Trypanosomes of some Fennoscandian birds

Linear measurements and derived indices of trypanosomes from species of Fennoscandian birds were compared to those reported form Trypanosoma avium, T. everetti, T. ontarioensis and T. paddae. The trypanosomes encountered in the Fennoscandian birds were identified as T. avium from Tengmalm's owl Aegolius funereus and the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca, T. everetti from the great tit Parus major and collared flycatcher F. albicollis and T. ontarioensis from the collared flycatcher; T. paddae was not seen.

Doses de ácido giberélico na frutificação efetiva e qualidade de frutos de atemoieira 'Gefner'

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito da aplicação de ácido giberélico (GA3) no pegamento, frutificação efetiva e qualidade de frutos de atemoieira 'Gefner', nas condições irrigadas do norte de Minas Gerais. O experimento foi conduzido em pomar comercial de atemoieira 'Gefner', em Matias Cardoso. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições e cinco frutos por parcela. Os tratamentos utilizados foram diferentes doses do produto comercial Pro-Gibb®, composto por 10% de GA3, na forma de pó solúvel, sendo: 0 (testemunha), 250; 500; 750 e 1.000 mg.L-1. O produto foi aplicado diretamente nas flores de atemoieira, no momento da antese, e repetido nos frutos aos 7; 21 e 35 dias após a antese. Foram avaliados quinzenalmente pegamento, comprimento e diâmetro dos frutos. Após a colheita, as características físico-químicas avaliadas foram submetidas à análise de variância, e os efeitos das doses foram testados e ajustados em equações de regressão. A porcentagem de pegamento e frutificação efetiva dos frutos de atemoieira 'Gefner', a massa de polpa, casca e frutos, e o pH aumentaram com o incremento das doses de GA3. A aplicação de GA3 proporcionou a produção de frutos sem sementes e não influenciou no teor de sólidos solúveis dos frutos de atemoieira 'Gefner'.

Experimental poisoning by Baccharis megapotamica var. weirii in buffalo

Five male 6-8 month-old Murrah buffalo calves were orally dosed with the fresh aerial parts of Baccharis megapotamica var. weirii at doses of 1, 3, 4, 5 and 10g/kg body weight (bw) (~1-10mg macrocyclic trichothecenes/kg/bw). The B. megapotamica used for the experiment was harvested on a farm where a recent spontaneous outbreak of poisoning caused by such plant had occurred. Clinical signs appeared 4-20 hours and 4 buffaloes died 18-49 hours after the ingestion of the plant. Clinical signs were apathy, anorexia, and watery diarrhea, fever, colic, drooling, muscle tremors, restlessness, laborious breathing and ruminal atony, and dehydration. The most consistent gross findings were restricted to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract consisted of varying degrees of edema and reddening of the mucosa of the forestomach. Histopathological findings consisted of varying degrees of necrosis of the epithelial lining of the forestomach and of lymphocytes within lymphoid organs and aggregates. Fibrin thrombi were consistently found in sub-mucosal vessels of the forestomach and in the lumen of hepatic sinusoids. It is suggested that dehydration, septicemia and disseminated intravascular coagulation participate in the pathogenesis of the intoxication and play a role as a cause of death. A subsample of B. megapotamica var. weirii was frozen-dried and ground and analyzed using UHPLC (Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography) with high resolution Time of Flight mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry, it was shown that the plant material contained at least 51 different macrocyclic trichothecenes at a total level of 1.1-1.2mg/g. About 15-20% of the total trichothecenes contents was found to be monosaccharide conjugates, with two thirds of these being glucose conjugates and one third constituted by six aldopentose conjugates (probably xylose), which has never been reported in the literature.