State University of Santa Cruz

About: State University of Santa Cruz is a education organization based out in Ilhéus, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Species richness. The organization has 3266 authors who have published 4642 publications receiving 51876 citations. The organization is also known as: Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz.

Antimicrobial activity of fermented Theobroma cacao pod husk extract.

Abstract: Theobroma cacao L. contains more than 500 different chemical compounds some of which have been traditionally used for their antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, immunomodulatory, vasodilatory, analgesic, and antimicrobial activities. Spontaneous aerobic fermentation of cacao husks yields a crude husk extract (CHE) with antimicrobial activity. CHE was fractioned by solvent partition with polar solvent extraction or by silica gel chromatography and a total of 12 sub-fractions were analyzed for chemical composition and bioactivity. CHE was effective against the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the basidiomycete Moniliophthora perniciosa. Antibacterial activity was determined using 6 strains: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella choleraesuis (Gram-negative). At doses up to 10 mg/mL, CHE was not effective against the Gram-positive bacteria tested but against medically important P. aeruginosa and S. choleraesuis with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 5.0 mg/mL. Sub-fractions varied widely in activity and strongest antibacterial activity was seen with CHE8 against S. choleraesuis (MIC of 1.0 mg/mL) and CHE9 against S. epidermidis (MIC of 2.5 mg/mL). All bioactive CHE fractions contained phenols, steroids, or terpenes, but no saponins. Fraction CHE9 contained flavonoids, phenolics, steroids, and terpenes, amino acids, and alkaloids, while CHE12 had the same compounds but lacked flavonoids.

Unraveling new genes associated with seed development and metabolism in Bixa orellana L. by expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis.

Abstract: The tropical tree Bixa orellana L. produces a range of secondary metabolites which biochemical and molecular biosynthesis basis are not well understood. In this work we have characterized a set of ESTs from a non-normalized cDNA library of B. orellana seeds to obtain information about the main developmental and metabolic processes taking place in developing seeds and their associated genes. After sequencing a set of randomly selected clones, most of the sequences were assigned with putative functions based on similarity, GO annotations and protein domains. The most abundant transcripts encoded proteins associated with cell wall (prolyl 4-hydroxylase), fatty acid (acyl carrier protein), and hormone/flavonoid (2OG-Fe oxygenase) synthesis, germination (MADS FLC-like protein) and embryo development (AP2/ERF transcription factor) regulation, photosynthesis (chlorophyll a–b binding protein), cell elongation (MAP65-1a), and stress responses (metallothionein- and thaumatin-like proteins). Enzymes were assigned to 16 different metabolic pathways related to both primary and secondary metabolisms. Characterization of two candidate genes of the bixin biosynthetic pathway, BoCCD and BoOMT, showed that they belong, respectively, to the carotenoid-cleavage dioxygenase 4 (CCD4) and caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) families, and are up-regulated during seed development. It indicates their involvement in the synthesis of this commercially important carotenoid pigment in seeds of B. orellana. Most of the genes identified here are the first representatives of their gene families in B. orellana.

Diet of two sympatric Phyllomedusa (Anura: Hylidae) species from a cacao plantation in southern Bahia, Brazil

Abstract: Abstact. We studied the diet of two sympatric species of leaf-frogs, Phyllomedusa rohdei and P. burmeisteri, captured in a cacao plantation in the Atlantic forest domain of southern Bahia, using stomach-flushing. The most important prey categories for P. rohdei were Araneae, larval Lepidoptera and Orthoptera, while for P. burmeisteri: Araneae, Coleoptera and larval Lepidoptera. Other items frequently flushed out of the frogs were plant remains, mites and skin. The snout-vent-length of the frogs was not correlated with the length and number of prey items. Our results suggest that both leaf frog species studied are opportunistic sit-and-wait predators with a high overlap in prey categories.

Ciclo reproductivo del ostión de manglar Crassostrea rhizophorae (Bivalvia: Ostreidae) en la Bahía de Camamu, Bahia, Brasil

Abstract: El ostion de manglar es un importante recurso pesquero que se distribuye por toda la costa brasilena y una de las especies nativas con mayor potencial para maricultura Este estudio tuvo como objetivo conocer las caracteristicas reproductivas del ostion de manglar Crassostrea rhizophorae en el estero del Rio Marau, Bahia de Camamu, Bahia, Brasil Las muestras fueran recolectadas mensualmente, entre agosto de 2006 y septiembre de 2007, en dos sitios Las metodologias utilizadas fueron el analisis histologico de las gonadas y el calculo de rendimiento de carne La temperatura del agua durante el periodo de estudio vario de 235°C a 30°C y la salinidad oscilo entre 15 y 35ups La altura de los ostiones examinados vario de 27 a 102mm (n=437) Hubo predominancia de hembras en las poblaciones de ambos sitios Los analisis de estadios gonadicos demostraron que el proceso de reproduccion de C rhizophorae en el estero del Rio Marau es continuo durante el ano, sin periodo de reposo sexual El rendimiento de carne (R) fue de 80% a 177% (n=669) Los resultados de este estudio proveen informaciones para la captacion de semilla e implantacion de la ostricultura en la Bahia de Camamu