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Objetivou-se com o presente trabalho isolar e caracterizar bioquimicamente a microbiota psicrotrófica, bem como avaliar seu poder deteriorador no leite cru refrigerado, armazenado em tanques de expansão, individuais e coletivos, de propriedades das regiões Agreste e Sertão do Estado de Alagoas. Foram analisadas amostras de leite coletadas em 23 tanques individuais e 13 coletivos, onde se verificou a presença de bactérias psicrotróficas nos dois tipos de tanques de refrigeração, sendo um total de 105 isolados bacterianos. Foi detectada a predominância de bactérias psicrotróficas gram-negativas 78,09% (82/105), dos gêneros Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Aeromonas, Burkholderia, Acinetobacter e Shigella, enquanto que as bactérias gram-positivas foram da ordem de 21,90% dos gêneros Streptococcus, Corynebacterium, Enterococcus, Micrococcus e Bacillus. Pseudomonas foi o gênero predominante com 43,81%. A grande maioria dos isolados bacterianos demonstrou alto poder de produção de enzimas extracelulares – protease, lipase e/ou lecitinase, evidenciando assim potencial deteriorador do leite e derivados. Estatisticamente não foi significativa a diferença de produção enzimática pelos isolados entre tanques individuais e coletivos, não havendo dependência entre o número de isolados bacterianos produtores de enzimas e o tipo de tanque.

The present study aimed to determine the quality of honey marketed in the State of Alagoas, Brazil. Fifteen samples of Apis mellifera L. honey sold in supermarkets, free trade, and cooperative located in the State of Alagoas were acquired. Microbiological and physical-chemical analyzes were carried out to establish a standard microbiology condition and check for possible tampering. The physico-chemical analyzes showed that all the samples studied presented acid pH values ​​ranging between 2.3 and 4.4. For diastase activity and reaction, Lugol which are indicative of the presence of starch and dextrin, and reaction Fiehe, which is a qualitative indicator of HMF, all samples were negative for at least the parameters. As the microbiological standard, 26.6% of all samples showed high standard count mesophilic aerobic bacteria, 20% had counts of molds and yeasts above the quality standards established by Brazilian law. For enumeration of coliforms at 35 and 45°C, it was found that most samples were contaminated (86.7%). It is the presence of sporulated bacteria in 13.3% of the samples, which were 15.26 and 84.64% genus Clostridium of the genus Bacillus. Key words: Apiculture products, contamination, physico-chemistry, microbiology, Clostridium botulinum.

Infertility and prenatal mortality are the most important causes of production losses in domestic animals. The presence of pathogenic agents in the female reproductive system of cattle can negatively influence the reproductive performance of the herd. The objective of this study was to isolate, quantify, and characterize the components of the vaginal microbiota of multiparous and nulliparous mongrel cows, focusing on proper health and reproductive management. Samples were collected from 20 healthy animals: 10 nulliparous and 10 multiparous cows. The inoculation was performed simultaneously on four different culture media: BBL CHROM agar Candida, BBL Bile Esculin Agar Slants, Baird-Parker Agar, and MacConkey Agar bile salts. The isolated microorganisms were identified according to morphological and biochemical features. Microorganisms were detected in 80% of the nulliparous and 10% of the multiparous cows, with the following frequency: 88.78% of bacteria had morphophysiological characteristics of Staphylococcus spp., 11.22% of Escherichia coli, and 120 isolated yeast colonies which were identified as Candida tropicalis (69%), C. albicans (24%), and C. krusei. Seventeen isolates of Staphylococcus spp. (53.12%) presented sensitivity to all antimicrobials tested: 65.6% to amoxillin, 46.9% to erythromycin, 71.8% to rifampicin, and 46.9% to tetracycline. The rate of resistance to antimicrobials (MDR) was 0.125. The presence of typical microorganisms was detected. The MDR indicated that the isolates did not show multiresistance, with only two (6.25%) resistant to more than one antimicrobial simultaneously. The bacterial isolates studied were sensitive to the antimicrobial drugs tested, demonstrating the potential for use of these active ingredients.

Experiments were carried out to investigate the beneficial effects of retinyl acetate (RAc) and retinoic acid (RA) on goat oocyte maturation as well as the effects of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), RAc and RA during embryo culture under chemically defined conditions. In Experiment 1,in vitromaturation (IVM) was performed in a chemically defined basic maturation medium (bMM) supplemented with 0.3 μM RAc or 0.5 μM RA. Presumptive zygotes and embryos (2–4 cells) were cultured in droplets of potassium simplex optimised medium (KSOM); however, none of the embryos reached the blastocyst stage. In Experiment 2, oocytes were matured in bMM + RAc or bMM + RA. Presumptive zygotes and 2- to 4-cell embryos were placed in fresh KSOM droplets supplemented with RAc, RA, IGF-I, RAc+IGF-I or RA+IGF-I. In Experiment 1, addition of RAc and RA to bMM increased (P < 0.05) the proportion of 2- to 4-cell embryos reaching the morula stage as compared to the control. In Experiment 2, supplementation of embryo culture media with retinoids and IGF-I increased (P < 0.05) the proportion of 2- to 4-cell stage embryos developing to the morula and blastocyst stage. Our data demonstrate that goat embryo production in chemically defined media could be improved by exogenous RAc or RA and by the interaction between retinoids and IGF-I, and that goat embryos can be producedin vitrofrom oocytes following protocols similar to those currently used for cattle.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of retinol (RT) and retinoic acid (RA) on the in vitro development of pre-implantation goat embryos cultured in potassium simplex optimized medium or synthetic oviduct fluid or cocultured in oviductal cells monolayer either in potassium simplex optimized medium or synthetic oviduct fluid. A total of 2407 cumulus-oocyte complexes were aspirated from 2 to 6 mm ovarian follicles from slaughtered animals. Selected cumulus-oocyte complexes were subjected to in vitro maturation in TCM 199 for 24 h at 39 °C in an atmosphere of 5% (v/v) CO(2) in humidified air. In vitro fertilization was performed in modified defined medium. Eighteen hours after in vitro fertilization, cumulus cells were removed and presumptive zygotes were randomly distributed into experimental groups. In Experiment 1, presumptive zygotes were cultured in potassium simplex optimized medium, potassium simplex optimized medium + RT, potassium simplex optimized medium + retinoic acid, synthetic oviduct fluid, synthetic oviduct fluid + RT and synthetic oviduct fluid + RA at 39 °C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% (v/v) CO(2), 5% (v/v) O(2) and 90% (v/v) N(2). In Experiment 2, presumptive zygotes were cocultured in potassium simplex optimized medium + oviductal cells monolayer, potassium simplex optimized medium + RT + oviductal cells monolayer, potassium simplex optimized medium + RA + oviductal cells monolayer, synthetic oviduct fluid + oviductal cells monolayer, synthetic oviduct fluid + RT + oviductal cells monolayer and synthetic oviduct fluid + RA + oviductal cells monolayer in an atmosphere of 5% (v/v) CO(2) in humidified air. In both experiments, media were partially changed on day 2 after in vitro fertilization and unfertilized oocytes were excluded from the experiment. Embryos were cultured or cocultured for 8 days. In Experiment 1, there was no effect of RT or RA supplementation on the proportion of oocytes that reached the morula or blastocyst stages. By contrast, Experiment 2 demonstrated that the addition of 0.28 μg/ml RT and 0.5 μm RA to the embryo culture media stimulated (p0.05) development to the morula and blastocyst stages under the coculture conditions tested. In conclusion, retinoids play an important role in pre-implantation development of goat embryos and can be used to enhance in vitro embryo production.