Comparative cytogenetics of nine populations of the Rhinella genus (Anura, Bufonidae) with a highlight on their conservative karyotype

The genus Rhinella is one of the most diverse groups of bufonid toads, currently composed by 93 valid species and naturally distributed throughout different Neotropical ecoregions. Here, we analyze nine Brazilian populations of toads representing species of the Rhinella margaritifera and Rhinella marina groups. These new data include the first description of the R. hoogmoedi and R. proboscidae karyotypes, as well as other taxonomically unresolved forms. Chromosomal analysis of the populations revealed pronounced chromosomal uniformity (2n=22), including the diploid number and chromosomal morphology. Three different NOR-bearing chromosomes were identified: in the subterminal region of pair 10q in R. hoogmoedi, Rhinella sp. 1 and Rhinella sp. 2, in subterminal region of 7p in R. proboscidae and Rhinella cf. margaritifera while in R. henseli and R. icterica was detected in interstitial region of 7p. Karyotypic uniformity of the genus permits the inference of interspecific chromosome homologies and evolutionary changes in the NOR-bearing chromosome may represent an informative character in species group level. The review of the cytogenetic data of the Rhinella species together with the new karyotypes reported here contributes to the understanding of the chromosomal evolution of these toads, which karyotypes are highly conserved despite the ample distribution of many forms422445451CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP312286/2015-5sem informação2016/07717-

Case Study of the Formulation of the National Policy of Diet and Nutrition in Brazil

Objetivo: analisar o processo de formulação da ‘Política Nacional de Alimentação e Nutrição (PNAN)’ no campo das ações públicas voltadas à proteção e promoção da saúde. Metodologia: trata-se de estudo de caso qualitativo multicêntrico, tendo por base o período de 1998 a 2005; foram realizadas 16 entrevistas semi-estruturadas com atores-chave do governo e sociedade civil, e analisadas diferentes fontes secundárias de informação para reconstituição do processo, a movimentação dos atores e suas motivações; para a análise da construção da PNAN, utilizou-se uma matriz com cinco categorias – contexto, ideias, instituições, interesses e instrumentos de política. Resultados: a PNAN foi formulada de maneira participativa, envolvendo diversos setores do governo e sociedade organizada; sua publicação, em 1999, destacou as seguintes diretrizes político-institucionais – estímulo às ações intersetoriais, com vistas ao acesso universal aos alimentos; garantia da segurança e da qualidade dos alimentos e da prestação de serviços; monitoramento da situação alimentar e nutricional do país; promoção de práticas alimentares e estilos de vida saudáveis; prevenção e controle dos distúrbios nutricionais e de doenças associadas à alimentação e nutrição; promoção do desenvolvimento de linhas de investigação; e desenvolvimento e capacitação de recursos humanos. Conclusão: o processo de formulação da ‘Política Nacional de Alimentação e Nutrição’ constituiu um sólido aprendizado, amparado na busca do aprimoramento democrático, da participação cidadã na discussão com a sociedade civil. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTObjective: analyze the process of the formulation of the ‘National Policy of Diet and Nutrition in Brazil (NPDN)’ in the field of public actions turned to health protection and promotion. Methodology: multicentric qualitative case study, based on the period from 1998 to 2005; sixteen semi-structured interviews with key government and civil society actors were performed and different secondary information sources analyzed for reconstruction of process and mobility of the actors, and their motivation; for the analysis and construction of NPDN, a matrix with 5 categories was used – context, ideas, institutions, interest, and policy instruments. Results: NPDN was formulated in a participatory manner involving several government sectors and organized society; the publication of the NPDN in 1999 revealed its political-institutional guidelines: stimulus to intersectoral actions, in view of universal access to food; assurance of the safety and quality of food and services rendered; monitoring of the diet and nutrition of the country; promotion of healthy diet practices and life styles; prevention and conrol of nutrition disorders and diseases related to diet and nutrition; development promotion of lines of investigation; human resource developing and training. Conclusion: the process of formulation of the ‘National Policy of Diet and Nutrition’ is a solid learning way, supported by the search democratic perfecting, with an important citizen participation and discussion with civil society

A multicentric evaluation of the recombinant Leishmania infantum antigen-based immunochromatographic assay for the serodiagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a serious public health challenge in Brazil and dogs are considered to be the main urban reservoir of the causative agent. The culling of animals to control VL in some countries makes the accurate diagnosis of canine VL (CVL) essential. Recombinant antigens rLci1A and rLci2B were selected from a cDNA library of Leishmania infantum amastigotes due to their strong potential as candidates in diagnostic testing for CVL. The present multicentric study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity of a prototype test using these antigens (DPPrLci1A/rLci2B) against 154 sera obtained from symptomatic dogs within three endemic areas of VL in Brazil. The specificity was evaluated using 40 serum samples from negative dogs and dogs infected with other pathogens. Sensitivity and specificity rates of DPP rLci1A/rLci2B prototype were compared to rates from other diagnostic tests currently in use by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, including DPP?LVC, EIE?LVC. Findings: DPP rLci1A/rLci2B prototype offered similar performance to that offered by DPP?LVC rapid test, as follows: sensitivity of 87% (CI 81?91) and 88% (CI 82?93) and specificity of 100% (CI 91?100) and 97% (CI 87?100), respectively for DPP rLci1A/rLci2B and DPP?LVC. When results of these two tests were considered concomitantly, sensitivity increased to 93.5% (CI 89?96). Conclusions: The recombinant antigens rLci1A and rLci2B represent promising candidates for use in a multi-antigen rapid test for CVL. The inclusion of novel antigens to the DPP rLci1A/rLci2B prototype model could offer additionally enhanced sensitivity to detect animals infected by L. infantum

Cultivo e caracterização de membros do domínio Archaea a partir de sedimentos límnicos do Cerrado

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós Graduação em Biologia Molecular, 2016.A classificação dos organismos em três domínios, proposta por Woese e colaboradores em 1990, revelou a importância do domínio Archaea e desde então, vários trabalhos têm sido realizados a fim de melhor entender este grupo que se encontra amplamente distribuído no nosso planeta, sendo importante para vários processos ecológicos incluindo os ciclos do Carbono e Nitrogênio. A maior parte do conhecimento deste domínio, incluindo a sua diversidade no bioma Cerrado, está descrita principalmente por métodos independentes de cultivo devido à grande dificuldade de obtenção de culturas em laboratório. Este trabalho propõe a obtenção de culturas laboratoriais de archaeas mesófilas do Cerrado, a partir de sedimentos de um córrego da reserva ecológica do IBGE, localizada em Brasília-DF. Os micro-organismos foram cultivados em meios sólido e líquido, confeccionados a partir da mistura de água e sedimentos deste córrego. O meio de cultura foi adicionado de cloreto de amônio, para favorecer o crescimento de oxidantes de amônia, bem como diferentes agentes antimicrobianos. As amostras foram incubadas em estufa a 28ºC e analisadas semanalmente quanto ao crescimento, sendo realizados repiques quando necessário. As análises de microscopia revelaram colônias compostas por células diminutas, de diferentes formatos e tamanhos que variam de 0,5 a 3μm. Porém, não foi possível relacionar os aspectos morfológicos às archaeas presentes no cultivo. O DNA das colônias obtidas foi submetido a ensaios de PCR com iniciadores específicos para os genes que codificam o rRNA 16S de Archaea e Bacteria e o gene amoA de Archaea, seguido de análises de bioinformática. O resultado das análises revelou um co-cultivo entre diferentes archaeas dos filos Euryarchaeota, Thaumarchaeota e Bathyarchaeota (Miscelaneous Crenachaeotic Group-MCG) com bactérias de quatro gêneros distintos, pertencentes às famílias Brucellaceae e Burkholderiaceae, sendo a maioria das sequências de Archaea afiliadas ao grupo MCG. As sequências de DNA referentes ao gene amoA, obtidas a partir das culturas laboratoriais, se afiliaram a um grupo relacionado ao grupo I.1b do filo Thaumarchaeota, não se associando a qualquer representante previamente cultivado. O sequenciamento dos fragmentos de DNA relativos aos genes de rRNA 16S e amoA de Archaea obtidos a partir das amostras do sedimento revelaram a presença de organismos dos mesmos filos encontrados no cultivo. As análises de α-diversidade das sequências do gene rRNA 16S indicam que a comunidade do córrego Roncador pode ser considerada rica, com uma cobertura estimada de 58,33% para o nível de espécie.The classification of living organisms in three domains, proposed by Woese and collaborators in 1990, revealed the importance of Archaea and since then, a number of studies were developed in order to better understand this widely distributed group, with important roles in many ecological processes including the nitrogen and carbon cycles. The knowledge of this domain, including its diversity in the Cerrado biome, is mostly described by culture independent methods due to the difficulty of obtaining cultures in artificial media. This work describes the cultivation and characterization of Cerrado’s mesophilic archaea, from a stream sediment of the IBGE ecological reserve located in Brasília-DF. The microorganisms were cultivated in solid and liquid media prepared with a mixture of stream’s sediment and water. In order to improve the growth of ammonia oxidizers, ammonium chloride was added to the media. Antimicrobial agents were also added to prevent bacterial and fungal growth. The samples were incubated at 28ºC and analyzed weekly for growth. Microscopy analyses showed small cells with different shapes and sizes, from 0,5 to 3μm, which were submitted to DNA extraction procedures and subjected to PCR assays with primers directed to the 16S rRNA gene of Archaea and Bacteria, as well as the archaeal amoA gene. The amplicons were submitted to automatic DNA sequencing procedures, and the results revealed that all colonies consisted in co-cultures of different types of archaea from the Euryarchaeota, Thaumarchaeota and Bathyarchaeota (Miscelaneous Crenachaeotic Group-MCG) phyla and Bacteria from four distinct genres of the Brucellaceae and Burkholderiaceae families. The majority of the archaeal 16S rRNA sequences were affiliated to the MGG group. The sequences of the archaeal amoA gene from the cultures were affiliated to a group associated to the I.1b Thaumarchaeal group, and showed no affiliation to any previously cultured members. Archaeal rRNA 16S and amoA gene sequences from the stream sediment were analyzed and the results showed the presence of organisms from the same phyla found in the cultures. α-diversity analysess of the rRNA 16S sequences showed that the archaeal community of the stream can be considered rich with an estimated coverage of 58,33% for the species level

Substâncias húmicas em Latossolo subtropical de altitude sob usos e manejos distintos Humic substances in highland subtropical Oxisol under different use and managements

A interferência antrópica no solo tem modificado a formação original nos Campos de Cima da Serra. O estudo objetivou avaliar a distribuição das substâncias húmicas em um Latossolo sob campo nativo (CN), campo nativo queimado (CNq), mata nativa (MN), florestamento de pinus (FP) e lavoura (LA). Os teores de C orgânico total (COT) e de C em compartimentos químicos da matéria orgânica do solo (MOS) foram determinados. Os usos e manejos adotados no solo afetaram os teores de COT e do C nos compartimentos da MOS. Com relação ao ambiente CN, a MN aumentou o teor de COT, o qual se manteve equivalente no manejo com queima e foi reduzido pelos usos do solo com LA e FP. As alterações de uso e manejo do solo tenderam a reduzir o C nas frações húmicas e modificaram a distribuição das frações ácidos húmicos e fúlvicos.The anthropic interference have changed the original soil condition in Campos de Cima da Serra region, Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of humic substances in an Oxisol under native pasture (CN), native burned pasture (CNq), native forest (MN), pine afforestation (FP) and annual crops (LA). The levels of total organic carbon (TOC) and C compartments of chemical soil organic matter (SOM) were determined. The use and management adopted affected the levels of TOC and C in the chemical compartments of the SOM. In comparison to CN, the MN increased the amounts of TOC, which remained unchanged in the CNq and was reduced by land uses with LA and FP. Changes in land use and management tended to reduce the C in humic fractions and modified the humic and fulvic acids distribution