Estrutura genética populacional de Lutjanus analis cioba e Lutjanus jocu dentão (Lutjanidae) ao longo do litoral brasileiro

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Padrões distintos de congruência climática em duas espécies invasoras de prosopis em zonas semi-áridas da América do Sul

Based on climate data and occurrence records, ecological niche models (ENM) are an important opportunity to identify areas at risk or vulnerable to biological invasion. These models are based on the assumption that there is a match between the climatic characteristic of native and invaded regions predicting the potential distribution of exotic species. Using new methods to measure niche overlap, we chose two exotic species fairly common in semi-arid regions of South America, Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) D.C. and Prosopis pallida (H. ; B. ex. Willd) HBK, to test the climate matching hypothesis. Our results indicate that both species occur with little niche overlap in the native region while the inverse pattern is observed in the invaded region on South America, where both species occur with high climatic overlap. Maybe some non-climate factor act limiting the spread of P. pallida on the native range. We believe that a founder effect can explain these similarities between species niche in the invaded region once the seeds planted in Brazil came from a small region on the Native range (Piura in Peru), where both species occur sympatric. Our hypothesis of a founder effect may be evident when we look at the differences between the predictions of the models built in the native and invaded ranges. Furthermore, our results indicate that P. juliflora shows high levels of climate matching between native and invaded ranges. However, conclusions about climate matching of P. pallida should be taken with caution. Our models based on climatic variables provide multiple locations suitable for occurrence of both species in regions where they still don t have occurrence records, including places of high interest for conservation.

Genética e biologia reprodutiva de vriesea minarum (Bromeliaceae): em busca de estratégias de conservação no quadrilátero ferrífero, minas gerais

Vriesea minarum is a rupiculous bromeliad species, with naturally fragmented populations, restricted to the Iron Quadrangle, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is a threatened species, which is suffering from habitat loss due to the growth of cities and mining activities. The knowledge of genetic variability in plant populations is one of the main branches of conservation genetics, linking genetic data to conservation strategies while the knowledge about plant reproductive biology can aid in understanding key aspects of their life story, as well as in the comprehension of their distribution and survival strategies. Thus, the study of diversity, richness, and genetic structure, as well as the reproductive biology of populations of V. minarum can contribute to the development of conservation actions. Chapter 1 presents the transferability of 14 microsatellite loci for V. minarum. Among the results of this chapter, we highlight the successful transferability of 10 microsatellite loci described for other species of Bromeliaceae, all of which are polymorphic. In Chapter 2, we present the genetic analyses of 12 populations of V. minarum that are distributed throughout the Iron Quadrangle. We used the 10 microsatellite loci tested in Chapter 1. The results show a low population structuring (Fst = 0.088), but with different values of genetic richness (mean = 2.566) and gene diversity (mean = 0.635) for all populations; and a high inbreeding coefficient (Gis = 0.376). These may be the result of pollinators action and/or efficient seed dispersal, thus allowing a high connectivity among populations of naturally fragmented outcrops. The reproductive biology and floral morphology of a population of V. minarum, located in the Parque Estadual da Serra do Rola-Moça, are studied in Chapter 3. This reserve is the only public environmental protection area where the species occurs. As a result of field experiments and observations, we found that the species has its flowering period from January to March, with flowers that last for two days and that it has a mixed pollination syndrome. It is primarily alogamous, but also has the capacity to be self-ferilized. It is expected that data obtained in chapters 1, 2 and 3 serve as basis for other studies with species from the ferruginous rocky fields, since until now, to our knowledge, there are no other survey of endemic species from the Iron Quadrangle, seeking to merge the genetic knowledge, with the data of the reproductive biology, with the ultimate aim of biodiversity conservation. Considering the great habitat loss for the species by mining, it becomes crucial to analyze the creation of new protected areas for its conservation

Estrutura genética populacional de Lutjanus analis cioba e Lutjanus jocu dentão (Lutjanidae) ao longo do litoral brasileiro

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Imunoexpressão da proteína endonuclease apurínica/apurimidínica (APE-1) em adenomas pleomórficos e carcinomas ex-adenomas pleomórficos

Introduction: Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1 (APE-1) is an essential protein for DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway and regulation of redox activities. The ability of malignant cells to recognize and repair DNA damage is an important mechanism for tumor survival, and recent studies suggest that APE-1 overexpression is related to poor prognosis in some tumors. Purpose: To analyze the immunoreactivity of APE-1 in Pleomorphic Adenomas (PA) and Carcinomas Ex Pleomorphic Adenomas (CaExPA) of salivary glands. Materials and Methods: A total of 49 tumors fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin (33 PA and 16 CaExPA) underwent immunohistochemical study by the immunoperoxidase technique. APE-1 immunoreactivity was evaluated quantitatively by the percentage of immunopositive cells. For statistical analysis a significance level of 5% (p≤ 0.05) was adopted. Results: All cases of PA and CaExPA (n=49) were positive for APE-1, however, there was a higher expression in CaExPA, with statistically significant difference (p<0.001). There was no association between APE-1 expression and tumors of major or minor salivary gland, however, not encapsulated PA (median expression = 54.2%) showed higher expression when compared to encapsulated tumors (p=0.02). APE-1 overexpression was found mainly in cases of CaExAP with lymph node metastasis (median expression = 90.3% - p=0.002) and invasive pattern (median expression = 89.9% - p=0.003), when compared to cases without metastasis and intracapsular pattern. Conclusion: This study suggests that APE-1 is deregulated in the studied tumors. The increased expression of APE-1 is associated with the absence of complete capsule in PA and it is associated with more aggressive behavior in CaExPA.

Imunoexpressão da proteína endonuclease apurínica/apurimidínica (APE-1) em adenomas pleomórficos e carcinomas ex-adenomas pleomórficos

Introduction: Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1 (APE-1) is an essential protein for DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway and regulation of redox activities. The ability of malignant cells to recognize and repair DNA damage is an important mechanism for tumor survival, and recent studies suggest that APE-1 overexpression is related to poor prognosis in some tumors. Purpose: To analyze the immunoreactivity of APE-1 in Pleomorphic Adenomas (PA) and Carcinomas Ex Pleomorphic Adenomas (CaExPA) of salivary glands. Materials and Methods: A total of 49 tumors fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin (33 PA and 16 CaExPA) underwent immunohistochemical study by the immunoperoxidase technique. APE-1 immunoreactivity was evaluated quantitatively by the percentage of immunopositive cells. For statistical analysis a significance level of 5% (p≤ 0.05) was adopted. Results: All cases of PA and CaExPA (n=49) were positive for APE-1, however, there was a higher expression in CaExPA, with statistically significant difference (p<0.001). There was no association between APE-1 expression and tumors of major or minor salivary gland, however, not encapsulated PA (median expression = 54.2%) showed higher expression when compared to encapsulated tumors (p=0.02). APE-1 overexpression was found mainly in cases of CaExAP with lymph node metastasis (median expression = 90.3% - p=0.002) and invasive pattern (median expression = 89.9% - p=0.003), when compared to cases without metastasis and intracapsular pattern. Conclusion: This study suggests that APE-1 is deregulated in the studied tumors. The increased expression of APE-1 is associated with the absence of complete capsule in PA and it is associated with more aggressive behavior in CaExPA.