Irrigação do testículo em eqüino da raça Puro-Sangue Inglês

Estudamos o comportamento da artéria testicular e seus ramos, bem como o número e distribuição dos vasos penetrantes, em 30 pares de testículos de eqüinos da raça Puro-Sangue Inglês, adultos, mediante análise de esquemas de modelos obtidos pela corrosão após injeção de acetato de vinil. Verificamos que a artéria testicular apresenta 5 diferentes tipos de arranjos vasculares, isto é: a artéria testicular emite número variável de ramos, de 2 a 10 ramos mediais e de 3 a 11 ramos laterais (35 vezes - 58,4%); ou cede de 3 a 8 ramos adicionais e ao nível da metade de seu percurso, na borda livre do órgão, divide-se em um ramo medial e outro lateral (12 vezes - 20,0%); ou divide a irrigação do órgão com ramos denominados de complementares, 1 ramo (6 vezes - 10,0%) e 3 ramos (1 vez - 1,6%); ou ainda fornece os ramos medial e lateral, com predominância do lateral (3 vezes - 5,0%) ou do medial (3 vezes - 5,0%). Quanto à distribuição dos vasos penetrantes nos diferentes quadrantes, observamos que em mediana, por ordem, os testículos direitos apresentam o maior número de vasos penetrantes no quadrante craniomedial (13,0), seguido pelos quadrantes craniolateral (10,5), caudolateral (7,0) e caudomedial (6,5). Nos testículos esquerdos, também o quadrante craniomedial mostra o maior número de vasos penetrantes (12,5), seguido pelos quadrantes craniolateral (10,0), e com equivalência os quadrantes caudomedial e caudolateral (7,0). Anastomoses (8 vezes - 13,3%) foram localizadas todas na face ventral do órgão. Comparando o número de vasos penetrantes dos testículos direitos e esquerdos, verificamos que não existem diferenças estatisticamente significativas nos eqüinos da raça Puro-Sangue Inglês.

Isoenzymatic polymorphism in Citrus spp. and Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. (Rutaceae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Comparative analysis of differentially expressed sequence tags of sweet orange and mandarin infected with Xylella fastidiosa

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Distribution and biological role of the oligopeptide-binding protein (OppA) in Xanthomonas species

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Occurrence of biflagellate spermatozoa in Cetopsidae, Aspredinidae, and Nematogenyidae (Teleostei : Ostariophysi : Siluriformes)

In the present study spermiogenesis was investigated in Cetopsis coecutiens (Cetopsidae), and Bunocephalus amazonicus (Aspredinidae), while spermatozoa ultrastructure was investigated in C. coecutiens, B. amazonicus, and Nematogenys inermis (Nematogenyidae). Aspredinidae and Cetopsidae share a spermatogenesis of the semicystic type, and a particular type of spermiogenesis process not reported in any fish group. In the three species analyzed, spermatozoa are biflagellate with flagella having the classical axoneme formulae (9 + 2). The analysis of thirteen characters showed the presence of eight characters shared by Cetopsidae and Aspredinidae, and six characters shared by Cetopsidae and Nematogenyidae, which may suggest that these three families may be more related than actually hypothesized, comprising a very primitive siluriform lineage originated after Diplomystidae.

An experimental inoculation system to study citrus-Xylella fastidiosa interactions

Difficulties in reproducing the citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC) disease symptoms in expertmental plants have delayed implementation of studies to better understand the essential aspects of this important disease. In an extensive Study, cultivars of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) were inoculated with Xylella fastidiosa using procedures that included root immersion, and stein absorption, pricking, or infiltration of the inoculum into plants of different ages. Inoculum consisted of 5-day-old cultures or cell suspensions of CVC strain 9a5c diluted in phosphate-buffered saline. Inoculated plants and controls were grown, or transferred just after inoculation, to 5-liter pots or 72-cell foam trays. Approximately 4, 5, 9, and 12 months after inoculation, leaves were collected and processed for polymerase chain reaction analysis or X. fastidiosa isolation on BCYE agar medium. Root immersion and stem inoculation of 4- and 6-month-old plants resulted in low percentages of symptomatic (0 to 7%) and plants positive by isolation (0 to 9%). Pinpricked or injected stems of I-month-old seedlings resulted in high percentages of plants symptomatic (29 and 90% in Pera Rio, 75, 59, and 83% in Valencia, and 77% in Natal) or positive by isolation (26 and 93% in Pera Rio, 98, 96, and 83% in Valencia, and 77% in Natal), In foam trays, the seedlings grew less, the incubation period was shorter. and disease severity was higher than in pots. This system allows testing of higher numbers of plants in a reduced space with a more precise reproduction of the experimental conditions.

An evaluation of the genetic diversity of Xylella fastidiosa isolated from diseased citrus and coffee in São Paulo, Brazil

Strains of Xylella fastidiosa, isolated from sweet orange trees (Citrus sinensis) and coffee trees (Coffea arabica) with symptoms of citrus variegated chlorosis and Requeima do Cafe, respectively, were indistinguish able based on repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR assays. These strains were also indistinguishable with a previously described PCR assay that distinguished the citrus strains from all other strains of Xylella fastidiosa. Because we were not able to document any genomic diversity in our collection of Xylella fastidiosa strains isolated from diseased citrus, the observed gradient of increasing disease severity from southern to northern regions of São Paulo State is unlikely due to the presence of significantly different strains of the pathogen in the different regions. When comparisons were made to reference strains of Xylella fastidiosa isolated from other hosts using these methods, four groups were consistently identified consistent with the hosts and regions from which the strains originated: citrus and coffee, grapevine and almond, mulberry, and elm, plum, and oak. Independent results from random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR assays were also consistent with these results; however, two of the primers tested in RAPD-PCR were able to distinguish the coffee and citrus strains. Sequence comparisons of a PCR product amplified from all strains of Xylella fastidiosa confirmed the presence of a CfoI polymorphism that can be used to distinguish the citrus strains from all others. The ability to distinguish Xylella fastidiosa strains from citrus and coffee with a PCR-based assay will be useful in epidemiological and etiological studies of this pathogen.

Identification and analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in citrus

Most of the cultivated species of citrus have narrow genetic basis. Relationships among species and cultivars are obscured by sexual compatibility, polyembryony, apomixis and a high incidence of somatic mutations. DNA analysis is crucial in genetic studies not only for citrus breeding programs but also for characterization of hybrids and species. In this paper, single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) were investigated in 58 accessions of Citrus, hybrids and related genera. Genomic sequences of 'Pera IAC' sweet orange ( Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) were used for primer design and selection of sequence tagged sites (STSs) for identification of SNPs. Analysis of 36 STSs showed identical sequences among 40 of the 41 sweet orange accessions studied. However, these accessions were heterozygous for many SNPs. Ten selected STSs were analyzed in 17 additional accessions from 13 species and hybrids. Comparing to the 'Pera IAC' sweet orange accession, a total of 150 polymorphic nucleotides were identified and most of the alterations were transitions ( 52.7%). The greatest number of SNPs was observed in Poncirus trifoliata ( L.) Raf. and the smallest in 'Ponkan' mandarin ( Citrus reticulata Blanco). At the intra-specific level, 'Bafa Gigante' ( Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) was the only sweet orange accession with a divergent SNPs genotype, which corroborates the hypothesis of a hybrid origin for this accession. Although the STSs analyzed represent randomly sampled genomic sequences, they provided consistent information about the level of polymorphism and showed the potential of SNPs markers for characterization and phylogenetic studies.

Anthropometrical parameters and markers of obesity in rats

The present study was undertaken to determine anthropometrical parameters in male adult Wistar rats. We tested the hypothesis that the anthropometrical index may identify obesity and may predict its adverse effects on lipid profile and oxidative stress in rats. Two experimental protocols were performed. in the first experiment, 50 male Wistar rats, 21 days old and fed a control chow were studied up to 150 days of age. in the second experiment, male Wistar rats, 60 days old, were divided into three groups (n = 8): control (C) given free access to a control chow; (S) receiving the control chow and drinking 30% sucrose ad libitum and (HQ fed a high-carbohydrate diet ad libitum. The first experiment showed that food consumption, energy intake and body weight increased with increasing age, while specific rate of body mass gain was significantly decreased. There were no significant differences in body length and thoracic circumference of rats from 60 days of age. The abdominal circumference (AC) and body mass index (BMI) significantly increased with enhancing age in rats up to 90 days of age and remained constant thereafter. In the second experiment, after 30 days of dietary treatment, the final body weight, body mass gain, carcass fat and BMI were higher in S and HC rats than in C. There were no significant alterations in body length and carcass protein among the groups. Triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (CT), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and lipid hydroperoxide (LH) were higher in S and HC rats than in C. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) decreased in HC rats and total antioxidant substances (TAS) decreased in S and HC rats. There were positive correlations between BMI with carcass fat, BMI with LH and BMI and serum TG concentration. In conclusion, the BMI for male adult Wistar rats ranged between 0.45 and 0.68 g/cm(2). Obesity may be easily estimated from the BMI in rats. Alterations in BMI were associated with dyslipidemic profile and oxidative stress in serum of rats and BMI may predict these adverse consequences of the obesity in rats.

Initial Development and Characterization of PLGA Nanospheres Containing Ropivacaine

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

EFFECT OF SESAME (SESAMUM-INDICUM L) ON NEST DEVELOPMENT OF ATTA-SEXDENS-RUBROPILOSA FOREL (HYM, FORMICIDAE)

The present study showed a strong deleterious effect on leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubiopilosa nests supplied exclusively with sesame (Sesamum indicum) leaves in the laboratory. Sesame leaves were initially attractive to workers and later became antifeedant. Eucaliptus alba and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis leaves were used as control.

Effect of temperature and leaf wetness duration on infection of sweet oranges by Asiatic citrus canker

Asiatic citrus canker, caused by Xanthomonas smithii ssp. citri, formerly X. axonopodis pv. citri, is one of the most serious phytosanitary problems in Brazilian citrus crops. Experiments were conducted under controlled conditions to assess the influence of temperature and leaf wetness duration on infection and subsequent symptom development of citrus canker in sweet orange cvs Hamlin, Natal, Pera and Valencia. The quantified variables were incubation period, disease incidence, disease severity, mean lesion density and mean lesion size at temperatures of 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 42 degrees C, and leaf wetness durations of 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 h. Symptoms did not develop at 42 degrees C. A generalized beta function showed a good fit to the temperature data, severity being highest in the range 30-35 degrees C. The relationship between citrus canker severity and leaf wetness duration was explained by a monomolecular model, with the greatest severity occurring at 24 h of leaf wetness, with 4 h of wetness being the minimum duration sufficient to cause 100% incidence at optimal temperatures of 25-35 degrees C. Mean lesion density behaved similarly to disease severity in relation to temperature variation and leaf wetness duration. A combined monomolecular-beta generalized model fitted disease severity, mean lesion density or lesion size as a function of both temperature and duration of leaf wetness. The estimated minimum and maximum temperatures for the occurrence of disease were 12 degrees C and 40 degrees C, respectively.

Benzocaine-loaded polymeric nanocapsules: Study of the anesthetic activities

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sufentanil-2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin inclusion complex for pain treatment: Physicochemical, cytotoxicity, and pharmacological evaluation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)