RESUMO Lagos artificiais formados em áreas de mineração a céu aberto são unidades complexas e se constituem em passivos ambientais emergentes advindos da indústria da mineração. Embora estejam aumentando em número em várias partes do globo, são um problema ambiental recente e ainda pouco estudado, especialmente no tocante à qualidade e à toxicidade de suas águas, que podem apresentar riscos ambientais preocupantes, dado seu potencial de contaminação. O presente trabalho descreve os resultados da análise sazonal de aspectos químicos, ecotoxicológicos e genotoxicológicos das águas de três cavas de mineração de ouro desativadas localizadas em Mara Rosa, Goiás, Brasil. Amostras de água foram coletadas em perfil em duas estações climáticas distintas - inverno e verão - e foram analisadas quimicamente para determinação de metais e ânions. Também foram desenvolvidos testes ecotoxicológicos e ensaios cometa com peixes da espécie Danio rerio. Os resultados indicaram que as concentrações das espécies químicas analisadas se mostraram predominantemente crescentes no sentido da superfície ao fundo e mais elevadas durante a estação seca. As águas do Lago Azul demonstram estar quimicamente comprometidas, pois são ácidas e ricas em analitos potencialmente tóxicos, como alumínio, cádmio, chumbo, cobre, manganês, níquel e zinco. Não foram identificadas alterações ecotoxicológicas significativas para nenhuma das amostras analisadas, todavia, em termos genotoxicológicos, o Lago Azul apresentou danos ao DNA a partir da concentração de 25% na estação seca e de 50% na estação chuvosa.

ABSTRACT Artificial lakes formed in open pit mining areas are complex units and constitute emerging environmental liabilities arising from the mining industry. Although they are increasing in number in several parts of the world, they still form a recent and little studied environmental problem, especially regarding the quality and toxicity of its waters, which may represent worrying environmental risks. This study describes the results of the seasonal analysis of chemical, ecotoxicological and genotoxicological aspects of the waters of three disused gold mining pit lakes located in Mara Rosa, Goiás, Brazil. Samples were collected in profile in two different climatic seasons, winter and summer, and were chemically analyzed to determine their load of metals and anions. Ecotoxicological Tests and Comet Assays were also developed with fish of the Danio rerio species. The results indicated that the concentrations of the chemical species analyzed were predominantly increased in the surface-bottom direction and higher during the dry season. Lago Azul waters have been shown to be chemically more compromised as they are acidic and rich in potentially toxic analytes such as aluminum, cadmium, lead, copper, manganese, nickel, and zinc. No significant ecotoxicological alterations were identified for any of the analyzed samples, although, in genotoxicological terms, Lago Azul presented DNA damage from concentrations of 25% in the dry season and 50% in the wet season.

Abstract Cytogenetic data can be useful for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, as well as to provide information about chromosome evolution. Therefore, it may help design conservation priorities for some threatened species, such as anurans. Herein, we describe the karyotypes of Scinax constrictus and Ololygon centralis, native endemic species from the Brazilian Cerrado. Chromosome preparations for both species were stained with Giemsa for morphological analyses and then impregnated by the Ag-NOR method for localization of the nucleolar organizer region (NOR). Both species had 24 chromosomes, as confirmed by meiotic analyses, which showed 12 bivalents. Chromosome morphologies presented the same pattern for Scinax and Ololygon compared to species already karyotyped in both genera. The NOR was interstitially located in the long arm of pair 7 in S. constrictus, whereas in O. centralis it was found near the centromere in the long arm of pair 1, thus diverging from what is commonly found for other Ololygon species. Therefore, we provide the first description of the karyotype of O. centralis and the first report of the localization of the NOR for the karyotype of both species. Our study increases the cytogenetic knowledge in species of the genera Scinax and Ololygon, and provide support for further studies on the taxonomy, ecology, and evolution of hylid anurans.

The karyotypes of 23 specimens belonging to 16 species from nine genera of Brazilian marsupials (family Didelphidae) were studied. The animals were collected in eight localities of Cerrado or Atlantic Forest biomes in the states of Goiás, Tocantins and São Paulo. The karyotypes were analyzed after conventional Giemsa staining and silver staining of the nucleolus organizer regions (Ag-NORs). New karyotypic data were obtained for Gracilinanus microtarsus (2n = 14, FN = 24), Marmosops paulensis (2n = 14, FN = 24) , Micoreus paraguayanus (2n = 14, FN = 20) and Monodelphis rubida (2n = 18, FN = 32) and are discussed in detail. The karyotypes of G. microtarsus , M. paulensis and M. paraguayanus include three large pairs of submetacentrics (pairs 1, 2 and 3) and a medium-sized metacentric or submetacentric pair 4. Pairs 5 and 6 are small submetacentrics in G. microtarsus and M. paulensis and acrocentrics in M. paraguayanus . M. paulensis presented a single Ag-NOR in pair 6 (6p6p), while M. paraguayanus exhibited multiple Ag-NORs in pairs 5 and 6 (5pq5pq6p6p). There was variation in size and morphology of the sex chromosomes among these species. Monodelphis rubida presented a karyotype with 2n = 18 and FN = 32 composed of a large submetacentric pair 1, a medium-sized metacentric pair 2 and six pairs of submetacentrics (pairs 3 through 8). The X was a small acrocentric and the Y was dot-like. A single Ag-NOR bearing pair (5p5p) characterized M. rubida. Relevant karyotypic information was obtained for 19 specimens belonging to 12 species collected in areas sampled for the first time [ Caluromys lanatus and C. philander (2n = 14, FN = 20), Gracilinanus emiliae (2n = 14, FN = 24), Marmosa murina , Metachirus nudicaudatus and Micoureus demerarae (2n = 14, FN = 20), Monodelphis americana (2n = 18, FN = 32) and M. domestica (2n = 18, FN = 20), and Didelphis marsupialis, Philander frenata, P. opossum and P. sp (2n = 22, FN = 20)]. Although the karyotypes were relatively conserved with respect to the morphology of the autosomes among species with the same diploid number, some differences regarding FN, sex chromosomes morphology and Ag-NORs patterns were detected.

This study reports on 156 specimens of the amphibian Eupemphix nattereri, a widely distributed leiuperid, obtained from 11 municipalities of central Brazil. The extent of genetic variation was quantified by determining the mean number of alleles per locus and the proportion of polymorphic loci. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was performed on the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) haplotypes. The genetic distances obtained by calculating pairwise phist among local samples were used to determine population relationships using the unweighted pair-group method (UPGMA) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). The cophenetic correlation was calculated to confirm agreement between the genetic matrix and the unweighted pair group method with averages (UPGMA) dendrogram. To determine if genetic distances were correlated to geographical distances we constructed pairwise genetic distance and geographical distance matrices and compared them using the Mantel test. The AMOVA results indicated significant genetic differences (p < 0.001) between E. nattereri populations, representing 69.5% of the within population genetic diversity. The Mantel test showed no significant correlation (r = 0.03; p = 0.45) between the genetic and geographical distance matrices. Our findings indicate that the genetic variation of E. nattereri populations was randomly distributed in geographic space and that gene flow for this species is probably structured at spatial scales smaller than those between our samples