Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: Setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others.Fil: Pereira Boeger, Walter Antonio. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Valim, Michel P.. Universidade Salgado de Oliveira (universo); BrasilFil: Zaher, Hussam. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Rafael, José A.. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Forzza, Rafaela C.. Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade; BrasilFil: Reis Percequillo, Alexandre. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Serejo, Cristiana S.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Garraffoni, André R.S.. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Santos, Adalberto J.. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Slipinski, Adam. Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (csiro);Fil: Londoño Burbano, Alejandro. Fundación Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Santos, Allan P.M.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Margaría, Cecilia B.. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; ArgentinaFil: Digiani, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; ArgentinaFil: Aquino, Daniel Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; ArgentinaFil: Contreras, Eugenia Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Biología de la Altura; ArgentinaFil: Gallardo, Fabiana Soledad. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; ArgentinaFil: Agrain, Federico Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Falcao Salles, Frederico. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; BrasilFil: Flores, Gustavo Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Dellapé, Pablo Matías. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; ArgentinaFil: Johnsson, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Duarte Simoes, Tacio Vitor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Porto, Tiago J.. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Pardiñas, Ulises Francisco J.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Colombo,Wesley D.. Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo; BrasilFil: Tomaszewska, Wioletta. No especifíca;Fil: Ovando, Ximena Maria Constanza. Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora; BrasilFil: Wosiacki, Wolmar B.. No especifíca;Fil: Leite,Yuri L.R.. Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo; Brasi

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly

Isolated and Community Contexts Produce Distinct Responses by Host Plants to the Presence of Ant-Aphid Interaction: Plant Productivity and Seed Viability

<div><p>Ant-aphid interactions may affect host plants in several ways, however, most studies measure only the amount of fruit and seed produced, and do not test seed viability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of the presence of ant-aphid interactions upon host plant productivity and seed viability in two different contexts: isolated and within an arthropod community. For this purpose we tested the hypothesis that in both isolated and community contexts, the presence of an ant-aphid interaction will have a positive effect on fruit and seed production, seed biomass and rate of seed germination, and a negative effect on abnormal seedling rates, in comparison to plants without ants. We performed a field mesocosm experiment containing five treatments: Ant-aphid, Aphid, Community, Ant-free community and Control. We counted fruits and seeds produced by each treatment, and conducted experiments for seed biomass and germinability. We found that in the community context the presence of an ant-aphid interaction negatively affected fruit and seed production. We think this may be because aphid attendance by tending-ants promotes aphid damage to the host plant, but without an affect on seed weight and viability. On the other hand, when isolated, the presence of an ant-aphid interaction positively affected fruit and seed production. These positive effects are related to the cleaning services offered to aphids by tending-ants, which prevent the development of saprophytic fungi on the surface of leaves, which would cause a decrease in photosynthetic rates. Our study is important because we evaluated some parameters of plant fitness that have not been addressed very well by other studies involving the effects of ant-aphid interactions mainly on plants with short life cycles. Lastly, our context dependent approach sheds new light on how ecological interactions can vary among different methods of crop management.</p></div

Traits and viability of seeds produced.

<p>Seed biomass (A) and number of abnormal seedlings (B) for the treatments: Control—caged plants without ant-aphid interaction, and exclusion of all the arthropods from the plant; Community–cageless plants with free access to the entire arthropod community; and Ant free community–plants with ant exclusion. The isolated treatments Aphid and Ant-aphid did not produce seed amount enough to seed traits experiments.</p

Plants production (fruits and seeds) per treatment.

<p>Produced fruits (A) and seeds (B) for the treatments: Control—caged plants without ant-aphid interaction, and exclusion of all the arthropods from the plant; Aphid–caged plants infested by aphids, and exclusion of others arthropods, including ants; Ant-aphid–caged plants with the presence of the ant-aphid interaction only, and exclusion of other arthropods; Communit<b>y</b>–cageless plants with free access to the entire arthropod community; and Ant free community–plants with ant exclusion.</p

Benzimidazole inhibitors of the major cysteine protease of Trypanosoma brucei

Limitations in available therapies for trypanosomiases indicate the need for improved medicines. Cysteine proteases cruzain and rhodesain are validated targets for treatment of Chagas disease and human African trypanosomiasis. Previous studies reported a benzimidazole series as potent cruzain inhibitors. Results & methodology: Considering the high similarity between these proteases, we evaluated 40 benzimidazoles against rhodesain. We describe their structure-activity relationships (SAR), revealing trends similar to those observed for cruzain and features that lead to enzyme selectivity. This series comprises noncovalent competitive inhibitors (best K-i = 0.21 mu M against rhodesain) and micromolar activity against Trypanosoma brucei brucei. A cheminformatics analysis confirms scaffold novelty, and the inhibitors described have favorable predicted physicochemical properties. Conclusion: Our results support this series as a starting point for new human African trypanosomiasis medicines111315371551sem informaçã