| hemolytic potency and phospholipase activity of some bee and wasp venoms. | 1. the action of crude venoms of four aculeate species: apis mellifera, vespa crabro, vespula germanica and vespula vulgaris on human erythrocytes was investigated in order to determine the lytic and phospholipase activity of different aculeate venoms and their ability to induce red blood cell hemolysis. 2. bee venom was the only extract to completely lyse red blood cells at the concentration of 2-3 micrograms/ml. 3. phospholipase activity in all of the examined vespid venoms was similar and the ... | 1990 | 1981342 |
| ige antibodies to hymenoptera venoms in the serum are common in the general population and are related to indications of atopy. | determination of hymenoptera venom (hv)-specific serum ige antibodies is a useful diagnostic method in patients with systemic anaphylactic reaction (sar) to hymenoptera stings. in a general population cohort, we determined the prevalence of sar and hv-specific ige antibodies and assessed parameters associated with the latter. a total of 277 voluntarily participating inhabitants of rural bavaria (germany) (232 adults, mean age 38.0 years; 45 children, mean age 8.4 years) were investigated for a h ... | 1996 | 8837658 |
| vespula vulgaris venom: role of kinins and release of 5-hydroxytryptamine from skin mast cells. | wasp venoms contain several active components, among them kinin-related peptides. like bradykinin and [thr6]bradykinin, vespula vulgaris venom caused paw oedema following subplantar injection in anaesthetized rats. the oedema was partly inhibited by the bradykinin b2 receptor antagonist icatibant (hoe 140); the remaining part was abolished by additional pretreatment with 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-ht) receptor antagonists or mast cell depletion. histamine receptor antagonists were ineffective. capsa ... | 1998 | 9698210 |
| expressions of recombinant venom allergen, antigen 5 of yellowjacket (vespula vulgaris) and paper wasp (polistes annularis), in bacteria or yeast. | antigen 5 is a major allergen of vespid venom. it has partial sequence identity with proteins from diverse sources. the biologic function of ag 5 and its related proteins is not known. we are interested in the expression of ag 5 with the native conformation of the natural protein since its b cell epitopes are mainly of the discontinuous type. when expressed in bacteria, recombinant ag 5 formed an insoluble intracellular product, and it did not translocate from cytoplasm to periplasm by the addit ... | 1999 | 10425162 |
| susceptibility of vespula vulgaris (hymenoptera: vespidae) to generalist entomopathogenic fungi and their potential for wasp control. | the pathogenicity of vespula vulgaris wasp workers and larvae to a range of fungi was determined. all fungi were isolated in new zealand and included isolates from vespula, known generalist insect pathogens, and isolates generally nonpathogenic to insects. workers and larvae were highly susceptible to pathogenic isolates at high spore concentrations (>1.75 x 10(5) cfu/individual). eight isolates, two of metarhizium anisopliae, five of beauveria bassiana, and one of aspergillus flavus were pathog ... | 2000 | 10843831 |
| recombinant allergens with reduced allergenicity but retaining immunogenicity of the natural allergens: hybrids of yellow jacket and paper wasp venom allergen antigen 5s. | the homologous venom allergen ag 5s from the yellow jacket (vespula vulgaris) and paper wasp (polistes annularis) have 59% sequence identity of their respective 204 and 205 amino acid residues, and they have low degrees of antigenic cross-reactivity in insect allergic patients and in animal models. hybrids containing different segments of these two vespid ag 5s were expressed in yeast. circular dichroism spectroscopy suggests the hybrids to have the secondary structure of natural ag 5. inhibitio ... | 2001 | 11342623 |
| expression of yellow jacket and wasp venom ag5 allergens in bacteria and in yeast. | antigen 5 (ag5), of unknown biological function, is one of the major venom allergens of vespids and fire ants. we have compared the expression of ag5 in bacteria and in yeast. recombinant ag5 from bacteria formed an insoluble intracellular product, which was not properly folded, but that produced in pichia pastoris was secreted to the extracellular medium. immunochemical characterizations showed the secreted ag5 to have the native structure of the natural protein. this is of interest since the b ... | 1999 | 11487873 |
| allergen-specific immunosuppression by mucosal treatment with recombinant ves v 5, a major allergen of vespula vulgaris venom, in a murine model of wasp venom allergy. | up to 5% of the population suffer from systemic, 19% from local allergic hypersensitivity reactions to stinging insects. even though specific immunotherapy is very effective in treating allergy to insect venom, new concepts of treatment strategies with only the disease eliciting allergen in recombinant form, along with antigen application via a less invasive route might be suggested for enhanced treatment efficacy and compliance. in the present study we aimed (i) to establish a mouse model of wa ... | 2003 | 14632666 |
| characterization of the human t cell response to antigen 5 from vespula vulgaris (ves v 5). | the t cell reactivity to the major allergen of bee venom, phospholipase a2, has been thoroughly characterized. in contrast, only little is known about the human cellular response to major allergens from wasp venom. | 2005 | 15784117 |
| a test of worker policing theory in an advanced eusocial wasp, vespula rufa. | mutual policing is an important mechanism for maintaining social harmony in group-living organisms. in some ants, bees, and wasps, workers police male eggs laid by other workers in order to maintain the reproductive primacy of the queen. kin selection theory predicts that multiple mating by the queen is one factor that can selectively favor worker policing. this is because when the queen is mated to multiple males, workers are more closely related to queen's sons than to the sons of other worker ... | 2005 | 16050107 |
| structure of recombinant ves v 2 at 2.0 angstrom resolution: structural analysis of an allergenic hyaluronidase from wasp venom. | wasp venom from vespula vulgaris contains three major allergens: ves v 1, ves v 2 and ves v 5. here, the cloning, expression, biochemical characterization and crystal structure determination of the hyaluronidase ves v 2 from family 56 of the glycoside hydrolases are reported. the allergen was expressed in escherichia coli as an insoluble protein and refolded and purified to obtain full enzymatic activity. three n-glycosylation sites at asn79, asn99 and asn127 were identified in ves v 2 from a na ... | 2006 | 16699186 |
| anaphylaxis caused by imported red fire ant stings in málaga, spain. | a 27-year-old woman suffered from anaphylaxis after being stung by solenopsis invicta ants while she was handling wood from south america. the patient reported no previous adverse reactions to stings by other hymenopteran species. intradermal skin tests with hymenoptera venom (vespula vulgaris, polistes species, apis melifera) were negative. serum specific immunoglobulin (ig) e yielded positive results for s invicta (5.28 ku/l) and negative results for a melifera, ves v 5 and pol a 5. immunodete ... | 2007 | 17323863 |
| structural and immunological characterization of the n-glycans from the major yellow jacket allergen ves v 2: the n-glycan structures are needed for the human antibody recognition. | yellow jacket (vespula vulgaris) hyaluronidase (ves v 2) is a glycoprotein and a mixture of two isoallergens, ves v 2.01 and ves v 2.02. wasp and bee sensitized individuals frequently show ige antibodies that in vitro recognize common carbohydrate structures across the hymenoptera species. the aim of the study was to characterize the glycosylation patterns in ves v 2 isoallergens and to assess their immunological properties regarding antibody binding and t cell activation. the glycosylation site ... | 2009 | 19375166 |
| identification, recombinant expression, and characterization of the 100 kda high molecular weight hymenoptera venom allergens api m 5 and ves v 3. | insect stings can cause life-threatening ige-mediated anaphylactic reactions in venom-allergic patients. although several compounds have already been described as venom allergens, prominent allergen candidates especially in the higher m.w. range have still remained elusive. tandem mass spectrometry-based sequencing assigned a candidate gene to the most prominent putative high m.w. allergen api m 5 (allergen c) in honeybee (apis mellifera) venom and also allowed identification of its homologue ve ... | 2010 | 20348419 |
| display of wasp venom allergens on the cell surface of saccharomyces cerevisiae. | yeast surface display is a technique, where the proteins of interest are expressed as fusions with yeast surface proteins and thus remain attached to the yeast cell wall after expression. our purpose was to study whether allergens expressed on the cell surface of baker's yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae preserve their native allergenic properties and whether the yeast native surface glycoproteins interfere with ige binding. we chose to use the major allergens from the common wasp vespula vulgaris ... | 2010 | 20868475 |
| a novel interference behaviour: invasive wasps remove ants from resources and drop them from a height. | this study reports a novel form of interference behaviour between the invasive wasp vespula vulgaris and the new zealand native ant prolasius advenus. by videotaping interactions at bait stations, we found that wasps commonly remove ant competitors from food resources by picking up the workers in their mandibles, flying backward and dropping them unharmed some distance from the food. both the frequency and the efficiency of the wasp behaviour significantly increased with the abundance of ant com ... | 2011 | 21450726 |
| a high recombination rate in eusocial hymenoptera: evidence from the common wasp vespula vulgaris. | background: high recombination rates have previously been detected in two groups of eusocial insects; honeybees and ants. in this study we estimate recombination rate in a eusocial wasp vespula vulgaris that represents a third phylogenetic lineage within eusocial hymenopterans. results: a genetic linkage map of v. vulgaris based on 210 markers shows that the total map length is 2129 cm and the recombination rate is 9.7 cm/mb (or 103 kb/cm). the present estimate in v. vulgaris is somewhat smaller ... | 2011 | 22054484 |
| hydrocarbon signatures of egg maternity, caste membership and reproductive status in the common wasp. | in most ants, bees, and wasps, the workers are capable of challenging the reproductive monopoly of the queen by laying unfertilized, male eggs. an important mechanism that can resolve this conflict is policing, whereby the queen or workers prevent successful worker reproduction by selectively eating worker-laid eggs or by attacking egg-laying workers. egg policing by workers has been shown to occur in several social wasp species, but the information used by worker wasps to discriminate between q ... | 2012 | 22234429 |
| no evidence of enemy release in pathogen and microbial communities of common wasps (vespula vulgaris) in their native and introduced range. | when invasive species move to new environments they typically experience population bottlenecks that limit the probability that pathogens and parasites are also moved. the invasive species may thus be released from biotic interactions that can be a major source of density-dependent mortality, referred to as enemy release. we examined for evidence of enemy release in populations of the common wasp (vespula vulgaris), which attains high densities and represents a major threat to biodiversity in it ... | 2015 | 25798856 |
| pervasiveness of parasites in pollinators. | many pollinator populations are declining, with large economic and ecological implications. parasites are known to be an important factor in the some of the population declines of honey bees and bumblebees, but little is known about the parasites afflicting most other pollinators, or the extent of interspecific transmission or vectoring of parasites. here we carry out a preliminary screening of pollinators (honey bees, five species of bumblebee, three species of wasp, four species of hoverfly an ... | 2012 | 22347356 |
| mp-v1 from the venom of social wasp vespula vulgaris is a de novo type of mastoparan that displays superior antimicrobial activities. | mastoparans from the venom of social wasps have attracted considerable attention as effective antibiotic candidates. in this study, mastoparan v1 (mp-v1) from vespula vulgaris was first disclosed to have a peptide amino acid sequence distinct from typical mastoparans and its biochemical properties and antimicrobial effects were compared with those of typical mastoparans mp-l, -x(v) and -b. circular dichroism (cd) spectroscopy revealed that mp-v1 and -x(v) form more stable α-helical conformations ... | 2016 | 27104500 |
| proline as a fuel for insect flight: enhancing carbohydrate oxidation in hymenopterans. | bees are thought to be strict users of carbohydrates as metabolic fuel for flight. many insects, however, have the ability to oxidize the amino acid proline at a high rate, which is a unique feature of this group of animals. the presence of proline in the haemolymph of bees and in the nectar of plants led to the hypothesis that plants may produce proline as a metabolic reward for pollinators. we investigated flight muscle metabolism of hymenopteran species using high-resolution respirometry perf ... | 2016 | 27412285 |
| arthropod venom hyaluronidases: biochemical properties and potential applications in medicine and biotechnology. | hyaluronidases are enzymes that mainly degrade hyaluronan, the major glycosaminoglycan of the interstitial matrix. they are involved in several pathological and physiological activities including fertilization, wound healing, embryogenesis, angiogenesis, diffusion of toxins and drugs, metastasis, pneumonia, sepsis, bacteremia, meningitis, inflammation and allergy, among others. hyaluronidases are widely distributed in nature and the enzymes from mammalian spermatozoa, lysosomes and animal venoms ... | 2015 | 26500679 |
| component resolution reveals additional major allergens in patients with honeybee venom allergy. | detection of ige to recombinant hymenoptera venom allergens has been suggested to improve the diagnostic precision in hymenoptera venom allergy. however, the frequency of sensitization to the only available recombinant honeybee venom (hbv) allergen, rapi m 1, in patients with hbv allergy is limited, suggesting that additional hbv allergens might be of relevance. | 2014 | 24440283 |
| vitellogenins are new high molecular weight components and allergens (api m 12 and ves v 6) of apis mellifera and vespula vulgaris venom. | anaphylaxis due to hymenoptera stings is one of the most severe clinical outcomes of ige-mediated hypersensitivity reactions. although allergic reactions to hymenoptera stings are often considered as a general model for the underlying principles of allergic disease, venom immunotherapy is still hampered by severe systemic side effects and incomplete protection. the identification and detailed characterization of all allergens of hymenoptera venoms might result in an improvement in this field and ... | 2013 | 23626765 |
| traumatic ventriculitis following consumption of introduced insect prey (hymenoptera) in nestling hihi (notiomystis cincta). | nestling mortality in the endangered and endemic hihi, also called stitchbird (notiomystis cincta), was studied over the 2008-09 breeding season at zealandia-karori sanctuary, wellington, new zealand. histopathology showed traumatic ventriculitis in seven of 25 (28%) dead nestlings. single or multiple granulomas centered on chitinous insect remnants were found lodged within the gizzard mucosa, muscle layers, and ventricular or intestinal serosa. the insect remnants were confirmed as bee or wasp ... | 2013 | 23307374 |
| hornets can fly at night without obvious adaptations of eyes and ocelli. | hornets, the largest social wasps, have a reputation of being facultatively nocturnal. here we confirm flight activity of hornet workers in dim twilight. we studied the eyes and ocelli of european hornets (vespa crabro) and common wasps (vespula vulgaris) with the goal to find the optical and anatomical adaptations that enable them to fly in dim light. adaptations described for obligately nocturnal hymenoptera such as the bees xylocopa tranquebarica and megalopta genalis and the wasp apoica pall ... | 2011 | 21765923 |
| [therapy control of specific hymenoptera venom allergy]. | in germany anaphylactic reactions after insect stings are mostly caused by honey bee (apis mellifera) and wasp (vespula vulgaris, vespula germanica). in the majority of cases venom immunotherapy is a successful therapy and protects patients from recurrent systemic anaphylactic reaction. in some patients persistent severe reactions after insect sting can even occur in spite of venom therapy, as a sign of therapy failure. it is important to identify these patients, who do not benefit from venom im ... | 2010 | 21132618 |
| recognition errors by honey bee (apis mellifera) guards demonstrate overlapping cues in conspecific recognition. | honey bee (apis mellifera) entrance guards discriminate nestmates from intruders. we tested the hypothesis that the recognition cues between nestmate bees and intruder bees overlap by comparing their acceptances with that of worker common wasps, vespula vulgaris, by entrance guards. if recognition cues of nestmate and non-nestmate bees overlap, we would expect recognition errors. conversely, we hypothesised that guards would not make errors in recognizing wasps because wasps and bees should have ... | 2009 | 26005220 |
| the n-glycans of yellow jacket venom hyaluronidases and the protein sequence of its major isoform in vespula vulgaris. | hyaluronidase (e.c. 3.2.1.35), one of the three major allergens of yellow jacket venom, is a glycoprotein of 45 kda that is largely responsible for the cross-reactivity of wasp and bee venoms with sera of allergic patients. the asparagine-linked carbohydrate often appears to constitute the common ige-binding determinant. using a combination of maldi ms and hplc of 2-aminopyridine-labelled glycans, we found core-difucosylated paucimannosidic glycans to be the major species in the 43-45 kda band o ... | 2005 | 16218950 |
| inflammatory role of two venom components of yellow jackets (vespula vulgaris): a mast cell degranulating peptide mastoparan and phospholipase a1. | venom sac extract of yellow jackets vespula vulgaris was toxic in mice when injected intraperitoneally but not toxic when injected subcutaneously. necropsy showed the toxicity to be an inflammatory response. | 2003 | 12759486 |
| a comparative study on hypertrehalosaemic hormones in the hymenoptera: sequence determination, physiological actions and biological significance. | a new hypertrehalosaemic peptide (tea-hrth; pqlnfstgwgg-nh(2)) was isolated from the corpora cardiaca (cc) of the sawfly tenthredo arcuata. the hypertrehalosaemic peptides found in the cc of five bombus species and the paper wasp polistes fuscata were identical to the adipokinetic hormone ii of the desert locust, schistocerca gregaria (scg-akh-ii). the hypertrehalosaemic peptides found in the yellowjacket vespula vulgaris and the hornet vespa crabro were identical to the adipokinetic hormone of ... | 2001 | 11249944 |
| convergent evolution of worker policing by egg eating in the honeybee and common wasp. | mutual policing, where group members suppress each others' reproduction, is hypothesized to be important in the origin and stabilization of biological complexity. mutual policing among workers in social insects can reduce within-colony conflict. however, there are few examples. we tested for worker policing in the common wasp vespula vulgaris. workers rapidly removed worker-laid eggs but left most queen-laid eggs (four out of 120 worker eggs versus 106 out of 120 queen eggs remained after 1h). o ... | 2001 | 11209887 |
| lactobacillus vespulae sp. nov., isolated from gut of a queen wasp (vespula vulgaris). | a gram-stain-positive, oxidase- and catalase-negative, rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic bacterial strain, dcy75t, was isolated from a queen wasp (vespula vulgaris). growth occurred at 4–37 °c (optimum, 30 °c), at ph 3.5–8.0 (optimum, ph 5.0–6.0) and with ≤ 7.0 % (w/v) nacl. strain dcy75t produced gas during growth on glucose. phylogenetic analysis based on 16s rrna gene sequences indicated that strain dcy75t belonged to the genus lactobacillus and was closely related to lactobacillus sanfranc ... | 2015 | 26297032 |
| vagococcus entomophilus sp. nov., from the digestive tract of a wasp (vespula vulgaris). | three unknown gram-stain-positive, catalase-negative, facultatively anaerobic and coccus-shaped strains of bacteria were isolated from the digestive tracts of wasps (vespula vulgaris). analysis of 16s rrna gene sequences revealed that these strains had identical sequences and showed that vagococcus salmoninarum, with 96.2% sequence similarity, was the closest phylogenetic neighbour. further analyses based on hsp60 and phes gene sequences of representatives of the family enteroccocaceae and genot ... | 2014 | 24174220 |
| does size matter? - thermoregulation of 'heavyweight' and 'lightweight' wasps (vespa crabro and vespula sp.). | in insect groups with the ability of endothermy, the thermoregulatory capacity has a direct relation to body mass. to verify this relationship in vespine wasps, we compared the thermoregulation of hornets (vespa crabro), the largest species of wasps in central europe, with two smaller wasps (vespula vulgaris and vespula germanica) in the entire range of ambient temperature (t(a): ~0-40°c) where the insects exhibited foraging flights.despite the great difference in body weight of vespula (v. vulg ... | 2012 | 23162695 |
| flight behaviour during foraging of the social wasp vespula vulgaris (hymenoptera: vespidae) and four mimetic hoverflies (diptera: syrphidae) sericomyia silentis, myathropa florea, helophilus sp. and syrphus sp. | many hoverfly species show specific or non specific morphological resemblance to wasps (vespula sp.) and it has been suggested that they also show similar flight behaviour. in this study we therefore compared the flight behaviour of wasps with that of four mimetic hoverflies, sericomyia silentis, myathropa florea, helophilus sp. and syrphus sp., by filming insects while they were foraging on an artificial array of flowers. films were analysed to determine the routes taken, time spent hovering an ... | 2005 | 16339871 |