Occurrence of Platypus mutatus Chapuis (Coleoptera: Platypodidae) in a brazilwood experimental plantation in Southeastern Brazil

Note to chew on: insect damage to musical instruments

Insects have a diverse range of ecologies that leaves many pre-adapted to exploiting manufactured products as food sources, including musical instruments. To review what is known and to make recommendations for preventing and managing insect damage to musical instruments, we conducted a systematic search and a narrative review of the area. Of 339 papers, only eight peer-reviewed publications met the inclusion criteria, and all were on xylophagous insects causing damage to wooden instruments. To supplement this material, we report a case of damage to the key pads (composed of felt enclosed in fish buoyancy bladder skin) of a clarinet by carpet beetles (Anthrenus verbasci (Dermestidae)), the first reported case of non-woody damage and the first instance of insect damage rendering an instrument unplayable. To avoid such damage, regular inspection of instruments is recommended, and rapid treatment of any insect infestations in the immediate environment that could extend to affecting stored instruments. Instruments themselves can be extremely expensive, and if insects are still present these should only be treated by an expert; instrument cases can be more easily dealt with by heat treatment (black plastic bag in the sun) or application of a residual insecticide. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Type and distribution of sensilla in the antennae of Euplatypus parallelus (F.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidea, Platypodinae)

Euplatypus parallelus (F.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidea) is the most destructive cosmopolitan insect pest of the Platypodinae. Pheromone-based luring agents are used currently in controlling bark beetle. Antennae are the primary insect organs sensing volatiles of host trees and pheromones of pioneer males. We studied the external morphology of antennae and the type, distribution, and the number of the beetle sensilla. Our results show E. parallelus have a geniculate antenna composed of 6 segments, namely the scape, 4-segmented funicle and club. Ninety-seven percent of the antennal sensors were distributed in the club, and 3% were distributed in the scape and funicle. 6 types of sensilla on the antennae were found, including sensilla trichodea (subtypes: STI, STII and STIII), sensilla basiconica (subtypes: SBI, SBII, SBIII and SBIV), sensilla chaetica (subtypes: SChI, SChII and SChIII), as well as sensilla coeloconica, sensilla campaniform and sensilla furcatea. There was no significant difference in the type, distribution and number of sensilla in males and females. No significant difference in the shape and distribution of antennae was found between sexes, but the length of antennae and the number of SChI, SChII, STI, SBI, SBIII and SBIV were significantly larger in females than males. We revealed the external cuticular structure of the antennae in E. parallelus, which can be used to guide future electrophysiological investigations to understand the ability of this beetle to detect semiochemicals.

Using a Caesalpinia echinata Lam. protease inhibitor as a tool for studying the roles of neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G and proteinase 3 in pulmonary edema

Acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by neutrophil infiltration and the release of proteases, mainly elastase (NE), cathepsin G (Cat G) and proteinase 3 (PR3), which can be controlled by specific endogenous inhibitors. However, inhibitors of these proteases have been isolated from different sources, including plants. For this study, CeEI, or Caesalpinia echinata elastase inhibitor, was purified from C. echinata (Brazil-wood) seeds after acetone fractionation, followed by ion exchange and reversed phase chromatographic steps. Characterization with SDS-PAGE, stability assays, amino acid sequencing and alignment with other protein sequences confirmed that CeEI is a member of the soybean Kunitz trypsin inhibitor family. Like other members of this family, CeEI is a 20 kDa monomeric protein; it is stable within a large pH and temperature range, with four cysteine residues forming two disulfide bridges, conserved amino acid residues and leucine-isoleucine residues in the reactive site. CeEI was able to inhibit NE and Cat G at a nanomolar range (with K(i)s of 1.9 and 3.6 nM, respectively) and inhibited PR3 within a micromolar range (K(i) 3.7 μM), leading to hydrolysis of specific synthetic substrates. In a lung edema model, CeEI reduced the lung weight and pulmonary artery pressure until 180 min after the injection of zymosan-activated polymorphonuclear neutrophils. In experiments performed in the presence of a Cat G and PR3, but not an NE inhibitor, lung edema was reduced only until 150 min and pulmonary artery pressure was similar to that of the control. These results confirm that NE action is crucial to edema establishment and progression. Additionally, CeEI appears to be a useful tool for studying the physiology of pulmonary edema and provides a template for molecular engineering and drug design for ALI therapy.