BiotechMashup

by Klaus Reinhardt, Richard Naylor, Michael T. Siva-Jothy

Entomologists have conducted the first genetic study of bedbugs, paving the road to the identification of potential genes associated with pesticide resistance and possible new control methods for the troublesome insect, whose sudden resurgence in the United States has led to a public health scare.

Scientists have discovered the trick the orchid Epipactis veratrifolia uses to attract pollinating hoverflies. The plant's flower practices special mimicry: It produces chemical substances that are usually emitted as alarm pheromones among aphids. Hoverfly females smell the alarm and lay their eggs close to aphid colonies, which serve as baby food for their hatching larvae. By mimicking these alarm pheromones, the orchid takes advantage of the hoverfly females, deceiving them into pollinating its flower.

(American Chemical Society) Mom's comforting tuck-them-in-words -- "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite"-- is becoming an impossible dream for millions of people as the world experiences a resurgence of an ancient scourge that is fostering human misery, financial burdens and the risk of exposure to potentially toxic materials. That's the message from the cover story of the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

(Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology) Scientists have discovered the trick the orchid Epipactis veratrifolia uses to attract pollinating hoverflies. The plant's flower practices special mimicry: It produces chemical substances that are usually emitted as alarm pheromones among aphids. Hoverfly females smell the alarm and lay their eggs close to aphid colonies, which serve as baby food for their hatching larvae. By mimicking these alarm pheromones, the orchid takes advantage of the hoverfly females, deceiving them into pollinating its flower.

When researchers genetically tweaked fruit flies so that they didn't produce certain pheromones, they triggered a sexual tsunami in their laboratory. In fact, they produced bugs so irresistible that normal male fruit flies attempted to mate with pheromone-free males and even females from a different species -- generally a no-no in the fruit fly dating scene.

A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest snake in the neighborhood -- attracting dozens of other males eager to mate.

by Benjamin Houot, Stéphane Fraichard, Ralph J. Greenspan, Jean-François Ferveur

by Barbara A. Caspers, Frank C. Schroeder, Stephan Franke, Christian C. Voigt