Some plant and animal pathogens can manipulate their hosts to cause them to release odors that are attractive to the pathogens' arthropod vectors. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this process is largely unexplored, and the specific effectors the pathogens employ as well as the pathways within the hosts they target are currently unknown. Here we reveal that the aphid-borne cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) employs its 2b protein, a well-characterized viral suppressor of host RNA interference (VSR), to target the host's jasmonate (JA) hormone pathway, thus acting as a viral inducer of host attractiveness to insect vectors (VIA). 2b inhibits JA signaling by directly interacting with and repressing JA-induced degradation of host jasmonate ZIM-domain proteins, instead of using its VSR activity. Our findings identify a previously defined VSR protein as a VIA and uncover a molecular mechanism CMV uses to manipulate host's attractiveness to insect vectors by targeting host hormone signaling.

A series of methoxyphenyl-functionalized diiron azadithiolate (ADT) complexes,

Porous organic cage stabilised palladium nanoparticles were successfully prepared using methanol as a mild reductant. The as-prepared porous composite materials show high catalytic activity for the carbonylation reaction of aryl halides under mild conditions.

Phenylacetonitrile acts as an aposematic signal and toxin precursor against predation in locusts.

Chemical communication plays an important role in density-dependent phase change in locusts. However, the volatile components and emission patterns of the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, are largely unknown. In this study, we identified the chemical compositions and emission dynamics of locust volatiles from the body and feces and associated them with developmental stages, sexes and phase changes. The migratory locust shares a number of volatile components with the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), but the emission dynamics of the two locust species are significantly different. The body odors of the gregarious nymphs in the migratory locust consisted of phenylacetonitrile (PAN), benzaldehyde, guaiacol, phenol, aliphatic acids and 2,3-butanediol, and PAN was the dominant volatile. Volatiles from the fecal pellets of the nymphs primarily consist of guaiacol and phenol. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed significant differences in the volatile profiles between gregarious and solitary locusts. PAN and 4-vinylanisole concentrations were significantly higher in gregarious individuals than in solitary locusts. Gregarious mature males released significantly higher amounts of PAN and 4-vinylanisole during adulthood than mature females and immature adults of both sexes. Furthermore, PAN and 4-vinylanisole were completely lost in gregarious nymphs during the solitarization process, but were obtained by solitary nymphs during gregarization. The amounts of benzaldehyde, guaiacol and phenol only unidirectionally decreased from solitary to crowded treatment. Aliphatic aldehydes (C7 to C10), which were previously reported as locust volatiles, are now identified as environmental contaminants. Therefore, our results illustrate the precise odor profiles of migratory locusts during developmental stages, sexes and phase change. However, the function and role of PAN and other aromatic compounds during phase transition need further investigation.

As the new H-cluster models, a series of N-functionalized azadithiolatodiiron complexes containing mono-and diphosphine ligands 1-7 have been prepared by various methods from complexes [(µ-SCH 2 N(Fun)]Fe 2 (CO) 6 (A, Fun ) C 6 H 4 CHO-p; B, Fun ) C 6 H 4 CO 2 Me-p; C, Fun ) CH 2 CH 2 O 2 CCH 2 C 10 H 7 -1; D, Fun ) CH 2 CH 2 OH) and [(µ-SCH 2 ) 2 N(Fun)]Fe 2 (CO) 5 (Ph 2 PH) (E, Fun ) C 6 H 4 OMe-p). Treatment of A and B with 1 equiv of Me 3 NO • 2H 2 O followed by 1 equiv of Ph 3 P or Ph 2 PH affords the corresponding monophosphine-substituted complexes [(µ-SCH 2 ) 2 N(C 6 H 4 CHO-p)]Fe 2 (CO) 5 (Ph 3 P) (1) and [(µ-SCH 2 ) 2 N(C 6 H 4 CO 2 Me-p)]Fe 2 (CO) 5 L (2, L ) Ph 3 P; 3, Ph 2 PH). Further treatment of B with ca. 1 equiv of Ph 2 PC 2 H 4 PPh 2 (dppe) produced the diphosphine dppe-bridged single model [(µ-SCH 2 ) 2 N(C 6 H 4 CO 2 Mep)]Fe 2 (CO) 4 (dppe) ( 4), whereas C reacts with 1 equiv of Me 3 NO • 2H 2 O followed by 0.5 equiv of (η 5 -Ph 2 PC 5 H 4 ) 2 Fe (dppf) to give the diphosphine dppf-bridged double model [(µ-SCH 2 ) 2 N(CH 2 CH 2 O 2 CCH 2 C 10 H 7 -1)Fe 2 (CO) 5 ] 2 (dppf) (5). While D reacts with 1 equiv of n-BuLi followed by 1 equiv of Ph 2 PCl or directly reacts with 1 equiv of Ph 2 PCl in the presence of Et 3 N to generate N-alkoxyphosphine-substituted complex [(µ-SCH 2 ) 2 N(CH 2 CH 2 OPPh 2 -η 1 )]Fe 2 (CO) 5 ( 6), treatment of E with 1 equiv of n-BuLi followed by 1 equiv of CpFe(CO) 2 I yields organometallic phosphine-substituted complex [(µ-SCH 2 ) 2 N(C 6 H 4 OMep)]Fe 2 (CO) 5 [Ph 2 PFe(CO) 2 Cp] (7). All the new model complexes 1-7 are fully characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopy, and particularly for 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 X-ray crystallography. More interestingly, 2 is found to be a catalyst for HOAc proton reduction to hydrogen under CV conditions. In addition, according to electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical studies, an ECEC mechanism is proposed for this electrocatalytic reaction.

Poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester that has received great attentions in clinical and biomedical applications as sutures, drug delivery tool, and implantable scaffold material. Silica aerogel is a material composed of SiO2that has excellent physical properties for use in drug release formulations and biomaterials for tissue engineering. The current study addresses a composite of silica aerogel with PCL as a potential bone scaffold material for bone tissue engineering. The biocompatibility evaluation of this composite indicates that the presence of silica aerogel effectively prevented any cytotoxic effects of the PCL membrane during extended tissue culture periods and improved the survival, attachment, and growth of 3T3 cells and primary mouse osteoblastic cells. The beneficial effect of silica aerogel may be due to neutralization of the acidic condition that develops during PCL degradation. Specifically, it appears that silica aerogel to PCL wt/wt ratio at 0.5 : 1 maintains a constant pH environment for up to 4 weeks and provides a better environment for cell growth.

1. Olfactory cues can determine the host preferences of herbivorous insects, but their role in host shifting is unclear. Host specificity and the potential for host shifts are important criteria for screening and post-release evaluation of biological control agents for invasive plants. However, the role of olfactory cues in mediating host shifts in biological control agents is not well understood. 2. To investigate the role of olfactory cues in host selection of a reportedly monophagous flea beetle (Agasicles hygrophila), an important biocontrol agent for invasive alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides), we extracted and analyzed the volatiles produced by the host plant A. philoxeroides and the non-host plants A. sessilis, Beta vulgaris, and Amaranthus Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. mangostanus. Moreover, we used electrophysiologcial techniques, behavioural bioassays and field trials to test the antennal responses and behavioural preferences of A. hygrophila to combinations of different plant volatiles and treatments, and pure compounds in different dosages and combinations. 3. We show that A. hygrophila female beetles indeed use olfactory cues to select plants for feeding and oviposition and that the survivorship of larvae on the second preferred non-host plant A. sessilis, a close relative of the first preferred host plant A. philoxeroides, was over 75% in a field trail. Although female beetles responded to many volatile compounds from host and non-host plants, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7- nonatriene (DMNT) positively encouraged the beetle’s feeding and oviposition preferences, whereas (Z)-3-hexenol displayed repellent effect. Remarkably, complementation assays with (Z)-3-hexenol on host plant or DMNT on non-host plants significantly shifted A. hygrophila host preferences to non-host plants and resulted in oviposition and egg hatching on the non-host plant A. sessilis in field trials. 4. Synthesis. We demonstrate an olfactory mechanism by which a specialized herbivorous beetle uses the ratio of two common plant volatiles, DMNT and (Z)-3-hexenol, to discriminate between its host and non-host plants in nature. This study highlights an important mechanism by which olfactory cues could lead to undesired host range expansion in biocontrol agent, thus representing an important warning of the potential for a host shift and development of invasiveness in a common biocontrol agent, the flea beetle