Gyne and drone production in bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

For over a decade, our research group has studied the biology of the native bumblebee, Bombus atratus, to investigate the feasibility of using it to pollinate crops such as tomato, strawberry, blackberry and peppers. Traditionally, captive breeding has depended on the use of captured wild queens to initiate the colonies. The goal of the current work is to investigate conditions required to produce new queens and drones in captivity. In this study, 31 colonies were evaluated under either greenhouse or open field conditions over a 15 month period. A total of 1492 drones (D) and 737 gynes (G, i.e., virgin queens) were produced by all colonies, with 16 colonies producing both drones and gynes (D&G), 11 producing only drones (D) and 4 producing neither. Some of the D&G colonies had more than one sexual phase, but no colonies produced exclusively gynes. More drones and fewer gynes were produced per colony under greenhouse conditions with the highest number of drones produced by D&G colonies. The numbers of immature stages per cell declined in colonies as increasingly more resources were allocated to the production of gynes and the maintenance of increased nest temperature

Comparación de algoritmos multiobjetivo inspirados en búsqueda armónica, búsqueda cuco y murciélagos para la ubicación de generación distribuida renovable

Electric power losses have a significant impact on the total costs of distribution networks. The use of renewable energy sources is a major alternative to improve power losses and costs, although other important issues are also enhanced such as voltage magnitudes and network congestion. However, determining the best location and size of renewable energy generators can be sometimes a challenging task due to a large number of possible combinations in the search space. Furthermore, the multiobjective functions increase the complexity of the problem and metaheuristics are preferred to find solutions in a relatively short time. This paper evaluates the performance of the cuckoo search (CS), harmony search (HS), and bat-inspired (BA) algorithms for the location and size of renewable distributed generation (RDG) in radial distribution networks using a multiobjective function defined as minimizing the energy losses and the RDG costs. The metaheuristic algorithms were programmed in Matlab and tested using the 33-node radial distribution network. The three algorithms obtained similar results for the two objectives evaluated, finding points close to the best solutions in the Pareto front. Comparisons showed that the CS obtained the minimum results for most points evaluated, but the BA and the HS were close to the best solution.Las pérdidas eléctricas tienen un impacto significativo en los costos totales de las redes de distribución. El uso de las energías renovables es una gran alternativa para mejorar las pérdidas y los costos, aunque también otros problemas en las magnitudes de las tensiones y la congestión de la red pueden ser mejorados. Sin embargo, determinar la mejor localización y dimensionamiento de generadores eléctricos renovables puede ser a veces una tarea difícil debido al gran número de combinaciones posibles existentes en el espacio de búsqueda. Además, el uso de funciones multiobjetivo incrementa la complejidad del problema y se prefiere usar las metaheurísticas para encontrar soluciones en un tiempo relativamente corto. En este trabajo se evalúa el desempeño de los algoritmos inspirados en búsqueda cuco, búsqueda armónica y murciélagos para la localización y dimensionamiento de la generación distribuida renovable en redes de distribución radiales, usando funciones como la minimización de las pérdidas de energía y los costos de la generación distribuida renovable. Las metaheurísticas fueron programadas en Matlab y evaluadas usando la instancia denominada red de distribución radial de 33 nodos. Los tres algoritmos evaluados obtuvieron resultados similares para los dos objetivos evaluados, encontrando Frentes de Pareto cercanos a las mejores soluciones. La comparación realizada mostró que la búsqueda cuco obtiene los mejores resultados, pero los algoritmos inspirados en murciélagos y búsqueda armónica obtuvieron resultados cercanos a la mejor solución

Genome-wide analysis of ABA-responsive elements ABRE and CE3 reveals divergent patterns in Arabidopsis and rice

Gomez-Porras J, Riano-Pachon DM, Dreyer I, Mayer JE, Mueller-Roeber B. Genome-wide analysis of ABA-responsive elements ABRE and CE3 reveals divergent patterns in Arabidopsis and rice. BMC GENOMICS. 2007;8(1): 260.Background: In plants, complex regulatory mechanisms are at the core of physiological and developmental processes. The phytohormone abscisic acid ( ABA) is involved in the regulation of various such processes, including stomatal closure, seed and bud dormancy, and physiological responses to cold, drought and salinity stress. The underlying tissue or plant-wide control circuits often include combinatorial gene regulatory mechanisms and networks that we are only beginning to unravel with the help of new molecular tools. The increasing availability of genomic sequences and gene expression data enables us to dissect ABA regulatory mechanisms at the individual gene expression level. In this paper we used an insilico-based approach directed towards genome-wide prediction and identification of specific features of ABA-responsive elements. In particular we analysed the genome-wide occurrence and positional arrangements of two well-described ABA-responsive cis-regulatory elements ( CREs), ABRE and CE3, in thale cress ( Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice ( Oryza sativa). Results: Our results show that Arabidopsis and rice use the ABA-responsive elements ABRE and CE3 distinctively. Earlier reports for various monocots have identified CE3 as a coupling element ( CE) associated with ABRE. Surprisingly, we found that while ABRE is equally abundant in both species, CE3 is practically absent in Arabidopsis. ABRE-ABRE pairs are common in both genomes, suggesting that these can form functional ABA-responsive complexes ( ABRCs) in Arabidopsis and rice. Furthermore, we detected distinct combinations, orientation patterns and DNA strand preferences of ABRE and CE3 motifs in rice gene promoters. Conclusion: Our computational analyses revealed distinct recruitment patterns of ABA-responsive CREs in upstream sequences of Arabidopsis and rice. The apparent absence of CE3s in Arabidopsis suggests that another CE pairs with ABRE to establish a functional ABRC capable of interacting with transcription factors. Further studies will be needed to test whether the observed differences are extrapolatable to monocots and dicots in general, and to understand how they contribute to the fine-tuning of the hormonal response. The outcome of our investigation can now be used to direct future experimentation designed to further dissect the ABA-dependent regulatory networks

Sequencing of Vellozia Spp. genomes to understand drought tolerance and phosphorus acquisition in angiosperms.

PE1164. PAG 2019

Valorization of brewer’s spent grain by furfural recovery/removal from subcritical water hydrolysates by pervaporation

This work is focused on the development of a sustainable process for the valorisation of the main by-product generated in the brewing industry, the brewer’s spent grain (BSG). A two-step process combining subcritical water treatment and pervaporation (PV) was proposed to hydrolyse the hemicelluloses fraction of this lignocellulosic biomass and further removal/recovery of some of the degradation products of sugars by using two different organophilic membranes, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyoctilmethylsiloxane (POMS) membranes. Specifically, furfural is the dehydration product of pentoses and it is one of the top biomass-based chemicals being an important platform chemical. For synthetic binary mixtures, lower total permeation flux but higher enrichment factors for furfural were determined for POMS. When dealing with subW hydrolysates, POMS membranes yielded the highest furfural recovery, 94.1 %, with permeate concentrations as high as 40 g⋅L1 . Furthermore, it was assessed that PV is a suitable detoxification method that yielded a retentate nearly free of furfural allowing its use as growth media in the opposite to the subW hydrolysate with inhibitory furfural concentrations for microbial bioprocesses.publishe

Co-expression network analysis identifies possible hub genes in aging of the human prefrontal cortex

Introducción: el envejecimiento es el principal factor de riesgo para el desarrollo de enfermedades crónicas como el cáncer, la diabetes, el Parkinson y el Alzheimer. El sistema nervioso central es particularmente susceptible al deterioro funcional progresivo asociado con la edad, entre las regiones cerebrales con mayor compromiso se encuentra la corteza prefrontal (cpf). Estudios de transcriptómica de esta región han identificado como características fundamentales del proceso de envejecimiento la disminución de la función sináptica y la activación de las células de la neuroglia. No es claro cuáles son las causas iniciales, ni los mecanismos moleculares subyacentes a estas alteraciones. El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar genes clave en la desregulación transcriptómica en el envejecimiento de la cpf para avanzar en el conocimiento de este proceso. Materiales y métodos: se hizo un análisis de coexpresión de genes de los transcriptomas de 45 personas entre 60 y 80 años con el de 38 personas entre 20 y 40 años. Las redes fueron visualizadas y analizadas usando Cytoscape, se usó citoHubba para determinar qué genes tenían las mejores características topológicas en las redes de coexpresión. Resultados: se identificaron cinco genes con características topológicas altas. Cuatro de ellos —hpca, cacng3, ca10, plppr4— reprimidos y uno sobreexpresado —cryab—. Conclusión: los cuatro genes reprimidos se expresan preferencialmente en neuronas y regulan la función sináptica y la plasticidad neuronal, mientras el gen sobreexpresado es típico de células de la glía y se expresa como respuesta a daño neuronal facilitando la mielinización y la regeneración neuronal.Introduction: Aging is the main risk factor for the development of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. The central nervous system is particularly susceptible to progressive functional deterioration associated with age, among the brain regions the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has one of the highest involvements. Transcriptomics studies of this brain region have identified the decrease in synaptic function and activation of neuroglia cells as fundamental characteristics of the aging process. The aim of this study was to identify hub genes in the transcriptomic deregulation in the PFC aging to advance in the knowledge of this process. Materials and methods: A gene co-expression analysis was carried out for 45 people 60 to 80 years old compared with 38 people 20 to 40 years old. The networks were visualized and analyzed using Cytoscape; citoHubba was used to determine which genes had the best topological characteristics in the co-expression networks. Results: Five genes with high topological characteristics were identified. Four of them —HPCA, CACNG3, CA10, PLPPR4— were repressed and one was over-expressed —CRYAB—. Conclusion: The four repressed genes are expressed preferentially in neurons and regulate the synaptic function and the neuronal plasticity, while the overexpressed gene is typical of glial cells and is expressed as a response to neuronal damage, facilitating myelination and neuronal regeneration

Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine-Immunological Basis of the Placebo Effect: Potential Applications beyond Pain Therapy

The placebo effect can be defined as the improvement of symptoms in a patient after the administration of an innocuous substance in a context that induces expectations regarding its effects. During recent years, it has been discovered that the placebo response not only has neurobiological functions on analgesia, but that it is also capable of generating effects on the immune and endocrine systems. The possible integration of changes in different systems of the organism could favor the well-being of the individuals and go hand in hand with conventional treatment for multiple diseases. In this sense, classic conditioning and setting expectations stand out as psychological mechanisms implicated in the placebo effect. Recent advances in neuroimaging studies suggest a relationship between the placebo response and the opioid, cannabinoid, and monoaminergic systems. Likewise, a possible immune response conditioned by the placebo effect has been reported. There is evidence of immune suppression conditioned through the insular cortex and the amygdala, with noradrenalin as the responsible neurotransmitter. Finally, a conditioned response in the secretion of different hormones has been determined in different studies; however, the molecular mechanisms involved are not entirely known. Beyond studies about its mechanism of action, the placebo effect has proved to be useful in the clinical setting with promising results in the management of neurological, psychiatric, and immunologic disorders. However, more research is needed to better characterize its potential use. This review integrates current knowledge about the psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune basis of the placebo effect and its possible clinical applications