Abundance, movements and biodiversity of flying predatory insects in crop and non-crop agroecosystems

[EN] Predatory insects are key natural enemies that can highly reduce crops pest damage. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the movements of flying predatory insects in agroecosystems throughout the year. In particular, it is still unclear how these predators move from crop to non-crop habitats, which are the preferred habitats to overwinter and to spread during the spring and if these predators leave or stay after chemical treatments. Here, the Neuroptera, a generalist, highly mobile, flying predator order of insects, was selected as model. We studied the effects of farming management and the efficiency of edge shelterbelts, ground cover vegetation, and fruit trees canopy on holding flying predatory insects in Mediterranean traditional agroecosystems. Seasonal movements and winter effects were also assessed. We evaluated monthly nine fruit agroecosystems, six organic, and three pesticides sprayed, of 0.5-1 ha in eastern Spain during 3 years using two complementary methods, yellow sticky traps and aspirator. Results show surprisingly that the insect abundance was highest in pesticide sprayed systems, with 3.40 insects/sample versus 2.32 insects/sample in organic systems. The biodiversity indices were highest in agroecosystems conducted under organic management, with S of 4.68 and D of 2.34. Shelterbelts showed highest biodiversity indices, S of 3.27 and D of 1.93, among insect habitats. Insect species whose adults were active during the winter preferred fruit trees to spend all year round. However, numerous species moved from fruit trees to shelterbelts to overwinter and dispersed into the orchard during the following spring. The ground cover vegetation showed statistically much lower attractiveness for flying predatory insects than other habitats. 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SVOP Is a Nucleotide Binding Protein

Background: Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2 (SV2) and SV2-related protein (SVOP) are transporter-like proteins that localize to neurotransmitter-containing vesicles. Both proteins share structural similarity with the major facilitator (MF) family of small molecule transporters. We recently reported that SV2 binds nucleotides, a feature that has also been reported for another MF family member, the human glucose transporter 1 (Glut1). In the case of Glut1, nucleotide binding affects transport activity. In this study, we determined if SVOP also binds nucleotides and assessed its nucleotide binding properties. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed in vitro photoaffinity labeling experiments with the photoreactive ATP analogue, 8-azido-ATP[c] biotin and purified recombinant SVOP-FLAG fusion protein. We found that SVOP is a nucleotide-binding protein, although both its substrate specificity and binding site differ from that of SV2. Within the nucleotides tested, ATP, GTP and NAD show same level of inhibition on SVOP-FLAG labeling. Dose dependent studies indicated that SVOP demonstrates the highest affinity for NAD, in contrast to SV2, which binds both NAD and ATP with equal affinity. Mapping of the binding site revealed a single region spanning transmembrane domains 9–12, which contrasts to the two binding sites in the large cytoplasmic domains in SV2A. Conclusions/Significance: SVOP is the third MF family member to be found to bind nucleotides. Given that the binding sites are unique in SVOP, SV2 and Glut1, this feature appears to have arisen separately

Loss of the Synaptic Vesicle Protein SV2B Results in Reduced Neurotransmission and Altered Synaptic Vesicle Protein Expression in the Retina

The Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2 (SV2) family of transporter-like proteins is expressed exclusively in vesicles that undergo calcium-regulated exocytosis. Of the three isoforms expressed in mammals, SV2B is the most divergent. Here we report studies of SV2B location and function in the retina. Immunolabeling studies revealed that SV2B is detected in rod photoreceptor synaptic terminals where it is the primary isoform. In mice lacking SV2B, synaptic transmission at the synapse between photoreceptors and bipolar neurons was decreased, as evidenced by a significant reduction in the amplitude of the b-wave in electroretinogram recordings. Quantitative immunoblot analyses of whole eyes revealed that loss of SV2B was associated with reduced levels of synaptic vesicle proteins including synaptotagmin, VAMP, synaptophysin and the vesicular glutamate transporter V-GLUT1. Immunolabeling studies revealed that SV2B is detected in rod photoreceptor synaptic terminals where it is the primary isoform. Thus, SV2B contributes to the modulation of synaptic vesicle exocytosis and plays a significant role in regulating synaptic protein content

Levetiracetam Reverses Synaptic Deficits Produced by Overexpression of SV2A

Levetiracetam is an FDA-approved drug used to treat epilepsy and other disorders of the nervous system. Although it is known that levetiracetam binds the synaptic vesicle protein SV2A, how drug binding affects synaptic functioning remains unknown. Here we report that levetiracetam reverses the effects of excess SV2A in autaptic hippocampal neurons. Expression of an SV2A-EGFP fusion protein produced a ∼1.5-fold increase in synaptic levels of SV2, and resulted in reduced synaptic release probability. The overexpression phenotype parallels that seen in neurons from SV2 knockout mice, which experience severe seizures. Overexpression of SV2A also increased synaptic levels of the calcium-sensor protein synaptotagmin, an SV2-binding protein whose stability and trafficking are regulated by SV2. Treatment with levetiracetam rescued normal neurotransmission and restored normal levels of SV2 and synaptotagmin at the synapse. These results indicate that changes in SV2 expression in either direction impact neurotransmission, and suggest that levetiracetam may modulate SV2 protein interactions

CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e. berry weight, number of fruits and kg per hectare, among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), Northern America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-05 (21 studies), 2006-10 (40), 2011-15 (88), and 2016-20 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

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

Effects of therapeutic horseback riding on post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans

Abstract Background Large numbers of post-deployment U.S. veterans are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI), leading to an urgent need for effective interventions to reduce symptoms and increase veterans’ coping. PTSD includes anxiety, flashbacks, and emotional numbing. The symptoms increase health care costs for stress-related illnesses and can make veterans’ civilian life difficult. Methods We used a randomized wait-list controlled design with repeated measures of U.S. military veterans to address our specific aim to test the efficacy of a 6-week therapeutic horseback riding (THR) program for decreasing PTSD symptoms and increasing coping self-efficacy, emotion regulation, social and emotional loneliness. Fifty-seven participants were recruited and 29 enrolled in the randomized trial. They were randomly assigned to either the horse riding group (n = 15) or a wait-list control group (n = 14). The wait-list control group experienced a 6-week waiting period, while the horse riding group began THR. The wait-list control group began riding after 6 weeks of participating in the control group. Demographic and health history information was obtained from all the participants. PTSD symptoms were measured using the standardized PTSD Checklist-Military Version (PCL-M). The PCL-M as well as other instruments including, The Coping Self Efficacy Scale (CSES), The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and The Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults-short version (SELSA) were used to access different aspects of individual well-being and the PTSD symptoms. Results Participants had a statistically significant decrease in PTSD scores after 3 weeks of THR (P ≤ 0.01) as well as a statistically and clinically significant decrease after 6 weeks of THR (P ≤ 0.01). Logistic regression showed that participants had a 66.7% likelihood of having lower PTSD scores at 3 weeks and 87.5% likelihood at 6 weeks. Under the generalized linear model(GLM), our ANOVA findings for the coping self-efficacy, emotion regulation, and social and emotional loneliness did not reach statistical significance. The results for coping self-efficacy and emotion regulation trended in the predicted direction. Results for emotional loneliness were opposite the predicted direction. Logistic regression provided validation that outcome effects were caused by riding longer. Conclusion The findings suggest that THR may be a clinically effective intervention for alleviating PTSD symptoms in military veterans

Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2 Binds Adenine Nucleotides*

Synaptic vesicle protein 2 (SV2) is required for normal calcium-regulated secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters. Neurons lacking the two most widely expressed isoforms, SV2A and SV2B, have a reduced readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles, indicating that SV2 contributes to vesicle priming. The presence of putative ATP-binding sites in SV2 suggested that SV2 might be an ATP-binding protein. To explore this, we examined the binding of the photoaffinity reagent 8-azido-ATP[γ] biotin to purified, recombinant SV2 in the presence and absence of other nucleotides. Our results indicate that SV2A and SV2B bind nucleotides, with the highest affinity for adenine-containing nucleotides. SV2A contains two binding sites located in the cytoplasmic domains preceding the first and seventh transmembrane domains. These results suggest that SV2-mediated vesicle priming could be regulated by adenine nucleotides, which might provide a link between cellular energy levels and regulated secretion

Large Structural Change in Isolated Synaptic Vesicles upon Loading with Neurotransmitter

The size of a synaptic vesicle (SV) is generally thought to be determined by the amount of lipid and membrane protein it contains. Once formed, it is thought to remain constant in size. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and cryogenic electron microscopy, we show that glutamatergic vesicles reversibly increase their size upon filling with glutamate. The increase (∼25% in diameter) corresponds to an increase in surface area of ∼50% and in volume of ∼100%. This large size increase implies a large structural change in the SV upon loading with neurotransmitters. Vesicles lacking SV protein 2A (SV2A) did not manifest a change in size after loading with glutamate, indicating that SV2A is required for this phenomenon