The Disappearance of Eggs and Larvae from the Nests of the Mischocyttarus (Monogynoecus) montei Zikán (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), Especially in Autumn and Winter: Can it Mean an Adaptive Cannibalism to Ensure the Survival of Colonies?

The aim of this study was to verify the disappearance of eggs and larvae from the nests of the Mischocyttarus (Monogynoecus) montei, especially in autumn and winter, and at the same time, to discuss about the cannibalism as the main reason for survival of the colonies during the unfavorable climatic conditions. Forty one colonies were studied during the seasons of the year, period from March in 1999 to September 2000. A total of 314 disappearances of immature individuals was counted, corresponding to 95 eggs (27,1 %) and 229 larvae (72,9 %). The results of Chi-Square test for Contingency tables showed that the disappearance of eggs and larvae were significantly higher (P < 0,05)  during the autumn and winter (x2egg= 14,53, G.L.egg= 3, Cegg= 0,38, x2larva= 443,15, G.L.larva= 3, Clarva= 0,81). In addition, the Spearman Correlation test revealed a significant negative correlation (P < 0,05) between the disappearance rate of larvae and fall in temperature (r = ­0,62), as well as between the rate and fall in rainfall (r= ­0,71), in autumn and winter. There were no significant correlation between the disappearance of eggs and any climatic factors. From total number of disappearances, small larvae disappeared from the cells at higher frequency (55,9%, n = 128) than medium (18,3%, n = 42) and large (25,8%, n = 49) size larvae. We suggest that these immatures (eggs and larvae) were cannibalized probably due to scarcity of prey and nectar under unfavorable climatic conditions, especially during the cold and dry periods of the year

Unraveling The Genetic Basis Of Xylose Consumption In Engineered Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Strains

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The development of biocatalysts capable of fermenting xylose, a five-carbon sugar abundant in lignocellulosic biomass, is a key step to achieve a viable production of second-generation ethanol. In this work, a robust industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was modified by the addition of essential genes for pentose metabolism. Subsequently, taken through cycles of adaptive evolution with selection for optimal xylose utilization, strains could efficiently convert xylose to ethanol with a yield of about 0.46 g ethanol/g xylose. Though evolved independently, two strains carried shared mutations: amplification of the xylose isomerase gene and inactivation of ISU1, a gene encoding a scaffold protein involved in the assembly of iron-sulfur clusters. In addition, one of evolved strains carried a mutation in SSK2, a member of MAPKKK signaling pathway. In validation experiments, mutating ISU1 or SSK2 improved the ability to metabolize xylose of yeast cells without adaptive evolution, suggesting that these genes are key players in a regulatory network for xylose fermentation. Furthermore, addition of iron ion to the growth media improved xylose fermentation even by non-evolved cells. Our results provide promising new targets for metabolic engineering of C5-yeasts and point to iron as a potential new additive for improvement of second-generation ethanol production.6BNDESFINEPBrazil's CAPESNational Institute of General Medical Sciences of the USA National Institutes of Health (NIGMS-NIH) [R35GM119788]Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Data from: Expected genotype quality and diploidized marker data from genotyping-by-sequencing of Urochloa spp. tetraploids

Although genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) is a well-established marker technology in diploids, the development of best practices for tetraploid species is a topic of current research. We determined the theoretical relationship between read depth and the phred-scaled probability of genotype misclassification, conditioned on the true genotype, which we call Expected Genotype Quality (EGQ). If the GBS method has 0.5% allelic error, then 17 reads are needed to classify simplex tetraploids as heterozygous with 95% accuracy (EGQ = 13) compared with 61 reads to determine allele dosage. We developed an R script to convert tetraploid GBS data in Variant Call Format (VCF) into diploidized genotype calls and applied it to 267 interspecific hybrids of the tetraploid forage grass Urochloa (syn. Brachiaria). When reads were aligned to a mock reference genome created from GBS data of the U. brizantha cultivar ‘Marandu’, 25,678 bi-allelic SNPs were discovered, compared to approximately 3000 SNPs when aligning to the closest true reference genomes, Setaria viridis and S. italica. Cross-validation revealed that missing genotypes were imputed by the Random Forest method with a median accuracy of 0.85, regardless of heterozygote frequency. Using the Urochloa spp. hybrids, we illustrated how filtering samples based only on GQ creates genotype bias; a depth threshold based on EGQ is also needed, regardless of whether genotypes are called using a diploidized or allele dosage model

Expected genotype quality and diploidized marker data from genotyping-by-sequencing of Urochloa spp. Tetraploids

Although genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) is a well-established marker technology in diploids, the development of best practices for tetraploid species is a topic of current research. We determined the theoretical relationship between read depth and the phred-scaled probability of genotype misclassification conditioned on the true genotype, which we call expected genotype quality (EGQ). If the GBS method has 0.5% allelic error, then 17 reads are needed to classify simplex tetraploids as heterozygous with 95% accuracy (EGQ = 13) vs. 61 reads to determine allele dosage. We developed an R script to convert tetraploid GBS data in variant call format (VCF) into diploidized genotype calls and applied it to 267 interspecific hybrids of the tetraploid forage grass Urochloa. When reads were aligned to a mock reference genome created from GBS data of the Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R. D. Webster cultivar Marandu, 25,678 biallelic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) were discovered, compared with similar to 3000 SNPs when aligning to the closest true reference genomes, Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv. and S. italica (L.) P. Beauv. Cross-validation revealed that missing genotypes were imputed by the random forest method with a median accuracy of 0.85 regardless of heterozygote frequency. Using the Urochloa spp. hybrids, we illustrated how filtering samples based only on genotype quality (GQ) creates genotype bias; a depth threshold based on EGQ is also needed regardless of whether genotypes are called using a diploidized or allele dosage model.12319CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESSem informaçãoSem informaçã

Genome assembly of a highly aldehyde-resistant saccharomyces cerevisiae SA1-derived industrial strain

Here, we report the genome assembly of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae SA1-derived haploid (FMY097) indigenous strain isolated from a Brazilian ethanol distillery. FMY097 was recently reported to be a highly aldehyde-resistant strain capable of producing bioethanol in the presence of up to 40 mM furfural and 80 mM 5-hydroxymethylfurfural813COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPnão tem2013/08293-7; 2014/26905-2; 2015/06263-9; 2015/06677-8; 2016/02506-