A competição interespecífica explica a distribuição espacial de macrófitas aquáticas em estuários?

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Diagnóstico sorológico e molecular de agentes transmitidos por artrópodes em aves carnívoras

Pós-graduação em Medicina Veterinária - FCAV

Produção de soja e milho cultivados sobre diferentes coberturas

The no-tillage system is an important technique for maintaining and restoring the productive capacity of conventionally managed soils and degraded areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the production of soy and maize grown on the straw of five cover crops and on spontaneous vegetation. The experiments were carried out in Votuporanga, in the state of Sao Paulo and in Selviria, in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in March 2008, after conventional soil preparation. The experimental design was of randomised blocks with four replications, using the following cover crops in different amounts of seed per hectare, to make up the treatments: Sorghum bicolor - 6, 7 and 8 kg ha(-1); Pennisetum americanum - 10, 15 and 20 kg ha(-1); Sorghum sudanense - 12, 15 and 18 kg ha(-1); S. bicolor and S. sudanense hybrid - 8, 9 and 10 kg ha(-1); and Urochloa ruziziensis - 8, 12 and 16 kg ha(-1). A control treatment with spontaneous vegetation was also used. After management of the cover crops, soy was planted in the first year of the study, and maize sown in the second, both under a no-tillage system. The dry matter accumulated by the different cover crops, and the agronomic characteristics of the soy and maize were all evaluated. It was concluded that the different cover plants proved to be good options for preceding the soy crop in Votuporanga, SP and the maize in Selviria, MS, and that the different amounts of seed used for each cover crop resulted in differences in relation to the agronomic characteristics of the crops of soy and maize.

Effect of cropping systems in no-till farming on the quality of a Brazilian Oxisol

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Supressão de plantas daninhas utilizando plantas de cobertura do solo

This study aimed to evaluate soil cover and the suppressive effect on weeds by different cover crops at different seed densities. The experiments were set up in Votuporanga, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil and in Selviria, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in March 2008, after conventional tillage. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications, using the following cover crops at different seed densities per hectare: Sorghum bicolor: 6, 7 and 8 kg ha(-1), Pennisetum americanum, 10, 15 and 20 kg ha(-1), Sorghum sudanense, 12, 15 and 18 kg ha(-1), hybrid of Sorghum bicolor with Sorghum sudanense: 8, 9 and 10 kg ha(-1), Urochloa ruziziensis: 8, 12 and 16 kg ha(-1). A control treatment with spontaneous vegetation was used. Soybean was sown after the management of cover crops. Dry matter and weed density were evaluated at cutting/harvesting of cover crops. In Votuporanga, another assessment of weed plants was made at 35 days after soybean had been sown. The ground cover provided by cover crops was assessed at the time of desiccation and flowering of soybeans. It was concluded that U. ruziziensis and S. sudanense reduced weed infestations by more than 90% and kept ground cover above 80% by the time of flowering of soybean.

Tick-borne agents in domesticated and stray cats from the city of Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, midwestern Brazil

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

Estudo do extrato de glândulas salivares de fêmeas de carrapatos Rhipicephalus sanguineos sobre a morfologia de células tumorais da linhagem Walker 256

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Formas orgânicas e inorgânicas de fósforo no solo em função de plantas de cobertura e de adubação nitrogenada

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Ticks infesting birds in Atlantic Forest fragments in Rio Clam, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

In the present study, we report tick infestations on wild birds in plots of the Atlantic Forest reforested fragments with native species and plots reforested with Eucalyptus tereticornis in the municipality of Rio Claro, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. A total of 256 birds were captured: 137 individuals of 33 species, in planted native forest; and 128 individuals of 37 species, in planted Eucalyptus tereticornis forest. Nymphs of two tick species were found on the birds: Amblyomma calcaratum and Amblyomma longirostre, the former was more abundant in the fragments reforested with Atlantic forest native species, and the latter in the fragment reforested with E. tereticornis. New host records were presented for A. calcaratum.

Borreliosis in horses: epidemiology, experimental infection and therapeutic

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

Desempenho operacional de transplante manual e mecanizado da cultura da alface

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Collection of Pollen Grains by Centris (Hemisiella) tarsata Smith (Apidae: Centridini): Is C. tarsata an Oligolectic or Polylectic Species?

Lia Goncalves, Claudia Ines da Silva, and Maria Luisa Tunes Buschini (2012) Collection of pollen grains by Centris (Hemisiella) tarsata Smith (Apidae: Centridini): Is C. tarsata an oligolectic or polylectic species? Zoological Studies 51(2): 195-203. Among pollinator species, bees play a prominent role in maintaining biodiversity because they are responsible, on average, for 80% of angiosperm pollination in tropical regions. The species richness of the bee genus Centris is high in South America. In Brazil, these bees occur in many types of ecosystems. Centris tarsata is an endemic species occurring only in Brazil. No previous studies considered interactions between plants and this bee species in southern Brazil, where it is the most abundant trap-nesting bee. Accordingly, the goals of this study were to investigate plants used by this species for its larval food supply and determine if this bee is polylectic or oligolectic in this region. This work was conducted in the Parque Municipal das Araucarias, Guarapuava (PR), southern Brazil, from Mar. 2002 to Dec. 2003. Samples of pollen were collected from nests of these bees and from flowering plants in grassland and swamp areas where the nests were built. All of the samples were treated with acetolysis to obtain permanent slides. The family Solanaceae was visited most often (71%). Solanum americanum Mill. (28.6%) and Sol. variabile Mart. (42.4%) were the primary pollen sources for C. tarsata in the study area. We found that although C. tarsata visited 20 species of plants, it preferred Solanum species with poricidal anthers and pollen grains with high protein levels. This selective behavior by females of C. tarsata indicates that these bees are oligolectic in their larval provisioning in this region of southern Brazil. http://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/51.2/195.pdf

Actions of the Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor Amblyomin-X on VEGF-A-induced angiogenesis

Amblyomin-X is a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor (Kunitz-type SPI) designed from the cDNA library of the Amblyomma cajennense tick, which displays in vivo anti-tumor activities. Here, the mechanisms of actions of Amblyomin-X in vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A)-induced angiogenesis were characterized. Topical application of Amblyomin-X (10 or 100 ng/10 mu l; each 48 h) inhibited VEGF-A-induced (10 ng/10 mu l; each 48 h) angiogenesis in the dorsal subcutaneous tissue in male Swiss mice. Moreover, similar effect was observed in the VEGF-A-induced angiogenesis in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Additional in vitro assays in t-End cells showed that Amblyomin-X treatment delayed the cell cycle, by maintaining them in G0/G1 phase, and inhibited cell proliferation and adhesion, tube formation and membrane expression of the adhesion molecule platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-I), regardless of mRNA synthesis. Together, results herein reveal the role of Kunitz-type SPI on in vivo VEGF-A-induced angiogenesis, by exerting modulatory actions on endothelial cell proliferation and adhesion, especially on membrane expression of PECAM-1. These data provide further mechanisms of actions of Kunitz-type SPI, corroborating their relevance as scientific tools in the design of therapeutic molecules. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rickettsial Infection in Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Collected on Birds in Southern Brazil

The aim of the study was to evaluate rickettsial infection in ticks from wild birds of the Semidecidual and Atlantic Rainforest remnants of three municipalities of the State of Parana, southern Brazil. Overall, 53 larvae and nymphs collected from birds were checked for the presence of Rickettsia DNA by molecular tests. Five tick species were tested: Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas), Amblyomma calcaratum Neumann, Amblyomma longirostre (Koch), Amblyomma ovale Koch, and Amblyomma parkeri Fonseca and Aragao. A. longirostre ticks were infected with the spotted fever group agents Rickettsia amblyommii strain AL (32.3% infection rate) and Rickettsia parkeri strain NOD (5.9% infection rate). A new rickettsial genotype was detected in the tick A. parkeri (50% infection rate), which had never been reported to be infected by rickettsiae. Through phylogenetic analysis, this new genotype, here designated as strain ApPR, grouped in a cluster composed by different strains of Rickettsia africae, Rickettsia sibirica, and R. parkeri. We consider strain ApPR to be a new genotype of R. parkeri. This study reports for the first time rickettsial infection in ticks from birds in southern Brazil. The role of migrating birds in the dispersal of these rickettsial strains should be considered in ecological studies of spotted fever group agents in Brazil.

Rickettsial Infection in Ticks Collected from Road-Killed Wild Animals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

During 2008D2010, ticks were collected from road-killed wild animals within the Serra dos Orgaos National Park area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In total, 193 tick specimens were collected, including Amblyomma dubitatum Neumann and Amblyomma cajennense (F.) from four Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (L.), Amblyomma calcaratum Neumann and A. cajennense from four Tamandua tetradactyla (L.), Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas) and A. cajennense from five Cerdocyon thous L., Amblyomma longirostre (Koch) from one Sphiggurus villosus (Cuvier), Amblyomma varium Koch from three Bradypus variegatus Schinz, and A. cajennense from one Buteogallus meridionalis (Latham). Molecular analyses based on polymerase chain reaction targeting two rickettsial genes (gltA and ompA) on tick DNA extracts showed that 70.6% (12/17) of the A. dubitatum adult ticks, and all Amblyomma sp. nymphal pools collected from capybaras were shown to contain rickettsial DNA, which after DNA sequencing, revealed to be 100% identical to the recently identified Rickettsia sp. strain Pampulha from A. dubitatum ticks collected in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis with concatenated sequences (gltA-ompA) showed that our sequence from A. dubitatum ticks, referred to Rickettsia sp. strain Serra dos Orgaos, segregated under 99% bootstrap support in a same cluster with Old World rickettsiae, namely R. tamurae, R. monacensis, and Rickettsia sp. strain 774e. Because A. dubitatum is known to bite humans, the potential role of Rickettsia sp. strain Serra dos Orgaos as human pathogen must be taken into account, because both R. tamurae and R. monacencis have been reported infecting human beings.