Mating compatibility among four pest members of the Bactrocera dorsalis fruit fly species complex (Diptera : Tephritidae)

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), Bactrocera papayae Drew & Hancock, Bactrocera philippinensis Drew & Hancock, and Bactrocera carambolae Drew & Hancock are pest members within the B. dorsalis species complex of tropical fruit flies. The species status of these taxa is unclear and this confounds quarantine, pest management, and general research. Mating studies carried out under uniform experimental conditions are required as part of resolving their species limits. These four taxa were collected from the wild and established as laboratory cultures for which we subsequently determined levels of prezygotic compatibility, assessed by field cage mating trials for all pair-wise combinations. We demonstrate random mating among all pair-wise combinations involving B. dorsalis, B. papayae, and B. philippinensis. B. carambolae was relatively incompatible with each of these species as evidenced by nonrandom mating for all crosses. Reasons for incompatibility involving B. carambolae remain unclear; however, we observed differences in the location of couples in the field cage for some comparisons. Alongside other factors such as pheromone composition or other courtship signals, this may lead to reduced interspecific mating compatibility with B. carambolae. These data add to evidence that B. dorsalis, B. papayae, and B. philippinensis represent the same biological species, while B. carambolae remains sufficiently different to maintain its current taxonomic identity. This poses significant implications for this group's systematics, impacting on pest management, and international trade.

Multi-gene phylogenetic analysis of south-east Asian pest members of the Bactrocera dorsalis species complex (Diptera: Tephritidae) does not support current taxonomy

Bactrocera dorsalis sensu stricto, B. papayae, B. philippinensis and B. carambolae are serious pest fruit fly species of the B. dorsalis complex that predominantly occur in south-east Asia and the Pacific. Identifying molecular diagnostics has proven problematic for these four taxa, a situation that cofounds biosecurity and quarantine efforts and which may be the result of at least some of these taxa representing the same biological species. We therefore conducted a phylogenetic study of these four species (and closely related outgroup taxa) based on the individuals collected from a wide geographic range; sequencing six loci (cox1, nad4-3′, CAD, period, ITS1, ITS2) for approximately 20 individuals from each of 16 sample sites. Data were analysed within maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic frameworks for individual loci and concatenated data sets for which we applied multiple monophyly and species delimitation tests. Species monophyly was measured by clade support, posterior probability or bootstrap resampling for Bayesian and likelihood analyses respectively, Rosenberg's reciprocal monophyly measure, P(AB), Rodrigo's (P(RD)) and the genealogical sorting index, gsi. We specifically tested whether there was phylogenetic support for the four 'ingroup' pest species using a data set of multiple individuals sampled from a number of populations. Based on our combined data set, Bactrocera carambolae emerges as a distinct monophyletic clade, whereas B. dorsalis s.s., B. papayae and B. philippinensis are unresolved. These data add to the growing body of evidence that B. dorsalis s.s., B. papayae and B. philippinensis are the same biological species, which poses consequences for quarantine, trade and pest management.

A molecular genetic approach for forensic animal species identification

This study investigated potential markers within chromosomal, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) with the aim of developing a DNA based method to allow differentiation between animal species. Such discrimination tests may have important applications in the forensic science, agriculture, quarantine and customs fields. DNA samples from five different animal individuals within the same species for 10 species of animal (including human) were analysed. DNA extraction and quantitation followed by PCR amplification and GeneScan visualisation formed the basis of the experimental analysis. Five gene markers from three different types of genes were investigated. These included genomic markers for the β-actin and TP53 tumor suppressor gene. Mitochondrial DNA markers, designed by Bataille et al. [Forensic Sci. Int. 99 (1999) 165], examined the Cytochrome b gene and Hypervariable Displacement Loop (D-Loop) region. Finally, a ribosomal RNA marker for the 28S rRNA gene optimised by Naito et al. [J. Forensic Sci. 37 (1992) 396] was used as a possible marker for speciation. Results showed a difference of only several base pairs between all species for the β-actin and 28S markers, with the exception of Sus scrofa (pig) β-actin fragment length, which produced a significantly smaller fragment. Multiplexing of Cytochrome b and D-Loop markers gave limited species information, although positive discrimination of human DNA was evident. The most specific and discriminatory results were shown using the TP53 gene since this marker produced greatest fragment size differences between animal species studied. Sample differentiation for all species was possible following TP53 amplification, suggesting that this gene could be used as a potential animal species identifier.

Modulation of in vitro platelet 5-HT release by species of Erythrina and Cymbopogon

Extracts of Australian plants were screened to detect constituents affecting adenosine di-phosphate (ADP) induced platelet aggregation and [14C]5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) release. Extracts of four tested plants including, Eremophila gilesii, Erythrina vespertilio, Cymbopogon ambiguus, and Santalum acuminatum, were found to cause significant inhibition of platelet 5-HT release. Inhibition levels ranged from 56-98%, and was not due to the non-specific effects of protein binding tannins. These extracts, and those we have previously identified as being active, were examined further to determine if they affect epinephrine (EPN), arachidonic acid (A.A) or collagen stimulated platelet aggregation and 5-HT release. Among those extracts investigated, we found that both the methanolic extract of E. vespertilio and the dichloromethane (DCM) extract of C. ambiguus were most potent and caused significant inhibition of platelet activation induced by EPN, A.A and to a lesser extent by collagen. Inhibition of ADP induced platelet 5-HT release by both of these extracts, was dose-dependent, with IC50 values for E. vespertilio and C. ambiguus estimated to be 20.4 microl (1.855 mg/ml) and 8.34 microl (0.758 mg/ml), respectively. Overall, C. ambiguus exhibited most activity and also caused dose-dependent inhibition of A.A induced platelet activation. These results indicate that inhibition may occur specifically at a site within the A.A pathway, and suggest the presence of a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor. Both E. vespertilio and C. ambiguus are reported to be traditional headache treatments, with the present study providing evidence that they affect 5-HT release.

Sampling environmental acoustic recordings to determine bird species richness

Acoustic sensors can be used to estimate species richness for vocal species such as birds. They can continuously and passively record large volumes of data over extended periods. These data must subsequently be analyzed to detect the presence of vocal species. Automated analysis of acoustic data for large numbers of species is complex and can be subject to high levels of false positive and false negative results. Manual analysis by experienced surveyors can produce accurate results; however the time and effort required to process even small volumes of data can make manual analysis prohibitive. This study examined the use of sampling methods to reduce the cost of analyzing large volumes of acoustic sensor data, while retaining high levels of species detection accuracy. Utilizing five days of manually analyzed acoustic sensor data from four sites, we examined a range of sampling frequencies and methods including random, stratified, and biologically informed. We found that randomly selecting 120 one-minute samples from the three hours immediately following dawn over five days of recordings, detected the highest number of species. On average, this method detected 62% of total species from 120 one-minute samples, compared to 34% of total species detected from traditional area search methods. Our results demonstrate that targeted sampling methods can provide an effective means for analyzing large volumes of acoustic sensor data efficiently and accurately. Development of automated and semi-automated techniques is required to assist in analyzing large volumes of acoustic sensor data. Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/12-2088.1

Microalgal species selection for biodiesel production based on fuel properties derived from fatty acid profiles

Physical and chemical properties of biodiesel are influenced by structural features of the fatty acids, such as chain length, degree of unsaturation and branching of the carbon chain. This study investigated if microalgal fatty acid profiles are suitable for biodiesel characterization and species selection through Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) and Graphical Analysis for Interactive Assistance (GAIA) analysis. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles were used to calculate the likely key chemical and physical properties of the biodiesel [cetane number (CN), iodine value (IV), cold filter plugging point, density, kinematic viscosity, higher heating value] of nine microalgal species (this study) and twelve species from the literature, selected for their suitability for cultivation in subtropical climates. An equal-parameter weighted (PROMETHEE-GAIA) ranked Nannochloropsis oculata, Extubocellulus sp. and Biddulphia sp. highest; the only species meeting the EN14214 and ASTM D6751-02 biodiesel standards, except for the double bond limit in the EN14214. Chlorella vulgaris outranked N. oculata when the twelve microalgae were included. Culture growth phase (stationary) and, to a lesser extent, nutrient provision affected CN and IV values of N. oculata due to lower eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) contents. Application of a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) weighting to saturation led to a lower ranking of species exceeding the double bond EN14214 thresholds. In summary, CN, IV, C18:3 and double bond limits were the strongest drivers in equal biodiesel parameter-weighted PROMETHEE analysis.

Timed Probabilistic Automaton : a bridge between Raven and Song Scope for automatic species recognition

Raven and Song Scope are two automated sound anal-ysis tools based on machine learning technique for en-vironmental monitoring. Many research works have been conducted upon them, however, no or rare explo-ration mentions about the performance and comparison between them. This paper investigates the comparisons from six aspects: theory, software interface, ease of use, detection targets, detection accuracy, and potential application. Through deep exploration one critical gap is identified that there is a lack of approach to detect both syllables and call structures, since Raven only aims to detect syllables while Song Scope targets call structures. Therefore, a Timed Probabilistic Automata (TPA) system is proposed which separates syllables first and clusters them into complex structures after.

Voltammetric monitoring of gold nanoparticle formation facilitated by glycyl-L-tyrosine : relation to electronic spectra and transmission electron microscopy images

Voltammetric techniques have been introduced to monitor the formation of gold nanoparticles produced via the reaction of the amino acid glycyl-L-tyrosine with Au(III) (bromoaurate) in 0.05 M KOH conditions. The alkaline conditions facilitate amino acid binding to Au(III), inhibit the rate of reduction to Au(0), and provide an excellent supporting electrolyte for voltammetric studies. Data obtained revealed that a range of time-dependent gold solution species are involved in gold nanoparticle formation and that the order in which reagents are mixed is critical to the outcome. Concomitantly with voltammetric measurements, the properties of gold nanoparticles formed are probed by examination of electronic spectra in order to understand how the solution environment present during nanoparticle growth affects the final distribution of the nanoparticles. Images obtained by the ex situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique enable the physical properties of the nanoparticles isolated in the solid state to be assessed. Use of this combination of in situ and ex situ techniques provides a versatile framework for elucidating the details of nanoparticle formation.

The use of acoustic indices to determine avian species richness in audio-recordings of the environment

Interpreting acoustic recordings of the natural environment is an increasingly important technique for ecologists wishing to monitor terrestrial ecosystems. Technological advances make it possible to accumulate many more recordings than can be listened to or interpreted, thereby necessitating automated assistance to identify elements in the soundscape. In this paper we examine the problem of estimating avian species richness by sampling from very long acoustic recordings. We work with data recorded under natural conditions and with all the attendant problems of undefined and unconstrained acoustic content (such as wind, rain, traffic, etc.) which can mask content of interest (in our case, bird calls). We describe 14 acoustic indices calculated at one minute resolution for the duration of a 24 hour recording. An acoustic index is a statistic that summarizes some aspect of the structure and distribution of acoustic energy and information in a recording. Some of the indices we calculate are standard (e.g. signal-to-noise ratio), some have been reported useful for the detection of bioacoustic activity (e.g. temporal and spectral entropies) and some are directed to avian sources (spectral persistence of whistles). We rank the one minute segments of a 24 hour recording in descending order according to an "acoustic richness" score which is derived from a single index or a weighted combination of two or more. We describe combinations of indices which lead to more efficient estimates of species richness than random sampling from the same recording, where efficiency is defined as total species identified for given listening effort. Using random sampling, we achieve a 53% increase in species recognized over traditional field surveys and an increase of 87% using combinations of indices to direct the sampling. We also demonstrate how combinations of the same indices can be used to detect long duration acoustic events (such as heavy rain and cicada chorus) and to construct long duration (24 h) spectrograms.

Rethinking Invasion Ecologies from the Environmental Humanities

Research from a humanist perspective has much to offer in interrogating the social and cultural ramifications of invasion ecologies. The impossibility of securing national boundaries against accidental transfer and the unpredictable climatic changes of our time have introduced new dimensions and hazards to this old issue. Written by a team of international scholars, this book allows us to rethink the impact on national, regional or local ecologies of the deliberate or accidental introduction of foreign species, plant and animal. Modern environmental approaches that treat nature with naïve realism or mobilize it as a moral absolute, unaware or unwilling to accept that it is informed by specific cultural and temporal values, are doomed to fail. Instead, this book shows that we need to understand the complex interactions of ecologies and societies in the past, present and future over the Anthropocene, in order to address problems of the global environmental crisis. It demonstrates how humanistic methods and disciplines can be used to bring fresh clarity and perspective on this long vexed aspect of environmental thought and practice. Students and researchers in environmental studies, invasion ecology, conservation biology, environmental ethics, environmental history and environmental policy will welcome this major contribution to environmental humanities.

Containing Queensland prickly pear : buffer zones, closer settlement, whiteness

By 1925, the introduced prickly pear (Opuntia and Nopalea spp.) covered up to 60 million acres of Queensland and New South Wales in what was perceived as prime agricultural land. After 40 years of experimentation, all Queensland Government strategies had failed. Faced with this failure and a diminishing expectation that the land would ever be conquered, buffer zones were proposed by the newly formed Queensland Prickly Pear Land Commission. A close reading of government documents, newspaper reports and local histories about these buffer zones shows how settler anxieties over who could or should occupy the land shaped the kinds of strategies recommended and adopted in relation to this alien species. Physical and cultural techniques were used to manage the uneasy coexistence between prickly pear, on the one hand, and farmers and graziers on the other. Furthermore, this environmental history challenges the notion of racially homogenous closer settlement under the White Australia Policy, showing the many different kinds of livelihood and labour in prickly pear land in the 1920s.

Second harmonic generation and multiphoton microscopic detection of collagen without the need for species specific antibodies

High-resolution, high-contrast, three-dimensional images of live cell and tissue architecture can be obtained using second harmonic generation (SHG), which comprises non-absorptive frequency changes in an excitation laser line. SHG does not require any exogenous antibody or fluorophore labeling, and can generate images from unstained sections of several key endogenous biomolecules, in a wide variety of species and from different types of processed tissue. Here, we examined normal control human skin sections and human burn scar tissues using SHG on a multi-photon microscope (MPM). Examination and comparison of normal human skin and burn scar tissue demonstrated a clear arrangement of fibers in the dermis, similar to dermal collagen fiber signals. Fluorescence-staining confirmed the MPM-SHG collagen colocalization with antibody staining for dermal collagen type-I but not fibronectin or elastin. Furthermore, we were able to detect collagen MPM-SHG signal in human frozen sections as well as in unstained paraffin embedded tissue sections that were then compared with hematoxylin and eosin staining in the identical sections. This same approach was also successful in localizing collagen in porcine and ovine skin samples, and may be particularly important when species-specific antibodies may not be available. Collectively, our results demonstrate that MPM SHG-detection is a useful tool for high resolution examination of collagen architecture in both normal and wounded human, porcine and ovine dermal tissue.

Species-specific homing mechanisms of human prostate cancer metastasis in tissue engineered bone

The development of effective therapeutic strategies against prostate cancer bone metastases has been impeded by the lack of adequate animal models that are able to recapitulate the biology of the disease in humans. Bioengineered approaches allow researchers to create sophisticated experimentally and physiologically relevant in vivo models to study interactions between cancer cells and their microenvironment under reproducible conditions. The aim of this study was to engineer a morphologically and functionally intact humanized organ bone which can serve as a homing site for human prostate cancer cells. Transplantation of biodegradable tubular composite scaffolds seeded with human mesenchymal progenitor cells and loaded with rhBMP-7 resulted in the development of a chimeric bone construct including a large number of human mesenchymal cells which were shown to be metabolically active and capable of producing extracellular matrix components. Micro-CT analysis demonstrated that the newly formed ossicle recapitulated the morphological features of a physiological organ bone with a trabecular network surrounded by a cortex-like outer structure. This microenvironment was supportive of the lodgement and maintenance of murine haematopoietic cell clusters, thus mimicking a functional organ bone. Bioluminescence imaging demonstrated that luciferase-transduced human PC3 cells reproducibly homed to the humanized tissue engineered bone constructs, proliferated, and developed macro-metastases. This model allows the analysis of interactions between human prostate cancer cells and a functional humanized bone organ within an immuno-incompetent murine host. The system can serve as a reproducible platform to study effects of therapeutics against prostate cancer bone metastases within a humanized microenvironment.

The Black-tailed Antechinus, Antechinus arktos sp. nov.: a new species of carnivorous marsupial from montane regions of the Tweed Volcano caldera, eastern Australia

We describe a new species of dasyurid marsupial within the genus Antechinus that was previously known as a northern outlier of Dusky Antechinus (A. swainsonii). The Black-tailed Antechinus, Antechinus arktos sp. nov., is known only from areas of high altitude and high rainfall on the Tweed Volcano caldera of far south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales, Australia. Antechinus arktos formerly sheltered under the taxonomic umbrella of A. swainsonii mimetes, the widespread mainland form of Dusky Antechinus. With the benefit of genetic hindsight, some striking morphological differences are herein resolved: A. s. mimetes is more uniformly deep brown-black to grizzled grey-brown from head to rump, with brownish (clove brown—raw umber) hair on the upper surface of the hindfoot and tail, whereas A. arktos is more vibrantly coloured, with a marked change from greyish-brown head to orange-brown rump, fuscous black on the upper surface of the hindfoot and dense, short fur on the evenly black tail. Further, A. arktos has marked orange-brown fur on the upper and lower eyelid, cheek and in front of the ear and very long guard hairs all over the body; these characters are more subtle in A. s. mimetes. There are striking genetic differences between the two species: at mtDNA, A. s. mimetes from north-east New South Wales is 10% divergent to A. arktos from its type locality at Springbrook NP, Queensland. In contrast, the Ebor A. s. mimetes clades closely with conspecifics from ACT and Victoria. A. arktos skulls are strikingly different to all subspecies of A. swainsonii. A. arktos are markedly larger than A. s. mimetes and A. s. swainsonii (Tasmania) for a range of craniodental measures. Antechinus arktos were historically found at a few proximate mountainous sites in south-east Queensland, and have only recently been recorded from or near the type locality. Even there, the species is likely in low abundance. The Black-tailed Antechinus has plausibly been detrimentally affected by climate change in recent decades, and will be at further risk with increasing warming trends.

Field Companion to the Mammals of Australia

"This invaluable companion to The Mammals of Australia is intended to be taken out into the field and used in conjunction with the more comprehensive volume. Genuinely practical in the outdoors, the book includes accounts of 389 species and newly developed, comprehensive identification keys. The Field Companion is introduced by a Mammal Distribution Matrix, which provides a classified checklist of all mammals in Australia (including those extinguished since European settlement) and the distribution of extant species in each state and territory. Species accounts provide initial differentiation, and include notes on identification, size, abundance, habitat and federal list/status, photograph and distribution map, as well as key references, which provide quick access to all relevant state identification keys in the Field Companion and to the longer entry in The Mammals of Australia. The authors have developed separate keys, illustrated with detailed drawings and maps, for the six states and the Northern Territory, to simplify the identification process and allow the reader to confidently separate all mammal species, no matter how subtle the differences. With the addition of these identification keys, this book becomes more than a field guide - although it is intended primarily to be used outdoors - and allows the user to finish identification based on more obscure characteristics, which is an advantage for some hard-to-identify species groups."--Libraries Australia