Efeito de herbicidas graminicidas, aplicados em pós-emergência, sobre aveia branca, aveia preta e trigo

Durante as estações de crescimento de 1993 e 1994 foram conduzidos dois experimentos, sendo um em vaso sob telado, na Faculdade de Agronomia da UFRGS, em Porto Alegre/RS, e outro em condições de campo, na Estação Experimental Agronômica da UFRGS, em Eldorado do Sul/RS. 0 objetivo do trabalho foi investigar o grau de tolerância de alguns genótipos de aveia branca, aveia preta e trigo aos herbicidas graminicidas aplicados em pós-emergência. Avaliaram-se dez genótipos de aveia branca (Avena sativa), aveia preta (Avena strigosa) e trigo (Triticum aestivum), tratados com os herbicidas clethodim, diclofop, fenoxaprop, fluazifop, haloxyfop e sethoxydim. As variáveis avaliadas foram fitotoxicidade visual e rendimento de grãos. Constatou-se que fenoxaprop controla essas aveias em nível superior a 98% e apresenta seletividade ao trigo (BR-23). O diclofop apresenta controle acima de 94% para aveia branca, enquanto para aveia preta mostra dano médio e apresenta alta seletividade ao trigo. Os demais herbicidas apresentaram-se como não seletivos para todos os genótipos testados.

Resistência de amendoim-bravo aos herbicidas inibidores da enzima acetolactato sintase

O controle contínuo de plantas daninhas através da aplicação de herbicidas que apresentam atividade em um único local de ação nas plantas favorece a seleção de biótipos resistentes a estes herbicidas, em certas espécies vegetais. Quatro experimentos foram conduzidos em condições casa-de-vegetação, na Faculdade de Agronomia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, com os objetivos de avaliar a ocorrência de resistência aos herbicidas inibidores da enzima acetolactato sintase (ALS) em vários biótipos de leiteiro ou amendoim-bravo (Euphorbia heterophylla EPHHL) e avaliar a ocorrência de resistência múltipla a herbicidas com atividade em outros locais de ação. Biótipo oriundo de Passo Fundo foi resistente ao imazethapyr, enquanto biótipo oriundo de Porto Alegre foi suscetível. O biótipo de Passo Fundo apresentou resistência cruzada aos herbicidas imidazolinonas: imazapyr, imazaquin e imazethapyr; sulfoniluréias: chlorimuron, nicosulfuron e metsulfuron; e sulfonanilida: flumetsulan. Este biótipo não foi resistente aos herbicidas com os seguintes mecanismos de ação: inibidores de EPSPs, mimetizadores de auxina, inibidores dos fotossistemas I e II e inibidores de PROTOX. A confirmação de resistência aos inibidores de ALS em biótipos oriundos de Nãome-Toque, Passo Fundo e Rio Pardo sugere ampla dispersão no Rio Grande do Sul de resistência de E. heterophylla aos herbicidas deste mecanismo de ação.

Análise de crescimento de biótipos de leiteira (Euphorbia heterophylla) resistentes e suscetível aos herbicidas inibidores da ALS

Foram conduzidos dois experimentos em condições de casa de vegetação, com o objetivo de analisar comparativamente o crescimento de três biótipos de leiteira (Euphorbia heterophylla - EPHHL) resistentes (R) (Passo Fundo, Não-Me-Toque e Rio Pardo) e um suscetível (S) (Porto Alegre) aos herbicidas inibidores da ALS, por meio do cálculo da taxa de crescimento relativo (TCR) e dos índices que a compõem. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental completamente casualizado, com três repetições e tratamentos organizados em fatorial 2 x 4 x 4, em que o fator A correspondeu às duas estações de crescimento (outono e primavera), o fator B aos quatro biótipos de EPHHL e o fator C às quatro épocas de determinação dos índices de crescimento das plantas de leiteira - no primeiro experimento, aos 15, 25, 35 e 45, e, no segundo, aos 23, 33, 43 e 53 dias após a emergência (DAE). No experimento realizado no outono não houve interação entre época de avaliação e biótipo nem efeito simples de biótipo. No experimento realizado na primavera, a razão de peso foliar (RPF) do biótipo de Não-Me-Toque foi superior em média à dos demais biótipos; a razão de área foliar (RAF) foi superior no biótipo de Não-Me-Toque aos 23 e 53 DAE; e não houve diferenças da TAL e TCR entre os biótipos. Esses resultados sugerem produtividade semelhante entre os biótipos R e S e, portanto, sua equivalência competitiva.

Similaridade genética entre acessos de Bidens pilosa resistentes aos herbicidas inibidores da ALS

Herbicidas inibidores da enzima acetolactato sintase (ALS) têm sido amplamente utilizados no controle da planta daninha picão-preto (Bidens pilosa). A pressão de seleção causada pelo uso intensivo desses herbicidas tem selecionado biótipos de picão-preto resistentes. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o grau de similaridade genética entre acessos de picão-preto resistentes aos herbicidas inibidores da ALS, bem como a relação entre coeficiente de similaridade genética e distância geográfica desses acessos. Para isso, sementes de dois grupos de acessos de picão-preto, originárias de uma propriedade em Pato Branco, Paraná, resistentes aos herbicidas inibidores da ALS foram colhidas, e plântulas foram cultivadas em casa de vegetação na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre-RS, em outubro de 2004. Por meio do marcador molecular RAPD (polimorfismo de DNA amplificado ao acaso) foi possível avaliar a similaridade genética entre os acessos de picão-preto. Na análise conjunta dos acessos, dos 20 primers utilizados, 17 apresentaram-se polimórficos, amplificando um total de 94 bandas. Houve baixa similaridade genética (38%) entre acessos de picão-preto resistentes aos herbicidas inibidores da ALS originários de uma mesma propriedade. Não foi observada relação entre distância genética e distância geográfica entre os acessos avaliados.

Partição da competição por recursos do solo e radiação solar entre cultivares de soja e genótipos concorrentes

As plantas competem por recursos do meio situados abaixo e/ou acima da superfície do solo. A separação física da competição entre plantas possibilita conhecer a importância relativa de cada fração, bem como apontar possíveis diferenças em competitividade entre espécies. Objetivou-se neste trabalho separar os efeitos individuais decorrentes da competição por recursos do solo ou radiação solar, entre soja e plantas concorrentes. Foram realizados seis experimentos em vasos na UFRGS, em Porto Alegre-RS, sendo dois em 2001 e quatro em 2002. Os tratamentos testados resultaram das combinações de dois genótipos concorrentes (cultura e competidor) e quatro condições de competição (ausência de competição, competição por recursos do solo e radiação solar, competição por recursos do solo e competição por radiação solar). Os cultivares de soja IAS 5 e Fepagro RS 10 representaram a cultura, enquanto o nabo forrageiro e o cultivar de soja Fundacep 33 foram os competidores. Determinaram-se variáveis morfofisiológicas em plantas de soja e de nabo forrageiro. O crescimento das plantas de soja foi mais afetado pela competição por recursos do solo, sendo o cultivar RS 10 mais competitivo do que IAS 5. O nabo forrageiro não interferiu no crescimento dos cultivares de soja, porém cresceu mais na presença da cultura.

Floristic and vegetation structure of a granitic grassland in Southern Brazil

A floristic and structural survey of a natural grassland community was conducted on Morro do Osso, a granitic hill in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Structural data were surveyed in 39 one square meter plots placed over two major grassland areas. An accidental fire has occurred in one of the areas approximately one year prior to our survey, leading to further analysis of parameters differences between sites. The floristic list contains 282 species, whereas the structural survey has found 161 species. Families with highest accumulated importance values were Poaceae, Asteraceae and Fabaceae. The diversity and evenness indexes were 4.51 nats ind-1 and 0.86, respectively. Cluster analysis denoted two groups coinciding with the areas distinguished by the fire disturbance. A similarity analysis between our data and two other data sets from nearby granitic hills resulted in 28% to 35% similarity, with equivalent species-family distribution and many common dominant species, corroborating the concept of a continuous flora along the South Brazilian granitic hills.

Fitoplâncton (exceto Chlorophyceae) de um lago artificial urbano no Sul do Brasil

O presente estudo tem como objetivo conhecer a composição do fitoplâncton no Lago das Tartarugas, situado no Jardim Botânico da cidade de Porto Alegre, Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. As amostragens foram realizadas mensalmente, no período de junho de 2007 a maio de 2008, em uma estação em três diferentes níveis de profundidade, na zona pelágica. Um total de 49 táxons específicos e infraespecíficos pertencentes a sete classes foram registrados. Cyanobacteria apresentou maior número de táxons (35% dos táxons identificados) seguida de Bacillariophyceae (33%) e Euglenophyceae (16,3%). São apresentadas descrições, medidas e ilustrações dos táxons, assim como a distribuição dos mesmos durante o ciclo anual.

Chromosomal polymorphism in urban populations of Drosophila paulistorum

Drosophila paulistorum populations colonizing the urban area of Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, were studied with the objective of characterizing their chromosomal polymorphism in this new environment. Despite being geographically and ecologically marginal and the fact that the colonization of the urban area seems to be a recent event, the populations showed a large number of inversions on all chromosome arms. Differences regarding inversion frequencies and percentage of heterozygosis were found when we compared the samples with respect to geographical, microenvironmental and temporal aspects. Such differences, however, could be attributed to both selective and stochastic factors

Histopathological diagnosis of intra- and extrahepatic neonatal cholestasis

The histopathology of the liver is fundamental for the differential diagnosis between intra- and extrahepatic causes of neonatal cholestasis. However, histopathological findings may overlap and there is disagreement among authors concerning those which could discriminate between intra- and extrahepatic cholestasis. Forty-six liver biopsies (35 wedge biopsies and 11 percutaneous biopsies) and one specimen from a postmortem examination, all from patients hospitalized for neonatal cholestasis in the Pediatrics Service of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, were prospectively studied using a specially designed histopathological protocol. At least 4 of 5 different stains were used, and 46 hepatic histopathological variables related to the differential diagnosis of neonatal cholestasis were studied. The findings were scored for severity on a scale from 0 to 4. Sections which showed less than 3 portal spaces were excluded from the study. Sections were examined by a pathologist who was unaware of the final diagnosis of each case. Bile tract permeability was defined by scintigraphy of the bile ducts and operative cholangiography. The F test and discriminant analysis were used as statistical methods for the study of the hepatic histopathological variables. The chi-square method with Yates correction was used to relate the age of the patients on the date of the histopathological study to the discriminatory variables between intra- and extrahepatic cholestasis selected by the discriminant function test. The most valuable hepatic histopathological variables for the discrimination between intra- and extrahepatic cholestasis, in decreasing order of importance, were periportal ductal proliferation, portal ductal proliferation, portal expansion, cholestasis in neoductules, foci of myeloid metaplasia, and portal-portal bridges. The only variable which pointed to the diagnosis of intrahepatic cholestasis was myeloid metaplasia. Due to the small number of patients who were younger than 60 days on the date of the histopathological study (N = 6), no variable discriminated between intra- and extrahepatic cholestasis before the age of 2 months and all of them, except for the portal expansion, were discriminatory after this age. In infants with cholestasis, foci of myeloid metaplasia, whenever present in the liver biopsy, suggested intrahepatic cholestasis. Periportal ductal proliferation, portal ductal proliferation, portal expansion, cholestasis in neoductules, portal cholestasis and portal-portal bridges suggested extrahepatic obstructive cholestasis.

Association of apolipoprotein E polymorphism with plasma lipids and Alzheimer's disease in a Southern Brazilian population

Apolipoprotein E (protein: apo E; gene: APOE) plays an important role in the multifactorial etiology of both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and lipid level concentrations. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate the APOE gene polymorphism in 446 unrelated Caucasians, among them 23 AD patients, and 100 Afro-Brazilians living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The frequencies of the APOE*2, APOE*3 and APOE*4 alleles were 0.075, 0.810 and 0.115 in Caucasians and 0.075, 0.700 and 0.225 in Afro-Brazilians, respectively (c2 = 8.72, P = 0.013). A highly significant association was observed between the APOE*4 allele and AD in this population-based sample. The APOE*4 frequency in AD patients (39%) was about four times higher than in the general Caucasian population (11.5%). The influence of each of the three common APOE alleles on lipid traits was evaluated by the use of the average excess statistic. The E*2 allele is associated with lower levels of triglycerides and of total and non-HDL cholesterol in both men and women. Conversely, the E*4 allele is associated with higher levels of these traits in women only. The effect of APOE alleles was of greater magnitude in women.

Typing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from hospitalized patients: a comparison of susceptibility and biochemical profiles with genotype

Typing techniques are essential for understanding hospital epidemiology, permitting the elucidation of the source of infection and routes of bacterial transmission. Although DNA-based techniques are the "gold standard" for the epidemiological study of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, antibiotic profiles and biochemical results are used because they are easy to perform and to interpret and relatively inexpensive. Antibiotypes (susceptibility profiles) and biotypes (biochemical profiles) were compared to genotypes established by DNA restriction enzyme analysis in 81 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa from three hospitals in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The epidemiological relationship among patients was also evaluated. Susceptibility and restriction profiles were discrepant in more than 50% of the cases, and many antibiotypes were observed among isolates from the same genotype. Furthermore, susceptibility profiles did not allow the distinction of isolates from unrelated genotypes. Since a large number of isolates (63%) yielded the same biochemical results, only 10 biotypes were detected, showing that this typing method has a low discriminatory power. On the other hand, DNA restriction enzyme typing allowed us to establish 71 distinct types. Epidemiological data about the relation among P. aeruginosa isolates were not conclusive. The results of the present study indicate that the only method that can establish a clonal relation is DNA restriction enzyme typing, whereas the other methods may cause misleading interpretations and are inadequate to guide proper infection control measures.

Trends in drug use among students in Brazil: analysis of four surveys in 1987, 1989, 1993 and 1997

The consumption of psychotropic drugs among Brazilian secondary school students was examined by comparing data from four surveys using a questionnaire adapted from the WHO's Program on Research and Reporting on the Epidemiology of Drug Dependence. Students filled out the form in their classrooms without the presence of teachers. The target population consisted of 10-18-year-old students (on average, 15,000 students responded to each survey) in Brazil's ten largest state capitals: Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo. Among the legal drugs, lifetime use (use at least once during life) of tobacco was increased in seven cities (the exceptions were Brasília, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro). There was also a significant increase in frequent use of alcohol (six times or more per month) in 6 of the cities, from an average of 9.2% in 1987 to 15.0% in 1997. With respect to illegal drugs, there was a significant increase in lifetime use of marijuana (a 3-fold increase from 2.8% in 1987 to 7.6% in 1997). Cocaine use increased 4-fold over the survey period (0.5% in 1987 to 2.0% in 1997). Lifetime use of cocaine significantly increased in eight capitals (except Recife and Rio de Janeiro). However, frequent cocaine use increased in only three capitals (Belém, Fortaleza and Porto Alegre), from an average of 1.0% in 1987 to 3.6% in 1997. Lifetime use of medications such as anxiolytics and amphetamines increased 2-fold on average over the survey period. Comparing the four studies, the main conclusion is that there were significant increases in the frequencies for lifetime use, frequent use and heavy use of many drugs.

Enterococcus gallinarum carrying the vanA gene cluster: first report in Brazil

In 2000, Enterococcus faecalis resistant to vancomycin was first reported at a tertiary hospital in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. The resistance spread to other hospitals and surveillance programs were established by hospital infection committees to prevent the spread of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. In February 2002, an isolate initially identified at the genus level as Enterococcus was obtained by surveillance culture (rectal swab) from a patient admitted to a hospital for treatment of septic arthritis in the shoulder. The isolate proved to be resistant to vancomycin by the disc diffusion method and confirmed by an E-test resulting in a minimal inhibitory concentration of > or = 256 µg/ml. This isolate was sent to a reference laboratory (Laboratório Especial de Bacteriologia e Epidemiologia Molecular, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, USP) for further study and proved to be an E. gallinarum by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers for the species. Due to the phenotype of unusually high vancomycin resistance, the isolate presumably had the resistance genes (vanA and vanB) and this was confirmed by PCR, which indicated the presence of the vanA gene. A 10.8-kb Tn1546-related transposon was also identified by long-PCR. Interspecies transfer of the vancomycin-resistance gene from the donor E. gallinarum was performed in a successful conjugation experiment in vitro, using E. faecium GE-1 and E. faecalis JH22 as receptors. This is the first report of the detection of a vanA determinant naturally acquired by E. gallinarum in Brazil, indicating the importance of characterizing VRE by both phenotype and genotype methods.

Th-1 and Th-2 cytokine production in infants with virus-associated wheezing

Wheezing associated with respiratory viral infections in infancy is very common and results in high morbidity worldwide. The Th1/Th2 pattern of immune response in these patients remains unclear and previous studies have shown controversial results. The aim of the present study was to compare the type of Th1/Th2 cytokine response between infants with acute bronchiolitis, recurrent wheezing and upper respiratory infections from a developing country. Infants younger than 2 years of age admitted to Hospital São Lucas, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, between May and November 2001, with an acute episode of wheezing associated with viral respiratory infection were selected. Subjects with upper respiratory infections from the emergency department were selected for the control group. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) levels from nasal aspirates were determined by ELISA from peripheral mononuclear cell cultures. Twenty-nine subjects with acute bronchiolitis, 18 with recurrent wheezing and 15 with upper respiratory infections were enrolled. There were no differences in family history of atopy or parental smoking between groups. Oxygen requirement was similar for the acute bronchiolitis and recurrent wheezing groups. The percentage of positive tests for the cytokines studied and the IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratio was similar for all groups. Comparison of the polarized Th1/Th2 cytokine results for the various groups showed no specific pattern of cytokine production. Infants with wheezing from a developing country do not show any specific predominant pattern of Th1/Th2 cytokine production, suggesting that multiple factors may be involved in the pathogenesis of this illness.

The first report in Brazil of severe infection caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA)

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is an emergent pathogen in Brazil. However, there are no data on the prevalence of CA-MRSA. We report here the first well-characterized case of severe life-threatening CA-MRSA infection in a child living in Rio de Janeiro city. The patient had many complications including hematogenous osteomyelitis and involvement of multiple sites requiring drainage of soft-tissue abscess, and pleural and pericardial empyema. The MRSA isolates recovered were genotyped using PFGE, SCCmec typing and multilocus sequence typing. Disk diffusion tests were performed following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute recommendations. In addition, the presence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) was assessed by PCR amplification, using specific primers for lukF-pv (encoding for the F subunit of the PVL). The bacterial isolates were related to the ST30-SCCmecIV lineage (Oceania Southwest Pacific clone), a PVL producer CA-MRSA previously detected in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Also, the isolates analyzed were susceptible to all non-β-lactam antibiotics tested. The present report demonstrates that disseminated CA-MRSA disease is also occurring in Rio de Janeiro. Thus, the empirical treatment of moderate or severe infections suspected of being associated with CA-MRSA needs to be reviewed in order to allow prompt initiation of an effective therapy that also covers these microorganisms.