Publications by authors named "Spartaco Astolfi Filho"

The Yanomami are one of the oldest indigenous tribes in the Amazon and are direct descendants of the first people to colonize South America 12,000 years ago. They are located on the border between Venezuela and Brazil, with the Venezuelan side remaining uncontacted. While they maintain a hunter-gatherer society, they are currently experiencing contact with urbanized populations in Brazil.

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Highly anthropophilic and adapted to urban environments, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the main vectors of arboviruses that cause human diseases such as dengue, zika, and chikungunya fever, especially in countries with tropical and subtropical climates. Microorganisms with mosquitocidal and larvicidal activities have been suggested as environmentally safe alternatives to chemical or mechanical mosquito control methods. Here, we analyzed cultivable bacteria isolated from all stages of the mosquito life cycle for their larvicidal activity against Ae.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study analyzed the immune response (specifically IgA and IgG antibodies) in COVID-19 patients, focusing on the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of the virus to relate it to disease severity.
  • The research found that hospitalized patients with severe symptoms had a significantly stronger IgG response compared to those with mild symptoms, indicating a correlation between antibody levels and disease outcome.
  • The findings suggest that tracking specific antibody responses could help in understanding disease progression and potentially improving patient outcomes.
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is a Gram-negative, immobile, aerobic nosocomial opportunistic coccobacillus that causes pneumonia, septicemia, and urinary tract infections in immunosuppressed patients. There are no commercially available alternative antimicrobials, and multi-drug resistance is an urgent concern that requires emergency measures and new therapeutic strategies. This study evaluated a multi-drug-resistant whole-cell vaccine, inactivated and adsorbed on an aluminum hydroxide-chitosan (mAhC) matrix, in an sepsis model in immunosuppressed mice by cyclophosphamide (CY).

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The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance and urgent need for rapid and accurate diagnostic tests for detecting and screening this infection. Our proposal was to develop a biosensor based on an ELISA immunoassay for monitoring antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in human serum samples. The nucleocapsid protein (N protein) from SARS-CoV-2 was employed as a specific receptor for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G.

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Introduction: The goiter, a neglected heterogeneous molecular disease, remains a major indication for thyroidectomies in its endemic regions.

Objectives: This study analyzed differential gene expression in surgical specimens diagnosed with multi nodular and compared the data to that of thyroid tissue without multinodular goiter from patients undergoing thyroidectomy in Manaus-AM, Brazil using RNA-seq technology.

Methodology: The transcriptome information of the surgical specimen fragments with and without multinodular goiter was accessed by Illumina HiSeq 2000 New Generation Sequencing (NGS) using the RNA-seq NEBNext® Ultra™ RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina®-#E7530L protocol and differential gene expression analysis.

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Malaria remains a widespread public health problem in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, and there is still no vaccine available for full protection. In recent years, it has been observed that spores of Bacillus subtillis can act as a vaccine carrier and adjuvant, promoting an elevated humoral response after co-administration with antigens either coupled or integrated to their surface. In our study, B.

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Considering the high biotechnological potential of yeasts associated to edible fruits, a screening for these microorganisms, capable of alcoholic fermentation, was performed in ripe fruits of camu-camu ( Kunth). The fruits were collected from north of Brazilian Amazon, in the floodplain of the Cauamé River. Yeasts were isolated, and fermentation capability was evaluated using Durham tubes.

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The use of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) has emerged as one of the main strategies for generating renewable biofuels. For the efficient use of such feedstock, pre-treatments are essential. The hydrolysis of cellulose - major component of LCB - demands enzymatic cocktails with improved efficiency to generate fermentable sugars.

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The genome assembly of consists of 2221 scaffolds (N50 = 115,072 bp) and has a size spanning 136.94 Mbp. This assembly represents one of the smallest genomes among species.

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Y-chromosomal STRs are important markers in forensic genetics, due to some peculiar characteristics. The absence of recombination makes them a useful tool to infer kinship in complex cases involving distant paternal relatives, or to infer paternal bio-geographic ancestry. The presence of a single copy, being transmitted from father to son, allow tracing mutational events in Y-STRs without ambiguity.

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Here, we report the draft genome of the strain amazonensis, a bacterium highly resistant to mercury that was isolated from a metal- and sewage-contaminated stream in Amazonas, Brazil. The exploration of the 5.0-Mb genome revealed 104 genes encoding resistance to toxic compounds and heavy metals, highlighting the potential biotechnological applications of this strain.

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Coa14 is a bacterium isolated from water collected from Coari Lake (Amazonas, Brazil) that shows a capacity for survival in a medium containing only oil as a carbon source. Here, we report its draft genome sequence, highlighting some genes involved with petroleum derivative degradation.

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Yeasts are an important component of insect gut microbial content, playing roles such as degradation of polymers and toxic compounds, biological control, and hormone, vitamin, and digestive enzyme production. The xylophagous beetle gut is a hyperdiverse habitat and a potential source of new species with industrial abilities such as enzyme production, pentose fermentation, and biodetoxification. In this work, samples of (Passalidae, Coleoptera, and Insecta) were collected from the Central Amazon Rainforest.

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Guarana (Paullinia cupana var. sorbilis) is a plant from the Amazonas region with socio-economic importance. However, guarana production has been increasingly affected by unfavorable conditions resulting from anthracnose, caused by the Colletotrichum fungal genus, which primarily affects mainly the Amazonas region.

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In highly eusocial insects, development of reproductive traits are regulated not only by sex determination pathway, but it also depends on caste fate. The molecular basis of both mechanisms in stingless bees and possible interaction with each other is still obscure. Here, we investigate sex determination in Melipona interrupta, focusing on characterization and expression analysis of the feminizer gene (Mi-fem), and its association to a major component of caste determination, the juvenile hormone (JH).

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Endophytes colonize an ecological niche similar to that of phytopathogens, which make them candidate for disease suppression. Anthracnose is a disease caused by Colletotrichum spp., a phytopathogen that can infect guarana (Paullinia cupana), an important commercial crop in the Brazilian Amazon.

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Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) is cultivated by many indigenous and traditional communities from Amazonia to Central America for its edible fruits, and is currently important for its heart-of-palm. The objective of this study was to investigate the mating system of peach palm, as this is important for conservation and breeding. Eight microsatellite loci were used to genotype 24 open-pollinated progenies from three populations of the Pampa Hermosa landrace maintained in a progeny trial for genetic improvement.

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Unlabelled: There are limited data regarding prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among northern Brazilian pregnant women.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of chlamydial infection among pregnant women in their third trimester and to determine the repercussion of this infection on their offspring.

Methods: In the first phase of this study 100 pregnant women receiving prenatal care in a local public university hospital were examined to assess the prevalence of genital C.

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Anopheles darlingi is the principal neotropical malaria vector, responsible for more than a million cases of malaria per year on the American continent. Anopheles darlingi diverged from the African and Asian malaria vectors ∼100 million years ago (mya) and successfully adapted to the New World environment. Here we present an annotated reference A.

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The objective of the present study was to evaluate the bacterial diversity in the saliva of patients with different oral hygiene indexes using of two 16S rRNA gene libraries. Each library was composed of samples from patients with different averages of the differentiated Silness-Löe biofilm index: the first library (A) with an index between 1.0 and 3.

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Background: We established for the first time the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among infertile women in Manaus Amazonas Brazil using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.

Methods: 106 women were studied at a public university hospital fertility clinic for infertility problems correlated with chlamydia infection. Social-economic and clinical information was obtained before medical examination to obtain samples for the amplification of C.

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In this study, anticoagulant activity was detected in salivary gland homogenates (SGHs) of Thyrsopelma guianense (Diptera: Simuliidae). The SGH yielded 1.07 microg +/- 0.

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Bothrops atrox is a highly dangerous pit viper in the Brazilian Amazon region. We produced a global catalogue of gene transcripts to identify the main toxin and other protein families present in the B. atrox venom gland.

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We developed specific primers for microsatellite DNA regions for the Amazon River dolphin or boto Inia geoffrensis, for use in population and conservation genetic studies. We also tested their transferability for two other species, Pontoporia blainvillei (sister taxon of I. geoffrensis) and Sotalia guianensis.

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