Interspecific differences in the larval performance of Pieris butterflies (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) are associated with differences in the glucosinolate profiles of host plants

The tremendous diversity of plants and herbivores has arisen from a coevolutionary relationship characterized by plant defense and herbivore counter adaptation. Pierid butterfly species feed on Brassicales plants that produce glucosinolates as a chemical deterrent against herbivory. In turn, the larvae of pierids have nitrile specifier proteins (NSPs) that are expressed in their gut and disarm glucosinolates. Pierid butterflies are known to have diversified in response to glucosinolate diversification in Brassicales. Therefore, each pierid species is expected to have a spectrum of host plants characterized by specific glucosinolate profiles. In this study, we tested whether the larval performance of different Pieris species, a genus in Pieridae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), was associated with plant defense traits of putative host plants. We conducted feeding assays using larvae of three Pieris species and 10 species of the Brassicaceae family possessing different leaf physical traits and glucosinolate profile measurements. The larvae of Pieris rapae responded differently in the feeding assays compared with the other two Pieris species. This difference was associated with differences in glucosinolate profiles but not with variations in physical traits of the host plants. This result suggests that individual Pieris species are adapted to a subset of glucosinolate profiles within the Brassicaceae. Our results support the idea that the host ranges of Pieris species depend on larval responses to glucosinolate diversification in the host species, supporting the hypothesis of coevolution between butterflies and host plants mediated by the chemical arms race

Lieb Mode in a Quasi One-Dimensional Bose-Einstein Condensate of Atoms

We calculate the dispersion relation associated with a solitary wave in a quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms confined in a harmonic, cylindrical trap in the limit of weak and strong interactions. In both cases, the dispersion relation is linear for long wavelength excitations and terminates at the point where the group velocity vanishes. We also calculate the dispersion relation of sound waves in both limits of weak and strong coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 2 ps figures, RevTe

Quantum Resistive Transition in Type II Superconductors under Magnetic Field

It is shown that, within a Ginzburg-Landau (GL) formalism, the superconducting fluctuation is insulating at zero temperature even if the fluctuation dynamics is metallic (dissipative). Based on this fact, the low temperature behavior of the $H_{c2}$-line and the resistivity curves near a zero temperature transition are discussed. In particular, it is pointed out that the neglect of quantum fluctuations in data analysis of the dc resistivity may lead to an under-estimation of the $H_{c2}$ values near zero temperature.Comment: 7 page

Enhanced CO and soot oxidation activity over Y-doped ceria–zirconia and ceria–lanthana solid solutions

Y-doped ceria–zirconia (Ce0.8Zr0.12Y0.08O2-d, CZY) and ceria–lanthana (Ce0.8La0.12Y0.08O2-d, CLY) ternary oxide solid solutions were synthesized by a facile coprecipitation method. Structural, textural, redox, and morphological properties of the synthesized samples were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES), Raman spectroscopy (RS), UV–visible diffuse re- flectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed reduction by hydrogen (H2-TPR), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area (BET SA) techniques. The formation of ternary oxide solid solutions was confirmed from XRD, RS, and UV–vis DRS results. ICP–OES analysis confirmed the elemental composition in the ternary oxide solid solutions. HRTEM images revealed irregular morphology of the samples. RS, UV–vis DRS, and XPS results indicated enhanced oxygen vacancies in the Y doped samples. H2- TPR profiles confirmed a facile reduction of CZY and CLY samples at lower temperatures. BET analysis revealed an enhanced surface area for CZY and CLY samples than the respective CZ and CL undoped mixed oxides. All these factors contributed to a better CO and soot oxidation performance of CZY and CLY samples. Particularly, the CLY sample exhibited highest catalytic activity among the various samples investigated.We gratefully acknowledge Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi for financial support of this work (SERB Scheme SB/S1/PC-106/2012). D.D. thanks the Department of Education, Australian Government for providing Endeavour Research Fellowship