A lethal effect associated with polymorphism of the NOR-bearing chromosomes in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

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

Fraturas e caminhos ótimos na rede de Barabasi-Albert

Following the study of Andrade et al. (2009) on regular square lattices, here we investigate the problem of optimal path cracks (OPC) in Complex Networks. In this problem we associate to each site a determined energy. The optimum path is defined as the one among all possible paths that crosses the system which has the minimum cost, namely the sum of the energies along the path. Once the optimum path is determined, at each step, one blocks its site with highest energy, and then a new optimal path is calculated. This procedure is repeated until there is a set of blocked sites forming a macroscopic fracture which connects the opposite sides of the system. The method is applied to a lattice of size L and the density of removed sites is computed. As observed in the work by Andrade et al. (2009), the fractured system studied here also presents different behaviors depending on the level of disorder, namely weak, moderated and strong disorder intensities. In the regime of weak and moderated disorder, while the density of removed sites in the system does not depend of the size L in the case of regular lattices, in the regime of high disorder the density becomes substantially dependent on L. We did the same type of study for Complex Networks. In this case, each new site is connected with m previous ones. As in the previous work, we observe that the density of removed sites presents a similar behavior. Moreover, a new result is obtained, i.e., we analyze the dependency of the disorder with the attachment parameter m

caracterização in situ e estrutura genética de populações de Gossypium mustelinum

Gossypium mustelinum Miers ex Watt is the only cotton species native from Brazil. It is endemic of the semi-arid region from North-east of the country, where it occur near from resilient water sources. The threats to the in situ conservation of the populations are caused by human interference in its habitat, mainly by excessive cattle graze and deforestation. Establish efficient strategies of in situ conservation depend on the accomplishment of a diagnosis of how the specie is found in its natural environment, and the knowledge about the genetic structure of the populations. The objectives of this work were i) to determine the in situ conditions of two populations present in rivers from basin of Rio Paraguaçu at the Bahia State, ii) to evaluate the structure and genetic variability presented in both populations, iii) to establish in situ and ex situ conservation strategies. It were realized collection in november 2007, when was realized in situ characterization of G. mustelinum. SSR markers were used for analyze 218 genotypes deriving from two populations of the G. mustelinum, localized at Tocó river and the Capivara river. The allelic frequencies, the heterozigosity and the F statics were estimated. All the plants were classified as wild and natives, and there was no evidence of the use the plants or its parts. The populations showed different conservation conditions in situ. Few plantlets were found in sites with excessive cattle feed, an indication that the damages in young plants should be high enough to compromise the renovation of the populations. On the other hand, populations were well preserved when the anthropic damages was low or inexistent. The 14 SSR primer pairs amplified 17 loci with a medium number of 5 alleles per locus (a total of 85 alleles). The high level of endogamy estimated (FIS=0,808) and the low observed heterozygosity (H0=0,093) were indicatives that the populations reproduce mainly by selfing, geitonogamy and crosses between related individuals. The genetic diversity was high (HE=0,482) and the differentiation between the populations was very high (FST=0,328). At least two sites from both populations of G. mustelinum must be preserved to achieve suitable in situ conservation. Actions that preserve the gallery forest and keep the cattle away should implemented, and could be as simple as erecting a fence. It is not possible anticipated if the in situ preservation will be possible. Therefore collections and ex situ preservation of representative specimens are essential to conserve the genetic diversity of native G. mustelinum

Inundações urbanas no semiarido nordestino: o caso da cidade de Pau dos Ferros - RN

The Apodi river basin, particularly within the snippet that crosses Pau dos Ferros - RN city, place anthropogenic actions that interfere in the dynamic environment by modifying the local landscape. The reflection of these actions can be seen in the floods that occur in rainy periods (February to may) virtually every year in the city. It is important to stress that the project of integration of the waters of the San Francisco basin with the northern basin of Northeastern will perennial the main channel of the river basin, and generate greater impacts in the region. This work sought to define a methodology able to delimit areas susceptible to flooding in cities of semiarid Northeast based on the Pau dos Ferros RN city. The dissertation is divided into two chapters and introduction. The introduction presents a theoretical frame based on discussion of the concept of risk, their main characteristics and subdivisions; floods; geotecnologies; Apodi River basin; municipal data Pau dos Ferros RN and design integration of Francisco basin with the northern basins Northeast. The first chapter evaluates the urban expansion process between 1987 and 2008, delimiting the flood areas and analyzes the relationship between urban growth and retention areas. The second chapter identifies the flood risk areas in the Pau dos Ferros city. The methodology used was based on tools of geographic information system GIS from software SPRING/INPE 5.1, as well as bibliographical, satellite images, aerial photographs and field activities. The results obtained enabled view the rapid expansion of the urban area of Pau dos Ferros, which has doubled in a period of 22 years. The population density checks with greater intensity in South-central portion of the city, in flood areas and not flood (Cap. 01). It was noted also that some neighborhoods along the River Apodi are susceptible to more instances of flooding ranging from minimum to maximum, while in neighborhoods near the Riacho Cajazeiras floods occur to a lesser extent because of altimetry higher and lower water volume. (Cap. 02). It is expected that this work will help in the preparation of flood risk municipal map subsidising managers in implementing public policies targeted to the softening of urban flood-related issues in Pau dos Ferros RN and serve as a model for mapping of other cities with similar characteristics analyzed in this work

Alterações ambientais em Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte: metais pesados em sedimentos de drenagens e percepção de comunidades rurais em relação a mudanças na paisagem

The conservation of natural resources is essential and constitutes the main subject of many researches, which characterize important aspects concerning the environmental alterations in the ground, water, landscape and socioeconomic information. This study aimed to investigate the anthropogenic input of heavy metals in the environment, in the area of the Parelhas dump site and in part of the Seridó River and to determine the concentration of heavy metals in the sediments. This can result in risk to the environment and human health. In addition, we sought to establish the socioeconomic profile of rural communities adjacent to Seridó River and to comprehend the perception of these dwellers about the changes in the places they live. The area of this study is located in the city of Parelhas/RN, in the centralsouthern part of the State, in the micro-region of the Oriental Seridó. This area comprehends the place where the dump site is located, next to RN 086, the Caldeirão dam, the Quintos river called by local citizens Caldeirão creek and part of Seridó river, perpetuated by the Boqueirão dam, which crosses the city and it includes the rural communities of Almas, Domingas, Sussuarana II and Colonos. Regarding the study with bottom sediments, the samples were collected and taken to the laboratory of geochemistry, where they were dried, sieved, weighted and submitted to weak acid attack. The analysis of heavy metals was held by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer - Flame AAS. We applied 23 closed questionnaires constituted by 38 questions to collect informations in the rural communities, oriented to establish the socioeconomic profile and the environmental perception of the participants. The participants were distributed in the communities of Almas (1), Domingas (2), Sussuarana II (10) and Colonos (10). Most of them presented similar socioeconomic profiles. They are from 45 to 60 years old and live in these localities for 20 to 30 years or more. The families are composed by 3 or 4 people; the agriculture is the main activity, livestock is the secondary and 48% of them earn the minimal wage. Regarding the environmental perception, the participants can realize some changes in vegetation, soil, water and landscape. People living longer in the community, and with more years of experience on the local reality can perceive the depletion of the soil, pastures and changes in the landscape. These changes portray how the place was previously and what it represents today. The perception of these changes, besides the environmental ones, includes others concerning the increasing number of dwellers in the last years, as well as the number of houses. The changes happened through activities developed by the dwellers over the years, including agricultural practices, livestock, grass planting and even the cultivation of cotton. The study provided the acquisition of new data about the environmental reality of this region. It can subsidize the definition of public policies that can be implemented from the perspective of conservation of water resources and of the coexistence and survival of man in the semi-arid

Estruturação litosférica da Província Borborema ao longo da Transecta Angüera (BA) Macau (RN), com base em dados gravimétricos

Since 2005, geophysical surveys have been carried out in the Precambri-an Borborema Province, along two transects with 800 km long each one. A pool of Brazilian public universities and institutions has been acquired deep refrac-tion seismic, gravity and magnetotelluric, with the purpose to model the conti-nental lithosphere of the region. This paper present the gravity survey of the second transect, that crosses the Borborema Province from SW to NE, passing through the São Francisco Craton, Transversal and Meridional zones and Rio Grande do Norte Domain, in the Setentrional Zone. In this way, it cuts some important geologic structures, like the limit of the São Francis Craton and the Borborema Province, Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basins of Tucano, Jatobá and Potiguar and the extensive Pernambuco and Patos shear zones. Recognition techniques gravity sources in the subsurface, such as spectral analysis and Euler Deconvolution, were applied to the Bouguer anomalies, as well as their regional and residual components. These techniques provided in-formation on possible anomalous bodies, which correlated with pre-existing geological and geophysical data, subsidized a 2.5 D gravity modeling of the lithosphere beneath the Borborema Province and its southern limit with the São Francisco Craton.

Imunidade inata da glândula mamária bovina: resposta à infecção

A imunidade na glândula mamária pode ser classificada, assim como em outros sistemas, em inata ou inespecífica e adaptativa ou específica. A imunidade inata é a defesa predominante durante os estágios iniciais da infecção. As respostas inespecíficas estão presentes no local da infecção ou são ativadas rapidamente por numerosos estímulos e não aumentam pela exposição repetida ao mesmo agente etiológico. O primeiro obstáculo enfrentado por um patógeno para adentrar o úbere é composto pela barreira formada pelo esfíncter do teto e pelo tampão de queratina formado pelo epitélio queratinizado. Uma vez que o microrganismo tenha atravessado o canal do teto e alcançado a cisterna mamária, passam a atuar diversos fatores solúveis e celulares. Dentre os fatores solúveis, estão presentes: lactoperoxidase, sistema complemento, citocinas, lactoferrina, lisozima e NAGase. As defesas celulares inespecíficas na glândula mamária são representadas pelos neutrófilos, pelos macrófagos e pelas células natural killer. Na medida em que esses mecanismos funcionam adequadamente, a maioria dos patógenos será rapidamente eliminada antes que o sistema imune específico seja ativado, sem resultar em alterações na quantidade ou qualidade do leite produzido. Uma melhor compreensão sobre os mecanismos de defesa da glândula mamária e suas alterações durante os períodos críticos da infecção é imprescindível para o desenvolvimento de métodos mais eficazes de profilaxia e controle da mastite, a principal doença dos ruminantes leiteiros. O presente estudo revisou os principais aspectos responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento da imunidade inata na glândula mamária bovina.

Effects of polymorphic microsatellites in the regulatory region of IGF1 and GHR on growth and carcass traits in beef cattle

Growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2 (IGF1 and IGF2) and their associated binding proteins and transmembrane receptors (GHR, IGF1R and IGF2R) play an important role in the physiology of mammalian growth. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the allele and genotype frequencies of microsatellite markers located in the 5'-regulatory region of the IGF1 and GHR genes in beef cattle belonging to different genetic groups and to determine effects of these markers on growth and carcass traits in these animals under an intensive production system. For this purpose, genotyping was performed on 384 bulls including 79 Nellore, 30 Canchim (5/8 Charolais + 3/8 Zebu) and 275 crossbred animals originating from crosses of Simmental (1/2 Simmental, n = 30) and Angus (1/2 Angus, n = 245) sires with Nellore females. The effects of substituting L allele for S allele of GHR microsatellite across Nellore, Canchim and 1/2 Angus were significant for weight gain and body weight (P < 0.05). The IGF1 microsatellite allele substitutions of 229 for 225 within Nellore group and of 225 for 229 within 1/2 Angus were not significant for any of the traits.

Association between IGF-I, IGF-IR and GHRH gene polymorphisms and growth and carcass traits in beef cattle

Molecular biology techniques are of help in genetic improvement since they permit the identification, mapping and analysis of polymorphisms of genes encoding proteins that act on metabolic pathways involved in economically interesting traits. The somatotrophic axis, which essentially consists of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factors I and II (IGF-I and IGF-II), and their associated binding proteins and receptors (GHRHR, GHR, IGF-IR and IGF-IIR), plays a key role in the metabolism and physiology of mammalian growth. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the allele and genotype frequencies of the IGF-I/SnaBI, IGF-IR/TaqI and GHRH/HaeIII gene polymorphisms in different genetic groups of beef cattle and to determine associations between these polymorphisms and growth and carcass traits. For this purpose, genotyping was performed on 79 Nellore animals, 30 Canchim (5/8 Charolais+3/8 Zebu) animals and 275 crossbred cattle originating from the crosses of Simmental (n=30) and Angus (n=245) sires with Nellore females. In the association studies, traits of interest were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS and least square means of the genotypes were compared by the Tukey test. Associations of IGF-I/SnaBI genotypes with body weight and subcutaneous backfat were significant (p < 0.05), and nearly significant for longissimus dorsi area (p=0.06), with the 1313 genotype being favorable compared to the AB genotype. No significant associations were observed between this polymorphism and weight gain or carcass yield (P > 0.05). The IGF-IR/TaqI and GHRH/HaeIII polymorphisms showed no association with production traits. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Assessment of GH1, CAPN1 and CAST polymorphisms as markers of carcass and meat traits in Bos indicus and Bos taurus-Bos indicus cross beef cattle

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

Genetic polymorphisms related to meat traits in purebred and crossbred Nelore cattle

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

Study of Descendent Course of Buccal Nerve in Adults Individuals

The knowledge of the buccal nerve anatomy is of fundamental importance not only for the anesthesia but also for a safe intervention in the retromolar area. The aim of this work was to study its trajectory, in the area where it is related to the anterior margin of the ramus of the mandible, therefore providing important data for a safe intervention in the region. In this study we used 10 hemi-heads from male and female adults, from different ethnic groups. They were fixed in formol, and belong to the Anatomy Laboratory at the Faculty of Dentistry in Araraquara UNESP. These hemi-heads were dissected by lateral access, preserving the buccal nerve in its trajectory related to the anterior margin of the ramus of the mandible until its penetration in the buccinator muscle. Next, we desinserted the masseter muscle so that all the ramus of the mandible were exposed. Then, the following measurements were carried out: from the base of the mandible until the buccal nerve and from the base of the mandible until the apices of the mandibular coronoid process. These measurements were accomplished with a Mitutoyo CD-6'' CS digital paquimeter. The following average values were obtained: 32.26 mm (to the left side) and 32.04 mm (to the right side), from the base of the mandible until the buccal nerve and 59.09 mm (to the left side) and 58.95 mm (to the right side) from the base of the mandible until the apices of the coronoid process. We have concluded that normally, the buccal nerve crosses the anterior margin of the ramus of the mandible in an area which is above the superior half of the ramus of the mandible and also that the interventions in the retromolar region do not offer great risks of injury in the buccal nerve.

Acid phosphatase polymorphism within and among populations of Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var botrytis)

Eighty-one lines of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) from 12 populations used to produce commercial hybrids in Brazil were screened for polymorphism in the acid phosphatase system, in order to evaluate the usefulness of this marker for the determination of the parental contamination level in hybrid seeds. Little polymorphism was detected in the examined lines, but the system appeared to be very useful for hybrid identification, since the only condition required was polymorphism between the two parental lines. If the analyzed lines were used for hybrid production, 8.4% and 12.3% of the possible crosses would result in hybrids which can be positively identified using the APS-1 and B1 loci, respectively. If only one plant of each homozygous type (SS or FF) was analyzed in each population, 41% and 50% of the possible crosses would result in hybrids which can be positively identified using the APS-1 and B1 loci, respectively.

A linkage map for the B-genome of Arachis (Fabaceae) and its synteny to the A-genome

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

NORs inheritance analysis in crossings including individuals from two stocks of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Silver nitrate staining of rainbow trouts (Oncorhynchus mykiss) chromosomes, for the identification of the nucleolar organizing regions (NORs), revealed that in individuals from Nucleo Experimental de Salmonicultura de Campos do Jordao (Brazil) NORs were located in the long arms of a submetacentric pair while in specimens from Mount Shasta (USA) NORs were located in the short arms of a submetacentric pair. Cytogenetic analysis of the offspring, obtained through artificial crosses including individuals from both stocks, allowed the identification of NORs in two submetacentric chromosomes, one in the short arms and the other in the long arms, confirming the effectiveness of the hybridization process. Complementary results obtained using the FISH technique with 18S and 5S rDNA probes showed that NOR-bearing chromosomes exhibited a cluster of 5S genes located in tandem with the 18S gene cluster in both stocks. The results allow us to suggest that the difference in NOR-bearing chromosomes found between the two stocks is likely to be due to a pericentric inversion involving the chromosome segment where 18S and 5S rDNA genes are located. The presence of ribosomal genes in the long arms of a submetacentric chromosome is apparently a particular characteristic of the rainbow trout stock of Campos do Jordao and might be used as a chromosome marker in studies of controlled crosses in this species.