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Publications (122)
Repetitive DNA sequences constitute a large portion of the eukaryotic genome. Despite their importance, only a few Meliponini species, especially those from the Melipona Illiger, 1806 genus, had some microsatellite sequences and the rDNA genes physically mapped. Therefore, in order to expand our knowledge on this genomic component of neotropical be...
Cytogenetic studies have enabled the characterization of the chromosomal macrostructure and microstructure and have contributed to the understanding of the evolution of wasp karyotypes. However, studies on Eumeninae solitary wasps are scarce. In this study, we characterized the karyotype of Ancistrocerus flavomarginatus (Brèthes, 1906) and compared...
Cytogenetic molecular studies involving hymenopterans have improved our knowledge about the composition, organization and evolution of the genomes of these insects. However, few cytogenetic studies have been performed in solitary wasps Eumeninae, which represents the most diverse subfamily of Vespidae. In this study, we describe the karyotype of th...
Copper sulfate (CuSO4) is widely used in agriculture as a pesticide and foliar fertilizer. However, the possible environmental risks associated with CuSO4 use, particularly related to pollinating insects, have been poorly studied. In this study, we evaluated both lethal and sublethal effects of CuSO4 on the stingless bee Partamona helleri. Foragers...
Molecular cytogenetic reveal details of fine chromosomal structure that are useful in studies of chromosomal diversification, genome organization, and evolution. However, these techniques have rarely been used to describe population-level variations in the tribe Meliponini. In the present study, we compared the karyotype, number, and localization o...
Considerando as dificuldades que alguns alunos recém-ingressos na Universidade apresentam para compreender conceitos abstratos, este trabalho descreve um Curso de Extensão, na área de Biologia Celular, que foi realizado com o objetivo de contribuir com a aprendizagem efetiva de um grupo de graduandos da Universidade Federal de Viçosa (MG). O trabal...
Over the past several decades, stingless bee cytogenetic studies have focused on chromosome number and morphology of specific samples, with little emphasis on population variations. More recently, molecular techniques have facilitated analyses of the fine chromosomal structure, allowing the identification of interspecific variations and increasing...
O Programa de Educação Tutorial foi criado em 1979 com o objetivo de elevar a qualificação dos estudantes de cursos superiores, nas diversas áreas do conhecimento. O PET Biologia da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, em particular, foi implementado em março de 1985 e o objetivo deste artigo é resgatar o processo de criação do mesmo e contar um pouco d...
It is thought that two evolutionary mechanisms gave rise to chromosomal variation in bees: the first one points to polyploidy as the main cause of chromosomal evolution, while the second, Minimum Interaction Theory (MIT), is more frequently used to explain chromosomal changes in Meliponini and suggests that centric fission is responsible for variat...
Populations of stingless bees have declined around the world and pesticides have been indicated as one of the possible causes of this decrease. Spinosad, which is synthesized from the fermentation process produced by the soil actinomycete Saccharopolyspora spinosa, is one of the most used bioinsecticides today. This study aimed to evaluate the poss...
In this work, we describe the changes that occur in the midgut during metamorphosis of Partamona helleri, a species of stingless bees found in Neotropical regions. Morphology and immunofluorescence data were analysed in larvae, pupae and adults. The intestinal epithelium presented morphological variations between the different stages of development...
Stingless bees are distributed widely in the tropics, where they are major pollinators of several plant species. In this study, the karyotype of Meliponaquinquefasciata Lepeletier, 1836 was analysed, with emphasis on the presence of B chromosomes. Post-defecating larvae were analysed using Giemsa staining, the C-banding technique, sequential staini...
The present study provides a comprehensive review of cytogenetic data on Meliponini and their chromosomal evolution. The compiled data show that only 104 species of stingless bees, representing 32 of the 54 living genera have been studied cytogenetically and that among these species, it is possible to recognize three main groups with n = 9, 15 and...
The origin of supernumerary (B) chromosomes is still a debated topic, with intra- and interspecific origins being the most plausible options. In the bee Partamona helleri, a sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker being specific to B chromosomes suggested the possibility of interspecific origin. Here, we search for this marker in 3 cl...
The stingless bee Melipona capixaba Moure and Camargo is endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Its occurrence is restricted to highlands in the Espirito Santo State, and it has possibly the smallest known geographic distribution among the cataloged stingless bees. It is therefore considered to be an endangered species. Perhaps because of its sm...
The genetic diversity and structure of the ant Atta robusta were assessed by ISSR (inter-simple sequence repeats) in 72 colonies collected from 10 localities in the Brazilian states of Espírito Santo (48 colonies) and Rio de Janeiro (24 colonies). The ISSR pattern included 67 bands, 51 of them (76.1%) polymorphic. Analysis of molecular variance (AM...
Genetic distances among the five populations of Melipona capixaba analyzed. A) Matrix of genetic distance analyzed with ISSR (above diagonal) and microsatellite markers (below diagonal). B) Matrix of genetic distance that was constructed based on the estimated number of nucleotide substitutions within restriction sites between haplotypes tRNA/COI....
Allelic frequencies estimated for the four microsatellite loci isolated from Melipona capixaba. Codes are the same as in Table 1
Among insect taxa, ants exhibit one of the most variable chromosome numbers ranging from n = 1 to n = 60. This high karyotype diversity is suggested to be correlated to ants diversification. The karyotype evolution of ants is usually understood in terms of Robertsonian rearrangements towards an increase in chromosome numbers. The ant genus Mycetoph...
Lutzomyia gomezi (Nitzulescu, 1931) is one of the main Leishmania (Vianna) panamensis vectors in Panama, and despite its medical significance, there are no population genetic studies regarding this species. In this study, we used the sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b/start of NADH1 and the nuclear elongation gene alpha-1 in order to...
Melipona scutellaris is an important pollinator in natural and cultured areas from northeastern Brazil. Therefore, the goal of this work was to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of M. scutellaris within its Bahia range, relating putative geographical influences on population dynamics. A total of 111 colonies from 13 municip...
Melipona quadrifasciata is a stingless bee widely found throughout the Brazilian territory, with two recognized subspecies, M. quadrifasciata anthidioides, that exhibits interrupted metasomal stripes, and M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata, with continuous metasomal stripes. This study aimed to estimate the genetic variability of these subspecies. Fo...
Complementary sex determination in Hymenoptera implies that heterozygosity at the sex locus leads to the development of diploid females, whereas hemizygosity results in haploid males. Diploid males can arise through inbreeding. In social species, these pose a double burden on colony fitness, from significant reduction in its worker force and throug...
The first studies on the genome size of stingless bee species showed a range from 0.27 pg (Melipona subnitida and Melipona quadrifasciata) to 1.38 pg (Melipona capixaba). Considering this variation, we quantified the DNA content of 26 species of Meliponini, in order to provide input for future comparative studies in this tribe. Haploid genome size...
Genome size estimates and their evolution can be useful for studying the phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of a particular group. In the present study, the genome sizes of the three species that comprise the Mycetophylax genus were estimated by flow cytometry (FCM). There was little variation in genome size among them. The mean haploid genome...
Males, queens and workers of stingless bees show differences in external morphology, behaviour and roles within a colony. In addition, each individual has a cuticular chemical signature responsible for mutual communication that is essential for maintaining the integrity of the colony. In this paper we characterize the cuticular hydrocarbon composit...
Physicochemical analyses were carried out to evaluate 27 samples of honeys from three species of the Brazilian genus Melipona (M. capixaba, M. rufiventris and M. mondury) from Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais States. The parameters water activity (Aw), percentage of soluble solids (Brix %), pH, acidity (meq/Kg) and moisture (%) were evaluated. The h...
In Panama, species of the genus Lutzomyia are vectors of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL). There is no recent ecological information that may be used to develop tools for the control of this disease. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine the composition, distribution and diversity of Lutzomyia species that serve as vectors of ACL. San...
Lutzomyia longipalpis is the primary vector of the parasite responsible for visceral leishmaniasis in the Americas. In the present study, Lu. longipalpis was found in a domiciliary area in Limón, a district in Capira, a region in which cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in Panama. Previously, this species has been found in a humid forest in this sa...
In Hymenoptera, homozygosity at the sex locus results in the production of diploid males. In social species, these pose a double burden by having low fitness and drawing resources normally spent for increasing the work force of a colony. Yet, diploid males are of academic interest as they can elucidate effects of ploidy (normal males are haploid, w...
Some studies require fresh biological material for their development. Ant colonies have been reared under laboratory conditions
for scientific purposes, and several methodologies for leafcutter ants have been reported in the literature. However, these
methods are not well adapted for rearing basal Attini. In this study, we proposed a methodology fo...
Allelic frequencies and observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosities in colonies of Melipona bicolor.
Monthly contribution of queens to progeny constitution in polygynous colonies of Melipona bicolor.
Inferred genotypes of queens and drones from monogynous and polygynous colonies of Melipona bicolor.
Stingless bee colonies typically consist of one single-mated mother queen and her worker offspring. The stingless bee Melipona bicolor (Hymenoptera: Apidae) shows facultative polygyny, which makes this species particularly suitable for testing theoretical expectations concerning social behavior. In this study, we investigated the social structure a...
Pollen samples were collected in three different periods from 11
Melipona capixaba
Moure & Camargo hives and analyzed with melissopalynological methodology. A total of 33 pollen types were identified, of which 23 genera and 15 families were identified. The following families showed the highest pollen richness: Fabaceae (7), Myrtaceae (3), Solanacea...
Dinoponera lucida (Formicidae; Ponerinae) is an extinction-threatened species of ant which is endemic in the central corridor of the Atlantic Forest. We used mitochondrial sequences of the Cox1, Cox2 and Cytb genes in order to infer some aspects of the evolutionary history and phylogeography of this ant. High genetic divergence and population struc...
The stingless bees of the genus Melipona comprise a group with approximately 40 Neotropical species. Despite their ecological and economic importance, the size of
the genomes of these species remains poorly known. Thus, the present study measured the DNA content of 15 Melipona species. The mean genome size (1C) of the females ranged from 0.27 pg to...
Partamona is a Neotropical genus of stingless bees that comprises 33 species distributed from Mexico to southern Brazil. These bees are well-adapted to anthropic environments and build their nests in several substrates. In this study, 66 colonies of Partamona helleri from five localities in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (São Miguel do Anta, T...
The stingless bees are among the most abundant and ecologically important social invertebrates in tropical communities. The Neotropical stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata has two subspecies: M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata and M. quadrifasciata anthidioides. The main difference between subspecies are the yellow metassomal stripes, which are con...
When working at quantifying the genome size of stingless bees, it was observed that males of Lestrimelitta sp possessed the same amount of nuclear DNA as the females. Thus, we used flow cytometry (FCM) and cytogenetic analysis to confirm the ploidy of these individuals. The males analyzed proved to be diploid, since, through cytometric analysis, it...
Four colonies of the stingless bee Partamona cupira (Hymenoptera: Apidae) were cytogenetically analyzed using conventional staining and the fluorochromes CMA3 e DAPI. The females have 2n = 34 chromosomes (2K = 32
M¯+2
A¯). Some females, however, presented an additional large B acrocentric chromosome, to a total of 2n = 35. Chromosome B and the chro...
Due to their high degree of polymorphism, microsatellites are considered useful tools for studying population genetics. Nevertheless, studies of genetic diversity in stingless bees by means of these primers have revealed a low level of polymorphism, possibly the consequence of the heterologous primers used, since in most cases these were not specif...
For a study of diversity and genetic structuring in Melipona quadrifasciata, 61 colonies were collected in eight locations in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. By means of PCR analysis, 119 ISSR bands were obtained, 80 (68%) being polymorphic. H(e) and H (B) were 0.20 and 0.16, respectively. Two large groups were obtained by the UPGMA method, one...
The present study standardizes a reproducible flow cytometry (FCM) protocol for DNA content measurement of bee species and applied it to Scaptotrigona and Melipona species. The mean nuclear DNA content value of male and female S. xantotricha was 0.42 pg (410.8 Mbp) and 0.44 pg (430.3 Mbp), respectively, while the mean haploid genome size was determ...
Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) and Wasmannia rochai Forel are economically important ants in the Southeast and Southwest regions of Bahia State, Brazil. Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to distinguish and analyze the genetic variability of populations of both species from Ilhéus, Jequié, BA and French Guyana. The genetic...