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Four genera of the Boidae family are found in Brazil: Eunectes, Corallus, Epicrates, and Boa. Male copulatory organs in snakes are located inside the tail and are called hemipenes. They are double structures in an inverted position that are exposed during copulation. This study describes the macroscopic and histological aspects of hemipenes in Boidae snakes. One Boa constrictor, three Epicrates cenchria, one Corallus hortulanus hemipenes, and one fragment of the muscular retractor penis magnus (m. retractor penis magnus) from Eunectes murinus were included in this study. The structures were evaluated macroscopically and photo‐documented using a stereo microscope. Tissue fragments were included in glycol methacrylate plastic resin, cut into 3‐μm‐thick slices, and stained with 1% toluidine blue for microscopic evaluation. The macroscopic analysis showed that the arrangement and diameter occupied by the m. retractor penis magnus in the hemipenis and the internal and external cavernous bodies differ between species. The histological analysis showed that the hemipenis of B. constrictor, E. cenchria, and C. hortulanus has stratified epithelium in the external portion supported by dense connective tissue with blood vessels and muscle tissue. Although the literature reports the presence of skeletal musculature in the hemipenis, striated musculature with a centrally located nucleus in the fibre bundle, typical of cardiac musculature in mammals, was observed in the studied species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The golden‐headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) is an endangered species endemic to Brazil's Atlantic Forest, a shrinking biodiversity hotspot. As in other Neotropical primates, its semen characteristics and freezability are poorly studied. Hence, reproductive technologies for callitrichids would greatly benefit from reliable methods of semen analysis. In a bid to promote reproductive research in tamarins, we validated simple and inexpensive sperm function tests that can be used to monitor sperm‐egg binding, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity, and DNA fragmentation. Ejaculates from adult males were individually diluted and divided into control and damage‐induced aliquots, and then samples comprising assorted amounts of damaged spermatozoa were examined by organelle‐specific tests. Our findings showed that sperm‐binding in chicken egg perivitelline membrane (EPM) positively correlated with the number of spermatozoa injured by snap‐freezing. Eosin‐nigrosin (EN) and propidium iodide readings were correlated with each other, and both provided robust measurements of plasma membrane integrity. A high correlation between expected and measured amounts of acrosome‐intact spermatozoa was found using Fast Green‐Rose Bengal (FG‐RB), Coomassie Blue (CB), and FITC‐PSA stains, and all three methods exhibited comparable results. Likewise, different percentages of UV‐irradiated spermatozoa were accurately assessed for DNA integrity by Toluidine Blue (TB) and sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) tests. Comparisons between 3,3′‐diaminobenzidine (DAB) and JC‐1 stains also indicated the reliability of the former assay to ascertain gradual increases in spermatozoa with greater mitochondrial function. These data confirmed that different parts of the tamarin spermatozoa can be simply and consistently evaluated by EPM, EN, FG‐RB, CB, TB, and DAB protocols. Research Highlights: Sperm‐binding assay can be performed in golden‐headed lion tamarin (GHLT) semen;Simple sperm function tests that can be used to monitor plasma membrane and acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity, and DNA fragmentation in GHLT sperm were validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The thermo-dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is the pathogen of Paracoccidioidomycosis, an important public health problem in Latin American with prevalence in Brazil. Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (PACT) is a process that combines a photosensitizer and light, producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can promote damages to treated cells., Methods: In this work was study the effect of PACT, using Toluidine blue (TBO) on both yeast and mycelial cells of P. brasiliensis., Results: It was observed that PACT decreased P. brasiliensis yeast growth, in a dependent manner of both TBO concentrations and fluence. In the presence of TBO 0.005 mg/mL, PACT reduced P. brasiliensis yeast growth in 63, 62 and 86%, using fluences of 20, 30 and 40 J/cm 2 , respectively. After PACT, ROS production increased 2.80, 4.64 and 7.90 times, in the presence of TBO 0.001, 0.002 and 0.005 mg/mL, respectively. It was observed that after PACT, the cells are predominantly in mycelia form, indicating that mycelial cells irradiated in the presence of TBO, maintained their filamentous form and absence and/or decreased presence of transition structures., Conclusions: These results demonstrated the potential of PACT, using TBO to inhibit both yeast and mycelium development of P. brasiliensis., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)