Male stink bugs, Euschistus heros , only produce the three-component sex pheromone blend consisting of methyl-(2 E ,4 Z )-decadienoate, methyl-2,4,6-trimethyldodecanoate and methyl-2,4,6-trimethyltridecanoate in a constant ratio of 53 : 3 : 44, respectively, when provided with a food source (green beans, Phaseolus vulgaris ). When volatiles are collected from insects with drinking water, humidified air, or under dry conditions, the insects stop producing two components (methyl-2,4,6-trimethyldodecanoate and methyl-2,4,6-trimethyltridecanoate) after 1 day and increase the amount of defensive compounds produced [e.g. ( E )-2-hexenal, decane]. Methyl-2,4,6-trimethyltridecanoate is able to change the behaviour of females but not males. Dual-choice olfactometer bioassays with synthetic standards of all three components, as well as the ternary mixture in the correct ratio, induce a response from females but not males, indicating that all three components have a role in sexual communication. Thus, the dietary conditions under which volatile collections are carried out are crucial for determination of the precise sex pheromone blend.

-The objective of this work was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Brazilian Pantaneiro horse by microsatellite markers, investigate the effect of genetic bottlenecks and estimate genetic differentiation among four horse breeds. Genetic variation was estimated through allele frequencies and mean breed heterozygosity. Nei´s genetic distances among the breeds Pantaneiro, Thoroughbred, Arabian, Spanish Pure Breed (Andalusian), and Uruguay Creole were calculated, and it was used to construct an UPGMA dendrogram. Clustering at different K values was calculated to infer population structure and assign individuals to populations. Nei´s distances showed a minimum distance between Pantaneiro horse and Spanish Pure Breed (0.228), and similar distances from Spanish Pure Breed to Thoroughbred and to Arabian (0.355 and 0.332). It was observed a great level of diversity, clear distance from Pantaneiro horse to other breeds, and genetic uniformity within breed. It was verified a certain level of substructure of Pantaneiro horse showing no influences from the other studied breeds.Index terms: Equus caballus, animal conservation, molecular markers, microsatellites, genetic resources conservation. Diversidade genética do cavalo Pantaneiro e relações com outras raças de eqüinosResumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a variabilidade genética do cavalo Pantaneiro, por meio de marcadores microssatélites, investigar o efeito genético de "bottlenecks" e estimar a variação genética entre quatro raças de cavalo. A diversidade genética foi estimada por meio da freqüência de alelos e da média de heterozigosidade por raças. A distância genética de Nei foi calculada para as raças Pantaneiro, Puro Sangue Inglês, Árabe, Puro Sangue Espanhol e Crioulo Uruguaio. O agrupamento em diferentes valores de K foi calculado para inferir a estrutura da população e determinar indivíduos às populações. A distância de Nei mostrou distância mínima entre o cavalo Pantaneiro e o Puro Sangue Espanhol (0,228), e entre o Puro Sangue Espanhol e o Puro Sangue Inglês e o Árabe (0,355 e 0,332, respectivamente). Foi observada grande diversidade genética dentro da raça Pantaneiro, evidente distância desta raça em relação às demais raças estudadas, e uniformidade genética dentro da raça. Verificou-se certo nível de subestruturação no cavalo Pantaneiro, sem demonstrar influência das outras raças estudadas.

-Blood samples were collected from Pantaneiro Horses in five regions of Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso States. Arabian, Mangalarga Marchador and Thoroughbred were also included to estimate genetic distances and the existing variability among and within these breeds by RAPD-PCR (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA -Polymerase Chain Reaction) molecular markers. From 146 primers, 13 were chosen for amplification and 44 polymorphic bands were generated. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that the greatest portion of detected variability was due to differences between individuals within populations (75.47%). Analysis of the genetic variability between pairs of populations presented higher estimates for the five Pantaneiro populations with the Arabian breed, while lowest estimates were presented by pairs formed among the Pantaneiro populations with the Mangalarga Marchador. Highest genic diversity was shown by the Pantaneiro (0.3396), which also showed highest genetic distance with the Arabian and lowest with Mangalarga Marchador breed. UPGMA dendrogram showed distinct differences between naturalized (Pantaneiro and Mangalarga Marchador) and exotic (Arabian and Thoroughbred) breeds. In the dendrogram generated by UPGMA method, the similarity matrix generated by the Jaccard coefficient showed distinction between the naturalised breeds, Pantaneiro and Mangalarga Marchador, and the exotic breeds, Árab and English Thoroughbred. Results suggest that the Pantaneiro presents a higher genetic variability than the other studied breeds and has a close relationship with the Mangalarga Marchador.Key Words: AMOVA, Arabian, English Thoroughbred, genetic diversity, genetic resource, Mangalarga Marchador Variabilidade genética do cavalo Pantaneiro utilizando marcadores RAPD-PCRRESUMO -Amostras de sangue foram coletadas de cavalos Pantaneiros de cinco regiões dos estados de Mato Grosso do Sul e Mato Grosso. As raças Mangalarga Marchador, Árabe e Puro-Sangue Inglês (PSI) usando marcadores moleculares RAPD-PCR (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA -Polymerase Chain Reaction) foram incluídas no intuito de se calcular as distâncias genéticas e comparar a variabilidade genética entre e dentro de cada uma das raças. Dos 146 primers escrutinados, 13 foram escolhidos para amplificação com cada um dos indivíduos das oito populações, gerando um total de 44 bandas polimórficas. Os resultados encontrados na Análise de Variância Molecular (AMOVA) indicam que grande parte da variabilidade genética detectada se deve a diferenças entre indivíduos dentro de populações (75,47%). Na análise da estimativa dos percentuais de variabilidade genética entre pares de populações, foram observados maiores valores para os pares formados entre as cinco populações de cavalo Pantaneiro e a raça Árabe, enquanto os menores percentuais ocorreram entre Pantaneiro e Mangalarga Marchador. Maior índice de diversidade gênica foi observado na raça Pantaneiro (0,3396). No dendrograma gerado pelo método UPGMA, a partir da matriz de similaridade obtida p...

Esto trabajo tuvo como objetivo estimar la edad y peso a la primera monta de novillas de las razas Nelore (N), Pantaneira (P) y Mestizas Pantaneira x Nelore (PxN). Se utilizó un total de 98 hembras, siendo 51, 24 y 23 pertenecientes a las razas N, P y PxN, respectivamente. El análisis estadístico de los datos no reveló diferencia significativa (P = 0,3595) para el peso a la primera monta entre las razas estudiadas. El análisis de varianza no reveló diferencia significativa (P = 0,307) entre las edades a la primera monta entre razas, mostrando 3,5, 3,4 y 3,2 años para las novillas P, N y ½PxN, respectivamente.

We investigated the genealogy of the in situ conservation nucleus of the Pantaneiro horse using DNA microsatellites by evaluating 101 horses, the group consisting of 71 adult horses (3 stallions, 40 male and 31 mares) and 27 foals (14 colts and 13 fillies). Genomic DNA was extracted from hair roots and genotyped using 12 microsatellite markers (AHT4, AHT5, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, HMS3 HMS6, HMS7, HTG4, HTG10, LEX33 and VHL20). The number of alleles per locus varied from 6 to 13, with a mean of 7.8 and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.544 to 0.734 (mean 0.644). The VLH20, ASB2, HTG10, ASB23 markers had a high (> 0.8) polymorphism information content and the total exclusion probability of the 12 microsatellite loci was 0.99. The genealogical study of the Pantaneiro horse using genetic markers was efficient in detecting mistakes during paternity and maternity designation and is an important tool which can be used together with traditional systems of animal identification. The use of genetic markers is recommended in the systematic control of the genealogical registrations and conservation plans to improve genetic aspects of the Pantaneiro horse. The Pantaneiro horse is well adapted to the climatic conditions of the Brazilian Pantanal, a marshy region in central western Brazil in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul to which this horse is restricted. Spanish and Portuguese colonizers introduced equines into Brazil from the Iberian Peninsula, with horses arriving from Central America, across the Andes from Peru, from Northern Argentina, from Argentina or Paraguay through the Jesuit missions and directly from the Iberian Peninsula with horses imported from the Spanish region of Andalusia (Dowdall, 1982). Preservation and expansion of the Pantaneiro horse in the Brazilian Pantanal has been centered on its ability to deal with cattle and the adaptation of this breed to the Pantanal environment, this breed being preferred by farmers and ranchers in the region because it is hardy and supports the long-distance cattle drives necessary for transporting the cattle in this marshy region.Microsatellites have been used for parentage testing and individual identification in forensic science because they are highly polymorphic and show abundant sequences dispersed throughout most eukaryotic nuclear genomes (Tautz et al., 1986). Microsatellites have simple and stable inheritance when transmitted between generations and are controlled only by heredity. Furthermore, due to their small size they are efficiently amplified using the polymerase chain reaction. Many microsatellites are informative due to their high polymorphism and are useful in the paternity testing of horses (Marklund et al., 1994;Binns et al., 1995;Usha et al., 1995;Bowling et al., 1997;Tozaki et al., 2001;Cho and Cho, 2004;Lee and Cho, 2006).Our study used 12 microsatellite markers for routine DNA typing for individual identification and parentage verification of Pantaneiro horses and calculated the number of alleles (A), mean observed and ex...