Identification of stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Kenya using Morphometrics and DNA barcoding

Stingless bees are important pollinators of wild plants and crops. The identity of stingless bee species in Africa has not been fully documented. The present study explored the utility of morphometrics and DNA barcoding for identification of African stingless bee populations, and to further employ these tools to identify potential cryptic variation within species. Stingless bee samples were collected from three ecological zones, namely Kakamega Forest, Mwingi and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, which are geographically distant and cover high, medium and low altitudes, respectively. Forewing and hind leg morphometric characters were measured to determine the extent of morphological variation between the populations. DNA barcodes were generated from the mitochondrial cytochrome c-oxidase I (COI) gene. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the morphometric measurements separated the bee samples into three clusters: (1) Meliponula bocandei; (2) Meliponula lendliana + Plebeina hildebrandti; (3) Dactylurina schmidti + Meliponula ferruginea black + Meliponula ferruginea reddish brown, but Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA) separated all the species except the two morphospecies (M. ferruginea reddish brown and black). The analysis of the COI sequences showed that DNA barcoding can be used to identify all the species studied and revealed remarkable genetic distance (7.3%) between the two M. ferruginea morphs. This is the first genetic evidence that M. ferruginea black and M. ferruginea reddish brown are separate species

A molecular tool to identify <i>Anastatus</i> parasitoids of the brown marmorated stink bug

Globally, Anastatus species (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) are associated with the invasive agricultural pest Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). In Europe, the polyphagous Anastatus bifasciatus (Geoffroy) is the most prevalent native egg parasitoid on H. halys eggs and is currently being tested as a candidate for augmentative biological control. Anastatus bifasciatus frequently displays behavior without oviposition, and induces additional host mortality through oviposition damage and host feeding that is not measured with offspring emergence. This exacerbates accurate assessment of parasitism and host impact, which is crucial for efficacy evaluation as well as for pre- and post-release risk assessment. To address this, a general Anastatus primer set amplifying a 318-bp fragment within the barcoding region of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene was developed. When challenged with DNA of three Anastatus species -A. bifasciatus, Anastatus japonicus Ashmead, and Anastatus sp.-, five scelionid parasitoid species that might be encountered in the same host environments and 11 pentatomid host species, only Anastatus DNA was successfully amplified. When applied to eggs of the target host, H. halys, and an exemplary non-target host, Dendrolimus pini L. (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), subjected to host feeding, no Anastatus amplicons were produced. Eggs of the two host species containing A. bifasciatus parasitoid stages, from 1-h-old eggs to pupae, and emerged eggs yielded Anastatus fragments. Confirmation of parasitoid presence with dissections and subsequent PCRs with the developed primer pair resulted in 95% success for 1-h-old parasitoid eggs. For both host species, field-exposed sentinel emerged eggs stored dry for 6 months, 100% of the specimens produced Anastatus amplicons. This DNA-based screening method can be used in combination with conventional methods to better interpret host-parasitoid and parasitoid-parasitoid interactions. It will help address ecological questions related to an environmentally friendly approach for the control of H. halys in invaded areas

Disparate dispersal limitation in Geomalacus slugs unveiled by the shape and slope of the genetic–spatial distance relationship

Long‐term dispersal ability is a key species’ trait constraining species ranges and thus large‐scale biodiversity patterns. Here we infer the long‐term dispersal abilities of three Geomalacus (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) species from their range‐wide genetic–spatial distance relationships. This approach follows recent advances in statistical modelling of the analogous pattern at the community level: the distance decay in assemblage similarity. While linear relationships are expected for species with high long‐term dispersal abilities, asymptotic relationships are expected for those with more restricted mobility. We evaluated three functional forms (linear, negative exponential and power‐law) for the relationship between genetic distance (computed from mitochondrial cox1 sequences, n = 701) and spatial distance. Range fragmentation at present time and at the Last Glacial Maximum was also estimated based on the projection of climatic niches. The power‐law function best fit the relationship between genetic and spatial distances, suggesting strong dispersal limitation and long‐term population isolation in all three species. However, the differences in slope and explained variance pointed to disparities in dispersal ability among these weak dispersers. Phylogeographic patterns of Geomalacus species are thus largely driven by the same major process (i.e. dispersal limitation), operating at different strengths. This strong dispersal limitation results in geographic clustering of genetic diversity that makes these species highly vulnerable to genetic erosion due to climate changThe authors were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through grant CGL2016‐76637‐P and fellowship IJCI‐2014‐20881 to CG‐RS

DNA barcoding reveals the coral “laboratory-rat”, Stylophora pistillata encompasses multiple identities

Stylophora pistillata is a widely used coral “lab-rat” species with highly variable morphology and a broad biogeographic range (Red Sea to western central Pacific). Here we show, by analysing Cytochorme Oxidase I sequences, from 241 samples across this range, that this taxon in fact comprises four deeply divergent clades corresponding to the Pacific-Western Australia, Chagos-Madagascar-South Africa, Gulf of Aden-Zanzibar-Madagascar, and Red Sea-Persian/Arabian Gulf-Kenya. On the basis of the fossil record of Stylophora, these four clades diverged from one another 51.5-29.6 Mya, i.e., long before the closure of the Tethyan connection between the tropical Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic in the early Miocene (16–24 Mya) and should be recognised as four distinct species. These findings have implications for comparative ecological and/or physiological studies carried out using Stylophora pistillata as a model species, and highlight the fact that phenotypic plasticity, thought to be common in scleractinian corals, can mask significant genetic variation

Complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear ribosomal RNA operons of two species of Diplostomum (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda): a molecular resource for taxonomy and molecular epidemiology of important fish pathogens

© 2015 Brabec et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. The attached file is the published version of the article

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Urechis caupo, a representative of the phylum Echiura

BACKGROUND: Mitochondria contain small genomes that are physically separate from those of nuclei. Their comparison serves as a model system for understanding the processes of genome evolution. Although hundreds of these genome sequences have been reported, the taxonomic sampling is highly biased toward vertebrates and arthropods, with many whole phyla remaining unstudied. This is the first description of a complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a representative of the phylum Echiura, that of the fat innkeeper worm, Urechis caupo. RESULTS: This mtDNA is 15,113 nts in length and 62% A+T. It contains the 37 genes that are typical for animal mtDNAs in an arrangement somewhat similar to that of annelid worms. All genes are encoded by the same DNA strand which is rich in A and C relative to the opposite strand. Codons ending with the dinucleotide GG are more frequent than would be expected from apparent mutational biases. The largest non-coding region is only 282 nts long, is 71% A+T, and has potential for secondary structures. CONCLUSIONS: Urechis caupo mtDNA shares many features with those of the few studied annelids, including the common usage of ATG start codons, unusual among animal mtDNAs, as well as gene arrangements, tRNA structures, and codon usage biases

Effect of vessel wettability on the foamability of "ideal" surfactants and "real-world" beer heads

The ability to tailor the foaming properties of a solution by controlling its chemical composition is highly desirable and has been the subject of extensive research driven by a range of applications. However, the control of foams by varying the wettability of the foaming vessel has been less widely reported. This work investigates the effect of the wettability of the side walls of vessels used for the in situ generation of foam by shaking aqueous solutions of three different types of model surfactant systems (non-ionic, anionic and cationic surfactants) along with four different beers (Guinness Original, Banks’s Bitter, Bass No 1 and Harvest Pale). We found that hydrophilic vials increased the foamability only for the three model systems but increased foam stability for all foams except the model cationic system. We then compared stability of beer foams produced by shaking and pouring and demonstrated weak qualitative agreement between both foam methods. We also showed how wettability of the glass controls bubble nucleation for beers and champagne and used this effect to control exactly where bubbles form using simple wettability patterns

Cryptic diversity of the jewel beetles Agrilus viridis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) hosted on hazelnut

The genus Agrilus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) represents a taxonomic puzzle, since the boundaries between species, subspecies and morphotypes tied to different host plants are sometimes difficult to establish on morphological characteristics alone. Some Agrilus species can cause severe agricultural damage; this makes correct distinctions of the taxon and knowing whether the insects switch from one host plant to another important. This study of mtDNA examined the genetic characteristics of lineages of A. viridis, a jewel beetle recently found causing damage to the hazelnut Corylus avellana in NW Italy. Three mitochondrial markers (a portion of the 12S rDNA and a DNA-fragment including partial NADH dehydrogenase subunit I gene, the tRNA Leucine gene and partial 16S rDNA, and partial  Cytochrome c oxidase) were compared between individuals collected on birch Betula sp., beech Fagus sp., willow Salix sp., alder Alnus sp. and hazelnut. We found a high genetic distance between A. viridis sampled on different host plants, while individuals sampled on the same host plant were similar despite a considerable geographic gap between sampled areas. Our study supports the general pattern for strong ecological separation between populations living on different host plants

Protective effect of Melissa officinalis aqueous extract against Mn-induced oxidative stress in chronically exposed mice

AbstractManganese (Mn) is an essential element for biological systems; however occupational exposure to high levels of this metal may lead to neurodegenerative disorders, resembling Parkinson's disease (PD). While its mechanisms of neurotoxicity have yet to be fully understood, oxidative stress plays a critical role. Thus, the main goal of this study was to investigate the efficacy of aqueous extract of Melissa officinalis in attenuating Mn-induced brain oxidative stress in mice. Sixteen male mice were randomly divided into two groups and treated for 3 months: the first group consumed tap water (control group) and the second group was treated with Mn (50mg/kg/day for habituation during the first 15 days followed by 100mg/kg/day for additional 75 days) in the drinking water. After 3 months both groups were sub divided (n=4 per group) and treated for additional 3 months with Mn and/or M. officinalis in the drinking water. The first group (control) was treated with water and served as control; the second group (M. officinalis) was treated with M. officinalis (100mg/kg/day); the third group was treated with Mn (100mg/kg/day); the fourth group (Mn+M. officinalis) was treated with both Mn and M. officinalis (100mg/kg/day each). Mn-treated mice showed a significant increase in thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) levels (a marker of oxidative stress) in both the hippocampus and striatum. These changes were accompanied by a decrease in total thiol content in the hippocampus and a significant increase in antioxidant enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase and catalase) in the hippocampus, striatum, cortex and cerebellum. Co-treatment with M. officinalis aqueous extract in Mn-treated mice significantly inhibited the antioxidant enzyme activities and attenuated the oxidative damage (TBARS and decreased total thiol levels). These results establish that M. officinalis aqueous extract possesses potent antioxidative properties, validating its efficacy in attenuating Mn-induced oxidative stress in the mouse brain