Abstract: Increased demand for animal protein has motivated the search for more efficient livestock production systems. In recent years, there has been growing interest to incorporate insect meal as an alternative source of protein to fish/soybean meal in chicken feed for improved nutrition, sustainability, and animal welfare benefits. Black soldier fly larval (BSFL)-based feeds has been shown to increase egg production in a cost-effective manner. However, poultry consumers perception toward...
Abstract: BACKGROUND: The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP)Diaphorina citriKuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) is a destructive, invasive speciesthat poses a serious threat to the citrus industry wherever it occurs. The psyllid vectors the phloem-limited bacteria‘CandidatusLiberibacter americanus’and‘Ca. L. asiaticus’, causal agents of the incurable citrus greening disease or huanglongbing (HLB). Itis essential to understand which regions and areas are suitable for colonization by ACP to formula...
Abstract: Background: The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith)) is a highly polyphagous agricultural pest with long-distance migratory behavior threatening food security worldwide. This pest has a host range of > 80 plant species, but two host strains are recognized based on their association with corn (C-strain) or rice and smaller grasses (R-strain). The population genomics of the United States (USA) fall armyworm remains poorly characterized to date despite its agricultural t...
Abstract: Insect seminal fluid, the non-sperm component of the ejaculate, comprises a variegated set of molecules, including, but not limited to, lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, salts,hormones, nucleic acids, and vitamins. The identity and functional role of seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) have been widely investigated, in multiple species. However, most of the other small molecules in insect ejaculates remain uncharacterized. Metabolomics is currently adopted to deepen our understanding of c...
Abstract: The effect of salt treatment on Brassica carinata (BC) microgreens grown under different light wavelengths on glucosinolates (GLs) and phenolic compounds were evaluated. Quantifiable GLs were identified using ultra-high performance-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry. Extracts’ ability to activate antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)) was evaluated on human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT116). Furthermore, BC compounds’ ability to activate ...
Abstract: Cytogenotoxic effects of a commercial formulation of ethephon (ETF) and a commercially formulated mixture of ethephon+cyclanilide (ETF+CYC), which are used as plant growth regulators (PGRs) in modern agriculture, were investigated by using the anaphase-telophase chromosome aberration (CA) assay in root meristem cells of Allium cepa L. A. cepa roots were treated with 25 (EC50/2), 50 (EC50), and 100 ppm (EC50×2) of ETF, and with the same concentrations of ETF+CYC, for 24, 48, and 72...
Abstract: Kairomones are semiochemicals that are emitted by an organism and which mediate interspecific interaction that is of benefit to an organism of another species that receives these chemical substances. Parasitoids find and recognize their hosts through eavesdropping on the kairomones emitted from the by-products or the body of the host. Hemipteran insect pests feed on plant sap and excrete the digested plant materials as honeydew. Honeydew serves as a nutritional food source for para...
Abstract: Microbiome analysis in a host–parasitoid interaction network was conducted to compare the taxonomic composition of bacterial communities of Diaphornia citri, Tamarixia radiata, and Diaphorencyrtus aligarhensis. The comparative analysis revealed differences in the composition and diversity of the symbiont populations across the host and its associated parasitoids. Proteobacteria was the most dominant phylum, representing 67.80% of the total bacterial community, while Candidatus Pr...
Abstract: Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris (Marsh) (Syn. Apanteles gelechiidivoris) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a konoibiont larval endoparasitoid of the South American tomato pinworm Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), was imported into Kenya in 2017 for the first classical biological control of T. absoluta in Africa. We determined the thermal thresholds of D. gelechiidivoris, with T. absoluta as host, using life cycle simulation modelling. Life-table data of D. gelechiidivoris were generated at six cons...
Abstract: Semiochemicals such as herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) and host chemicals serve as communication signals for parasitoids searching for oviposition sites. The braconid koinobiont endoparasitoid Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) efficiently parasitises larvae of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), a major pest of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). However, the attractive compounds used by the parasitoid to locate T. absoluta on host plants are not k...
Abstract: Forest soils provide a multitude of habitats for diverse communities of bacteria. In this study, we selected three tropical forests in Kenya to determine the diversity and community structure of soil bacteria inhabiting these regions. Kakamega and Irangi are rainforests, whereas Gazi Bay harbors mangrove forests. The three natural forests occupy different altitudinal zones and differ in their environmental characteristics. Soil samples were collected from a total of 12 sites and so...
Abstract: This study investigated the impact of larval management and the temporal variation in larval productivity in Eritrea, a semiarid ecosystem. Results of this study show that mosquito breeding persists throughout the year mainly in stream bed pools. Anopheles arabiensis production in the ephemeral natural aquatic habitats such the streambed pools was high throughout the year and negatively associated with rainfall (r −0.288, P 0.047). High densities of An. arabiensis larvae were als...
Abstract: All jumping spiders have unique, complex eyes with exceptional spatial acuity and some of the most elaborate vision-guided predatory strategies ever documented for any animal of their size. However, it is only recently that phylogenetic techniques have been used to reconstruct the relationships and key evolutionary events within the Salticidae. Here, we used data for 35 species and six genes (4.8 kb) for reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships between Spartaeinae, Lyssomanina...
Abstract: The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, a pest of maize native to the Americas first reported in West and Central Africa in 2016, severely threatens maize production and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Native genetic resistance is one of the best methods of control of insect pests as it is contained in the seed making it more amenable for use by farmers compared to other interventions and it is also compatible with other integrated pest management (IPM) options. An int...
Abstract: The process of moving from experimental data to modeling and characterizing the dynamics and interactions in natural processes is a challenging task. This paper proposes an interactive platform for fitting data derived from experiments to mathematical expressions and carrying out spatial visualization. The platform is designed using a component-based software architectural approach, implemented in R and the Java programming languages. It uses experimental data as input for model fi...