Going underwater: Multiple origins and functional morphology of piercing-sucking feeding and tracheal system adaptations in water scavenger beetle larvae (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea)

Larvae of water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea) are adapted to a wide variety of aquatic habitats, butlittle is known about functional and evolutionary aspects of these adaptations. We review the functional morphologyand evolution of feeding strategies of larvae of the families Hydrophilidae and Epimetopidae based on a detailedscanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, analysis of video records of feeding behaviour and observations ofliving larvae. There are two main types of feeding mechanisms: chewing and piercing-sucking. The character mappingusing the latest phylogenetic hypothesis for Hydrophiloidea infers the chewing system as the ancestral condition. Thepiercing-sucking mechanism evolved at least four times independently: once in Epimetopidae (Epimetopus) and threetimes in Hydrophilidae (Berosini: Berosus + Hemiosus; Laccobiini: Laccobius group; Hydrobiusini: Hybogralius). Thepiercing-sucking apparatus allows underwater extra-oral digestion and decreases the dependence of larvae on an aerialenvironment. A detailed study of the tracheal morphology of the piercing-sucking lineages reveals four independentorigins of the apneustic respiratory system, all of them nested within lineages with piercing-sucking mouthparts. Weconclude that piercing-sucking mouthparts represent a key innovation, which allows for the subsequent adaptation ofthe tracheal system, influences the diversification dynamics of the lineages and allows the shift to new adaptive zones.Fil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Fikácek, Martin. Karlova Univerzita (cuni); República ChecaFil: Minoshima, Yusuke N. Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History; JapónFil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Patricia Laura Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentin

Heteroceridae

La familia Heteroceridae incluye coleópteros semiacuáticosde tamaño pequeño a mediano, conocidos vulgarmentecomo escarabajos variegados amantes del barro.Es un grupo cosmopolita, con representantes en todos loscontinentes excepto la Antártida. Están presentes principalmenteen el centro y norte de la Argentina, dondeadultos y larvas construyen redes de túneles tubulares enla arena o lodo adyacente a cuerpos de agua. Como característicasmorfológicas distintivas los adultos tienen lastibias anteriores armadas con hileras de espinas robustasy los élitros frecuentemente son maculados. Las larvas soncampodeiformes, con cabeza prognata, segmentos torácicosbien desarrollados, primer par de patas cavador y abdomenformado por 10 segmentos, con el último segmentopigopodial. La fauna argentina cuenta con una subfamilia,dos tribus, dos géneros (Heterocerus Fabricius y TropicusPacheco) y 22 especies (cerca del 5% del total mundial).Este capítulo presenta una reseña de los aspectos más salientesde la biología y morfología, y del estado actual delconocimiento sobre esta familia en la Argentina. Tambiénse incluye una clave genérica para los adultos de la faunalocal.The family Heteroceridae includes small to medium sized semiaquatic Coleoptera, commonly known as variegated mud-loving beetles. The group is cosmopolitan, with representatives in all continents except Antarctica. They are present in central and northern Argentina, where both adults and larvae construct branched tubular networks of tunnels in the sand or mud near water bodies. As distinctive morphological features, the adults have the front tibiae armed with rows of robust spines, and the elytra are frequently maculate. Larvae are campodeiform, with prognathous head, well developed thoracic segments, fossorial prolegs and 10-segmented abdomen, with the last segment pygopod-like. The Argentinean fauna of Heteroceridae comprises one subfamily, two tribes, two genera (Heterocerus Fabricius and Tropicus Pacheco) and 22 species (slightly less than 5% of world’s total). This chapter presents an overview of the most important aspects of the biology and morphology of heterocerids, and of current knowledge on the family in Argentina. A generic key to adults of the local fauna is also included.Fil: Torres, Patricia Laura Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; Argentin

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Larval chaetotaxy and morphometry of Megasternini: Cercyon (Paracercyon) Seidlitz, Cryptopleurum Mulsant and Pelosoma Mulsant (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)

The chaetotaxy of the head capsule and head appendages of all the larval instars of Cercyon (Paracercyon) analis and the first and third instars of Cryptopleurum minutum and Pelosoma sp. is described and illustrated for the first time. Morphometric characters derived from the head capsule and mouthparts are also included, together with detailed illustrations of all characters. The morphology and chaetotaxy of these larvae are compared to that of other Megasternini with described larvae. The larval morphology of Megasternini has proven to be very similar, however we provided a group of chaetotaxic characters useful to separate genera. Most of the differences were found in the sensilla of the head capsule, maxilla, and labium, both in size and arrangement, while the chaetotaxy of the antennae and mandibles was strongly conserved.Fil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; Argentin

Chaetotaxy and morphometry of the head capsule and head appendages of the genus Derallus Sharp (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)

The primary and secondary chaetotaxy of the head capsule and head appendages of the three larval instars of the water scavenger beetle genus Derallus Sharp are described for the first time based on two species: D. angustus Sharp and D. paranensis Oliva. Morphometric characters derived from the head capsule and mouthparts are included, together with detailed illustrations of all characters. Chaetotaxy of these larvae is compared with that of Regimbartia attenuata (Fabricius), another species belonging to the Derallus-clade of BerosiniFil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Patricia Laura Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; Argentin

Description of immatures of Berosus decolor Knisch, 1924 (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae: Berosini), with emphasis on chaetotaxy and morphometry

The preimaginal stages of Berosus decolor Knisch, 1924 are described for the first time, including illustrations of the egg case and all larval instars. Larval morphology of this species is studied emphasizing chaetotaxic and morphometric analyses. The egg case lacks a mast and contains 2-3 eggs; all larval instars are characterized by the following features: presence of 6 teeth on anterior margin of nasale; left epistomal lobe carrying 14-16 strong and curved setae (gFR2); seta FR1 elongate, inserted posteriorly to seta PA7; pore FR14 absent; parietale with spinulae in the area between setae PA5 and PA12; mandibles asymmetrical; seta MN1 minute; first antenommere with a digitiform projection on distal inner margin; antennal sensilla AN8 and AN9 absent; maxillary sensilla MX10 hair-like, MX11 and MX16 with an intermediate shape between hair-like and spine-like; labial sensilla LA4 and LA15 absent; seta LA2 present, minute; abdomen with 7 pairs of tracheal gills. The morphology of the egg cases and larvae within the genus Berosus are compared and discussed.Fil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; ArgentinaFil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Patricia Laura Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentin

Testing the monophyly of Chaetarthriinae (Coleoptera, Hydrophilidae) and the phylogenetic position of Guyanobius with larval characters

The subfamily Chaetarthriinae includes morphologically distinct larvae that are adapted to a diversity of environments. Based on larval characters, cladistic analyses (maximum parsimony (MP) and Bayesian inference (BI) with homoplasy as a partitioning scheme) were performed to test the monophyly of the subfamily and the relationships of the two tribes included in it: Chaetarthriini and Anacaenini. The chaetotaxy of a third instar larva Guyanobius adocetus is described and illustrated in detail, including morphometric characters. This larva is compared to those of the known larvae of the tribe Chaetarthriini belonging to the genus Chaetarthria, and Pseudorygmodus, Crenitis, and Crenitulus from Anacaenini. None of the unconstrained analyses recover Chaetarthriinae as monophyletic. Chaetarthria diverges in an early branch, probably due to a series of unique morphological modifications associated with a riparian lifestyle whereas Guyanobius appears closely related to Anacaenini. Two alternative positions of Guyanobius are revealed: (1) as sister of all Anacaenini (unconstrained MP) or (2) nested within Anacaenini as sister of Crenitis + Crenitulus (constrained MP and unconstrained BI). The genera Paracymus and Tormus (tribe Laccobiini) diverge as two successive branches subordinate to Chaetarthriinae (excluding Chaetarthria) in the unconstrained MP analysis. However, the support is rather weak, and the position of Paracymus and Tormus is an artifact produced by some homoplastic characters. In this regard, homoplasy partitioning resulted a useful technique to solve some artifacts generated by convergent morphologies.Fil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Patricia Laura Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; Argentin

Primary chaetotaxy and larval morphometry of Phaenonotum exstriatum and Dactylosternum cacti (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)

The primary and secondary chaetotaxy of the head capsule and head appendages of the three larval instars of Dactylosternum cacti (LeConte, 1855) and Phaenonotum exstriatum (Say, 1835) (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae: Sphaeridiinae) are described for the fi rst time. Morphometric characters derived from the head capsule, mouthparts and legs are also included, together with detailed illustrations of all characters. Morphology and chaetotaxy of these larvae are compared to that of other described Coelostomatini larvae.Fil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia ; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Patricia Laura Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; Argentin

Comparative analysis of diagnostic and phylogenetic chaetotaxic characters of Berosus Leach and their implications on the relationships of the tribe Berosini (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)

Larvae of water scavenger beetles are found in all types of aquatic and semi-aquatic environments and play an important role in the structure of these communities. Despite their diversity, morphological characters that allow the identification of larvae at species level are usually inconspicuous. In this paper we analyze the head capsule and mouthparts chaetotaxy of hydrophilid larvae belonging to the tribe Berosini, with the purpose of identifying variations on the external sensory organs that may be used for species delimitations. We focus on two species of Berosus Leach (Berosus festivus Berg, 1885 and Berosus patruelis Berg, 1885) and compare larval structures within Berosus and among other genera of Berosini. We include morphometric characters together with detailed illustrations of all characters, SEM images of selected structures and micrographs of a sensory organ present on the inner margin of the first antennomere which is a novelty within larval Coleoptera. Our analysis shows that the number, shape, relative position and organization of sensilla, especially those of labroclypeus and mouthparts, provide diagnostic characters for the separation of Berosus species. Also, we found a new set of characters derived from chaetotaxy that supports current phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Berosini. Most of these chaetic characters are associated with structures that have undergone strong modifications as adaptation to a benthic lifestyle in the clade Berosus + Hemiosus.Fil: Rodriguez, Valeria Georgina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Archangelsky, Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Michat, Mariano Cruz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Patricia Laura Maria. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Entomología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentin

Variations in biochemical composition and lipoperoxidation levels of Hyalella bonariensis maintained in laboratory with different diets

We compared the effect of different diets in the biochemical composition, levels of lipoperoxidation and survival rates of males and females of Hyalella bonariensis. These crustaceans live in limnetic environments and different kinds of food habits are present in the genus Hyalella. Adult animals were collected in the spring (September) in a stream near to Salto city, Buenos Aires. In the laboratory, the animals were kept submerged in aquariums, separated by sex, under controlled conditions and survive rates were observed. They were fed ad libitum for 45 days with four different diets, and after this period the animals were used for biochemical determinations. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the responses to glycogen, proteins, lipids, triglycerides and lipoperoxidation levels in both sexes of these amphipods taken from the natural environment. Animals that received macrophytes associated a ration with high content of proteins (43%) during 45 days presented the major survival rates (males= 86.6% and females= 96.6%). These responses can be revealed that this specie primarily feeding macrophytes associated with deposit feeder, and that this diet is more generalized. This study showed the importance of the proteins in diet of this amphipod, were the females increased the reserves of proteins and triglycerides with different diets probably for reproductive events and male increased the reserves of glycogen and triglycerides for reproductive events and growth.Fil: Castiglioni, Daniela Da Silva. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Dutra, Bibiana Kaiser. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Cahansky, Alejandra Valeria. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Enrique Marcelo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Oliveira, Guendalina Turcato. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Bond Buckup, Georgina. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasi