Flow development and leading edge vorticity in bristled insect wings.

Small flying insects such as the tiny thrip Gynaikothrips ficorum have wings with bristles attached to a solid shaft instead of solid membranes. Air passing through the bristle fringe, however, makes bristled insect wings less effective for aerodynamic force production. In this study, we quantified the ability of bristled wings to generate a leading edge vortex (LEV) for lift support during wing flapping, scored its circulation during wing translation, and investigated its behaviour at the stroke reversals. The data were measured in robotic model wings flapping with a generic kinematic pattern at Reynolds number of ~ 3.4, while applying two-dimensional particle image velocimetry. We found that aerodynamic performance due to LEV circulation linearly decreases with increasing bristle spacing. The wings of Gynaikothrips ficorum might thus produce approximately 9% less aerodynamic force for flight than a solid membranous wing. At the stroke reversals, leading and trailing edge vortices dissipate quickly within no more than ~ 2% of the stroke cycle duration. This elevated dissipation makes vortex shedding obsolete during the reversals and allows a quick build-up of counter-vorticity when the wing reverses flapping direction. In sum, our findings highlight the flow conditions associated with bristled wing design in insects and are thus significant for assessing biological fitness and dispersal of insects flying in a viscosity-dominated fluid regime.

The helical motions of roots are linked to avoidance of particle forces in soil.

Limitation to root growth results from forces required to overcome soil resistance to deformation. The variations in individual particle forces affects root development and often deflects the growth trajectory. We have developed transparent soil and optical projection tomography microscopy systems where measurements of growth trajectory and particle forces can be acquired in a granular medium at a range of confining pressures. We developed image-processing pipelines to analyse patterns in root trajectories and a stochastic-mechanical theory to establish how root deflections relate to particle forces and thickening of the root. Root thickening compensates for the increase in mean particle forces but does not prevent deflections from 5% of most extreme individual particle forces causing root deflection. The magnitude of deflections increases with pressure but they assemble into helices of conserved wavelength in response linked to gravitropism. The study reveals mechanisms for the understanding of root growth in mechanically impeding soil conditions and provides insights relevant to breeding of drought-resistant crops.

Dynamic biospeckle analysis, a new tool for the fast screening of plant nematicide selectivity.

BACKGROUND: Plant feeding, free-living nematodes cause extensive damage to plant roots by direct feeding and, in the case of some trichodorid and longidorid species, through the transmission of viruses. Developing more environmentally friendly, target-specific nematicides is currently impeded by slow and laborious methods of toxicity testing. Here, we developed a bioactivity assay based on the dynamics of light 'speckle' generated by living cells and we demonstrate its application by assessing chemicals' toxicity to different nematode trophic groups. RESULTS: Free-living nematode populations extracted from soil were exposed to methanol and phenyl isothiocyanate (PEITC). Biospeckle analysis revealed differing behavioural responses as a function of nematode feeding groups. Trichodorus nematodes were less sensitive than were bacterial feeding nematodes or non-trichodorid plant feeding nematodes. Following 24 h of exposure to PEITC, bioactivity significantly decreased for plant and bacterial feeders but not for Trichodorus nematodes. Decreases in movement for plant and bacterial feeders in the presence of PEITC also led to measurable changes to the morphology of biospeckle patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Biospeckle analysis can be used to accelerate the screening of nematode bioactivity, thereby providing a fast way of testing the specificity of potential nematicidal compounds. With nematodes' distinctive movement and activity levels being visible in the biospeckle pattern, the technique has potential to screen the behavioural responses of diverse trophic nematode communities. The method discriminates both behavioural responses, morphological traits and activity levels and hence could be used to assess the specificity of nematicidal compounds.

New live screening of plant-nematode interactions in the rhizosphere.

Free living nematodes (FLN) are microscopic worms found in all soils. While many FLN species are beneficial to crops, some species cause significant damage by feeding on roots and vectoring viruses. With the planned legislative removal of traditionally used chemical treatments, identification of new ways to manage FLN populations has become a high priority. For this, more powerful screening systems are required to rapidly assess threats to crops and identify treatments efficiently. Here, we have developed new live assays for testing nematode responses to treatment by combining transparent soil microcosms, a new light sheet imaging technique termed Biospeckle Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (BSPIM) for fast nematode detection, and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy for high resolution imaging. We show that BSPIM increased signal to noise ratios by up to 60 fold and allowed the automatic detection of FLN in transparent soil samples of 1.5 mL. Growing plant root systems were rapidly scanned for nematode abundance and activity, and FLN feeding behaviour and responses to chemical compounds observed in soil-like conditions. This approach could be used for direct monitoring of FLN activity either to develop new compounds that target economically damaging herbivorous nematodes or ensuring that beneficial species are not negatively impacted.