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Diet composition constitutes basic information on the natural history of the species. Despite the amount of data acquired in the last years, much remains to be known specially for geographically widespread species. Here we compiled the available dietary items of Leptodactylus vastus and report the first predation event upon Rupirana cardosoi by a juvenile L. vastus. The fact these species are syntopic in the region probably resulted in this novel predation event. Different from previous L. vastus predation observations, the specimens we observed do not present a striking difference in body size, but L. vastus was able to almost swallow L. cardosoi, coherent with findings that mouth size is related to prey selection in anurans. Also, our literature review showed that L. vastus is a generalist and opportunistic predator, that prey upon small vertebrates (Amphibia, Squamata, and Mammalia).

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Cre-ative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not per-mitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/., Cutaneous secretions of amphibians have bioactive compounds, such as peptides, with potential for biotechnological applications. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the primary structure and investigate peptides obtained from the cutaneous secretions of the amphibian, Leptodactylus vastus, as a source of bioactive molecules. The peptides obtained possessed the amino acid sequences, GVVDILKGAAKDLAGH and GVVDILKGAAKDLAGHLASKV, with monoisotopic masses of [M + H]± = 1563.8 Da and [M + H]± = 2062.4 Da, respectively. The molecules were characterized as peptides of the class of ocellatins and were named as Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21). Functional analysis revealed that Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) showed weak antibacterial activity. However, treatment of mice with these ocellatins reduced the nitrite and malondialdehyde content. Moreover, superoxide dismutase enzymatic activity and glutathione concentration were increased in the hippocampus of mice. In addition, Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) were effective in impairing lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and NF-kB activation in living microglia. We incubated hippocampal neurons with microglial conditioned media treated with LPS and LPS in the presence of Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) and observed that both peptides reduced the oxidative stress in hippocampal neurons. Furthermore, these ocellatins demonstrated low cytotoxicity towards erythrocytes. These functional properties suggest possible to neuromodulatory therapeutic applications., Alexandra Plácido is a recipient of a post-doctoral grant from the project FCT (PTDC/BII-BIO/31158/2017). Renato Socodato and Camila Cabral Portugal hold postdoctoral fellowships from FCT (Refs: SFRH/BPD/91833/2012 and FRH/BPD/91962/2012, respectively). This work was funded through project UID/QUI/50006/2013-POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 (LAQV/REQUIMTE) with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT 2020

This study reports the opportunistic predation on bats in mist nets by Leptodactylus vastus (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Este estudo relata a predação oportunista de morcegos em redes de neblina por Leptodactylus vastus (Anura: Leptodactylidae).

Breeding by releasing eggs into stable biofoams (>foam nests>) is a peculiar reproduction mode within anurans, fish, and tunicates; not much is known regarding the biochemistry or molecular mechanisms involved. Lv-ranaspumin (Lv-RSN-1) is the predominant protein from the foam nest of the frog Leptodactylus vastus. This protein shows natural surfactant activity, which is assumed to be crucial for stabilizing foam nests. We elucidated the amino acid sequence of Lv-RSN-1 by de novo sequencing with mass-spectrometry and determined the high-resolution X-ray structure of the protein. It has a unique fold mainly composed of a bundle of 11 α-helices and two small antiparallel β-strands. Lv-RSN-1 has a surface rich in hydrophilic residues and a lipophilic cavity in the region of the antiparallel β-sheet. It possesses intrinsic surface-active properties, reducing the surface tension of water from 73 to 61 mN m-1 (15 μg mL-1). Lv-RSN-1 belongs to a new class of surfactants proteins for which little has been reported regarding structure or function. Making the perfect egg: Frog eggs and sperm are matured in >foam nests> that are stabilized by the naturally occurring surfactant protein ranaspumin. We report the amino acid sequence, crystal structure (which corresponds to a novel fold), and biochemical properties of Lv-RSN-1, the uncommon ranaspumin from the frog Leptodactylus vastus. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim., D.C.H. was recipient of a scholarship provided by Consehlo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq; Process No. 201633/2012-8). This work was financially supported by Coordenaçao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), by CNPq and by the Austrian Science Funds (FWF) through project W901 (DK >Molecular Enzymology>, to K.G.)

Poucos estudos evidenciam a fauna de insetos colonizadora de cadáveres de animais silvestres, todavia, as formigas são consideradas um importante táxon na colonização cadavérica. Apresentamos o primeiro registro de indivíduos de Cephalotes atratus se alimentando de um cadáver recém morto de Leptodactylus vastus, anfíbio anuro endêmico da América do Sul.

The Neotropical frog Leptodactylus vastus belongs to the L. pentadactylus group, a group that currently contains 14 species, and of which nine tadpoles have been described. The tadpoles of L. vastus described here are generally much smaller than tadpoles of the other species described. The oral disk of L. vastus tadpoles is almost anteriorly placed, similar to other tadpoles in the group except for L. lithonaetes and L. rugosus , and the rows of marginal papillae in L. vastus are different from those in the other species. The tadpoles of L. vastus have a 1/2(1) LTRF similar to that of L. labyrinthicus and amazonian L. pentadactylus , whereas other species in the group show different arrangements of the tooth rows. The internal oral characteristics of the tadpole of L. vastus differs from L. knudseni and L. pentadactylus by having four infralabial papillae, possess 4–5 prepocket papillae surrounded by postulations and the buccal roof arena is circular, surrounded by two long papillae and 4–6 smaller papillae. The tadpoles of L. vastus , in general, possess a set of morphological characteristics that are very similar to those of other species of the L. pentadactylus group, and some of them are probably related to tadpole ecology.

Leptodactylus macrosternumandL. vastus(family: Leptodactylidae) are commonly encountered in the “Caatinga” biome in northern Brazil. The body fat ofL. vastusis used as a zootherapeutic for treating a number of human maladies. The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of the body fats ofL. macrosternumandL. vastusand to evaluate their antimicrobial activities as well as the ecological implications of their use in traditional folk medicine. Oils were extracted from body fat located in the ventral region ofL. macrosternum(OLM) andL. vastus(OLV) using hexane as a solvent. The fatty acids were identified by GC-MS. The antimicrobial activities of the oils, either alone or in combination with antibiotics and antifungal drugs, were tested on standard strains of microorganisms as well as on multiresistant strains ofEscherichia coliandStaphylococcus. OLM contained 40% saturated and 60% unsaturated fatty acids, while OLV contained 58.33% saturated and 41.67% unsaturated fatty acids. Our results indicated that both OLM and OLV demonstrated relevant antimicrobial activities (with MIC 256 μg/mL for both) againstPseudomonas aeruginosaandCandida krusei. However, no antimicrobial effects were observed when these oils were combined with antibiotics or antifungal drugs.

Over the centuries, a significant part of the Brazilian fauna is widely sold, more specifically in retail stores or street markets. The objective was to characterize the sale of medicinal animals in five large northeast cities. Information about the sale of zootherapeutic items was obtained in the cities of Aracaju-SE, Fortaleza-CE, Maceio-AL, Recife-PE, and Salvador-BA. A total of 68 animal species were sold for medicinal purposes in the cities studied; these are the first results on the use and sale of zootherapeutics in the markets of Aracaju, Fortaleza, and Salvador and first recorded on the medicinal use of theAchatina fulica, Trachycardium muricatum, Philodryas olfersii, Desmodus rotundus,andLeptodactylus vastus. Knowledge of the fauna utilized popular medicine is indispensable for conservation, demonstrating that research on this subject is necessary to determine appropriate practices for the management of the fauna.