Although the present use of pesticides in plant protection has limited the occurrence and development of plant diseases and pests, resistance to pesticides and their environmental and health hazards indicates an urgent need for new active ingredients in plant protection products. Recently synthesized coumarin-1,2,4-triazole hybrid compounds have been proven effective against plant pathogenic fungi and safe for soil-beneficial bacteria. Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, has been used as a model organism for scientific research. Additionally, it is considered a pest since it damages fruits and serves as a carrier for various plant diseases. On the contrary, Orius laevigatus is a beneficial true bug that biologically controls harmful arthropods in agricultural production. In the present study, we performed an adulticidal bioassay against D. melanogaster and O. laevigatus using coumarin-1,2,4-triazole hybrids. Quantitative structure-activity relationship studies (QSARs) and in silico ecotoxicity evaluation elucidated the structural features underlying the compounds' insecticidal activity. The derivative of 4-methylcoumarin-1,2,4-triazole with a 3-bromophenyl group showed great insecticidal potential. A molecular docking study indicated that the most active compound probably binds to glutamate-gated chloride channels.

Urban environments are vulnerable to the introduction of non-native species and sometimes contribute to their invasion success. Knowing how urban landscape features affect the population dynamics of exotic species is therefore essential to understand and manage these species. The spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a highly polyphagous fruit fly that has become a very problematic invasive species over the last decade. Because of its important damage on fruit production, D. suzukii populations have mainly been studied in agricultural areas, while their dynamics in urban landscape remain poorly explored. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of urban environment in the invasion success of D. suzukii by identifying local and landscape factors driving the abundance of the fly along seasons and urbanization gradients. To achieve this, 526 insect traps were randomly set in four different habitats (urban forest, park, riverside and town centre) along an urbanization gradient in the city of Amiens (France), between September 2018 and August 2019. The influence of landscape and local environmental variables on Drosophilidae species diversity and composition was examined using GLM and multivariate analyses. We found that Drosophilidae species richness and abundance were negatively impacted by urbanization. The Drosophilidae community was dominated by D. subobscura and D. suzukii, but their relative abundance varied with seasons. Drosophila suzukii used urban forest during winter and also during heat waves in summer. The fly was still active in this habitat in winter when the ground was covered with snow. The cover of brambles, shrubs, soil litter and dead wood debris were identified as valuable ecological indicators of the presence of D. suzukii. We highlight the role of the different components of urban environment in the ecology of D. suzukii, particularly with regard to its winter survival. These results could serve for designing management strategies in urban habitats in order to reduce the invasion success of D. suzukii.

Iron is a common and essential element for maintaining life in bacteria, plants and animals and is found in soil, fresh waters and marine waters; however, over exposure is toxic to organisms. Iron is used in electron transport complexes within mitochondria as well as a co-factor in many essential proteins. It is also established that iron accumulation in the central nervous system in mammals is associated with various neurological disorders. Ample studies have investigated the long-term effects of iron overload in the nervous system. However, its acute effects in nervous tissue and additional organ systems warrant further studies. This study investigates the effects of iron overload on development, behavior, survival, cardiac function, and glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the Drosophila melanogaster. Additionally, physiological responses in crayfish were examined following Fe3+ exposure. Fe3+ reduced neuronal excitability in proprioceptive neurons in a crayfish model. Thus, Fe3+ may block stretch activated channels (SACs) as well as voltage-gated Na+ channels. Exposure also rapidly reduces synaptic transmission but does not block ionotropic glutamatergic receptors, suggesting a blockage of pre-synaptic voltage-gated Ca2+ channels in both crustacean and Drosophila models. The effects are partly reversible with acute exposure, indicating the cells are not rapidly damaged. This study is relevant in demonstrating the effects of Fe3+ on various physiological functions in different organisms in order to further understand the acute and long-term consequences of overload.

Chlordane, a previously extensively utilized insecticidal pesticide, has since been prohibited, however, owing to its limited degradability, it continues to persist significantly in soil and water reservoirs, subsequently accumulating within plant and animal organisms, representing a substantial threat to human health. Despite extensive research conducted over the past few decades to investigate the toxic effects of chlordane, there remains a notable dearth of studies focusing on its impact on sleep activity. Therefore, in this study, the effects of short-term and long-term exposure to chlordane on the activity and sleep of Drosophila were investigated. When exposed to chlordane at a concentration of 1 mu M, Drosophila lost body weight, decreased body size and resulted in lipid metabolism disorders. In addition, chlordane exposure altered the arousal and sleep behaviors of Drosophila. Short-term exposure to chlordane resulted in an increase in night-time sleep duration, while long-term exposure to chlordane resulted in an increase in activity and a decrease in sleep, as evidenced by a decrease in the duration of each sleep session and the appearance of sleep fragmentation. Under conditions of long-term chlordane exposure, reactive oxygen species levels were significantly up-regulated in Drosophila. Our results suggest that long-term chlordane exposure triggers oxidative stress damage in Drosophila, leading to sleep disruption. This study offers novel insights into the harmful impacts of environmental pollutants on human sleep patterns and proposes that mitigating the presence of chlordane in the environment could potentially contribute to the reduction of global sleep disorder prevalence.