Qualidade sanitária e fisiológica de sementes de abóbora variedade menina Brasileira.

O trabalho teve como objetivos avaliar e correlacionar a qualidade sanitária e fisiológica de sementes de abóbora, variedade Menina Brasileira (Cucurbita moschata.). Foram avaliados dois lotes de sementes de abóbora produzidas no sistema agroecológico e quatro no sistema convencional, com e sem tratamento químico. Os lotes foram submetidos aos testes de sanidade, seguindo a metodologia do “Blotter test”, com congelamento, germinação e vigor (primeira contagem, índice de velocidade de germinação, envelhecimento acelerado e emergência de plântulas). Os resultados indicaram a separação dos lotes de diferentes origens a partir da qualidade sanitária e fisiológica, onde as maiores incidências de fungos foram observadas nos lotes agroecológicos e o maior potencial fisiológico foi observado nos lotes de origem convencional não tratados. Foram encontrados os fungos Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium cucumerinum, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium digitatum, Rhizopus stolonifer e Phoma terrestris. A qualidade sanitária não interferiu na qualidade fisiológica das sementes de abóbora, variedade Menina Brasileira

Pentraxin-3-mediated complement activation in a swine model of renal ischemia/reperfusion injury

Pentraxins are a family of evolutionarily conserved pattern recognition molecules with pivotal roles in innate immunity and inflammation, such as opsonization of pathogens during bacterial and viral infections. In particular, the long Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) has been shown to regulate several aspects of vascular and tissue inflammation during solid organ transplantation.Our study investigated the role of PTX3 as possible modulator of Complement activation in a swine model of renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.We demonstrated that I/R injury induced early PTX3 deposits at peritubular and glomerular capillary levels. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed PTX3 deposits co-localizing with CD31+ endothelial cells. In addition, PTX3 was associated with infiltrating macrophages (CD163), dendritic cells (SWC3a) and myofibroblasts (FSP1). In particular, we demonstrated a significant PTX3-mediated activation of classical (C1qmediated) and lectin (MBL-mediated) pathways of Complement. Interestingly, PTX3 deposits co-localized with activation of the terminal Complement complex (C5b-9) on endothelial cells, indicating that PTX3-mediated Complement activation occurred mainly at the renal vascular level. In conclusion, these data indicate that PTX3 might be a potential therapeutic target to prevent Complement-induced I/R injury.Nephrolog

The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle:A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution

To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.Fil: Bovine Genome Sequencing and Analysis Consortium. Bovine Genome Sequencing And Analysis Consortium; Estados UnidosFil: Amadio, Ariel Fernando. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela; ArgentinaFil: Poli, Mario Andres. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Genética; Argentin