Parasitism in Rattus rattus and sympatric Achatina fulica by Angiostrongylus cantonensis in an urban park in southeast Brazil.

In this study, rodents (Rattus rattus) and mollusks (Achatina fulica) were captured in a small forest located in a large metropolitan city in Brazil, and they were examined to investigate possible parasitism by Angiostrongylus cantonensis. The parasites were recovered as helminths from the pulmonary arteries of the synanthropic rodents and as third-stage larvae (with Metastrongylidae family characteristics) from the mollusks. To confirm the species, these larvae were used to experimentally infect Rattus norvegicus for the posterior recovery of adult helminths.

Integrative taxonomy: combining molecular and morphological characteristics to identify Lymnaea (Galba) cubensis, intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica.

Despite the epidemiological importance of the Lymnaeidae family regarding transmission of Fasciola hepatica, knowledge about the diversity and distribution of these molluscs and the role of each species in the expansion of fasciolosis remains sparse. Classical morphological (n=10) identification was performed in lymneids from Lagoa Santa, a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, along with molecular and phylogenetic analysis (n=05) based on the partial nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI mtDNA) and ribosomal internal transcribed spacer II (ITS-2 rDNA). The shell morphology made it possible to distinguish the lymneids of Lagoa Santa from Pseudosuccinea columella.

Evaluating the boundaries of marine biogeographic regions of the Southwestern Atlantic using halacarid mites (Halacaridae), meiobenthic organisms with a low dispersal potential.

Aim: We evaluated traditional biogeographic boundaries of coastal marine regions in Southwestern Atlantic using DNA sequence data from common, rocky-shore inhabiting, marine mites of the genera and , family Halacaridae.

Methods: We investigated geographic population genetic structure using CO1 gene sequences, estimated divergence times using a multigene dataset and absolute time-calibrated molecular clock analyses, and performed environmental niche modeling (ENM) of common marine mite species.

Results: has a shallow history (2.

Molecular phylogeny of marine mites (Acariformes: Halacaridae), the oldest radiation of extant secondarily marine animals.

The family Halacaridae comprises more than one thousand mostly marine or rarely freshwater species. Many are predacious, but among marine mites, some genera evolved the ability to feed on macroalgae. We inferred a time-calibrated phylogeny based on 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and Cytochrome oxidase I (5,143 nt aligned) and all non-monotypic halacarid subfamilies plus a representative outgroup set (72 taxa).

Strong spatial structure, Pliocene diversification and cryptic diversity in the Neotropical dry forest spider Sicarius cariri.

The Brazilian Caatinga is part of the seasonally dry tropical forests, a vegetation type disjunctly distributed throughout the Neotropics. It has been suggested that during Pleistocene glacial periods, these dry forests had a continuous distribution, so that these climatic shifts may have acted as important driving forces of the Caatinga biota diversification. To address how these events affected the distribution of a dry forest species, we chose Sicarius cariri, a spider endemic to the Caatinga, as a model.

Reproduction of Omalonyx matheroni (Gastropoda: Succineidae) under laboratory conditions.

The life histories of succineids have received relatively little attention. To evaluate life history characteristics of Omalonyx matheroni, we studied a Brazilian population (Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Feliciano Miguel Abdala, in Caratinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil) under laboratory conditions. The aims of the present study were (1) to describe in detail an appropriate rearing method; (2) to investigate the effects of different temperature and photoperiod conditions; and (3) to assess the effects of self and cross-fertilization on the reproductive biology of these mollusks.

Short-term toxicity of ammonia, sodium hydroxide and a commercial biocide to golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857).

Macrofouling bivalves are considered an ecological and technological problem worldwide. Control measures have been researched with Limnoperna fortunei, but without success. The aim of the manuscript is to test some alternatives to regulate this harmful invasive mollusk.

Size polymorphism in alleles of the myoglobin gene from biomphalaria mollusks.

Introns are common among all eukaryotes, while only a limited number of introns are found in prokaryotes. Globin and globin-like proteins are widely distributed in nature, being found even in prokaryotes and a wide range of patterns of intron-exon have been reported in several eukaryotic globin genes. Globin genes in invertebrates show considerable variation in the positions of introns; globins can be found without introns, with only one intron or with three introns in different positions.

Angiostrongylus costaricensis (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae): migration route in experimental infection of Omalonyx sp. (Gastropoda: Succineidae).

Angiostrongylus costaricensis can infect several mollusks, and its migration route in intermediate hosts has been studied only in Sarasinula marginata. To verify the susceptibility of Omalonyx sp. as an intermediate host of A.

Multiplex PCR for both identification of Brazilian Biomphalaria species (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) and diagnosis of infection by Schistosoma mansoni (Trematoda: Schistosomatidae).

A simple and single-step technique based on multiplex PCR (multiplex polymerase chain reaction) has been developed for simultaneous identification of Brazilian Biomphalaria species, the intermediate hosts of Schistosoma mansoni, and their diagnosis of infection by the trematode. We used species-specific primers directed both to the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA from 3 of the S. mansoni host species and to the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the trematode.

Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the ITS2 region for differentiation of Brazilian Biomphalaria intermediate hosts of the Schistosoma mansoni.

We sequenced the internal transcribed spacer 2 of the ribosomal DNA (ITS2-DNAr) from the three Schistosoma mansoni intermediate hosts in Brazil: Biomphalaria glabrata, Biomphalaria tenagophila and Biomphalaria straminea. Analysis of a restriction map from those sequences allowed us to select putative restriction enzymes able to identify the snail species under study. Four restriction enzymes were used and HpaII provided simple species-specific profiles easily visualized in polyacrylamide gels.

Analysis of the first and second internal transcribed spacer sequences of the ribosomal DNA in Biomphalaria tenagophila complex (Mollusca: Planorbidae).

The first and second internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA of Biomphalaria tenagophila complex (B. tenagophila, B. occidentalis, and B.

Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism of cytocrome oxidase subunit I used for differentiation of Brazilian Biomphalaria species intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni.

The intermediate hosts of Schistosoma mansoni, in Brazil, Biomphalaria glabrata, B. tenagophila and B. straminea, were identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI).