Adriana Alves

PLANT TRANSFORMATION: ADVANCES AND PERSPECTIVES

Genetic transformation is a powerful tool for plant breeding and genetical, physiological or biochemical research, consequently it is an extremely dynamic field. Transgenic plants are commonly used to complete or substitute mutants in basic research, helping the studies of complex biological situations such as pathogenesis process, genome organization, light reception and signal transduction. In this review, recent approaches for foreign gene introduction (e.g. Agrobiolistics, whole tissue electroporation, in planta Agrobacterium transformation), screening (reporter gene possibilities and performance) and transformant selection (ipt selective marker) are discussed. Transgene expression and mechanisms underlying (trans)gene inactivation are presented. Practical applications of genetically modified plants, field tests and commercial transgenic crops worldwide and in Brazil are listed, as well as the main traits and species modified. Potential uses of transgenic plants for animal compound production, biological remediation and synthetic polymer assembly are also shown.

The inventory of geological heritage of the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Methodological basis, results and perspectives

An inventory of geological sites based on solid and clear criteria is a first step for any geoconservation strategy. This paper describes the method used in the geoheritage inventory of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and presents its main results. This inventory developed by the geoscientific community aimed to identify geosites with scientific value in the whole state, using a systematic approach. All 142 geosites representative of 11 geological frameworks were characterised and quantitatively evaluated according to their scientific value and risk of degradation, in order to establish priorities for their future management. An online database of the inventory is under construction, which will be available to be easily consulted and updated by the geoscientific community. All data were made available to the State Geological Institute as the backbone for the implementation of a future state geoconservation strategy.

In situ Sr isotope analyses by LA-MC-ICP-MS of igneous apatite and plagioclase from magmatic rocks at the CPGeo-USP

This contribution describes the successful implementation of in situ Sr isotope analyses by LA-MC-ICP-MS at the CPGeo-USP. The choice for an analytical configuration using measurements of half-masses allows the accurate assessment of lanthanide interferences, permitting the determination of Sr isotopes in important REE-rich accessory phases, such as apatite. Likewise, the on-peak-zero method effectively corrects the background contribution (both from Kr and residual Sr contributions from previous ablations) to the signals of the unknown samples. The analytical campaigns resulted in an accuracy, in respect to reference TIMS values, better than 57 ppm (~ ±0.000057 2σ SD) for a modern coral and the Batjberg clinopyroxene which impart significant quality to our data. Similarly, the majority of the stable Sr isotope ratios are close to the accepted values, which also confirms the effectiveness of the method. The achieved accuracy allows the identification and investigation of spatially-controlled isotopic heterogeneities on the micrometric scale in several Sr-rich minerals (apatite, carbonates, plagioclase, and clinopyroxene) with important implications to the understanding of relevant geochemical processes, particularly AFC, source geochemical heterogeneities and magma-mixing.