Entomology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Entomology, including details on insects, parasites, diseases.

Molecular technologies to improve the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique.

Franz G, Robinson AS

FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory, Entomology Unit, International Atomic Energy Agency, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria, G.Franz@iaea.org.

The application of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes continues to increase. However, programme efficiency can still be considerably enhanced when certain components of the technology are improved, such as the development of improved strains for mass rearing and release. These include strains that (1) produce only male insects for sterilization and release and (2) carry easily identifiable markers to identify released sterile insects in the field. Using both classical and modern biotechnology techniques, key insect pests are targeted, where SIT programmes are being implemented. The pests include mosquitoes, the Mexican fruit fly, the codling moth, the oriental fruit fly and the pink bollworm. This special issue summarizes the results of research efforts aimed at the development and evaluation of new strains to a level where a decision can be made as to their suitability for use in large scale SIT programmes. Major beneficiaries will be operational AW-IPM programmes that apply the SIT against major insect pests.

Published 24 January 2011 in Genetica.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Entomology published 24 January 2011:

Sweaty skin: an invitation to bite?   Trends Parasitol.

Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto and Aedes aegypti have a preference for human blood, which determines their importance as vectors of pathogens responsible for human diseases. Volatile organic chemicals are the principal cues by which humans are being located. Human sweat contains components that are attractive to anthropophilic mosquito species, and variation in sweat composition causes differential attractiveness to mosquitoes within and between individuals and also between humans and other ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

A Mechanical Signal Biases Caste Development in a Social Wasp.   Curr Biol.

Understanding the proximate mechanisms of caste development in eusocial taxa can reveal how social species evolved from solitary ancestors [1]. In Polistes wasps, the current paradigm holds that differential amounts of nutrition during the larval stage cause the divergence of worker and gyne (potential queen) castes [2]. But nutrition level alone cannot explain how the first few females to be produced in a colony develop rapidly yet have small body sizes and worker phenotypes [3, 4]. Here, we ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

On the Gause predator-prey model with a refuge: A fresh look at the history.   J Theor Biol.

This article re-analyses a prey-predator model with a refuge introduced by one of the founders of population ecology Gause and his co-workers to explain discrepancies between their observations and predictions of the Lotka-Volterra prey-predator model. They replaced the linear functional response used by Lotka and Volterra by a saturating functional response with a discontinuity at a critical prey density. At concentrations below this critical density prey were effectively in a refuge while at ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Basic research in evolution and ecology enhances forensics.   Trends Ecol Evol, 26(2): 53-5.

In 2009, the National Research Council recommended that the forensic sciences strengthen their grounding in basic empirical research to mitigate against criticism and improve accuracy and reliability. For DNA-based identification, this goal was achieved under the guidance of the population genetics community. This effort resulted in DNA analysis becoming the 'gold standard' of the forensic sciences. Elsewhere, we proposed a framework for streamlining research in decomposition ecology, which ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Zoonotic Brugia pahangi filariasis in a suburbia of Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia.   Parasitol Int, 60(1): 111-3.

Five local Malaysian patients with clinical manifestations consistent with lymphatic filariasis were referred to our medical centre between 2003 and 2006. Although no microfilariae (mf) were detected in their nocturnal blood samples, all were diagnosed to have lymphatic filariasis on the basis of clinical findings and positive serology results. PCR on their blood samples revealed that two of the patients were infected with Brugia pahangi, an animal filarial worm hitherto not known to cause ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Entomology published 21 January 2011:

Cellular immunosenescence in adult male crickets, Gryllus assimilis.   Arch Insect Biochem Physiol.

Ecological immunity studies in invertebrates, particularly insects, have generated new insights into trade-offs between immune functions and other physiological parameters. These studies document physiologically directed reallocations of immune costs to other high-cost areas of physiology. Immunosenescence, recognized as the age-related deterioration of immune functions, is another mechanism of radically altering immune systems. We investigated the hypothesis that aging brings on ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Full-length sequence, regulation and developmental studies of a second vitellogenin gene from the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis.   J Insect Physiol.

Vitellogenin (Vg) is the precursor of vitellin (Vn) which is the major yolk protein in eggs. In a previous report, we isolated and characterized the first Vg message from the American dog tick Dermacentor variabilis. In the current study, we describe a second Vg gene from the same tick. The Vg2 cDNA is 5956 nucleotides with a 5775 nt open reading frame coding for 1925 amino acids. The conceptual amino acid translation contains a 16-residues putative signal peptide, N-terminal lipid binding ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Entomology published 20 January 2011:

Persistence of dicofol residues in cotton lint seed, and soil.   Environ Monit Assess.

A supervised field trial was conducted at the CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar to assess the residues of dicofol on cotton, during Kharif season, 2008. Dicofol (Kelthane 18.5EC) was applied at 500 g a.i./ha (T(1)) and 1,000 g a.i./ha T(2)) after 105 days of sowing of cotton crop (Varity Cotton/H-1226). Soil samples were collected on 0 (1 h after treatment), 3, 7, 10, 15, 30, and 60 days after spray and cotton samples were collected at harvest. Samples were processed and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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