We studied the relationship between body morphometric traits, and their underlying association with milk production (MP), lactation length (LL), first calving interval (FCI) and subsequent calving interval (CI) of crossbred progeny of Murrah × Jafarabadi buffalo aiming to assist in selection programs. We carried out principal component analysis (PCA) of the body morphometric traits, which include breast width (BW), thigh width (THW), hip width (HW), rump width (RW), rump length (RL), body depth (BD), body length (BL), height withers (HEW), rear height (RH), shoulder width (SW), thorax width (TW), loin width (LW), distance from the head to ischium (DHI), and thoracic perimeter (TP). We determined the association of morphometric traits with milk/reproduction traits using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). The analysis revealed that the first six PCA accounted for 82.14% of the total observed variation, and the traits THW, HW, TW, LW, RW, HEW, TP, RH, and BW, accounted for almost half (48.00%) of the total variance indicating a higher contribution in body structural conformation. The first canonical function was significant (p<0.05), accounted for 72.46% of the total variance, and the canonical correlation was 0.56, indicating the dependence between both groups of traits. Higher canonical loadings were obtained for LL (0.49), FCI (0.46), BW (-0.71), BL (-0.56), DHI (-0.34), HEW, (-0.38) and TP (-0.50). These traits were most important for the derivation of canonical statistical variables, and presented a higher canonical correlations (r) between the dependent (LL/FCI) and independent (BW, BL, DHI, HEW and TP) groups. The results could suggest that the body morphometric traits THW, HW, TW, LW, RW, HEW, BD, TP, RH, and BW could play important role in body

The effect of calcium salt of fosfomycin in the treatment of 43 neonates suffering from acute gastroenterocolitis produced by enteropathogenic E. coli is evaluated. The minimal inhibitory concentration of these E. coli was, generally, lower that 128 μg/ml. Dosages of 150–200 mg/kg body weight/day were administered orally every 8 h. This treatment lasted for 4 days only. Clinical evolution was favorable in 38 (88%) babies and bacteriological evolution in 30 (70%). In eight cases a different flora to the initial was selected during the treatment with fosfomycin. None of the cases treated showed any toxic alteration attributed to the antibiotic.

Although ecotone areas occupy a significant extent in Piauí State, there is little information about these areas, especially regarding the presence of microorganisms. Thus, this study evaluated the effect of seasonality on the occurrence of fungal genera associated with forest species in an ecotone Cerrado-Caatinga in Piauí State, Brazil. The experimental area consisted of one-hectare fragment within a legal reserve, where five plots of 20m x 20m were established and the phytosociological survey was carried out. The collection of the material (healthy leaves and leaves with disease symptoms) was performed in two periods: the dry season (June and August/2017) and the rainy season (December/2017 and February/2018), totaling four collections. In the laboratory, isolation and purification of fungi were performed. The fungal identification was based on morphological characteristics and the use of identification keys. The relative abundance of fungi was calculated, and the data were submitted to multivariate cluster analysis. In total, 225 isolates were found, related to 15 fungal genera, associated with 10 forest species. The occurrence of fungi in the area was influenced by seasonal variation, with more isolates found in the dry period, as examples of important groups, whether beneficial or phytopathogenic microorganisms are: Trichoderma spp. and Lasiodiplodia spp. It was also observed that fungi are more likely to occur in forest species like Bauhinia cheilantha and Pityrocarpa moniliformis, belonging to the Fabaceae family.

The aim of this study was to isolate and select bacteria from the cacti rhizosphere naturally occurring in an adverse environment in culture medium under water stress. Samples of rhizospheric cacti soil were collected in two distinct locations with natural occurrence of the Caatinga vegetation of the Alagoas State, Northeast Brazil. With the use of culture-dependent methodologies, the isolation and purification of the bacteria was performed for exopolysaccharide production analyzes by quantification of halos and biofilm formation in a spectrophotometer under optical density (OD) of 560 nm. In total, 42 strains were isolated, with the isolates BCM02, BCM06, BCM10 and BCM13 being the major producers of EPS, followed by bacteria BCM01, BCM05, BCM28 and BCM35 with medium production, and bacteria BCM22 and BCM33 with low production. On the other hand, for the biofilm formation, all the isolates were efficient in the synthesis of the same, being 38% of the bacteria with high formation performance. Thus, strains BCM02 and BCM28 presented the best results in evaluations of water stress tolerance mechanisms, and could later be used for future tests to promote plant growth.

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Using transmission electron microscopy, gold-labeled lectins, morphometry and enzyme-linked lectin assay, we could show that treatment of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani chagasi with trypsin did not interfere with the binding of lectins (concanavalin A, peanut agglutinin, wheat germ agglutinin and Ricinus communis agglutinin) to the parasite surface. These observations are in agreement with results we previously obtained using a biochemical approach. Treatment of fixed promastigotes with 2-mercaptoethanol induced a significant increase in the density of concanavalin A (Con A) receptors on the surface of L. d. chagasi in relation to the control. We suggest that this increase is due to the unfolding of one or more surface glycoproteins after cleavage of disulfide bonds between cystein residues in adjacent protein loops, exposing second-order Con A receptors that are otherwise hidden in the protein quaternary structure.

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A mastite é uma das principais enfermidades que acomete o rebanho leiteiro, sendo causada por diversos micro-organismos dos quais se destacam as bactérias Staphylococcus aureus e Escherichia coli. O tratamento para esta enfermidade é realizado, geralmente, por meio do uso de antibióticos via intramamária. No entanto, o uso inadequado desses medicamentos tem contribuído para a seleção de cepas de micro-organismos resistentes, dificultando o tratamento e controle da mastite. Com isso, objetivou-se avaliar cepas das bactérias S. aureus e E. coli frente aos antibióticos: Florfenicol, Enrofloxacina, Gentamicina, Amicacina, Tetraciclina, Norfloxacina, Cefalotina, Cefalexina, Gentamicina, Neomicina, Amoxilina, Ampicilina + Sulbactam, Cefoxitina, Bacitracina, Ampicilina e Penicilina.  As bactérias foram inoculadas em solução salina 0,9% e semeadas em 100 µL de meio Mueller Hinton com os discos de antibióticos. Os testes foram realizados em quadruplicata e as placas incubadas a 37°C durante 24h. Os resultados mostraram que S. aureus foi resistente a penicilina (10µg) e ampicilina (10µg), apresentando maior sensibilidade ao antibiótico florfenicol (30µg). A bactéria E. coli também apresentou maior sensibilidade ao florfenicol (30µg), sendo resistente à bacitracina (10µg). Nossos resultados indicaram que a investigação por novas alternativas para o tratamento da mastite é urgente e necessária.