Parasitoids (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of diptera (Insecta) collected at different altitudes and substrates in Parque da Serra de Caldas Novas, Goias, Brazil

This study reports the occurrence of parasitoids of diptera collected from five different substrates – human feces, bovine liver, fruits, chicken and fish – at 740 and 1000 meters above sea level in the Serra de Caldas Novas Park, in Caldas Novas, State of Goiás, Brazil. The pupae were obtained by the flotation method and individually placed in gelatin capsules until the emergence of the adult of diptera or their parasitoids. From August 2003 to July 2004, 1407 parasitoids emerged from 2946 puparia of diptera: 211 parasitoids at 740 meters and 1196 specimens at 1000 meters above sea level. Nasonia vitripennis (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) was the most frequent species at 1000 meters, with a frequency of 79.6% of all collected specimens. The total percentages of parasitism at 740 and 1000 meters were 13.4% and 9.1%, respectively

Ragweed plants grown under elevated CO₂ levels produce pollen which elicit stronger allergic lung inflammation.

Background Common ragweed has been spreading as a neophyte in Europe. Elevated CO2 levels, a hallmark of global climate change, have been shown to increase ragweed pollen production, but their effects on pollen allergenicity remain to be elucidated.Methods Ragweed was grown in climate-controlled chambers under normal (380 ppm, control) or elevated (700 ppm, based on RCP4.5 scenario) CO2 levels. Aqueous pollen extracts (RWE) from control- or CO2-pollen were administered in vivo in a mouse model for allergic disease (daily for 3-11 days, n = 5) and employed in human in vitro systems of nasal epithelial cells (HNECs), monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs), and HNEC-DC co-cultures. Additionally, adjuvant factors and metabolites in control- and CO2-RWE were investigated using ELISA and untargeted metabolomics.Results In vivo, CO2-RWE induced stronger allergic lung inflammation compared to control-RWE, as indicated by lung inflammatory cell infiltrate and mediators, mucus hypersecretion, and serum total IgE. In vitro, HNECs stimulated with RWE increased indistinctively the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-8, IL-1 beta, and IL-6). In contrast, supernatants from CO2-RWE-stimulated HNECs, compared to control-RWE-stimulated HNECS, significantly increased TNF and decreased IL-10 production in DCs. Comparable results were obtained by stimulating DCs directly with RWEs. The metabolome analysis revealed differential expression of secondary plant metabolites in control- vs CO2-RWE. Mixes of these metabolites elicited similar responses in DCs as compared to respective RWEs.Conclusion Our results indicate that elevated ambient CO2 levels elicit a stronger RWE-induced allergic response in vivo and in vitro and that RWE increased allergenicity depends on the interplay of multiple metabolites