Vários estudos têm sido desenvolvidos nos últimos 20 anos na bacia do Rio Madeira (Amazônia) com o objetivo de diagnosticar a presença de mercúrio em peixes e compreender o ciclo deste elemento no meio ambiente tropical. Neste artigo são discutidas tendências temporais na concentração de Hg e sua relação com a massa corporal de algumas espécies de peixes com diferentes hábitos alimentares, coletadas no Rio Madeira e no reservatório da hidroelétrica de Samuel, no Rio Jamari, Estado de Rondônia. Foi avaliada uma amostragem de peixes de 14 anos (1987 - 2000) com 86 espécies e um total de 1100 espécimes.

Over the last 20 years several projects carried on the Madeira River basin in the Amazon produced a great amount data on total Hg concentration in different fish species. In this paper we discuss temporal trends in Hg contamination and its relation to body weight in some of those fishes, showing that even within similar groups, such as carnivorous and non-migratory fish, the interspecies variability in Hg accumulation is considerable.

We have analyzed the sequenced genomes of three strains of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and one strain of M. synoviae, and have found three and two different transposable element families, respectively in each species. In M. hyopneumoniae, the Insertion Sequences of the IS4 family is represented by ISMHp1, a putatively active element. The IS3 family is represented by several degenerated sequences. A third element called tMH was found, which shows some characteristics reminiscent of retrotransposons. In M. synoviae, three different possibly active IS4 elements are present (ISMHp1-like; ISMs1 and IS1634-like elements). The IS30 family is represented by the degenerated IS1630-like element. The IS1634-like element is shown to be involved in chromosomal rearrangements and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). The ISMHp1-like element is shown to relate to the HGT of a 25-kb region from M. gallisepticum to M. synoviae. The fractions of these genomes that correspond to mobile elements varied from 1.35 to 3.13% in M. hyopneumonia strains and was 2.08% in M. synoviae. Although these species possess reduced genomes, they maintain mobile elements, perhaps as a mechanism for genetic variability production.