Panonychus citri (McGregor) is the most common pest in citrus-producing regions. Special low-toxicity acaricides, such as spirocyclic tetronic acids and mite growth inhibitors, have been used for a long time in China. However, pesticide resistance in mites is a growing problem due to the lack of new acaricide development. Wide-spectrum insecticides, such as amitraz have gained acceptance among fruit growers. An amitraz-resistant strain of P. citri was obtained by indoor screening to examine field resistance monitoring of mites to acaricides and to explore the resistant mechanism of mites against amitraz. The amitraz-resistant strain of P. citri had an LC50 value of 2361.45 mg l−1. The resistance ratio was 81.35 times higher in the resistant strain of P. citri compared with the sensitive strain. Crossing experiments between the sensitive and resistant strains of P. citri were conducted, resulting in a D value of 0.11 for F1 SS♀×RS♂ and 0.06 for F1 RS♀×SS♂. Reciprocal cross experiments showed that the dose–mortality curves for the F1 generations coincided, indicating that the resistance trait was not affected by cytoplasmic inheritance. The dose–expected response relationship was evaluated in the backcross generation and a significant difference was observed compared with the actual value. The above results indicate that the inheritance of resistance trait was incompletely dominant, governed by polygenes on the chromosome. Synergism studies demonstrated that cytochrome P450s and esterase may play important roles in the detoxification of amitraz. Based on differential gene analysis, 23 metabolism-related genes of P. citri were identified, consistent with the results of synergism studies. Real-time PCR verification implied that P450s, ABC transporters, and acetylcholinesterase might influence the detoxification of amitraz by P. citri. These results provide the genetic and molecular foundation for the management of pest mite resistance.

The onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lindeman, 1889) is a key pest of a wide range of crops because of its ecological attributes such as polyphagy, high reproduction rate, ability to transmit tospoviruses and resistance to insecticides. Recent studies revealed that T. tabaci is a cryptic species complex and it has three lineages (leek-associated arrhenotokous L1-biotype, leek-associated thelytokous L2-biotype and tobacco-associated arrhenotokous T-biotype), however, the adults remain indistinguishable. T. tabaci individuals were collected from different locations of Hungary to create laboratory colonies from each biotypes. Mitochondrial COI (mtCOI) region was sequenced from morphologically identified individuals. After sequence analysis SNPs were identified and used for CAPS marker development, which were suitable for distinguishing the three T. tabaci lineages. Genetic analysis of the T. tabaci species complex based on mtCOI gene confirmed the three well-known biotypes (L1, L2, T) and a new biotype because the new molecular evidence presented in this study suggests T-biotype of T. tabaci forming two distinct (sub)clades (T1 and T2). This genetic finding indicates that the genetic variability of T. tabaci populations is still not fully mapped. We validated our developed marker on thrips individuals from our thrips colonies. The results demonstrated that the new marker effectively identifies the different T. tabaci biotypes. We believe that our reliable genotyping method will be useful in further studies focusing on T. tabaci biotypes and in pest management by scanning the composition of sympatric T. tabaci populations.

This work falls within the empirical studies of design activity. Its project is to understand Le Corbusier's designing way and how does he work and structure his design processes. Doing so, it jumps above the descriptive and doctrinal knowledge of objects produced by “Le Corbusier” to study the actions and mechanisms that led to them.

To achieve its aim, this study uses genetic method, developed by P.M. De Biasi of literary origin, this research method is made of three stages. The first one, which is of empirical nature, is one of data gathering. It leads to the establishment of genesis tables and to the classification of the all collected documents. The second stage, makes the analysis of all the collected documents one by one. It allows the restitution of the creative process of one projects “Le Corbusier” which is “la chapelle de Notre Dame du haut de Ronchamp”. The last stage is finally that define the design processe of the this project. The results show that the design activity of “Le Corbuiser” obeys the overall logic of one generic model which may be called his individual designing style.

Digenetic trematodes of the genus Clinostomum are cosmopolitan parasites infecting fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and snails as intermediate hosts. Despite the broad geographical distribution of this genus, debate about the number of species and how they vary in host use has persisted. To better understand patterns of infection among host species and across life stages, we used large-scale field surveys and molecular tools to examine five species of amphibians and seven species of fishes from 125 California ponds. Among the 12,360 examined hosts, infection was rare, with an overall prevalence of 1.7% in amphibians and 9.2% in fishes. Molecular evidence indicated that both groups were infected with Clinostomum marginatum. Using generalized linear mixed effects models, host species identity and host life stage had a strong influence on infection status, such that Lepomis cyanellus (green sunfish) (49.3%) and Taricha granulosa (rough skinned newt) (9.2%) supported the highest overall prevalence values, whereas adult amphibians tended to have a higher prevalence of infection relative to juveniles (13.3% and 2.5%, respectively). Experimentally, we tested the susceptibility of two amphibian hosts (Pseudacris regilla [Pacific chorus frog] and Anaxyrus boreas [western toad]) to varying levels of cercariae exposure and measured metacercariae growth over time. Pseudacris regilla was 1.3× more susceptible to infection, while infection success increased with cercariae exposure dose for both species. On average, metacarcariae size increased by 650% over 20 days. Our study highlights the importance of integrating field surveys, genetic tools, and experimental approaches to better understand the ecology of host–parasite interactions.

Among fish parasitic nematodes Rhabdochona is one of the most speciose genera, with c. 100 species. Twelve congeneric species occur in Mexican freshwater fishes, in a region located between the Nearctic and Neotropical biogeographical regions. Host association and biogeographical history have determined the high species richness of Rhabdochona in Mexico. One of these species, Rhabdochona mexicana, is highly specific to the characid genus Astyanax. Characids are a group of freshwater fish with Neotropical affinity. In this paper, we explore the genetic diversity of R. mexicana through samples obtained from populations of Astyanax spp. across river basins of Mexico and Guatemala. Sequences of one mitochondrial and two ribosomal genes were obtained from 38 individuals and analysed using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analysis. Phylogenetic analyses using cox1, and a concatenated alignment of 18S + 28S + cox1 recovered two genetic lineages. One of them corresponded with R. mexicana sensu stricto; this lineage included three reciprocally monophyletic subgroups; the other lineage was highly divergent and represented a putative candidate species. A detailed morphological study was conducted to corroborate the molecular findings. We describe a new species herein and discuss the implications of using molecular tools to increase our knowledge about the diversity of a speciose genus such as Rhabdochona.

Raphidascaris (Sprentascaris) andersoni n. sp. (Nematoda: Raphidascarididae) collected in the intestine of the humphead cichlid Gymnogeophagus balzanii (Perugia) from the Pantanal wetlands, State of Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil) is described and genetically characterized. The new species differs from its congeners mainly by having a conspicuous papilla-like formation slightly anterior to the cloacal aperture. Furthermore, males of R. (S.) lanfrediae and R. (S.) mahnerti have caudal alae, and R. (S.) hypostomi and R. (S.) pimelodi lack lateral alae, whereas in the new species caudal alae are absent and lateral alae present. The remaining congeners, namely, R. (S.) marano and R. (S.) saltaensis differ from Raphidascaris (Sprentascaris) andersoni n. sp. mainly because males have three pairs of postcloacal papillae (vs five pairs). In the phylogenetic reconstructions, using three nuclear genetic markers (18S, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and 28S rDNA) and one mitochondrial (cox1 mtDNA), the new species was separated from other representatives of Raphidascarididae, and the absence of monophyly in Hysterothylacium and Raphidascaroides was confirmed. Moreover, the subgenera Sprentascaris and Ichthyascaris appeared to be monophyletic. Therefore, even though Raphidascaris (Raphidascaris) was apparently not monophyletic, the subgenera of Raphidascaris should be re-erected as valid genera. The updated diagnoses of Ichthyascaris, Raphidascaris and Sprentascaris are given. The present study represents the first parasitological survey in G. balzanii.

H9N2 is the most widespread avian influenza virus subtype in poultry worldwide. It infects a broad spectrum of host species including birds and mammals. Infections in poultry and humans vary from silent to fatal. Importantly, all AIV, which are fatal in humans (e.g. H5N1, H7N9) acquired their ‘internal’ gene segments from H9N2 viruses. Although H9N2 is endemic in the Middle East (ME) and North Africa since the late 1990s, little is known about its epidemiology and genetics on a regional level. In this review, we summarised the epidemiological situation of H9N2 in poultry and mammals in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The virus has been isolated from humans in Egypt and serosurveys indicated widespread infection particularly among poultry workers and pigs in some countries. Some isolates replicated well in experimentally inoculated dogs, mice, hamsters and ferrets. Insufficient protection of immunised poultry was frequently reported most likely due to concurrent viral or bacterial infections and antigenic drift of the field viruses from outdated vaccine strains. Genetic analysis indicated several distinct phylogroups including a panzootic genotype in the Asian and African parts of the ME, which may be useful for the development of vaccines. The extensive circulation of H9N2 for about 20 years in this region where the H5N1 virus is also endemic in some countries, poses a serious public health threat. Regional surveillance and control strategy are highly recommended.

Herbicide resistance has been reported in several Amaranthus species throughout the U.S. Because evidence exists of interspecies hybridization in some species of this genus, this study was conducted to determine whether acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicide resistance could be transferred from Amaranthus palmeri to Amaranthus rudis through interspecific crosses. Plants of each species were grown in a growth chamber, and controlled interspecies crosses were made between ALS-resistant and -susceptible plants. A total of 15 putative hybrid plants were produced from an estimated 10,000 cross-pollinated flowers. Analysis of restriction enzyme digests of the ALS gene in which a single base substitution confers resistance inferred that herbicide resistance had been transferred from a resistant male A. rudis to the hybrid plant. Offspring of hybrid plants, backcrossed to the susceptible parent, survived herbicide treatment, demonstrating that herbicide resistance was transferred between species. DNA analysis also was performed using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique between parental and putative hybrid plants. Several unique bands were found only in the hybrid.

Of the three species of the genus Squalus that occur in the Mediterranean Sea, S. blainville and S. megalops are very difficult to distinguish. This study assesses the variability in morphological features that have been used to differentiate between these species. Squalus were collected from stations within the 25-nautical mile Fisheries Management Zone around the Maltese Islands; 349 specimens were dissected and categorized into male and female, mature and immature, and individuals were randomly selected from each category to make up a sample of 169 specimens. For each individual, total length and first dorsal fin parameters were measured, and morphology of denticles isolated from the laterodorsal area, of the upper and lower teeth and of the chondrocranium was analysed. The first dorsal spine was shorter that the fin base in 93% of the specimens, which is typical of S. megalops; this character was not related to either gender or maturity. Chondrocrania with one lateral process (typical of S. blainville) and two lateral processes (typical of S. megalops) were present. Teeth from the same individuals showed morphological features that overlap between S. blainville and S. megalops. Both unicuspid (typical of S. megalops) and tricuspid denticles (typical of S. blainville) were observed on the same individuals. Twelve specimens (six having one and six having two lateral chondrocranial processes) were analysed genetically by sequencing of the mtDNA marker Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (COI). All resulted to be S. blainville showing that intraspecific variability in supposedly diagnostic morphological features is large enough to render these unreliable to tell apart these two species, especially in the field.

Genetically verified catch data from fishers in eastern Indonesia provide new distribution records for the fossil shark Hemipristis elongata in the Halmahera, Seram and Arafura seas. Previously only recorded from the island of Java, this study reports a range extension for this species of >2000 km across the Indonesian archipelago, suggesting that fossil sharks are subjected to fishing pressure over a much larger geographic area than implied by previous species records. We recommend a review of the current species assessment to reflect the reported range extension and inform management of this fishery-targeted shark.

Piecewise Weibull proportional hazard models were used to investigate the effect of genetic and nongenetic factors on functional and true longevity traits of the Slovenian Brown cattle breed. Records of 37 908 Brown cows from 2401 Slovenian herds were used. As these herds were characterised by a relatively small average herd size starting from 6.7 in 1999 and increasing to 8.7 Brown cows per herd in 2008, milk yield classification was made within different herd size groups. The hazard rate was the lowest in the first part of each lactation and was increasing for later stages. Culling risk was lower for cows from herds increasing in size, for cows with higher milk production and for cows from a region with smaller herd sizes and tougher conditions for cattle breeding. The latter result is surprising and may be related to better attention to maintain the animals, despite their lower milk production. The introduction of the milk quota system and drought was found to have an important effect on culling policy between the last seasons of the years 2001 and 2003. Seasonal effects were not related to the milk quota year (from April to March), but to the effect of shortage in fodder during the winter time. The effect of age at first calving and the interaction between year and milk yield class were not found to be significant. Heritability for functional and for true longevity were similar at around 10% each. Inclusion of a correction for class of milk yield to approximate functional longevity increased the herd-year random effect variance by 53%, whereas the sire variance increased by only 14%. The correlation coefficient between ranks of breeding values for functional and true longevity was high (0.91), whereas genetic trends were not found to be significant. To assess their predictive ability, models were compared looking at the survival rate of 4212 second-crop daughters not included in the initial models. The average correlation between estimated breeding values and survival at different stages was 0.39 for true longevity and 0.43 for functional longevity. Results showed that ranking milk yield at population level is appropriate to correct for voluntary culling on low production in small herds.

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic and environmental influences on the longitudinal evolution of leisure-time physical activity habits from adolescence to young adulthood. Data were gathered at four time points, at mean ages 16.2, 17.1, 18.6, and 24.5 years. At baseline, the sample comprised 5,216 monozygotic and dizygotic twins, born 1975–1979, and, at the last follow-up point, of 4,531 monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Physical activity volume was assessed as frequency of leisure-time physical activity and participants were categorized into three groups: inactive, moderately active, and active. Genetic and environmental influences were estimated using a multivariate, longitudinal Cholesky decomposition with a ‘multifactorial liability threshold’ approach. The results suggest that, in both sexes the heritability of leisure-time physical activity remained moderate (~43–52%) during adolescence, declining to ~30% in young adulthood. Shared environmental influences increased from adolescence (~18–26%) to young adulthood (43% in men and 49% in women). Specific environmental influences remained relatively stable during the total follow-up (~20–30%). New genetic, shared, and specific environmental influences at every follow-up point were suggested by the low correlations across occasions. In conclusion, the study demonstrated gender differences in genetic influences in the evolution of leisure-time physical activity habits from adolescence to young adulthood. However, shared environmental influences, especially in women, were crucial in explaining longitudinal changes in leisure-time physical activity. These outcomes emphasize the need of gender-specific measures to promote physical activity habits during young adulthood.

In members of the Bocavirus genus, that contain three open reading frames (ORFs) of the Parvovirinae subfamily, porcine bocaviruses (PoBoVs) exhibit the most genetic diversity. Based on the ORF2-encoded viral protein (VP1) classification, the six reported porcine bocaviruses were grouped into four species: PoBoV1 (porcine boca-like virus or PBoLV), PoBoV2 (porcine parvovirus 4 or PPV4), PoBoV3 (PBoV1/PBoV2) and PoBoV4 (6V/7V), with PoBoV3 and PoBoV4 each having two genotype viruses. All four PoBoV species were detected in the 166 samples collected in 2010 from swine herds located in ten provinces of China. The detection rates for PoBoV1-4 were 28·9%, 6·6%, 19·3% and 39·7%, respectively. The co-infection combinations involving these six porcine bocaviruses in the collected samples were very complex. Furthermore, mixed infections with viruses from other families (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, classic swine fever virus and porcine circovirus type 2) were also detected.

A simple technique is described for preparation of Giardia cysts from faecal samples, the growth of trophozoites in suckling mice and the isolation of trophozoites for genetic analysis by allozyme electrophoresis. In total, 125 new isolates of Giardia have been collected from human and animal sources over a wide geographical area of South Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia. A number of long-established axenized isolates of G. intestinalis belonging to Groups I and II also adapted to grow in suckling mice. These findings indicate that suckling mice are permissive hosts for a variety of genetically dissimilar but morphologically similar organisms of the G. duodenalis type and that this in vivo technique may be less selective than isolation by in vitro culture. The use of suckling mice has revealed that infections can be composed of mixed genotypes and that isolation and purification techniques can be selective. Allozymic interpretation is essential to reveal the genetic complexity of such mixtures

Samples of DNA from a panel of Giardia isolated from humans and animals in Europe and shown previously to consist of 2 major genotypes–‘Polish’ and ‘Belgian’–have been compared with human-derived Australian isolates chosen to represent distinct genotypes (genetic groups I–IV) defined previously by allozymic analysis. Homologous 0·52 kilobase (kb) segments of 2 trophozoite surface protein genes (tsa417 and tsp11, both present in isolates belonging to genetic groups I and II) and a 1·2 kb segment of the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) gene were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and examined for restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). Of 21 ‘Polish’ isolates that were tested, all yielded tsa417-like and tsp11-like PCR products that are characteristic of genetic groups I or II (15 and 6 isolates respectively) in a distinct assemblage of G. intestinalis from Australia (Assemblage A). Conversely, most of the 19 ‘Belgian’ isolates resembled a second assemblage of genotypes defined in Australia (Assemblage B) which contains genetic groups III and IV. RFLP analysis of gdh amplification products showed also that ‘Polish’ isolates-were equivalent to Australian Assemblage A isolates (this analysis does not distinguish between genetic groups I and II) and that ‘Belgian’ isolates were equivalent to Australian Assemblage B isolates. Comparison of nucleotide sequences determined for a 690 base-pair portion of the gdh PCR products revealed ≥ 99·0% identity between group I and group II (Assemblage A/‘Polish’) genotypes, 88·3–89·7% identity between Assemblage A and Assemblage B genotypes, and ≥ 98·4% identity between various Assemblage B/‘Belgian’ genotypes. The results confirm that the G. duodenalis isolates examined in this study (inclusive of G. intestinalis from humans) can be divided into 2 major genetic clusters: Assemblage A (= ‘Polish’ genotype) containing allozymically defined groups I and II, and Assemblage B (= ‘Belgian’ genotype) containing allozymically defined groups III and IV and other related genotypes.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used to amplify in vitro a semi-conserved region of a gene encoding an Mr 68–72000 surface antigen of Giardia intestinalis trophozoites. Using primers specific for conserved nucleotide sequences identified within the promoter-distal portion of two homologous genes (tsp11 and tsa417) cloned previously from the G. intestinalis isolates Ad-1 (from Australia) and WB (from Afghanistan), a single PCR-amplified DNA fragment of the expected size (0·52 kilobases) was obtained in high yield from either purified DNA or whole trophozoites of the Ad-1 isolate and from every 1 of 9 other axenic G. intestinalis isolates belonging to genetic groups I and II (defined previously on the basis of allozyme electrophoresis data—Andrews et al. 1989). Discernible product was recovered from as few as 2–4 trophozoites. In contrast, 6 G. intestinalis isolates that were assigned by allozymic analysis to genetic groups III/IV yielded small amounts of a 0·37-kilobase (kb) amplification product (with evidence in some samples of an additional 0·4 or 0·18 kb fragment) but no 0·52 kb product. Two animal-derived isolates of G. duodenalis (one from an Australian native rodent, Notomys alexis, the other from a domestic cat) also yielded a single 0·37 kb PCR-amplified fragment, whereas an isolate from another cat produced a 0·34 kb fragment. No product was recovered from G. muris, a morphologically distinct species of Giardia. The results demonstrate that different genotypes of G. duodenalis can be distinguished using this assay and that it is diagnostic for isolates belonging to two major clusters (groups I/II and III/IV) of G. intestinalis. The amplified DNA segment appears to be relatively conserved among group I and group II isolates of G. intestinalis. A related but clearly distinct sequence seems to be conserved among group III/IV isolates of G. intestinalis and some isolates of G. duodenalis.

Weight of male and female Israeli Holstein calves and yearling gain were analyzed on 285 800 records from 105 935 animals from 458 herds recorded between 1994 and 2007. The difference between the sexes increased until around 400 days, at which point the difference between males and females was 110 kg. Yearling gain, defined as 365 × (weight − 35)/age + 35, was greatest for males at approximately 300 days and for females at 225 days. Yearling gain of male and female calves were highly correlated genetically; thus records from both sexes were combined into a joint genetic analysis. Heritability and repeatability were 0.33 and 0.73 in the analysis of both sexes, and similar in the single-sex analyses. Yearling gain is also highly correlated genetically with various measures of mature cow size. Yearling gain was positively correlated with milk, fat, protein production and somatic cell score, but negatively correlated with fertility and cow survival. Yearling gain was also positively correlated with both the sire and maternal grandsire effects on dystocia, but not with calf mortality. The genetic trend for yearling gain was 0.16 kg/year, while phenotypic trends for first and last weighings were both negative.

Functional longevity of dairy cows has been routinely evaluated in France since 1997 using a survival analysis model. Recently, we proposed a genetic trend validation test that could be used before including national data in an international evaluation of bulls on longevity of their daughters. Its application to the French Holstein data revealed a large overestimation of the genetic trend. It was found that the bias is the result of a change in the baseline hazard rate over time. A new proportional hazards model is proposed which accounts for this change. In the new model, the baseline is described as a stratified, piecewise Weibull hazard function within lactation, i.e. a function of the number of days since the most recent calving. Stratification is within year and parity. Different Weibull hazard functions are used over four periods: 0 to 270 days, 271 to 380 days, 381 days to day when dried, dry period until the next calving. The non-genetic effects included in the model were slightly different from the previous one. In particular the interaction effects between the within herd-year class of production and lactation number × stage of lactation on the one hand and year-season were accounted for. The estimated genetic variance was smaller than with the old model. The new genetic trend is almost flat. An illustration of the efficiency of selection on the estimated breeding values for longevity is presented.