Cryptochromes (CRYs) are flavoproteins that are sensitive to blue light, first identified in Arabidopsis and then in Drosophila and mice. They are evolutionarily conserved and play fundamental roles in the circadian clock of living organisms, enabling them to adapt to the daily 24-h cycles. Selleck NEO2734 The role of CRYs in circadian clocks differs among different species in plants, they have a blue light-sensing activity whereas in mammals they act as light-independent transcriptional repressors within the circadian clock. These two different functions are accomplished by two principal types of CRYs, the light-sensitive plant/insect type 1 CRY and the mammalian type 2 CRY acting as a negative autoregulator in the molecular circadian clockwork. Drosophila melanogaster possesses just one CRY, belonging to type 1 CRYs. Nevertheless, this single CRY appears to have different functions, specific to different organs, tissues, and even subset of cells in which it is expressed. In this review, we will dissect the multiple roles of this single CRY in Drosophila, focusing on the regulatory mechanisms that make its pleiotropy possible. Copyright © 2020 Damulewicz and Mazzotta.Although the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera has traditionally been controlled by application of chemical pesticides, chemical control selects for resistance, pollutes the environment, and endangers human health. New methods for controlling H. armigera are therefore needed. Heliothis virescens ascovirus 3i (HvAV-3i) is a recently identified virus of the lepidopteran larvae. We tested the effects of HvAV-3i on H. armigera larvae following oral ingestion of HvAV-3i-containing hemolymph (about 1.0 × 1010 virus genome copies per larvae) and following injection of HvAV-3i-containing hemolymph by insertion of a needle. Following oral ingestion, first-instar to fifth-instar larvae grew and developed normally. Following needle injection, in contrast, the corrected mortality of third and fourth instars was 88.9 ± 2.1 and 93.7 ± 3.4%, respectively. Food intake was significantly lower for larvae injected with virus-containing hemolymph than with virus-free hemolymph. Larvae injected with virus-containing hemolymph had extended survival times and could not complete the pre-pupal stage. These results indicate that inoculation of HvAV-3i via needle injection, but not via oral ingestion, significantly reduced the growth and development of H. armigera larvae. Copyright © 2020 Chen, Liu, Mo, Hu, Liu, Bustos-Segura, Xue and Wang.Jin-Mai-Tong (JMT) decoction is a traditional Chinese compound prescription for treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). The aim of this study is to investigate the neuroprotective effect of JMT decoction on diabetic rats with peripheral neuropathy and to elucidate the potential mechanism based on a metabolomics approach. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups control group, Streptozotocin (STZ) induced model group, JMT low dose (JMT-L) treated group and JMT high dose (JMT-H) treated group. After 12 weeks of treatment, behavioral changes, small fiber loss, and histopathological damages of sciatic nerves were estimated. Serum samples were collected for untargeted metabolomics analysis based on UPLC/QTOF-MS and multivariate statistics. As a result, JMT treatment at two dosages (13.9 and 27.8 g/kg⋅d) evidently improved the mechanical pain threshold (P less then 0.05), increased the intraepidermal nerve fiber density (IENFD) and subepidermal nerve fiber density (SNFD) (P less the neuropathy. Copyright © 2020 Zhang, Song, Liang, Xie, Shi, Shi, Qiu and Chen.Leucosidea sericea is an evergreen shrub belonging to the Rosaceae family with previous studies that indicated that L. sericea extracts exhibited strong anti-bacterial properties against Propionibacterium acnes, showing potential as a cosmeceutical. The plant is traditionally used as a vermifuge, as an astringent and to treat conjunctivitis. Commercial production is, however, not possible as no information is available on cultivation and the effect of external environmental factors such as seasonal variation on the medicinal properties of the plant. Seasonal variation was investigated and it was found that significant differences were observed between the anti-acne (P. acnes) activity of plant material collected in different seasons. The best activity was found in winter with a mean minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 5.20 μg mL-1 compared to spring at 26.04 μg mL-1. A 1H NMR-based untargeted metabolomic analysis was used to determine the differences in the chemical profiles of plant samples collected iltivation and commercial harvesting, and that winter is the preferred harvesting season to obtain the best anti-acne activity. Copyright © 2020 Sehlakgwe, Lall and Prinsloo.De novo hepatic glucose production or hepatic gluconeogenesis is the main contributor to hyperglycemia in the fasting state in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) owing to insulin resistance, which leads to at least twice as much glucose synthesis compared to healthy subjects. Therefore, control of this pathway is a promising target to avoid the chronic complications associated with elevated glucose levels. Patients with T2D in the rural communities of Mexico use medicinal plants prepared as infusions that are consumed over the day between meals, thus following this rationale (consumption of the infusions in the fasting state), one approach to understanding the possible mechanism of action of medicinal plants is to assess their capacity to inhibit hepatic glucose production. Furthermore, in several of these plants, the presence of phenolic acids able to block the enzyme glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) is reported. In the present work, extracts of Ageratina petiolaris, Bromelia karatas, Equisetum myriochaetum, t only inhibited hepatic glucose production in the pyruvate tolerance test. Because of the traditional method in which diabetic patients use plants, hepatic glucose production inhibition seems to be a mechanism that partially explains the common hypoglycemic effect. However, further studies must be carried out to characterize other mechanisms whereby these plants can decrease HGO. Copyright © 2020 Mata-Torres, Andrade-Cetto, Espinoza-Hernández and Cárdenas-Vázquez.