CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Machos de tilÃpia chegam a crescer de 1,8 a 2,5 vezes mais rÃpido do que as fÃmeas, sob condiÃÃes de cultivo intensivo. Assim, as estratÃgias para obter populaÃÃes monossexo estÃo focadas na produÃÃo de lotes de alevinos machos. A produÃÃo de indivÃduos 100% machos atravÃs do uso do andrÃgeno 17-α-metiltestosterona à considerada a tÃcnica mais efetiva e de menor custo. No entanto, o uso de hormÃnios e o aumento na densidade de cultivo tendem a afetar adversamente a saÃde dos organismos cultivados, aumentando os Ãndices de mortalidade. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de polissacarÃdeos sulfatados, extraÃdos da alga marinha vermelha Gracilaria caudata, na sobrevivÃncia e ganho de peso de pÃs-larvas da tilÃpia do Nilo, Oreochromis niloticus, submetidas à reversÃo sexual. O experimento consistiu em quatro tratamentos com trÃs repetiÃÃes cada, em um total de doze aquÃrios com capacidade para 40L. Em cada tratamento foram utilizadas 960 pÃs-larvas (plâs) de tilÃpias, na densidade de estocagem de 8 plâs/L. No tratamento controle nÃo foi utilizado o polissacarÃdeo e, nos outros trÃs tratamentos, foram utilizadas doses crescentes (0,05, 0,1 e 0,2mg/g de peso vivo das larvas) do polissacarÃdeo na raÃÃo. Durante as duas primeiras semanas de reversÃo, foi utilizada aeraÃÃo constante e uma renovaÃÃo de Ãgua de 20% em cada repetiÃÃo. A partir da terceira semana, foi elevado o estresse em todos os tratamentos atravÃs da supressÃo da aeraÃÃo e/ou da renovaÃÃo de Ãgua, a fim de induzir o aumento da mortalidade. Ao final do experimento, nÃo houve diferenÃa significativa entre os tratamentos com relaÃÃo ao peso mÃdio final e ganho mÃdio de peso diÃrio das pÃs-larvas. No entanto, com relaÃÃo à mortalidade, houve diferenÃa significativa (α = 0,05) no final ao final da Ãltima semana de reversÃo e cinco dias apÃs o experimento (α = 0,01), quando o estresse foi de moderado a elevado, respectivamente. Desta forma, as plâs que receberam a dose de 0,1 e 0,2mg/g se tornaram mais resistentes Ãs situaÃÃes de estresse induzidas no experimento. / Under intensive culture conditions males of tilapia grow 1.8 to 2.5 times faster than females. Thus, strategies to get monosex populations are concentrated on male production fingerlings lots. The production of 100% males individuals through the use of the androgen 17-α-methyl-testosterone is considered the most effective and lesser cost technique. However, hormone administration and culture density enhan cement tend to adversely affect cultivated organisms health, increasing mortality indices. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of sulfated polysaccharides extracted from the red marine alga Gracilaria caudata in the Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, post-larvae (pl's) survival and weight gain submitted to sexual reversion. The experiment consisted of four treatments with three repetitions in twelve 40L capacity aquariums. In each treatment were used 960 tilapias pl's in a stockage density of 8 pl's/L. In the control treatment was not used the polysaccharide and in the others three ones were used increasing doses (0.05,0.1 and 0.2mg/g live weight) of the polysaccharide in the ration. During the two first weeks of reversion a constant aeration and a 20% water exchange were done in each treatment. In order to induc e mortality, stress was raised in all treatments by aeration and/or water exchange suppression from the th ird week until the end of the experiment. Final mean weight and daily mean weight gain of pl's in all treatments did not showed significant difference at a 5% level. However, pl's mortality showed significant difference at the end of the last week of reversion (α = 0.05) and at the end of the last five days of the experiment (α = 0.01), when stress was raised of moderate to elevated, respectively. Then, pl's that received the polysaccharides doses of 0.1 and 0.2mg/g live weight became more resistant to stress situations induced in the experiment.

La pression toxique induite par les perturbateurs endocriniens sur l’environnement ainsi que sur la santé de l’homme a augmenté de manière significative durant les dernières décennies. Il est devenu urgent de mettre en place des outils pour détecter et surveiller les perturbateurs endocriniens et pour déterminer la possibilité de cause de perturbations endocriniennes pour les produits chimiques nouvellement introduits. Le développement de nouveaux tests biologiques in vivo en utilisant les larves d'organismes aquatiques tels que medaka (Oryzias latipes) ou Xenopus laevis semble être une stratégie adéquate pour identifier les perturbateurs endocriniens. Durant cette thèse, trois nouveaux modèles transgéniques à base de l’embryon de medaka ont été développés. Le modèle transgénique de medaka ChgH -gfp permet la détection rapide des œstrogènes et des inhibiteurs de l'aromatase en seulement 24 heures avec une sensibilité de 15 ng / L d’éthinylestradiol. Le modèle transgénique de medaka 42sp50-gfp_CgH-gfp montre une fluorescence dans le foie en réponse aux œstrogènes, en plus de la fluorescence émise dans les œufs en développement. C’est donc un système approprié pour étudier le lien entre la signalisation de l'axe ostrogénique et des aberrations de la détermination du sexe chez les poissons. Un embryon transgénique de medaka spiggin - GFP a aussi été développé pour détecter les androgènes et anti-androgènes dans un test de 96 heures avec une sensibilité de 1,5 ug / L de 17α–méthyl testostérone et 276 ug / L de flutamide. Les nouveaux modèles de medaka transgéniques rapporteurs développés dans cette thèse permettent une détection rapide, simple et fiable des perturbateurs d'axe ostrogénique, androgénique et de l’aberration de détermination du sexe chez le medaka. Ils ont été appliqués pour détecter les perturbateurs endocriniens dans les eaux de surface de l'environnement et pour évaluer le rôle potentiel des produits chimiques dans les perturbations endocriniennes. Cela a permis de démontrer l’applicabilité de ces embryons fluorescents comme outils biologiques dans la procédure de détection et la caractérisation des perturbateurs endocriniens. / The toxic pressure of endocrine disruptors on biodiversity and human health has increased significantly over recent decades. As a consequence tools are needed to detect and monitor endocrine disruptors in surface water and to determine the endocrine disrupting potential of newly introduced chemicals. Fish and amphibian larvae, notably the medaka (Oryzias latipes) and Xenopus laevis, offer multiple advantages in this context. In the research carried out in the context of this thesis, different novel medaka-based transgenic models were developed. First, transgenic ChgH-gfp medaka model was designed and optimized for the rapid detection of estrogens and aromatase inhibitors. The model shows significant response within 24 hours with a sensitivity of 15 ng/L ethinylestradiol. Second, a double transgenic 42sp50-gfp_ChgH-gfp medaka which exhibits fluorescence both in the liver in response to estrogens and in developing oocytes as a function of phenotypic sex. It is therefore a suitable model for studying the link between estrogen axis signalling and aberrations of sex determination in fish. Third, a novel spiggin-gfp medaka model was developed to detect androgens and anti-androgens. This model can be exploited in a 96-hour assay with a sensitivity of 1.5 μg/L 17α- methyltestosterone and 276 μg/L flutamide. The novel transgenic medaka models developed in this thesis allow rapid, simple and reliable detection of estrogen and androgen axis disruption and aberrations in medaka sex determination. They have been successfully applied to detect endocrine disruptors in environmental surface water and to assess chemicals with unknown endocrine disrupting potential. Taken together these results demonstrate the applicability of medaka reporter larvae as biological tools in the procedure of detection and characterization of endocrine disruptors.