Biological Cost (biological + cost)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences75%
Medical Sciences25%

Selected Abstracts

Biological cost of tolerance to heavy metals in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
P. O. MIREJI
The global rate of heavy metal pollution is rapidly increasing in various habitats. Anopheles malaria vector species (Diptera: Culicidae) appear to tolerate many aquatic habitats with metal pollutants, despite their normal proclivity for ,clean' water (i.e. low levels of organic matter). Investigations were conducted to establish whether there are biological costs for tolerance to heavy metals in Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto and to assess the potential impact of heavy metal pollution on mosquito ecology. Anopheles gambiae s.s. were selected for cadmium, copper or lead tolerance through chronic exposure of immature stages to solutions of the metals for three successive generations. Biological costs were assessed in the fourth generation by horizontal life table analysis. Tolerance in larvae to cadmium (as cadmium chloride, CdCl2), copper [as copper II nitrate hydrate, Cu(NO3)2 2.5 H2O] and lead [as lead II nitrate, Pb(NO3)2], monitored by changes in LC50 concentrations of the metals, changed from 6.07 µg/L, 12.42 µg/L and 493.32 µg/L to 4.45 µg/L, 25.02 µg/L and 516.69 µg/L, respectively, after three generations of exposure. The metal-selected strains had a significantly lower magnitude of egg viability, larval and pupal survivorship, adult emergence, fecundity and net reproductive rate than the control strain. The population doubling times were significantly longer and the instantaneous birth rates lower in most metal-selected strains relative to the control strain. Our results suggest that although An. gambiae s.s. displays the potential to develop tolerance to heavy metals, particularly copper, this may occur at a significant biological cost, which can adversely affect its ecological fitness. [source]

Evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance

JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2002
B. Henriques Normark
Abstract., Antibiotic resistance is a clinical and socioeconomical problem that is here to stay. Resistance can be natural or acquired. Some bacterial species, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, show a high intrinsic resistance to a number of antibiotics whereas others are normally highly antibiotic susceptible such as group A streptococci. Acquired resistance evolve via genetic alterations in the microbes own genome or by horizontal transfer of resistance genes located on various types of mobile DNA elements. Mutation frequencies to resistance can vary dramatically depending on the mechanism of resistance and whether or not the organism exhibits a mutator phenotype. Resistance usually has a biological cost for the microorganism, but compensatory mutations accumulate rapidly that abolish this fitness cost, explaining why many types of resistances may never disappear in a bacterial population. Resistance frequently occurs stepwise making it important to identify organisms with low level resistance that otherwise may constitute the genetic platform for development of higher resistance levels. Self-replicating plasmids, prophages, transposons, integrons and resistance islands all represent DNA elements that frequently carry resistance genes into sensitive organisms. These elements add DNA to the microbe and utilize site-specific recombinases/integrases for their integration into the genome. However, resistance may also be created by homologous recombination events creating mosaic genes where each piece of the gene may come from a different microbe. The selection with antibiotics have informed us much about the various genetic mechanisms that are responsible for microbial evolution. [source]

Biological cost of tolerance to heavy metals in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
P. O. MIREJI
The global rate of heavy metal pollution is rapidly increasing in various habitats. Anopheles malaria vector species (Diptera: Culicidae) appear to tolerate many aquatic habitats with metal pollutants, despite their normal proclivity for ,clean' water (i.e. low levels of organic matter). Investigations were conducted to establish whether there are biological costs for tolerance to heavy metals in Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto and to assess the potential impact of heavy metal pollution on mosquito ecology. Anopheles gambiae s.s. were selected for cadmium, copper or lead tolerance through chronic exposure of immature stages to solutions of the metals for three successive generations. Biological costs were assessed in the fourth generation by horizontal life table analysis. Tolerance in larvae to cadmium (as cadmium chloride, CdCl2), copper [as copper II nitrate hydrate, Cu(NO3)2 2.5 H2O] and lead [as lead II nitrate, Pb(NO3)2], monitored by changes in LC50 concentrations of the metals, changed from 6.07 µg/L, 12.42 µg/L and 493.32 µg/L to 4.45 µg/L, 25.02 µg/L and 516.69 µg/L, respectively, after three generations of exposure. The metal-selected strains had a significantly lower magnitude of egg viability, larval and pupal survivorship, adult emergence, fecundity and net reproductive rate than the control strain. The population doubling times were significantly longer and the instantaneous birth rates lower in most metal-selected strains relative to the control strain. Our results suggest that although An. gambiae s.s. displays the potential to develop tolerance to heavy metals, particularly copper, this may occur at a significant biological cost, which can adversely affect its ecological fitness. [source]

Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1C toxin on the metabolic rate of Cry1C resistant and susceptible Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

PHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 5 2004
Beatrice N. Dingha
Abstract., The effects of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry1C toxin on the metabolic rate of Cry1C resistant and susceptible Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) are investigated using closed-system respirometry. Mechanisms of resistance to the Bt toxin may be associated with an energetic cost that can be measured as an increase in metabolic rate compared with Bt-susceptible insects. This hypothesis is tested using third- and fifth-instar larvae and 1,7-day-old pupae. Metabolic rate is measured as the amount of O2 consumed and CO2 produced. V,O2 and V,CO2 (mL g,1 h,1) of third-instar Cry1C resistant larvae reared continuously on a diet containing 320 µg Cry1C toxin per g diet (CryonT) are significantly greater than third-instar Cry1C resistant larvae reared on toxin for 5 days and reared thereafter on untreated diet (Cry5dT), Cry1C resistant larvae reared on untreated diet (CryReg) and the susceptible parental strain (SeA) reared on untreated diet. There are no differences in V,O2 and V,CO2 (mL g,1 h,1) among treatment groups for fifth-instar larvae. CryonT larvae and pupae weigh significantly less than larvae and pupae receiving other treatments. Smaller body mass may be an important biological cost to individuals exposed continuously to Bt toxin. One-day-old pupae of all treatment groups exhibit a high V,O2 (mean approximately 0.174 mL g,1 h,1) with CryonT having a significantly greater value than all other treatments; there are no differences among the other treatments. Pupal metabolic rates of all treatment groups decline to a minimum between days 2 and 4 then increase linearly between days 4 and 7 until adult emergence. These results demonstrate no difference in metabolic rates, and possibly fitness costs, between resistant (CryReg and Cry5dT) and susceptible (SeA) S. exigua except when larvae were reared continuously on toxin (CryonT). [source]

Declining and low fecal corticoids are associated with distress, not acclimation to stress, during the translocation of African rhinoceros

ANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 1 2010
W. L. Linklater
Abstract Concentrations of adrenal steroid metabolites in feces are routinely used to assess the welfare of animals that are the subject of conservation efforts. The assumption that low and declining corticoid concentrations indicate the absence of stress and acclimation, respectively, is often made without experimental support or wild-animal comparisons, although intrinsic control of adrenal steroids might occur even under ongoing stress and distress. We adopted the capture and 11-week captivity of 18 black (Diceros bicornis: 11 males, seven females) and 52 white (Ceratotherium simum: 22 males, 30 females) rhinoceros as an experimental test of the relationship between corticoid concentrations and stress (translocation) and measured for suppressed gonad function as an indicator of distress , the biological cost of cumulative stressors. Fecal samples collected from the rectum at capture and during captivity were stored frozen and their corticoid, and androgen (in males) or progestin (in females), concentrations determined by radioimmunoassay. Corticoid profiles followed the expected pattern of being two to five times pre-capture levels (ng g,1: black rhino: female 24.5±3.7, male 23.9±2.2; white rhino: female 16.3±1.6, male 12.3±2.4) for up to 17 days after capture and declined with time in captivity. Black rhinoceros and male white rhinoceros corticoids declined below pre-capture values and were associated with suppressed levels of androgens and progestins with increased time in captivity. Declining corticoids could not be interpreted as acclimation or the absence of stressors, without also measuring for distress in African rhinoceros. White rhinoceros female corticoid values remained elevated, although their gonad steroid levels were also suppressed. We discuss our findings for the management of rhinoceros in the wild and captivity. [source]

Biological cost of tolerance to heavy metals in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
P. O. MIREJI
The global rate of heavy metal pollution is rapidly increasing in various habitats. Anopheles malaria vector species (Diptera: Culicidae) appear to tolerate many aquatic habitats with metal pollutants, despite their normal proclivity for ,clean' water (i.e. low levels of organic matter). Investigations were conducted to establish whether there are biological costs for tolerance to heavy metals in Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto and to assess the potential impact of heavy metal pollution on mosquito ecology. Anopheles gambiae s.s. were selected for cadmium, copper or lead tolerance through chronic exposure of immature stages to solutions of the metals for three successive generations. Biological costs were assessed in the fourth generation by horizontal life table analysis. Tolerance in larvae to cadmium (as cadmium chloride, CdCl2), copper [as copper II nitrate hydrate, Cu(NO3)2 2.5 H2O] and lead [as lead II nitrate, Pb(NO3)2], monitored by changes in LC50 concentrations of the metals, changed from 6.07 µg/L, 12.42 µg/L and 493.32 µg/L to 4.45 µg/L, 25.02 µg/L and 516.69 µg/L, respectively, after three generations of exposure. The metal-selected strains had a significantly lower magnitude of egg viability, larval and pupal survivorship, adult emergence, fecundity and net reproductive rate than the control strain. The population doubling times were significantly longer and the instantaneous birth rates lower in most metal-selected strains relative to the control strain. Our results suggest that although An. gambiae s.s. displays the potential to develop tolerance to heavy metals, particularly copper, this may occur at a significant biological cost, which can adversely affect its ecological fitness. [source]

Implant-supported fixed cantilever prosthesis in partially edentulous jaws: a cohort prospective study

CLINICAL ORAL IMPLANTS RESEARCH, Issue 11 2009
Eugenio Romeo
Abstract: Background: Reconstructive procedures present a higher rate of biological costs due to the necessity of bone harvest and grafts, use of semipermeable barriers etc. On the hand, implant supported cantilever prostheses could allow a simpler rehabilitation procedure. Aims: The aim of the present study was to assess the clinical outcome of patients treated with implant-supported fixed partial dentures (FPD) with cantilever after a mean follow-up time of 8 years. Material and methods: The study included 45 consecutive partially edentulous patients treated between January 1994 and August 2006 with 59 partial cantilever fixed prostheses supported by 116 ITI® implants. The primary outcome variable considered was the presence of complications at the subject and bridge level; the secondary outcome variable was marginal bone loss (MBL). The frequency of complications was analyzed according to cantilever location and opposite dentition and tested by Fisher's exact test. A multilevel regression model was constructed to analyze the factors influencing MBL with three levels: subject as the highest, and then implant and site. During the follow-up period, 11 implants showed a bone loss exceeding the limit for success, out of which two implants showed an infection of the peri-implant tissue. Results: After an average observation of 8.2 years of cantilever prostheses loading, the implant success and survival rates were 90.5% and 100%, respectively. Besides, the prosthetic success and survival rate were 57.7% and 100%, respectively. Discussion: None of the predictors included in the multilevel model presented a significant impact on the bone loss between baseline and the follow-up examination. Conclusions: The authors concluded that the prognosis of implant-supported FPDs and marginal bone loss at implants were not influenced by the position or the length of the cantilever, the location of the bridge and type of opposite dentition. Implant-supported fixed cantilever prosthesis can be considered a suitable treatment choice. [source]