Foraging, diet and community structure in an epigaeic ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) assemblage: the role of recruitment

The significance of recruitment systems for community structure of epigaeic ants in a tropical upland forest in southern Brazil was evaluated by examining patterns of spatial occurrence at fixed points. Normal exploratory activity was evaluated with pitfall traps, while the effect of recruitment and diet was evaluated by using honey and sardine baits at the same points. Through techniques developed for environmental impact assessment, the significance of recruitment was evaluated following perturbation, or the placement of bait. Of the 46 species encountered, 15 were sufficiently frequent to study. Of these, only 6 showed significant spatial frequency changes at baits when compared with pitfall trap collections. In one analysis, monthly differences were important for a few smaller species, suggesting thermic limitations, while bait types either increased or decreased spatial point usage. The magnitude of spatial point variation is an index for the strength of recruitment in community organization. Bait types suggest nutritional possibilities of each species. Both recruitment and diet are probably functions of the species composition of the ant community.

Relationship of venom ontogeny and diet in Bothrops

We studied ontogenetic changes in venom toxicity of the pitvipers Bothrops jararaca and B. alternatus in order to evaluate the relationship between venom action and diet. Toxicity tests (LD50) were performed for the venoms of adult and juvenile snakes on mice and bullfrog froglets, which represented endothermic and ectothermic prey respectively. The venom of juveniles of B. jararaca, but not of B. alternatus, had a higher toxicity on anurans than that of adults. This finding is consistent with the feeding habits of these two species, because juveniles of B. jararaca feed mainly on small anurans and lizards, shifting to endothermic prey at maturity, whereas B. alternatus preys mainly on endotherms throughout its life. Venom toxicity in endotherms was higher for adults of B. jararaca compared to juveniles, a feature not observed for B. alternatus. It is proposed that prey death/immobilization is the main function of the venom of juvenile snakes. As the snake grows, the digestive role of venom may become increasingly important, because adults prey upon large and bulky prey. The importance of adult venoms in prey digestion is reflected in their higher proteolytic activity.

Influence of the diet on in situ disappearance of dry matter, organic matter, and neutral detergent fiber of hydrolysed sugar cane bagasse

The effects of two diets based on hydrolysed sugarcane bagasse (HSB) and whole cottonseed (WCS), with or without oat hay, were analyzed for the in situ disappearance of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of HSB. Six mature castrated rams with a permanent T ruminai cannula were used in a complete randomized split plot design. The incubation times were 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48 and 72h. The diet with oat hay showed higher disappearance indexes for the NDF fraction. Furthermore, the maximum degradation of HSB constituents was reached around 48h of incubation. The diets were T1=64% hydrolyzed sugarcane + 36% whole cottonseed and T2=14% hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse + 36% cottonseed + 50% oat hay.

Sloths in the diet of a Harpy Eagle nestling in eastern Amazon

-Prey remains of a nestling Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) over 15 months in eastern Amazon, Brazil included 11 two-toed sloths (Choloepus didactylus), 9 three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus), and 1 gray four-eyed opossum (Philander opossum). We found no evidence of predation on primates despite their abundance in the area and their importance to Harpy Eagles studied elsewhere. We observed no sloths in 605 km of line transects, a finding that suggests the inadequacy of transect data to estimate prey density for Harpy Eagles.

Diet, phylogeny, and basal metabolic rate in phyllostomid bats

Aside from the pervasive effects of body mass, much controversy exists as to what factors account for interspecific variation in basal metabolic rates (BMR) of mammals; however, both diet and phylogeny have been strongly implicated. We examined variation in BMR within the New World bat family Phyllostomidae, which shows the largest diversity of food habits among mammalian families, including frugivorous, nectarivorous, insectivorous, carnivorous and blood-eating species. For 27 species, diet was taken from the literature and BMR was either measured on animals captured in Brazil or extracted from the literature. Conventional (nonphylogenetic) analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), with body mass as the covariate, was first used to test the effects of diet on BMR. In this analysis, which assumes that all species evolved simultaneously from a single ancestor (i.e., a star phylogeny), diet exerted a strong effect on mass-in-dependent BMR: nectarivorous bats showed higher mass-independent BMR than other bats feeding on fruits, insects or blood. In phylogenetic ANCOVAs via Monte Carlo computer simulation, which assume that species are part of a branching hierarchical phylogeny, no statistically significant effect of diet on BMR was observed. Hence, results of the nonphylogenetic analysis were misleading because the critical values for testing the effect of diet were underestimated. However, in this sample of bats, diet is perfectly confounded with phylogeny, because the four dietary categories represent four separate subclades, which greatly reduces statistical power to detect a diet (= subclade) effect. But even if diet did appear to exert an influence on BMR in this sample of bats, it would not be logically possible to separate this effect from the possibility that the dietary categories differ for some other reason (i.e., another synapomorphy of one or more of the subclades). Examples such as this highlight the importance of considering phylogenetic relationships when designing new comparative studies, as well as when analyzing existing data sets. We also discuss some possible reasons why BMR may not coadapt with diet. © by Urban & Fischer Verlag.

The adverse effect of a high energy dense diet on cardiac tissue

Purpose: To determine whether a high energy dense diet intake increases oxidative stress and alters antioxidant enzymes in cardiac tissue. Design: A randomized, controlled study. Ninety-day-old female rats were randomly divided into two groups: one fed with a low energy dense diet (LE; 3.0 kcal g-1) and one with a high energy dense diet (HE; 4.5 kcal g-1). Materials and Methods: After 8 weeks of treatment, the animals were fasted overnight and sacrificed by decapitation. The serum was used for glucose, triacylglycerol, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol determinations. The glycogen, lipoperoxide, lipid hydroperoxide, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, total and non-protein sulphhydryl groups were determined in cardiac tissue. Results: HE decreased the myocardial glycogen content and increased the lactate dehydrogenase/citrate synthase ratio, indicating an increased glycolytic pathway and a shift from myocardial aerobic metabolism. HE-treated female rats showed increased lipoperoxide and hydroperoxide levels in cardiac tissue. Although no alterations were observed in the total sulphhydryl group and superoxide dismutase activities, glutathione peroxidase and the non-protein sulphhydryl group were significantly decreased in HE-treated animals. Conclusions: Although no alterations were observed in energy intake, HE induced an increased intake of fat and carbohydrate and an increased rate of weight gain. HE intake induced alterations in markers of oxidative stress in cardiac tissue. Hydrogen peroxide is an important toxic intermediate in the development of cardiac oxidative stress by HE. The specific nutrient content, such as fat and carbohydrate, rather than caloric intake, appears to be the main process inducing oxidative stress in HE-treated female rats.

Free diet selection by broilers as influenced by dietary macronutrient ratio and corticosterone supplementation. 1. Diet selection, organ weights, and plasma metabolites

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Evaluation of a protein deficient diet in rats through blood oxidative stress biomarkers

Protein malnutrition leads to functional impairment in several organs, which is not fully restored with nutritional recovery. Little is known about the role of oxidative stress in the genesis of these alterations. This study was designed to assess the sensitivity of blood oxidative stress biomarkers to a dietary protein restriction. Male Wistar rats were divided into two groups, according to the diet fed from weaning (21 days) to 60 day old: normal protein (17% protein) and low protein (6% protein). Serum protein, albumin, free fatty acid and liver glycogen and lipids were evaluated to assess the nutritional status. Blood glutathione reductase (GR) and catalase (CAT) activities, plasma total sulfhydryl groups concentration (TSG) as well as plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) and reactive carbonyl derivatives (RCD) were measured as biomarkers of the antioxidant system and oxidative damage, respectively. The glucose metabolism in soleus muscle was also evaluated as an index of stress severity imposed to muscular mass by protein malnutrition. No difference was observed in muscle glucose metabolism or plasma RCD concentration between both groups. However, our results showed that the low protein group had higher plasma TBARs (62%) concentration and lower TSG (44%) concentration than control group, indicating increased reactive oxygen species production in low protein group. The enhancement of erythrocyte GR (29%) and CAT (28%) activities in this group also suggest an adaptation to the stress generated by the protein deficiency. Taken together, the results presented here show that the biomarkers used were able to reflect the oxidative stress level induced by this specific protein deficient diet.

The ultrastructure of the intestinal epithelium in Oreochromis niloticus on a diet with different concentrations of zinc

The effects of diets with variable zinc levels on the midgut epithelial cells were studied in Oreochromis niloticus L. One hundred and twenty fry of tilapia were apportioned into 4 experimental groups (I, II, III and IV groups), with 30 fish in each treatment, 5 replicate aquaria per treatment containing 6 fish each. The animals of the 4 groups were fed with isonitrogenous (30% crude protein) and isoenergetic (3000 Kcal/Kg of digestible energy) diets with increasing quantities of zinc (44.59; 149.17; 309.93; 599.67 mg Zn/kg of diet), twice a day, for 93 days. Three fish from each group were sacrificed at 36, 66 and 93 days and samples of midgut were removed for ultrastructural analysis. After 93 days of treatment, 3 animals of each experimental group were used for the analysis of zinc concentration by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The comparative relative index (CRI) revealed that the animals in groups II, III and IV contained, respectively, 1.99%, 34.67% and 22.78% more zinc than the mean concentration in animals from group I. The ultrastructural analysis showed enterocytes with swelling of smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and dilated mitochondria with variable matrix rarefaction and cristae number reduction in the fish exposed to 599.67 mg Zn/Kg of diet at 66 and 93 days of treatment.

Toxicity of hypercaloric diet and monosodium glutamate: oxidative stress and metabolic shifting in hepatic tissue.

The present study examines the effects of a hypercaloric diet on hepatic glucose metabolism of young rats, with and without monosodium glutamate (MSG) administration, and the association of these treatments with evaluating markers of oxidative stress. Male weaned Wistar rats (21 days old) from mothers fed with a hypercaloric diet or a normal diet, were divided into four groups (n=6): control (C) fed with control diet; (MSG) treated with MSG (4 mg/g) and control diet; (HD) fed with hypercaloric diet and (MSG-HD) treated with MSG and HD. Rats were sacrificed after the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), at 45 days of treatments. Serum was used for insulin determination. Glycogen, hexokinase(HK), glucose-6-phosphatase(G6PH), lipid hydroperoxide, superoxide dismutase(SOD) and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) were determined in liver. HD rats showed hypoglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and high hepatic glycogen, HK and decreased G6PH. MSG and MSG-HD had hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, decreased HK and increased G6PH in hepatic tissue. These animals had impaired OGTT. HD, MSG and MSG-HD groups had increased lipid hydroperoxide and decreased SOD in hepatic tissue. Hypercaloric diet and monosodium glutamate administration induced alterations in metabolic rate of glucose utilization and decreased antioxidant defenses. Therefore, the hepatic glucose metabolic shifting induced by HD intake and MSG administration were associated with oxidative stress in hepatic tissue.

Apparent digestible energy and nutrient digestibility coefficients of diet ingredients for pacu Piaractus brachypomus

The digestible energy and apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients of common diet ingredients were determined for pacu Piaractus brachypomus (370.21 ± 17.56 g). Fish were fed with pelleted practical diets to apparent satiation and the feces were collected by siphoning. The digestibility value for each ingredient was determined by comparison of the digestibility of a test diet with a reference diet (24.5% crude protein and 1% chromic oxide). The digestible energy values of soybean meal (SBM), fish meal (FM), corn (CN), and wheat bran (WB) were 2382, 3826, 3353, and 1784 kcal/kg, respectively. The apparent dry matter digestibility coefficients were 83.72, 90.14, 89.13, and 82.05% for SBM, FM, CN, and WB, respectively. The apparent crude protein digestibility coefficients were 75.88, 90.49, 85.06, and 61.62% for SBM, FM, CN, and WB, respectively. The apparent lipid digestibility coefficients were 63.03, 77.00, 83.01, and 82.45% for SBM, FM, CN, and WB, respectively. The digestibility of protein, lipid, and energy from SBM were somewhat low compared to values for other warmwater omnivorous fishes, but similar to values reported for pacu-caranha P. mesopotamicus. Otherwise, the nutrient and energy availability of the ingredients to P. brachypomus was similar to that of other fish. This information will be useful in formulating nutritious, economical diets for pacus. © by the World Aquaculture Society 2004.

Assessment of the diet of 0- to 6-year-old children in municipal schools in a Brazilian city

Diet control is one of the important factors in the prevention of dental caries because food functions as substratum for fermentation and, consequently, for the formation of the organic acids that demineralize the tooth surface. This study aims to descriptively assess school diet and the associated caries-preventive methods applied to children in all municipal nursery schools of a Brazilian city (Aragatuba/SP). For this, a questionnaire with open and closed questions was used. The results showed that all schools serve school meal, which is composed mainly of sugar, carbohydrates, and proteins. The students enjoy the meal very much because for most of them, the meal served at school is the only source of food. It was observed that 90% of the schools offer other kinds of food besides the main school meal. The snacks served such as cakes, white hominy, and milk fudge are composed of sweet and highly cariogenic foods. It was also verified that in 13.30% of the schools, the daily supervised dental hygiene, an important procedure that should not be neglected, is not carried out. This procedure introduces the children to healthy habits that are added to those acquired in the family environment. It was concluded that the school diet is potentially cariogenic and, in association with the lack of daily dental hygiene, this potential may become even higher.