AVALIAÇÃO GENOTÓXICA EM AVES SILVESTRES DO CERRADO

Abstract

Birds have been used as important indicators of environmental quality. Among the different biomarkers used to assess the health of birds, the micronucleus (MN) test is considered one of the simplest, fastest, least invasive and accurate for detecting genotoxicity caused by contaminants. Thus, in this study, we present in the first chapter a global review of the use of this test in birds. Overall, the results indicated that only 48 studies have been published on this topic in the past 28 years. Among the countries that most publish on this topic, Pakistan leads the research (n = 11), followed by Brazil with ten studies. Detecting the scarcity of studies for avifauna involving the theme of genotoxicity, in the second chapter, the MN test was used in birds in the Brazilian savannah in order to start filling the knowledge gaps in the use of this biomarker for birds in Brazil. A comparison was made between two communities of animals from agricultural versus conserved areas. In the conserved area, there was greater abundance and richness of birds when compared to the agricultural area. Another relevant fact was guilds found in the study areas, in the agricultural environment we find the omnivorous and granivorous guilds and in the conserved environment the guilds of insectivores, granivores and omnivores Granivorous species from the agricultural area showed a higher frequency of cells with micronucleus, in addition to a series of erythrocyte nuclear abnormalities. Finally, these results provide new information on genotoxicity in birds from agricultural and non-agricultural environments in Brazil.