Insect diversity, community composition and damage index on wild and cultivated murtilla

Plant domestication is a process in which plants’ chemical defenses that help them cope with herbivores might decline. Consequences of this process could be reflected in an increase in insect pests. Therefore, we carried out a survey to contrast the diversity, damage indexes and insect assemblages between cultivated and wild "Murtilla" (Ugni molinae) plants. The main scientific question put forward in this paper is as follows: Is there a decrease in diversity and an increase in both insect assemblages and damage indexes associated with the domestication process in U. molinae plants? The objective of this report was to compare the structure of a taxonomic assemblage collected in both wild and cultivated plants and their temporal variation over the year. Seven ecotypes and their respective wild populations were selected for these studies. The results showed higher insect assemblages in wild parents (77.35%) vs. cultivated (22.7%). The damage indexes were also higher in wild plants (0.23). The diversity indexes according to Margalef (12.98), the Shannon index (5.15) and the Simpson index (19.04) were higher in wild plants. Moreover, approximately 60 species were determínate. We detected changes in insect assemblages, damage and diversity indexes that could suggest that murtilla domestication has altered insect assemblages.M. Chacón-Fuentes, M. Lizama, L. Parra, I Seguel y A. Quiroz. 2016. Diversidad, composición de la comunidad de insectos e índice de daño, en murtillas silvestres y cultivadas. Cien. Inv. Agr. 43(1):57-67. La domesticación vegetal es un proceso en el cual las plantas pueden disminuir su nivel de defensas químicas para combatir herbívoros. Algunas de las posibles consecuencias podrían reflejarse en un incremento en el número y en la diversidad de insectos. Por lo tanto, se realizó un "survey" para comparar el índice de daño y la diversidad de insectos en plantas cultivadas y silvestres de murtilla (Ugni molinae). La principal interrogante de este trabajo fue: ¿La domesticación en plantas de murtilla, disminuirá la diversidad e incrementará el índice de daño y la comunidad de insectos? El objetivo de esta investigación fue comparar la población de insectos asociada a plantas silvestres y cultivadas además de analizar su variación durante el año. Siete ecotipos y sus correspondientes contrapartes silvestres fueron seleccionadas para este estudio. Los resultados mostraron un mayor número de insectos en plantas silvestres (77,35%) vs. (22,7%) cultivadas. El índice de daño fue mayor en plantas silvestres (0,23) comparada con plantas cultivadas. El índice de Margalef mostró la mayor riqueza de insectos en plantas cultivadas. Sin embargo, el índice de Shannon fue mayor (5.15) en plantas silvestres. Además, cerca de 60 especies de insectos fueron determinadas. Se detectaron cambios en la comunidad de insectos, índices de daño y diversidad que podrían sugerir que la domesticación en murtilla ha alterado la comunidad de insectos

Virtual Screening of Plant Volatile Compounds Reveals a High Affinity of Hylamorpha elegans (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Odorant-Binding Proteins for Sesquiterpenes From Its Native Host

Indexación: Web of ScienceHylamorpha elegans (Burmeister) is a native Chilean scarab beetle considered to be a relevant agricultural pest to pasture and cereal and small fruit crops. Because of their cryptic habits, control with conventional methods is difficult; therefore, alternative and environmentally friendly control strategies are highly desirable. The study of proteins that participate in the recognition of odorants, such as odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), offers interesting opportunities to identify new compounds with the potential to modify pest behavior and computational screening of compounds, which is commonly used in drug discovery, may help to accelerate the discovery of new semiochemicals. Here, we report the discovery of four OBPs in H. elegans as well as six new volatiles released by its native host Nothofagus obliqua (Mirbel). Molecular docking performed between OBPs and new and previously reported volatiles from N. obliqua revealed the best binding energy values for sesquiterpenic compounds. Despite remarkable divergence at the amino acid level, three of the four OBPs evaluated exhibited the best interaction energy for the same ligands. Molecular dynamics investigation reinforced the importance of sesquiterpenes, showing that hydrophobic residues of the OBPs interacted most frequently with the tested ligands, and binding free energy calculations demonstrated van der Waals and hydrophobic interactions to be the most important. Altogether, the results suggest that sesquiterpenes are interesting candidates for in vitro and in vivo assays to assess their potential application in pest management strategies.http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/1/3

Reflexión: sostenibilidad y procesos de calidad en una revista científica latinoamericana

A raíz de este proceso de maduración de la Revista Ingeniería Biomédica, y de los retos que afronta al mediano y corto plazo, que analizamos brevemente una serie de cuestionamientos sobre la sostenibilidad y la calidad de las revistas científi cas en el contexto latinoamericano. En este artículo de refl exión, si bien utilizamos la Revista como un ejemplo específi co a lo largo de la discusión, buscamos promover una refl exión general sobre la interacción revista-investigador en nuestro medio, y el rol que ambos están llamados a desempeñar para el avance continuo de la ciencia

Lesión renal aguda en trabajadores rurales: Una nefropatía por estrés ambiental

Introducción: la nefropatía mesoamericana es una nefropatía túbulo-intersticial cuya etiología aún se desconoce. Sin embargo, se han descrito casos clínicos similares a esta en otras regiones geográficamente distantes y étnicamente diversas. Aun así, todos tienen un factor común: la intensidad del calor y el trabajo físico rural. Objetivo: estudiar si esta entidad podría presentarse entre trabajadores rurales de una región no mesoamericana con condiciones climáticas y laborales similares, en el campo del Caribe colombiano y considerar cuánto podría pesar en su patogénesis la deshidratación repetitiva. Materiales y metodología: se realizó un estudio observacional, basado en un trabajo de campo en una finca de Sitio Nuevo (Colombia) en 28 voluntarios trabajadores rurales (arrozales), a quienes se les tomó peso, presión arterial y muestras de sangre y orina para medir electrolitos y osmolaridad, en 2 momentos del día (mañana y tarde). Resultados: de los 28 trabajadores jóvenes evaluados, 5 (18 %) presentaron aumento significativo de la creatinina sérica durante el día (0,8±0,15 vs 1,2±0,17, p<0,001). El volumen de agua ingerido por los trabajadores fue muy variable (2.861 ± 1.591 cc). Hubo un aumento significativo en los valores de sodio sérico (p<0,001) y osmolaridad urinaria (p=0,01) entre los valores de la mañana y la tarde en estos 5 pacientes. Conclusión: el dieciocho por ciento de los trabajadores evaluados desarrolló parámetros compatibles con daño renal agudo y deshidratación durante la jornada laboral en el campo del Caribe colombiano.Introduction: Mesoamerican nephropathy is a tubule-interstitial nephropathy whose etiology is still unknown. However, clinical cases like Mesoamerican nephropathy have been described in other geographically distant and ethnically diverse regions. Still, they all have a common factor: the intensity of heat and rural physical labor. Objective: To study whether this entity could occur among rural workers in a non-Mesoamerican region with similar climatic and working conditions, in the Colombian Caribbean countryside, and to consider how much repetitive dehydration could weigh in its pathogenesis. Methodology: An observational study was carried out, based on field work in a farm in Sitio Nuevo (Colombia) with 28 rural worker volunteers (rice fields), who were measured for weight, blood pressure, and blood and urine samples to measure electrolytes and osmolarity, at 2 times of the day (morning and evening). Results: Of the 28 young men workers evaluated, 5 (18 %) presented a significant increase in serum creatinine during the day (0.8±0.15 vs 1.2±0.17, p<0.001). The volume of water ingested by the workers was highly variable (2,861 ± 1,591 cc). There was a significant increase in serum sodium (p<0.001), and urinary osmolarity (p=0.01) values between morning and afternoon values in these 5 patients. Conclusions: Eighteen percent (18 %) of the workers evaluated developed parameters compatible with acute kidney injury and dehydration during the workday in the Colombian Caribbean countryside.Fil: Musso, Carlos. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Aroca Martínez, Gustavo. Universidad Simon Bolivar.; Venezuela. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Avendaño Echavez, Lil. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Cadena Bonfanti, Andrés. Universidad Simon Bolivar.; Venezuela. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Castillo, Luis. Clínica de la Costa; Colombia. Universidad Simon Bolivar.; VenezuelaFil: González Torres, Henry. Clínica de la Costa; Colombia. Universidad Simon Bolivar.; VenezuelaFil: Conde, Juan C.. Clínica de la Costa; Colombia. Universidad Simon Bolivar.; VenezuelaFil: Navarro Quiroz, Elkin. Universidad Simon Bolivar.; Venezuela. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Peña Vargas, William. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Hernandez, Sandra. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Velez Verbel, María de los Ángeles. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Perez, Rafael. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Sierra, Angélica. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Rua, Zenen. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Palmera, Jorge. Clínica de la Costa; ColombiaFil: Terrasa, Sergio Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Hospital Italiano; Argentin

Abundance and Distribution Patterns of Thunnus albacares in Isla del Coco National Park through Predictive Habitat Suitability Models

Information on the distribution and habitat preferences of ecologically and commercially important species is essential for their management and protection. This is especially important as climate change, pollution, and overfishing change the structure and functioning of pelagic ecosystems. In this study, we used Bayesian hierarchical spatial-temporal models to map the Essential Fish Habitats of the Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the waters around Isla del Coco National Park, Pacific Costa Rica, based on independent underwater observations from 1993 to 2013. We assessed if observed changes in the distribution and abundance of this species are related with habitat characteristics, fishing intensity or more extreme climatic events, including the El Niño Southern Oscillation, and changes on the average sea surface temperature. Yellowfin tuna showed a decreasing abundance trend in the sampled period, whereas higher abundances were found in shallow and warmer waters, with high concentration of chlorophyll-a, and in surrounding seamounts. In addition, El Niño Southern Oscillation events did not seem to affect Yellowfin tuna distribution and abundance. Understanding the habitat preferences of this species, using approaches as the one developed here, may help design integrated programs for more efficient management of vulnerable species.Marine Stewardship Council/[]/MSC/LondresUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

A phenome-wide association and Mendelian Randomisation study of polygenic risk for depression in UK Biobank.

Depression is a leading cause of worldwide disability but there remains considerable uncertainty regarding its neural and behavioural associations. Here, using non-overlapping Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) datasets as a reference, we estimate polygenic risk scores for depression (depression-PRS) in a discovery (N = 10,674) and replication (N = 11,214) imaging sample from UK Biobank. We report 77 traits that are significantly associated with depression-PRS, in both discovery and replication analyses. Mendelian Randomisation analysis supports a potential causal effect of liability to depression on brain white matter microstructure (β: 0.125 to 0.868, pFDR < 0.043). Several behavioural traits are also associated with depression-PRS (β: 0.014 to 0.180, pFDR: 0.049 to 1.28 × 10-14) and we find a significant and positive interaction between depression-PRS and adverse environmental exposures on mental health outcomes. This study reveals replicable associations between depression-PRS and white matter microstructure. Our results indicate that white matter microstructure differences may be a causal consequence of liability to depression

Classical Human Leukocyte Antigen Alleles and C4 Haplotypes Are Not Significantly Associated With Depression

Background The prevalence of depression is higher in individuals with autoimmune diseases, but the mechanisms underlying the observed comorbidities are unknown. Shared genetic etiology is a plausible explanation for the overlap, and in this study we tested whether genetic variation in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is associated with risk for autoimmune diseases, is also associated with risk for depression. Methods We fine-mapped the classical MHC (chr6: 29.6–33.1 Mb), imputing 216 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and 4 complement component 4 (C4) haplotypes in studies from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Major Depressive Disorder Working Group and the UK Biobank. The total sample size was 45,149 depression cases and 86,698 controls. We tested for association between depression status and imputed MHC variants, applying both a region-wide significance threshold (3.9 × 10−6) and a candidate threshold (1.6 × 10−4). Results No HLA alleles or C4 haplotypes were associated with depression at the region-wide threshold. HLA-B*08:01 was associated with modest protection for depression at the candidate threshold for testing in HLA genes in the meta-analysis (odds ratio = 0.98, 95 confidence interval = 0.97–0.99). Conclusions We found no evidence that an increased risk for depression was conferred by HLA alleles, which play a major role in the genetic susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, or C4 haplotypes, which are strongly associated with schizophrenia. These results suggest that any HLA or C4 variants associated with depression either are rare or have very modest effect sizes

Field response of Hylastinus obscurus Marsham (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to E-2-hexenal and limonene, two host-derived semiochemicals

L. Parra, A. Mutis, F. Ortega, and A. Quiroz. 2013. Field response of Hylastinus obscurus Marsham (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to ,E-2-hexenal and limonene, two host-derived semiochemicals. Cien. Inv. Agr. 40(3): 637-642. Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), a valuable legume in Chile, is important mainly for seed production and as forage for animal production. Although it is considered a perennial, the productivity of this legume declines during the second year of growth primarily because of infestation by the red clover root borer, Hylastinus obscurus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Currently, there is no efficient method for controlling this insect, although the use of semiochemicals may provide a new alternative to reduce the damage caused by this curculionid. In this context, E-2-hexenal and limonene, which were previously determined to be an attractant and a repellent, respectively, for H. obscurus, were released from dispensers established in two cultivars (Quiñequeli INIA and Superqueli INIA) and one experimental line (Syn II Pre III) of red clover at the Centro Regional de Investigación Carillanca (INIA-Carillanca) (Vilcún, Chile). H. obscurus was found in significantly higher numbers on plants from areas treated with E-2-hexenal than from areas treated with limonene or in areas that were left untreated as control areas. However, this attractiveness was influenced by the red clover source such that the effect of E-2-hexenal was observed in Superqueli INIA and Syn II Pre III but not in Quiñequeli INIA. Unlike previous studies, limonene had no effect on H. obscurus. Our results provide the first evidence under field conditions for the potential use of E-2-hexenal as an attractant for the red clover root borer H. obscurus.L. Parra, A. Mutis, F. Ortega y A. Quiroz. 2013. Respuesta de Hylastinus obscurus Marsham (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) a ,E-2-hexenal y limoneno, dos semioquímicos derivados de su hospedero, en condiciones de campo. Cien. Inv. Agr. 40(3): 637-642. El trébol rosado es una valiosa leguminosa, cuya importancia en Chile radica principalmente en la producción de semillas y su uso como alimento forrajero. A pesar de ser una planta perenne, su producción declina durante el segundo año de establecida, debido principalmente a la infestación del barrenador de la raíz del trébol Hylastinus obscurus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Actualmente no existe un método de control eficiente contra este insecto, por lo tanto, el uso de semioquímicos surge como una nueva alternativa para disminuir los daños ocasionados por este curculiónido. En este contexto, E-2-hexenal y limoneno, determinados previamente como atrayente y repelente a H. obscurus, fueron dispuestos en dispensadores de liberación lenta establecidas en dos cultivares y una línea experimental de trébol rosado en Centro de Investigación INIA Carillanca (Vilcún, Chile). Las evaluaciones indican que H. obscurus fue significativamente encontrado en mayor proporción en plantas sometidas al tratamiento con E-2-hexenal, comparadas con limoneno y el control. Sin embargo, este efecto atrayente fue influenciado por los cultivares y línea experimental de trébol rosado, de tal manera que el efecto de E-2-hexenal fue observado en Superqueli INIA y Syn II Pre III, pero no en Quiñequeli INIA. En contraste a previos estudios, limoneno no tuvo efecto sobre H. obscurus. Nuestros resultados permiten establecer la primera evidencia bajo condiciones de campo del potencial uso, especialmente E-2-hexenal, como un atrayente para H. obscurus

Procedimiento quirúrgico Habronemiasis atípica en equino

Con el fin de identificar y caracterizar un problema patológico presente en un equino criollo, hembra con 4 años de edad, en la cual aparece un tejido de reacción inflamatorio caracterizado por una masa que impedía la respiración normal del padeciente, observándose un tejido rojo de granulación a nivel de la fosa nasal izquierda. Dicha molestia, impedía el funcionamiento respiratorio, físico y también reproductivo reduciendo su valor comercial. Mediante procedim iento quirúrgico se retira en su mayoría el tejido respetando el espacio del padeciente y el bienestar animal. Lográndose con esto. y la ayuda de un protocolo farmacológico disecar dicha patología

Host-plant chemicals and distribution of Neuquenaphis on Nothofagus

Extractable metabolites from leaves (EM) and volatiles released from six Nothofagus species were analyzed by TLC and GC-MS, respectively. Aphids of the genus Neuquenaphis, closely associated to Nothofagus, were sampled on each Nothofagus species. Cluster analyses of Nothofagus species were performed based on the presence or absence of EM and volatiles. Dissimilarity distances, from the cluster analyses of EM and volatiles, were used to evaluate their association with the aphid distribution. A major component identified from EM and volatiles of three species of Nothofagus, α- agarofuran, was attractive to alates of the oligophagous Neuquenaphis sensoriata, which use them as hosts. These results suggest that chemicals play a significant role in the host-plant associations between Neuquenaphis and Nothofagus