Orientador: Marcelo Carnier Dornelas / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T18:50:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cutri_Lucas_M.pdf: 1586936 bytes, checksum: 89c34c442b82fc8e799842fa98af8efe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: O gene LEAFY (LFY) específico de plantas, além de atuar na transição do meristema vegetativo para o reprodutivo, parece regular também a transição do desenvolvimento de produtos do meristema apical tão diversos quanto: folhasgavinhas; flores-gavinhas e inflorescências-flores solitárias, além de diminuir drasticamente o tempo necessário para que a planta passe da fase vegetativa para a fase reprodutiva. O gênero Passiflora é um candidato em potencial para o estudo da evolução da função biológica do gene LFY, por conter todas as estruturas morfológicas em que o referido gene atua. Neste estudo, foram analisadas duas espécies divergentes de Passiflora: Passiflora edulis var flavicarpa e Passiflora suberosa. O desenvolvimento reprodutivo de ambas foi caracterizado com o uso de microscopia óptica e de microscopia eletrônica de varredura. Análises moleculares da função do gene LFY também foram executadas nestas duas espécies. Isolou-se, via PCR, fragmentos potencialmente correspondentes a homólogos do referido gene em P. edulis e em P. suberosa. Estas seqüências gênicas, denominadas respectivamente PeLFY e PsLFY foram utilizadas em análises filogenéticas. O padrão de expressão de ambos os genes foi investigado em experimentos de RTPCR e hibridização in situ em diferentes tecidos durante o desenvolvimento das espécies de Passiflora estudadas Adicionalmente, foram obtidas plantas transgênicas de P. suberosa, contendo uma construção de superexpressão do gene LFY de Arabidopsis / Abstract: The LEAFY (LFY) gene is plant-specific, and besides playing a role in the transition of the vegetative to the reproductive meristems, it seems to regulate the development of different products of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) as leaves-tendrils, flowerstendrils, solitary flowers-inflorescences. It is also responsible for decreasing substantially the time needed for the transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase. The genus Passiflora is a good model for the study of the evolution of the biologic function of the LFY gene, because it has all morphological structures in which this gene acts. In this study, two distinct species: Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa and Passiflora suberosa had their reproductive development analyzed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Molecular analyzes of LFY functions were also performed in both species. Fragments corresponding to homologs of the LFY gene were cloned from P. edulis and P. suberosa by PCR. These fragments were named PeLFY and PsLFY, respectively and were used in filogenetic analyzes. The expression patterns of these genes were investigated by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization in different tissues of the studied Passiflora species. Additionally, transgenic lines of P. suberosa were obtained that contained a construction that promoted the overexpression of the Arabidopsis LFY gene / Mestrado / Mestre em Biologia Vegetal

Orientador: Marlies Sazima / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T02:57:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mickeliunas_Ludmila_M.pdf: 925385 bytes, checksum: 671e200f723bbbe9d070e825415371fe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: O gênero Cyrtopodium Schltr. apresenta cerca de 42 espécies, sendo que 28 delas ocorrem no Brasil. Entre essas espécies Cyrtopodium polyphyllum Vell. (Sinônimo: Cyrtopodium paranaense Schltr.) ocorre, principalmente, na região litorânea do sul e sudeste brasileiros. As duas populações estudadas ocorrem na planície litorânea de Picinguaba e Praia da Fortaleza, Ubatuba-SP. Em ambas as regiões foram estudadas a fenologia, a morfologia floral, a anatomia do labelo, bem como observados os visitantes florais e identificados os mecanismos de polinização de C. polyphyllum. Também foram feitos experimentos para verificar o sistema reprodutivo da espécie. A quantidade de sementes potencialmente viáveis obtidas em cada tratamento, bem como a taxa de frutificação em ambiente natural foram determinadas para avaliar o sucesso reprodutivo. Os resultados dos estudos anatômicos foram comparados com os de outra espécie de Cyrtopodiinae, Grobya amherstiae Lindl. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum não oferece recursos aos seus polinizadores, que são atraídos às flores por engano. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum ocorre simpatricamente e, aparentemente, mimetiza flores de outras espécies que oferecem recursos, como Crotalaria incana (Fabaceae) e Stigmaphyllon sp. (Malpiguiaceae). Além da polinização por fator biótico, algumas flores de C. polyphyllum são autopolinizadas por gotas de chuva, um mecanismo que até então não havia sido descrito para Cyrtopodiinae. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum é autocompatível, mas dependente de polinizadores para a transferência de pólen. O grau de autocompatibilidade varia bastante entre as populações estudadas. Os frutos formados através das autopolinizações manuais, das polinizações cruzadas, assim como os desenvolvidos em condições naturais, apresentam alta taxa de sementes potencialmente viáveis e algumas exibem poliembrionia. Um estudo anatômico das glândulas florais presentes no labelo de Cyrtopodium polyphyllum e Grobya amherstiae foi efetuado com o propósito de relacionar a função desempenhada por estas estruturas com o processo de polinização. Ambas as espécies apresentam osmóforos, estruturas responsáveis pela produção dos odores característicos de cada espécie. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum possui dois tipos de osmóforos: um composto por papilas unicelulares, distribuídas pela superfície adaxial do labelo, e outro composto por emergências pluricelulares, presentes na região do calo do labelo. Em G. amherstiae os osmóforos são compostos por uma única camada de células epidérmicas, e ocorrem em toda a superfície abaxial do labelo. Grobya amherstiae apresenta, ainda, elaióforos, sendo um no ápice do labelo e outro na base da coluna. O elaióforo do ápice do labelo é de estrutura mista, composto por tricomas unicelulares glandulares e epiderme em paliçada, enquanto o da base da coluna é tricomáceo, apresentando apenas tricomas glandulares. Além de osmóforos e elaióforos, G. amherstiae apresenta também um guia de óleo na superfície adaxial do labelo formado por células papilosas / Abstract: The genus Cyrtopodium comprises about 42 species, with 28 occurring in Brazil. Among these species, Cyrtopodium polyphyllum (Synonym: Cyrtopodium paranaense Schltr.) occurs mainly on sandy soils in ¿restinga¿ vegetation along the coast of south and southern of Brazil. Large populations are found in the Natural Reserve of Picinguaba and at Praia da Fortaleza, municipality of Ubatuba, State of São Paulo, regions where this specie was studied. In both study sites were studied the phenology, floral morphology, lip anatomy, as well as recorded the floral visitors and identified the pollination mechanisms of C. polyphyllum. Also were performed treatments to verify the reproductive system of this specie. The quantity of potentially viable seeds obtained in each treatment, as well as the fruit set in natural habitat was recorded in order to evaluate the reproductive success. The results of the anatomic studies were compared with other Cyrtopodiinae specie, Grobya amherstiae Lindl. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum offers none reward to their pollinators, which are attracted to flowers by deceit. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum occur sympatrically and apparently mimicry flowers of other reward producing species, as Crotalaria incana (Fabaceae) and Stigmaphyllon sp. (Malpiguiaceae). Besides of the pollination by a biotic factor, some flowers of C. polyphyllum are pollinated by raindrops, a pollination mechanism not described to Cyrtopodiinae yet. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum is selfcompatible but pollinator-dependent. The tax of self-incompatibility is different between the two studied populations. The fruits formed from manual self-pollinations, crosspollinations, as well as developed under natural conditions, show an elevated tax of potentially viable seeds and sometimes present poliembriony. An anatomical study of the floral glands gifts in lip of Cyrtopodium polyphyllum and Grobya amherstiae were performed with the intention to relate the function played for these structures with the pollination process. Both species presents osmophores, structures responsible by the production odors, which are characteristic of each species. Cyrtopodium polyphyllum presents two types of elaiophores: one is composed by unicellular papillae, distributed along adaxial surface of the lip, and other composed by multicellular papillae arranged on the lip callous. In G. amherstiae the osmophores are composed by a singular layer of epidermic cells, and occurs along of all abaxial surface of the labellum. Grobya amherstiae also presents an elaiophore on the lip apices and on column basis. The elaiophore of the lip apices is a mixed structure, composed by unicellular glandular trichomes and a paliçade epidermis, although the elaiophore of the column basis is trichomatic, presenting only glandular trichomes. Besides of osmophores and elaiophores, G. amherstiae also presents an oil guide on adaxial surface of the labellum made by papillose cells / Mestrado / Mestre em Biologia Vegetal

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O Ãxido nÃtrico (NO), derivado da L-arginina pela Ãxido nÃtrico sintetase (NOS), a qual existe em vÃrias isoformas, Ã considerado um importante mensageiro molecular em vÃrios ÃrgÃos incluindo o trato genital masculino. Este estudo analisou o possÃvel efeito do L-NAME (NG-nitro-L-arginina metil Ãster), um inibidor nÃo seletivo de NOS sobre a descida testicular, emissÃo seminal induzida por colinÃrgico, funÃÃo testicular, comportamento sexual e fertilidade em ratos Wistar machos. O tratamento de ratos machos de 20 dias de idade com L-NAME na dose de 20mg/kg/dia por 10 dias consecutivos promoveu um significativo retardo na descida testicular comparado ao controle que recebeu salina. Este efeito do L-NAME foi bloqueado em animais prÃ-tratados com L-arginina (600mg/kg, s.c.), um substrato para a biossÃntese de NO, sugerindo que o NO exerce um papel modulador na descida testicular. Em ratos machos adultos, a pilocarpina (0,75 e 3,0 mg/kg, i.p.), droga colinÃrgica, induziu a emissÃo seminal de maneira dose-dependente. A emissÃo seminal em resposta a pilocarpina ( 3,0 mg/kg) foi diminuÃda em animais atropinizados sugerindo um efeito colinÃrgico. L-NAME tembÃm inibiu a emissÃo seminal induzida por pilocarpina e este efeito foi revertido por L-arginina (600mg/kg, s.c.) ou pela administraÃÃo conjunta de nitroprussiato de sÃdio (0,5mg/kg, s.c.). AlÃm disto, a anÃlise urinÃria de nitrato/nitrito demonstrou marcada alteraÃÃo em concordÃncia com o tratamento. Estes resultados sugerem que o NO participa na neurotransmissÃo inibitÃria responsÃvel pela emissÃo seminal em ratos estimulados com pilocarpina. Em experimentos realizados para verificar os efeitos da inibiÃÃo crÃnica de NOS sobre o comportamento copulatÃrio, o tratamento de ratos com L-NAME (40mg/kg/dia) durante um perÃodo de um ciclo completo de espermatogÃnese uma influÃncia inibitÃria sobre o comportamento sexual foi evidenciada por um aumento na latÃncia da primeira monta e intromissÃo e marcada inibiÃÃo da frequÃncia de intromissÃo e ejulaÃÃo. A inibiÃÃo crÃnica de NOS tambÃm demonstrou alteraÃÃo na funÃÃo testicular refletida pela diminuiÃÃo nos nÃveis sÃricos de testosterona, contagem de espermatozÃides e anormalidades espermÃticas. O nÃmero de fÃmeas grÃvidas, de machos que receberam tratamento crÃnico com L-NAME, foi reduzido resultando em 75% de inibiÃÃo da fertilidade. O efeito de L-NAME sobre a fertilidade masculina pode dever-se a inibiÃÃo da NOS perifÃrica e central promovendo inibiÃÃo da secreÃÃo local de androgÃnios e/ou gonadotrofinas. Os resultados mostram evidÃncias que o NO regula de maneira importante o processo reprodutivo masculino tais como descida testicular, comportamento sexual e fertilidade / Nitric Oxide (NO) derived from L-arginine by the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) which is expressed by various isoforms, is considered to be na important messenger molecule in several organ systems including the male genital tract. This study analysed the possible effects of L-NAME (NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester), a nonselective NOS inhibitor on testicilar descent; cholinergic stimulation-induced seminal emission; testicular function; sexual behaviour; and on fertility of male Wistar rats. Treatment of 20 days old male rats with L-NAME at 20mg/kg/day for 10 consecutive days caused a significant delay in the testes descent compared to controls that receives only normal saline. This effect of L-NAME was fully reversed in animals pretreated with L-arginine (600mg/kg, s.c.), a substrate for NO biosynthesis, suggesting stimulant drug pilocarpine (0.75 â 3.0 mg/kg, i.p.) induced a dose-related seminal emission. The seminal emission response to 3.0mg/kg of pilocarpine was greatly diminished in atropinized animals, suggesting a cholinomimetic effect. L-NAME, also inhibited the pilocarpine-induced seminal emission which could be reversed by L-arginine (600mg/kg, s.c.). Further, urine analysis for nitrate/nitrite metabolites showed marked alterations in accordance to the drug treatments. These results suggest that NO mediates the inhibitory neurotransmission responsible for seminal emission in pilocarpine stimulated rats. In experiments carried out to verify the effects of chonic NOS inhibition on copulatory behavior, treatment of rats with L-NAME (40mg/kg/day) for a period of one complete spermatogenic cycle caused an inhibitory influence on sexual behavior as evidenced by a increase in the first mount and intromission latencies and marked inhibitions of the intromission and ejaculation frequencies. Chronic NOS inhibition further evidenced impaired testicular function, reflected by decreases in serum levels of testosterone, epididymal sperm counts and sperm abnormalities. The number of females impregnated with males that received chronic L-NAME treatment was highly reduced, resulting in 75% inhibition of fertility. The adverse influence of L-NAME on male infertility could be due to NOS inhibition at both peripheral and central sites causing inhibition of local androgen and/or gonadotropin secretions. These results provide evidence that NO importantly regulates male reproductive processes such as testicular descent, sexual behavior and fertility

Embora os Squamata representem um grupo bastante diverso, pouco se conhece sobre sua biologia reprodutiva e caracterização química de secreções glandulares e cloacais, principalmente no que se diz respeito à fauna neotropical. A família Gymnophthalmidae reúne lagartos neotropicais, pequenos e com ampla diversidade morfológica e de habitats. Apesar de serem alvos de estudos moleculares recentes, o conhecimento acerca de sua biologia reprodutiva e composição química de feromônios é praticamente nulo em especial para as espécies serpentiformes. Calyptommatus leiolepis, Nothobachia ablephara e Procellosaurinus tetradactylus são gimnoftalmídeos simpátricos para os quais não há dados reprodutivos e químicos. Foram analisados 388 indivíduos de C. leiolepis, 180 de N. ablephara e 47 de P. tetradactylus do campo de dunas de Alagoado, Bahia. As três espécies apresentaram reprodução bastante prolongada, possivelmente contínua. Apenas machos de C. leiolepis apresentaram variação mensal no volume testicular com menores volumes entre agosto e dezembro, porém foi detectada produção de espermatozoides dentro deste período. Cópula e fertilização ocorrem simultaneamente. Todas as desovas apresentaram número fixo de 2 ovos e não há correlação entre número ou tamanho dos ovos com o CRC das fêmeas para as três espécies. Há evidências de múltiplas desovas apenas em C. leiolepis. O período de incubação das três espécies é relativamente curto e a maturação é precoce, ocorrendo provavelmente no primeiro ano de vida. As condições ambientais de temperatura e umidade relativa do ar não são restritivas ao ciclo reprodutivo, mas estão relacionadas com os picos reprodutivos das fêmeas de C. leiolepis e N. ablephara. Fêmeas são maiores do que os machos e não há dimorfismo sexual para a forma da cabeça. Entre os compostos químicos detectados em secreções de machos e fêmeas de C. leiolepis e N. ablephara há alcanos e derivados, ácidos graxos e derivados, um esteroide e diversos compostos não identificados. As principais diferenças intra e interespecíficas estão relacionadas com a porcentagem relativa dos compostos. Os ácidos graxos encontram-se em sua forma éster, típica de espécies de climas quentes e secos. / Squamata represents a very diverse group but little is known about their reproductive biology and chemical characterization of glandular and cloacal secretions, particularly concerning the Neotropical fauna. Gymnophthalmidae is a Neotropical family that comprises small to medium-sized lizards (microteiids) and shows a huge diversity of morphologies and habitats. Although targeted by recent molecular studies the knowledge of their reproductive biology and pheromone characterization is poorly known, especially for fossorial species. Calyptommatus leiolepis, Nothobachia ablephara and Procellosaurinus tetradactylus are sympatric and there are no data about their reproductive strategies and chemical composition of cloacal and glandular secretions. Gonads of 388 specimens of C. leiolepis, 180 specimens of N. ablephara and 47 specimens of P. tetradactylus from Alagoado sand dune, Bahia were analyzed. The three species showed a very extended reproduction, possibly continuous. Variation of testis volume was observed only in males of C. leiolepis with lower values between August and December but sperm production was detected within this period. Clutch size always comprised two eggs and there is no correlation between the number or size of the eggs with female SVL. Only female of C. leiolepis showed evidence of more than one clutch per year. The incubation period of the three species is relatively short and early maturation is likely occurring in the first year of life. The environmental conditions of temperature and relative humidity are not restrictive to reproductive activity, but are related to the reproductive peaks of females of C. leiolepis and N. ablephara. Females are larger than males and there is no sexual dimorphism in head shape. Among the chemical compounds detected in secretions of male and female of C. leiolepis and N. ablephara there are alkanes and derivatives, fatty acids and derivatives, a steroid and several unidentified compounds. The intra and interspecifics differences are mostly related to the relative percentages of the compounds. Fatty acids are found in its ester form, typical of species that lives in hot and dry climates.

Os Amphisbaenia (cobras de duas cabeças) têm sua biologia reprodutiva pouco conhecida, em parte devido à dificuldade de observações em campo e de coleta desses animais, que possuem hábitos fossórios. Leposternon microcephalum, da família Amphisbaenidae, é uma espécie amplamente distribuída no Brasil. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar aspectos da biologia reprodutiva de L. microcephalum do Sudeste do Brasil, tais como fecundidade, época de recrutamento, a ocorrência de oviposturas em formigueiros, tamanho de maturidade sexual, sintopia das gônadas, e dimorfismo sexual de comprimento e diâmetro do corpo, bem como analisar os ciclos folicular e espermatogênico e caracterizar a morfologia das gônadas e vias genitais. Para tanto, foram utilizados espécimes de coleção coletados em diferentes meses do ano para análise e medidas dos testículos, ductos deferentes, folículos ovarianos e ovidutos. Tais órgãos foram ainda analisados sob microscopia de luz, visando à descrição de sua estrutura e um estudo mais aprofundado do ciclo reprodutivo. Foram ainda escavados formigueiros para procura de ovos. Observou-se que o ciclo reprodutivo da fêmea dura pelo menos dois anos, sendo que o depósito mais substancial de vitelo é do tipo vernal (pré-nupcial), concentrado nos três meses que precedem a ovulação. Essa se dá provavelmente na mesma época da cópula, entre Novembro e Dezembro. A espermatogênese é do tipo misto, e o pico de produção de espermatozóides ocorre cerca de dois meses antes da cópula, havendo pequena fase de estocagem de esperma nos ductos deferentes. Nessa época, o epitélio desses ductos torna-se secretor. Após a fase espermatogênica, há uma acentuada involução dos testículos. O número de ovos produzido por fêmea provavelmente varia entre dois e seis. Os ovidutos dividem-se, segundo sua estrutura observada sob microscópio de luz, em vagina, útero, infundíbulo posterior e infundíbulo anterior. A maturidade sexual dos espécimes pode ser inferida com base na opacidade dos ductos genitais, e é atingida provavelmente aos três anos de idade. A gônada direita é normalmente mais cranial em relação à esquerda, e há uma região de sobreposição, na qual ambas se dispõem lado a lado. Não foi observado dimorfismo sexual, e a ovipostura em formigueiros não parece ser obrigatória. / The reproductive biology of the Amphisbaenia (worm lizards) is poorly known, in part because of their fossorial habits, which make difficult studies on the field and their capture. Leposternon microcephalum is a species widespread in Brazil, and accommodates in the family Amphisbaenidae. This work aimed to study features of the reproductive biology of L. microcephalum from Southeastern Brazil, such as fecundity, time of hatching, occurrence of oviposition in ant nests, size of sexual maturity, gonadal sintopy and sexual dimorphism on body length and width. It also aimed to analyze follicular and testicular cycles and to characterize the morphology of gonads and genital ducts. For that, museum specimens collected on different months of the year were used for analyses and measurements of testes, vas deferens, ovarian follicles and oviducts. Those organs were also analyzed histologically by light microscopy, to describe theirs structure and to better characterize the sexual cycle. Ant nests were excavated to look for eggs. The female reproductive cycle were estimated to take at least two years. The most part of yolk deposition occurs during the last three months before ovulation, and it is of the vernal type (pre-nuptial). Ovulation takes place approximately at the same time as mating, between November and December. Spermatogenesis is of the mixed type (type II B), and the peak of spermatozoa production occurs approximately two months before mating. There is a short phase of sperm storage in vas deferens. By that time, vas deferens epithelium becomes secretory. After the spermatogenesis, there is a great involution of testes. The number of eggs produced by each female probably varies between two and six. According to the structure seen under light microscope, the oviducts are divided in four regions: vagina, uterus, anterior infundibulum and posterior infundibulum. Sexual maturity can be inferred from the opacity of genital ducts, and it is probably attained in three years. The right gonad is usually anterior to the left one, and there is an overlapping region, in which the two gonads are arranged side by side. Sexual dimorphism was not observed, and oviposition in ant nests does not seem to be obligatory.

Os crustáceos estão entre os invertebrados marinhos mais diversos e tendem a se associar com outros organismos a fim de encontrar abrigo, oferta de alimento e um lugar seguro para reprodução. Aspectos reprodutivos como fecundidade, tamanho dos embriões e energia investida na reprodução são os principais parâmetros para a compreensão da história natural de uma espécie e/ou população. Assim, esse trabalho foi desenvolvido no sentido de investigar tais parâmetros e a influência do tipo de substrato ocupado. A espécie utilizada como modelo de estudo foi o caranguejo porcelanídeo Pachycheles monilifer coletado em dois substratos biológicos diferentes, no briozoário Schizoporella errata no píer do Itaguá e no poliqueto Phragmatopoma caudata na praia Grande, ambas as paias localizadas em Ubatuba, litoral norte de SP. Somente os embriões em estágio inicial de desenvolvimento foram utilizados para os cálculos de fecundidade e investimento reprodutivo (RO). Os embriões foram contados e medidos sob esteromicroscópio. Para obtenção do RO foram utilizados os pesos secos das fêmeas ovígeras e das massas de embriões, previamente secos em estufa. Além dos aspectos reprodutivos, análises de distância genética também foram realizadas pelo sequenciamento de genes mitocôndrias (16S e COI) de exemplares de P. monilifer. A estimativa da porcentagem de variação genética intra e interespecífica, a possibilidade de fluxo gênico entre indivíduos de diferentes praias do estado de São Paulo foram verificadas. A partir desses dados confirmou-se a validade da espécie, assim como o fluxo gênico contínuo entre indivíduos dessas duas praias. A baixa divergência genética permite concluir que as diferenças reprodutivas encontradas são, portanto um reflexo das condições proporcionadas pelo ambiente. Os animais simbiontes do briozoário, assim como as fêmeas ovígeras, são maiores que os associados ao poliqueta e também possuem maior fecundidade e investimento reprodutivo, porém não foram encontradas diferenças em relação ao tamanho dos embriões. No substrato do briozoário o estresse reprodutivo parece ser menor que no substrato do poliqueto, já que aquele substrato proporciona um ambiente fisicamente mais estável para os organismos simbiontes. No substrato do poliqueto, além do alto hidrodinamismo local, o espaço disponível na colônia parece ser mais restrito e pode limitar o tamanho de seus habitantes. Os animais simbiontes do briozoário parecem não serem influenciados por fatores externos à colônia, entretanto o mesmo não foi observado nos simbiontes do poliqueto. Tais diferenças reprodutivas refletem o tipo de substrato ocupado, evidenciando a plasticidade fenotípica da espécie para uma melhor adaptação local. / The crustaceans are the most diverse of the marine invertebrates and many of them tend to associate with other organisms where they can find shelter, food supply and a safe place to reproduce. Reproductive traits as fecundity, egg size and reproductive output (RO) are the most important aspects to understand the species life history. This study aimed to investigate the reproductive traits in relation to the substrate that the organisms live. The studied species used as model was the porcellanid crab Pachycheles monilifer that was collected in two different substrates, one of them is the bryozoan Schizoporella errata at the Itaguá beach and the other is the polychaete Phragmatopoma caudata at Grande beach, both are located in Ubatuba, northern coast of São Paulo. Only the initial stage of eggs was used to estimate the crab fecundity and RO. The eggs were counted and measured in a stereomicroscope. To obtain the RO the female and the egg mass dry weight, which were previously dried in an oven, were used. Besides the reproductive aspects, the genetic distance between the organisms was valued with partial sequences of the mitochondrial genes 16S and COI. The estimate of the intra and interspecific genetic variation and the possibility of gene flow between the individuals from the beaches in SP were analyzed too. Therefore, with all these analyses it was possible to confirm that the species is valid and that there is gene flow among the populations. The low genetic divergence allowed us to conclude that the different reproductive traits found among the populations were due to the different substrates that the organisms inhabit. The bryozoan symbionts are larger than the polychaete symbionts as well as the females fecundity and the RO, but there is no difference in egg size. In the bryozoan substrate it seems like the physical stress is smaller than in polychaete and it promotes a more stable habitat for the crabs reproduce. In the polychaete substrate, beyond the high hydrodynamic location, the available space in the colony appears to be narrower, which could limit the size of its inhabitants. The bryozoan symbionts do not seem to be influenced by the external factors of the colony, though the same was not observed in the polychaete colony. Such differences in reproduction reflect the kind of substrate inhabited, highlighting the phenotypic plasticity of the species to a local better adaptation.

This dissertation study utilized the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to analyze empirical relationships between social determinants of health and adolescent pregnancy. Although rates of adolescent pregnancy are at an all-time low in the United States, disparities persist. Examining relationships between the social determinants of health and adolescent pregnancy provides support for funding and interventions that expand on the current focus of individual and interpersonal level factors. Based on the Healthy People 2020 Social Determinants of Health Framework, proxy measures for social determinants of health were identified within the Add Health study and analyzed in relationship with adolescent pregnancy. Results indicated that six of 17 measures of social determinants of health had an empirical relationship with adolescent pregnancy. These measures included the following: feeling close to others at school, receipt of high school diploma, enrollment in higher education, participation in volunteering or community service, litter or trash in the neighborhood environment, and living in a two parent home. The results of this study can inform future research, allocation of funds and interventions based on social determinants of health that show an association with adolescent pregnancy.

With meiosis spanning from embryonic development to the end of reproductive life in females, scientists have faced considerable limitations in studying female meiosis and the effects of toxicants on the developing oocyte. Over the last half century, various culture methods have been developed with the aim of studying the mechanisms of early ovary development, as well as for use in reproductive toxicology. However, very few of the established embryonic ovary culture systems have been used to investigate potential reproductive toxicants on the embryonic ovary, in particular when compared with the vast number of in vitro reproductive toxicity studies on the post-natal ovary. Here, a novel test compound, a topoisomerase II inhibitor: AstraZeneca Test Compound (AZTC), was used to investigate the efficacy and validity of ovarian culture methods when compared with in vivo reprotoxicity studies. AZTC was selected due to preliminary in vivo studies demonstrating its detrimental effects on spermatogenesis in male rats. AZTC targets bacterial type II topoisomerases that might have mammalian homologues involved in meiosis. Topoisomerase-II α was expressed within the female germ cells pre-natally, but became localised to the granulosa and stroma cells post-natally. This occurred both in vivo and in vitro. Ovaries from female rats exposed pre-natally to AZTC in vivo were analysed histologically and a significant increase in the number of primordial follicles was observed within the ovaries, as well as an increase in the number of unhealthy follicles. A novel mouse embryonic ovary culture system was developed by adapting, improving and bridging existing available culture techniques. The culture system supported growth of pre-meiotic mouse germ cells through prophase I of meiosis, the formation of primordial follicles and initiation of follicle growth. Cultured ovaries contained follicles at stages in comparable ratios to those in vivo and appeared morphologically normal and healthy. The culture also supported meiotic progression of oocytes to the pachytene stage, albeit with a slight delay. AZTC was used to validate the novel embryonic ovary culture by comparing the results with those from the in vivo study, where AZTC exposure had also occurred during embryonic development. Similar results were consistently observed between the in vivo and in vitro studies. In vitro effects of AZTC on the post-natal mouse ovary were also investigated, where neonatal mouse ovaries cultured with AZTC had fewer primordial follicles and more unhealthy follicles than did control ovaries. AZTC therefore demonstrated different effects when exposure occurred pre-natally vs. post-natally. The embryonic ovary culture was then used to examine the effects of another topoisomerase II inhibitor, etoposide, on the pre-natal ovary. Etoposide is a chemotherapy agent and has previously been prescribed to pregnant women. A significant reduction in the size of the follicle pool was observed in exposed cultured embryonic ovaries, where primordial and transitional follicles were targeted. Overall, establishment of post-natal culture systems have become a useful addition to in vivo reproductive toxicology studies. The embryonic ovary culture system developed here could become a valuable and powerful tool to screen potential reproductive toxicants, as well as to study the dynamics and regulation of early ovary development.

This dissertation analyzes the political and expert discourses behind the legalization of abortion from the first attempt to decriminalize it in 1920 when democratic Czechoslovakia was established to 1986 when the institution of abortion commissions was banned during socialism. Drawing on biopolitical theories and critical feminist and disability studies that problematize the liberal understanding of rights, choice and autonomy, I shed a new light on reproduction policies by drawing parallels between the socialist and democratic regimes. Instead of assuming the mutual exclusiveness of the two systems, my inquiry starts from a different position and destabilizes the boundaries between East and West, active and passive, liberal and totalitarian. My main research question explores what sustains the continuity of the 1986 law, which allowed abortion on demand, in the new post-1989 capitalist and allegedly more democratic system. The aim is not to answer why the law was enacted, but rather what it unleashes in terms of citizenship practices. Through a geneaological intersectional lens, I go back in Czechoslovak history and follow the simultaneous paths of women’s liberation from a patriarchal order of things and their subjection to the ableist desire to achieve a nation full of strong and capable citizens. I deconstruct how the ideal female citizen-subject – the white, bourgeois, healthy, well-off modern woman of reason who individually plans her reproduction and has children only when and if she can – was constructed throughout the different historical discourses; and with what effects for the “other” categories of women – the poor, young, old, sick, the disabled, ethnically different. I argue that from their onset abortion rights were conceptualized as a regulatory strategy of power aimed at maintaining a certain population optimum by redefining women’s responsibilities as mothers who were to deliver a healthy child into a healthy environment. I am thus concerned with a certain type of biopolitical rationality, which defied tradition and religion and started to fear the degeneration of a collective more than its depopulation. Hence not every pregnancy was desirable, especially when seen as a threat to women’s or children’s health. I identify three stages of this epistemological shift when women’s health and sexuality collided into law and children’s health: its building efforts after WWI, developing spasms after WWII and functioning as a normalized structure of recognition from the 1960s onward. I demonstrate how eugenics trespassed into population politics and together with planned parenthood created a complex system of socio-biological classes of (un)desirability, determining who should belong to the nation, who should reproduce, whose life is worth living, loving and thus worth of protection. By elaborating on what I have termed female biological citizenship – that women function as civilizational identifiers and (self-)regulators of the quality and health of the nation, I suggest they are never free in regard to reproduction regardless of the political system. I conclude that this focus on the biological erases the distinction between socialism and capitalism, integrating women’s will as a governing tool to achieve societal progress.

Bien que les études montrent qu'une meilleure prise en charge de la santé sexuelle et reproductive (SSR) contribue à réduire le taux de mortalité infantile et maternelle, le nombre de grossesses non désirées et le taux d'infections transmises sexuellement, il reste beaucoup à faire pour améliorer la situation sanitaire des femmes du Sud, tout particulièrement des femmes pauvres. Comme l’illustre la présente étude, le cas des migrantes boliviennes en Argentine est révélateur des défis à relever en la matière. Partant de la volonté de mieux comprendre les représentations mentales et les expériences de SSR de ces migrantes, l’analyse permet d’identifier les principaux obstacles qui les empêchent d'exercer leurs droits sexuels et reproductifs. S'appuyant sur douze entrevues individuelles effectuées avec des migrantes boliviennes vivant dans la ville de Córdoba, les données montrent que les représentations mentales de la SSR varient selon l’âge et la classe sociale des participantes. En revanche, ni leur statut générationnel, ni leur âge au moment de la migration, ni même leur origine géographique (rurale ou urbaine) ne semblent des facteurs décisifs. En ce qui a trait aux expériences en matière de SSR, elles sont influencées à la fois par les obstacles que rencontrent les femmes migrantes et par les stratégies de résistance de celles-ci pour y faire face. Au niveau structurel, les participantes font valoir que le manque d'éducation sexuelle à l’école et les éléments contraignants du système public de la santé, notamment la procédure de prise de rendez-vous, l'emplacement des établissements et leur manque de ressources, ont un impact négatif sur leur SSR. Au niveau culturel, les participantes jugent que le machisme et le marianisme, les pratiques racistes, le tabou entourant la sexualité et la culture du travail exercent une influence négative sur leurs expériences respectives. En réponse à ces contraintes, les participantes se tournent vers des « femmes informées » de leur communauté, souscrivent à un plan de sécurité sociale ou encore suggèrent l’ouverture de centres de santé par et pour les migrantes ainsi que l’embauche d’un plus grand nombre de migrantes dans les établissements publics de la santé. Les participantes insistent également sur l'importance de briser le tabou social et familial entourant la SSR et vont jusqu’à résister aux ordres de leur mari en privilégiant des méthodes contraceptives faciles à dissimuler.