IMSEAR: Millennium Institute of the Semi-arid – Actions in its Four Years

Ana Maria Giulietti & Luciano Paganucci de Queiroz

The proposal to implant Millennium Institutes in certain strategic regions of Brazil: the Semi-arid, Amazonia and the Oceans, was undoubtedly due to the recognition, on the part of the MCT, that the regions chosen shared a backwardness in relation to other parts of the country in terms of their scientific and technological development, while at the same time, displaying a significant lack of basic information on the potential of their rich natural resources. This situation had resulted in a failure of adequate scientific and technological progress in these regions, compared to the progress made in other parts of Brazil.

In order to overcome this situation, a call for specific program proposals was published, designed to address the lack of information within these regions. In July 2001, our proposal was selected for funding and in February 2002, we started our activities at the ‘Instituto do Milênio do Semi-Árido’ (IMSEAR) designed to be completed by June 2006. The IMSEAR has received R$ 4,900,000 as funds from MCT; R$ 1,300,000 in scholarships from CNPq, and has gathered 23 participating institutions (see the list), 20 of which in the NE Brazil.

The 23 collaborating institutions met to consider what were the major problems affecting the 20 million inhabitants of the region, and how using scientific research, these could best be addressed. Two of the greatest challenges faced in the region are the degradation of the environment, due to inappropriate and uncontrolled land-use over the last four centuries, and coupled with it, a serious lack of knowledge of the biodiversity of the Caatinga Biome, with its highly specialized environmental factors, where the majority of the inhabitants make a living. Water resources and their rational utilization can help combat the fragile nature of agriculture in the region, while a better understanding of the region’s unique biota and its sustainable use, especially to combat disease, can also provide a rich source of income for, as well as promoting the health of, local communities, and at the same time help to preserve the environment.

IMSEAR has two major foci of research. The first of these is on Biological studies and is divided into three different Programs. The Program of Biodiversity aims at elaborating databanks and publishing the knowledge obtained in the process. The plan has been to gather information on, to catalogue and map the biodiversity of the Caatinga Biome, as well as detecting the hotspots of biodiversity in the region and those endemic species that are threatened by extinction. In order to survey the fauna, the primary approach was a study of the zoological literature on the area and the specimens previously sampled in the Northeast, available in Brazilian museums. In order to survey the flora and fungi, besides the literature and the specimens encountered in local herbaria, a program of intensive collecting was undertaken in selected areas in Piauí, Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas and Bahia, by the participating institutions.

This Biodiversity Program has gone hand in hand with a major Program of Bioprospection, to assay this biodiversity in a search for biologically active substances which could alleviate the problems caused by some of the major diseases of the region, such as Cutaneous and Visceral Leishmaniasis, Chagas´ disease, Schistostomiasis and Malaria. At the same time, compounds were tested for their antibiotic and anticancer activity.

Consequent on this second program, a Program of Genetic Resources was developed, firstly to characterize those species which showed greatest potential, in terms of their genetic make-up and molecular biology, and secondly to conserve them ‘ex situ’, by means of seed collection, propagation and the formation of germplasm banks. At the same time, the DNA of a high proportion of the plants species collected in the field was extracted and is stored in LAMOL’s DNA bank (Chapter 21) at UEFS, for future analysis.

The second focus of IMSEAR is the study of different aspects of the hydrology of two large river basins, which feed the caatinga region in NE Brazil: the São Francisco and Contas River. Studies on the former involve remote orbital sensing in order to analyse the process of sedimentation which is a serious problem at present occurring along the river bed. In the Contas River, the phyto- and zooplankton is being studied and monitored, from its source near the Serra do Barbado (c. 2,000 m high) to the middle reaches of the river, where it crosses various types of caatinga. Also being studied are the dimensions of the subterranean water table known to exist in the South of Piauí, the largest in NE Brasil, and its potential for utilisation. Three projects form the Program of Hydrological Resources. They were selected because they can be used as models of management for these resources thus providing as essential giving great contribution for the politics of distribution and conservation of water in the semi-arid.

One of the main goals of IMSEAR is the improvement of the Northeastern institutions by providing them with top-of-line equipment, some of which has never been used in the region before, thus allowing researches to make use of the most advanced methodologies available in several fields. Such equipment is shared by all participating institutions and whenever possible by other institutions in the region.

Another focal point for IMSEAR is the formation of human resources at the level of undergraduate studies in the fields covered by the project. Meanwhile it helps to keep researchers in the region and attracts others to the Northeast, from different parts of the country. This association of local and incoming researchers is already crating a new generation of scientists who know how to work cooperatively, are trained in modern techniques and, above all, use their teamwork to provide solutions for regional problems.

Despite being a young project, running for only four years, and despite the innovative nature of the collaborative network, and the methodologies employed, IMSEAR can be judged a success. Several positive results of the project can be observed:

Fluxogram

Program of Biodiversity:

1. a) A list with 8,116 species of seed plants from the Semi-arid was prepared based on herbarium collections; b) During the project 3,899 specimens of flowering plants and ferns from the Semi-arid were collected; c) A catalogue was prepared of 677 plant species in 353 genera from Caatinga of Bahia whose flowers are visited by bees.

2. A list of 981 species of fungi from the semi-arid was prepared, based on herbarium records, of which 500 specimens were collected during the project;

3. Based on literature and museum records, a species list from the semi-arid was produced, contains a record of 439 birds, 233 fishes, 66 reptiles and amphibians, 237 bees and 36 wasps, adding 210 species of vertebrate to the known fauna of the region.

Program of Bioprospection:

1. Extraction of 536 components obtained from 90 species of plant native to the semi-arid:

- 62 samples - 60% inhibition NO production;

- 213 samples - 70% inhibition of lympho-proliferation;

- 54 samples - 30% anti-T. cruzi;

- 22 samples - 30% anti-Leishmania;

- 27 samples - bactericide activity on S. aureus/E. coli.

2. Isolation of 103 pure substances, including: flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, naphthoquinones, phenyl propanones and others:

- 33 samples - 60% inhibition of NO production;

- 54 samples - 70% inhibition of lympho-proliferation;

- 4 samples - 30% anti-T. cruzi;

- 9 samples - 30% anti-Leishmania;

- 10 samples: bactericide activity on S. aureus/E. coli.

3. Fourteen new substances were discovered;

4. Twenty semi-synthetic derivatives were produced.


Program of Genetic Resources:

1. DNA bank (Chapter 21) of plants from the Brazilian semi-arid:

- 1,995 samples, representing 1,029 species, 414 genera and 107 families;

- Intraspecific genetic variability of 12 species of the 31 with pharmacological potential and sampling of four populations of the 31 species with pharmacological potential;

2. Protocols for propagation of 15 of the 31 plant species with pharmacological potential;

3. Seed bank of the 31 species with pharmacological potential;

4. Bank of germoplasm ‘ex-situ’ of plant species with pharmacological potential, 20 in greenhouses and one in the field.

Program of Hydrological Resources:

1. Survey of subterraneous aquiferous wells in the State of Piauí:

- List of 2,165 wells, of which 255 were periodically evaluated concerning their bacteriological and physic-chemical quality;

2. Monitoring of the silting up in the Rio São Francisco;

3. Limnological characterization of Rio de Contas;

4. Elaboration of theme maps for the high and medium course of the Contas River basin;

5. Six expeditions in the States of Piauí and Bahia.

The following are examples of the impact IMSEAR has already had at the regional and national level:

Establishment of a sequential network of bioprospection comprising Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and genetic resources;

Formation of an integrated network of researchers who share the infrastructure offered by the Institution with the construction of new laboratories and new technology;

Development of strategies and protocols for planning and sustainable use of hydrological resources;

Creation of a new Graduate Program in Biotechnology (Master degree and Doctorate) including UEFS, FIOCRUZ and UFBA (Chapter 26), and making use of the network of researchers and several resources of IMSEAR;

Discovery of high diversity and a potential sustainable use of flora and fauna resources from the Caatinga Biome, namely: new endemic species; hotspots for conservation; high proportion of species with chemically active compounds, and the discovery of new drugs of potential use against diseases that affect local population which has already resulted in the register of two new trademarked drugs.