Wildfire ashes: evaluating threats on the Pantanal wetland reserve (Mato Grosso, Brazil) using ecotoxicological tests.

In 2020, the largest continuous wetland area on the planet, the Brazilian Pantanal, experienced an unprecedented fire that affected the entire ecosystem. Our goal was to elucidate the effects of ash presence following the fire events. We quantified the impact of ashes, collected in four Conservation Units, on soil, water, and atmosphere.

Novelties on tradescantia: Perspectives on water quality monitoring.

In the face of intense urban expansion, the assessment of water quality plays a crucial role in environmental preservation. Here, we evaluated aquatic genotoxicity in three locations with different degrees of urbanization using Tradescantia pallida var. purpurea and Daphnia magna as bioindicators.

Feed efficiency and enteric methane emissions indices are inconsistent with the outcomes of the rumen microbiome composition.

The correlation between enteric methane emissions (eME) and feed efficiency (FE) in cattle is linked to the anaerobic fermentation of feedstuffs that occurs in the rumen. Several mathematical indices have been developed to predict feed efficiency and identify low methane emitters in herds. To investigate this, the current study aimed to evaluate the rumen microbial composition in the same group of animals ranked according to six different indices (three indices for FE and three for eME).

Giants' cooperation: a draft genome of the giant ciliate suggests its ecological role in the capybara's digestive metabolism.

Several hundred ciliate species live in animals' guts as a part of their microbiome. Among them, (Trichostomatia, Pycnotrichidae), the largest described ciliate, is found exclusively associated with (capybara), the largest known rodent reaching up to 90 kg. Here, we present the sequence, structural and functional annotation of this giant microeukaryote macronuclear genome and discuss its phylogenetic placement.

Molecular diversity and polyparasitism of avian trypanosomes in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest.

The current study proposes to investigate the diversity and phylogeny of trypanosomes parasitizing wild birds from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Cytological examination was carried out by light microscopy of blood smears and positive birds were selected for amplification of the 18S rDNA sequence through PCR. The resulting amplicons were subjected to purification, cloning, and sequencing analysis.

Composition of the rumen microbiome and its association with methane yield in dairy cattle raised in tropical conditions.

Background: Methane (CH) emissions from rumen fermentation are a significant contributor to global warming. Cattle with high CH emissions tend to exhibit lower efficiency in milk and meat production, as CH production represents a loss of the gross energy ingested by the animal. The objective of this study was to investigate the taxonomic and functional composition of the rumen microbiome associated with methane yield phenotype in dairy cattle raised in tropical areas.

High infestation and phylogenetic position of Epistylis sp. (Ciliophora, Peritrichia) on Aegla serrana Buckup & Rossi (Crustacea, Anomura) from southern Brazil.

High infestations of epibiont ciliates on vertebrates or invertebrates are normally related to aquaculture tanks or similar environments, and the importance of this relationship in natural habitats is often disregarded. Here, we describe the first record of high infestation of ciliates on Aegla serrana in South America and conduct a brief morphological and phylogenetic characterization of these ciliates. Our findings confirm that cases of high infestation of ciliates on metazoans can indeed occur in natural environments.

Systematic review of the genera Rhabdostyla Kent 1880 and Orborhabdostyla Foissner et al. 2010 (Ciliophora, Peritrichia, Epistylididae).

The genus Rhabdostyla is one of the oldest of the family Epistylididae, it was described over 120 years ago and has more than 40 species considered valid. This group went through several systematic changes throughout its existence and due to the lack of taxonomic information, said to be essential, for most species that compose it, some of these changes are still questioned. In order to better understand and validate the species and relationships identified for this genus, the present work makes a brief review for the genus Rhabdostyla and its related genera, Opisthostyla and Orborhabdostyla.

Insights on the taxonomy of Haemoproteus parasites infecting cracid birds.

The Haemosporida order is a well-supported clade of heteroxenous parasites transmitted by dipteran insects and frequently found parasitizing wild birds. These parasites have already been reported in all zoogeographic regions of the world, except for Antarctica. One of the potential hosts of haemosporidians is the Cracidae family, which includes approximately 50 species, 22 of which are present in Brazil, classified within nine genera.

Rumen ciliates (Alveolata, Ciliophora) associated with goats: checklist, geographic distribution, host specificity, phylogeny and molecular dating.

Although the diversity (~35 species) and worldwide distribution of goats (Ruminantia, Bovidae, Caprinae) are significant, studies on the diversity of symbiont ciliates in these mammals are scarce in comparison to other ruminants. The present work is a review and checklist of species based on taxonomic, morphologic, and ecologic studies of rumen ciliate protozoa in goats, presenting geographic distribution and hosts, as well as estimating the macroevolutionary relationships of the species observed in the studies. To that end, all of the available literature on databases was reviewed, the schematic drawings were made based on information present in the original description of the taxa, and the phylogenetic relationships were inferred based on Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analyses.

Insights into the systematics of the family Ophryoscolecidae (Ciliophora, Entodiniomorphida).

The family Ophryoscolecidae currently comprises 225 species of trichostomatid ciliates, subdivided into three subfamilies (Entodiniinae, Diplodiniinae, and Ophryoscolecinae). The last taxonomic review of the family was performed 55 years ago, but recent morphological and molecular studies indicate the need for a profound review of the systematics of this taxon, since its current taxonomy is insufficient to organize the diversity of the group. Here, we briefly review the systematics of the family Ophryoscolecidae based on information recovered from the literature and new morphological and molecular data.

Systematic review of the genus Ostracodinium (Ciliophora, Entodiniomorphida, Ophryoscolecidae) and notes on the taxonomy of Ostracodinium rugoloricatum Kofoid amp; MacLennan, 1932.

The family Ophryoscolecidae (Ciliophora, Entodiniomorphida) constitutes a diverse and monophyletic group of symbiotic ciliates of herbivorous mammals. The family includes approximately 200 species, distributed in three subfamilies and sixteen genera. The subfamily Diplodiniinae is the most diverse group in Ophryoscolecidae and comprises the genus Ostracodinium, which includes species with two retractable ciliary zones in the anterior body portion, a broad skeletal plate covering almost all the right surface of the body and a variable number of contractile vacuoles.

New Finds on the Systematics of Cycloposthiid Ciliates (Ciliophora: Entodiniomorphida: Cycloposthiidae) Based on New 18S-rDNA Sequences from a Brazilian Capybara.

The family Cycloposthiidae (Entodiniomorphida) comprises ciliated protists that are symbionts of the gastrointestinal tract of several herbivore mammals, such as rodents, elephants, equids, primates, hippopotamus, marsupials, rhinoceros and tapir, where they contribute to the digestion of their host's plant-based diet. Despite the significance of these ciliates to the evolution of their hosts, many characters used in the taxonomy of the group are homoplastic and most of the valid species do not have molecular data available. For these reasons the systematics of this family is poorly understood.

Rediscovery of Plasmodium (Huffia) huffi (Apicomplexa, Haemosporida): a lost lineage from toucans.

Literature data on toucans haemosporidians are scarce and all reports come from investigations in Brazil. Muniz et al. (Rev Bras Malariol 3: 339-356, Muniz et al.

New morphological and molecular data for Haemoproteus (H.) paramultipigmentatus in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Parasites of the genus Haemoproteus have been reported in almost all avian clades and zoogeographic regions, except Antarctica. However, despite the large number of reports worldwide, they are poorly studied in the Neotropical region, which includes the Atlantic Forest, a biodiversity hotspot with more than 890 bird species, of which 24% are endemic. Haemoproteus (Haemoproteus) paramultipigmentatus was described by morphological and molecular analyses in 2013 infecting Columbiform birds in Mexico.

A checklist of species of the family Zoothamniidae (Ciliophora: Peritrichia), symbionts of crustaceans.

Eight genera are included in the family Zoothamniidae, and at the present the data of the epibiotic species on crustaceans is not updated. Thus, the main goal of the present work is to provide the checklist of zoothamniids worldwide reported as associated to several groups of crustaceans, including some data of their geographic distribution, and also to provide the complete list of species of this peritrich group. We obtained all available data of family Zoothamniidae and checked their taxonomic status.

Hippoboscid flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) on birds of prey in the Atlantic Forest, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Hippoboscid flies are potential ectoparasites of several avian orders, including birds of prey, a group formed by the orders Falconiformes, Strigiformes, Cathartiformes and Accipitriformes. In this study, we evaluated 155 birds of prey that were brought to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, between the years 2016 and 2019. Two species of hippoboscid flies (Ornithoctona erythrocephala and Icosta americana) were found in five species of birds of prey (Megascops choliba, Asio stygius, Athene cunicularia, Asio clamator and Caracara plancus).

Checklist of ciliates (Alveolata: Ciliophora) that inhabit in bromeliads from the Neotropical Region.

Species from almost all classes of ciliates are prone to be found inhabiting bromeliads in the Neotropics, from Mexico to Brazil, and the Antilles. Studies of ciliates recorded from bromeliads have been carried out from few bromeliad species, mainly in tropical forest. We compiled all available data of free living and sessile ciliates from bromeliads, including their geographic distribution and bromeliad identity.

Haemoproteus syrnii (Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) in owls from Brazil: morphological and molecular characterization, potential cryptic species, and exo-erythrocytic stages.

Haemoproteus syrnii is a haemosporidian parasite found in owls. Although morphological and molecular data on the species is available, its exo-erythrocytic development was never researched. In this study, we provide the morphological, morphometric, and molecular characterization of H.

Ciliates as bioindicators of water quality: A case study in the neotropical region and evidence of phylogenetic signals (18S-rDNA).

The aim of our study was to evaluate the water quality of an urban stream in southeastern Brazil by analyzing epibenthic ciliates, and to investigate the existence of phylogenetic signal for saprobity in ciliates. However, before conducting this type of phylogenetic study, it is necessary to evaluate if the saprobic classification used frequently in the northern Hemisphere is suitable for neotropical ecosystems. Sediment samples were collected from five sampling stations: two in rural areas and three in urban areas.

Checklist of Cycloposthiidae species (Ciliophora, Entodiniomorphida), with a brief review on taxonomy, morphology and hosts.

The family Cycloposthiidae include 69 species, distributed in 17 genera, all of them described in symbiotic association with various mammalian host species. The taxonomic classification of the family is confused because of its broad diagnosis and absence of synapomorphies. To validate taxa and eliminate synonyms, the present work performed a brief taxonomic review of Cycloposthiidae, compiling morphological characterization, host records, and geographic location data.