Many species of carabid beetles are important pre- and post-dispersal seed feeders of herbaceous plants. Here we summarise data from dissections, field observations, rearing and "cafeteria" experiments on 55 granivorous and 188 omnivorous species that occur in Italy. We tested the hypothesis that seed feeding carabids are restricted to taxa with pronounced morphological adaptations for manipulating and crushing seeds in both the larval and adult stages. The feeding guilds of carabids were rearranged into the following groups: (i) strict predators with long mandibles and predaceous larvae, often depending also on non-prey food; (ii) omnivorous species with stout mandibles and larvae of a seed-eating morphotype; (iii) granivorous species, feeding only on seeds with larvae sometimes of the scarabeoid c-form type. The seed feeding carabids in the Italian fauna belong to the tribe Zabrini (Amara and Zabrus genera) and to all the Harpalinae (sub)tribes, from Anisodactylini to Ditomina. The time of reproduction seems to be associated with habitat preference; wetland or dry open land, rather than true granivorous versus omnivorous habits, but in stenophagous seed feeders, a phenological coincidence with particular plants is sometimes recorded., Federica Talarico, Anita Giglio, Roberto Pizzolotto, Pietro Brandmayr., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Temporal patterns and frequency spectra of the songs and stridulatory files of 14 species of the genus of the phaneropterid bush-crickets Isophya from Eastern Europe, Altai and the Caucasus are given. The sound signals of the species studied can be separated into three main types: (1) those consisting of two syllables (Isophya gracilis, I. kalishevskii, I. schneideri, I. caspica, Isophya sp. 1); (2) one syllable and series of clicks (I. modesta rossica, I. stepposa, I. taurica, I. brunneri, I. doneciana, I. altaica); (3) single repeating syllables of uniform shape and duration (I. pienensis, Isophya sp. 2 and possibly I. stysi). The acoustic signals and behaviour of eastern European, Altai and Caucasian species are compared to those of several other European species of Isophya., Roustem Zhantiev, Olga Korsunovskaya, Alexander Benediktov., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Obesity is a serious health problem worldwide and many genes have been implicated in determination of obesity, but our knowledge of the genes responsible for individual differences in weight loss after physical intervention are poor. One of the candidate genes is a gene for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) ant its insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism. We have analyzed the association between the ACE gene variant in intervened obese females. Twenty four unrelated healthy obese (BMI > 29.9 kg/m2, with abdominal type of obesity) premenopausal (age between 25 and 45 years) Czech Caucasian sedentary and non-diabetic females, pre-selected according the ACE I/D polymorphism (twelve II and twelve DD homozygotes) were studied in a medical research centre. They underwent 9 weeks intervention program (combination of the lowering of dietary intake to optimal level for the age and 3 times a week physical activity at fitness centre). The participants were supervised to sustain a heart rate of 65 % of maximum. Anthropometrical, biochemical parameters and body composition (Bodystat 1500) were analyzed before and after the intervention. Our study suggest, that in Czech Caucasian females I/D polymorphism within the ACE gene will have no major effect on weight loss. Interestingly, we have detected, that in obese females II genotype was associated with higher increase in basal metabolic rate (202 kcal per day) then in DD homozygotes (p<0.05), thus at least under some circumstances, this genetic variant may have an slight effect on BMI development., P. Suchánek ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The effect of the chronic and acute antioxidant tempol (superoxide dismutase mimetic) treatment on cardiac ischemic tolerance was investigated in adult male Wistar rats. The first experimental group was given tempol (1 mM) in drinking water for three weeks, the second group received tempol (100 mg/kg, i.v.) 10 min before test ischemia, and control rats received the same volume of solvent. Anesthetized open-chest animals (pentobarbitone 60 mg/kg, i.p.) were subjected to 20-min coronary artery occlusion and 3-h reperfusion for infarct size determination. Ventricular arrhythmias were monitored during ischemia and at the beginning (5 min) of reperfusion. Acute tempol administration shifted the time profile of ischemic arrhythmias to the later phase and significantly increased the number of ischemic and reperfusion premature ventricular complexes, respectively (504±127 and 84±21) as compared with the chronically treated group (218±36 and 47±7) or controls (197±26 and 31±7). Acute tempol-treated rats exhibited a tendency to decrease infarct size (P = 0.087). The mechanism of proarrhythmic tempol action during ischemia and reperfusion remains to be elucidated., J. Neckář, B. Ošťádal, F. Kolář., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Diapause is a common dormancy strategy exhibited by many species of invertebrates and insects to temporarily avoid seasonally recurring unfavourable conditions for their development, most usually in winter. Less frequently, a prolonged diapause lasting two or more years is described in species living in unpredictable environments where it is adaptive, but with significant costs. In this paper we examine the occurrence of prolonged diapause in the lycaenid butterfly Tomares ballus. Pupae of this species undergo an obligate diapause from mid-May to late January the following year. However, during our rearing experiments (from 2009 to 2016) the emergence of adults occurred sequentially and a fraction of the pupae remained in diapause for up to seven years. The annual percentage emergence after the first year of diapause was 45.6%, and only barely exceeded 50.0% in 2015. Remarkably, 12 pupae (11.4% of the initial brood) remained in diapause in their eighth year. The negative exponential equation fitted to the emergence data suggests that further emergences may occur within the next five years. Therefore, the potential for successful prolonged diapause of T. ballus pupae may be more than 10 years. The adaptive value of this strategy is discussed in relation to the effects of adverse and unpredictable weather during the flight period of the butterfly, intra-guild competition, parasitoids and changes in habitat quality. We suggest that this strategy may also be exhibited by other species of Mediterranean lycaenids., Rafael Obregón, Juan Fernández Haeger, Diego Jordano., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Serum levels of adiponectin were measured in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer of pT2 and pT3 stage. Adiponectin ELISA assay, immunohistochemistry, and selected metabolic and biochemical parameters measurement was performed in 25 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and 43 with prostate cancer (17 patients with organ-confined and 26 patients with locally advanced disease). Serum adiponectin levels did not differ between prostate benign hyperplasia and cancer clinical stage T2, but was significantly higher in pT3 relative to pT2 group (14.51± 4.92 vs. 21.41±8. 12, P = 0.003). Tissue immunohistochemistry showed enhanced staining in neoplastic prostate glands and intraepithelial neoplasia relative to benign prostatic hyperplasia without distinction between disease grade and stage. Serum adiponectin levels are higher in locally advanced relative to organ-confined prostate cancer and may thus serve as an auxiliary marker providing further improvement for discrimination between pT2 and pT3 stages., D. Housa, Z. Vernerová, J. Heráček, B. Procházka, P. Čechák, J. Kuncová, M. Haluzík., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Cytochrome P450s (P450s) involved in insecticide resistance reduce the efficacy of insecticide-based vector control by rendering vector control ineffective. They are recorded in many species of vectors and have various constitutive and insecticide induction profiles. In this study, the isolation and prediction of the structure of a P450 from a strain of Aedes aegypti originating from Malaysia is reported. Quantitative mRNA expression of this gene and a previously reported P450, CYP4H28v2, in the developmental stages of the mosquito after exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of insecticides is also reported. The isolated P450, CYP4H31v2, is an allelic variant of CYP4H31 and contains several conserved motifs of P450s. The secondary structure of the protein is mostly made up of alpha helices and random coils. The tertiary structure was generated using homology modeling and was of good quality based on structure validation using protein structure assessment tools. CYP4H28v2 and CYP4H31v2 were differentially expressed in the developmental stages of the vector, with a significantly increased expression in adult males. The genes were significantly over-expressed in larvae exposed to deltamethrin and permethrin for 6 h. In the DDT-treated larvae, only CYP4H31v2 was significantly over-expressed after a 6 h exposure. Under-expression of the genes was predominant in larvae treated with the organophosphates malathion and temephos. Though the functions of these P450s are unknown, their response to induction by exposure to insecticides indicates the likely involvement of these genes in insecticide tolerance. and Fatma M. A. El-Garj, Mustafa F.F. Wajidi, Silas W. Avicor.
Classical biological control is an important means of managing the increasing threat of invasive plants. It constitutes the introduction of natural enemies from the native range of the target plant into the invaded area. This method may be the only cost-effective solution to control the rapidly expanding common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, in non-crop habitats in Europe. Therefore, candidate biocontrol agents urgently need to be assessed for their suitability for ragweed control in Europe. A previous literature review prioritized the host-specific leaf beetle Ophraella slobodkini as a candidate agent for ragweed control in Europe, whereas it rejected its oligophagous congener O. communa. Meanwhile, O. communa was accidentally introduced and became established south of the European Alps, and we show here that it is expanding its European range. We then present a short version of the traditional pre-release risk-benefit assessment for these two candidate agents to facilitate fast decision-making about further research efforts. We selected two complementary tests that can be conducted relatively rapidly and inform about essential risks and benefits. We conducted a comparative no-choice juvenile performance assay using leaves of ragweed and sunflower, the most important non-target plant, in Petri dishes in climatic conditions similar to that in the current European range of O. communa. This informs on the fundamental host range and potential for increasing abundance on these host plants. The results confirm that O. slobodkini does not survive on, and is hence unlikely to cause severe damage to sunflower, while O. communa can survive but develops more slowly on sunflower than on ragweed. In parallel, our species distribution models predict no suitable area for the establishment of O. slobodkini in Europe, while O. communa is likely to expand its current range to include a maximum of 18% of the European ragweed distribution. Based on this early assessment, the prioritization and further assessment of O. slobodkini seem unwarranted whereas the results urgently advocate further risk-benefit analysis of O. communa. Having revealed that most of the European area colonized by ragweed is unlikely to be suitable for these species of Ophraella we suggest the use of such relatively short and cheap preliminary assessment to prioritise other candidate agents or strains for these areas., Suzanne T. E. Lommen, Emilien F. Jolidon, Yan Sun, José I. Bustamante Eduardo, Heinz Müller-Schärer., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) play crucial role in the regulation of drug metabolizing enzymes and in many essential physiological processes. Cellular signaling by these receptors shares several functional and regulatory features. Here we investigated regulatory cross-talk between these two receptors. Human hepatoma cells (HepG2) were the model of choice. We analyzed the effects of dexamethasone (DEX) and dioxin (TCDD) on i) expression of AhR and GRα mRNAs; ii) levels of AhR and GR proteins; iii) transcriptional activities of AhR and GR in reporter assays; iv) 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity (EROD). We found that both DEX and TCDD affected AhR and GR mRNAs expression, proteins levels and transcriptional activities in HepG2 cells. These effects on cellular signaling by AhR and GR comprised up-/down-regulation of gene expression and ligand-dependent protein degradation. We conclude that interactive regulatory cross-talk between GR and AhR receptors in HepG2 cells defines possible implications in physiology and drug metabolism. Future research should be focused on the investigation of AhR-GR cross-talk in various normal human cells and tissues both in vitro and in vivo., Z. Dvořák, R. Vrzal, P. Pávek, J. Ulrichová., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliigrafické odkazy