Preliminary notes on yeasts associated with necrotic cactus stems from different localities in Brazil

Abstract

The yeast species found in necrotic stems of three columnar cacti (Pilosocereus machrisii, Pilosocereus vilaboensis, and Praecereus euchlorus) at eight localities in Brazil were described and a similarity analysis using Sorensen distances was used to compare the composition of yeast species at these localities. Of 56 necrotic cactus stems sampled, 32 produced yeast colonies. Ten species of yeast or yeast-like microorganisms were identified from 53 isolates, with Pichia cactophila, Candida sonorensis, Geotrichum sp., and Sporopachydermia cereana being the most common. The remaining species occurred in low proportions in the cacti surveyed. The similarity analysis provided a dendogram (UPGMA) that clustered the yeast communities from different cactus species and indicated that host cactus species was unimportant in this clustering.

Conservation of pBuM–2 satellite DNA sequences among geographically isolated Drosophila gouveai populations from Brazil

“…Individuals from Analaˆndia/SP population (locality 6; Figure 1) presents diagnostic characters of D. gouveai species, such aedeagus B morphotype (Silva & Sene, 1991;Tidon-Sklorz & Sene, 2001), fixed chromosome inversion 2e 8 (Tosi & Sene, 1989;Ruiz et al, 2000), karyotype I (Baimai, Sene & Pereira, 1983) and ecological characters (Monteiro & Sene, 1995;Tidon-Sklorz & Sene, 2001;Moraes & Sene, 2005). However, it presents mitochondrial haplotype characteristics of another D. buzzatii cluster specie, i.e., D. antonietae.…”

“…In the North and Northeast of its distribution, the populations are found in large areas of the ''Caatinga'' domain, where various species of cacti grow, such as the Pilosocereus, Cereus, Facheiroa and Opuntia genera, which could be used by D. gouveai for oviposition, causing a larger geographic distribution of these populations. In the Center and South of the distribution, the D. gouveai populations are patchily distributed due to the association with Pilosocereus machrisii (most locations) or Pilosocereus vilaboensis (Pireno´polis -Goia´s state/ Brazil) (Moraes, Rosa & Sene, 2005). The cacti of Pilosocereus genus grows in ''campo rupestre'' (rocky fields) on the top of sandstone table hills ( Figure 1) that are scattered in the area of the species' distribution (Monteiro & Sene, 1995;Tidon-Sklorz & Sene, 2001;Moraes & Sene, 2002;Manfrin & Sene, 2005).…”

“…The accumulation of biogeographical, ecological, morphological and molecular knowledge (Sene, Pereira & Vilela, 1988;Silva & Sene, 1991;Monteiro & Sene, 1995;Manfrin, de Brito & Sene, 2001;Tidon-Sklorz & Sene, 2001;de Brito, Manfrin & Sene, 2002;Moraes & Sene, 2004;Kuhn & Sene, 2005;Moraes, Rosa & Sene, 2005), related to the D. gouveai species makes it a good biological model for comparative studies among natural populations. The aim of this work is to make a comparative analysis among pBuM-2 satellite DNA sequences of six isolated D. gouveai populations in order to detect any populational structure.…”

Identification and susceptibility of clinical isolates of Candida spp. to killer toxins

“…While these yeasts were not able to kill every Candida strain in our study, the extraordinary diversity of yeasts makes it highly probable for the existence of strains with a wider range of action or a specific effect against other species of pathogenic fungi. Uncommon yeasts from non-conventional sites, such as those reported by Moraes et al (2005) may prove useful in accomplishing this.…”

Biodiversity of cactophilic microorganisms in western Argentina: community structure and species composition in the necroses of two sympatric cactus hosts

“…However, many arid regions of South America, home to endemic species of cactophilic Drosophila, remain understudied. This is basically the case for species of the cluster D. buzzatii, a model for evolutionary studies (Manfrin and Sene, 2006), for which only preliminary notes on associated yeasts have been published (Moraes et al, 2005;Spencer et al, 1996). The aim of this study is to characterize the fungal community present in the decaying tissues of T. terscheckii and O. sulphurea in an area of sympatric occurrence, where both plants are used as hosts by D. buzzatii and D. koepferae.…”