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Plant Use (plant + use)
Kinds of Plant Use Selected AbstractsGendering Local Knowledge: Medicinal Plant Use and Primary Health Care in the AmazonMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2001Coral Wayland First page of article [source] Plant-mediated synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles and their applicationsJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Vineet Kumar Abstract Nanobiotechnology deals with the synthesis of nanostructures using living organisms. Among the use of living organisms for nanoparticle synthesis, plants have found application particularly in metal nanoparticle synthesis. Use of plants for synthesis of nanoparticles could be advantageous over other environmentally benign biological processes as this eliminates the elaborate process of maintaining cell cultures. Biosynthetic processes for nanoparticles would be more useful if nanoparticles were produced extracellularly using plants or their extracts and in a controlled manner according to their size, dispersity and shape. Plant use can also be suitably scaled up for large-scale synthesis of nanoparticles. In view of this, we have reviewed here the use of plants or their extracts in the synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles for various human applications. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Host plant specificity in several species of generalist mite predatorsECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 6 2001J. J. Beard Summary 1. Species in the genus Neoseiulus are considered to be generalist predators, with some species used in biological control programmes against phytophagous mites and insects. 2. A general survey of Neoseiulus species in inland Australia indicated that different species are associated with particular tree species. This pattern of host plant use was investigated for four Neoseiulus species (N. buxeus, N. cappari, N. brigarinus, N. eremitus) by means of a sampling programme through time and across space. 3. Each species of Neoseiulus was collected entirely or mostly from one species of tree; little or no overlap was detected despite the tree species growing in well-mixed stands. Host plant specificity thus appears to be strong in this genus. 4. Species in two other genera (Pholaseius and Australiseiulus), also considered to be predatory, showed a similar association with particular tree species. 5. The implications for the use of these predators in biological control are considerable. In particular, phytoseiid species with specific needs in terms of host plants may not be suitable for use as general purpose predators. Meeting the needs of phytoseiids through the modification of host plant attributes may be a step towards enhancing their efficacy as biological control agents. [source] Interspecific and intraspecific differences in two Liriomyza leafminer species in CaliforniaENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 2 2002Stuart R. Reitz Abstract In recent years, the pest status of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) and L. huidobrensis (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) has changed in California, as well as other areas of the world. In California, L. huidobrensis has become the predominant Liriomyza species in valleys along the central coast, while L. trifolii remains the predominant species in southern California. To investigate possible reasons for this change in status, differences in host plant use and reproductive success of intraspecific populations were examined for Liriomyza trifolii and L. huidobrensis from both central and southern California. The southern L. trifolii fed, oviposited and reproduced successfully on all five hosts tested, but the central population fed significantly less on all hosts and was restricted to reproducing on pepper only. With the exception of pepper, southern L. trifolii had significantly greater larval survival on all hosts than central L. trifolii. In contrast, the central L. huidobrensis population had greater reproductive success than the southern population of that species on all hosts plants tested. However, pepper was not a suitable host for either L. huidobrensis population. Both species showed positive assortative mating, with homotypic mating occurring more frequently than heterotypic mating; however, the difference between L. trifolii populations was much more pronounced than between L. huidobrensis populations. These data indicate that central and southern California populations of each species are distinct biotypes. Furthermore when coupled with previous genetic data, our results suggest the possible existence of cryptic species within L. trifolii. [source] Comparison of the life history strategies of three Dysdercus true bugs (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae), with special reference to their seasonal host plant useENTOMOLOGICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2005Katsuyuki KOHNO Abstract The life history strategy and seasonal host plant use of three Dysdercus bugs (D. cingulatus, D. poecilus and D. decussatus) were compared based on 2 years of twice monthly observations on Ishigaki-jima Island (24°N, 124°E) in the southernmost part of Japan. Dysdercus poecilus reproduced almost year round, exclusively on Sida rhombifolia, which bears fruit and/or seeds almost year round. Dysdercus cingulatus reproduced successively on various malvaceous and bombacaceous plant species, according to their seasonal fruiting cycles. Its robust reproduction was observed on Hibiscus makinoi during winter months and on Chorisia speciosa and Bombax ceiba in early summer, whereas small-scale reproduction was observed on various malvaceous plant species during the summer and autumn months. Dysdercus decussatus reproduced on Hibiscus tiliaceus and Thespesia populnea during the summer months, when these host plants bear abundant fruit and/or seeds, and its adults formed conspicuous aggregations without copulation on the underside of the leaves of those plants from November to the subsequent May. Each Dysdercus species showed a species-specific life history strategy according to the differences in the phenology of their host plants. [source] CONTEMPORARY PATTERNS IN A HISTORICAL CONTEXT: PHYLOGEOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL, BATTUS PHILENOR (PAPILIONIDAE)EVOLUTION, Issue 5 2003James A. Fordyce Abstract We examined mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in pipevine swallowtail butterflies (Battus philenor) from throughout its extant range to provide a historical, phylogeographical context for ecological studies of the disjunct population in California. We evaluate current hypotheses regarding host plant use, behavior, and mimetic relationships of B. philenor populations and generate alternative hypotheses. Compared to populations throughout the rest of the species' range, California populations are ecologically distinct in that they lack mimics, lay significantly larger clutches of eggs, and exclusively use a unique, endemic larval host plant. Analysis of molecular variance, tests of population differentiation, and nested clade analysis of mtDNA variation indicate that, despite low levels of population genetic structure across the species' range, there is evidence of recent range expansion from presumed Pleistocene refuge(s) in southeastern North America. Colonization of California appears to have been a recent event. This phylogeographic investigation also suggests that the evolution of life-history adaptations to a novel larval host has occurred rapidly in California and the lack of mimics in California may be attributable to the recency of colonization. [source] Mineral phosphate solubilization by rhizosphere bacteria and scope for manipulation of the direct oxidation pathway involving glucose dehydrogenaseJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010B. Sashidhar Summary Microbial biodiversity in the soil plays a significant role in metabolism of complex molecules, helps in plant nutrition and offers countless new genes, biochemical pathways, antibiotics and other metabolites, useful molecules for agronomic productivity. Phosphorus being the second most important macro-nutrient required by the plants, next to nitrogen, its availability in soluble form in the soils is of great importance in agriculture. Microbes present in the soil employ different strategies to make use of unavailable forms of phosphate and in turn also help plants making phosphate available for plant use. Azotobacter, a free-living nitrogen fixer, is known to increase the fertility of the soil and in turn the productivity of different crops. The glucose dehydrogenase gene, the first enzyme in the direct oxidation pathway, contributes significantly to mineral phosphate solubilization ability in several Gram-negative bacteria. It is possible to enhance further the biofertilizer potential of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria by introducing the genes involved mineral phosphate solubilization without affecting their ability to fix nitrogen or produce phytohormones for dual benefit to agricultural crops. Glucose dehydrogenases from Gram-negative bacteria can be engineered to improve their ability to use different substrates, function at higher temperatures and EDTA tolerance, etc., through site-directed mutagenesis. [source] Integrating indigenous knowledge, active conservation and wild food plant use with reference to Dioscorea species in Bwindi forest, south-western UgandaAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Dominic Byarugaba No abstract is available for this article. [source] Dynamics of host plant use and species diversity in Polygonia butterflies (Nymphalidae)JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2006E. WEINGARTNER Abstract The ability of insects to utilize different host plants has been suggested to be a dynamic and transient phase. During or after this phase, species can shift to novel host plants or respecialize on ancestral ones. Expanding the range of host plants might also be a factor leading to higher levels of net speciation rates. In this paper, we have studied the possible importance of host plant range for diversification in the genus Polygonia (Nymphalidae, Nymphalini). We have compared species richness between sistergroups in order to find out if there are any differences in number of species between clades including species that utilize only the ancestral host plants (,urticalean rosids') and their sisterclades with a broader (or in some cases potentially broader) host plant repertoire. Four comparisons could be made, and although these are not all phylogenetically or statistically independent, all showed clades including butterfly species using other or additional host plants than the urticalean rosids to be more species-rich than their sisterclade restricted to the ancestral host plants. These results are consistent with the theory that expansions in host plant range are involved in the process of diversification in butterflies and other phytophagous insects, in line with the general theory that plasticity may drive speciation. [source] Contextualizing the Politics of Knowledge: Physicians' Attitudes toward Medicinal PlantsMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2003Coral Wayland This article examines how a group of public health physicians in the urban Amazon values medicinal plant knowledge. As biomedical health care providers, physicians routinely draw on scientific plant knowledge. At the same time, as residents of the Amazon and health care providers to the poor, they are aware of and sometimes participate in local systems of plant knowledge. When discussing medicinal plant use, physicians repeatedly mention three themes: science, superstition, and biopiracy. The way in which physicians construct and negotiate these themes is part of the process of maintaining and legitimating their expertise and authority. This analysis finds that context is key to understanding whether, when, and why physicians value certain bodies of knowledge. Locally, in clinics, scientific plant knowledge is constructed as superior. In a global context, however, local plant knowledge is explicitly valued. This situational valuation/devaluation of plant knowledge relates to the positions of power physicians occupy in each context, [medicinal plants, politics of knowledge, Brazil, Amazon, physicians] [source] Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers from Zale galbanata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and amplification in other members of the genusMOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 3 2002A. Caldas Abstract The noctuid moth Zale galbanata is described as feeding on maples (Acer sp.) in general, but its primary food plant is box elder (Acer negundo). We isolated five microsatellite loci to investigate the association of food plant use and the genetic similarity of populations in these moths. These markers are polymorphic to various degrees (5,13 alleles), and are presented here. Our initial tests show that some of these loci also work on other Zale species. [source] Divergent host plant adaptation drives the evolution of sexual isolation in the grasshopper Hesperotettix viridis (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in the absence of reinforcementBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2010TONY GRACE Early stages of lineage divergence in insect herbivores are often related to shifts in host plant use and divergence in mating capabilities, which may lead to sexual isolation of populations of herbivorous insects. We examined host preferences, degree of differentiation in mate choice, and divergence in cuticular morphology using near-infrared spectroscopy in the grasshopper Hesperotettix viridis aiming to understand lineage divergence. In Kansas (USA), H. viridis is an oligophagous species feeding on Gutierrezia and Solidago host species. To identify incipient mechanisms of lineage divergence and isolation, we compared host choice, mate choice, and phenotypic divergence among natural grasshopper populations in zones of contact with populations encountering only one of the host species. A significant host-based preference from the two host groups was detected in host-paired feeding preference studies. No-choice mate selection experiments revealed a preference for individuals collected from the same host species independent of geographic location, and little mating was observed between individuals collected from different host species. Female mate choice tests between males from the two host species resulted in 100% fidelity with respect to host use. Significant differentiation in colour and cuticular composition of individuals from different host plants was observed, which correlated positively with host choice and mate choice. No evidence for reinforcement in the zone of contact was detected, suggesting that divergent selection for host plant use promotes sexual isolation in this species. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100, 866,878. [source] Variation and covariation of life history traits in aphids are related to infection with the facultative bacterial endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensaBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2010LUIS E. CASTAÑEDA Host,symbiont associations play an important role in insects. In aphids, facultative symbionts affect host plant use and increase thermal tolerance and resistance to natural enemies. In spite of these beneficial effects on aphid fitness, the frequency of facultative symbionts in aphids ranges from low to intermediate. Tradeoffs induced by symbionts could prevent the fixation of symbionts in aphid populations. Therefore, we studied the life history traits and correlations between them in 21 clones of the black bean aphid, Aphis fabae, seven of which were infected with the facultative endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa. We found that clones harbouring H. defensa exhibited significantly higher body mass at maturity and offspring production, and a marginally higher intrinsic rate of increase. However, development time and offspring body size did not differ between symbiont-free and infected clones. In addition, body mass at maturity was positively correlated with offspring production, offspring body size and intrinsic rate of increase, whereas development time was negatively correlated with body mass at maturity, offspring production and offspring body size. Excluding infected clones had little effect on these correlations; only correlations between body mass at maturity and offspring production, and between development time and offspring body size, became nonsignificant. Therefore, we did not find any evidence for tradeoffs between life history traits induced by symbiont infection. In fact, infected clones had higher overall fitness than symbiont-free clones under the conditions of our experiment, suggesting that symbionts do not impose costs on aphids harbouring them. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100, 237,247. [source] Host plant toxicity affects developmental rates in a polyphagous fruit fly: experimental evidenceBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2009NATHALIE ERBOUT Various, non-exclusive mechanisms have been invoked to explain the observed association between host plant use and speciation in insect species. In the Afrotropical genus Ceratitis (Diptera: Tephritidae), morphological, molecular, and biochemical data suggest that evolutionary radiation of stenophagous clades originates from their ability to exploit toxic hosts. To test whether, and to what extent, the development and fitness of Ceratitis fasciventris, a polyphagous congener known to infest over 43 host species, is adversely affected by host plant toxicity, we compared the rates of development, survival, and reproduction of captive bred individuals in four media that differ in alkaloid concentration. Despite reduced pupal and adult sizes, C. fasciventris larvae developing under low alkaloid concentrations successfully developed to the adult stage, probably as a result of accelerated pupation and ensuing restricted exposure to the toxic environment. High alkaloid concentrations, however, impaired their developmental process and prevented subsequent reproduction. The adverse effects of host plant toxicity on larval development in polyphagous fruit flies indicate that high alkaloid concentrations pose a significant constraint on host use by polyphagous Ceratitis species. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 728,737. [source] The evolution of sex pheromones in an ecologically diverse genus of fliesBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009MATTHEW R. E. SYMONDS In theory, pheromones important in specific mate recognition should evolve via large shifts in composition (saltational changes) at speciation events. However, where other mechanisms exist to ensure reproductive isolation, no such selection for rapid divergence is expected. In Bactrocera fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae), males produce volatile chemicals to attract females for mating. Bactrocera species exhibit great ecological diversity, with a wide range of geographical locations and host plants used. They also have other mechanisms, including temporal and behavioural differences, which ensure reproductive isolation. Therefore, we predicted that their sex pheromones would not exhibit rapid divergence at speciation events. In the present study, we tested this idea by combining data on male sex pheromone composition for 19 species of Bactrocera with a phylogeny constructed from DNA sequence data. Analyses of the combined data revealed positive correlations between pheromone differences and nucleotide divergence between species, and between the number of pheromone changes along the phylogeny and the branch lengths associated with these changes. These results suggest a gradual rather than saltational mode of evolution. However, remarkable differences in sex pheromones composition exist, even between closely-related species. It appears therefore that the mode of evolution of sex pheromones in Bactrocera is best described by rapid saltational changes associated with speciation, followed by gradual divergence thereafter. Furthermore, species that do not overlap ecologically are just as different pheromonally as species that do. Thus, large changes in pheromone composition appear to be achieved, even in cases where other mechanisms to ensure reproductive isolation exist. We suggest that these differences are closely associated with rapid changes in host plant use, which is a characteristic feature of Bactrocera speciation. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 594,603. [source] Larval Case Architecture and Implications of Host-Plant Associations for North American Coleophora (Lepidoptera; Coleophoridae),CLADISTICS, Issue 1 2002Sibyl Bucheli The case-bearing moths of North America are represented by a single genus, Coleophora, which contains approximately 144 described species. All are external seed or leaf miners that inhabit portable silk cases during most of the larval stage. Architectural and ecological characters from larval cases were used in cladistic analysis to investigate existing case groups for 32 North American species of Coleophora. Cladistic analysis confirmed monophyly of certain case groups, but not of others. Host-plant preferences were also examined. The pattern of host plant use reflects more closely preference for certain plant tissues (seeds versus leaves) and growth forms (herbaceous versus woody) with exploitation of different plant taxa, rather than preference for certain plant taxa with exploitation of different plant tissues. [source] Nitric oxide synthesis and signalling in plantsPLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 5 2008IAN D. WILSON ABSTRACT As with all organisms, plants must respond to a plethora of external environmental cues. Individual plant cells must also perceive and respond to a wide range of internal signals. It is now well-accepted that nitric oxide (NO) is a component of the repertoire of signals that a plant uses to both thrive and survive. Recent experimental data have shown, or at least implicated, the involvement of NO in reproductive processes, control of development and in the regulation of physiological responses such as stomatal closure. However, although studies concerning NO synthesis and signalling in animals are well-advanced, in plants there are still fundamental questions concerning how NO is produced and used that need to be answered. For example, there is a range of potential NO-generating enzymes in plants, but no obvious plant nitric oxide synthase (NOS) homolog has yet been identified. Some studies have shown the importance of NOS-like enzymes in mediating NO responses in plants, while other studies suggest that the enzyme nitrate reductase (NR) is more important. Still, more published work suggests the involvement of completely different enzymes in plant NO synthesis. Similarly, it is not always clear how NO mediates its responses. Although it appears that in plants, as in animals, NO can lead to an increase in the signal cGMP which leads to altered ion channel activity and gene expression, it is not understood how this actually occurs. NO is a relatively reactive compound, and it is not always easy to study. Furthermore, its biological activity needs to be considered in conjunction with that of other compounds such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can have a profound effect on both its accumulation and function. In this paper, we will review the present understanding of how NO is produced in plants, how it is removed when its signal is no longer required and how it may be both perceived and acted upon. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||