Resting and feeding preferences of Anopheles stephensi in an urban setting, perennial for malaria

Background: The Indian city of Chennai is endemic for malaria and the known local malaria vector is Anopheles stephensi. Plasmodium vivax is the predominant malaria parasite species, though Plasmodium falciparum is present at low levels. The urban ecotype of malaria prevails in Chennai with perennial transmission despite vector surveillance by the Urban Malaria Scheme (UMS) of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). Understanding the feeding and resting preferences, together with the transmission potential of adult vectors in the area is essential in effective planning and execution of improved vector control measures. Methods: A yearlong survey was carried out in cattle sheds and human dwellings to check the resting, feeding preferences and transmission potential of An. stephensi. The gonotrophic status, age structure, resting and host seeking preferences were studied. The infection rate in An. stephensi and Anopheles subpictus were analysed by circumsporozoite ELISA (CS-ELISA). Results: Adult vectors were found more frequently and at higher densities in cattle sheds than human dwellings. The overall Human Blood Index (HBI) was 0.009 indicating the vectors to be strongly zoophilic. Among the vectors collected from human dwellings, 94.2% were from thatched structures and the remaining 5.8% from tiled and asbestos structures. 57.75% of the dissected vectors were nulliparous whereas, 35.83% were monoparous and the rest 6.42% biparous. Sporozoite positivity rate was 0.55% (4/720) and 1.92% (1/52) for An. stephensi collected from cattle sheds and human dwellings, respectively. One adult An. subpictus (1/155) was also found to be infected with P. falciparum. Conclusions: Control of the adult vector populations can be successful only by understanding the resting and feeding preferences. The present study indicates that adult vectors predominantly feed on cattle and cattle sheds are the preferred resting place, possibly due to easy availability of blood meal source and lack of any insecticide or repellent pressure. Hence targeting these resting sites with cost effective, socially acceptable intervention tools, together with effective larval source management to reduce vector breeding, could provide an improved integrated vector management strategy to help drive down malaria transmission and assist in India's plan to eliminate malaria by 2030

Erratum to: Comparison of the Z/γ* + jets to γ + jets cross sections in pp collisions at √s = 8

Erratum to: JHEP10(2015)128. ArXiv ePrint: 1505.06520. The online version of the original article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2015)128

Molecular and immunological analyses of confirmed Plasmodium vivax relapse episodes

International audienceBackground: Relapse infections resulting from the activation hypnozoites produced by Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale represent an important obstacle to the successful control of these species. A single licensed drug, primaquine is available to eliminate these liver dormant forms. To date, investigations of vivax relapse infections have been few in number.Results: Genotyping, based on polymorphic regions of two genes (Pvmsp1F3 and Pvcsp) and four microsatellite markers (MS3.27, MS3.502, MS6 and MS8), of 12 paired admission and relapse samples from P. vivax-infected patients were treated with primaquine, revealed that in eight of the parasite populations in the admission and relapse samples were homologous, and heterologous in the remaining four patients. The patients’ CYP2D6 genotypes did not suggest that any were poor metabolisers of primaquine. Parasitaemia tended to be higher in the heterologous as compared to the homologous relapse episodes as was the IgG3 response. For the twelve pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels measured for all samples, only those of IL-6 and IL-10 tended to be higher in patients with heterologous as compared to homologous relapses in both admission and relapse episodes.Conclusions: The data from this limited number of patients with confirmed relapse episodes mirror previous observations of a significant proportion of heterologous parasites in relapses of P. vivax infections in Thailand. Failure of the primaquine treatment that the patients received is unlikely to be due to poor drug metabolism, and could indicate the presence of P. vivax populations in Thailand with poor susceptibility to 8-aminoquinolines

Genomic Approaches for Climate Resilience Breeding in Oats

Editors: Chittaranjan Kole.Oat (Avena sativa L.), ranking sixth in world cereal production, is primarily produced as a multipurpose crop for grain, pasture, and forage or as a rotation crop in many parts of the world. Recent research has elevated its potential dietary value for human nutrition and health care. Oats are well adapted to a wide range of soil types and can perform on acid soils. World oat production is concentrated between latitudes 35–65º N, and 20–46º S. Avena genomes are large and complex, in the range of 4.12–12.6 Gb. Oat productivity is affected by many diseases, although crown rust (Puccinia coronate f. sp. avenae) and stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae) are the key diseases worldwide. The focus of this chapter is to review the major developments and their impacts on oat breeding, especially on the challenges posed by climate or environmental changes (biotic and abiotic stresses mainly) for oat cultivation. Next-generation breeding tools will help to develop approaches to genetically improve and manipulate oat which would aid significantly in oat enhancement efforts. Although, oat biotechnology has been advanced at a similar pace as the rest of cereals, it lags still behind. More genomic tools, from genomic assisted breeding to genome editing tools are needed to improve the resources to improve oats under climate change in the next few decades