The Breeding Pattern and Population Genetic Structure of Coptotermes gestroi (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) Population in Natural Woodland Habitats

Microsatellite markers are suitable tools for assessing the population structure of eusocial species, especially those with a dynamic breeding system, such as the Asian subterranean termite Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae). Therefore, this study applied seven microsatellite markers to infer the breeding pattern and population genetic structure of C. gestroi found in natural woodland habitats at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. The natural woodland habitat C. gestroi colonies show significant deviation from HWE (all p < 0.05). The uncovered genetic pattern suggested that the C. gestroi colonies presented a combined breeding pattern of mixed- and extended-family colonies with moderate genetic differentiation and elevated inbreeding. In particular, the breeding pattern of C. gestroi colonies was inferred to vary depending on the demographic variation and the age of the colony. Nevertheless, the results revealed comprehensive information on the C. gestroi population structure, habitat-specific to natural woodlands. Furthermore, future studies with exclusive datasets on the population structure of C. gestroi on marginal demography are necessary to enhance the management strategies of this pest species.

L'accession à la propriété à Carré de Soie : articulations entre politiques publiques, marché du logement et ménages

Home ownership is a wish affirmed by a large number of French households. However, the housing market in France is facing a crisis of expensive housing due to an imbalance between supply and demand in terms of housing, especially in large conurbations where land reserves are becoming increasingly scarce. The construction effort required comes up against the imperative of managing space sparingly. Through the example of the Carré de Soie project, we will first try to understand how public policies have succeeded not only in reconciling the two issues mentioned above, but also in developing a residential offer that stands out on the scale of the Lyon metropolis. From a territory that was mostly fallow at the beginning of the 2000s to a real dynamic housing market, the Carré de Soie has been transformed through negotiations between institutional and private development actors. Therefore, what kind of home-ownership offer has been developed there and what types of households is it aimed at? What types of households are able to buy a property in Carré de Soie? How is this market destined to evolve? These are questions to which this Master’s thesis will try to provide some answers.L’accession à la propriété est un souhait affirmé par un grand nombre de ménages français. Pourtant, le marché du logement en France fait face à une crise du logement cher en raison d’un déséquilibre entre l’offre et la demande en termes de logements et ce, dans les grandes agglomérations où les réserves foncières se font de plus en plus rares. L’effort de construction demandé se heurte à l’impératif de gestion économe de l’espace. À travers l’exemple du projet Carré de Soie, il s’agira premièrement de comprendre comment les politiques publiques ont tenté non seulement de concilier les deux enjeux précédemment cités mais également d’y développer une offre résidentielle qui se démarque à l’échelle de la Métropole de Lyon. D’un territoire majoritairement en friche au début des années 2000 à un réel marché du logement dynamique, le Carré de Soie s’est transformé au gré de négociations entre acteurs institutionnels et acteurs privés de l’aménagement. Dès lors, quelle offre en accession y est-elle développée et à quels types de ménages s’adresse-t-elle ? Quels ménages sont réellement en mesure d’acheter un bien immobilier à Carré de Soie ? Comment ce marché est-il voué à évoluer ? Voici des questionnements auxquels ce travail de fin d’études tentera d’apporter des éléments de réponse

DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES OF DENDROBIUM CRUMENATUM SEEDS DURING EARLY STAGES OF GERMINATION

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

Histological and protein changes during early stages of seed germination in the orchid, Dendrobium crumenatum

Journal of Horticultural Science726941-948JHSC

Phylogenetic relationship of subterranean termite Coptotermes gestroi (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) inhabiting urban and natural habitats

Coptotermes termites were collected from forestry habitats at University Sains Malaysia, Penang, while urban samples were collected from residentials from Penang and Kedah, Malaysia. Mitochondrial DNA markers, Cytochrome Oxidase 1 (CO1), and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) genes were amplified and sequenced to confirm the species of the termite samples as Coptotermes gestroi. Through Blastn, all 25 CO1 and 16S rRNA sequences, respectively from urban and natural habitats were found to be 99.54–100.00 % similar to C. gestroi reference sequences from previous studies in Peninsular Malaysia. The phylogenetic trees constructed using Neighboring-joining (NJ) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods resulted in CO1 sequences clustering in two clades and 16S rRNA sequences clustering in a single clade. The overall mean distance was low for the C. gestroi populations from natural habitats and urban settings (FST = 0.004). Analysis of natural habitat populations using CO1 sequences revealed two haplotypes within the population, with a haplotype diversity (Hd) of 0.045 ± 0.005, while the urban population shared a common haplotype with the natural habitat populations and there was no haplotype diversity recorded between the populations. Urban and natural habitats included only one haplotype for 16S rRNA sequences, indicating a lack of nucleotide diversity. Based on the findings, a non-significant difference between the natural habitat and urban population suggests C. gestroi inhabiting both regions likely originated from a similar source and underwent population homogeneity in different settings facilitated by anthropogenic dispersal

Bacterial community structure and denitrifier (nir-gene) abundance in soil water and groundwater beneath agricultural land in tropical North Queensland, Australia

We explored the microbial ecology of water draining through the soil (lysimeter samples) and in the shallow aquifers (bore samples) underlying sugarcane and banana fields near the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. Lysimeter and bore water samples were collected and analysed chemically and with DNA fingerprinting methods (PCR-DGGE and clone library sequencing) to characterise the structure of the bacterial community. Bacterial communities in soil water and bore water were distinct (P < 0.05), and a primary factor linked with bacterial community structure was water pH (P < 0.05),\ud particularly in water sampled from lysimeters. Irrespective of treatment, >80% of all rRNA gene sequences originated from proteobacteria. However, groundwater communities differed from those in soil water by greater occurrence of Neisseriales and Comamonadaceae (P < 0.01). qPCR was used to measure copy numbers of the nirK and nirS genes encoding NOforming nitrite reductases. Copy numbers of both genes were greater in soil water samples than groundwater (P = 0.05), with the difference in nirK being greater under sugarcane than banana. These differences in nirK-gene abundance show that there is greater potential for denitrification in soil water under sugarcane, leading to low concentrations of nitrate in the underlying groundwater. This knowledge can be used towards development of soil and land-use management practices promoting bacterial denitrification in groundwater to lessen the undesirable ecological consequences where groundwater\ud discharges lower in the GBR catchment zones