Rustica

Nicotiana rustica L. (NRL) is a type of tobacco plant, and its stalk waste is a potential lignocellulosic source for obtaining cellulose fibers freely available in nature. However, they are left in fields after harvesting, and this study provides a green and sustainable method to reuse tobacco waste. Fiber was obtained by retting the plant stalks in water and decomposing them naturally in three weeks. NRL fiber was characterized by comparing it with known bast fibers, and tests were applied to examine its physical, chemical, mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties...

First detected in Atlantic Canada in December 2021, highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, A/Goose/Guangdong/1/96 lineage, has caused massive mortality in wild birds and domestic poultry in North America. Swallows (Hirundinidae), abundant in North American agricultural ecosystems, have been proposed as possible (bridge) species for HPAIV transmission between wild and domestic birds. We aimed to seek evidence of the potential role of swallows in bridging AIV infection between wild bird reservoirs and poultry flocks in eastern Canada...

Although extensive research has been carried out on the occurrence of mercury (Hg) in biota, bioaccumulation and tissue distribution of Hg in songbirds have not been well characterized. In the present study, Hg was investigated in insects and barn swallows ( Hirundo rustica ) to explore the bioaccumulation characteristics of Hg. Hg in swallow feathers and tissues including muscle, liver, and bone was investigated to determine the tissue distribution of Hg. The concentrations of Hg were 1.39 ± 1.01 μg/g, 0...

OBJECTIVES: Combining research from infant and child development, public health, anthropology, and history, this research examines the relationship between growth, growth disruption, and skeletal indicators of chronic and/or episodic physiological stress (stress) among juvenile individuals (n = 60) interred at the late antique infant and child cemetery at Poggio Gramignano (PG) (ca. 5th century CE), associated with a rural agricultural community. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Growth disruption-evidenced by decreased long bone length compared to dental age-and stress experience-evidenced by skeletal stress indicators-within these individuals are compared to those within juveniles from a comparative sample (n = 66) from two urban Roman-era cemeteries, Villa Rustica (VR) (0-250 CE) and Tragurium City Necropolis (TCN) (0-700 CE)...

Many animals breed colonially, often in dense clusters, representing a complex social environment with cognitive demands that could ultimately impact individual fitness. However, the effects of social breeding on the evolution of cognitive processes remain largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that facultative colonial breeding influences attention and decision-making. Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) breed in solitary pairs or in a range of colony sizes, up to dozens of pairs. We tested for selective attention to social information with playbacks of conspecific alarm calls and for decision-making with simulated predator intrusions, across a range of colony sizes from 1 to 33 pairs...

Pigmentary coloration is widespread in animals. Its evolutionary and ecological features are often attributed to the property of predominant pigments; therefore, most research has focused on predominant pigments such as carotenoids in carotenoid-based coloration. However, coloration results from predominant pigments and many other minority pigments, and the importance of the latter is overlooked. Here, we focused on porphyrin, an "uncommon" pigment found in bird feathers, and investigated its importance in the context of feather color changes in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica...

Chewing lice (Phthiraptera, Ischnocera and Amblycera) are permanent ectoparasites of birds and primarly feed on the feathers and scales of birds. To detect the chewing lice species found on birds in Aras basin, Igdir, Türkiye, a total of 240 birds represented by 61 species belonging to 30 families in 13 orders were examined during the 2021 bird migration season. A total of 531 (186 females, 136 males and 209 nymphs) lice were collected from 75 individuals (31,25% of birds examined) of 26 species, 21 families and 10 orders...

The cost of ornamentation is often measured experimentally to study the relative importance of sexual and viability selection for ornamentation, but these experiments can lead to a misleading conclusion when compensatory trait is ignored. For example, a classic experiment on the outermost tail feathers in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica explains that the concave (or U-shaped) aerodynamic performance cost of the outermost tail feathers would be the evolutionary outcome through viability selection for optimal tail length, but this conclusion depends on the assumption that compensatory traits do not cause reduced performance...

We found that barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) breeding occurs within close proximity to humans. An evaluation of barn swallow breeding frequency and the breeding success rate of swallows at research sites, which were buildings inhabited by humans and buildings where humans had previously resided, was conducted in order to establish a relationship between the location of barn swallow nests and human habitation and activity frequency. The results demonstrated that barn swallows often breed in human-inhabited buildings...

Tea plant necrotic ring blotch virus (TPNRBV) has emerged as a significant threat to tea plantations, primarily in China. Since 2020, similar symptoms have been observed in tea plants in northern Iran, raising concerns about the spread of this viral infection. In this study, we conducted an extensive investigation involving approximately 70 samples collected from both symptomatic and asymptomatic tea plants. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with specially designed primers, we successfully amplified DNA fragments from 26 samples, confirming the presence of TPNRBV...

An analysis of the complete genome sequence of a novel isolate of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) obtained from tomatoes in Iran and named ToBRFV-Ir is presented in this study. Comprehensive phylogenetic analysis utilizing key viral proteins, including 126 KDa, 183 KDa, movement protein (MP), and coat protein (CP), as well as the complete genome sequence, classified ToBRFV-Ir and 65 isolates from GenBank into three distinct clades. Notably, genetic diversity assessment revealed relatively low variability among the isolates, irrespective of their geographical or clade affiliation...

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a major component of plastic debris in the environment, including coastal and littoral zones. EPS is widely used in various industries including fish farming and aquaculture, which poses a serious potential threat not only to cultured hydrobionts but also to all living organisms, including humans. This paper presents the results of experimental studies on the effects of EPS (0.024 m2 /L) on marine mollusks Mytilus trossulus and Tegula rustica , which are typical inhabitants of the upper littoral of Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan), belonging to different systematic groups and differing in the type of nutrition...

Many original descriptions of beetles were published in Latin with specific idioms and technical terms, which are sometimes difficult to understand. The exact meaning of these descriptions is necessary for taxonomic and systematic research. Of the ten Palaearctic Plateumaris species regarded as valid three were described in English, the remaining seven in Latin, French, or German: P.amurensis Weise, 1898, P.bracata (Scopoli, 1772), P.consimilis (Schrank, 1781), P.roscida Weise, 1912, P.rustica (Kunze, 1818), P...

Ten of the 27 species of Plateumaris Thomson (Chrysomelidae: Donaciinae) occur in the Palaearctic. Due to the intraspecific variation and the large distributions of some species, descriptions exist for at least 80 taxa plus five nomina nuda. The status of each valid species is clarified and the remaining 70 names are allocated as synonyms. New synonymies are P.tenuicornis Balthasar, considered a synonym of P.consimilis (Schrank), P.sulcifrons Weise as a synonym of P.rustica (Kunze), and P.caucasica Zaitzev as a synonym of P...

INTRODUCTION: Nicotiana L. (Solanaceae) is of great scientific and economic importance, and polyploidization has been pivotal in shaping this genus. Despite many previous studies on the Nicotiana phylogenetic relationship and hybridization, evidence from whole genome data is still lacking. METHODS: In this study, we obtained 995 low-copy genes and plastid transcript fragments from the transcriptome datasets of 26 Nicotiana species, including all sections. We reconstructed the phylogenetic relationship and phylogenetic network of diploid species...

Aerial insectivorous birds have suffered steep population declines in North America over the last 60 years. A lack of information on migratory connectivity between breeding and non-breeding grounds for these species limits our ability to interpret factors affecting their population-specific trends. We determined likely Latin American non-breeding regions of Bank (Riparia riparia), Barn (Hirundo rustica) and Cliff (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) swallow from populations across their breeding ranges. We used predicted feather hydrogen (δ2 Hf ) and carbon (δ13 Cf ) isoscapes for winter-grown feathers to indicate areas of highest probability of moult origin and incorporated these results into a cluster analysis to determine likely broad non-breeding regions...

Parasite-mediated sexual selection has been the topic of extensive research and enthusiastic debate for more than three decades. Here, we suggest that secondary sexual characters may not only signal parasite resistance but also defensive tolerance. We exemplify this possibility by analysing information on two sexually selected traits, annual reproductive success, and ectoparasitism in a barn swallow Hirundo rustica population followed for more than 30 years. For each individual, we estimated the slope of the association between reproductive success and parasitism as an index of tolerance and subsequently explored the association with the expression of the sexually selected traits...

According to classical prediction of aerodynamic theory, birds and other powered fliers that migrate over long distances should have longer and more pointed wings than those that migrate less. However, the association between wing morphology and migratory behavior can be masked by contrasting selective pressures related to foraging behavior, habitat selection and predator avoidance, possibly at the cost of lower flight energetic efficiency. We studied the handwing morphology of Eurasian barn swallows Hirundo rustica from four populations representing a migration distance gradient...

Reproduction and self-maintenance are energetically costly activities involved in classic life history trade-offs. However, few studies have measured the responses of wild organisms to simultaneous changes in reproductive and self-maintenance costs, which may have interactive effects. In free-living female Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), we simultaneously manipulated reproductive costs (by adding or removing two nestlings) and self-maintenance costs (by attaching a ∼ 1 gram weight in the form of a GPS tag to half of our study birds) and measured mass, immune status, blood glucose, feather growth and reproductive output (likelihood of a second clutch, number of eggs, and time between clutches)...

Tulip cultivation in Korea primarily uses imported bulbs due to the absence of domestic production. To ensure safety and sustainability, Korean authorities have implemented strict phytosanitary measures for five viruses: arabis mosaic virus, tobacco necrosis virus, tobacco ringspot virus, tomato black ring virus, and tomato bushy stunt virus. In April 2021, 86 tulip plants presented symptoms such as chlorotic mottle, mosaic, streak, stripe, yellowing of the leaves, and color breaking on flowers. These samples were collected to investigate the incidence of viruses in four Korean provinces (Gangwon, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and Chungnam)...