The Culex quinquefaciatus Say, commonly known as the southern house mosquito, is well known for biting nuisance and vectoring of some fatal diseases. Synthetic chemicals have been relied upon as the major control measure to control mosquitoes. Therefore, we have evaluated 21 insecticides belonging to different chemical classes for their toxicity to C. quinquefaciatus females. Chlorfenapyr was the most toxic adulticide among all the tested insecticides. Among pyrethroids, deltamethrin was the least toxic adulticide, and all other have same toxicity. In case of organophosphates, the chlorpyrifos was the most toxic insecticide. Neonicotinoids such as acetamiprid, nitenpyram, and clothianidin have similar toxicity based on overlapping of 95 % confidence intervals (CI) and were more toxic when compared with the imidacloprid. The spinetoram was more toxic as compared with the spinosad (based on non-overlapping 95 % Cl). In case of ketoenoles, spirotetrament was more toxic as compared with the spiromesifen. Emamectin benzoate was the most toxic insecticide when compared with fipronil and indoxacarb. We also have tested four insect growth regulators (IGRS) including lufenuron, methoxyfenozide, pyriproxyfen, and cyromazine as larvicides. The lufenuron and pyriproxyfen have similar toxicity based upon their overlapping 95 % CI and were more toxic as compared with the methoxyfenozide and cyromazine. The methoxyfenozide was the moderately toxic among all the tested IGRS, and cyromazine was the least toxic among all the tested IGRS. These results will prove helpful in effectuating an effective integrated vector management program for C. quinquefaciatus.

Zebrafish are ideal for experimental studies in the classroom because, in contrast to chicks or mammals, fish embryos are relatively easy and inexpensive to maintain, and embryonic development can be observed with common classroom equipment. The eight student-developed laboratory exercises described here have been used by students in Neuroscience Research at Sidwell Friends School. This course uses zebrafish as a vertebrate model to study genetics, development, behavior, neurobiology, regeneration, learning, and memory. The students develop protocols through collaboration with the teacher and scientists in specific fields. Through individual research, students develop and perform their own experiments, formulate and test hypotheses, learn basic laboratory and microscopy techniques, collect and analyze data, read original scientific literature, and collaborate with prominent zebrafish researchers.

Mosquitoes are known to be vectors of numerous diseases leading to human morbidity and mortality at large scale in the world. Insecticide resistance has become a serious concern in controlling the insect vectors of public health importance. Dimethoate is an organophosphate insecticide used to control different insect pests including mosquitoes. Biological parameters of susceptible, unselected, and dimethoate-selected strains of Culex quinquefasciatus Say were studied in the laboratory to recognize resistance development potential and associated fitness cost. The dimethoate-selected strain showed 66.48-fold resistance to dimethoate compared with the susceptible strain after three continuous selections of generations. Realized heritability estimates of dimethoate resistance in Cx. quinquefasciatus yielded a value of 0.19. In dimethoate-selected strain, the biological traits including larval weight, survival from first instar to pupae, fecundity, number of next-generation larvae, relative fitness, net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of natural increase, and biotic potential were significantly reduced as compared with the unselected strain. However, adult longevity, mean relative growth rate, weight of egg raft, female ratio, pupal duration, and emergence rate of the dimethoate-selected strain did not differ significantly compared with that of the unselected strain. This study provides useful information to devise retrospective management strategy for dimethoate resistance in Cx. quinquefasciatus.

The cellular response to hypoxia is crucial to organismal survival, and hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) are the key mediators of this response. HIF-signaling is central to many human diseases and mediates longevity in the nematode. Despite the rapidly increasing knowledge on RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), little is known about their contribution to hypoxia-induced cellular adaptation. We used RNA interactome capture (RIC) in wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans and vhl-1 loss-of-function mutants to fill this gap. This approach identifies more than 1,300 nematode RBPs, 270 of which can be considered novel RBPs. Interestingly, loss of vhl-1 modulates the RBPome. This difference is not primarily explained by protein abundance suggesting differential RNA-binding. Taken together, our study provides a global view on the nematode RBPome and proteome as well as their modulation by HIF-signaling. The resulting RBP atlas is also provided as an interactive online data mining tool (http://shiny.cecad.uni-koeln. de:3838/celegans_rbpome).