Pruritus in rabbits, rodents, and ferrets

This article attempts to cover the more specific pruritic problems encountered in rabbits, rodents, and ferrets. There are certainly other causes of pruritus in these animals. Dermatophytes in guinea pigs are not reported to be pruritic, but because they are pruritic in other species, they should be considered in a differential diagnosis. A cryptococcal dermatitis in a guinea pig that was pruritic has been reported. Although mites were not seen on scraping, the animal was treated for sarcoptid mites and apparently the pruritus lessened. Because the cryptococcis was still present, it is questionable whether it was causing the pruritus. Pruritic ulcerative dermatitis over the back and shoulders has been seen in some lines of rats. Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from many of the lesions. Clipping the toenails on the feet helped lessen the severity of the lesions. Syphacia spp. have been reported in rats, gerbils, and hamsters and should be considered if there is perineal pruritus. MOBS, or "move over buddy syndrome," is seen especially in mice and may be seen in hamsters, gerbils, and rats that are overcrowded or stressed. The lesions are actually bite wounds that have been inflicted around the tail base and the perineum and on the tail, but these wounds can be mistaken for self-inflicted trauma from pruritus. All of the recommended treatments are extralabel, and clients should be informed of this. I have observed a guinea pig become lethargic and anorexic after only one application of a flea powder approved for use in cats. Brushing most of the powder off and offering dandelion greens to stimulate appetite helped. The second dusting was done with the same flea powder diluted with baby powder. Whenever these animals are dipped, it is important to let them dry in a warm, draft-free area. Again, it is important to be aware that the ratio of surface area to body weight is much higher in these small animals than in the species routinely seen in veterinary practice especially to prevent toxicoses from topically applied medications and iatrogenic hypothermia or hyperthermia.     

Chemistry and biology of novel amine fungicides: Attempts to improve the antifungal activity of fenpropimorph

In spite of considerable efforts by many workers, there has been a lack of progress in the area of amine fungicides since fenpropimorph. Random synthesis of a large variety of different amine compounds, as well as intelligent structural modification of the lead structure fenpropimorph (well over 15 000 amines have been screened at BASF alone) have not led to a new market product so far. Further work has been focused on the reported mode of action of fenpropimorph, notably on the inhibition of the sterol Δ¹⁴-reductase. Although some doubt has to be cast on the hypothesis that fenpropimorph behaves as a sterol mimic, the concept of ‘high energy intermediate’ inhibitors has been employed successfully. Rational drug design of azasterol mimics has led to a number of very potent inhibitors of the sterol Δ¹⁴-reductase which also displayed high fungicidal activity in the greenhouse. Although many of these compounds are more powerful reductase inhibitors than fenpropimorph, under field conditions none showed significant advantages over this established fungicide. Most likely, fenpropimorph already exhibits the maximum fungicidal activity which can be attained by blocking the sterol Δ¹⁴-reductase. This would mean that, with the development of the ‘second generation’ amine fungicide fenpropimorph, this class of compounds has already virtually been optimized.     

Zum Tode von Dr. Walter Bosshard

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Microclimate in agroforestry systems in central Amazonia: does canopy closure matter to soil organisms?

Microclimate was recorded and soil organisms were collected 1997-1999 in ecosystem stands of contrasting structure in central Amazonia (a primary forest, a 12-year secondary forest, two different agroforestry systems, a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) plantation, and a peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) monoculture with a densely closed canopy). The aim was to look at the effects of canopy closure on microclimate and soil organisms. Monthly maxima temperature, average air and soil temperatures, and saturation deficit were highest in September 1997, and total annual rainfall in 1997 was 12-28% lower than in the other study years. The monthly average litter temperatures were consistently 2-4 °C higher in the plantation sites than in the rainforest and the secondary forest, and temperatures on single days (not the monthly averages) in the plantations were up to 10 °C higher than in the primary forest. The highest average litter and soil temperatures and the highest temperature maxima were recorded in the agroforestry plantations. Canopy closure strongly determined the litter temperatures in the sites. Soil macrofauna biomass was also strongly correlated to canopy closure (linear regression, P = 0.05). We conclude that a well developed canopy effectively protects the soil macrofauna from high temperature variation and drought stress. Therefore, optimizing these agroforestry systems for canopy closure may contribute to a better management of the beneficial soil decomposer community. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Antimicrobial activity of Artemisia douglasiana leaf essential oil

Artemisia douglasiana leaf has been shown to be efficacious complementary herbal treatment for chronic bladder infection in a paraplegic youth. The leaf oil has been analyzed by GC-MS and the major components found to be camphor (29%), artemisia ketone (26%), artemisia alcohol (13%), alpha-thujone (10%), 1,8-cineole (8%), and hexanal (5%). The leaf oil and the major components have been tested for antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus niger. The essential oil shows limited antimicrobial activity in vitro, so it is unclear if the oil exerts a direct antimicrobial effect in vivo, or plays some role in stimulation of host defenses.     

Comparison of 11 herpesvirus isolates from tortoises using partial sequences from three conserved genes

Herpesviruses are an important cause of epidemic disease in tortoises. There are at least two serologically distinct herpesviruses capable of infecting tortoises. Methods for the diagnosis of herpesvirus infections in tortoises include virus isolation and a number of different PCRs. We have compared 11 virus isolates collected from various species in different countries over several years using sequences from three different viral genes. During this study we used four different PCR protocols described for the diagnosis of herpesvirus infections in tortoises. The protocols used included two based on portions of the DNA polymerase gene, one targeting the UL5 homologue, and one targeting the UL39 homologue. Comparison of the methods showed that the tortoise herpesvirus-specific protocols were all serotype specific. Sequences of the obtained amplicons were compared with one another and with sequences of herpesviruses available in GenBank. The sequence alignments showed that the tortoise herpesviruses were most closely related to members of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae. They also showed that the tortoise isolates could be clearly divided into two genogroups.     

Conformational switches modulate protein interactions in peptide antibiotic synthetases

Protein dynamics plays an important role in protein function. Many functionally important motions occur on the microsecond and low millisecond time scale and can be characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation experiments. We describe the different states of a peptidyl carrier protein (PCP) that play a crucial role in its function as a peptide shuttle in the nonribosomal peptide synthetases of the tyrocidine A system. Both apo-PCP (without the bound 4'-phosphopantetheine cofactor) and holo-PCP exist in two different stable conformations. We show that one of the apo conformations and one of the holo conformations are identical, whereas the two remaining conformations are only detectable by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in either the apo or holo form. We further demonstrate that this conformational diversity is an essential prerequisite for the directed movement of the 4'-PP cofactor and its interaction with externally acting proteins such as thioesterases and 4'-PP transferase.     

Architecture of mammalian fatty acid synthase at 4.5 A resolution

The homodimeric mammalian fatty acid synthase is one of the most complex cellular multienzymes, in that each 270-kilodalton polypeptide chain carries all seven functional domains required for fatty acid synthesis. We have calculated a 4.5 angstrom-resolution x-ray crystallographic map of porcine fatty acid synthase, highly homologous to the human multienzyme, and placed homologous template structures of all individual catalytic domains responsible for the cyclic elongation of fatty acid chains into the electron density. The positioning of domains reveals the complex architecture of the multienzyme forming an intertwined dimer with two lateral semicircular reaction chambers, each containing a full set of catalytic domains required for fatty acid elongation. Large distances between active sites and conformational differences between the reaction chambers demonstrate that mobility of the acyl carrier protein and general flexibility of the multienzyme must accompany handover of the reaction intermediates during the reaction cycle.