New Insights into Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Pheromone Communication. Is the Queen Mandibular Pheromone Alone in Colony Regulation?

Background: In social insects, the queen is essential to the functioning and homeostasis of the colony. This influencehas been demonstrated to be mediated through pheromone communication. However, the only social insect forwhich any queen pheromone has been identified is the honey bee (Apis mellifera) with its well-known queenmandibular pheromone (QMP). Although pleiotropic effects on colony regulation are accredited to the QMP, thispheromone does not trigger the full behavioral and physiological response observed in the presence of the queen,suggesting the presence of additional compounds. We tested the hypothesis of a pheromone redundancy in honeybee queens by comparing the influence of queens with and without mandibular glands on worker behavior andphysiology.Results: Demandibulated queens had no detectable (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid (9-ODA), the major compound in QMP,yet they controlled worker behavior (cell construction and queen retinue) and physiology (ovary inhibition) asefficiently as intact queens.Conclusions: We demonstrated that the queen uses other pheromones as powerful as QMP to control the colony. Itfollows that queens appear to have multiple active compounds with similar functions in the colony (pheromoneredundancy). Our findings support two hypotheses in the biology of social insects: (1) that multiple semiochemicalswith synonymous meaning exist in the honey bee, (2) that this extensive semiochemical vocabulary exists because itconfers an evolutionary advantage to the colony

The Strategy of Civil Conflict: The Determinants of Conflict Intensity and Effect of Intensity on Duration

Conflict onset and duration have been studied extensively, however the dynamics of what happens within a conflict have received much less attention. At the center of the issue of conflict dynamics is conflict intensity. Some civil conflicts resemble interstate wars with armies using conventional tactics which kill thousands of people per year, while many others consist of small guerrilla conflicts that kill only dozens. The capabilities of the rebel groups in these conflicts determine the tactics they will adopt, which in turn determines how intensely the conflict will be fought. Foreign intervention into civil conflicts influences the tactical decisions of actors, further increasing conflict intensity. To add to the disastrous effects of high-intensity conflicts, when intensity increases, conflicts also last longer, increasing the period over which the damage from these conflicts is inflicted

Analysis of Laser Acceleration in a Semi-infinite Space as Inverse Transition Radiation

This article calculates the energy gain of a single relativistic electron interacting with a single gaussian beam that is terminated by a metallic reflector at normal incidence by two different methods: the electric field integral along the path of the electron, and the overlap integral of the transition radiation pattern from the conductive foil with the laser beam. It is shown that for this instance the two calculation methods yield the same expression for the expected energy change of the electron

Water Oxidation by a Cytochrome P450: Mechanism and Function of the Reaction

P450cam (CYP101A1) is a bacterial monooxygenase that is known to catalyze the oxidation of camphor, the first committed step in camphor degradation, with simultaneous reduction of oxygen (O2). We report that P450cam catalysis is controlled by oxygen levels: at high O2 concentration, P450cam catalyzes the known oxidation reaction, whereas at low O2 concentration the enzyme catalyzes the reduction of camphor to borneol. We confirmed, using 17O and 2H NMR, that the hydrogen atom added to camphor comes from water, which is oxidized to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This is the first time a cytochrome P450 has been observed to catalyze oxidation of water to H2O2, a difficult reaction to catalyze due to its high barrier. The reduction of camphor and simultaneous oxidation of water are likely catalyzed by the iron-oxo intermediate of P450cam, and we present a plausible mechanism that accounts for the 1:1 borneol:H2O2 stoichiometry we observed. This reaction has an adaptive value to bacteria that express this camphor catabolism pathway, which requires O2, for two reasons: 1) the borneol and H2O2 mixture generated is toxic to other bacteria and 2) borneol down-regulates the expression of P450cam and its electron transfer partners. Since the reaction described here only occurs under low O2 conditions, the down-regulation only occurs when O2 is scarce

Chemotaxis by Pseudomonas putida (ATCC 17453) Towards Camphor Involves Cytochrome P450cam (CYP101A1)

The camphor-degrading microorganism, Pseudomonas putida strain ATCC 17453, is an aerobic, gram-negative soil bacterium that uses camphor as its sole carbon and energy source. The genes responsible for the catabolic degradation of camphor are encoded on the extra-chromosomal CAM plasmid. A monooxygenase, cytochrome P450cam, mediates hydroxylation of camphor to 5-exo-hydroxycamphor as the first and committed step in the camphor degradation pathway, requiring a dioxygen molecule (O2) from air. Under low O2 levels, P450cam catalyzes the production of borneol via an unusual reduction reaction. We have previously shown that borneol downregulates the expression of P450cam. To understand the function of P450cam and the consequences of down-regulation by borneol under low O2 conditions, we have studied chemotaxis of camphor induced and non-induced P. putida strain ATCC 17453. We have tested camphor, borneol, oxidized camphor metabolites and known bacterial attractants (D)-glucose, (D) - and (L)-glutamic acid for their elicitation chemotactic behavior. In addition, we have used 1-phenylimidazole, a P450cam inhibitor, to investigate if P450cam plays a role in the chemotactic ability of P. putida in the presence of camphor. We found that camphor, a chemoattractant, became toxic and chemorepellent when P450cam was inhibited. We have also evaluated the effect of borneol on chemotaxis and found that the bacteria chemotaxed away from camphor in the presence of borneol. This is the first report of the chemotactic behaviour of P. putida ATCC 17453 and the essential role of P450cam in this process

Microstructure-based laser-driven free-electron laser

a b s t r a c t We propose an all-dielectric laser-driven undulator. This undulator consists of laser-driven deflection structures where the deflection force from the laser is phase-synchronous with the electron beam. This allows for an undulator period that is much greater than the laser wavelength. Due to the possibility of high peak electric fields from ultra-short pulse lasers on dielectric materials, the proposed undulator is expected to produce phase-synchronous GV/m deflection fields on a relativistic electron bunch and therefore lead to a very compact free-electron-based radiation device

Field-Analysis of Vacuum Free-Space LaserAcceleration from Rough-Surface and Absorbing Thin Boundaries

This script presents a field-based analysis of laser acceleration of relativistic electrons in a free space that is bounded by a thin scattering or by a thin absorbing surface. The laser acceleration process is analyzed in terms of the inverse-radiation formalism and compared to the more familiar field path-integral analysis method. When the scattering boundary is modeled as a linear-index medium the predictions for laser-electron interactions from both field methods are found to agree. For the absorbing boundary both interaction pictures are also found to agree provided that the inverse radiation method is generalized to include absorption of energy from the boundary that is modeled as a linear ohmic-loss object

New insights into honey bee (Apis mellifera) pheromone communication. Is the queen mandibular pheromone alone in colony regulation?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In social insects, the queen is essential to the functioning and homeostasis of the colony. This influence has been demonstrated to be mediated through pheromone communication. However, the only social insect for which any queen pheromone has been identified is the honey bee (<it>Apis mellifera</it>) with its well-known queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). Although pleiotropic effects on colony regulation are accredited to the QMP, this pheromone does not trigger the full behavioral and physiological response observed in the presence of the queen, suggesting the presence of additional compounds. We tested the hypothesis of a pheromone redundancy in honey bee queens by comparing the influence of queens with and without mandibular glands on worker behavior and physiology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Demandibulated queens had no detectable (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid (9-ODA), the major compound in QMP, yet they controlled worker behavior (cell construction and queen retinue) and physiology (ovary inhibition) as efficiently as intact queens.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We demonstrated that the queen uses other pheromones as powerful as QMP to control the colony. It follows that queens appear to have multiple active compounds with similar functions in the colony (pheromone redundancy). Our findings support two hypotheses in the biology of social insects: (1) that multiple semiochemicals with synonymous meaning exist in the honey bee, (2) that this extensive semiochemical vocabulary exists because it confers an evolutionary advantage to the colony.</p