26 research outputs found
Molecular adaptations to advanced fungus farming in leaf-cutting ant symbiosis
This paper addresses several aspects of legal regulation concerning cosmetics,
homeopathy products and medical devices. The Portuguese legal framework, based mainly upon
European directives, is analyzed concerning the administrative legal environment of the production,
distribution and marketing of these products. It is stressed that legislation aims to achieve a
balance between the values of free trade and enterprise, on one side, and the protection of public
health protection, on the other side.1. Cosméticos – Regime jurídico dos cosméticos (Decreto-Lei n.º 296/98, de 25 de Setembro;
Decreto-Lei n.º 100/2001, de 28 de Março; Decreto-Lei n.º 206/99, de 9 de Junho). 1.1. Noção
funcional de produtos cosméticos e de higiene corporal, ilustrada mediante uma lista (indicativa)
de exemplos por categorias de produtos cosméticos e de higiene corporal. 1.2. Desnecessidade de
obtenção de autorização administrativa prévia, mas dever de notificação ao INFARMED. 1.3.
Requisitos de qualidade e regras de composição e de experimentação (Decreto-Lei n.º 100/2001, de
28 de Março, alterado pelo Decreto-Lei n.º 151/2003, de 11 de Julho). 1.4. Obrigação de assistência
por um técnico responsável. 1.5. Rotulagem. 1.6. Requisitos da actividade industrial. 1.7. A
protecção da confidencialidade (Decreto-Lei n.º 206/99, de 9 de Junho). 1.8. Sanções. 1.8.1. Poderes
de controlo e fiscalização do INFARMED. 1.8.2. Suspensão da comercialização dos produtos por
razões de saúde pública. 1.8. 3. As contra-ordenações
2. Produtos Homeopáticos. 2.1. Linhas gerais do Regime jurídico dos produtos homeopáticos
(Decreto-Lei n.º 94/95, de 9 de Maio). 2.1.1. Garantia da qualidade e da segurança de utilização dos
produtos homeopáticos como salvaguarda da saúde pública.2.1.2. Garantia aos seus utilizadores do
fornecimento de informações claras sobre o seu carácter homeopático e a sua inocuidade). 2.2.
Noção e modalidades de produtos homeopáticos. 2.2.1. Medicamentos homeopáticos. 2.2.2.
Produtos farmacêuticos homeopáticos. 2.3. Delimitação do âmbito de aplicação da lei dos produtos
homeopáticos aos produtos farmacêuticos homeopáticos e aplicação do regime jurídico dos
medicamentos para uso humano (Decreto-Lei n.º 72/91, 8.2) aos medicamentos homeopáticos.
2.3.1. Comercialização de medicamentos homeopáticos entre fabricantes, grossistas, laboratórios e
farmácias. 2.3.2. Venda de medicamentos homeopáticos ao público. 2.4. Regime de registo
simplificado da introdução no mercado dos produtos farmacêuticos homeopáticos. 2.4.1. O pedido
de registo. 2.4.2. Necessidade de autorização para o fabrico de produtos farmacêuticos
homeopáticos. 2.4.3. Exigência de direcção técnica. 2.4.4. Requisitos relativos à rotulagem e ao
folheto informativo. 2.5. Fiscalização e contra-ordenações.
3. Dispositivos Médicos – Regime jurídico dos dispositivos médicos (Decreto-Lei n.º 273/95,
de 23 de Outubro, alterado pelo Decreto-Lei n.º 30/2003, de 14 de Fevereiro). 3.1. Noção e
modalidades de dispositivos médicos. 3.2. Delimitação positiva e negativa do âmbito de aplicação
do regime geral dos dispositivos médicos; regimes especiais, como o dos dispositivos médicos para
diagnóstico in vitro (Decreto-Lei n.º 189/2000, de 12 de Agosto - que transpõe a Directiva
98/79/CE do Parlamento Europeu e do Conselho, de 27 de Outubro). 3.3. Requisitos de colocação
no mercado. 3.3.1 As normas técnicas e os procedimentos de avaliação da conformidade. 3.3.2.
Cláusula de salvaguarda – os poderes especiais do presidente do Conselho de Administração do
INFARMED. 3.4. O sistema de vigilância (vide Portaria n.º 196/2004, de 1 de Março: aprova o
Regulamento do Sistema Nacional de Vigilância de Dispositivos Médicos). 3.5. Fiscalização e contraordenaçõe
Genome size versus genome assemblies: are the genomes truly expanded in polyploid fungal symbionts?
Artículo de 7 páginas sobre secuencación de genomas que incluye tablas de estadísticas, gráficos de correlación e histogramas.Each day, as the amount of genomic data and bioinformatics resources grows, researchers are increasingly challenged with selecting the most appropriate approach to analyze their data. In addition, the opportunity to undertake comparative genomic analyses is growing rapidly. This is especially true for fungi due to their small genome sizes (i.e., mean 1C=44.2Mb). Given these opportunities and aiming to gain novel insights into the evolution of mutualisms, we focus on comparing the quality of whole genome assemblies for fungus-growing ants cultivars (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini) and a free-living relative. Our analyses reveal that currently available methodologies and pipelines for analyzing whole-genome sequence data need refining. By using different genome assemblers, we show that the genome assembly size depends on what software is used. This, in turn, impacts gene number predictions, with higher gene numbers correlating positively with genome assembly size. Furthermore, the majority of fungal genome size data currently available are based on estimates derived from whole-genome assemblies generated from short-read genome data, rather than from the more accurate technique of flow cytometry. Here, we estimated the haploid genome sizes of three ant fungal symbionts by flow cytometry using the fungus Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. (1871) as a calibration standard. We found that published genome sizes based on genome assemblies are 2.5- to 3-fold larger than our estimates based on flow cytometry. We, therefore, recommend that flow cytometry is used to precalibrate genome assembly pipelines, to avoid incorrect estimates of genome sizes and ensure robust assemblies.P.W.K. received funding from CAPES-PrInt (Grant #88887.468939/2019-00) and J.P. benefited from a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-2017-2274) from the government of Spain.Abstract
Results and Discussion
Supplementary Material
Acknowledgments
Literature Cited
Supplementary dat
Climate Change Influences Basidiome Emergence of Leaf-Cutting Ant Cultivars
Maintaining symbiosis homeostasis is essential for mutualistic partners. Leaf-cutting ants evolved a long-term symbiotic mutualism with fungal cultivars for nourishment while using vertical asexual transmission across generations. Despite the ants’ efforts to suppress fungal sexual reproduction, scattered occurrences of cultivar basidiomes have been reported. Here, we review the literature for basidiome occurrences and associated climate data. We hypothesized that more basidiome events could be expected in scenarios with an increase in temperature and precipitation. Our field observations and climate data analyses indeed suggest that Acromyrmex coronatus colonies are prone to basidiome occurrences in warmer and wetter seasons. Even though our study partly depended on historical records, occurrences have increased, correlating with climate change. A nest architecture with low (or even the lack of) insulation might be the cause of this phenomenon. The nature of basidiome occurrences in the A. coronatus–fungus mutualism can be useful to elucidate how resilient mutualistic symbioses are in light of climate change scenarios
Relationships between resource availability and elevation vary between metrics creating gradients of nutritional complexity
Plant and animal community composition changes at higher elevations on mountains. Plant and animal species richness generally declines with elevation, but the shape of the relationship differs between taxa. There are several proposed mechanisms, including the productivity hypotheses; that declines in available plant biomass confers fewer resources to consumers, thus supporting fewer species. We investigated resource availability as we ascended three aspects of Helvellyn mountain, UK, measuring several plant nutritive metrics, plant species richness and biomass. We observed a linear decline in plant species richness as we ascended the mountain but there was a unimodal relationship between plant biomass and elevation. Generally, the highest biomass values at mid-elevations were associated with the lowest nutritive values, except mineral contents which declined with elevation. Intra-specific and inter-specific increases in nutritive values nearer the top and bottom of the mountain indicated that physiological, phenological and compositional mechanisms may have played a role. The shape of the relationship between resource availability and elevation was different depending on the metric. Many consumers actively select or avoid plants based on their nutritive values and the abundances of consumer taxa vary in their relationships with elevation. Consideration of multiple nutritive metrics and of the nutritional requirements of the consumer may provide a greater understanding of changes to plant and animal communities at higher elevations. We propose a novel hypothesis for explaining elevational diversity gradients, which warrants further study; the ‘nutritional complexity hypothesis’, where consumer species coexist due to greater variation in the nutritional chemistry of plants
Cryptic Diversity in Colombian Edible Leaf-Cutting Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Leaf-cutting ants are often considered agricultural pests, but they can also benefit local people and serve important roles in ecosystems. Throughout their distribution, winged reproductive queens of leaf-cutting ants in the genus Atta Fabricius, 1804 are consumed as a protein-rich food source and sometimes used for medical purposes. Little is known, however, about the species identity of collected ants and the accuracy of identification when ants are sold, ambiguities that may impact the conservation status of Atta species as well as the nutritional value that they provide to consumers. Here, 21 samples of fried ants bought in San Gil, Colombia, were identified to species level using Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) barcoding sequences. DNA was extracted from these fried samples using standard Chelex extraction methods, followed by phylogenetic analyses with an additional 52 new sequences from wild ant colonies collected in Panama and 251 publicly available sequences. Most analysed samples corresponded to Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858), even though one sample was identified as Atta colombica Guérin-Méneville, 1844 and another one formed a distinct branch on its own, more closely related to Atta texana (Buckley, 1860) and Atta mexicana (Smith, 1858). Analyses further confirm paraphyly within Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758) and A. laevigata clades. Further research is needed to assess the nutritional value of the different species