Confocal microscopy as a tool to evaluate cellular viability of leaf-cutting ants exposed to environmental contaminants

• Grant number: 13/20375-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2014
• End date: March 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Odair Correa Bueno
• Grantee: Gabriela Ortiz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/50197-2 - Action of products used in cultivation of sugar cane on non-target organisms, AP.BIOEN.TEM

Abstract

In terms of environmental impact and facing problem of contamination by agrochemicals and difficulties related to their identification by chemical analysis, additional information, such as provided by biological assays, have been increasingly used to estimate the effects of pollutants on ecosystems and the various groups of organisms. The organisms used as bioindicators require certain environmental and ecological characteristics to develop and therefore may reflect the state of repair and / or degradation of a place. Among these organisms, ants represent a group with great potential for use in environmental monitoring programs. Faced with this problem, this project aims to evaluate the effects of pesticides and other environmental contaminants used in the culture of cane sugar in cell death ant species Atta leaf cutter, through the analysis of the viability of cells of the brain, digestive tract and Malpighian tubules, as well as the assessment of the possible changes that may occur in the structure of the cytoskeleton and the nucleus of these cells through the application of Confocal Microscopy techniques.