Molecular cloning and characterization of a thioester-containing protein from Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri

Thioester-containing proteins are a family of proteins characterized by the unique intrachain beta-cysteinyl-gamma-glutamyl thioester, which play important roles in innate immune responses. The cDNA of Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri thioester-containing protein (designated as CfTEP) was cloned by expressed sequence tag (EST) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) approaches. The full-length cDNA of CfTEP was of 4616 bp, consisting of a 5 '-terminal untranslated region (UTR) of 30 bp and a 3 ' UTR of 140 bp with a polyadenylation signal sequence AATAAA and a poly(A) tail. The CfTEP cDNA encoded a polypeptide of 1481 amino acids with the theoretical isoelectric point of 5.98 and the predicted molecular weight of 161.4 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of CfTEP contained the canonical thioester motif GCGEQ, nine potential N-glycosylation sites and a C-terminal distinctive cysteine signature. It also contained a presumed catalytic histidine and proteolytic cleavage sites that were similar to C3 molecules. The high similarity of CfTEP with the thioester-containing proteins in other organisms, such as the TEPs from insects, the complement component C3, C4, C5 and the protease inhibitor alpha(2)-macroglobulin indicated that CfTEP should be a member of TEP family. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that CfTEP was closely related to TEPs from mollusc, nematodes and insects, and they formed a separate branch apart from the branches of complements factors and alpha(2)-macroglobulins. The spatial expression of CfTEP transcripts in healthy and bacterial challenged scallops was examined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The CfTEP transcripts were mainly detected in the tissues of hepatopancreas and gonad, and remarkably up-regulated by Microbial challenge, which suggested that CfTEP was a constitutive and inducible acute-phase protein involved in immune defense. These results provided new insights into the role of CfTEP in scallop immune responses, as well as the evolutionary origin of this important, widespread and functionally diversified family of proteins. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Simultaneous enumeration of diatom, protozoa and meiobenthos from marine sediments using Ludox-QPS method

The Ludox-QPS method is a newly developed technique, which combines the Ludox HS 40 density centrifugation and quantitative protargol stain, to enumerate marine ciliates with good taxonomic resolution. We tested the method for simultaneous enumeration of diatoms, protozoa and meiobenthos and compared its extraction efficiency for meiobenthos with that of the routine Ludox-TM centrifugation and a modified protocol using Ludox HS 40. We conducted the evaluation with a sample size of 8.3 ml each from sandy, muddy-sand and muddy sediments collected from the intertidal area of the Yellow Sea in summer 2006 and spring 2007. The Ludox-QPS method not only produced high extraction efficiencies of 97 +/- 1.3% for diatoms and 97.6 +/- 0.8% for ciliates, indicating a reliable enumeration for eukaryotic microbenthos, but also produced excellent extraction efficiencies of on average 97.3% for total meiobenthos, 97.9% for nematodes and 97.8% for copepods from sands, muddy sands and mud. By contrast, the routine Ludox-TM centrifugation obtained only about 74% of total meiobenthos abundance with one extraction cycle, and the modified Ludox HS 40 centrifugation yielded on average 93% of total meiobenthos: 89.4 +/- 2.0% from sands, 93 +/- 4.1% from muddy sands and 97.1 +/- 3.0% from mud. Apart from the sediment type, sample volume was another important factor affecting the extraction efficiency for meiobenthos. The extraction rate was increased to about 96.4% when using the same modified Ludox centrifugation for a 4 ml sediment sample. Besides the excellent extraction efficiency, the Ludox-QPS method obtained higher abundances of meiobenthos, in particular nematodes, than the routine Ludox centrifugation, which frequently resulted in an uncertain loss of small meiobenthos during the sieving process. Statistical analyses demonstrated that there were no significant differences between the meiobenthos communities revealed by the Ludox-QPS method and the modified Ludox HS 40 centrifugation, showing the high efficiency of the Ludox-QPS method for simultaneous enumeration of diatom, protozoa and meiobenthos. Moreover, the comparatively high taxonomic resolution of the method, especially for diatoms and ciliates, makes it feasible to investigate microbial ecology at community level.

Controle de Meloidogyne javanica em tomate-salada e feijao-de-vagem com o cultivo previo de Crotalaria spectabilis.

O feijão-de-vagem é uma hortaliça severamente atacada por Meloidogyne javanica quando cultivada após o tomate-salada. Para avaliar a viabilidade de cultivo do feijão-de-vagem após o tomate-salada, cultivou-se a Crotalaria spectabilis, em faixas, por período de quatro meses, previamente ao cultivo do tomateiro. Faixas cultivadas com quiabeiro, antes do cultivo com tomate-salada, foram mantidas para comparação. Nas faixas cultivadas anteriormente com C. spectabilis, com os índices de multiplicação (IM) variando de 11 a 76 por parcela e os números de ovos do nematóide de 1.500 a 6.000 por planta, as produtividades foram de 2 a 26% maiores em cultivares de tomateiro e de 6 a 31,5% maiores em cultivares de feijão-de-vagem, em comparação com as produtividades obtidas nas faixas de quiabeiro, onde foram obtidos IM de 17 a 165 e números de ovos do nematóide que variaram de 7.200 a 19.000 por planta em cultivares de tomateiro e de feijão-de-vagem. O cultivo prévio da C. spectabilis por quatro meses é uma tecnologia viável para o controle de M. javanica, viabilizando a seqüência de cultivos com tomate-salada e feijão-de-vagem.

Efeito da solarizacao sobre a producao de tomate de mesa e de industria em uma estufa modelo capela.

A tecnologia de controle de nematóides nos solos de estufas, em uso, envolvem o uso de processos físicos(vapor), físicos/químicos e químicos que são onerosos, insalubres, de difíceis manuseio e poluidores do meio ambiente. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo adaptar o processo de solarização de solos, para as condições de plantio protegido de tomate do DF. Os testes com 6 cultivares desenvolvidas em áreas infestadas como Meloidogyne incognita raça 1 e Meloidogyne javanica e com solarização evidenciaram a eficácia da tecnologia de solarização no controle de nematóides de galhas.

Avaliação de acessos do banco de germoplasma de mandioquinha-salsa da Embrapa Hortaliças para resistência a Meloidogyne spp. no campo.

2007

Program, abstracts and related documents.

The context: Soil biodiversity and sustainable agriculture; Abstracts - Theme 1: Monitoring and assessment: Bioindicators of soil health: assessment and monitoring for sustainable agriculture; Practical tools to measure soil health and their use by farmers; Biological soil quality from biomass to biodiversity - importance and resilience to management stress and disturbance; Integrated management of plant-parasitic nematodes in maize-bean cropping systems; Microbial quantitative and qualitative changes in soils under different crops and tillage management systems in Brazil; Diversity in the rhizobia associated with Phaseolus vulgaris L: in Ecuador and comparisons with Mexican bean rhizobia; Sistemas integrados ganadería-agricultura en Cuba; Soil macrofauna as bioindicator of soil quality; Biological functioning of cerrado soils; Hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate as a soil quality indicator in different pasture systems; Soil management and soil macrofauna communities at Embrapa Soybean, Londrina, Brazil; Soil macrofauna in a 24 - year old no-tillage system in Paraná, Brazil; Invertebrate macrofauna of soils inpastures under different forms of management in the cerrado (Brazil); Soil tillage modifies the invertebrate soil macrofauna community; Soil macrofauna in various tillage and land use systems on an oxisols near Londrina, Paraná, Brazil; Interference of agricultural systems on soil macrofauna; Scarab beetle-grub holes in various tillage and crop management systems at Embrapa Soybean, Londrina, Brazil; Biological management of agroecosystems; Soil biota and nutrient dynamics through litterfall in agroforestry system in Rondônia, Amazônia, Brazil; Soil-C stocks and earthworm diversity of native and introduced pastures in Veracruz, Mexico; Theme 2 : Adaptive management: Some thoughts on the effects and implications of the transition from weedy multi-crop to wead-free mono-crop systems in Africa; Towards sustainable agriculture with no-tillage and crop rotation systems in South Brazil; Effect of termites on crusted soil rehabilitation in the Sahel; Management of macrofauna in traditional and conventional agroforestry systems from India with special reference to termites and earthworms; Adaptive management for redeveloping traditional agroecosystems; Conservation and sustainable use of soil biodiversity: learning with master nature!; Convergence of sciences: inclusive technology innovation processes for better integrated crop/vegetation, soil and biodiversity management; Potential for increasing soil biodiversity in agroecosystems; Biological nitrogen fixation and sustainability in the tropics; Theme 3: Research and innovation: Plant flavonoids and cluster roots as modifiers of soil biodiversity; The significance of biological diversity in agricultural soil for disease suppressiveness and nutrient retention; Linking above - and belowground biodiversity: a comparison of agricultural systems; Insect-pests in biologically managed oil and crops: the experience at ICRISAT; Sistemas agricolas micorrizados en Cuba; The effect of velvetbean (Mucuna pruriens) on the tropical earthworm Balanteodrilus pearsei: a management option for maize crops in the Mexican humid tropics; The potential of earthworms and organic matter quality in the rehabilitation of tropical soils; Research and innovation in biological management of soil ecosystems; Application of biodynamic methods in the Egyptian cotton sector; Theme 4: Capacity building and mainstreaming: Soil ecology and biodiversity: a quick scan of its importance for government policy in The Netherlands; Agrotechnological transfer of legume inoculants in Eastern and Southern Africa; Agricultura urbana en Cuba; Soil carbon sequestration for sustaining agricultural production and improving the environment; Conservation and sustainable management of below-ground biodiversity: the TSBF-BGBD network project; The tropical soil biology and fertility institute of CIAT (TSBF); South-South initiative for training and capacity building for the management of soil biology/biodiversity; Strategies to facilititate development and adoption of integrated resource management for sustainable production and productivity improvement; The challenge program on biological nitrogen fixation (CPBNF); Living soil training for farmers: improving knowledge and skills in soil nutrition management; Do we need an inter-governmental panel on land and soil (IPLS)? Protection and sustainable use of biodiversity of soils; Cases Studies -- Plant parasitic nematodes associated with common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and integrated management approaches; Agrotechnological transfer of legume inoculants in Eastern and Southern Africa; Restoring soil fertility and enhancing productivity in Indian tea plantations with earthworms and organic fertilizers; Managing termites and organic resources to improve soil productivity in the Sahel; Overview and case studies on biological nitrogen fixation: perspectives and limitations; Soil biodiversity and sustainable agriculture: an overview.

Nematóides associados ao capim-marandu no Estado do Acre.

2001

Fitonematoides associados as cultivares de soja no estado do Acre.

2001

Aspectos gerais sobre nematóides das lesões radiculares (gênero Pratylenchus).

2008

Miméticos do “glucagon-like peptide-1” (GLP-1) e o seu potencial farmacêutico no controlo da diabetes tipo 2 e da obesidade

A diabetes mellitus do tipo 2 é caracterizada pela resistência à insulina e pela disfunção das células β do pâncreas. Os péptidos gastrintestinais, “gastric inhibitory polypeptide” (GIP) e “glucagon-like peptide-1” (GLP-1), são hormonas incretinas que estimulam, maioritariamente, a produção de insulina pós-prandial. Formulações contendo GLP-1 possuem um grande potencial no tratamento desta doença. Porém, o GLP-1 é eficaz apenas quando administrado por via parentérica. Para o tratamento da diabetes mellitus tipo 2 são usados análogos do GLP‑ 1 ou miméticos da incretina os quais são eficazes por via subcutânea. The pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus type 2 includes insulin resistance and progressive β-cell dysfunction. The gastrointestinal peptides, gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon‑like peptide-1 (GLP-1), are incretin hormones which are responsible for the major part of postprandial insulin secretion. Formulations containing GLP-1 have a great potential in the treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2. Nonetheless, GLP-1 is only efficient by continuous parenteral administration. GLP-1 analogues or incretin mimetics, exendine-4, are active after subcutaneous injection and can be used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus of type 2.

Talidomida

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Farmacêuticas

Relação entre a Infeção por Escherichia coli Aderente-Invasina e a Doença de Crohn

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Farmacêuticas

A Doença Celíaca

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Farmacêuticas

Os benefícios da amamentação

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Medicina Dentária

Estudo da suscetibilidade aos antibióticos em isolados de Enterobacteriaceae provenientes de suiniculturas Portuguesas

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Farmacêuticas