Hutan Rimba Alam (HRA), Putrajaya is an urban forest which is the habitat for various tropical rainforest species. A field survey was undertaken to state the floristic composition, investigate the soil characteristics and identify the relationship between the recorded plant communities and soil characteristics. Six plots sized 10 × 10 m square were established in a lowland area of which 93 individual trees were identified. Moreover, the floristic composition revealed vascular tree communities consisting of 10 botanical families, 15 genera, and 27 species with Dipterocarpaceae as being predominant. Based on the important value index (IVI), Mangifera odorata (Anacardiaceae) was the highest (IVI = 68.80%). Furthermore, large trees such as Koompassia excelsa (Becc.) Taub. (Fabaceae) and Sandoricum koetjape (Burm.f.) Merr. (Meliaceae), with heights ranging from 17 m to 24 m, indicated that HRA is on the way to becoming a mature forest. The soil pH in all plots showed acidic properties, with a mean pH of 4.69 that is considered normal for tropical rainforests. The pH of the soils in HRA, Putrajaya had a positive correlation with the CEC and with nitrogen, but the value was low; however, the correlation was negative with C and P. The CEC had a relatively low correlation with C, N and P. Carbon had a very high correlation with N but low with P. Meanwhile, nitrogen had a very negatively low correlation with P. Extractable phosphorus exhibited a mean of 2.22 mg/kg which is normally used in plants for fruits, roots, and flower development. The present study revealed that plant communities in the urban forest in Putrajaya, meaning the diversity of the plant species belonging to a wide range of families, were established on acid soil, matching with the overall characteristics of tropical forest soils. With regard to the climate change context, which is leading to many altered ecosystems, the authors expect that the outputs of this research will be valued by decision makers for a better management of the forest.
The status of susceptible mosquito is important for monitoring and managing insecticide resistance in field population. The purpose of this study is to profile the differential expression level of enzymatic activities of metabolic enzymes exhibited in the mosquito species of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus from the susceptible strain. The fourth instar larvae of each strain were subjected to biochemical assay. The total protein content and enzymatic activities of Glutathione S-transferase (GST), α-esterase (α-est), β-esterase (β-est) Cytochrome P450 (Cyt P450) and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from each mosquito strains were elucidated. Significant difference (P<0.05) was detected between the total protein content between all species of susceptible strain mosquitoes. One-way ANOVA showed that the specific enzymatic activities of GST, α-est and Cyt P450 of all test mosquitoes were significantly different upon comparison with each species (P<0.05). The mean of enzymatic activities of insensitive AChE showed no significant difference upon comparison with each other (P>0.05). The enzymatic activities of β-est shows no significant difference between Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes (P>0.05) but the enzymatic activity of β-est in Ae. albopictus manifested significant difference upon comparison with the enzymatic activities of the other two test species (P<0.05). The results obtained may provide more information about the enzymatic activities of metabolic enzymes in Ae. aegypti, Ae. albopictus and Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes which might be beneficial for public sector for the application of proper vector control measures.
In this study, the induction of glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzymatic activities in Aedes albopictus under 24 h of xenobiotic challenges was investigated. From LCMS analysis, 23 GST isoforms were identified under Delta, Epsilon, Sigma, Zeta, Omega, and Iota classes, together with one GSTX1-1 isoform, in both treated and untreated samples. Using STRING 11.5, the functional enrichment network of Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, the identified peptides were found to be involved in the glutathione metabolic biological process (GO:0006749, p-value: 1.93 × 10−29), and the molecular functions involved are due to glutathione transferase (GO:0016848, p-value: 2.92 × 10−8) aside from carbon-halide lyase activity (GO:004364, p-value: 1.21 × 10−31). The Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network (STRING 11.5) showed significant interactions within the GST superfamily and some of the GST classes interacted with other proteins among the input domain of the identified peptides (p-value < 1.0 × 10−16). In TMT labeling for the quantification of peptide abundance, isoforms from Delta (GSTD1-2, GSTD1-3, GSTD1-4) and Epsilon (GSTE3-1, GSTE4-2) were found to be overexpressed (between 1.5-fold and 2-fold changes). In the PPI analysis, 12 common enriched pathways of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were found to be intercorrelated with the identified GSTs at PPI enrichment p-value < 1.0 × 10−16. Overall, this study indicates that distinct GST enzymes, which were identified up to their specific protein isoforms, are involved in the metabolic mechanisms underlying xenobiotic stress.
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