Nested liana-tree network in three distinct neotropical vegetation formations

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

Relief influence on tree species richness in secondary forest fragments of Atlantic Forest, SE, Brazil

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

Detection of antibody to Toxocara vitulorum perieneteric fluid antigens (Pe) in the colostrum and serum of buffalo calves and cows by Western blotting

Toxocara vitulorum, a nematode parasite in the small intestine of cattle and water buffaloes, causes high morbidity and mortality of 1-3 months old buffalo calves. This research evaluated the specific perieneteric antigens (Pe) reactivity of anti-T. vitulorum-Pe antibody (Tv-Pe-Ab) in both immune sera and colostrum from buffalo cows immediately post-partum from buffalo cows. The presence of Tv-Pe-Ab in sera of buffalo newborn calves was also examined at 1 day before and after suckling the colostrum as well as in sera from naturally infected calves at the beginning and peak of the maximum infection and then again during the period of rejection and post-rejection of the parasite. Pe antigens were characterized for Tv-Pe-Ab by SDS-PAGE and Western blot (WB). The SDS-PAGE showed that Pe contained nine protein bands (11, 14, 31, 38, 58, 76, 88,112 and 165 kDa). All Pe bands were recognized by Tv-Pe-Ab in sera and colostrum of buffalo cows. Only the serum antibodies of buffalo calves at 1 day of age after suckling the colostrum and during the beginning of T. vitulorum infection recognized Pe antigen's nine bands. In contrast, serum antibodies from 1-day-old buffalo calves, taken before suckling colostrum, did not react with any protein band. In suckling calves, which reached peak egg output, rejection and post-rejection stages of the infection, serum Tv-Pe-Ab reactivity with lower molecular weight protein bands (11-76 kDa) was lost and only reactivity with the Pe protein bands of higher molecular weight (88, 112 and 165 kDa) remained. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mast cell and eosinophils in the wall of the gut and eosinophils in the blood stream during Toxocara vitulorum infection of the water buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis)

Toxocara vitulorum is a pathogenic nematode from the small intestine of very young buffalo calves. To understand the development of the inflammatory responses in the wall of the gut, samples of tissues were removed from the duodenum, jejunum and ileum of buffalo calves naturally infected with T. vitulorum during the beginning of the infection, at the peak of egg output, as well as during the periods of rejection of the worms and post-rejection. Two additional control groups of uninfected calves (by anti-helminthic therapy of their mothers and after the birth) were also necropsied on days 30 and 50 after birth. Blood samples were fortnightly collected from birth to 174 days post-birth. Blood smears were prepared and stained with Giemsa for eosinophils. The parasitological status of buffalo calves was evaluated through weekly fecal egg counts (EPG) from 1 to 106 days after birth, which revealed that T. vitulorum egg shedding started on day 11, reached the peak of the infection on day 49 and finally expelled the parasites between days 50 and 85 after birth. In the infected buffalo calves, the mast cell population increased significantly, by two-fold in the mucosa (villus-crypt unit (VCU)) of the duodenum and four-fold in the proximal jejunum; but these increases were statistically significant only at the peak of the infection. Although mast cell numbers increased in the mucosa of the ileum as well as in both the submucosal and muscle tissues of the duodenum, proximal jejunum and ileum, the data was not significantly different from the controls. Eosinophil numbers increased in the mucosa of the duodenum (two-five times higher than the control) and proximal jejunum (three-five-fold) during the period of the infection (beginning, peak and rejection). The relative numbers of eosinophils increased in the blood stream from the second to the seventh week. In conclusion, T. vitulorum infection elicited mastocytosis and tissue eosinophilia in the duodenum and proximal jejunum, as well as eosinophilia in the blood stream, during the beginning, at the peak and during the rejection of the worm. After the rejection of the worms, the numbers of these cells returned to normal levels suggesting that these cells may have a role in the process of rejection of T. vitulorum by the host. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Eimeria Spp. in Brazilian Water Buffalo

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

Mating system parameters at hierarchical levels of fruits, individuals and populations in the Brazilian insect-pollinated tropical tree, Tabebuia roseo-alba (Bignoniaceae)

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

High levels of genetic differentiation and selfing in the Brazilian cerrado fruit tree Dipteryx alata Vog. (Fabaceae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Low levels of realized seed and pollen gene flow and strong spatial genetic structure in a small, isolated and fragmented population of the tropical tree Copaifera langsdorffii Desf

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

Understanding the effects of isolation on seed and pollen flow, spatial genetic structure and effective population size of the dioecious tropical tree species Myracrodruon urundeuva

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

Pollen Dispersal Between Isolated Trees in the Brazilian Savannah: A Case Study of the Neotropical Tree Hymenaea stigonocarpa

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A nonsense mutation in the tyrosinase gene causes albinism in water buffalo

Background: Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is an autosomal recessive hereditary pigmentation disorder affecting humans and several other animal species. Oculocutaneous albinism was studied in a herd of Murrah buffalo to determine the clinical presentation and genetic basis of albinism in this species.Results: Clinical examinations and pedigree analysis were performed in an affected herd, and wild-type and OCA tyrosinase mRNA sequences were obtained. The main clinical findings were photophobia and a lack of pigmentation of the hair, skin, horns, hooves, mucosa, and iris. The results of segregation analysis suggest that this disease is acquired through recessive inheritance. In the OCA buffalo, a single-base substitution was detected at nucleotide 1,431 (G to A), which leads to the conversion of tryptophan into a stop codon at residue 477.Conclusion: This premature stop codon produces an inactive protein, which is responsible for the OCA buffalo phenotype. These findings will be useful for future studies of albinism in buffalo and as a possible model to study diseases caused by a premature stop codon.

Spatial Distribution of Seropositive Dogs to Leptospira spp. and Evaluation of Leptospirosis Risk Factors Using a Decision Tree

Background: Leptospirosis is an important zoonotic disease associated with poor areas of urban settings of developing countries and early diagnosis and prompt treatment may prevent disease. Although rodents are reportedly considered the main reservoirs of leptospirosis, dogs may develop the disease, may become asymptomatic carriers and may be used as sentinels for disease epidemiology. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) combined with spatial analysis techniques allows the mapping of the disease and the identification and assessment of health risk factors. Besides the use of GIS and spatial analysis, the technique of data mining, decision tree, can provide a great potential to find a pattern in the behavior of the variables that determine the occurrence of leptospirosis. The objective of the present study was to apply Geographical Information Systems and data prospection (decision tree) to evaluate the risk factors for canine leptospirosis in an area of Curitiba, PR.Materials, Methods & Results: The present study was performed on the Vila Pantanal, a urban poor community in the city of Curitiba. A total of 287 dog blood samples were randomly obtained house-by-house in a two-day sampling on January 2010. In addition, a questionnaire was applied to owners at the time of sampling. Geographical coordinates related to each household of tested dog were obtained using a Global Positioning System (GPS) for mapping the spatial distribution of reagent and non-reagent dogs to leptospirosis. For the decision tree, risk factors included results of microagglutination test (MAT) from the serum of dogs, previous disease on the household, contact with rats or other dogs, dog breed, outdoors access, feeding, trash around house or backyard, open sewer proximity and flooding. A total of 189 samples (about 2/3 of overall samples) were randomly selected for the training file and consequent decision rules. The remained 98 samples were used for the testing file. The seroprevalence showed a pattern of spatial distribution that involved all the Pantanal area, without agglomeration of reagent animals. In relation to data mining, from 189 samples used in decision tree, a total of 165 (87.3%) animal samples were correctly classified, generating a Kappa index of 0.413. A total of 154 out of 159 (96.8%) samples were considered non-reagent and were correctly classified and only 5/159 (3.2%) were wrongly identified. on the other hand, only 11 (36.7%) reagent samples were correctly classified, with 19 (63.3%) samples failing diagnosis.Discussion: The spatial distribution that involved all the Pantanal area showed that all the animals in the area are at risk of contamination by Leptospira spp. Although most samples had been classified correctly by the decision tree, a degree of difficulty of separability related to seropositive animals was observed, with only 36.7% of the samples classified correctly. This can occur due to the fact of seronegative animals number is superior to the number of seropositive ones, taking the differences in the pattern of variable behavior. The data mining helped to evaluate the most important risk factors for leptospirosis in an urban poor community of Curitiba. The variables selected by decision tree reflected the important factors about the existence of the disease (default of sewer, presence of rats and rubbish and dogs with free access to street). The analyses showed the multifactorial character of the epidemiology of canine leptospirosis.

Microbiological evaluation of milk samples positive to California Mastitis Test in dairy buffalo cows (Buballus bubalis)

In order to observe the microbiological status of CMT positive samples, 734 apparently health mammary quarters from buffalo cows were submitted to physical evaluation, strip cup test and CMT. After milk samples inoculation in 10% ovine blood agar base media and in MacConkey agar and incubation under aerobic condition for 72 hours at 37 degrees C, identification was proceeded. According to CMT, 227 quarters (30,93%) were positive, among them 73 (32,16%) presented 1+ reaction, 53 (23,35%) were 2+ and 101 (44,49%) were 3+. Microbiological exams of such samples were positive in 147 (64,76%) out of 227 CMT positive samples and among the remaining 72 (31,72%) were negative and 8 (3,52) were contaminated. In the 147 microbiological positive samples 204 bacteria were found in pure or associated growth and the most frequent agents were: Corynebacterium sp (59,25%); Staphylococcus sp (17,65%) among which 86,11% were coagulase negative and 13,89% were coagulase positive; and Micrococcus sp (6,37%). The results revealed that, excluding the eight contaminated samples, 147 (67,12%) quarters out of 219 CMT positive could be considered as bacteria-carrier and that even in a smaller percentage false-positive results can cause problems in a sanitary program for mastitis control in dairy buffalo cows.

Parturition intervals and distributions of parturitions by months of buffalo in Southern and South-eastern Brazil

Reproductive rate is an important component of economic success in livestock production. Parturition interval (IEP) is a direct measure of the productivity of the animal. Long IEP reduce the number of calves produced per year. The objective this study was to determine the distribution of parturitions across month and to evaluate factors affecting IEP. The data included 7,588 parturitions of Murrah, Mediterranean and Carabobo buffalo from 10 herds in Southern and South-eastern Brazil. The analysis of distribution of parturitions evaluated the effects of month, year and their interaction on birth date of calves by using a Chi-Square test in SAS PROC FREQ (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). Parturition intervals (n = 2,630) were evaluated using analysis of variance in SAS PROC GLM. The model for IEP included the fixed effects of season (December to May = 1, June to November = 2), year, season x year, sex of the preceding parturition, age of weaning of the previous calf, and herd. All sources of variation were significant (P<0.0001) except sex of the preceding parturition (P <0.85). The mean IEP was 446.7 +/- 10.4 days, for seasons 1 and 2 IEP were 419.8 +/- 11.3 and 473.6 +/- 40.7 days, respectively, a difference of 54 days. As weaning age increased there was a lengthening of IEP. Buffalo in Brazil showed seasonal parturition with calving concentrated from January to April, although the frequency by month differed across years (P<0.0001). These months also had the lowest calving interval.

Distribution of contagious and environmental mastitis agents isolated from milk samples collected from clinically health buffalo cows between brazilian dry and rainy seasons of the year

The present study was performed to evaluate the microbiological characteristics of clinically health quarters submitted to milking and also to observe the distribution of contagious and environmental agents between brazilian dry and rainy seasons of the year. During nine months 734 quarters from 37 buffalo cows were submitted monthly to udder inspection, palpation and strip cup test before milking. 734 asseptic milk samples were inoculated in 10% ovine blood agar and in MacConkey agar media, then incubated for 72 hours at 37 C. Among the 580 isolated microrganisms, 182 (31,38%) were recovered from samples collected during the rainy season and 398 (68,62%) from the dry season. In the rainy period the most prevalent agents were: bacteria from the genus Corynebacterium sp (53,30%), Staphylococcus sp (19,78%) and Rhodococcus equi (13,74%). In the dry period, the commonest ones were: Corynebacterium sp (44,97%), Staphylococcus sp (18,84%) and Micrococcus sp (9,55%). The results demonstrated that the methods used to select health quarters in brazilian dairy buffalo farms allow the transmission of contagious bacteria during both seasons of the year, maintaining agents known to cause mainly subclinical inflammatory reactions that compromise cronically the physiology and production of the mammary gland.