PRODUÇÃO LACRIMAL E DENSIDADE DE CÉLULAS CALICIFORMES CONJUNTIVAIS EM CÃES DA RAÇA SHIH-TZU

O presente estudo objetivou avaliar quantitativa e qualitativamente a produção lacrimal de cães da raça Shih Tzu, confrontando a produção lacrimal na raça Shih Tzu e a descrita em outras raças. A avaliação quantitativa foi realizada em 35 animais, por meio dos testes lacrimais de Schirmer 1 e 2 (TLS-1 e TLS-2), na ausência e na presença de anestesia local, respectivamente. Uma avaliação qualitativa, relativa à camada lacrimal mucosa, foi realizada por meio da obtenção da densidade de células caliciformes (DCC) conjuntivais, em 15 animais. Os valores médios obtidos para TLS-1 foram 19,66 ± 7,30 e 21,97 ± 5,69 para o olho esquerdo (OE) e olho direito (OD), respectivamente. Os valores médios obtidos para TLS-2 foram 10,71 ± 6,10 e 9,14 ± 4,78 para OE e OD, respectivamente. Tanto os valores de TLS-1 quanto os de TLS-2 encontrados para a raça Shih Tzu estão dentro dos padrões de produção lacrimal normal descritos para cães hígidos de outras raças A densidade de células caliciformes média encontrada para o OE foi de 13,64 ± 3,44; e para o OD, de 13,64 ± 4, 07, valores inferiores aos descritos para cães hígidos de outras raças. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: braquicefálico; cão; lágrima; mucina; Schirmer

Diversity analysis of Bemisia tabaci biotypes: RAPD, PCR-RFLP and sequencing of the ITS1 rDNA region

The Bemisia tabaci complex is formed by approximately 41 biotypes, two of which (B and BR) occur in Brazil. In this work we aimed at obtaining genetic markers to assess the genetic diversity of the different biotypes. In order to do that we analyzed Bemisia tabaci biotypes B, BR, Q and Cassava using molecular techniques including RAPD, PCR-RFLP and sequencing of the ITS1 rDNA region. The analyses revealed a high similarity between the individuals of the B and Q biotypes, which could be distinguished from the BR individuals. A phylogenetic tree based on ITS1 rDNA sequence was constructed. This is the first report of the ITS1 rDNA sequence of Bemisia tuberculata and of the BR biotype of B. tabaci

Identification by MALDI-TOF MS of Sporothrix brasiliensis isolated from a subconjunctival infiltrative lesion in an immunocompetent patient

Sporotrichosis is a globally distributed subcutaneous fungal infection caused by dimorphic fungi belonging to the Sporothrix species complex that affects the skin of limbs predominantly, but not exclusively. A rare case of ocular sporotrichosis in an immunocompetent Brazilian patient from the countryside of Rio de Janeiro State is reported. A 68-year-old woman presented with a subconjunctival infiltrative lesion in the right eye with pre-auricular lymphadenopathy of onset 4 months ago that evolved to suppurative nodular lesions on the eyelids. Conjunctival secretion was evaluated by histopathological examination and inoculated on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA). Histopathology showed oval bodies within giant cells and other mononucleated histiocytes. Fungus grown on SDA was identified as Sporothrix sp. by morphological observations. The isolated strain was finally identified by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) associated with an in-house database enriched with reference Sporothrix complex spectra. The strain presented a MALDI spectrum with the ion peaks of the molecular mass profile of S. brasiliensis. The patient was adequately treated with amphotericin B subsequently replaced by itraconazole. Due to scars left by the suppurative process, the patient presented poor final visual acuity. The present work presents an overview of ocular sporotrichosis and discusses the diagnostic difficulty that can lead to visual sequelae in these cases.Financial support for this work by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Rio de Janeiro [FAPERJ] (Grants: INST E-26/010.001784/2016; JCNE E-26/203.301/2017), by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [CNPq] (Grant Proc. 409227/2016-1). This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES). MALDI-TOF MS analyses were partially developed using equipment funded by CONICYT/Chile through the project Fondequip EQM160054 2016. The Universidad de La Frontera (Temuco, Chile) partially funded this work through the Project DIUFRO PIA19-0001. Furthermore, this study was also supported by FCT under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains

Amazonia’s floodplain system is the largest and most biodiverse on Earth. Although forests are crucial to the ecological integrity of floodplains, our understanding of their species composition and how this may differ from surrounding forest types is still far too limited, particularly as changing inundation regimes begin to reshape floodplain tree communities and the critical ecosystem functions they underpin. Here we address this gap by taking a spatially explicit look at Amazonia-wide patterns of tree-species turnover and ecological specialization of the region’s floodplain forests. We show that the majority of Amazonian tree species can inhabit floodplains, and about a sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is ecologically specialized on floodplains. The degree of specialization in floodplain communities is driven by regional flood patterns, with the most compositionally differentiated floodplain forests located centrally within the fluvial network and contingent on the most extraordinary flood magnitudes regionally. Our results provide a spatially explicit view of ecological specialization of floodplain forest communities and expose the need for whole-basin hydrological integrity to protect the Amazon’s tree diversity and its function

Genomics and epidemiology of the P.1 SARS-CoV-2 lineage in Manaus, Brazil

Cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Manaus, Brazil, resurged in late 2020 despite previously high levels of infection. Genome sequencing of viruses sampled in Manaus between November 2020 and January 2021 revealed the emergence and circulation of a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern. Lineage P.1 acquired 17 mutations, including a trio in the spike protein (K417T, E484K, and N501Y) associated with increased binding to the human ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) receptor. Molecular clock analysis shows that P.1 emergence occurred around mid-November 2020 and was preceded by a period of faster molecular evolution. Using a two-category dynamical model that integrates genomic and mortality data, we estimate that P.1 may be 1.7- to 2.4-fold more transmissible and that previous (non-P.1) infection provides 54 to 79% of the protection against infection with P.1 that it provides against non-P.1 lineages. Enhanced global genomic surveillance of variants of concern, which may exhibit increased transmissibility and/or immune evasion, is critical to accelerate pandemic responsiveness

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure

Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.</p

Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities

Aim: Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types. Location: Amazonia. Taxon: Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots). Methods: Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran\u27s eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny. Results: In the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igapó and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R$^{2}$ = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R$^{2}$ = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types. Main Conclusion: Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions