Interactions between different media and follicle‐stimulating hormone supplementation on in vitro culture of preantral follicles enclosed in ovarian tissue derived from collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu Linneaus, 1758)

The aim was to verify the effect of follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) supplementation to α‐MEM+ or TCM199+ media on the in vitro development of ovarian preantral follicles (PFs) derived from collared peccaries. Ovaries (n = 5 pairs) were collected and divided into fragments destined to control group (non‐cultured) or treatments that were cultured for 7 days. The PFs morphology, growth and activation were evaluated by classical histology. The immunohistochemistry markers Ag‐NOR and PCNA were used for nuclear proliferation analysis, and the picrosirius red labelling was used for ovarian extracellular matrix (ECM) evaluation. After 7‐day culture, only the TCM199+ treatment maintained the proportion of intact PFs similar to day 1 (63.2%), but no differences were found among treatments (p > .05). In addition, a significant increase in the growing follicles proportion was verified for all the treatments, indicating follicular activation (p > .05). By the Ag‐NOR analysis, only the TCM199+/FSH maintained the nuclear proliferation similar to the first day (p > .05). The picrosirius red staining revealed that the ECM remained intact in all the treatments (p > .05). We suggest the use of TCM199+ medium supplemented of FSH for the in vitro development of peccaries PFs under 7‐day culturing conditions.     

Compulsive sexual activity induced by p-chlorophenylalanine in normal and pinealectomized male rats

p-Chlorophenylalanine depletes brain serotonin and induces longlasting sexual excitation in male rats. The effect of p-chlorophenylalanine is potentiated by pargyline. Administration of 5-hydroxytryptophan to rats treated with p-chlorophenylalanine plus pargyline blocks the sexual excitation. p-Chlorophenylalanine also elicits sexual excitation in pinealectomized rats; this effect is not mediated by the lack of indole hormones in the pineal but may be the consequence of depletion of 5-hydroxytryptophan in the brain and the resulting imbalance between 5-hydroxytryptophan and catecholamine activity in the central nervous system.     

Degradation of primisulfuron by a combination of chemical and microbiological processes

Microbial degradation of the herbicide primisulfuron was investigated using enrichment cultures from contaminated soils and 20 axenic cultures. At neutral pH, no disappearance of the herbicide was detected either in the enrichment cultures or in the growth media of the axenic microbial cultures. During the growth of some of the microbial strains, however, the pH of the medium dropped below 6, resulting in the hydrolysis of primisulfuron. The rate of primisulfuron hydrolysis was clearly pH dependent; primisulfuron was more persistent in neutral or weakly basic solutions than in acidic solutions. After hydrolysis of the herbicide, four products were observed. These were identified as methyl 2-(aminosulfonyl)benzoate, 2-amino-4,6-(difluoromethoxy)pyrimidine, 2-N-[[[[[4, 6-bis(difluoromethoxy)-2-pyrimidinyl]amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl ]be nzoic acid, and 2-(aminosulfonyl)benzoic acid. After hydrolysis, it was found that the fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium mineralized 27 and 24% of (14)C-phenyl- and (14)C-pyrimidine-labeled products, respectively, after 24 days of incubation. Similarly, Trametes versicolor mineralized 13 and 11% of (14)C-phenyl- and (14)C-pyrimidine-labeled hydrolysis products, respectively. In addition, primisulfuron in a hydrolytically stable solution, at pH 7. 0, was rapidly decomposed after ultraviolet irradiation, and two photolysis products were isolated [methylbenzoate and 4, 6-(difluoromethoxy)pyrimidin-2-ylurea]. When (14)C-phenyl-labeled primisulfuron was exposed to photolysis for 24 h, 32% of the initial radioactivity was recovered as (14)CO(2), whereas no (14)CO(2) was detected if the herbicide was labeled at the (14)C-pyrimidine position. Mineralization of (14)C-pyrimidine-labeled products of photolyzed primisulfuron by P. chrysosporium was approximately 25% after 24 days. These results clearly indicate that hydrolysis and photolysis of primisulfuron facilitated microbial degradation.     

Effects of the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl)phosphorothioic triamide in low concentrations on ammonia volatilization and evolution of mineral nitrogen

Laboratory incubation experiments were conducted to study the influence of increasing concentrations of N-(n-butyl)phosphorothioic triamide (NBPT) on NH₃ volatilization and rate of urea hydrolysis and evolution of mineral N in Ozzano, Rimini and Carpi soils with different physicochemical characteristics. Low concentrations of NBPT reduced NH₃ losses due to volatilization after urea fertilization and the effectiveness of the inhibitor was related to the soil characteristics (e.g. high concentrations of organic C and sand). After 15 days of incubation, no significant reductions of losses were found for any of the NBPT concentrations employed in Rimini soil. The application of NBPT led to a considerable reduction of the formation of nitrite. This process was completely annulled with the highest dose of NBPT (0.5% w/w_urea) in the Carpi soil after 15 days. In Rimini soil, however, the use of NBPT was less effective in influencing nitrite formation. The use of NBPT favoured accumulation of nitrate proportional to the NBPT concentration employed while it had no influence on the NH _inf4 ^sup+ fixation by 2:1 layer silicates. The data obtained support previous evidence that NBPT is effective in reducing the problems encountered in using urea as fertilizer. However, environmental conditions and soil physicochemical characteristics may have an important influence on the effectiveness of NBPT.     

Influence of spatial root distribution,organic nitrogen mineralization and fertilizer application on soil interlayer ammonium

The amount of interlayer NH ₄ ⁺ -N and net mineralization of organic N were measured at periodic intervals, over a period of 10 months, in soil samples collected from a peach orchard which had been subjected to different rates of N fertilizer application. Two different groups of soil samples, designated sampling 1 and sampling 2 were collected. Soils of sampling 1 were collected from sites where the soil was heavily penetrated by tree roots and those of sampling 2 were collected from sites where the soil remained free from tree roots. In sampling 1, during the 10-month period, the concentration of interlayer NH ₄ ⁺ -N showed significant variations, while in sampling 2 no significant variation was found. In sampling 1 the amount of NH ₄ ⁺ -N released from the interlayers of the clay minerals were not influenced by the N fertilizer application rate. Changes in the interlayer NH ₄ ⁺ -N concentrations were related to variation in net N mineralization and immobilization rates as well as to plant uptake N. It is concluded that, in our experiment, the dynamics of interlayer NH ₄ ⁺ -N in soil were influenced by the spatial distribution of the tree roots and organic N mineralization, while N application influenced seasonal variation but not the total interlayer NH ₄ ⁺ -N released during the experiment.     

Deep‐water cirripedes colonizing dead shells of the cephalopod Nautilus macromphalus from New Caledonian waters

Fossil cephalopods are frequently encrusted by epibionts; however, determining whether encrustation occurred prior to or post‐mortem to the host, and whether the final environment of deposition corresponds to the habitat of encrustation is complex. The present paper describes cirripede epibionts, their calcareous bases and their attachment scars on 6 post‐mortem shells of Nautilus macromphalus, collected from deep water off New Caledonia. The cirripedes have left both cemented calcareous bases of Hexelasma and scars associated with bioerosion and discoloration produced by verrucomorph barnacles. Live cirripedes included a Metaverruca recta, with articulated opercular plates and organic tissue (on a shell that had been exposed on the sea floor for at least 150 years), and specimens of Hexelasma velutinum, one of which was partly attached to an internal surface of a shell. The disposition of verrucomorphs indicates that most Nautilus shells were colonized post‐mortem rather than during a floating stage. However, as cirripedes are known to have colonized living Nautilus, some Hexelasma, preserved only as calcareous eroded bases, may represent specimens that settled on a living Nautilus. The degree of bioerosion and discoloration induced by verrucomorph barnacles varies according to the surface preservation of Nautilus shells, with deeper and discolored traces preserved on old and degraded shells. Traces made by verrucomorphs described here are ellipsoidal and a new ichnotaxon, Anellusichnus ellipticus, is proposed to accommodate them. Importantly, verrucomorphs and other cirripede taxa with membranous bases that were attached to pristine shells may not leave any substantial scars, and, thus, will be difficult to detect in the fossil record.