Abbreviated cv

Journal of Insect Physiology, 2011

The book ‘Current Concepts in Crop Protection’ comprising of 15 chapters has addressed the current issues and challenges of crop protection encompassing traditional practices, technological breakthroughs, ecological and economical considerations and finally sustainability concerns. The present book attempts to cover plant pathogens, insect and non-insect pests, weeds, and nematodes. The chapter on climate change has discussed the fate of biocontrol agents in global climate change scenario in addition to that of various plant pests in agroecosystem. The following chapter on nanotechnology has reviewed the latest works done in plant protection aspects. Considering the enormous work on biotechnology being carried out with regard to crop protection, two separate chapters were invited which gave a thorough update in a concise manner. Role of information and communication technology have been elaborated in chapter no. 3 and 9. The latest developments in cultural management of crop pests h...

Insects

The pyrokinin (PK) family of insect neuropeptides, characterized by C termini consisting of either WFGPRLamide (i.e., PK1) or FXPRLamide (i.e., PK2), are encoded on the capa and pk genes. Although implicated in diverse biological functions, characterization of PKs in hemipteran pests has been largely limited to genomic, transcriptomic, and/or peptidomic datasets. The Lygus hesperus (western tarnished plant bug) PK transcript encodes a prepropeptide predicted to yield three PK2 FXPRLamide-like peptides with C-terminal sequences characterized by FQPRSamide (LyghePKa), FAPRLamide (LyghePKb), and a non-amidated YSPRF. The transcript is expressed throughout L. hesperus development with greatest abundance in adult heads. PRXamide-like immunoreactivity, which recognizes both pk- and capa-derived peptides, is localized to cells in the cerebral ganglia, gnathal ganglia/suboesophageal ganglion, thoracic ganglia, and abdominal ganglia. Immunoreactivity in the abdominal ganglia is largely consi...

Cover : The cover photo collage was created by Kent Loeffler, Cornell University. The background map was created by NASA (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/). Inset photos are as follows (clockwise starting at the top): Sporulating cadaver of early instar gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, killed by the fungal pathogen Entomophaga maimaiga (Photo courtesy of Ann E Hajek); Octospores and free spores of Thelohania solenopsae, the microsporidian pathogen infecting Solenopsis spp. (Photo courtesy of USDA, ARS); Electron micrograph of Bacillus thuringiensis sporangium (Photo courtesy of José Bresciani and Jørgen Eilenberg); Adult rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros (Photo courtesy of Sada Nand Lal).

Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies. P. Dhang ed. CABI International, 2014

Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies, P. Dhang, ed. CAB International , 2014

Use of Microbes for Control and Eradication of Invasive Arthropods, 2009

Cover : The cover photo collage was created by Kent Loeffler, Cornell University. The background map was created by NASA (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/). Inset photos are as follows (clockwise starting at the top): Sporulating cadaver of early instar gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, killed by the fungal pathogen Entomophaga maimaiga (Photo courtesy of Ann E Hajek); Octospores and free spores of Thelohania solenopsae, the microsporidian pathogen infecting Solenopsis spp. (Photo courtesy of USDA, ARS); Electron micrograph of Bacillus thuringiensis sporangium (Photo courtesy of José Bresciani and Jørgen Eilenberg); Adult rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros (Photo courtesy of Sada Nand Lal).

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) is an invasive dipteran pest of soft fruits that causes substantial damage to the horticultural crops of Europe and North America. As conventional control of this pest is challenging, an environmentally benign microbial biopesticide is highly desirable. A lethal virus could prove to be such a control agent. Here we use a metatranscriptomic approach to discover new viruses infecting this fly and its larvae, in both its native (Japanese) and invasive (British and French) ranges. We describe 18 new RNA viruses, including members of the Picornavirales, Mononegavirales, Bunyavirales, Chuviruses, Nodaviridae, Tombusviridae, Reoviridae, and Nidovirales, and discuss their phylogenetic relationships with previously known viruses. We also detect 16 previously described viruses of other Drosophila species that show potential association with D. suzukii in the wild.

Biological Control, 2010

Parasitoid wasps of the genus Orasema Cameron have been considered as potential candidates for biological control of imported fire ants in the United States. Surveys were conducted for their occurrence in fire ant colonies across southern South America. In Argentina, 443 ant colonies were excavated at 57 sites and 11 positive sites were revisited to monitor the field persistence. In Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay, 288 colonies were examined in the field in 16 sites. Orasema simplex Heraty was the most abundant species, and found in 63.7% of the total parasitized colonies (n = 72). Orasema xanthopus (Cameron) and Orasema salebrosa Heraty were found at four sites in Argentina. In Bolivia, Orasema pireta Heraty was found at one site and parasitizing an unidentified Solenopsis species. Two new host species for Orasema were discovered, Solenopsis quinquecuspis Forel and Solenopsis macdonaghi Santschi. In addition, Orasema aenea Gahan was found parasitizing fire ants for the first time. The parasitoids persisted at 36.4% of the positive sites, most of them in rural habitats.

PeerJ

The olfactory system of insects is important for behavioral activities as it recognizes internal and external volatile stimuli in the environment. Insect odorant degrading enzymes (ODEs), including antennal-specific carboxylesterases (CXEs), are known to degrade redundant odorant molecules or to hydrolyze important olfactory sex pheromone components and plant volatiles. Compared to many well-studied Type-I sex pheromone-producing lepidopteran species, the molecular mechanisms of the olfactory system of Type-II sex pheromone-producing Hyphantria cunea (Drury) remain poorly understood. In the current study, we first identified a total of ten CXE genes based on our previous H. unea antennal transcriptomic data. We constructed a phylogenetic tree to evaluate the relationship of HcunCXEs with other insects’ CXEs, and used quantitative PCR to investigate the gene expression of H. cunea CXEs (HcunCXEs). Our results indicate that HcunCXEs are highly expressed in antennae, legs and wings, su...