Biology subjects

Rendon, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Rendon, P..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

The genetic basis of the black pupae phenotype in tephritid fruit flies

The remarkable diversity of insect pigmentation offers a captivating avenue for exploring evolution and genetics. In tephritid fruit flies, decoding the molecular pathways underlying pigmentation traits also plays a central role in applied entomology. Mutant phenotypes like the black pupae (bp) have long been used as a component of genetic sexing strains, allowing male-only release in tephritid sterile insect technique applications. However, the genetic basis of bp remains largely unknown. Here, we present independent evidence from classical and modern genetics showing that the bp phenotype in the GUA10 strain of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens, is caused by a large deletion at the ebony locus resulting in the removal of the entire protein-coding region of the gene. Targeted knockout of ebony induced analogous bp phenotypes across six tephritid species spanning over 50 million years of divergent evolution. This functionally validated our findings and allowed for a deeper investigation into the role of Ebony in pigmentation and development in these species. Our study offers fundamental knowledge for developing new sexing strains based on the bp marker and for future evolutionary developmental biology studies in tephritid fruit flies.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2024

Wild lytic bacteriophages: a potential enhancer of disinfectants biofilm inhibition in bio-industrial settings for fruit fly production.

The pathogenic nature of Morganella morganii to fruit flies has been described earlier; its biofilm prevents the larvae of mass reared fruit flies from proceeding to their next life stage by trapping them in their polymeric matrix. For the Mediterranean (Ceratitis capitata) fruit fly ("medfly") mass rearing plants, this can be problem, due to losses generated in the production process. The presence of this bacteria is prevented by using different disinfectants, by themselves, or combined, which can act as selective pressure for the biofilm to resist the disinfectants. In this paper, we propose a method to isolate lytic bacteriophages and use them as quorum quenchers, to prevent microbial consortium from forming biofilms. When tried as viral cocktails, a very significant reduction of biofilm was found. However, when used with one of the two tried industrial disinfectants, the viral effect wasnt as significant. When interpreted alongside the first experiments, this result opens the door to use bacteriophages to reduce the minimum inhibitory concentration necessary of the disinfectant. A reduction of said concentration would translate into less selective pressure for a resistance against it, and a reduction in costs for the mass rearing process at the time of implementation of the system.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2020

Assessment of the relationships between agroecosystem condition and soil erosion regulating ecosystem service in Northern Germany

Ecosystems provide multiple services that are necessary to maintain human life and activities. Agroecosystems are very productive suppliers of biomass-related provisioning ecosystem services, e.g. food, fibre and energy. At the same time, they are highly dependent on respective ecosystem condition and regulating ecosystem services such as soil fertility, water supply or soil erosion regulation. Assessments of this interplay of ecosystem conditions and services are very important to understand the relationships in highly managed systems. Therefore, the aim of this study is twofold: First, to test the concept and indicators proposed by the European Union Working Group on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) for the assessment of agroecosystem condition at a regional level. Second, to identify the relationships between ecosystem condition and the delivery of ecosystem services. For this purpose, we applied an operational framework for integrated mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services. We used the proposed indicators to assess the condition of agroecosystems in Northern Germany and the provision of the regulating ecosystem service control of erosion rates. We used existing data that are available from official databases for the calculation of the different indicators. We show maps of environmental pressures, ecosystem condition and ecosystem service indicators for the Federal State of Lower Saxony. Furthermore, we identified areas within the state where pressures are high, conditions are limited, and more sustainable management practices are needed. Despite the limitations of the indicators and data availability, our results show positive, negative and no significant correlations between the different pressures and condition indicators, and the control of erosion rates. Although the idea behind the MAES framework is to show the general condition of an ecosystem, when looking at the relationships between condition and ecosystem services, we identified that not all the indicators - as they are proposed- are suitable to explain to what extent ecosystems are able to provide certain ecosystem services. Further research on other ecosystem services provided by agroecosystems would facilitate the identification of synergies and trade-offs. Moreover, the definition of a reference condition, although complicated for anthropogenically highly modified agroecosystems, would provide a benchmark to compare information on the condition of the ecosystems, leading to better land use policy and management decisions

ecology↗