Coccinellids are effective predators and a key component of the predator guild in rice ecosystems. In order to enhance their efficacy, a study was undertaken to assess the seasonal movement of coccinellids into rice fields and the role of the surrounding flora on their colonization. The seasonal abundance of coccinellids and their prey was recorded on the rice crop and the surrounding flora at fortnightly intervals from 2012 to 2015. Coccinellid prey range was assessed using PAGE electrophoresis. The herbivorous insects associated with weeds were Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis craccivora (Koch), Cicadulina bipunctata (Melichar), Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), Sitobion sp., Thaia oryzivora Ghauri and Zygina maculifrons Matsumura. Of the species of coccinellids recorded in rice fields, Harmonia octomaculata (Fabricius), Micraspis discolor (F.), Propylea dissecta (Mulsant), Coccinella transversalis Fabricius, Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius), Scymnus nubilus Mulsant and Brumoides suturalis (Fabricius) were also recorded on weeds. The esterase profiles indicated that the leafhoppers and aphids on the weeds were the prey of the coccinellids before they colonized the rice fields. The coccinellids recorded on the weeds showed bands corresponding to the insects present on the weeds. Beetles collected from rice fields had different bands, some of which corresponded to the green leafhopper (GLH) Nephotettix virescens Distant, the brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens Stal and white backed planthopper (WBPH) Sogatella furcifera Hovarth infesting rice. In addition, some bands corresponded to hoppers and aphids that were present on the surrounding flora. The results indicate the importance of surrounding flora in the conservation and colonization of rice fields by coccinellids., Chitra Shanker, Lydia Chintagunta, Sampathkumar Muthusamy, Sunil Vailla, Amudhan Srinivasan, Gururaj Katti., and Obsahuje bibliografii
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play vital roles in bone metabolism and participate in the mechanically induced bone alterations. The underlying molecular mechanisms by which fluid shear stress (FSS) regulate the proliferative and apoptotic phenotypic changes of osteoblasts remain elusive. The study aimed to investigate the regulatory effects of FSS on osteoblast proliferative and apoptotic phenotypes and the roles of miR-214-3p-ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4) signaling axis in the mechanomodulation processes. FSS promoted the proliferative activity of osteoblasts and suppressed mitochondrial-mediated osteoblast apoptosis. FSS decreased miR-214-3p expression and increased ATF4 expression in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. MiR-214-3p inhibited osteoblast proliferative activity and promoted mitochondrialmediated osteoblast apoptosis. Overexpression of miR-214-3p attenuated FSS-enhanced osteoblast proliferation and FSS-suppressed mitochondrial-mediated osteoblast apoptosis. We validated that ATF4 acted as a target gene of miR-214-3p. Moreover, miR-214-3p regulated osteoblast proliferation and apoptosis through targeting ATF4. Taken together, our study proved that FSS could suppress mitochondrial-mediated osteoblast apoptosis and promote osteoblast proliferation through the miR-214-3p-ATF4 signaling axis.
Fluid shear stress (FSS) plays an important role in osteoblast apoptosis. However, the role of miRNA in osteoblast apoptosis under FSS and possible molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Our aim of the study was to explore whether miR-146a-5p regulates osteoblast apoptosis under FSS and its molecular mechanisms. FSS could down-regulate the expression of miR146a-5p in MC3T3-E1 cells. We confirm that up-regulation of miR-146a-5p promotes osteoblasts apoptosis and downregulation of miR-146a-5p inhibits osteoblasts apoptosis. We further demonstrated that FSS inhibits osteoblast apoptosis by down-regulated miR-146a-5p. Dual-luciferase reporter assay validated that SMAD4 is a direct target gene of miR-146a-5p. In addition, mimic-146a-5p suppressed FSS-induced up-regulation of SMAD4 protein levels, which suggests that FSS elevated SMAD4 protein expression levels via regulation miR-146a-5p. Further investigations showed that SMAD4 could inhibit osteoblast apoptosis. We demonstrated that miR-146a-5p regulates osteoblast apoptosis via targeting SMAD4. Taken together, our present study showed that FSS-induced downregulation miR-146a-5p inhibits osteoblast apoptosis via target SMAD4. These findings may provide novel mechanisms for FSS to inhibit osteoblast apoptosis, and also may provide a potential therapeutic target for osteoporosis.
We studied diet and prey preferences of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) inhabiting south-east Poland, based on kills found during GPS-GSM telemetry and opportunistic winter tracking. Among 64 lynx kills were roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (91%), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (3%) and brown hare (Lepus europaeus) (6%). From the ungulate community, lynx selected roe deer (D = 0.845) and avoided all other ungulates. We recorded one case of surplus and two cases of parallel killing. Lynx visited the same killed roe deer on average for 2.3 days, and for up to six days when surplus or parallel killing occurred. High numbers of the roe deer in south-east Poland supports the persistence of the lynx, but we urge managers to take under consideration food requirements of the lynx when planning game management.
After a boom in foreign-currency denominated (forex) mortgage loans in the 2000s and the resulting debt crisis in 2008-2009, Hungary’s debt management came to be defined by a highly politicised combination of several phenomena: the existence of a large social base at risk of defaulting on their mortgages; the integration of debtors’ struggles into a shift from the post-socialist dominance of neoliberalism to a national conservative political hegemony during the crisis years; and the political foregrounding of forex debt management in the post-2010 Orbán governments’ construction of a new financial model as part of a post-neoliberal authoritarian capitalist regime. The article traces how two main aspects of the forex mortgage crisis, housing debt under dependent financialisation and the problem of limited housing access, became integrated into Hungary’s electoral politics and macroeconomic transformation in the last decade.
Multivalvulid myxosporeans of the genera Kudoa Meglitsch, 1947 and Unicapsula Davis, 1924 (Cnidaria: Myxozoa) are often the cause of unsightly cyst formation or postmortem myoliquefaction in the trunk muscle of commercial marine fish, which reduces the market value of infected individuals. Twenty species (18 Kudoa spp. and two Unicapsula spp.) have been recorded from carangid fish, although the majority of them, excluding polyxenous species, such as K. amamiensis Egusa et Nakajima, 1980, K. iwatai Egusa et Shiomitsu, 1983, K. nova Naidenova, 1975, K. quadratum (Thélohan, 1895) and K. yasunagai (Hsieh et Chen, 1984), are limited to a single or a few fish species. We report the occurrence of macroscopic cysts of Kudoa trachuri Matsukane, Sato, Tanaka, Kamata et Sugita-Konishi, 2011 in the trunk muscle of four new host fish species, i.e., Pseudocaranx dentex (Bloch et Schneider), Decapterus akaadsi Abe, D. muroadsi (Temminck et Schlegel) and Decapterus tabl Berry, fished from the Philippine Sea (Northwest Pacific Ocean), off southwestern of Japan. Myxospore morphology and genetic characteristics of the ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) of these isolates were consistent with previous records of K. trachuri from Trachurus japonicus (Temminck et Schlegel) from around Japan. In addition, a new species of Kudoa that forms long filamentous pseudocysts in trunk myofibres was found in four of the six D. tabl collected in this study. We describe Kudoa longichorda sp. n. for this new isolate, based on its morphology of subquadrate myxospores with four shell valves and polar capsules and with small dimensions (length 4.3-5.5 µm, width 6.0-6.8 µm, thickness 4.8-6.3 µm, polar capsule length 2.3-3.1 µm, polar capsule width 1.1-1.7 µm), as well as 18S and 28S rDNA sequences distinct from those of known species.
The examination of eight spotted skates, Raja straeleni Poll, resulted in the discovery of four new species of Acanthobothrium van Beneden, 1849, namely A. microhabentes sp. n., A. microtenuis sp. n., A. crassus sp. n., and A. dolichocollum sp. n., located off the Western Cape of South Africa. With a total of over 200 valid species of Acanthobothrium recognised worldwide, the use of an integrative approach becomes imperative in the interest of simplifying interspecific comparisons between congeners. In accordance with this, the four new species were incorporated into the category classification system established by Ghoshroy and Caira in 2001, where they were identified as category 2 species, which, at present, includes 47 recognised species of Acanthobothrium. Nevertheless, each of the four new species exhibits postovarian testes, a most intriguing and highly unusual feature among Acanthobothrium, instantly differentiating them from most congeners. This feature has been reported in 12 congeners, which have previously been considered to be restricted to waters of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Not only do the four new congeners represent the first species of Acanthobothrium reported from southern Africa, but they also represent the first reported species with postovarian testes from the southern Atlantic Ocean. and Regarding the legitimacy of the four new species, only two other category 2 species are reported to exhibit this feature, namely A. popi Fyler, Caira et Jensen, 2009, and A. bobconniorum Fyler et Caira, 2010, to which the four congeners were compared to. Acanthobothrium microhabentes sp. n. is the smallest of the congeners and differs from A. popi and A. bobconniorum by having fewer testes and postovarian testes, a shorter body, fewer proglottids, a shorter scolex, and longer cephalic peduncle. Acanthobothrium microtenuis sp. n. differs from A. popi and A. bobconniorum by having fewer testes and postovarian testes, a shorter scolex, longer cephalic peduncle, and the possession of columnar spinitriches on the anterior region of the terminal proglottid. Acanthobothrium crassus sp.n. differs from A. popi and A. bobconniorum by having fewer postovarian testes, a narrower cirrus-sac, larger vitelline follicles, and a longer cephalic peduncle. Acanthobothrium dolichocollum sp. n. is the longest of the four new species and differs from A. popi and A. bobconniorum by having fewer postovarian testes, more postporal testes, a larger body, more proglottids, larger testes and vitelline follicles, and an exceptionally long cephalic peduncle. Apart from differences in overall size, the four new species differ in a combination of measurements for the scolex, vitelline follicles, muscular pad and cephalic peduncle, and the number of proglottids and testes. The four species were recovered from a previously unexplored host and locality, expanding the host associations and geographical distribution of the genus.
Four new species of Acanthobothrium van Beneden, 1850 are described from guitarfish, Rhynchobatus cf. djiddensis (Forsskål), collected from the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf. Acanthobothrium janineae sp. n., a category 1 species, differs from all congeners in category 1 by having a long vagina extending into the vas deferens and different, proglottid and testis number except Acanthobothrium hypermekkolpos Fyler et Caira, 2010. Acanthobothrium fylerae sp. n., a category 1 species, can be differentiated by a combination of characters including the total length, proglottid and testis number, cirrus sac shape, and the length of the vagina and ovarian lobes. Both new species are similar to A. hypermekkolpos reported from Rhynchobatus laevis (Bloch et Schneider) from Australia in their scolex proper length, hook size and muscular pad, respectively. Acanthobothrium asrinae sp. n., a category 1 species, differs from other category 1 species by the shape of its hooks and the position of the tubercle at the mid-length of the axial prongs; in this respect it resembles A. bartonae Campbell et Beveridge, 2002 reported from Australia. Acanthobothrium jamesi sp. n. is among six category 1 species with post-ovarian testes. It differs from these species by total length, proglottid and testis number and the extension of the ovarian lobes. Although it is thought that R. djiddensis occurs in the region, the identities of the hosts of the newly described Acanthobothrium species await verification. There are two forms of host in the region and were designated as R. cf. djiddensis 1 and R. cf. djiddensis 2. More taxonomic work and the use of molecular techniques are needed to resolve the true identity of the host species., Loghman Maleki, Masoumeh Malek, Harry W. Palm., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This review updates the information on the actual status and distribution of freshwater gobies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The available literature has been critically reviewed to provide more complete and up-to-date information. Consequently four species are proposed for removal from the national checklist, given the lack of any data to support their presence: Knipowitschia panizzae, Pomatoschistus microps, Proterorhinus marmoratus and Zosterisessor ophiocephalus. Therefore, the freshwater gobiid fauna is confirmed to include seven species from six genera. The Adriatic Sea basin (Neretva River catchment) is inhabited by three endemic species: Knipowitschia radovici, Orsinigobius croaticus and Ninnigobius canestrinii, while the Black Sea basin (Danube River catchment) is inhabited by the invasive species: Babka gymnotrachelus, Neogobius fluviatilis, Neogobius melanostomus and Ponticola kessleri. However, due to the possibility of misidentify the finding of B. gymnotrachelus is questionable and needs confirmation. Distribution of both endemic Knipowitschia and Orsinogobius species is restricted to small areas in the lower Neretva River catchment on both sides of the Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina border. The vulnerability of these species is discussed, and the IUCN conservation and units meriting conservation attention were identified. The invasive character of other species is highlighted. This review indicates that the knowledge on the Bosnia-Herzegovinian freshwater gobiid fauna is still far from complete, hence this up-to-date checklist can serve as a basis for further ecological and zoogeographical studies. For better species inventory, finer scale distribution surveys are needed, followed by detailed morphological, molecular phylogenetic and ecological studies.