BACKGROUND Centaurea americana, Krameria ramosissima, Juglans mollis and Turnera diffusa are used by traditional healers in the northeastern region of Mexico to protect against liver damage. However, the hepatoprotective properties of these plants have not been investigated scientifically. This study reports on the protective effects of these plants using an in vitro assay. MATERIAL AND METHO...

The genetic basis of species differences remains understudied. Studies in insects have contributed significantly to our understanding of morphological evolution. Pigmentation traits in particular have received a great deal of attention and several genes in the insect pigmentation pathway have been implicated in inter- and intraspecific differences. Nonetheless, much remains unknown about many o...

The phenomenon of repeated evolution runs counter to expectations about the role of contingency in adaptation. However, many examples of independently acquired similar traits show that evolution sometimes does follow the same path. Factors influencing the probability of such an event include selection, trait complexity and relatedness. Previous investigations of repeated adaptation have primari...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Exotic diseases are threatening many North American tree species, and management of diseases requires understanding the biology of the host as well as the pathogen. Ulmus americana is a widespread dominant tree of eastern North America that has been widely planted as an ornamental and shade tree. Populations of the species have suffered heavy mortality from Dutch elm diseas...

The location of distant resources using odor information usually also requires information on the flow of air (or water) through the environment together with the expression of internally programmed steering responses. The orientation responses of virgin male Periplaneta americana L. to wind and the female sex-pheromone component (-)-periplanone-B were video-recorded in a laboratory wind tunnel...

Chemical communication is necessary to induce aggregation and to maintain the cohesion of aggregates in Periplaneta americana (L.) cockroaches. We aimed to identify the chemical message inducing aggregation in this species. Two types of bioassays were used-binary choice tests in Petri dishes and tests in Y-olfactometer. Papers conditioned by direct contact of conspecifics induce aggregation whe...

Cockroaches are surrogate hosts for microbes that cause many human diseases. In spite of their generally destructive nature, cockroaches have recently been found to harbor potentially beneficial and medically useful substances such as drugs and allergens. However, genomic information for the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) is currently unavailable; therefore, transcriptome and gene e...

Glucose transporters GLUT1 (transports glucose) and GLUT5 (transports fructose), in addition to their functions in normal metabolism, have been implicated in several diseases including cancer and diabetes. While GLUT1 has several inhibitors, none have been described for GLUT5. By transport activity assays we found two plant products, rubusoside (from Rubus suavissimus) and astragalin-6-glucosid...

A small cysteine-rich protein with antimicrobial activity was isolated from pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) seeds and purified to homogeneity. The protein inhibits the growth of several filamentous fungi and gram-positive bacteria. The protein was highly basic, with a pI higher than 10. The entire amino acid sequence of the protein was determined to be homologous to antimicrobial protein (AMP) ...

BACKGROUND Cockroaches are serious urban pests that can transfer disease-causing microorganisms as well trigger allergic reactions and asthma. They commonly managed by pesticides act on cys-loop ligand-gated ion channels (cysLGIC). To provide further information will enhance our understanding of how insecticides their molecular targets in cockroaches, we used genome reverse transcriptase polyme...