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1. Resistance Management for Cancer: Lessons from Farmers

   https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-23-3374  

   Seyedi, Sareh; Harris, Valerie K; Kapsetaki, Stefania E; Narayanan, Shrinath; Saha, Daniel; Compton, Zachary; Yousefi, Rezvan; May, Alexander; Fakir, Efe; Boddy, Amy M; et al (October 2024, Cancer Research)

   Abstract One of the main reasons we have not been able to cure cancers is that treatments select for drug-resistant cells. Pest managers face similar challenges with pesticides selecting for pesticide-resistant insects, resulting in similar mechanisms of resistance. Pest managers have developed 10 principles that could be translated to controlling cancers: (i) prevent onset, (ii) monitor continuously, (iii) identify thresholds below which there will be no intervention, (iv) change interventions in response to burden, (v) preferentially select nonchemical control methods, (vi) use target-specific drugs, (vii) use the lowest effective dose, (viii) reduce cross-resistance, (ix) evaluate success based on long-term management, and (x) forecast growth and response. These principles are general to all cancers and cancer drugs and so could be employed broadly to improve oncology. Here, we review the parallel difficulties in controlling drug resistance in pests and cancer cells. We show how the principles of resistance management in pests might be applied to cancer. Integrated pest management inspired the development of adaptive therapy in oncology to increase progression-free survival and quality of life in patients with cancers where cures are unlikely. These pest management principles have the potential to inform clinical trial design. 

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2. Specific and intraspecific diversity of Staphylinidae in southern High Appalachia

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3. Land Trusts as Conservation Boundary Organizations in Rapidly Exurbanizing Landscapes: A Case Study from Southern Appalachia

   https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2020.1731034  

   Brownson, Katherine; Chappell, Jessica; Meador, Jason; Bloodgood, Jennifer; Howard, Jillian; Kosen, Linda; Burnett, Hannah; Gancos-Crawford, Tara; Guinessey, Elizabeth; Heynen, Nik; et al (October 2020, Society & Natural Resources)

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4. Specific and Intraspecific Diversity of Symphypleona and Neelipleona (Hexapoda: Collembola) in Southern High Appalachia (USA)

   https://doi.org/10.3390/d14100847  

   Dukes, Caroline D.; Janssens, Frans; Recuero, Ernesto; Caterino, Michael S. (October 2022, Diversity)

   Collembola, commonly known as springtails, are important detritivores, abundant in leaf litter and soil globally. Springtails are wingless hexapods with many North American species having wide distributions ranging from as far as Alaska to Mexico. Here, we analyze the occurrence and intraspecific diversity of springtails with a globular body shape (Symphypleona and Neelipleona), in southern high Appalachia, a significant biodiversity hotspot. The peaks of high Appalachia represent ‘sky islands’ due to their physical isolation, and they host numerous endemic species in other taxa. We surveyed globular Collembola through COI metabarcoding, assessing geographic and genetic diversity across localities and species. Intraspecific diversity in globular Collembola was extremely high, suggesting that considerable cryptic speciation has occurred. While we were able to associate morphospecies with described species in most of the major families in the region (Dicyrtomidae, Katiannidae, Sminthuridae, and Sminthurididae), other families (Neelidae, and Arrhopalitidae) are in more pressing need of taxonomic revision before species identities can be confirmed. Due to poor representation in databases, and high intraspecific variability, no identifications were accomplished through comparison with available DNA barcodes. 

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5. Reconsidering the Lessons Learned from the 1970 Southern Corn Leaf Blight Epidemic

   https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-03-24-0105-PER  

   Balint-Kurti, Peter; Pataky, Jerald (September 2024, Phytopathology®)

   The southern corn leaf blight epidemic of 1970 caused estimated losses of about 16% for the U.S. corn crop, equivalent to about $8 billion in current terms. The epidemic was caused by the prevalence of Texas male sterile cytoplasm ( cms-T), used to produce most of the hybrid corn seed planted that year, combined with the emergence of a novel race of the fungus Cochliobolus heterostrophus that was exquisitely virulent on cms-T corn. Remarkably, the epidemic lasted just a single year. This episode has often been portrayed in the literature and textbooks over the last 50 years as a catastrophic mistake perpetrated by corn breeders and seed companies of the time who did not understand or account for the dangers of crop genetic uniformity. In this perspective article, we aim to present an alternative interpretation of these events. First, we contend that, rather than being caused by a grievous error on the part of the corn breeding and seed industry, this epidemic was a particularly unfortunate, unusual, and unlucky consequence of a technological advancement intended to improve the efficiency of corn seed production for America's farmers. Second, we tell the story of the resolution of the epidemic as an example of timely, meticulously applied research in the public sector for the public good. 

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