Bacterial infections cause thousands of deaths in the world every year. In most cases, infections are more serious because the patient is already weakened, and often, the bacteria are already resistant to the antibiotics used. Counterparting this negative scenario, the interest in medicinal plants as an alternative to the synthetic antimicrobial drugs is blossoming worldwide. In the present wor...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Plectranthus barbatus is widely used in African countries as an herbal remedy to manage HIV/AIDS and related conditions. AIM OF THE STUDY To investigate the HIV-1 inhibitory, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of P. barbatus and thereby provide empirical evidence for the apparent anecdotal success of the extracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ethanolic extr...

The reproductive ground plan hypothesis (RGPH) proposes that the physiological pathways regulating reproduction were co-opted to regulate worker division of labor. Support for this hypothesis in honeybees is provided by studies demonstrating that the reproductive potential of workers, assessed by the levels of vitellogenin (Vg), is linked to task performance. Interestingly, contrary to honeybee...

BACKGROUND DNA methylation is a common regulator of gene expression, including acting as a regulator of developmental events and behavioral changes in adults. Using the unique system of genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex barbatus, we were able to document changes in DNA methylation during development, and also across both ancient and contemporary hybridization events. METHODOLOGY/PRI...

Despite being a bird with a broad and extensive distribution in Chile, the black-chinned siskin, Spinus barbatus Molina, 1782 is not well studied in relation to its parasites. This paper aims to describe the ectoparasite fauna of S. barbatus in central and southern Chile. A total of 125 individuals caught with mist nets were examined alive; a total of 22 parasites were found dead and were expos...

Habitat-related heterogeneity of striped red mullet Mullus surmuletus heterospecific foraging assemblages was examined off the coast of Spain. Video-based focal-follows conducted on 122 M. surmuletus assemblages (446 total individuals) revealed an array of attendant species (n = 7) with composition linked to benthic habitat complexity; bare sandy substrata were characterized by homospecific gro...

Social groups balance flexibility and robustness in their collective response to environmental changes using feedback between behavioural processes that operate at different timescales. Here we examine how behavioural processes operating at two timescales regulate the foraging activity of colonies of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, allowing them to balance their response to food avail...

A specimen of Mullus surmuletus with 33.6 cm in total length and 398.3 g weight was captured trammel nets along other Striped red mullet fish by fisherman off the coast Benghazi, Libya (Southern Mediterranean) on November 14, 2022. It had longest heaviest ever recorded for a Southern Mediterranean Libya.