An insect’s-eye view

This article is concerned with representations of insects and insect habitats in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Dutch art and print culture. It adopts an eco-critical approach, with an eye toward multispecies studies. The article considers the ecologically conceived image of bees, butterflies, and other insects gathering pollen from a wide range of flowering plant life in Theo van Hoytema’s lithograph announcing the Biological Exhibition: the Life of Plants and Animals held in 1910 at the Royal Zoological Botanical Gardens in The Hague. This closely observed water’s-edge environment is considered in the context of the wider body of works on paper done by Van Huitema especially during the seminal period of the 1890s, and within the growing print culture surrounding the Dutch naturalist and environmental movements in the early years of the twentieth century.

Flower strips increase the control of rosy apple aphids after parasitoid releases in an apple orchard

Mass releases of two parasitoid species, Aphidius matricariae and Ephedrus cerasicola, may provide an alternative measure to pesticides to control the rosy apple aphid Dysaphis plantaginea in organic apple orchards. As a proof of concept study, we tested if the presence of flower strips between apple tree rows could improve the action of three early parasitoid releases—and of other naturally present aphid enemies—on the control of aphid colonies and number of aphids per tree. Apple trees located at different distances from parasitoid release points were monitored in plots with and without flower strips in an organic apple orchard over two years, along the season of aphid infestation (March to July). Our case study demonstrated that the presence of flowering plant mixes in the alleyways of an apple orchard improved the biological control of D. plantaginea, with an effect size of 33.4% less aphids in plots with flower strips, compared to plots without flower strips, at the infestation peak date. We also showed a negative effect of higher distance to parasitoid release points on aphid control, but our results at the infestation peak date suggest that the presence of flowers could marginally compensate for the detrimental effect of distance, probably by improving the persistence and dispersal capacities of natural enemies. Despite high variations in aphid population dynamics between years, we conclude that combining flower strips with early parasitoid releases in apple orchards is promising for biological control of the rosy apple aphid, although the method merits to be further refined and repeated in more orchards.

QTL-seq for the identification of candidate genes for days to flowering and leaf shape in pigeonpea

To identify genomic segments associated with days to flowering (DF) and leaf shape in pigeonpea, QTL-seq approach has been used in the present study. Genome-wide SNP profiling of extreme phenotypic bulks was conducted for both the traits from the segregating population (F2) derived from the cross combination- ICP 5529 × ICP 11605. A total of 126.63 million paired-end (PE) whole-genome resequencing data were generated for five samples, including one parent ICP 5529 (obcordate leaf and late-flowering plant), early and late flowering pools (EF and LF) and obcordate and lanceolate leaf shape pools (OLF and LLS). The QTL-seq identified two significant genomic regions, one on CcLG03 (1.58 Mb region spanned from 19.22 to 20.80 Mb interval) for days to flowering (LF and EF pools) and another on CcLG08 (2.19 Mb region spanned from 6.69 to 8.88 Mb interval) for OLF and LLF pools, respectively. Analysis of genomic regions associated SNPs with days to flowering and leaf shape revealed 5 genic SNPs present in the unique regions. The identified genomic regions for days to flowering were also validated with the genotyping-by-sequencing based classical QTL mapping method. A comparative analysis of the identified seven genes associated with days to flowering on 12 Fabaceae genomes, showed synteny with 9 genomes. A total of 153 genes were identified through the synteny analysis ranging from 13 to 36. This study demonstrates the usefulness of QTL-seq approach in precise identification of candidate gene(s) for days to flowering and leaf shape which can be deployed for pigeonpea improvement.

Identification and documentation of wild plant species with ornamental potentials at Mount Prau, Central Java, Indonesia

Indonesia has diverse flora and fauna, and many species remain largely undiscovered. Documentation and identification of threatened wild ornamental species are increasingly difficult due to ongoing exploitation and land conversion. Mount Prau is one of the popular destinations in Central Java, Indonesia for tourism. Understanding plant biodiversity has enormous value for the economy, ecology, culture, science, and recreation. Our study is aimed to record the diversity and identify the flowering plant species in their native habitat at Mount Prau, Central Java, Indonesia. Our field surveys demonstrated that Mount Prau has abundant wild ornamental plants with wide diversity of taxa, growth habits, and forms. A total of 103 species representing 51 families and 95 genera are identified including trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas. We also found that among the plant species found in Mount Prau, 24 have morphological characters suitable to be cultivated as ornamental flowers, and 12 as ornamental foliages, and 63 species are medicinal plants. The ornamental criteria of these species were based on the literature describing the morphological and unique characters of leaves and flowers that made them potential to be developed as ornamental plants. In this paper we have provided the current conservation status of the plant species identified and recommendations on their conservation. This study provides baseline data of species found in the Mount Prau areas, and this information could be helpful for further conservations efforts and initiatives.

Apical and basal auxin sources pattern shoot branching in a moss

Shoot branching mechanisms where branches arise in association with leaves – referred to as lateral or axillary branching – evolved by convergence in the sporophyte of vascular plants and the gametophyte of bryophytes, and accompanied independent events of plant architectural diversification. Previously, we showed that three hormonal cues, including auxin, have been recruited independently to co-ordinate branch patterning in flowering plant leafy shoots and moss gametophores (Coudert, Palubicki et al., 2015). Moreover, auxin-mediated apical dominance, which relies on local auxin production, has been proposed as a unifying molecular regulatory mechanism of branch development across land plants. Whilst our previous work in the moss Physcomitrium patens has gathered indirect evidence supporting the notion that auxin synthesized in gametophore apices regulates branch formation at a distance, direct genetic evidence for a role of auxin biosynthesis in gametophore branching control is still lacking. Here, we show that gametophore apex decapitation promotes branch emergence through massive and rapid transcriptional reprogramming of auxin-responsive genes and altering auxin biosynthesis gene activity. Specifically, we identify a subset of P. patens TRYPTOPHAN AMINO-TRANSFERASE (TAR) and YUCCA FLAVIN MONOOXYGENASE-LIKE (YUC) auxin biosynthesis genes expressed in apical and basal regions of the gametophore, and show that they are essential for branch initiation and outgrowth control. Our results demonstrate that local auxin biosynthesis coordinates branch patterning in moss and thus constitutes a shared and ancient feature of shoot architecture control in land plants.

The complete genome sequences of Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum novogranatense

The flowering plant genus Erythroxylum contains approximately 300 species, including the economically and socially consequential crops called coca. We present the genome sequences of Erythroxylum coca and E. novogranatense, two cultigens produced for medicinal and quotidian use in the Andes and Amazon regions of South America, as well as the international cocaine industry. Sequencing was performed on an Illumina X-Ten platform, and reads were assembled by a de novo method followed by finishing via comparison with several species from the same genus. The BioProject, raw and assembled data can be accessed in GenBank for E. coca (PRJNA676123; JAJMLV000000000) and E. novogranatense (PRJNA675212; JAJKBF000000000)

Identification and documentation of wild plant species with ornamental potentials at Mount Prau, Central Java, Indonesia

Indonesia has diverse flora and fauna, and many species remain largely undiscovered. Documentation and identification of threatened wild ornamental species are increasingly difficult due to ongoing exploitation and land conversion. Mount Prau is one of the popular destinations in Central Java, Indonesia for tourism. Understanding plant biodiversity has enormous value for the economy, ecology, culture, science, and recreation. Our study is aimed to record the diversity and identify the flowering plant species in their native habitat at Mount Prau, Central Java, Indonesia. Our field surveys demonstrated that Mount Prau has abundant wild ornamental plants with wide diversity of taxa, growth habits, and forms. A total of 103 species representing 51 families and 95 genera are identified including trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas. We also found that among the plant species found in Mount Prau, 24 have morphological characters suitable to be cultivated as ornamental flowers, and 12 as ornamental foliages, and 63 species are medicinal plants. The ornamental criteria of these species were based on the literature describing the morphological and unique characters of leaves and flowers that made them potential to be developed as ornamental plants. In this paper we have provided the current conservation status of the plant species identified and recommendations on their conservation. This study provides baseline data of species found in the Mount Prau areas, and this information could be helpful for further conservations efforts and initiatives.

Molecular docking studies of potential anticancer agents from Thunbergia Fragrans against Colorectal cancer mutant genes through In silico study

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the deadly diseases which incidence rate will increase every year due to people lifestyle and food habit etc., Moreover, people’s required a new therapeutic molecule to resolve this problem. Therefore plant-based chemical constituents are the best option due to the low side effects, easy availability and cost-effective manner. The flowering plant of Thunbergia fragrans Roxb belongs to the Acanthaceae family has a vast range of medicinal properties, anticancer activity is one among them. Thunbergia fragrans has reported to had chemical constituents of Palmitic acid, Cis-9-Hexadecenal and Campesterol which possess anticancer activity. For the beginning of TF chemical constituents were studied against the Colorectal cancer (CRC) mutant genes such as NRAS (PDB ID: 6ZIZ), Beta-Catenin (PDB ID: 6M93) – Oncogenes; APC (PDB ID: 3NMX), Smad2 (PDB ID: 1KHU) – Tumor Suppressor genes through insilico docking studies. AutoDock 4.2 tool was used to predict the interaction between ligand and receptor, Binding energy and Bond specification in a 3D space. Finally, the results revealed TF chemical constituents showed excellent binding energy against CRC mutant genes such as Palmitic acid against Beta-Catenin (-4.75) and APC (-4.01), Cis-9-Hexadecenal against NRAS (-1.92), Beta-Catenin (-3.96) and APC (-4.41), Campesterol against Beta-Catenin (-8.55) and APC (-8.85) respectively.