Abstract INTRODUCTION The relationships between phagocytosis, and mucoid phenotype, plasmid profile and virulence, and resistance genetic characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates were evaluated. METHODS Thirty isolates were used to determine the mucoid aspect. Four were selected for analysis of phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages. RESULTS Thirty percent of the samples presented the mucoid phenotype. The phagocytosis rate ranged from 21.5% to 43.43%. Phagocytosis was not correlated with the plasmid profile, but was apparently correlated with mucoid phenotype and antibiotic susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: Several virulence factors act in parallel in K. pneumoniae to impair host defense.

Quisemos avaliar as valências físicas e características antropométricas, em meninas menarquiadas e não menarquiadas da rede pública de Tucuruí/PA, com idade de 11 e 12 anos. Avaliou-se 98 meninas com 11 anos e 105 com idade de 12 anos, divididas em dois grupos: menarquidas e não menarquidas. Foi avaliadado peso, estatura, índice de massa corpórea (IMC), a composição corporal de duas dobras (tríceptal e subescapular), os testes físicos foram o Shutle Run, Salto horizontal, 1.609 metros, velocidade de 30 metros, arremesso do “Medicine Ball”. Aplicou-se o teste t para amostras independentes nas variáveis com distribuição normal e o teste Mann-Whitney para as demais, (p < 0,05), com o SPSS for Windows 15.0. Verificou-se diferenças significativas na massa corporal (44.05 e 37.85kg) e estatura (1.48 e 1.42m) entre as meninas de 11 anos. Já nas escolares com 12 anos houve diferença significativa em relação à estatura (1.51 e 1.44m), IMC (19.86 e 18.49 kg/m2), Salto Horizontal (135.49 e 129.40cm), Arremesso do Medicine Ball (238.29 e 207.42cm), corrida de 1.609 metros (11.30 e 10.37 min) e no VO2Máx predito (33.67 e 36.05ml.kg-1.min-1). As menarquiadas apresentaram valores superiores às não menarquiadas nas medidas antropométricas e nos testes de arremesso de “medicine ball”.

It was our objective to evaluate the anthropometric variables and the physical qualities in girls with menarche and without menarche from public school of Tucuruí - PA, with 11 to 12 years old. Ninety-eight girls aged 11 and 105 aged 12 years were evaluated girls and divided into two groups: girls with menarche and girls without menarche. Weight and height, body mass index (BMI), body composition of two skinfolds (triceps and subscapular) were registered. Also, were assessed the performance in shuttle Run, horizontal jump, 1609 meters running, a 30 meters’ sprint run and a 3kg medicine ball throwing. After normality testing with the Kolmogorov Smirnov a t test for independent samples was computed or the Mann-Whitney test. Alpha value was set at 0.05. All calculations were computed using SPSS for Windows 15.0. It was found significant differences in body mass (44.05 and 37.85 kg) and height (1.48 and 1.42m) between groups among 11 years old girls. In the12 years old girls no significant differences were found between groups in relation to height (1.51 and 1.44m), BMI (19.86 and 18.49 kg/m2), horizontal jump (135.49 and 129.40cm), medicine ball throwing (238.29 and 207.42cm), 1.609 meters running (11.30 and 10.37m) and predicted VO2max (33.67 and 36.055 ml.kg-1.min-1). Girls with menstrual cycle had higher values than their counterparts in anthropometric measurements and in the medicine ball throwing.

Algumas bactérias diazotróficas, além de fixarem N2, também sintetizam ácidos orgânicos, sendo capazes de solubilizar fosfatos de rochas, incrementando os teores de P para as plantas. A aplicação dessas bactérias, em conjunto com fosfatos naturais, na axila foliar dos abacaxizeiros, poderia incrementar a disponibilidade de N e de P para a cultura, em decorrência dos processos de fixação biológica de nitrogênio e de solubilização de fosfatos. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram: (i) selecionar e caracterizar bactérias diazotróficas com potencial de solubilização de fosfatos, em ensaios in vitro e (ii) avaliar o desempenho inicial dos abacaxizeiros 'Imperial' e 'Pérola', em resposta à inoculação das bactérias selecionadas, combinadas com fosfato de rocha. Os experimentos foram realizados na Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, em 2009. Os tratamentos, contendo bactérias, apresentaram maiores teores foliares de N, P e K, comparados com os dos controles, acompanhados por maior crescimento vegetativo. Esses resultados indicam que a aplicação combinada de bactérias diazotróficas solubilizadoras de fosfatos, do gênero Burkholderia, e fosfato de Araxá pode ser empregada em mudas de abacaxizeiro, visando a melhorar seu desempenho inicial.

Besides fixing N2, some diazotrophic bacteria or diazotrophs, also synthesize organic acids and are able to solubilize rock phosphates, increasing the availability of P for plants. The application of these bacteria to pineapple leaf axils in combination with rock phosphate could increase N and P availability for the crop, due to the bacterial activity of biological nitrogen fixation and phosphate solubilization. The objectives of this study were: (i) to select and characterize diazotrophs able to solubilize phosphates in vitro and (ii) evaluate the initial performance of the pineapple cultivars Imperial and Pérola in response to inoculation with selected bacteria in combination with rock phosphate. The experiments were conducted at Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, in 2009. In the treatments with bacteria the leaf contents of N, P and K were higher than those of the controls, followed by an increase in plant growth. These results indicate that the combined application of diazotrophic phosphate-solubilizing bacteria Burkholderia together with Araxá rock phosphate can be used to improve the initial performance of pineapple slips.

This study assessed the abundance of microsatellites, or simple sequence repeats (SSR), in 19 Eucalyptus EST libraries from FORESTs, containing cDNA sequences from five species: E. grandis, E. globulus, E. saligna, E. urophylla and E. camaldulensis. Overall, a total of 11,534 SSRs and 8,447 SSR-containing sequences (25.5% of total ESTs) were identified, with an average of 1 SSR/2.5 kb when considering all motifs and 1 SSR/3.1 kb when mononucleotides were not included. Dimeric repeats were the most abundant (41.03%), followed by trimerics (36.11%) and monomerics (19.59%). The most frequent motifs were A/T (87.24%) for monomerics, AG/CT (94.44%) for dimerics, CCG/CGG (37.87%) for trimerics, AAGG/CCTT (18.75%) for tetramerics, AGAGG/CCTCT (14.04%) for pentamerics and ACGGCG/CGCCGT (6.30%) for hexamerics. According to sequence length, Class II or potentially variable markers were the most commonly found, followed by Class III. Two sequences presented high similarity to previously published Eucalyptus sequences from the NCBI database, EMBRA_72 and EMBRA_122. Local blastn search for transposons did not reveal the presence of any transposable elements with a cut-off value of 10-50. The large number of microsatellites identified will contribute to the refinement of marker-assisted mapping and to the discovery of novel markers for virtually all genes of economic interest.

Uma bactéria formadora de esporos, termofílica e aeróbica estrita foi isolada de amostras de solo coletadas na cidade de Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. As células deste organismo foram Gram-positivas, móveis e mediram 1,2 µm de largura e 5,3 µm de comprimento. O crescimento ocorreu a valores de pH variando de 6,5 a 9,0 e o crescimento ótimo ocorreu em torno de pH 7,0. A temperatura ótima de crescimento foi em torno de 55ºC e a máxima de 70ºC. O extrato de levedura estimulou o crescimento do organismo em glicose e foi obrigatoriamente requerido a supra-ótimas temperaturas (65ºC). Os resultados da comparação de seqüências de 16SrRNA indicaram que o isolado foi proximamente relacionado com o Bacillus caldoxylolyticus and Bacillus sp AK1 e estes três organismos exibiram níveis de homologia de 94% nas seqüências de DNA ribossomal

A strictly aerobic, thermophilic, spore-forming bacteria was isolated from a soil sample collected in Campos dos Goytacazes City, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The cells of this organism were Gram-positive, catalase positive, actively motile, 1.2 µm wide and 5.3 µm long. Growth occurred at pH values ranging from 6.5 to 9.0, and optimum growth occurred at about pH 7.0. The optimum temperature for growth was around 55ºC, and the upper temperature limit for growth was around 70ºC. Yeast extract stimulated growth on glucose and was obligately required at supraoptimal temperatures (65ºC). The results of 16S rRNA sequence comparisons indicated that the isolate was closely related to Bacillus caldoxylolyticus and Bacillus sp strain AK1, and these three organisms exhibited levels of ribossomal DNA sequence homology of 94%.