Identification of Corynebacterium spp. isolated from bovine intramammary infections by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry

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

Efeito de temperaturas alternadas sobre desenvolvimento de Aedes (Stegomyia) aegyoti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae)

Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti is a species of mosquitoes known to be the vector of diseases such as dengue and yellow fever, and a better understanding of aspects of their biology can help in the establishment of control strategies for the same. Several previous studies showed that temperature significantly affects the development of immature stages of insects. In general, higher temperatures (up to a threshold) accelerate the development of insects, and lower temperature retards the same. This rule also applies to mosquitoes, including Ae. aegypti. But not still know the effects of daily variation of temperature on the developmental stages of mosquitoes. And this detail is very important, since in natural breeding or artificial, The mosquitoes usually face temperature variations over a single day, which should interfere with its development until the emergence of the adult forms. For this reason, the objective of this study is to analyze the effect of alternating temperatures on the development of Ae. aegypti. To conduct the study, adults were collected active in the neighborhood Bela Vista Campus of UNESP - Rio Claro, SP, using a sweep net or using ovitraps for immatures, and the active search for breeding. Individuals collected were kept under experimental conditions in the laboratory. The adult samples were identified to species level, were considered for the experiments, only samples of Ae. aegypti. The insects were housed in plastic cages, suitable for creating flies. These were fed with sugar solution and blood meal on alternate days. The eggs obtained were used in the experiment with four different temperature regimes. The data collected were analyzed by evaluating whether the different treatments influenced the development of immature to adult, performing the Kruskal-Wallis test and the statistical software BioEstat. Statistical analysis of the sex ratio... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Systematics and phylogeny of the Neotropical Pachymenes de Saussure and Santamenes Giordani Soika (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae)

The genera Pachymenes de Saussure and Santamenes Giordani Soika arerevised and the phylogenetic relationships among their species, based on external mor-phology and male genitalia, are presented. The cladistics analysis, using 22 terminalspecies (19 ingroup and 3 outgroup species) and 44 characters, produced a single clado-gram under implied weighting. Both genera were recovered as paraphyletic, althoughttwo major clades were formed and were well supported by the re-sampling analysis.We propose the synonymy of Pachymenes with Santamenes, and the description of twonew species: P. saussurei Grandinete n.sp. and P. riograndensis Grandinete n.sp..Newcombinations are: Pachymenes novarae (de Saussure) n.comb., P. olympicus (Zavattari)n.comb., P. peregrinus (Zavattari) n.comb. and P. santanna (de Saussure) revised combi-nation. We state the synonymy of P. obscurus orellanoides under P. obscurus consuetus,reviewing the status of the latter and raising P. consuetus to species level. Pachymenesorellanae vardyi is synonymized under P. orellanae; P. ghilianii olivaceus, P. ghilianiiavissimus and P. peruanus are proposed as synonyms of P. ghilianii; P. picturatusobscuratus is synonymized under P. laeviventris; P. picturatus nigromaculatus andP. picturatus var . intermedia are synonymized under P. picturatus and P. a t ra var . ornatis-sima get its lectotype designated and proposed as synonym of P. ater.

Hábitos alimentares de jovens de tubarão-martelo Sphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith, 1834) (Chondrichthyes, Sphyrnidae) no litoral do estado de São Paulo

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

Ácaros de penas (Acari: Astigmata) em aves não passeriformes do Brasil

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia) - IBRC

Ecologia química no controle biológico de fitófagos e respectivos predadores e parasitoides

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Regeneração natural sob talhões puros de espécies nativas com diferentes atributos funcionais

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Development and application of DNA techniques for validating and improving pinniped diet estimates

Polymerase chain reaction techniques were developed and applied to identify DNA from .40 species of prey contained in fecal (scat) soft-part matrix collected at terrestrial sites used by Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in British Columbia and the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Sixty percent more fish and cephalopod prey were identified by morphological analyses of hard parts compared with DNA analysis of soft parts (hard parts identified higher relative proportions of Ammodytes sp., Cottidae, and certain Gadidae). DNA identified 213 prey occurrences, of which 75 (35%) were undetected by hard parts (mainly Salmonidae, Pleuronectidae, Elasmobranchii, and Cephalopoda), and thereby increased species occurrences by 22% overall and species richness in 44% of cases (when comparing 110 scats that amplified prey DNA). Prey composition was identical within only 20% of scats. Overall, diet composition derived from both identification techniques combined did not differ significantly from hard-part identification alone, suggesting that past scat-based diet studies have not missed major dietary components. However, significant differences in relative diet contributions across scats (as identified using the two techniques separately) reflect passage rate differences between hard and soft digesta material and highlight certain hypothesized limitations in conventional morphological-based methods (e.g., differences in resistance to digestion, hard part regurgitation, partial and secondary prey consumption), as well as potential technical issues (e.g., resolution of primer efficiency and sensitivity and scat subsampling protocols). DNA analysis of salmon occurrence (from scat soft-part matrix and 238 archived salmon hard parts) provided species-level taxonomic resolution that could not be obtained by morphological identification and showed that Steller sea lions were primarily consuming pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon. Notably, DNA from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) that likely originated from a distant fish farm was also detected in two scats from one site in the eastern Aleutian Islands. Overall, molecular techniques are valuable for identifying prey in the fecal remains of marine predators. Combining DNA and hard-part identification will effectively alleviate certain predicted biases and will ultimately enhance measures of diet richness, fisheries interactions (especially salmon-related ones), and the ecological role of pinnipeds and other marine predators, to the benefit of marine wildlife conservationists and fisheries managers.

Regeneração natural sob talhões puros de espécies nativas com diferentes atributos funcionais

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOME TELLINIDAE FROM THAILAND (BIVALVIA: TELLINOIDEA)

A comparative study of seven species of Tellinidae, collected at Kungkrabaen Bay, Gulf of Thailand, is presented. The species are Serratina capsoides (Lamarck, 1818), Moerella cf. Miens (Deshayes, 1854), Cadella cf. semen (Hanley, 1845), Pinguitellina cf. pinguis (Hanley, 1844), Elpidollina sp., and Tellinides timorensis (Lamarck, 1818) of the subfamily Tellininae, and Macomona sp. of the subfamily Macominae. With the objective of performing the study in a comparative and testable scenario, a phylogenetic analysis was carried out based on 43 morphological characters (94 states). A single cladogram was obtained as follows: (Serratina capsoides (Tellinides timorensis (Pinguitellina cf. pinguis (Cadella cf. semen (Moerella cf. Miens (Elpidollina sp. Macomona sp.)))))). A semelid and a solenid were operationally analyzed as part of the ingroup; polarisation was based on a plicatulid. In this analysis, Tellinoidea and Tellinidae were monophyletic, supported by 19 and 9 synapomorphies, respectively. Tellininae was paraphyletic. Good and significant morphological differences were found for all taxa, including at the species level. Some structures are reported for the first time, such as pseudogills, insertion of the pedal protractor dividing the anterior adductor muscle, and a circular muscle surrounding part of the anterior adductor muscle.

Evolutionary Diversification of Banded Tube-Dwelling Anemones (Cnidaria; Ceriantharia; Isarachnanthus) in the Atlantic Ocean

The use of molecular data for species delimitation in Anthozoa is still a very delicate issue. This is probably due to the low genetic variation found among the molecular markers (primarily mitochondrial) commonly used for Anthozoa. Ceriantharia is an anthozoan group that has not been tested for genetic divergence at the species level. Recently, all three Atlantic species described for the genus Isarachnanthus of Atlantic Ocean, were deemed synonyms based on morphological simmilarities of only one species: Isarachnanthus maderensis. Here, we aimed to verify whether genetic relationships (using COI, 16S, ITS1 and ITS2 molecular markers) confirmed morphological affinities among members of Isarachnanthus from different regions across the Atlantic Ocean. Results from four DNA markers were completely congruent and revealed that two different species exist in the Atlantic Ocean. The low identification success and substantial overlap between intra and interspecific COI distances render the Anthozoa unsuitable for DNA barcoding, which is not true for Ceriantharia. In addition, genetic divergence within and between Ceriantharia species is more similar to that found in Medusozoa (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa) than Anthozoa and Porifera that have divergence rates similar to typical metazoans. The two genetic species could also be separated based on micromorphological characteristics of their cnidomes. Using a specimen of Isarachnanthus bandanensis from Pacific Ocean as an outgroup, it was possible to estimate the minimum date of divergence between the clades. The cladogenesis event that formed the species of the Atlantic Ocean is estimated to have occured around 8.5 million years ago (Miocene) and several possible speciation scenarios are discussed.

Loss of male secondary sexual structures in allopatry in the Neotropical butterfly genus Arcas (Lycaenidae: Iheclinae: Eumaeini)

Male secondary sexual characters in Lepidoptera may be present or absent in species that otherwise appear to be closely related, an observation that has led to differences of opinion over the taxonomic usefulness of these structures above the species level. An evolutionary issue raised by this debate is whether male secondary sexual characters (1) can be regained after being lost evolutionarily, (2) are not lost after being evolved, or (3) are 'switched on and off' by genes that regulate development. A second evolutionary issue is the conditions under which male secondary sexual characters might be lost or gained evolutionarily. Because these structures are thought to promote species recognition, theory predicts evolutionary losses to be most likely in allopatry; evolutionary gains to be most likely during the process of secondarily establishing sympatry or during sympatric speciation. We updated the species-level taxonomy of the brilliant emerald winged Neotropical lycaenid butterfly genus Arcas and performed an analysis of phylogenetic relations among species to assess these evolutionary issues. We morphologically detail a scent pouch on the ventral hindwing of Areas and report that six species possess the pouch with androconia, one possesses the pouch without androconia, and the remaining two species have neither pouch nor androconia. In addition, eight Areas species have a morphologically species-specific male forewing scent pad, and one lacks a scent pad. This variation appears to be the result of three evolutionary losses and no gains of male secondary sexual organs. The four Areas species lacking a scent pouch or a scent pad are allopatric with their closest phylogenetic relatives while four of five with both of these structures are sympatric. Although Arcas is a small genus, these results are significantly more extreme than predicted by chance. For taxonomy, this study provides a rationale for the evolutionary loss of male secondary sexual structures and suggests that their absence, but itself, does not indicate a lack of relationship above the species level.

New insights into Trimezieae (Iridaceae) phylogeny: what do molecular data tell us?

The Neotropical tribe Trimezieae are taxonomically difficult. They are generally characterized by the absence of the features used to delimit their sister group Tigridieae. Delimiting the four genera that make up Trimezieae is also problematic. Previous family-level phylogenetic analyses have not examined the monophyly of the tribe or relationships within it. Reconstructing the phylogeny of Trimezieae will allow us to evaluate the status of the tribe and genera and to examine the suitability of characters traditionally used in their taxonomy. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses are presented for 37 species representing all four genera of Trimezieae. Analyses were based on nrITS sequences and a combined plastid dataset. Ancestral character state reconstructions were used to investigate the evolution of ten morphological characters previously considered taxonomically useful. Analyses of nrITS and plastid datasets strongly support the monophyly of Trimezieae and recover four principal clades with varying levels of support; these clades do not correspond to the currently recognized genera. Relationships within the four clades are not consistently resolved, although the conflicting resolutions are not strongly supported in individual analyses. Ancestral character state reconstructions suggest considerable homoplasy, especially in the floral characters used to delimit Pseudotrimezia. The results strongly support recognition of Trimezieae as a tribe but suggest that both generic- and species-level taxonomy need revision. Further molecular analyses, with increased sampling of taxa and markers, are needed to support any revision. Such analyses will help determine the causes of discordance between the plastid and nuclear data and provide a framework for identifying potential morphological synapomorphies for infra-tribal groups. The results also suggest Trimezieae provide a promising model for evolutionary research.

An illustrated key to the genera and subgenera of the Recent azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa), with an attached glossary

The 120 presently recognized genera and seven subgenera of the azooxanthellate Scleractinia are keyed using gross morphological characters of the corallum. All genera are illustrated with calicular and side views of coralla. All termes used in the key are defined in an illustrated glossary. A table of all species-level keys, both comprehensive and faunistic, is provided covering the last 40 years.

Nosocomial outbreak of Pantoea agglomerans bacteraemia associated with contaminated anticoagulant citrate dextrose solution: new name, old bug?

We describe an outbreak investigation of Pantoea agglomerans bacteraemia associated with anticoagulant citrate-dextrose 46% (ACD) solution prepared in-house. A healthy man presented with septic shock during plasmapheresis for granulocyte donation. The solution used for priming and blood samples were sent for culture. Identification of the isolate to species level was performed by gyrB sequencing. Typing was performed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). In total, eight cases were identified during a three-week period. P. agglomerans was also cultured from six ACD solution bags. Isolates from patients and ACD bags were identical by PFGE. All isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, cephazolin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, cefepime and imipenem. (C) 2011 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.