screens has provided gene-level resolution of the requirement of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes (NEMGs) for cancer cell viability (essentiality). More recently, it has become apparent that the essentiality of NEMGs is highly dependent on the cancer cell context. In particular, key tumor microenvironmental factors such as hypoxia, and changes in nutrient (e.g., glucose) availability, significantly influence the essentiality of NEMGs. In this mini-review we will discuss recent advances in our understanding of the contribution of NEMGs to cancer from CRISPR-Cas9 deletion screens, and discuss emerging concepts surrounding the context-dependent nature of mitochondrial gene essentiality

Reparameterization Invariance for Collinear Operators

We discuss restrictions on operators in the soft-collinear effective theory (SCET) which follow from the ambiguity in the decomposition of collinear momenta and the freedom in the choice of light-like basis vectors $n$ and $\bar n$. Invariance of SCET under small changes in $n$ and/or $\bar n$ implies a symmetry of the effective theory that constrains the form of allowed operators with collinear fields. The restrictions occur at a given order in the power counting as well as between different orders. As an example, we present the complete set of higher order operators that are related to the collinear quark kinetic term.Comment: 11 page

Radiation pions in two-nucleon effective field theory

For interactions involving two or more nucleons it is useful to divide pions into three classes: potential, radiation, and soft. The momentum threshold for the production of radiation pions is $Q_r = \sqrt{M_N m_\pi}$. We show that radiation pions can be included systematically with a power counting in $Q_r$. The leading order radiation pion graphs which contribute to NN scattering are evaluated in the PDS and OS renormalization schemes and are found to give a small contribution. The power counting for soft pion contributions is also discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figs, journal versio

Identification of a non-purple tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase: an evolutionary link to Ser/Thr protein phosphatases?

BACKGROUND Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatases (TRAcPs), also known as purple acid phosphatases (PAPs), are a family of binuclear metallohydrolases that have been identified in plants, animals and fungi. The human enzyme is a major histochemical marker for the diagnosis of bone-related diseases. TRAcPs can occur as a small form possessing only the ~35 kDa catalytic domain, or a larger ~55 kDa form possessing both a catalytic domain and an additional N-terminal domain of unknown function. Due to its role in bone resorption the 35 kDa TRAcP has become a promising target for the development of anti-osteoporotic chemotherapeutics. FINDINGS A new human gene product encoding a metallohydrolase distantly related to the ~55 kDa plant TRAcP was identified and characterised. The gene product is found in a number of animal species, and is present in all tissues sampled by the RIKEN mouse transcriptome project. Construction of a homology model illustrated that six of the seven metal-coordinating ligands in the active site are identical to that observed in the TRAcP family. However, the tyrosine ligand associated with the charge transfer transition and purple color of TRAcPs is replaced by a histidine. CONCLUSION The gene product identified here may represent an evolutionary link between TRAcPs and Ser/Thr protein phosphatases. Its biological function is currently unknown but is unlikely to be associated with bone metabolism.This work was funded by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene through a Dennis Burkitt Fellowship to JJM. ARD is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council. JJM is supported by a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship (GR074833MA)

CHCHD4 regulates tumour proliferation and EMT-related phenotypes, through respiratory chain-mediated metabolism

Abstract: Background: Mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) via the respiratory chain is required for the maintenance of tumour cell proliferation and regulation of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related phenotypes through mechanisms that are not fully understood. The essential mitochondrial import protein coiled-coil helix coiled-coil helix domain-containing protein 4 (CHCHD4) controls respiratory chain complex activity and oxygen consumption, and regulates the growth of tumours in vivo. In this study, we interrogate the importance of CHCHD4-regulated mitochondrial metabolism for tumour cell proliferation and EMT-related phenotypes, and elucidate key pathways involved. Results: Using in silico analyses of 967 tumour cell lines, and tumours from different cancer patient cohorts, we show that CHCHD4 expression positively correlates with OXPHOS and proliferative pathways including the mTORC1 signalling pathway. We show that CHCHD4 expression significantly correlates with the doubling time of a range of tumour cell lines, and that CHCHD4-mediated tumour cell growth and mTORC1 signalling is coupled to respiratory chain complex I (CI) activity. Using global metabolomics analysis, we show that CHCHD4 regulates amino acid metabolism, and that CHCHD4-mediated tumour cell growth is dependent on glutamine. We show that CHCHD4-mediated tumour cell growth is linked to CI-regulated mTORC1 signalling and amino acid metabolism. Finally, we show that CHCHD4 expression in tumours is inversely correlated with EMT-related gene expression, and that increased CHCHD4 expression in tumour cells modulates EMT-related phenotypes. Conclusions: CHCHD4 drives tumour cell growth and activates mTORC1 signalling through its control of respiratory chain mediated metabolism and complex I biology, and also regulates EMT-related phenotypes of tumour cells