Rearing Blister Beetles (Coleoptera, Meloidae)

The receipt, recently, of several requests for information and assistance in rearing blister beetles (Meloidae) has prompted me to prepare the following account of the rearing method used in my laboratory. In order to make the account as useful as possible to new students. I have included a considerable amount of information on meloid bionomics. Larval phases are designated as triungulin (TI, first grub (FG), coarctate (C), and second grub (SG). Where necessary, instar is indicated by a numerical subscript. The pupa and adult are symbolized by P and A, respectively. I assume that the reader has some knowledge of the taxonomy of the Meloidae

Complete Genome Sequence of Crohn's Disease-Associated Adherent-Invasive E. coli Strain LF82

International audienceBACKGROUND: Ileal lesions of Crohn's disease (CD) patients are abnormally colonized by pathogenic adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) able to invade and to replicate within intestinal epithelial cells and macrophages. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report here the complete genome sequence of E. coli LF82, the reference strain of adherent-invasive E. coli associated with ileal Crohn's disease. The LF82 genome of 4,881,487 bp total size contains a circular chromosome with a size of 4,773,108 bp and a plasmid of 108,379 bp. The analysis of predicted coding sequences (CDSs) within the LF82 flexible genome indicated that this genome is close to the avian pathogenic strain APEC_01, meningitis-associated strain S88 and urinary-isolated strain UTI89 with regards to flexible genome and single nucleotide polymorphisms in various virulence factors. Interestingly, we observed that strains LF82 and UTI89 adhered at a similar level to Intestine-407 cells and that like LF82, APEC_01 and UTI89 were highly invasive. However, A1EC strain LF82 had an intermediate killer phenotype compared to APEC-01 and UTI89 and the LF82 genome does not harbour most of specific virulence genes from ExPEC. LF82 genome has evolved from those of ExPEC B2 strains by the acquisition of Salmonella and Yersinia isolated or clustered genes or CDSs located on pLF82 plasmid and at various loci on the chromosome. CONCLUSION: LF82 genome analysis indicated that a number of genes, gene clusters and pathoadaptative mutations which have been acquired may play a role in virulence of AIEC strain LF82

A comparative perspective on the evolution of tamarin and marmoset social systems

Tamarins and marmosets (callitrichids) present an unusual opportunity for study of the determinants of primate social systems, because both the mating and infant care patterns of callitrichids are variable, even within individual populations. In this paper, I briefly describe three characteristics of callitrichid social systems that distinguish them from most other primates: extensive male parental care, helping by nonreproductive individuals, and variable mating patterns. I then discuss the evolution of these characteristics and of the frequent twinning exhibited by callitrichids. I suggest that an ancestor of modern callitrichids gave birth to a single offspring at a time, mated monogamously, and had significant paternal care. The idea that males of this ancestral form must have provided paternal care, even though only single infants were born, derives from a comparison of litter/mother weight ratios in modern primate species. Twinning perhaps then evolved because of a combination of dwarfing in the callitrichid lineage, leading to higher litter/mother weight ratios, and a high infant mortality rate, and because the extensive paternal care already present facilitated the raising of twins. I propose that the helping behavior of older offspring may have coevolved with twinning, because helpers would have increased the chances of survival of twins, and the presence of twins would have increased the benefits of helping. Finally, the high costs of raising twins and the variability of group compositions, especially the fact that some groups would not have had older offspring to serve as helpers, may have selected for facultative polyandry in saddle-back tamarins ( Saguinus fuscicollis ) and perhaps in other callitrichid species. Both helping and cooperative polyandry have been extensively studied in bird species, and I apply some of the conclusions of these studies to the discussion of the evolution of callitrichid social systems.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44556/1/10764_2005_Article_BF02193696.pd

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

On the Nomenclature and Classification of the Meloidae (Coleoptera)

Forty-three available family-group names (and three unavailable names) in Meloidae are listed as a basis for establishing nomenclatural priority. Available genus-group names, 256 in number, are listed alphabetically with indication of the type species of each; this is followed by a list of 23 names proposed or used at the genus-group level that are unavailable in zoological nomenclature. Finally, a classification of the family Meloidae to the subgeneric level is presented in which names at the family-group and genus-group levels are treated in a manner consistent with the provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. This classification recognizes three subfamilies (Eleticinae, Meloinae, and Horiinae), 10 tribes, 15 subtribes, 116 genera, and 66 subgenera. The subtribes Pyrotina and Lydina (properly Alosimina), of the tribe Cerocomini, are combined with the subtribe Lyttina. The tribe Stenoderini, of the subfamily Horiinae, is defined to include Stenodera Eschscholtz. Epispasta Selander is transferred from Cerocomini to Meloini. Recently proposed changes in classification at the genus-group level are incorporated. In addition, Gynapteryx Fairmaire and Germain is placed in the synonymy of Picnoseus Solier; Afromeloe Schmidt and Lampromeloe Reitter, formerly treated as subgenera of Meloe Linnaeus, are elevated to full generic rank; and Zonitolytta Pic is reduced to subgeneric rank in Nemognathu Illiger

Rearing Blister Beetles (Coleoptera, Meloidae)

The receipt, recently, of several requests for information and assistance in rearing blister beetles (Meloidae) has prompted me to prepare the following account of the rearing method used in my laboratory. In order to make the account as useful as possible to new students. I have included a considerable amount of information on meloid bionomics. Larval phases are designated as triungulin (TI, first grub (FG), coarctate (C), and second grub (SG). Where necessary, instar is indicated by a numerical subscript. The pupa and adult are symbolized by P and A, respectively. 1 assume that the reader has some knowledge of the taxonomy of the Meloidae

An Annotated Catalog and Summary of Bionornics of Blister Beetles of the Genus Psalydolytta (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

Information on the taxonomy, anatomy, and bionomics of the species of Psalydolytta Peringuey is presented and summarized. Psalydolytta testaceoapicalis Pic, described from Guinea, is placed in the synonymy of P. cineracea (Maklin) (new synonymy). The genus has a disjunct Ethiopian-Indian distribution (42 species in Africa, 10 in India). Adults appear toward the end of the rainy season, are generally nocturnal, and feed largely on flowers and developing grains of wild and cultivated grasses. Adults attracted to lights are sometimes a nuisance because of their ability to produce blisters on human skin. The larva of the Indian P. rouxi (Castelnau) has been recorded as a predator of the eggs of the pyrgomorphid grasshopper Colemania sphenarioides Bolivar and that of the African P. fusca (Olivier) as a predator of the eggs of the acridid grasshopper Cataloipus fuscocoeruleipes (Sjostedt)

On the nomenclature and classification of the Meloidae (Coleoptera)

Forty-three available family-group names (and three unavailable names) in Meloidae are listed as a basis for establishing nomenclatural priority. Available genus-group names, 256 in number, are listed alphabetically with indication of the type species of each; this is followed by a list of 23 names proposed or used at the genus-group level that are unavailable in zoological nomenclature. Finally, a classification of the family Meloidae to the subgeneric level is presented in which names at the family-group and genus-group levels are treated in a manner consistent with the provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. This classification recognizes three subfamilies (Eleticinae, Meloinae, and Horiinae), 10 tribes, 15 subtribes, 116 genera, and 66 subgenera. The subtribes Pyrotina and Lydina (properly Alosimina), of the tribe Cerocomini, are combined with the subtribe Lyttina. The tribe Stenoderini, of the subfamily Horiinae, is defined to include Stenodera Eschscholtz. Epispasta Selander is transferred from Cerocomini to Meloini. Recently proposed changes in classification at the genus-group level are incorporated. In addition, Gynapteryx Fairmaire and Germain is placed in the synonymy of Picnoseus Solier; Afromeloe Schmidt and Lampromeloe Reitter, formerly treated as subgenera of Meloe Linnaeus, are elevated to full generic rank; and Zonitolytta Pic is reduced to subgeneric rank in Nemognathu Illiger

A generic homonym in the Meloidae (Coleoptera)

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