-
Microbiology and Immunology Sep 2020The use of non-human animal models for infection experiments is important for investigating the infectious processes of human pathogenic bacteria at the molecular level.... (Review)
Review
The use of non-human animal models for infection experiments is important for investigating the infectious processes of human pathogenic bacteria at the molecular level. Mammals, such as mice and rabbits, are also utilized as animal infection models, but large numbers of animals are needed for these experiments, which is costly, and fraught with ethical issues. Various non-mammalian animal infection models have been used to investigate the molecular mechanisms of various human pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This review discusses the desirable characteristics of non-mammalian infection models and describes recent non-mammalian infection models that utilize Caenorhabditis elegans, silkworm, fruit fly, zebrafish, two-spotted cricket, hornworm, and waxworm.
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Bacterial Infections; Bombyx; Caenorhabditis elegans; Disease Models, Animal; Drosophila melanogaster; Gryllidae; Humans; Larva; Manduca; Moths; Zebrafish
PubMed: 32757288
DOI: 10.1111/1348-0421.12834 -
The Lancet. Microbe Jul 2022
Topics: Animals; COVID-19; Fungal Proteins; Orthoptera; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 35779561
DOI: 10.1016/S2666-5247(22)00161-6 -
Annual Review of Neuroscience Jul 2019Across the animal kingdom, social interactions rely on sound production and perception. From simple cricket chirps to more elaborate bird songs, animals go to great... (Review)
Review
Across the animal kingdom, social interactions rely on sound production and perception. From simple cricket chirps to more elaborate bird songs, animals go to great lengths to communicate information critical for reproduction and survival via acoustic signals. Insects produce a wide array of songs to attract a mate, and the intended receivers must differentiate these calls from competing sounds, analyze the quality of the sender from spectrotemporal signal properties, and then determine how to react. Insects use numerically simple nervous systems to analyze and respond to courtship songs, making them ideal model systems for uncovering the neural mechanisms underlying acoustic pattern recognition. We highlight here how the combination of behavioral studies and neural recordings in three groups of insects-crickets, grasshoppers, and fruit flies-reveals common strategies for extracting ethologically relevant information from acoustic patterns and how these findings might translate to other systems.
Topics: Animal Structures; Animals; Courtship; Drosophila; Female; Forecasting; Grasshoppers; Gryllidae; Insecta; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Pattern Recognition, Physiological; Sense Organs; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Species Specificity; Temperature; Time Factors; Vocalization, Animal
PubMed: 30786225
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-080317-061839 -
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences :... May 2022Insect flight is a complex physiological process that involves sensory and neuroendocrinal control, efficient energy metabolism, rhythmic muscle contraction, and... (Review)
Review
Insect flight is a complex physiological process that involves sensory and neuroendocrinal control, efficient energy metabolism, rhythmic muscle contraction, and coordinated wing movement. As a classical study model for insect flight, locusts have attracted much attention from physiologists, behaviorists, and neuroendocrinologists over the past decades. In earlier research, scientists made extensive efforts to explore the hormone regulation of metabolism related to locust flight; however, this work was hindered by the absence of molecular and genetic tools. Recently, the rapid development of molecular and genetic tools as well as multi-omics has greatly advanced our understanding of the metabolic, molecular, and neuroendocrinal basis of long-term flight in locusts. Novel neural and molecular factors modulating locust flight and their regulatory mechanisms have been explored. Moreover, the molecular mechanisms underlying phase-dependent differences in locust flight have also been revealed. Here, we provide a systematic review of locust flight physiology, with emphasis on recent advances in the neuroendocrinal, genetic, and molecular basis. Future research directions and potential challenges are also addressed.
Topics: Animals; Energy Metabolism; Flight, Animal; Grasshoppers; Insecta; Muscle Contraction
PubMed: 35644827
DOI: 10.1007/s00018-022-04344-9 -
Journal of Ethnobiology and... Mar 2022In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a wealth of information about insects which is often only orally available. The purpose of the study was to remedy this shortcoming and... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a wealth of information about insects which is often only orally available. The purpose of the study was to remedy this shortcoming and make an overview of how orthopteran species are utilised, perceived and experienced in daily life across sub-Saharan Africa.
METHOD
Ethno-entomological information on Orthoptera in sub-Saharan Africa was collected by (1) interviews with more than 300 people from about 120 ethnic groups in 27 countries in the region; (2) library studies in Africa, London, Paris and Leiden; and (3) using web search engines.
RESULTS
More than 126 species of crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts have been identified as edible in sub-Saharan Africa. Some toxic species, such as Zonocerus spp., are eaten by some groups who use processing and detoxifying techniques. The katydid Ruspolia differens is very popular as food in central and eastern Africa and is captured by indigenous and commercial methods. Vernacular names refer to their morphology, behaviour, characteristics or the beliefs associated with the insect. The aposematic pyrgomorphid species, such as Zonocerus spp., are often used as medicine. Children play with grasshoppers, by for instance herding them like cattle, and they consider cricket-hunting for food as a game. The doctrine of signatures probably plays a role, as crickets, because of their chirping, are used to improve the sound of a music instrument, or as medicine to treat earache. Locust plagues are considered a punishment which requires repentance, but also an opportunity to acquire food. Proverbs and stories relate to using the orthopterans as food or to the underground lives of the crickets. Possible explanations are given as to why so many practices, beliefs and stories about orthopterans are so widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. The relevance of recording such ethno-entomological practices is discussed.
CONCLUSION
Grasshoppers, locusts and crickets, although they may be agricultural pests, are very popular as food. They are also used in medicine, and as toys, and they play a role in religion, art and literature.
Topics: Africa South of the Sahara; Animals; Cattle; Food; Grasshoppers; Gryllidae; Humans
PubMed: 35346258
DOI: 10.1186/s13002-022-00524-w -
Foods (Basel, Switzerland) Dec 2019Madagascar has a long history of using Orthoptera as food and feed. Our understanding of the biological diversity of this resource, its contemporary use, and its future...
Madagascar has a long history of using Orthoptera as food and feed. Our understanding of the biological diversity of this resource, its contemporary use, and its future potentials in Madagascar is extremely limited. The present study contributes basic knowledge of the biological diversity and local uses of edible Orthoptera in Malagasy food cultures. Data was collected with key informants in 47 localities covering most of the ecoregions of Madagascar and corresponding to 12 of the 19 ethnic groups. Orthoptera are consumed throughout Madagascar. We report 37 edible Orthoptera species, of which 28 are new species records of edible Orthoptera in Madagascar and 24 are new species records of edible Orthoptera in the world. Most species are endemic and occur in farming zones. Children are the primary collectors and consumers of edible Orthoptera. The insects are eaten both as snacks and main meals. Edible Orthoptera are primarily collected casually and marketing is rare, with the notable exceptions of the large cricket and during locust outbreaks (e.g., ). The use of Orthoptera as feed seems rare. Further investigations of cultural and personal preferences are required to assess the future potential roles of Orthoptera in Malagasy food habits.
PubMed: 31835637
DOI: 10.3390/foods8120666 -
ZooKeys 2022We present a revised list of Latvian species of Orthoptera and provide notes on their occurrence and present knowledge. New information on orthopteran observations from...
We present a revised list of Latvian species of Orthoptera and provide notes on their occurrence and present knowledge. New information on orthopteran observations from online databases, local unpublished studies, entomological collections, and our direct observations is combined, and a dataset of more than 1500 recent observations is provided. All historical synonyms used in the reviewed information sources are presented. As a result, an annotated list of 52 Orthoptera species is compiled, from which five newly reported species in Latvia are presented here for the first time together with distribution maps. In conclusion, the presence of 43 species of Orthoptera is confirmed in Latvia.
PubMed: 36761115
DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1134.95637 -
Scientific Reports Aug 2020Acrididae are diverse in size, body shape, behavior, ecology and life history; widely distributed; easy to collect; and important to agriculture. They represent... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Acrididae are diverse in size, body shape, behavior, ecology and life history; widely distributed; easy to collect; and important to agriculture. They represent promising model candidates for functional genomics, but their extremely large genomes have hindered this research; establishing a reference transcriptome for a species is the primary means of obtaining genetic information. Here, two Acrididae species, Gomphocerus licenti and Mongolotettix japonicus, were selected for full-length (FL) PacBio transcriptome sequencing. For G. licenti and M. japonicus, respectively, 590,112 and 566,165 circular consensus sequences (CCS) were generated, which identified 458,131 and 428,979 full-length nonchimeric (FLNC) reads. After isoform-level clustering, next-generation sequencing (NGS) short sequences were used for error correction, and remove redundant sequences with CD-HIT, 17,970 and 16,766 unigenes were generated for G. licenti and M. japonicus. In addition, we obtained 17,495 and 16,373 coding sequences, 1,082 and 813 transcription factors, 11,840 and 10,814 simple sequence repeats, and 905 and 706 long noncoding RNAs by analyzing the transcriptomes of G. licenti and M. japonicus, respectively, and 15,803 and 14,846 unigenes were annotated in eight functional databases. This is the first study to sequence FL transcriptomes of G. licenti and M. japonicus, providing valuable genetic resources for further functional genomics research.
Topics: Alternative Splicing; Animals; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Grasshoppers; Male; Microsatellite Repeats; RNA, Long Noncoding; Transcriptome
PubMed: 32848169
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71178-5 -
Anaesthesia May 2020
Topics: Anesthetics; Animals; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Gryllidae; Neuromuscular Blockade; Sugammadex
PubMed: 31808146
DOI: 10.1111/anae.14907 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Mar 2022Aposematic coloration is among the most diverse antipredator strategies, which can signal unpleasantness of organisms to potential predators and reduce the probability...
Aposematic coloration is among the most diverse antipredator strategies, which can signal unpleasantness of organisms to potential predators and reduce the probability of predation. Unlike mimesis, aposematic coloration allows organisms to warn their predators away by conspicuous and recognizable colour patterns. However, aposematism has been a regular puzzle, especially as the long-term history of such traits is obscured by an insufficient fossil record. Here, we report the discovery of aposematic coloration in an orthopteran nymph from Mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (99 million years old). It is attributed to the extinct family Elcanidae and erected as a new genus identified by conspicuous dark/light-striped coloration, four apical spurs on the metatibia, a two-segmented metatarsus and unsegmented stylus. It represents the first fossil orthopteran preserved with aposematic coloration from the Mesozoic, demonstrating that orthopterans had evolved aposematism by the Mid-Cretaceous. Our findings provide novel insights into the early evolution of anti-predator strategies among orthopterans. Together with mimesis, debris-carrying camouflage and aposematism previously reported, our findings demonstrate the relative complexity of prey-predator interactions in the Mesozoic, especially in the Mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber forest. This article is part of the theme issue 'The impact of Chinese palaeontology on evolutionary research'.
Topics: Amber; Animals; Biological Mimicry; Fossils; Orthoptera; Paleontology; Predatory Behavior
PubMed: 35124999
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0039