University of Catania

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Neuroscience

Coculture of Axotomized Rat Retinal Ganglion Neurons with Olfactory Ensheathing Glia, as an In Vitro Model of Adult Axonal Regeneration

María Portela-Lomba^1,3, Diana Simón¹, Cristina Russo², Javier Sierra¹, María Teresa Moreno-Flores³

¹Facultad de CC Experimentales, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, ²Dept. Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Physiology, University of Catania, ³Dept. Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

We present an in vitro model to assess olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) neuroregenerative capacity, after neural injury. It is based on a coculture of axotomized adult retinal ganglion neurons (RGN) on OEG monolayers and subsequent study of axonal regeneration, by analyzing RGN axonal and somatodendritic markers.

Biology

Methods for Rearing the Parasitoid Ganaspis brasiliensis, a Promising Biological Control Agent for the Invasive Drosophila suzukii

Marco Valerio Rossi-Stacconi¹, Xingeng Wang², Amanda Stout², Lorenzo Fellin^1,3, Kent M. Daane⁴, Antonio Biondi⁵, Judith M. Stahl⁴, Matthew L. Buffington⁶, Gianfranco Anfora^1,3, Kim A. Hoelmer²

¹Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, ²Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, ³Center for Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Trento, ⁴Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California Berkeley, ⁵Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, ⁶Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture

Ganaspis brasiliensis-a larval parasitoid of Drosophila suzukii (a global invasive fruit crop pest)-has been approved or is considered for introduction into Europe and the United States for biological control of this pest. This article provides protocols for both small-scale and large-scale rearing of this parasitoid.