Uso da espectroscopia do infravermelho próximo e técnicas multivariadas para diferenciar escherichia coli e salmonella enteritidis inoculadas em polpa de fruta (abacaxi)

Aiming to consumer s safety the presence of pathogenic contaminants in foods must be monitored because they are responsible for foodborne outbreaks that depending on the level of contamination can ultimately cause the death of those who consume them. In industry is necessary that this identification be fast and profitable. This study shows the utility and application of near-infrared (NIR) transflectance spectroscopy as an alternative method for the identification and classification of Escherichia coli and Salmonella Enteritidis in commercial fruit pulp (pineapple). Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) and Discriminant Analysis Partial Least Squares (PLS-DA) were used in the analysis. It was not possible to obtain total separation between samples using PCA and SIMCA. The PLS-DA showed good performance in prediction capacity reaching 87.5% for E. coli and 88.3% for S. Enteritides, respectively. The best models were obtained for the PLS-DA with second derivative spectra treated with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.87 and 0.83, respectively. These results suggest that the NIR spectroscopy and PLS-DA can be used to discriminate and detect bacteria in the fruit pulp

Estudo da potencialidade da espectroscopia de infravermelho próximo na análise de cabelo utilizando ferramentas quimiométricas para diferenciar fumantes de não fumantes

This paper investigates the potential of near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) for forensic analysis of human hair samples in order to differentiate smokers from nonsmokers, using chemometric modeling as an analytical tool. We obtained a total of 19 hair samples, 9 smokers and 10 nonsmokers varying gender, hair color, age and duration of smoking, all collected directly from the head of the same great Natal-RN. From the NIR spectra obtained without any pretreatment of the samples was performed an exploratory multivariate chemical data by applying spectral pretreatments followed by principal component analysis (PCA). After chemometric modeling of the data was achieved without any experimental data beyond the NIR spectra, differentiate smokers from nonsmokers, by demonstrating the significant influence of tabacco on the chemical composition of hair as well as the potential of the methodology in forensic identification

Hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos no meio ambiente: diferenciação de fontes em sedimentos e metabólitos em bile de peixes

Many studies on environmental ecosystems quality related to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been carried out routinely due to their ubiquotus presence worldwide and to their potential toxicity after its biotransformation. PAH may be introduced into the environmet by natural and anthropogenic processes from direct runoff and discharges and indirect atmospheric deposition. Sources of naturally occurring PAHs include natural fires, natural oil seepage and recent biological or diagenetic processes. Anthropogenic sources of PAHs, acute or chronic, are combustion of organic matter (petroleum, coal, wood), waste and releases/spills of petroleum and derivatives (river runoff, sewage outfalls, maritime transport, pipelines). Besides the co-existence of multiples sources of PAH in the environmental samples, these compounds are subject to many processes that lead to geochemical fates (physical-chemical transformation, biodegradation and photo-oxidation), which leads to an alteration of their composition. All these facts make the identification of the hydrocarbons sources, if petrogenic, pyrolytic or natural, a challenge. One of the objectives of this study is to establish tools to identify the origin of hydrocarbons in environmental samples. PAH diagnostic ratios and PAH principal component analysis were tested on a critical area: Guanabara Bay sediments. Guanabara Bay is located in a complex urban area of Rio de Janeiro with a high anthropogenic influence, being an endpoint of chronic pollution from the Greater Rio and it was the scenario of an acute event of oil release in January 2000. It were quantified 38 compounds, parental and alkylated PAH, in 21 sediment samples collected in two surveys: 2000 and 2003. The PAH levels varied from 400 to 58439 ng g-1. Both tested techniques for origin identification of hydrocarbons have shown their applicability, being able to discriminate the PAH sources for the majority of the samples analysed. The bay sediments were separated into two big clusters: sediments with a clear pattern of petrogenic introduction of hydrocarbons (from intertidal area) and sediments with combustion characteristics (from subtidal region). Only a minority of the samples could not display a clear contribution of petrogenic or pyrolytic input. The diagnostic ratios that have exhibited high ability to distinguish combustion- and petroleum-derived PAH inputs for Guanabara Bay sediments were Phenanthrene+Anthracene/(Phenanthrene+Anthracene+C1Phenanthrene); Fluorantene/(Fluorantene+Pyrene); Σ (other 3-6 ring PAHs)/ Σ (5 alkylated PAH series). The PCA results prooved to be a useful tool for PAH source identification in the environment, corroborating the diagnostic indexes. In relation to the temporal evaluation carried out in this study, it was not verified significant changes on the class of predominant source of the samples. This result indicates that the hydrocarbons present in the Guanabara Bay sediments are mainly related to the long-term anthropogenic input and not directly related to acute events such as the oil spill of January 2000. This findings were similar to various international estuarine sites. Finally, this work had a complementary objective of evaluating the level of hydrocarbons exposure of the aquatic organisms of Guanabara Bay. It was a preliminary study in which a quantification of 12 individual biliar metabolites of PAH was performed in four demersal fish representing three different families. The analysed metabolites were 1-hydroxynaphtalene, 2-hidroxinaphtalene, 1hydroxyphenanthrene, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, 2-hydroxyphenanthrene, 1hydroxypyrene, 3-hidroxibiphenil, 3- hydroxyphenanthrene, 1-hydroxychrysene, 9hydroxyfluorene, 4-hydroxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxybenz(a)pyrene. The metabolites concentrations were found to be high, ranging from 13 to 177 µg g-1, however they were similar to worldwide regions under high anthropogenic input. Besides the metabolites established by the used protocol, it was possible to verified high concentrations of three other compounds not yet reported in the literature. They were related to pyrolytic PAH contribution to Guanabara Bay aquatic biota: 1-hydroxypyrine and 3-hydroxybenz(a)pyrine isomers

Perfil de mortalidade de idosos no Rio Grande do Norte: estudo comparativo entre duas faixas etárias e fatores relacionados

Measures of mortality represent one of the most important indicators of health conditions. For comprising the larger rate of deaths, the study of mortality in the elderly population is regarded as essential to understand the health situation. In this sense, the present study aims to analyze the mortality profile of the population from 60 to 69 (young elders) and older than 80 years old (oldest old) in the Rio Grande do Norte state (Brazil) in the period 2001 to 2011, and to identify the association with contextual factors and variables about the quality of the Mortality Information System (SIM). For this purpose, Mortality Proportional (MP) was calculated for the state and Specific Mortality Rate by Age (CMId) , according to chapters of ICD- 10, to the municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte , through data from the Mortality Information System (SIM) and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE). In order to identify groups of municipalities with similar mortality profiles, Nonhierarchical Clustering K-means method was applied and the Factor Analysis by the Principal Components Analysis was resort to reduce contextual variables. The spatial distribution of these groups and the factors were visualized using the Spatial Analysis Areas technique. During the period investigated, 21,813 younger elders deaths were recorded , with a predominance of deaths from circulatory diseases (32.75%) and neoplasms (22.9 %) . Among the oldest old, 50,637 deaths were observed, which 35.26% occurred because of cardiovascular diseases and 17.27% of ill-defined causes. Clustering Analysis produced three clusters to the two age groups and Factor Analysis reduced the contextual variables into three factors, also the sum of the factor scores was considered. Among the younger elders, the groups are called misinformation profile, development profile and development paradox, which showed a statistically significant association with education and poverty and extreme poverty factors, factorial sum and the variable related to underreporting of deaths. Misinformation profile remained in the oldest old group, accompanied by the epidemiological transition profile and the epidemiological paradox, that were statistically associated with the development and health factor, as well as with the variables that indicate the SIM quality: proportion of blank fields about the schooling and underreporting. It proposed that the mortality profiles of the younger elders and oldest old differ on the importance of the basic causes and that are influenced by different contextual aspects , observing that 60 to 69 years group is more affected by such aspects. Health inequalities can be reduced by measures aimed to improve levels of education and poverty, especially in younger elders, and by optimizing the use of health services, which is more associated to the oldest old health situation. Furthermore, it is important to improve the quality of information for the two age groups

Prevalência e fatores associados ao risco e a desnutrição em idosos institucionalizados

One of the most important problems in the elderly is a nutritional deficiency. Several physiological changes and the use of multiple drugs interfere with appetite, food intake and absorption of nutrients, which can lead to the risk and malnutrition in the elderly, especially among institutionalized. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition and risk for malnutrition and its associated factors in institutionalized elderly. The same can be characterized by the type individual, observational and cross-sectional. Obtaining the sample was through the records of individuals of long-stay institutions for the elderly in the city of Natal, RN. The elderly were evaluated through the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and triceps skinfold (TSF) and each senior or caregiver answered a questionnaire about information like type and dietary restrictions, accessibility to food, use of alcohol and tobacco, practice physical activity and appetite. Variables such as age, gender, education, marital status, time that the elderly living in the institution, the reason for the institutionalization and comorbidities were taken from the records of each senior. The frequency of food consumption of various food groups was assessed from the questionnaire frequency of feeding study Health, Wellbeing and Aging (HWA). Data were presented as means and standard deviations, absolute and relative frequencies. To analyze the frequency of consumption, there was a factor analysis with extraction of factors from the principal components analysis with varimax rotation. A bivariate analysis was performed using the chi-square and the magnitude of the effect observed by prevalence ratio (95% CI). The Poisson regression assessed the net effect of independent variables on the two outcomes, considering a significance level of 5%. We studied twelve Homes for the Aged totaling 381 seniors eligible for the study. The prevalence of risk of malnutrition was 46.1% (45.9 to 46.2) and malnutrition was 31.4% (31.2 to 31.5). The risk of malnutrition was significantly associated with the presence of urinary incontinence (RP = 1.444, 1.113 to 1.874) was associated with malnutrition and lack of appetite (RP = 1.757, 1.246 to 2.476), the fact that the individuals do not have access to food outside the institution (RP = 0.565, 0.337 to 0.946), low water consumption (RP = 1.646, 1.101 to 2.459) and dementia (PR = 1.537, 1.072 to 2.204). The high prevalence of malnutrition and risk of malnutrition in the study suggests that we should pay attention to information related to eating habits and the presence of comorbidities, as these can influence the nutritional status of this population

Avaliação de impacto ambiental e gestão dos recursos natuarias no estuário Apodi Mossoró, nordeste do Brasil

The aim of this study is to investigate the eco-environmental vulnerability, its changes, and its causes to develop a management system for application of eco-environmental vulnerability and risk assessment in the Apodi-Mossory estuary, Northeast Brazil. This analysis is focused on the interference of the landscape conditions, and its changes, due to the following factors: the oil and natural gas industry, tropical fruits industry, shrimp farms, marine salt industry, occupation of the sensitive areas; demand for land, vegetation degradation, siltation in rivers, severe flooding, sea level rise (SLR), coastal dynamics, low and flat topography, high ecological value and tourism in the region and the rapid growth of urbanization. Conventional and remote sensing data were analyzed using modeling techniques based on ArcGIS, ER-Mapper, ERDAS Imagine and ENVI software. Digital images were initially processed by Principal Component Analysis and transformation of the maximum fraction of noise, and then all bands were normalized to reduce errors caused by bands of different sizes. They were integrated in a Geographic Information System analysis to detect changes, to generate digital elevation models, geomorphic indices and other variables of the study area. A three band color combination of multispectral bands was used to monitor changes of land and vegetation cover from 1986 to 2009. This task also included the analysis of various secondary data, such as field data, socioeconomic data, environmental data and prospects growth. The main objective of this study was to improve our understanding of eco-environmental vulnerability and risk assessment; it´s causes basically show the intensity, its distribution and human-environment effect on the ecosystem, and identify the high and low sensitive areas and area of inundation due to future SLR, and the loss of land due to coastal erosion in the Apodi-Mossoró estuary in order to establish a strategy for sustainable land use. The developed model includes some basic factors such as geology, geomorphology, soils, land use / land cover, vegetation cover, slope, topography and hydrology. The numerical results indicate that 9.86% of total study area was under very high vulnerability, 29.12% high vulnerability, 52.90% moderate vulnerability and 2.23% were in the category of very low vulnerability. The analysis indicates that 216.1 km² and 362.8 km² area flooded on 1m and 10m in sea levels respectively. The sectors most affected were residential, industrial and recreational areas, agricultural land, and ecosystems of high environmental sensitivity. The results showed that changes in eco-environmental vulnerability have a significant impact on the sustainable development of the RN state, since the indicator is a function of sensitivity, exposure and status in relation to a level of damage. The model were presented as a tool to assist in indexing vulnerability in order to optimize actions and assess the implications of decisions makers and policies regarding the management of coastal and estuarine areas. In this context aspects such as population growth, degradation of vegetation, land use / land cover, amount and type of industrialization, SLR and government policies for environmental protection were considered the main factors that affect the eco-environmental changes over the last three decades in the Apodi-Mossoró estuary.

Monitoramento ambiental da costa do Rio Grande do Norte com base em sensoriamento remoto e geodésia de precisão

This paper presents models of parameters of Sea Surface Layer (SSL), such as chlorophyll-a, sea surface temperature (SST), Primary Productivity (PP) and Total Suspended Matter (TSM) for the region adjacent to the continental shelf of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Brazil. Concentrations of these parameters measured in situ were compared in time quasi-synchronous with images AQUA-MODIS between the years 2003 to 2011. Determination coefficients between samples in situ and bands reflectance sensor AQUA-MODIS were representative. From that, concentrations of SSL parameters were acquired for the continental shelf of the RN (eastern and northern) analyzing the geographic distribution of variation of these parameters between the years 2009-2012. Geographical and seasonal variations mainly influenced by global climate phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, were found through the analysis of AQUA-MODIS images by Principal Components Analysis (PCA). Images show qualitatively the variance and availability of TSM in the regions, as well as their relationship with coastal erosion hotspots, monitored along the coast of the RN. In one of the areas identified as being of limited availability of TSM, we developed a methodology for assessment and evaluation of Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of beach surfaces (emerged and submerged sections) from the integration of topographic and bathymetric data measured in situ and accurately georeferenced compatible to studies of geomorphology and coastal dynamics of short duration. The methodology consisted of surveys with GNSS positioning operated in cinematic relative mode involved in topographic and bathymetric executed in relation to the stations of the geodetic network of the study area, which provided geodetic link to the Brazilian Geodetic System (GBS), univocal , fixed, and relatively stable over time. In this study Ponta Negra Beach, Natal / RN, was identified as a region with low variance and availability of MPS in the region off, as characterized by intense human occupation and intense coastal erosion in recent decades, which presents potential of the proposed methodology for accuracy and productivity, and the progress achieved in relation to the classical methods of surveying beach profiles

Cartografia temporal e análise geoambiental da dinâmica da foz do Rio Piranhas-Açu, regiao de Macau-RN, com base em imagens Landast 5-MT

This work embraces the application of Landsat 5-TM digital images, comprising August 2 1989 and September 22 1998, for temporal mapping and geoenvironmental analysis of the dynamic of Piranhas-Açu river mouth, situated in the Macau (RN) region. After treatment using several digital processing techniques (e.g. colour composition in RGB, ratio of bands, principal component analysis, index methods, among others), it was possible to generate several image products and multitemporal maps of the coastal morphodynamics of the studied area. Using the image products it was possible the identification and characterization of the principal elements of interest (vegetation, soil, geology and water) in the surface of the studied area, associating the spectral characteristics of these elements to that presented by the image products resulting of the digital processing. Thus, it was possible to define different types of soils: Amd, AQd6, SK1 and LVe4; vegetation grouping: open arboreal-shrubby caatinga, closed arborealshrubby caatinga, closed arboreal caatinga, mangrove vegetation, dune vegetation and areas predominately constituted by juremas; geological units: quaternary units beach sediments, sand banks, dune flats, barrier island, mobile dunes, fixed dunes, alluvium, tidal and inundation flats, and sandy facies of the Potengi Formation; tertiary-quaternary units Barreiras Formation grouped to the clayey facies of the Potengi Formation, Macau Formation grouped to the sediments of the Tibau Formation; Cretaceous units Jandaíra Formation; moreover it was to identify the sea/land limit, shallow submersed areas and suspended sediments. The multitemporal maps of the coastal morphodynamics allowed the identification and a semi-quantitative evoluation of regions which were submitted to erosive and constructive processes in the last decade. This semi-quantitative evoluation in association with an geoenvironmental characterization of the studied area are important data to the elaboration of actions that may minimize the possible/probable impacts caused by the implantation of the Polo Gas/Sal and to the monitoring of areas explorated by the petroleum and salt industries

Feature selection through gravitational search algorithm

In this paper we deal with the problem of feature selection by introducing a new approach based on Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). The proposed algorithm combines the optimization behavior of GSA together with the speed of Optimum-Path Forest (OPF) classifier in order to provide a fast and accurate framework for feature selection. Experiments on datasets obtained from a wide range of applications, such as vowel recognition, image classification and fraud detection in power distribution systems are conducted in order to asses the robustness of the proposed technique against Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)-based algorithm for feature selection.

Phosphatidylcholine and Sphingomyelin Profiles Vary in Bos taurus indicus and Bos taurus taurus In Vitro- and In Vivo-Produced Blastocysts

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

Diferenciação entre Egeria densa e Egeria najas pelos caracteres anatômicos foliares

Dentre as plantas daninhas aquáticas imersas de maior importância nos reservatórios de usinas hidrelétricas e em represas de pequeno porte no Brasil, destacam-se as espécies Egeria densa e Egeria najas, cuja identificação pode ser difícil na fase vegetativa. O objetivo deste trabalho foi diferenciar cinco acessos de E. densa e três de E. najas, coletados nos reservatórios de Jupiá, Salto Grande, Três Irmãos, Promissão, Nova Avanhandava e Ibitinga, do complexo da Companhia Energética de São Paulo (CESP) do Estado de São Paulo, quanto às características anatômicas descritivas e quantitativas do limbo foliar, procurando-se obter melhor entendimento sobre as relações dessas estruturas anatômicas com a penetração e translocação de herbicidas, além de auxiliar na identificação de acessos suscetíveis e resistentes a determinado produto químico. Amostras do terço médio do limbo foram fixadas em FAA 50, cortadas transversalmente em micrótomo rotatório com 8 mm de espessura e coradas com azul-de-toluidina. Foi analisada a estrutura foliar e foram quantificados os caracteres anatômicos da nervura central (% epiderme das faces adaxial e abaxial, % feixe vascular e % parênquima) e da região situada entre a nervura e o bordo do limbo (% epiderme das faces adaxial e abaxial e espessura da folha). Os dados das variáveis quantitativas foram submetidos aos testes estatísticos multivariados de Análise de Agrupamento e Análise de Componentes Principais. Houve formação de três grupos principais: o primeiro foi constituído pelos três acessos de E. najas; o segundo, por quatro acessos de E. densa; e o terceiro, por apenas um acesso de E. densa. O caráter que mais contribuiu para a diferenciação entre os acessos foi a % feixe vascular da nervura central, seguido da % epiderme da face abaxial da nervura central e % epiderme das faces adaxial e abaxial da região entre a nervura e o bordo foliar. Concluiu-se que a utilização de caracteres anatômicos quantitativos permitiu auxiliar na diferenciação dos acessos e das espécies estudadas; entretanto, devem ser incrementados os estudos relacionando a estrutura anatômica com a resistência e suscetibilidade aos herbicidas.

Características da anatomia foliar de espécies de braquiária e sua relação com a sensibilidade a herbicidas

O objetivo deste trabalho foi relacionar as características da anatomia foliar de Brachiaria decumbens (capim-braquiária) e Brachiaria plantaginea (capim-marmelada), em três estádios de desenvolvimento da planta, com a sensibilidade a herbicidas. A semeadura foi feita em vasos plásticos, contendo solo, mantidos em casa de vegetação. Foi amostrada a porção mediana do limbo da terceira folha expandida, a partir da base do colmo, compreendendo três estádios de desenvolvimento da planta: estádio 1 (com 4-6 folhas), estádio 2 (com 3-4 perfilhos) e estádio 3 (plantas adultas no início do florescimento). Foram quantificados os seguintes descritores anatômicos das regiões da quilha (nervura central) e da asa (porção entre a nervura central e a margem do limbo): área da secção transversal; porcentagens de epiderme das faces adaxial e abaxial, esclerênquima, bainha do feixe vascular, feixe vascular e parênquima; espessura da folha; distância entre os feixes vasculares; comprimento do estômato; e número de estômatos e de tricomas (curtos e longos). Os valores obtidos foram submetidos aos testes estatísticos multivariados de Análise de Agrupamento e Análise dos Componentes Principais. Os descritores avaliados permitiram diferenciar o estádio 3 de desenvolvimento da planta em relação aos demais, o qual pode ser considerado o menos sensível à ação dos herbicidas aplicados em pós-emergência.

Diferenciação de espécies daninhas aquáticas pela análise multivariada de caracteres estruturais foliares

Algumas espécies de plantas aquáticas têm-se tornado problemáticas em reservatórios hidrelétricos no Brasil, devido a sua grande capacidade de reprodução. O objetivo destes trabalho foi diferenciar Brachiaria mutica, Brachiaria subquadripara, Panicum repens, Eichhornia crassipes, Heteranthera reniformis, Typha ubulata e Enhydra anagallis, utilizando-se 19 caracteres estruturais quantitativos do limbo foliar, que se relacionassem com a penetração e translocação de herbicidas. Amostras do terço médio do limbo foram fixadas em FAA 50, cortadas transversalmente em micrótomo com 8 mm de espessura e coradas com azul-de-toluidina. Foram quantificados (%) os seguintes caracteres estruturais da nervura central (NC) e da região internervural (IN): epidermes adaxial e abaxial, feixe vascular, bainha do feixe vascular, esclerênquima, parênquima e lacunas do aerênquima, além da espessura da folha, do número de estômatos e do número de tricomas nas faces adaxial e abaxial. Os 19 caracteres estruturais foram submetidos à Análise de Agrupamento e Análise de Componentes Principais. Houve a formação de três grupos principais: grupo 1 B. mutica, B. subquadripara e P. repens (Poaceae); grupo 2 E. crassipes e H. reniformis (Pontederiaceae) e E. anagallis (Asteraceae); e grupo 3 apenas T. subulata (Typhaceae). Os caracteres com maior poder discriminatório foram: porcentagem de epiderme adaxial (IN); porcentagem de epiderme abaxial; feixe vascular; bainha do feixe vascular; esclerênquima e lacunas do aerênquima (NC e IN); espessura da folha e número de estômatos das faces adaxial e abaxial. Concluiu-se que os caracteres estruturais quantitativos permitiram diferenciar essas espécies daninhas aquáticas em fase vegetativa.

Caracterização morfológica de espécies de trapoeraba (Commelina spp.) utilizando a análise multivariada

As espécies Commelina benghalensis, C. villosa, C. diffusa e C. erecta são conhecidas como trapoeraba e, freqüentemente, são confundidas entre si, dificultando o controle químico, o que pode provocar prejuízos econômicos e danos ambientais. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo selecionar características morfológicas que possibilitem facilitar a identificação dessas espécies, utilizando a técnica de análise multivariada. Foram avaliadas 12 características morfológicas descritivas e 13 quantitativas, utilizando-se os métodos de análise de agrupamento e análise de componentes principais. As espécies apresentaram alto grau de dissimilaridade, sobretudo em relação às características descritivas, destacando-se: hábito da planta, pilosidade do caule e da folha, entre outros. As características quantitativas também mostraram poder discriminatório. Características que apresentaram alto valor taxonômico foram selecionadas para compor a chave de identificação para as quatro espécies de Commelina.

Genomic DNA microarray comparison of gene expression patterns in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis mycelia and yeasts in vitro

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is a thermally dimorphic fungus, and causes the most prevalent systemic mycosis in Latin America. Infection is initiated by inhalation of conidia or mycelial fragments by the host, followed by further differentiation into the yeast form. Information regarding gene expression by either form has rarely been addressed with respect to multiple time points of growth in culture. Here, we report on the construction of a genomic DNA microarray, covering approximately 25% of the genome of the organism, and its utilization in identifying genes and gene expression patterns during growth in vitro. Cloned, amplified inserts from randomly sheared genomic DNA (gDNA) and known control genes were printed onto glass slides to generate a microarray of over 12 000 elements. To examine gene expression, mRNA was extracted and amplified from mycelial or yeast cultures grown in semi-defined medium for 5, 8 and 14 days. Principal components analysis and hierarchical clustering indicated that yeast gene expression profiles differed greatly from those of mycelia, especially at earlier time points, and that mycelial gene expression changed less than gene expression in yeasts over time. Genes upregulated in yeasts were found to encode proteins shown to be involved in methionine/cysteine metabolism, respiratory and metabolic processes (of sugars, amino acids, proteins and lipids), transporters (small peptides, sugars, ions and toxins), regulatory proteins and transcription factors. Mycelial genes involved in processes such as cell division, protein catabolism, nucleotide biosynthesis and toxin and sugar transport showed differential expression. Sequenced clones were compared with Histoplasma capsulatum and Coccidioides posadasii genome sequences to assess potentially common pathways across species, such as sulfur and lipid metabolism, amino acid transporters, transcription factors and genes possibly related to virulence. We also analysed gene expression with time in culture and found that while transposable elements and components of respiratory pathways tended to increase in expression with time, genes encoding ribosomal structural proteins and protein catabolism tended to sharply decrease in expression over time, particularly in yeast. These findings expand our knowledge of the different morphological forms of P. brasiliensis during growth in culture.