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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Better Than Deet Repellent Compounds Derived From Coconut Oil, Junwei J. Zhu, Steven C. Cermak, James A. Kenar, Gary Brewer, Kenneth F. Haynes, Dave Boxler, Paul D. Baker, Desen Wang, Changlu Wang, Andrew Y. Li, Rui-De Xue, Yuan Shen, Fei Wang, Natasha M. Agramonte, Ulrich R. Bernier, Jaires G. De Oliveira Filho, Ligia M. F. Borges, Kristina Friesen, David B. Taylor Sep 2018

Better Than Deet Repellent Compounds Derived From Coconut Oil, Junwei J. Zhu, Steven C. Cermak, James A. Kenar, Gary Brewer, Kenneth F. Haynes, Dave Boxler, Paul D. Baker, Desen Wang, Changlu Wang, Andrew Y. Li, Rui-De Xue, Yuan Shen, Fei Wang, Natasha M. Agramonte, Ulrich R. Bernier, Jaires G. De Oliveira Filho, Ligia M. F. Borges, Kristina Friesen, David B. Taylor

Entomology Faculty Publications

Hematophagous arthropods are capable of transmitting human and animal pathogens worldwide. Vector-borne diseases account for 17% of all infectious diseases resulting in 700,000 human deaths annually. Repellents are a primary tool for reducing the impact of biting arthropods on humans and animals. N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), the most effective and long-lasting repellent currently available commercially, has long been considered the gold standard in insect repellents, but with reported human health issues, particularly for infants and pregnant women. In the present study, we report fatty acids derived from coconut oil which are novel, inexpensive and highly efficacious repellant compounds. These coconut …


Advancing Behavioural Genomics By Considering Timescale, Clare C. Rittschof, Kimberly A. Hughes Feb 2018

Advancing Behavioural Genomics By Considering Timescale, Clare C. Rittschof, Kimberly A. Hughes

Entomology Faculty Publications

Animal behavioural traits often covary with gene expression, pointing towards a genomic constraint on organismal responses to environmental cues. This pattern highlights a gap in our understanding of the time course of environmentally responsive gene expression, and moreover, how these dynamics are regulated. Advances in behavioural genomics explore how gene expression dynamics are correlated with behavioural traits that range from stable to highly labile. We consider the idea that certain genomic regulatory mechanisms may predict the timescale of an environmental effect on behaviour. This temporally minded approach could inform both organismal and evolutionary questions ranging from the remediation of early …


Natural Enemies Partially Compensate For Warming Induced Excess Herbivory In An Organic Growth System, Orsolya Beleznai, Jamin Dreyer, Zoltán Tóth, Ferenc Samu Aug 2017

Natural Enemies Partially Compensate For Warming Induced Excess Herbivory In An Organic Growth System, Orsolya Beleznai, Jamin Dreyer, Zoltán Tóth, Ferenc Samu

Entomology Faculty Publications

Predators can limit prey abundance and/or levels of activity. The magnitudes of these effects are contingent on predator and prey traits that may change with environmental conditions. Aberrant thermal regimes could disrupt pest suppression through asymmetric effects, e.g. heat-sensitive predator vs. heat-tolerant prey. To explore potential effects of warming on suppressing pests and controlling herbivory in a vegetable crop, we performed laboratory experiments exposing an important pest species to two spider predator species at different temperatures. Heat tolerance was characterised by the critical thermal maxima parameter (CTM50) of the cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata), wolf spider (Tigrosa helluo …


Sex Determination In Beetles: Production Of All Male Progeny By Parental Rnai Knockdown Of Transformer, Jayendra Nath Shukla, Subba Reddy Palli Aug 2012

Sex Determination In Beetles: Production Of All Male Progeny By Parental Rnai Knockdown Of Transformer, Jayendra Nath Shukla, Subba Reddy Palli

Entomology Faculty Publications

Sex in insects is determined by a cascade of regulators ultimately controlling sex-specific splicing of a transcription factor, Doublesex (Dsx). We recently identified homolog of dsx in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Tcdsx). Here, we report on the identification and characterization of a regulator of Tcdsx splicing in T. castaneum. Two male-specific and one female-specific isoforms of T. castaneum transformer (Tctra) were identified. RNA interference-aided knockdown of Tctra in pupa or adults caused a change in sex from females to males by diverting the splicing of Tcdsx pre-mRNA to male-specific isoform. All the pupa and adults developed from Tctra …