Incidence of insecticide resistance alleles in sexually-reproducing populations of the peach-potato aphid Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from southern France

Intensive chemical treatments have led to the development of a number of insecticide resistance mechanisms in the peach-potato aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer). Some of these mechanisms are known to be associated with negative pleiotropic effects (resistance costs). Molecular and biochemical methods were used to determine the genotypes or phenotypes associated with four insecticide resistance mechanisms in single aphids from sexually-reproducing populations in southern France. The mechanisms considered were E4 and FE4 carboxylesterase overproduction, modified acetycholinesterase, and kdr and rdl resistance-associated mutations. A new method for determining individual kdr genotypes is presented. Almost all resistant individuals overproduced FE4 carboxylesterase, whereas modified acetylcholinesterase was rare. Both the kdr and rdl resistance mutations were present at high frequencies in French sexually-reproducing populations. The frequencies of insecticide resistance genes were compared before and after sexual reproduction in one peach orchard at Avignon to evaluate the potential impact of selection on the persistence of resistance alleles in the over-wintering phase. The frequencies of the kdr and rdl mutations varied significantly between autumn and spring sampling periods. The frequency of the kdr mutation increased, probably due to pyrethroid treatments at the end of the winter. Conversely, the frequency of the rdl mutation decreased significantly during winter, probably because of a fitness cost associated with this mutation.

Gene flow between arrhenotokous and thelytokous populations of Venturia canescens (Hymenoptera)

In the solitary parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens both arrhenotokously (sexual) and thelytokously (parthenogenetical) reproducing individuals occur sympatrically. We found in the laboratory that thelytokous wasps are able to mate, receive and use sperm of arrhenotokous males. Using nuclear (amplified fragment length polymorphism, virus-like protein) and mitochondrial (restriction fragment length polymorphism) markers, we show the occurrence of gene flow from the arrhenotokous to the thelytokous mode in the field. Our results reinforce the paradox of sex in this species.

Projection pursuit nonparametric regression applied to field counts of the aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Homoptera: Aphididae) on tomato crops in greenhouses

The number of plants that sampling requires in aphid population studies often exceeds one hundred. Thus, only quick and nondestructive methods can be used to sample this pest in a reasonable time interval. We propose a visual method for estimating the density of the aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) on tomato plants reared in greenhouses. After approximately 1min of visual observation plants can be assigned to abundance classes, the boundaries of which are roughly the powers of square root 10. Precise counts were collected simultaneously on sets of reference plants from the same greenhouse. Projection pursuit nonparametric regression was then used to provide unbiased estimates of aphid densities from the abundance classes and several easily gathered explanatory variables. The robustness of the method was evaluated by testing the models on the complementary data sets from plants in which the aphid densities were precisely counted. In both single and twin-row cultural conditions, for the reference and complementary data sets, the order of magnitude of the error was less than one class rank per plant. The investigation time was reduced by approximately 10-fold compared with the exact counting method. This easy-to-teach field method could be useful in large-scale population surveys and for optimizing integrated pest management strategies.

Radioimmunotherapy of micrometastases in lung with vascular targeted 213Bi

A model system has been used to test the efficacy of vascular targeting of alpha-particle emitter 213Bi for therapy of small, 'artificial' metastases in mouse lung. Specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) 201 B was used to deliver greater than 30% of the injected dose to lung where tumours had developed due to intravenous injection of cells. Specific 213Bi-mAb 201B treatment of BALB/c mammary carcinoma EMT-6 tumours in lung resulted in a dose-dependent destruction of tumours and an extended lifespan of treated animals relative to controls. Significant reduction of lung tumour burden was noted in animals treated with 0.93 MBq injected dose or as little as 14 Gy absorbed dose to the lung. Animals treated with higher doses (2.6-6.7 MBq) had nearly complete cure of lung tumours but eventually died of lung fibrosis induced by the treatment. Four other tumour cell types were studied: murine Line 1 lung carcinomas in syngeneic BALB/c mice, rat IC-12 tracheal carcinoma growing in severe combined immune deficient (SCID) mice, and two human tumours--epidermoid carcinoma A431 and lung carcinoma A549--growing in SCID mice. In all cases, the number of lung tumour colonies was reduced in animals treated with specific, labelled mAb relative to those in animals treated with control 213Bi MAb or EDTA complexed 213Bi. Tumours treated in immunodeficient SCID mice were partially destroyed or at least retarded in growth, but ultimately regrew and proved fatal, indicating that an intact immune function is necessary for complete cure. The data show that the short-lived alpha-particle emitter 213Bi can be effectively targeted to lung blood vessels and that tumour cells growing in the lung are killed. The mechanism may involve direct killing of tumour cells from alpha-particle irradiation, killing through destruction of blood supply to the tumour, or a combination of the two.

Radiotoxicity of bismuth-213 bound to membranes of monolayer and spheroid cultures of tumor cells

Monoclonal antibody 13A to murine CD44 was used to bind the alpha-particle emitter 213Bi to cell surfaces of cultured EMT-6 or Line 1 tumor cells. Data on kinetics and saturation of binding, cell shape and nuclear size were used to calculate the absorbed dose to the nuclei. Treatment of monolayer cells with [213Bi]MAb 13A produced a classical exponential survival curve with no apparent shoulder. Microdosimetry analyses indicated that 1.4-1.7 Gy produced a 37% surviving fraction (D0). Multicellular spheroids were shown to bind [213Bi]MAb 13A mainly on the outer cell layer. Relatively small amounts of activity added to the spheroids resulted in relatively large absorbed doses. The result was that 3-6-fold less added radioisotope was necessary to kill similar fractions of cells in spheroids than in monolayer cells. These data are consistent with the interpretation that the alpha particles from a single 213Bi atom bound to one cell can penetrate and kill adjacent cells. Flow cytometry was used to sort cells originating from the periphery or from the interior of spheroids. Cells from the outside of the [213Bi]MAb 13A exposed spheroids had a lower surviving fraction per administered activity than cells from the interior. Cells were killed efficiently in spheroids up to 20-30 cells in diameter. The data support the hypothesis that alpha-particle emitters should be very efficient at killing cells in micrometastases of solid tumors.

[Quantitative studies of the elimination of Salmonellae by biological wastewater treatment]

The wastewater pretreatment plant of Braunschweig works as a conventional, one step activated sludge plant without primary settling tanks. There were about 37,000 m3 per day of effluent during our investigations. During some months daily quantitative determinations of salmonellae were performed in the raw wastewater, in the activated sludge, and in the effluent. The mean concentrations of salmonellae were in the raw wastewater 2 X 10(5)/l and in the effluent after 11h of aeration and then settling 2 X 10(4) cells/l. The concentrations of salmonellae varied about the factor 10(3) (limits 10(2) to 10(5)). A small peak in the spring, a big peak in the late summer, and a week pattern were observed. The most salmonellae were adsorbed to unsoluble flocs of sludge, about 30-35% of the salmonellae only were found freely in the water and from that about 60% were concentrated round the flocs. Therefore, one step of settling removes about 90% of all salmonellae. In generally terms, the settling seems to be the most important step of removal of salmonellae from wastewater. Furthermore, the rate of removal is depending of the concentration. High concentrations of salmonellae cause a strong reduction and conversely. An immediate removal of salmonellae was observed in about 60%, however, there was a propagation of salmonellae in 30% of all samples, especially under conditions of low aeration, in an anaerobic environment, respectively.