61 research outputs found
The potential for mass trapping Lygus rugulipennis and Anthonomus rubi; trap design and efficacy
Cross vane funnel bucket traps with water and detergent captured significantly more A. rubi than sticky traps. L. rugulipennis catches were higher in the cross vane traps, but catches were impeded by the bee excluder grid. There were fewer of the target pest species captured on sticky traps and these devices tended to capture significantly more by-catch (e.g. Diptera) including beneficial insects, e.g. spiders and Carabidae. In the second experiment, the height of the green cross vane had no effect on the numbers of male L. rugulipennis trapped in the funnel traps. However, the higher cross vanes captured more coccinelids and opiliones. In the A. rubi trials there were significantly more individuals in the full height cross vane compared to the half-height or no cross vane treatments.
Hence, the most effective trap for A. rubi and L. rugulipennis is a green Unitrap with no bee excluder grid. We are currently testing this device for mass trapping of both pests
Farnesylated Nuclear Proteins Kugelkern and Lamin Dm0 Affect Nuclear Morphology by Directly Interacting with the Nuclear Membrane
Nuclear shape changes are observed during a variety of developmental processes, pathological conditions and ageing. Here, the molecular mechanism is analyzed how the farnesylated nuclear proteins interact with the nuclear envelope and deform the phospholipid bilayer
Interface engineering of quantum Hall effects in digital transition metal oxide heterostructures
Topological insulators are characterized by a nontrivial band topology driven
by the spin-orbit coupling. To fully explore the fundamental science and
application of topological insulators, material realization is indispensable.
Here we predict, based on tight-binding modeling and first-principles
calculations, that bilayers of perovskite-type transition-metal oxides grown
along the [111] crystallographic axis are potential candidates for
two-dimensional topological insulators. The topological band structure of these
materials can be fine-tuned by changing dopant ions, substrates, and external
gate voltages. We predict that LaAuO bilayers have a
topologically-nontrivial energy gap of about 0.15 eV, which is sufficiently
large to realize the quantum spin-Hall effect at room temperature. Intriguing
phenomena, such as fractional quantum Hall effect, associated with the
nearly-flat topologically-nontrivial bands found in systems are also
discussed.Comment: Main text 11 pages with 4 figures and 1 table. Supplementary
materials 4 pages with 2 figure
The SUN Protein Mps3 Is Required for Spindle Pole Body Insertion into the Nuclear Membrane and Nuclear Envelope Homeostasis
The budding yeast spindle pole body (SPB) is anchored in the nuclear envelope so that it can simultaneously nucleate both nuclear and cytoplasmic microtubules. During SPB duplication, the newly formed SPB is inserted into the nuclear membrane. The mechanism of SPB insertion is poorly understood but likely involves the action of integral membrane proteins to mediate changes in the nuclear envelope itself, such as fusion of the inner and outer nuclear membranes. Analysis of the functional domains of the budding yeast SUN protein and SPB component Mps3 revealed that most regions are not essential for growth or SPB duplication under wild-type conditions. However, a novel dominant allele in the P-loop region, MPS3-G186K, displays defects in multiple steps in SPB duplication, including SPB insertion, indicating a previously unknown role for Mps3 in this step of SPB assembly. Characterization of the MPS3-G186K mutant by electron microscopy revealed severe over-proliferation of the inner nuclear membrane, which could be rescued by altering the characteristics of the nuclear envelope using both chemical and genetic methods. Lipid profiling revealed that cells lacking MPS3 contain abnormal amounts of certain types of polar and neutral lipids, and deletion or mutation of MPS3 can suppress growth defects associated with inhibition of sterol biosynthesis, suggesting that Mps3 directly affects lipid homeostasis. Therefore, we propose that Mps3 facilitates insertion of SPBs in the nuclear membrane by modulating nuclear envelope composition
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