Mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals spatial genetic structure and high genetic diversity of Massicus raddei (Blessig) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in China.

The oak longhorned beetle (OLB), Massicus raddei (Blessig, 1872) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is widely distributed in Asia (China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Vietnam and the Russian Far-East), but pest outbreaks have occurred only in Liaoning Province and Jilin Province of China. In order to explore possible mechanisms of local population outbreaks and characterize the genetic diversity and genetic structure of M. raddei across its range in China, three mitochondrial genes (COI, Cytb, and COII) were sequenced and analyzed for seven M. raddei populations collected from six provinces in China. From these different populations, we found a high haplotype and nucleotide diversity. Haplotype networks and phylogenetic analyses both demonstrate apparent genetic diversification between SC (southern China) and NC (northern China) population groups. A set of 21 pairwise comparisons for Fst (pairwise fixation indices) and Nm (genetic flow index) showed significant genetic differentiation and limited gene flow except for two pairs, Shandong (SD) and Liaoning (LN), and Anhui (AH) and Henan (HN). This pattern suggested that the periodic outbreak of the LN population could not be attributed to the absence of genetic flow with other spatial populations and that regional environmental factors might be responsible. AMOVA (Analysis of molecular variance) showed that the greater molecular genetic variation was among populations. Based on Tajima's D statistic, Fu's Fs, and the mismatch distribution test, we determined that the seven populations sampled were stable and had not experienced any recent population expansion. The fact that all the sampled populations showed only unique haplotypes and lacked shared or ancestral haplotypes, as well as the nonstar-like distribution of haplotype network for concatenated genes, collectively provided powerful evidence of the stable and isolated nature of most populations. The high genetic differentiation and spatial genetic structuring among populations are both likely related to the beetle's moderate flight capacity, regional variation in host tree species and microclimate, as well as the geographic distance between sampling sites.

De novo sequencing and transcriptome analysis of female venom glands of ectoparasitoid Bracon hebetor (Say.) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).

Venom is a key-factor in the regulation of host physiology by parasitic Hymenoptera and a potentially rich source of novel bioactive substances for biotechnological applications. The limited study of venom from the ectoparasitoid Bracon hebetor, a tiny wasp that attacks larval pest insects of field and stored products and is thus a potential insect control agent, has not described the full complement and composition of these biomolecules. To have a comprehensive picture of genes expressed in the venom glands of B. hebetor, a venom gland transcriptome was assembled by using next generation sequencing technologies followed by de novo assemblies of the 10.81 M sequence reads yielded 22,425 contigs, of which 10,581 had significant BLASTx hits to know genes. The majority of hits were to Diachasma alloeum, an ectoparasitoid from same taxonomic family, as well as other wasps. Gene ontology grouped the sequences into molecular functions in which catalytic activity with 42.2% was maximum, cellular components in which cells with 33.8% and biological processes among which metabolic process with 30% had the most representatives. In this study, we highlight the most abundant sequences, and those that are likely to be functional components of the venom for parasitization. Full length ORFs of Calreticulin, Venom Acid Phosphatase Acph-1 like protein and arginine kinase proteins were isolated and their tissue specific expression was studied by RT-PCR. Our report is the first to characterize components of the B. hebetor venom glands that may be useful for developing control tools for insect pests and other applications.

SSR Markers Associated with Proline in Drought Tolerant Wheat Germplasm.

Water stress causes major agricultural loss throughout the world as survival of the crops remained under stress and loss in yield. Plants respond to drought stress by means of different adaptive mechanisms such as accumulation of osmoprotectants to counteract the water stress. Amino acid proline is known to occur widely in higher plants and normally accumulates in large quantities as an osmolyte in response to environmental stresses. Biochemical estimation of proline was done in the drought-affected wheat genotypes by spectrophotometric method. Proline promoted a positive effect as root/shoot ratio was enhanced in wheat germplasm under drought stress. SSR primer pairs (45) were tested for polymorphism among selected wheat genotypes. The dendrogram results have shown the wheat genotype association with the levels of proline during induced drought stress. The relationship between pattern of drought responsive biochemical attributes and DNA markers in the selected wheat genotypes was recognized to select drought tolerant genotypes for sowing in drought affected areas of the country.

Minimizing thermal stress for data center servers through thermal-aware relocation.

A rise in inlet air temperature may lower the rate of heat dissipation from air cooled computing servers. This introduces a thermal stress to these servers. As a result, the poorly cooled active servers will start conducting heat to the neighboring servers and giving rise to hotspot regions of thermal stress, inside the data center. As a result, the physical hardware of these servers may fail, thus causing performance loss, monetary loss, and higher energy consumption for cooling mechanism. In order to minimize these situations, this paper performs the profiling of inlet temperature sensitivity (ITS) and defines the optimum location for each server to minimize the chances of creating a thermal hotspot and thermal stress. Based upon novel ITS analysis, a thermal state monitoring and server relocation algorithm for data centers is being proposed. The contribution of this paper is bringing the peak outlet temperatures of the relocated servers closer to average outlet temperature by over 5 times, lowering the average peak outlet temperature by 3.5% and minimizing the thermal stress.