Comportamento Dos Consumidores E Os Efeitos Da Oferta De Cultivares Francesas De Batatas

The present work aimed to analyze the factors that affect the purchase of potatoes in Belo Horizonte city, Brazil, and the effects of the availability of many different French cultivars to this market. In France, there is a large variety of potatoes with different shapes, skin colors and textures and indications for different culinary uses. Therefore, cluster analysis was performed and a mixed effects linear regression model was adjusted to analyze the factors that can influence the purchase of potatoes by consumers. The factors analyzed were the size, skin color and texture and the presence of information about the cultivar name, culinary use and seal of quality. Age, education, region and income were important parameters in determining a groups’ intent to purchase, and factors such as potato shape, skin color and presence of a seal of quality were significantly important in the analysis. The presence of information related to the name of the cultivar and recommended culinary use had no significant effect on purchase intention. Last, the introduction of new French potato cultivars into such markets as Belo Horizonte city should be preceded by an educational process to prepare consumers to receive information regarding the recommended culinary use of potatoes and the final sensory quality of the preparations illustrated with these potatoes. © 2016, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia. All rights reserved.32230831

European sea bass brain DLB-1 cell line is susceptible to nodavirus: A transcriptomic study

Viral diseases are responsible for high rates of mortality and subsequent economic losses in modern aquaculture. The nervous necrosis virus (NNV) produces viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER), which affects the fish central nervous system. It is considered one of the most serious viral diseases in marine aquaculture, the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) being amongst the most susceptible. We have evaluated the European sea bass brain derived cell line (DLB-1) susceptibility to NNV genotypes and evaluated its transcriptomic profile. DLB-1 cells supported NNV gene transcription and replication since strains belonging to the four NNV genotypes produce cytopathic effects. Afterwards, DLB-1 cells were infected with an RGNNV strain, the one which showed the highest replication, for 12 and 72 h and an RNA-seq analysis was performed to identify potential genes involved in the host-NNV interactions. Differential expression analysis showed the up-regulation of many genes related to immunity, heat-shock proteins or apoptosis but not to proteasome or autophagy processes. These data suggest that the immune response, mainly the interferon (IFN) pathway, is not powerful enough to abrogate the infection, and cells finally suffer stress and die by apoptosis liberating infective particles. GO enrichment also revealed, for the first time, the down-regulation of terms related to brain/neuron biology indicating molecular mechanisms causing the pathogenic effect of NNV. This study opens the way to understand key elements in sea bass brain and NNV interactions.Versión del edito

Generación de una línea celular de cerebro de lubina (DBL-1). Aplicación en estudios de toxicología y virología

Las líneas celulares son herramientas fundamentales para diversos estudios de Biología. En peces existen pocas líneas celulares y muy pocas de peces marinos. Por ello, hemos generado y caracterizado una línea celular (DLB-1) a partir de cerebro de lubina (Dicentrarchus labrax) y evaluamos su posible aplicación en Toxicología y Virología de peces. La incubación con distintos metales pesados (Cd, Hg, As o Pb) produce mortalidad en las células DLB-1 de manera dosis-dependiente, siendo muy tóxicos el Cd, Hg y As y muy poco el plomo. Además, se indujo la expresión del gen de la metalotioneína. Por otro lado, hemos evaluado la susceptibilidad de las células DLB-1 a nodavirus, el principal virus que afecta a lubinas. Los datos muestran que las células DLB-1 son susceptibles a los 4 genotipos de nodavirus. Esta línea celular puede ser muy útil para diversos estudios de la Biología de peces, concretamente de la lubina