Three new synonymies in \u3ci\u3ePhyllophaga\u3c/i\u3e Harris, 1827 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), with lectotype and neotype designations

In the course of working on new species of North American Phyllophaga Harris, 1827 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) some synonyms have been found and are proposed here. New synonymies: Phyllophaga knausii (Schaeffer, 1907) is synonymized with Phyllophaga sociata (Horn, 1878); Phyllophaga chippewa Saylor, 1939 is synonymized with Phyllophaga rugosa (Melsheimer, 1845); and Phyllophaga falta Sanderson, 1950 is synonymized with Phyllophaga bipartita (Horn, 1887). Lectotypes are here designated for the following species: Listrochelus knausii Schaeffer, Listrochelus sociatus Horn, and Lachnosterna bipartita Horn. A neotype for Ancylonycha rugosa Melsheimer is here designated from the Horn Collection

A new species of \u3ci\u3ePhyllophaga\u3c/i\u3e Harris (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from Puerto Rico

Phyllophaga bobevelynorum Schnepp, new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae), is described from Puerto Rico. The species is illustrated and diagnosed, and a checklist of the species in Puerto Rico is given. The genus Phyllophaga Harris is extremely diverse, with over 850 species currently assigned to it, all occurring in the New World. As with almost all Phyllophaga in the West Indies, this new species belongs to the subgenus Cne­marachis Saylor, whose members have the outer surface of the metatibia with an incomplete carina. As discussed by Smith and Paulsen (2015), this subgenus is endemic to the West Indies and has a near 100% rate of endemism on islands or clusters of islands (Woodruff and Sanderson 2005; Evans and Smith 2009). There are currently 11 described species of Phyllophaga from Puerto Rico. One of these, Phyllophaga apicalis (Blanchard, 1851), also occurs in the Virgin Islands, and another, Phyllophaga monana (Moser, 1921), only occurs on Mona Island. Many additional species await description, one of which was collected by Robert Woodruff during an expedition to Puerto Rico in 1993 and is described herein, bringing the total species in Puerto Rico to 12

Review of \u3ci\u3eCarpophilus (Ecnomorphus)\u3c/i\u3e Motschulsky, 1858 (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Carpophilinae) in the West Indies

Two new species of Carpophilus Stephens, 1829 in the subgenus Ecnomorphus Motschulsky, 1858 (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) were recovered in material from the Caribbean. Descriptions and detailed diagnoses are provided for Carpophilus (Ecnomorphus) jamaicensis Powell and Schnepp, new species and Carpophilus (Ecnomorphus) thomasi Powell and Schnepp, new species. A key to the Carpophilus (Ecnomor­phus) of the West Indies is appended. The family Nitidulidae Latreille is distributed throughout the world and reported broadly throughout the West Indies (Blackwelder 1945). The family represents one of the most diverse lineages of cucujoid beetles; however, the group remains one of the more difficult to reliably identify. Specifically, the genus Carpophilus Stephens is often considered one of the most troublesome and diverse within the family and is commonly misidentified or unidentified in larger faunistic studies. Carpophilus currently contains more than 250 described species recorded from all major land masses except Antarctica (Powell et al. 2020). The subgenus Ecnomorphus Motschulsky, was erected in 1858 and is currently one of the largest subgenera with over 50 valid species worldwide (Kirejtshuk 2008, Powell 2020). A full generic and subgeneric level synonymy is given by Kirejtshuk (2008). Ecnomorphus is diagnosed by the following characters: 1) antennal club loosely formed between the 9th and 10th antennal seg­ments and 2) having an overall more dorsoventrally flattened body form. The following newly described species share these characters, allowing reliable placement within the subgenus Ecnomorphus. Leng and Mutchler (1914) provided a preliminary list of the Coleoptera of the West Indies, and included two species of Ecnomorphus, Carpophilus dufaui Grouvelle and Carpophilus tempestivus Erichson, from Guade­loupe and Cuba, respectively. Several more checklists have been provided for the Coleoptera fauna of different islands in the West Indies (Blackwelder 1945; Wolcott 1951; Miskimen and Bond 1970; Woodruff et al. 1998; Peck et al. 2002, 2014; Peck 2005, 2006, 2009a, 2009b, 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2016; Ivie et al. 2008; Perez-Gelabert 2008; Turnbow and Thomas 2008; Thomas et al. 2013); however, no other species of Carpophilus (Ecnomorphus) have been added to the fauna of the region. Peck (2005) listed 32 species of nitidulid present in Cuba, 13 of which are listed as “Carpophilus” but also include species of Nitops Murray and list several species that have since been synonymized or re-elevated so should be considered outdated. Peck et al. (2014) list 24 species of nitidulid in the Guadeloupe Archipelago, six of which are in the subfamily Carpophilinae (again, all listed as Carpophilus in the text, but several are considered Nitops by many authors). Peck et al. (2014) listed several additional species under Carpophilus dimidiatus (Fabricius) as sibling species that are suspected to be present but unable to be confirmed as part of the study, further illustrating the lack of taxonomic resources for the group and the need for revision in the West Indies. In order to provide a foundation for more focused taxonomic work in the area, we present a review and dichotomous key to the Carpophilus (Ecnomorphus) that occur in the West Indies, as well as descrip­tions and diagnoses of two new species

A new species of \u3ci\u3eAtaenius\u3c/i\u3e Harold (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) from the southeastern United States, with a lectotype designation

A new species of Ataenius Harold, Ataenius thomasi Schnepp and Ashman (Coleoptera: Scara­baeidae: Aphodiinae), from Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi, U.S.A. is described. The lectotype for Ataenius brevis Fall is designated. In the United States and Canada the genus Ataenius Harold (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) contains 46 species (Stebnicka 2007; Smith 2009). The most recent faunal review of this genus in these countries was completed by Cartwright (1974). However, several species in that paper have been moved to other genera or syn­onymized (Stebnicka 2007). Stebnicka and Lago (2005) provide a key and catalog to the Ataenius strigatus group. Specimens of a putative new species of Ataenius occurring in northern Florida were located in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA). This new species is similar to Ataenius brevis Fall, but several morphological differences have been identified and are outlined in this paper. In looking for supplementary material, additional specimens of the new species were found in the Snow Entomological Museum Collection (SEMC) and United States National Museum of Natural History (USNM). After consulting the original description of A. brevis, it was discovered that no holotype was designated and that two specimens were present in the type series. Syntypes of A. brevis were borrowed to confirm the new species is morphologically distinct and a lectotype is designated to eliminate potential confusion with the new species and to fix the name to a single specimen

A Survey of the Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) in Several Natural Areas Across Indiana, U.S.A.

A broad survey of the beetle (Insecta: Coleoptera) fauna of several managed parks and natural areas was undertaken over the past decade across the state of Indiana, USA. These areas represent many of the habitat types present in Indiana including forests, grassland, freshwater streams, and wetlands, as well as more unique habitats found in limited areas in the state such as sand dunes and cypress swamps. The specific localities are: Indiana Dunes State Park, Kankakee Sands, Ross Hills Park, Shades State Park, Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, and Twin Swamps Nature Preserve. Beetles were surveyed using a variety of active and passive collecting techniques, outlined here. Specimens were then identified to the lowest possible level, often by world authorities in each group. Results are given as numbers of families, genera, and species for each property, in addition to a total combined species list summarizing all the efforts presented. We record a total of 1,328 species from six nature preserves across Indiana

Flourescent liquid pyrene derivative-in-water mircoemulsions

A fluorescent liquid pyrene derivative with a high fluorescence quantum yield (65%) in the bulk state is reported. With this as the sole oil phase, stable luminescent oil-in-water microemulsions have been prepared. Increasing the loading of liquid pyrene swells the droplets, as detected by small-angle neutron scattering. These larger droplets have a greater proportion of pyrene excimer emission contribution in their photoluminescence spectra, which leads to a red shift in the chromaticity of the emission

Notes on the distribution and habitat of Omethes marginatus LeConte (Coleoptera: Omethidae)

The known distribution of a rarely collected omethid, Omethes marginatus LeConte (Coleoptera), includes Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Collection and ecological notes on recent collections in Arkansas, Indiana, and Virginia are presented

Death effector domain-containing protein induces vulnerability to cell cycle inhibition in triple-negative breast cancer

Lacking targetable molecular drivers, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most clinically challenging subtype of breast cancer. In this study, we reveal that Death Effector Domain-containing DNA-binding protein (DEDD), which is overexpressed in > 60% of TNBCs, drives a mitogen-independent G1/S cell cycle transition through cytoplasm localization. The gain of cytosolic DEDD enhances cyclin D1 expression by interacting with heat shock 71 kDa protein 8 (HSC70). Concurrently, DEDD interacts with Rb family proteins and promotes their proteasome-mediated degradation. DEDD overexpression renders TNBCs vulnerable to cell cycle inhibition. Patients with TNBC have been excluded from CDK 4/6 inhibitor clinical trials due to the perceived high frequency of Rb-loss in TNBCs. Interestingly, our study demonstrated that, irrespective of Rb status, TNBCs with DEDD overexpression exhibit a DEDD-dependent vulnerability to combinatorial treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitor and EGFR inhibitor in vitro and in vivo. Thus, our study provided a rationale for the clinical application of CDK4/6 inhibitor combinatorial regimens for patients with TNBC

Triple templating of graphitic carbon nitride to enhance photocatalytic properties

Graphitic carbon nitride materials show some promising properties for applications such as photocatalytic water splitting. However, the conversion efficiency is still low due to factors such as a low surface area and limited light absorption. In this paper, we describe a “triple templating” approach to generating porous graphitic carbon nitride. The introduction of pores on several length-scales results in enhanced photocatalytic properties

GAD1 Upregulation Programs Aggressive Features of Cancer Cell Metabolism in the Brain Metastatic Microenvironment

The impact of altered amino acid metabolism on cancer progression is not fully understood. We hypothesized that a metabolic transcriptome shift during metastatic evolution is crucial for brain metastasis. Here, we report a powerful impact in this setting caused by epigenetic upregulation of glutamate decarboxylase 1 (GAD1), a regulator of the GABA neurotransmitter metabolic pathway. In cell-based culture and brain metastasis models, we found that downregulation of the DNA methyltransferase DNMT1 induced by the brain microenvironment-derived clusterin resulted in decreased GAD1 promoter methylation and subsequent upregulation of GAD1 expression in brain metastatic tumor cells. In a system to dynamically visualize cellular metabolic responses mediated by GAD1, we monitored the cytosolic NADH:NAD+ equilibrium in tumor cells. Reducing GAD1 in metastatic cells by primary glia cell coculture abolished the capacity of metastatic cells to utilize extracellular glutamine, leading to cytosolic accumulation of NADH and increased oxidative status. Similarly, genetic or pharmacologic disruption of the GABA metabolic pathway decreased the incidence of brain metastasis in vivo Taken together, our results show how epigenetic changes in GAD1 expression alter local glutamate metabolism in the brain metastatic microenvironment, contributing to a metabolic adaption that facilitates metastasis outgrowth in that setting