Global taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of bees in apple orchards

An essential prerequisite to safeguard pollinator species is characterisation of the multifaceted diversity of crop pollinators and identification of the drivers of pollinator community changes across biogeographical gradients. The extent to which intensive agriculture is associated with the homogenisation of biological communities at large spatial scales remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated diversity drivers for 644 bee species/morphospecies in 177 commercial apple orchards across 33 countries and four global biogeographical biomes. Our findings reveal significant taxonomic dissimilarity among biogeographical zones. Interestingly, despite this dissimilarity, species from different zones share similar higher-level phylogenetic groups and similar ecological and behavioural traits (i.e. functional traits), likely due to habitat filtering caused by perennial monoculture systems managed intensively for crop production. Honey bee species dominated orchard communities, while other managed/manageable and wild species were collected in lower numbers. Moreover, the presence of herbaceous, uncultivated open areas and organic management practices were associated with increased wild bee diversity. Overall, our study sheds light on the importance of large-scale analyses contributing to the emerging fields of functional and phylogenetic diversity, which can be related to ecosystem function to promote biodiversity as a key asset in agroecosystems in the face of global change pressures.

Identification of prognostic hub genes and therapeutic targets for selenium deficiency in chicks model through transcriptome profiling

Selenium deficiency is a prevalent micronutrient deficiency that poses a major health concern worldwide. This study aimed to shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying selenium deficiency using a chick model. Chickens were divided into control and selenium deficient groups. Plasma samples were collected to measure selenium concentration and transcriptome analyse were performed on oviduct samples. The results showed that selenium deficiency led to a significant reduction in plasma selenium levels and altered the expression of 10,266 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). These DEGs primarily regulated signal transduction and cell motility. The molecular function includes GTPase regulatory activity, and KEGG pathway analysis showed that they were mainly involved in the signal transduction. By using Cytoscape and CancerGeneNet tool, we identified 8 modules and 10 hub genes (FRK, JUN, PTPRC, ACTA2, MST1R, SDC4, SDC1, CXCL12, MX1 and EZR) associated with receptor tyrosine kinase pathway, Wnt and mTOR signaling pathways that may be closely related to cancer. These hub genes could be served as precise diagnostic and prognostic candidate biomarkers of selenium deficiency and potential targets for treatment strategies in both animals and humans. This study sheds light on the molecular basis of selenium deficiency and its potential impact on public health.

Ethno-pharmacological insulin signaling induction of aqueous extract of Syzygium paniculatum fruits in a high-fat diet induced hepatic insulin resistance

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The ethnopharmacological significance of the fruits of Syzygium paniculatum Gaertn (Magenta Cherry) is widely recognized in the Indian traditional medicine system to treat various disorders, such as diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular problems.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This research work investigated the supplementation of the aqueous extract of S. paniculatum fruit (AESPF) on liver function; the molecular effects on the expression of the protein of insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) in high-fat diet-induced hepatic insulin resistance in the rat model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

High-fat diet was used to induce obesity in albino Wistar for 120 days. Biochemical, enzymatic, and histopathological analysis, as well as analysis of hepatic insulin resistance proteins and expression of IRS-1, were performed.

RESULTS

The supplementation of AESPF with a dose of 100 mg/kg bw significantly reduced bodyweight, blood sugar, insulin, lipid profiles, and liver enzymes. Hepatic insulin resistance was improved with a reduced level of IR and IRS-1 to protein levels. HFD alters the sensitivity of hepatocytes to insulin due to the down-regulation of insulin receptor proteins.

CONCLUSIONS

The fruits of S. paniculatum possess biological activities to alleviate all risky effects by regulating hepatic lipogenesis activity that can be used in the progress of medication for HFD-induced hepatic insulin resistance and metabolic disorders.

Pathophysiology of high fat diet induced obesity: impact of probiotic banana juice on obesity associated complications and hepatosteatosis

The high fat diet alters intestinal microbiota due to increased intestinal permeability and susceptibility to microbial antigens leads to metabolic endotoxemia. But probiotic juices reported for various health benefits. In this background we hypothesized that pectinase treated probiotic banana juice has diverse effects on HFD induced obesity and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. 20 weeks fed HFD successfully induced obesity and its associated complications in experimental rats. The supplementation of probiotic banana juice for 5 months at a dose of 5 mL/kg bw/day resulted significant decrease (p < 0.05) in body weight (380 ± 0.34), total fat (72 ± 0.8), fat percentage (17 ± 0.07) and fat free mass (165 ± 0.02). Reduction (p < 0.05) in insulin resistance (5.20 ± 0.03), lipid profile (TC 120 ± 0.05; TG 160 ± 0.24; HDL 38 ± 0.03), liver lipid peroxidation (0.7 ± 0.01), hepatic enzyme markers (AST 82 ± 0.06; ALT 78 ± 0.34; ALP 42 ± 0.22), and hepatic steatosis by increasing liver antioxidant potential (CAT 1.4 ± 0.30; GSH 1.04 ± 0.04; SOD 0.82 ± 0.22) with normal hepatic triglycerides (15 ± 0.02) and glycogen (0.022 ± 0.15) contents and also showed normal liver size, less accumulation of lipid droplets with only a few congestion. It is concluded that the increased intestinal S. cerevisiae yeast can switch anti-obesity, antidiabetic, antioxidative stress, antioxidant and anti-hepatosteatosis effect. This study results will have significant implications for treatment of NAFLD.

The effects of attentional spread and attentional effort on orientation discrimination

The spatial properties of visual attention and its relation to attentional effort have been investigated, and it has been found that stimulus detectability changes as a function of attentional beam width and degree of task difficulty. Using a matching-to-sample paradigm, two Gabor patches were presented simultaneously both as a sample stimulus and a test stimulus, the stimuli set at three different distances. Task difficulty was gradated by changing the orientation difference of the two Gabor patches on nonmatching trials. 'Difficult' nonmatching probe trials were embedded within an easy block of trials (easy condition), and vice versa for 'easy' probe trials. The detectability, d', differences of probe trials in the two conditions were calculated as a measure of change in attention. Our results show that the detectability of a pair of stimuli decreases with an increase in the distance between stimuli. Furthermore, the results indicate an increase in attentional effort for various attentional beam widths and that r = d'easy/d'difficult of the probe trials is constant throughout the different stimuli separation.

The Effects of Attentional Spread and Attentional Effort on Orientation Discrimination

We investigated the spatial properties of visual attention, and its relation to attentional effort. We show that stimulus detectability changes as a function of attentional beam width and of the degree of task difficulty. We used a matching-to-sample paradigm, presenting two Gabor patches simultaneously as sample stimuli and as test stimulus, the stimuli being at three different distances. Task difficulty was graded by changing the orientation difference of the two Gabor patches on nonmatching trials. ‘Difficult’ nonmatching probe trials were embedded within an easy block of trials (easy condition), and vice versa for ‘easy’ probe trials. Differences in the detectability, d', between probe trials in the two conditions were taken as a measure for the change in attention. Our results show that the detectability of a pair of stimuli decreases with an increase in the distance between stimuli. In addition, the results indicate an increase in attentional effort for different attentional beam widths, and also suggest a decrease in the SD of the internal stimulus representation during the task conditions that require more attention.

Nonspecific responses in plant growth, yield, and root colonization of noncereal crop plants to inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense Cd

Inoculation of seven different crop plant species by Azospirillum brasilense Cd resulted in an increase in plant yield, as well as in changes in several other plant parameters, in tomato, eggplant, pepper, and cotton plants. Analysis of 56 different experiments revealed that the rate of success (positive plant response) ranged from 71 to 75 %. The dry weight of plants and yield responses ranged from significantly high yield increases to negligible or no response in similarly performed experiments. The average increases in yield in the positive response experiments were 30, 23, 18, and 16% for tomato, eggplant, pepper, and cotton, respectively. Significant earlier maturation was also detected in the four responding plant species. The response of other plant growth parameters varied between plant species. The level of root colonization by A. brasilense Cd was similar in all four plant species, i.e. root population size of 5 × 105 cfu/g fresh weight root. It is suggested that inoculation of noncereal crop plants by the cereal-root originate A. brasilense Cd is nonspecific with inconsistency in plant response to inoculation.