Abstract Entomological collections help scientists to rapidly identify invasive insects that affect agriculture, forestry, and human and animal health and to infer about global change biology. There are several collections with deposited Chagas disease vectors that are distributed throughout the world, but most of them present in Brazil. Faced with the need to disclose the biological material deposited in these collections, Brazilian articles were published compiling the information about the Triatomines Collections of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, the Collection of Chagas Disease Vectors, the Entomologic collections of the Faculty of Public Health of the University of Sao Paulo, and the Entomological Collection of Instituto Butantan. The Museum of the Institute of Agricultural Zoology “Francisco Fernández Yépez” (MIZA) in Venezuela has more than four million arthropods deposited in its collection, being more than 4,500 holotypes. Based on the importance of disseminating to the world the richness of species deposited in biological collections, with emphasis on the entomological collections of vectors that can present important epidemiological information on the distribution of the vector-borne diseases, the present work compiles all the information related to triatomines deposited in MIZA. Through the analysis of the triatomines deposited in the MIZA was possible to highlight that there are over one thousand triatomines deposited in the entomological collection, distributed in 39 species grouped in four tribes: Bolboderini (two species), Cavernicolini (one species), Rhodniini (seven species) and Triatomini (29 species). In additional, eleven new occurrence points were described for Venezuelan states, namely, Miranda (Cavernicola pilosa and Eratyrus mucronatus), Amazonas (Rhodnius pictipes and E. mucronatus), Aragua (R. robustus), Federal District (E. mucronatus), Barinas (Panstrongylus geniculatus), Bolívar (P. rufotuberculatus), Carabobo (Triatoma nigromaculata), Falcón (T. nigromaculata) and Táchira (T. nigromaculata). The analysis of the entomological collection of MIZA allowed to group important information on the richness of biological material deposited for the subfamily Triatominae, as well as for the epidemiology of Chagas disease in the States of Venezuela, emphasizing the importance of the dissemination of information on biological collections to the scientific community in the form of manuscripts or official sites aiming the internationalization and valuation of collections and deposited material.

Resumen Las colecciones entomológicas ayudan a los científicos a identificar rápidamente los insectos invasores que afectan a la agricultura, silvicultura y la salud humana y animal e inferir sobre la biología del cambio global. Hay varias colecciones con deposito de vectores de la enfermedad de Chagas que se distribuyen en todo el mundo, pero la mayoría de ellas están presentes en Brasil. Ante la necesidad de divulgar el material biológico depositado en estas colecciones, se publicaron en Brasil artículos que recopilan información sobre la Colección de Triatominos del Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, la Colección de Vectores de la Enfermedad de Chagas, las colecciones Entomológicas de la Facultad de Salud Pública de la Universidad de Sao Paulo, y la Colección Entomológica del Instituto Butantan. El Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola “Francisco Fernández Yépez” (MIZA) de Venezuela, tiene más de cuatro millones de artrópodos depositados en su colección, reuniendo más de 4,500 holotipos. Basados en la importancia de diseminar al mundo la riqueza de las especies depositadas en colecciones biológicas, con énfasis en las colecciones entomológicas de vectores que pueden presentar información epidemiológica importante sobre la distribución de las enfermedades transmitidas por vectores, el presente trabajo recopila toda la información relacionada a triatominos depositados en MIZA. A través del análisis de los triatominos depositados en está colección fue posible destacar que hay más de mil triatominos representados, distribuidos en 39 especies agrupadas en cuatro tribus: Bolboderini (dos especies), Cavernicolini (una especie), Rhodniini (siete especies) y Triatomini (29 especies). Además, se describieron once nuevos puntos de ocurrencia para los estados venezolanos de Miranda (Cavernicola pilosa y Eratyrus mucronatus), Amazonas (Rhodnius pictipes y E. mucronatus), Aragua (R. robustus), Distrito Federal (E. mucronatus), Barinas (Panstrongylus geniculatus), Bolívar (P. rufotuberculatus), Carabobo (Triatoma nigromaculata), Falcón (T. nigromaculata) y Táchira (T. nigromaculata). El análisis de la colección entomológica del MIZA permitió agrupar información importante sobre la riqueza del material biológico depositado para la subfamilia Triatominae, así como para la epidemiología de la enfermedad de Chagas en los estados de Venezuela, enfatizando la importancia de la difusión de información sobre colecciones biológicas a la comunidad científica en forma de manuscritos o sitios oficiales como una forma de internacionalización y valoración de colecciones y material depositado.

Zaprionus indianus is a drosophilid native to the Afrotropical region that has colonized South America and exhibits a wide geographical distribution. In contrast, Z. sepsoides is restricted to certain African regions. The two species differ in the size of their testes, which are larger in Z. indianus than in Z. sepsoides. To better understand the biology and the degree of differentiation of these species, the current study evaluated spermatogenesis in males of different ages by conventional staining techniques and ultrastructural analysis. Spermatogenesis and the ultrastructure of spermatozoa were similar in the two species, and the diploid number was confirmed to be 2n = 12. A greater number of spermatozoa were observed in young Z. indianus (1-3 days old) compared to Z. sepsoides males, which showed a higher frequency of cells at the early stages of spermatogenesis. The head of the sperm was strongly marked by silver staining, lacto-acetic orcein and the Feulgen reaction; the P.A.S. reaction revealed glycogen granules in the testes of both species. Both species presented similar arrangement of microtubules (9+9+2), two mitochondrial derivatives of different size and 64 spermatozoa per bundle. Such similarity within the genus Zaprionus with other species of Drosophila, indicates that these structures are conserved in the family Drosophilidae. The differences observed the number and frequency of sperm cells in the early stages of spermatogenesis, between the young males of Z. indianus and Z. sepsoides, are features that may interfere with reproductive success and be related to the invasive potential of Z. indianus.

Triatoma klugi is a Chagas disease vector in the Rio Grande do Sul State. Triatominae chromosomes are holocentric and sex chromosomes segregation is post-reductional. In this paper we describe the karyotype of male T. klugi and a meiotic analysis including the nucleolar behavior during spermatogenesis. Testis cells were analyzed after lacto-acetic orcein and silver nitrate staining. Two autosomes and the heterochromosomes presented nucleolar activity (Ag-NORs) during diplotene-diakinesis. The analysis of metaphase I and II revealed a karyotype with 2n = 20+XY. In metaphase I a prominent nucleolar mass was observed in the cell periphery and small silver grains were detected in metaphase II. During anaphase, the chromosomes segregated in parallel and a typical holocentric late migration behavior was observed. The restoration of the nucleolus was an important feature in this phase. During telophase nucleolar masses persisted and in early spermiogenesis the spermatids presented a small peripheral mass until elongation. The present study is a contribution to the study of chromatin behavior and nucleolar persistence in meiosis.

INTRODUÇÃO: A solução cardioplégica farmacológica busca eliminar as conseqüências do dano isquêmico, que é o resultado do desbalanço entre a oferta e o consumo de energia durante a parada dos batimentos cardíacos, nas cirurgias cardíacas com circulação extracorpórea. OBJETIVO: Este trabalho avalia experimentalmente as alterações estruturais e ultra-estruturais em coração isolado de coelhos submetidos à parada protegida pela Solução para Cardioplegia de Baixo Volume (SCBV). MÉTODO: O estudo compreendeu um grupo controle e dois grupos experimentais. No grupo I, a parada cardíaca foi obtida pela infusão da SCBV por 2 horas. No grupo II, o experimento foi conduzido da mesma forma até a parada protegida pela SCBV por duas horas, imediatamente procedeu-se à reperfusão com solução oxigenada de Ringer Locke (RL) por uma hora. No grupo controle os corações foram perfundidos com solução oxigenada de RL por duas horas. Após os experimentos, oito amostras de parede lateral do ventrículo esquerdo foram fixadas em formaldeído 10% e glutaraldeído 2,5% para análises histológica e ultra-estrutural. RESULTADOS: As células do miocárdio, fibroblastos e células endoteliais, observadas nos grupos experimentais I e II, apresentaram marginalização da heterocromatina, compactação do nucléolo, alteração na forma das mitocôndrias, compactação das cristas e aumento da densidade da matriz mitocondrial, indicando que tanto a estrutura nuclear quanto a das organelas citoplasmáticas foram alteradas em relação às células do grupo controle. CONCLUSÃO: As modificações estruturais foram decorrentes de uma adaptação fisiológica da célula, não sendo indicativas de oncose ou apoptose, sugerindo, portanto, que a solução cardioplégica utilizada foi eficiente para a preservação das células.

INTRODUCTION: Pharmacological cardioplegic solution aims to eliminate the consequences of ischemic damage, which results from the misbalance between the offer and consumption of energy during the arrest of the heart beats during cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. OBJECTIVES: This research experimentally evaluates the structural and ultrastructural changes in isolated rabbit hearts submitted to arrest protected by a Low Volumetric Cardioplegic Solution (LVCS). MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study counted with a control group and two experimental groups. In group I the cardiac arrest was obtained by infusion of the LVCS for 2 hours. In group II the experiment was conducted in the same way until the arrest protected by LVCS for 2 hours, and immediately after reperfusion was performed with the Ringer Locke (RL) oxygenated solution for 1 hour. In the control group the hearts were perfused with the RL oxygenated solution for 2 hours. After the experiments, 8 samples of the left ventricle were fixed in 10% formaldehyde and 2.5% glutaraldehyde for histological and ultrastructural analysis. RESULTS: The myocardial cells, the fibroblasts and the endothelial cells which were observed in the experimental groups I and II, presented with marginalization of the heterochromatin, compaction of the nucleolus, change in the morphology of the mitochondria and compaction of the cristae. Also there was an increase of the density of the mitochondrial matrix. This indicates that the nuclear structure as well as the structure of the cytoplasmic organelles were altered when compared to the cells of the control group. CONCLUSION: The structural modifications were due a physiological adaptation of the cell, and not an indication of oncosis or apoptosis, suggesting that the cardioplegic solution used was efficient for the preservation of the cells.