Radiação gama ou antimicrobianos naturais na conservação de melão minimamente processado

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Seleção de porta-enxertos resistentes a Didymella bryoniae, Meloidogyne incognita e M. javanica e efeitos no desempenho do meloeiro rendilhado

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Quality of Louis melons stored under four storage temperatures

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

Resistência de porta-enxertos de cucurbitáceas a nematóides e compatibilidade da enxertia em melão

Nematodes severely attack net melon plants under protected cultivation conditions. The objective of this research was to select rootstocks with resistance to Meloidogyne incognita and M. javanica. The experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions from October 2010 to April 2011 in Jaboticabal, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Thirty-three cucurbitaceous genotypes were investigated as rootstocks; melons: CNPH 01-930 (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus), CNPH 01-962, 01-963 CNPH (Cucumis melo var. conomon), cvs. Gaucho Redondo, Gaucho Comprido, Redondo Amarelo, Gulfcoast, Chilton, Bonus no. 2, Fantasy; watermelons: cv. Charleston Gray, Progenie da Coreia (Citrullus lanatus); pumpkins: cvs. Mra. Ma, Ornamental, Howden, Mammoth, Kururu, Goianinha (Cucurbita moschata); gourd: Abobora de Porco, cvs. Maranhao, Brasileirinha (Lagenaria siceraria); squash: cv. Pataca Gigante (Cucurbita maxima); cucumber: cvs. Caipira, Branco Meio Comprido, Curumim (Cucumis sativus); loofah: Metro, Semente Branca, Semente Preta (Luffa cylindrica); wax gourd (Benincasa hispida); pumpkin rootstock: Hybrid cv. Keij; snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerins) and musk cucumber (Sicana odorifera). To evaluate the resistance, seedlings were transplanted to pots and the root inoculated with 3,000 eggs and second stage juveniles of M. incognita and M. javanica. Fifty days after the inoculation, the plants were evaluated for nematode resistance by means of the reproduction factor. The grafting compatibility between net melon cvs. Bonus no. 2 and Fantasy and the rootstocks previously characterized as resistant were evaluated by means of 60 graftings. CNPH 01-962, CNPH 01-963 and melon 'Gaucho Redondo', were considered resistant to M. incognita. Melon 'Redondo Amarelo', watermelon 'Charleston Gray', watermelon Progenie da Coreia, Trichosanthes cucumerins were considered resistant to M. javanica. Benincasa hispida was resistant to M. javanica and M. incognita. The compatibility between net melons and resistant rootstocks was higher than 98%.

Estimating the extent of spatial association of Mycobacterium bovis infection in badgers in Ireland

Mycobacterium bovis infects the wildlife species badgers Meles meles who are linked with the spread of the associated disease tuberculosis (TB) in cattle. Control of livestock infections depends in part on the spatial and social structure of the wildlife host. Here we describe spatial association of M. bovis infection in a badger population using data from the first year of the Four Area Project in Ireland. Using second-order intensity functions, we show there is strong evidence of clustering of TB cases in each the four areas, i.e. a global tendency for infected cases to occur near other infected cases. Using estimated intensity functions, we identify locations where particular strains of TB cluster. Generalized linear geostatistical models are used to assess the practical range at which spatial correlation occurs and is found to exceed 6 in all areas. The study is of relevance concerning the scale of localized badger culling in the control of the disease in cattle.

The Duration of the Effects of Repeated Widespread Badger Culling on Cattle Tuberculosis Following the Cessation of Culling

Background: In the British Isles, control of cattle tuberculosis (TB) is hindered by persistent infection of wild badger (Meles meles) populations. A large-scale field trial—the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT)—previously showed that widespread badger culling produced modest reductions in cattle TB incidence during culling, which were offset by elevated TB risks for cattle on adjoining lands. Once culling was halted, beneficial effects inside culling areas increased, while detrimental effects on adjoining lands disappeared. However, a full assessment of the utility of badger culling requires information on the duration of culling effects. Methodology/Principal Findings: We monitored cattle TB incidence in and around RBCT areas after culling ended. We found that benefits inside culled areas declined over time, and were no longer detectable by three years post-culling. On adjoining lands, a trend suggesting beneficial effects immediately after the end of culling was insignificant, and disappeared after 18 months post-culling. From completion of the first cull to the loss of detectable effects (an average five-year culling period plus 2.5 years post-culling), cattle TB incidence was 28.7% lower (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.7 to 35.8% lower) inside ten 100 km2 culled areas than inside ten matched no-culling areas, and comparable (11.7% higher, 95% CI: 13.0% lower to 43.4% higher, p = 0.39) on lands #2 km outside culled and no-culling areas. The financial costs of culling an idealized 150 km2 area would exceed the savings achieved through reduced cattle TB, by factors of 2 to 3.5. Conclusions/Significance: Our findings show that the reductions in cattle TB incidence achieved by repeated badger culling were not sustained in the long term after culling ended and did not offset the financial costs of culling. These results, combined with evaluation of alternative culling methods, suggest that badger culling is unlikely to contribute effectively to the control of cattle TB in Britain.

High Proportion of Male Faeces in Jaguar Populations

Faeces provide relevant biological information which includes, with the application of genetic techniques, the sex and identity of individuals that defecated, thus providing potentially useful data on the behaviour and ecology of individuals, as well as the dynamics and structure of populations. This paper presents estimates of the sex ratio of different felid species (jaguar, Panthera onca; puma, Puma concolor; and ocelot/margay, Leopardus pardalis/Leopardus wiedi) as observed in field collected faeces, and proposes several hypotheses that could explain the strikingly high proportion of faeces from male jaguars. The proportion of male and female faeces was estimated using a non-invasive faecal sampling method in 14 study areas in Mexico and Brazil. Faecal samples were genetically analysed to identify the species, the sex and the individual (the latter only for samples identified as belonging to jaguars). Considering the three species, 72.6% of faeces (n = 493) were from males; however, there were significant differences among them, with the proportion from males being higher for jaguars than for pumas and ocelots/margays. A male-bias was consistently observed in all study areas for jaguar faeces, but not for the other species. For jaguars the trend was the same when considering the number of individuals identified (n = 68), with an average of 4.2 +/- 0.56 faeces per male and 2.0 +/- 0.36 per female. The observed faecal marking patterns might be related to the behaviour of female jaguars directed toward protecting litters from males, and in both male and female pumas, to prevent interspecific aggressions from male jaguars. The hypothesis that there are effectively more males than females in jaguar populations cannot be discarded, which could be due to the fact that females are territorial and males are not, or a tendency for males to disperse into suboptimal areas for the species.

Emergence of Canine Distemper Virus Strains With Modified Molecular Signature and Enhanced Neuronal Tropism Leading to High Mortality in Wild Carnivores

An ongoing canine distemper epidemic was first detected in Switzerland in the spring of 2009. Compared to previous local canine distemper outbreaks, it was characterized by unusually high morbidity and mortality, rapid spread over the country, and susceptibility of several wild carnivore species. Here, the authors describe the associated pathologic changes and phylogenetic and biological features of a multiple highly virulent canine distemper virus (CDV) strain detected in and/or isolated from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), Eurasian badgers (Meles meles), stone (Martes foina) and pine (Martes martes) martens, from a Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), and a domestic dog. The main lesions included interstitial to bronchointerstitial pneumonia and meningopolioencephalitis, whereas demyelination-the classic presentation of CDV infection-was observed in few cases only. In the brain lesions, viral inclusions were mainly in the nuclei of the neurons. Some significant differences in brain and lung lesions were observed between foxes and mustelids. Swiss CDV isolates shared together with a Hungarian CDV strain detected in 2004. In vitro analysis of the hemagglutinin protein from one of the Swiss CDV strains revealed functional and structural differences from that of the reference strain A75/17, with the Swiss strain showing increased surface expression and binding efficiency to the signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM). These features might be part of a novel molecular signature, which might have contributed to an increase in virus pathogenicity, partially explaining the high morbidity and mortality, the rapid spread, and the large host spectrum observed in this outbreak.