Risk Assessment and Area-Wide Crop Rotation to Keep Western Corn Rootworm below Damage Thresholds and Avoid Insecticide Use in European Maize Production.

The Western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, has been a serious quarantine pest to maize in Europe since the mid-1990s. The integrated pest management of WCR requires an accurate knowledge of the factors that contribute most to risks of crop damage, as well as knowledge of effective area-wide strategies based on agronomic measures, such as crop rotation. In Italy and Croatia, agronomic and cultural factors in fields damaged by WCR were evaluated through a long-term survey. Based on the survey results, high-WCR densities contribute most to risks of damage to maize. Extensive field research in north-eastern Italy compared large areas of continuous maize production with areas under different crop rotation systems (i.e., a structural one with one-time maize planting in a three-year rotation and a flexible one with continuous maize planting interrupted when beetle populations exceed the threshold). The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of different rotation regimes as possible best practices for WCR management. Captures of beetles in yellow sticky traps, root damage, larval densities, and damage to maize plants (e.g., lodging) were assessed at the center of each area. The results demonstrated the both structural and flexible crop rotation systems were effective strategies for maintaining WCR below damage threshold densities without the need for insecticides.

Assessment of the structural and functional characteristics of human mesenchymal stem cells associated with a prolonged exposure of morphine.

The discovery of the expression of opioid receptors in the skin and their role in orchestrating the process of tissue repair gave rise to questions regarding the potential effects of clinical morphine treatment in wound healing. Although short term treatment was reported to improve tissue regeneration, in vivo chronic administration was associated to an impairment of the physiological healing process and systemic fibrosis. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) play a fundamental role in tissue regeneration. In this regard, acute morphine exposition was recently reported to impact negatively on the functional characteristics of hMSCs, but little is currently known about its long-term effects. To determine how a prolonged treatment could impair their functional characteristics, we exposed hMSCs to increasing morphine concentrations respectively for nine and eighteen days, evaluating in particular the fibrogenic potential exerted by the long-term exposition. Our results showed a time dependent cell viability decline, and conditions compatible with a cellular senescent state. Ultrastructural and protein expression analysis were indicative of increased autophagy, suggesting a relation to a detoxification activity. In addition, the enhanced transcription observed for the genes involved in the synthesis and regulation of type I collagen suggested the possibility that a prolonged morphine treatment might exert its fibrotic potential risk, even involving the hMSCs.

The use of click beetle pheromone traps to optimize the risk assessment of wireworm (Coleoptera: Elateridae) maize damage.

Maize seeds are routinely coated with insecticide to target Agriotes spp. larvae (wireworms). However, in order to find fields where pest control is actually needed, it might be useful to estimate the adult Agriotes population levels and thus the pressure they exert, with a low-cost risk assessment tool, such as YATLORf (Yf) sex pheromone traps. A database containing 17 consecutive years (1998-2014) of field monitoring was analyzed, with information including both pheromone-trap catches of adults and maize-plant damage by wireworms. Significant associations were discovered between seasonal adult catches in-field, subsequent wireworm populations, and plant damage/yield reduction. When each trap contained over 1,100 A. sordidus adults and over 210 A. brevis adults one year prior (Y-1), the risk of 15%-plus plant damage in Year 0 (Y0) increased by 6 times and 37 times respectively when compared with lower numbers. More than 1,000 A. brevis adults/trap two years prior (Y-2) increased the risk of 15%-plus plant damage in Y0 by 13 times when compared with lower numbers. Cumulative thresholds were also found in Y-1 and Y-2 at the same site. Yf threshold values allowed us to detect fields with a negligible crop-damage risk and thus to reduce the use of insecticides.

Assessment of the effect of sphingosine kinase inhibitors on apoptosis,unfolded protein response and autophagy of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells; indications for novel therapeutics.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid that is formed by the phosphorylation of sphingosine and catalysed by sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1) or sphingosine kinase 2 (SK2). Sphingosine kinases play a fundamental role in many signaling pathways associated with cancer, suggesting that proteins belonging to this signaling network represent potential therapeutic targets. Over the last years, many improvements have been made in the treatment of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL); however, novel and less toxic therapies are still needed, especially for relapsing and chemo-resistant patients. Here, we analyzed the therapeutic potential of SKi and ROMe, a sphingosine kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor and SK2-selective inhibitor, respectively. While SKi induced apoptosis, ROMe initiated an autophagic cell death in our in vitro cell models. SKi treatment induced an increase in SK1 protein levels in Molt-4 cells, whereas it activated the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway in Jurkat and CEM-R cells as protective mechanisms in a sub-population of T-ALL cells. Interestingly, we observed a synergistic effect of SKi with the classical chemotherapeutic drug vincristine. In addition, we reported that SKi affected signaling cascades implicated in survival, proliferation and stress response of cells. These findings indicate that SK1 or SK2 represent potential targets for treating T-ALL.