Pubertal development of male African catfish,Clarias gariepinus. In vitro steroidogenesis by testis and interrenal tissue and plasma levels of sexual steroids

In fish, sex steroids initiate and/or accelerate the maturation of the brain-pituitary-gonad axis. In order to obtain information on the steroid milieu during the pubertal development of male African catfish, we have monitored the conversion of [³H]-pregnenolone and [³H]-androstenedione by testis and [³H]-pregnenolone by interrenal tissue fragmentsin vitro. Pubertal development occurs between two and six months of age. Testicular development proceeds through four main stages that are characterised histologically by the presence of spermatogonia (stage I), spermatogonia and spermatocytes (stage II), spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids (stage III), and all germ cells including spermatozoa (stage IV). 11β-Hydroxyandrostenedione and cortisol were the main products of testes and interrenal tissue, respectively, in all stages of the pubertal development; a change in the steroidogenic pattern was not observed during this period. The interrenal tissue displayed no significant conversion of [³H]-pregnenolone to 11-oxygenated androgens. Blood plasma was analyzed for the presence of five androgens; testosterone, 11β-hydroxytestosterone, 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione, androstenetrione, and 11-ketotestosterone. 11-Ketotestosterone was the quantitatively dominating androgen in the circulation at all stages of development, which was more pronounced in stages III and IV. The obvious differences between thein vitro andin vivo results, namely 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione being the main testicular productvs. 11-ketotestosterone dominating in the blood, may indicate that 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione is converted to 11-ketotestosterone at extratesticular sites.     

Supplemental effect of cholyltaurine and soybean lecithin to a soybean meal-based fish meal-free diet on hepatic and intestinal morphology of rainbow trout <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oncorhynchus mykiss</Emphasis>

The supplemental effects of cholyltaurine and soybean lecithin to a defatted soybean meal (SBM)-based fish meal-free diet on the hepatic and intestinal morphology of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were investigated. A fish meal-based diet (FM), three fish meal-free diets supplemented either with soybean lecithin (SL), bovine gall powder (BG) or cholyltaurine (C-tau) and an unsupplemented fish meal-free diet (NFM), were given to fish (−11 g) for 10 weeks. The growth was the lowest in fish fed diet NFM, intermediate in fish fed diet SL and the highest in fish fed diet FM, BG and C-tau. Hepatocytes of fish fed diet NFM were atrophied, and the distal intestine of these fish showed abnormal features: disintegrated microvilli and fatty degeneration in epithelial cells and increased amount of connective tissue in the submucosa. Hepatic and intestinal histological features in fish fed diets SL, BG and C-tau were similar to those in fish fed diet FM. These results indicate that soybean lecithin, bovine bile salts and cholyltaurine have similar effects on normalizing the hepatic and intestinal morphologies of rainbow trout fed the SBM-based diet, although growth promotion effect was limited in the soybean lecithin.     

Detection of Flexibacter maritimus in fish tissue using nested PCR amplification

A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system was developed for the detection of Flexibacter maritimus from fish tissue. The total procedure for the diagnosis of marine flexibacteriosis, from the point of DNA extraction to the electrophoretic analysis, can be performed in < 4 h. This was achieved by the combination of a short thermal cycling programme with a rapid DNA extraction procedure. The assay was extremely sensitive, capable of detecting as few as 75 cfu mg(-1) fish tissue. The accuracy of the nested PCR was confirmed under field conditions using tissue samples recovered during 1993-2002 from fish suffering marine flexibacteriosis. The nested PCR method proved to be efficient for the rapid and sensitive detection of F. maritimus from fish tissues and can be used for routine diagnosis of the disease caused by this pathogen.     

Feeding of Spinach or Sweet-potato Leaves and Growth Performance of Growing Pigs Kept on Smallholder Farms in Central Vietnam

We investigated whether the addition of either spinach or sweet-potato leaves to the diet of growing pigs, kept in small holdings in Central Vietnam, would improve growth performance. A control diet was formulated and mixed with each of the vegetables to a final concentration of 15% of the total dietary dry matter. The diets were fed to the pigs from 70 to 100 days of age on six different smallholder farms in Central Vietnam. There were three animals per treatment group per farm and biopsies of adipose tissue were analysed for their contents of alpha-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids. The diets without and with vegetables contained on average 0.14 and 0.32 g alpha-linolenic acid per MJ metabolizable energy. The relative percentage of alpha-linolenic acid in adipose tissue was raised by the intake of the vegetables. Eicosapentaenoic acid was not detectable in adipose tissue and the level of docosahexaenoic acid was unchanged. There was a significant stimulatory impact of the intake of either spinach or sweet-potato leaves on growth performance of the growing pigs. It is suggested that an adipose tissue content of alpha-linolenic acid less than 1% of total fatty acids does not allow maximum growth in growing pigs.     

高温对20个鸡爪槭品种叶片形态和光合特性的影响

利用自然高温胁迫,研究了高温对20个鸡爪槭品种叶片形态、净光合速率、气孔导度、细胞间CO2浓度、蒸腾速率、水分利用效率和气孔限制值等参数的影响及各参数间的相关性,并以耐热性指标隶属度进行评价。结果表明,20个鸡爪槭品种的耐热性存在明显的差异,d1118和c1116是耐热性最强的2个品种,经过自然高温处理没有出现热害症状,y1106、y1107和x1119耐热性最差,其余品种介于2者之间;多数品种经热处理后净光合速率、气孔导度和蒸腾速率下降显著(P0.05)或极显著(P0.01),水分利用效率提高显著(P0.05),表现出明显的气孔抑制;品种d1118高温处理与对照相比净光合速率、气孔导度和蒸腾速率均显著增加,表现出极强的高温适应性;品种j1123高温条件下净光合速率下降,但仍保持较高的气孔导度和胞间CO2浓度,属于典型的非气孔抑制;高温引起的叶片热害症状与光合参数间不存在显著的相关性,但与蒸腾速率的相对变化值有显著(P0.05)的负相关。     

莫氏兰的组织培养与快速繁殖

以腋芽为外植体,建立莫氏兰的组织培养和再生体系。结果表明：腋芽采用0.1%升汞消毒2次的效果最好;6-BA 4.0 mg/L＋NAA 0.4 mg/L的激素配比适合原球茎诱导;原球茎增殖培养基的最佳6-BA、NAA浓度分别是1.0、0.1 mg/L;不定芽诱导培养基的最适6-BA、NAA浓度分别是0.5、0.05 mg/L;在生根培养基VW(含NAA 0.5 mg/L,香蕉40 g/L,土豆30 g/L,糖20 g/L,卡拉胶8.0 g/L,活性炭1.5 g/L)上幼苗生根率达到100%;移栽成活率达95%。