The recognition of lysine-type peptidoglycans (PG) by the PG recognition complex has been suggested to cause activation of the serine protease cascade leading to the processing of Spätzle and subsequent activation of the Toll signaling pathway. So far, two serine proteases involved in the lysine-type PG Toll signaling pathway have been identified. One is a modular serine protease functioning as...

Ecological immunology is based upon the notion that activation and use of the immune system is costly and should thus be traded off against other energy-demanding aspects of life history. Most of the studies on insects that have examined the possibility that mating results in trade-offs with immunity have shown that mating has immunosuppressive effects. The connection between mating and immunit...

This study describes the design, synthesis, and use of selective peptide substrates for cysteine peptidases of the C1 papain family, important in many biological processes. The structure of the newly synthesized substrates is Glp-Xaa-Ala-Y (where Glp=pyroglutamyl; Xaa=Phe or Val; and Y=pNA [p-nitroanilide], AMC [4-amino-7-methylcoumaride], or AFC [4-amino-7-trifluoromethyl-coumaride]). Substrat...

Gregarines are single-celled parasites in the phylum Apicomplexa that infect invertebrates. They are highly abundant on three levels: among a large diversity of invertebrates, in the proportion of population of organisms they infect, and within individually infected organisms. Because of their remarkable prevalence, we hypothesize that they play an important role in support of their hosts. Howe...

Entomopathogenic nematode infective juveniles are likely to encounter both uninfected and infected insects and host quality depends on the stage of the infection. We hypothesized that nematode response to infected hosts will change over the course of an infection. Here, we tested this hypothesis by focusing on the influence of host infection status on long-range attraction to host volatile cues...

It has been a long-held assumption that the innate immune system of insects causes self-harm when used to combat an immune insult. We show empirically that this assumption is correct. Invertebrate innate immunity relies heavily on effector systems which, on activation, produce cytotoxins that kill pathogens. Reliance on these robust, fast-acting, generic killing mechanisms ensures a potent and ...

The surface architecture of oocysts produced by Gregarina niphandrodes (Eugregarinorida) from Tenebrio molitor adults (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) as revealed by scanning electron microscopy is reported. Gametocysts were allowed to dehisce on 15-mm, round cover glasses; the cover glasses with their oocysts chains were then mounted on stubs without further processing, and sputter-coated with 20-n...

the number of bacteria per dauerjuvenile. Preliminary data established similar LD50s and LT50s for X. nematophilus subsp, nematophilus (from the DD 136 strain) and X. nematophilus subsp, nematophilus vat. mexicanus (from the Mexican strain). The absence of toxin production by either S.feltiae strain or bacterial types in a culture medium similar to the host's hemolymph has been reported (5,6). ...

The morphology and histology of the reproductive tract of males of the predator Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) fed on different diets were studied. P. nigrispinus was fed on diets of: larvae of Alabama argillacea (Hübner), Tenebrio molitor L., Musca domestica L., and an artificial diet. The male reproductive tract, independent of diet, showed testes with intense red coloration in a compact, circu...

Oscheius onirici sp. n. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) was isolated from a karst cave soil of Central Italy. Molecular and morphological analyses were performed. Total DNA was extracted from individual nematodes and the mitochondrial COI, the ITS containing region, the D2-D3 expansion domains of the 28S rRNA gene and the 18S rRNA gene were amplified and sequenced. BLAST search at NCBI by using all mol...