Malvaceous miscellany,including new species from Mexico and Brazil

Preliminary studies toward a treatment of the Malvaceae of Mexico have led to the discovery of four new taxa ofAbutilon and two new combinations inAllowissadula. In addition, a new Brazilian species ofPavonia is described.     

The noble enigma: Chagas' nominations for the Nobel prize

Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian physician, discovered the American trypanosomiasis in 1909. Like other remarkable discoveries of those days, his work helped to articulate the insect-vector theory and other theoretical guidelines in tropical medicine. Unlike all other discoveries, all the stages of this work were accomplished in a few months and by a single man. Chagas' discovery was widely recognized at home and abroad. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize - in 1913 and in 1921-, but never received the award. Evidence suggests that the reasons for this failure are related to the violent opposition that Chagas faced in Brazil. The contentions towards Chagas were related to a rejection of the meritocratic procedures that gave him prominence, as well as to local petty politics.     

New dyrosaurid crocodylomorph and evidences for faunal turnover at the K-P transition in Brazil

The discovery of a new dyrosaurid crocodylomorph from the well-dated Palaeocene deposits of northeastern Brazil sheds new light on the evolutionary history of this extinct group of marine crocodylomorphs that have survived the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-P) extinction crisis. Guarinisuchus munizi, the most complete member of this group collected in South America so far, is closely related to the African forms, and this fact suggests that dyrosaurids had crossed the Atlantic Ocean before the K-P boundary and dispersed from there to North America and other parts of South America. This discovery also suggests that on the coast of northeastern Brazil, dyrosaurids replaced the pre-existing Late Cretaceous fauna of diversified mosasaurs, a group of marine lizards, after the K-P extinction event, becoming the main predators, together with sharks, in shallow marine Palaeocene environments. More detailed stratigraphic records and detailed dating of the deposits with dyrosaurids are necessary to correlate this particular pattern found in the ancient northeastern Brazilian coast within the evolution of the group, especially in Africa.     

Four new species of Oidardis Hermann, 1912 (Diptera,Asilidae, Laphriinae,Atomosiini) from two major faunistic surveys in the Atlantic Rainforest

Two recent faunistic surveys in the Brazilian Atlantic Forests region, the PROFAUPAR and the Biota/FAPESP Program, have provided important material for the discovery of new taxa from Brazil. We describe herein four new species of robber-flies of the genus Oidardis (O. falcimystax sp. n., O. fontenellei sp. n., O. maculiseta sp. n. and O. marinonii sp. n.), including illustrations and details on male hypopygia and female genitalia. A distribution map and a key to the species of Oidardis from the Brazilian Atlantic Forests region, including O. triangularis (Hermann), 1912, are also provided.     

When destruction comes first: Two new species of Hypostomus Lacépède, 1803 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from a deeply-impacted river in the Rio São Francisco basin in Brazil

Environmental disasters affecting Brazilian rivers have been frequent recently, especially involving mining activities. Two recent dam-rupture events suddenly released millions of cubic meters of iron tailings downstream into two major Brazilian watersheds. These events generated major losses to the environment and human life. Additionally, the biodiversity in both watersheds was still incompletely known. Two new species of the armoured catfish genus Hypostomus were discovered in the Rio Paraopeba and surrounding rivers of the Rio São Francisco Basin. The species share some main characteristics including a depressed body, large dark spots on a clearer background and the absence of keels on flanks. However, while one species (Hypostomus freirei sp. n.) has a large mandibular ramus and numerous slender teeth, the other (Hypostomus guajupia sp. n.) has a shorter mandibular ramus and few robust teeth. The discovery of these two new mid-sized fish species emphasizes the presumption that the effects of major environmental disasters cannot be fully estimated as local biodiversity is not completely known. This discovery in a recently devastated area also shows that tough environmental laws for the protection, supervision and mitigation of major impacts are urgently needed in developing countries.     

Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains are genetically divergent and differ from the Lister vaccine strain

Vaccinia virus is responsible for an important zoonotic disease affecting dairy cattle and humans in Brazil, but little is known about the origin, epidemiology and evolution of these Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains. In this work, seven Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains and the Lister-derived Brazilian vaccine strain, named Lister-Butantan, were compared based on the sequences of ten host range and virulence related genes. Comparison of Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains with Lister-Butantan revealed several differences. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the existence of genetically distinct Brazilian Vaccinia virus groups and has not thus far demonstrated a close relationship between Brazilian strains and Lister-Butantan. In this study, the BeAn58058 and SPAn232 strains were grouped together with the Belo Horizonte and Guarani P1 strains. Additionally, genetic polymorphisms in host range and virulence genes as well as differences in the deduced amino acid sequences were detected among Brazilian Vaccinia virus. This genetic diversity may result in a plethora of different biological properties presented by Brazilian Vaccinia virus, including differences in adaptation to the host as well as pathogenic properties. Furthermore, co-circulation of these divergent strains could increase the possibility of recombination events in nature, leading to the formation of new variants with unpredictable pathogenic potential.     

Comparison of specific absorbed fractions (SAF) in the Brazilian adult male and the reference man phantoms.

The mathematical phantom of the Brazilian man was developed because many anatomical differences exist between South Americans, Europeans and North Americans. The objective of this work was to compare specific absorbed fractions (SAF) obtained for a model of the Brazilian adult male with those for the reference adult calculated by Snyder et al. in 1974 and to evaluate the importance of these new values in calculating radiation doses in diagnosis and therapy. The length and mass of the total body for the Brazilian man phantom were obtained from tables provided by the Brazilian government (IBGE) in which the masses of organs were measured atautopsy. Monte Carlo methods (using the ALGAM-97 computer code) were applied to calculate SAF for internal organs and the total body. The mathematical phantom designed by Snyder et al. represents very closely Reference Man, as defined in ICRP publication 23. SAF for the whole body were not more than 15% different between the two phantoms. The differences between both models are more significant for individual organs. When the source organ is the lung and red marrow is the target, for initial photon energy of 10 keV, the results obtained indicate that marrow receives 64% more dose in Brazilian model than in the Reference Man model. Eighty tables were made for 97 distinct organs (target-source) and the comparison made between the, Brazilian man and Reference man.     

Characterisation and genetic organisation of a 24-MDa plasmid from the Brazilian Purpuric Fever clone of Haemophilus influenzae biogroup aegyptius

Strains of Haemophilus influenzae biogroup aegyptius causing septicaemia were identified in Brazil in the 1980s, causing the life-threatening illness of Brazilian Purpuric Fever (BPF). The strains were found to fall into a single clonal group, the BPF clone, characterised by their possession of the approximately 24MDa "3031" plasmid. In this work we report the characterisation and genetic organisation of this plasmid. Analysis of the gene content of what appears to be a typical broad host range conjugative plasmid, its presence in non-BPF strains as revealed by Southern hybridisation, and the recent discovery of plasmid-lacking BPF strains, has led us to conclude that it is unlikely to play a critical role in bacterial virulence. Establishing its entire sequence has nonetheless been an important step on the road to delineating, by comparison of BPF and non-BPF strains, chromosomal genetic loci that are involved in the special virulence of the BPF clone.     

Trypauchen vagina (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) a new established species in the Southwestern Atlantic

Trypauchen vagina (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) is a goby that lives burrowed into the substrata feeding on small invertebrates. It is native to the Indo-pacific region, ranging from Kuwait to China. Recently, this fish has been reported outside the original range of distribution, being found in the Mediterranean Sea, and more recently in the northeastern Brazilian coast. The Mediterranean reports are usually associated with Lessepsian migration, while the reports from Brazil are possibly related to ballast water transportation. In the present work, we provide eight new records from southeastern Brazilian coast, all made in São Paulo state, far from the first record. These additional records raised concern since the presence of an alien species could implicate in environmental and economic losses. Thus, we decide to model the environmental suitability for this goby in the Brazilian coast, specially focusing on major ports, usually places with high ballast water propagule pressure. In addition, an analysis of the suitability in the Red Sea was also made, to verify the hypothesis of Lessepsian migration. The results revealed that temperature and primary productivity are among the most important parameters for the presence of T. vagina, also indicating a high environmental suitability for this species in the Red Sea and Brazilian coast, especially in southeastern region, where the new records were made. Due to the number of collected individuals, it is hard to affirm that this taxon presents a self-sustaining population in Brazilian waters, but the several registers, in different locations and different life stages point to an establishment of the species in this new region. This population status allied with a high environmental suitability is alarming and should motivate new studies concerning T. vagina in Brazilian waters.     

Potential of European wild strains of Agaricus subrufescens for productivity and quality on wheat straw based compost

The Brazilian almond mushroom is currently cultivated for its medicinal properties but cultivars are suspected all to have a common origin. The objective of this work was to assess the potential of wild isolates of Agaricus subrufescens Peck (Agaricus blazei, Agaricus brasiliensis) as a source of new traits to improve the mushroom yield and quality for developing new cultures under European growing conditions. The wild European strains analysed showed a good ability to be commercially cultivated on wheat straw and horse manure based compost: shorter time to fruiting, higher yield, similar antioxidant activities when compared to cultivars. They have a valuable potential of genetic and phenotypic diversity and proved to be interfertile with the original culture of the Brazilian almond mushroom. Intercontinental hybrids could be obtained and combine properties from both Brazilian and European germplasm for increasing the choice of strains cultivated by the mushroom growers.     

The dynamics of Brazilian protozoology over the past century

Brazilian scientists have been contributing to the protozoology field for more than 100 years with important discoveries of new species such asTrypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. In this work, we used a Brazilian thesis database (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) covering the period from 1987-2011 to identify researchers who contributed substantially to protozoology. We selected 248 advisors by filtering to obtain researchers who supervised at least 10 theses. Based on a computational analysis of the thesis databases, we found students who were supervised by these scientists. A computational procedure was developed to determine the advisors’ scientific ancestors using the Lattes Platform. These analyses provided a list of 1,997 researchers who were inspected through Lattes CV examination and allowed the identification of the pioneers of Brazilian protozoology. Moreover, we investigated the areas in which researchers who earned PhDs in protozoology are now working. We found that 68.4% of them are still in protozoology, while 16.7% have migrated to other fields. We observed that support for protozoology by national or international agencies is clearly correlated with the increase of scientists in the field. Finally, we described the academic genealogy of Brazilian protozoology by formalising the “forest” of Brazilian scientists involved in the study of protozoa and their vectors over the past century.     

Chemical constituents of Brazilian Propolis from the state of Bahia and their growth inhibitory activities against cancer cells

A novel 2-phenoxychromone (1) and five known flavones (2-6) were isolated from northeastern Brazilian propolis in the state of Bahia. The chemical structures of these six compounds were determined by spectroscopic investigations and single-crystal X-ray analysis. The isolated compounds showed growth-inhibitory activities, in varying degrees, against human tumor cell lines. This is the first report on the discovery of a novel 2-phenoxychromone from propolis.     

Resource availability and disturbance shape maximum tree height across the Amazon

Tall trees are key drivers of ecosystem processes in tropical forest, but the controls on the distribution of the very tallest trees remain poorly understood. The recent discovery of grove of giant trees over 80 meters tall in the Amazon forest requires a reevaluation of current thinking. We used high‐resolution airborne laser surveys to measure canopy height across 282,750 ha of old‐growth and second‐growth forests randomly sampling the entire Brazilian Amazon. We investigated how resources and disturbances shape the maximum height distribution across the Brazilian Amazon through the relations between the occurrence of giant trees and environmental factors. Common drivers of height development are fundamentally different from those influencing the occurrence of giant trees. We found that changes in wind and light availability drive giant tree distribution as much as precipitation and temperature, together shaping the forest structure of the Brazilian Amazon. The location of giant trees should be carefully considered by policymakers when identifying important hot spots for the conservation of biodiversity in the Amazon.     

Rosewood exploitation in the Brazilian Amazon: Options for sustainable production

The authors report on ongoing work in the Brazilian Amazon to assess the current and prospective management of rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora Ducke) populations threatened by a half-century of predatory extraction for the valuable essential oil linalool used widely in perfumery. The report synthesizes prior research on rosewood exploitation and markets and recent research to develop new essential oil products derived from rosewood leaves and stems. The study suggests alternative rosewood production systems, to guide investment in management and certification of sustainable rosewood oil supplies.     

Laboratory biology and impact of a stem-boring weevil Apocnemidophorus pipitzi (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on Schinus terebinthifolia

Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (Anacardiaceae), was introduced into Florida, USA, from South America as an ornamental plant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It eventually escaped cultivation and is a serious threat to the state’s biodiversity. In the 1980s, this invasive weed was targeted for classical biocontrol. Surveys for natural enemies of Brazilian peppertree conducted in the native range resulted in the discovery of several candidate biocontrol agents. A stem-boring weevil identified as Apocnemidophorus pipitzi (Faust) was collected in Paraguay and transported under permit to Florida, USA. A laboratory colony of A. pipitzi was established in April 2007 by caging adults on cut branches of Brazilian peppertree supplemented with leaf bouquets. Adults are defoliators that feed mainly on the upper surface of subterminal leaflets. Females deposit eggs singly inside the stems and larvae feed under the bark where they damage the vascular cambium. There are five instars, pupation occurs inside the stem and a new generation is produced in 3–4 months. Growth of potted plants with and without exposure to weevil herbivory was compared over an 11-month period. Feeding damage by adults and larvae significantly increased leaf abscission and reduced leaf and root biomass accumulation.     

Characterization of a New Vaccinia virus Isolate Reveals the C23L Gene as a Putative Genetic Marker for Autochthonous Group 1 Brazilian Vaccinia virus

Since 1999, several Vaccinia virus (VACV) isolates, the etiological agents of bovine vaccinia (BV), have been frequently isolated and characterized with various biological and molecular methods. The results from these approaches have grouped these VACV isolates into two different clusters. This dichotomy has elicited debates surrounding the origin of the Brazilian VACV and its epidemiological significance. To ascertain vital information to settle these debates, we and other research groups have made efforts to identify molecular markers to discriminate VACV from other viruses of the genus Orthopoxvirus (OPV) and other VACV-BR groups. In this way, some genes have been identified as useful markers to discriminate between the VACV-BR groups. However, new markers are needed to infer ancestry and to correlate each sample or group with its unique epidemiological and biological features. The aims of this work were to characterize a new VACV isolate (VACV DMTV-2005) molecularly and biologically using conserved and non-conserved gene analyses for phylogenetic inference and to search for new genes that would elucidate the VACV-BR dichotomy. The VACV DMTV-2005 isolate reported in this study is biologically and phylogenetically clustered with other strains of Group 1 VACV-BR, the most prevalent VACV group that was isolated during the bovine vaccinia outbreaks in Brazil. Sequence analysis of C23L, the gene that encodes for the CC-chemokine-binding protein, revealed a ten-nucleotide deletion, which is a new Group 1 Brazilian VACV genetic marker. This deletion in the C23L open reading frame produces a premature stop-codon that is shared by all Group 1 VACV-BR strains and may also reflect the VACV-BR dichotomy; the deletion can also be considered to be a putative genetic marker for non-virulent Brazilian VACV isolates and may be used for the detection and molecular characterization of new isolates.     

Recent developments in the identification of novel oxazolidinone antibacterial agents

The oxazolidinones are a promising new class of synthetic antibacterial agents. Here, we review recent efforts directed at the discovery of new antibacterial compounds of this class. New structures and structure-activity relationships (SAR) are discussed in the context of earlier work in the field. Key issues of potency, spectrum, selectivity, in vivo efficacy, and pharmacokinetic profile of the new analogs are addressed.     

Two new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mezilaurus</Emphasis> (Lauraceae) from Brazil

Ongoing taxonomic work on Mezilaurus has revealed two new species of the genus in Brazil, which are here described and illustrated. The first one, Mezilaurus glabriantha, from the state of Espírito Santo, represents the third endemic species known from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and Mezilaurus microphylla occurs in seasonally dry forests from the central Brazilian state of Tocantins. A key to distinguish the extra-Amazonian species of Mezilaurus from Brazil is provided.