BOVINE HERPESVIRUS 1 - INFECTION OF THE UPPER ALIMENTARY TRACT OF CATTLE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH A SEVERE MORTALITY

SUMMARY A severe cattle mortality in which 132 out of 340 animals died on a property in southern Queensland was investigated. Clinical signs shown by affected animals included fever, inappetance, depression, lethargy, salivation, diarrhoea, ataxia, and ulceration of the oral cavity. The most common lesions seen at autopsy of 6 affected animals were ulceration of the tongue, gums, dental pad and buccal mucosa, linear ulceration of the caudal third of the oesophagus, mild catarrhal enteritis and necrosis of lymph nodes draining areas of ulceration. Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV 1) was isolated from 3 out of 5 animals from which virus isolation was attempted. BHV 1 was recovered from oesophageal ulcers, retropharyngeal lymph nodes, blood clot, and swabs from ulcers in the oral cavity but not from spleen, liver or mesenteric lymph node. Serum neutralising (SN) antibody to BHV 1 was detected in 4 out of 12 affected animals in the second of paired serum samples but not in the first. Mucosal Disease (MD) virus was not recovered from any of 17 animals from which isolation was attempted but moderate MD SN titres, without a rise on paired sera, were detected in affected animals. Fever, depression, inappetance, ulceration of the upper alimentary tract, and adrenal necrosis were produced in 2 susceptible animals following inoculation with third passage cell culture fluid containing BHV 1. A serological response to BHV 1, but not to MD virus was detected in one of the cattle infected experimentally.     

Temperate zone coastal seascapes: seascape patterning and adjacent seagrass habitat shape the distribution of rocky reef fish assemblages

Landscape Ecology - Whilst the composition and arrangement of habitats within landscape mosaics are known to be important determinants of biodiversity patterns, the influence of seascape patterning...     

The distribution of olive fruit fly captures with McPhail traps within an olive orchard

The spatial distribution of olive fruit flyBactrocera (Dacus) oleae (Gmelin) (Diptera: Tephritidae) field captures with McPhail traps within an experimental orchard was evaluated. Contour maps were constructed to examine the patterns in the 3-year trapping data. Captures varied widely inside the olive orchard, with traps suspended on wild olive trees exhibiting the poorest performance. Favorable microclimate, created by a standing water pool, appeared to be responsible for increased trap captures during the hot summer months. The positive role of the olive tree fruit load is also discussed. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting Feb. 2, 2003.     

Estimation of linkage disequilibrium in a sample of the United Kingdom dairy cattle population using unphased genotypes

The association between genetic marker alleles was estimated for two regions of the bovine genome from a random sample of 50 young dairy bulls born in the United Kingdom between 1988 and 1995. Microsatellite marker genotypes were obtained for six markers on chromosome 2 and seven markers on chromosome 6, spanning 38 and 20 cM, respectively. Two different methods, which do not require family information, were used to estimate population haplotype frequencies. Haplotype frequencies were estimated for pairs of loci using the expectation-maximization algorithm and for all linked loci using a Bayesian approach via a Markov chain-Monte Carlo algorithm. Significant (P = 0.0007) linkage disequilibrium was detected between pairs of loci in syntenic groups (that is, loci in the same linkage group), extending to about 10 cM. No significant linkage disequilibrium was detected between markers in nonsyntenic regions. Given the observed level of linkage disequilibrium, mapping methods based on population-wide association might provide a better resolution than traditional quantitative trait loci mapping methods in the U.K. dairy cattle population and may reduce the required sample sizes of the experiments.     

Studies of Coxiella burnetii infections in dairy herds with special regard to infections in men

Investigations of 1167 dairy cows out of 105 herds with fertility disorders on secretion of Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) by the genitals as well as serological studies of these animals using ELISA demonstrated that C. burnetii infections are significantly associated with abortions but not with repeated inseminations without success or vaginal excretions. The demonstration of an increased risk of infections for persons caring for those dairy herds could be shown by a total of 253 serological studies. A comparison of these studies of farmers caring for dairy herds suffering from abortions a seroprevalence of > or = 20% showed that these persons revealed significantly more frequent antibodies against C. burnetii than farmers of the group compared with. Further studies showed that in herds suffering from abortions a seroprevalence of > or = 20% means an additional risk of infections of farmers. Vice versa abortions of the cows in herds with a seroprevalence of > or = 20% imply an additional infectious risk.     

Molecular Variability of the Capsid Protein of the Prune Dwarf Virus

Sequences of the capsid protein gene and the preceding intergenic region of eleven isolates of prune dwarf virus from central Europe were determined. The isolates were obtained from plum, cherry and peach trees. Comparison of all sequenced isolates (including two sequences published previously) revealed high (88%) conservation of the capsid protein gene. The highest degree of identity was observed in the C-terminal half, where only 13 amino acid substitutions could be observed in contrast to the N-terminal half with 22 substitutions. No reasonable correlation between amino acid substitutions and host species and/or geographic origin of the isolates was observed. Alignment with capsid protein genes of other ilarviruses revealed apple mosaic virus, elm mottle virus, lilac ring mottle virus and prunus necrotic ringspot virus as the most related to prune dwarf virus. Unlike the isolates of related prunus necrotic ringspot virus all the isolates of prune dwarf virus shared extensive conservation of the intergenic region. Portions of RNA3 were selected for design of universal primers for PCR detection.     

Cägliche Durchmesserschwankungen der Zweige

European Journal of Forest Research -     

Economic potential of agroforestry for public recreational parks

The availability of public recreational facilities is being threatened by growing demands, limited supplies, and declining government funding. In response to these pressures, the economic potential of agroforestry for supplementing operating budgets of public recreational parks is examined in a case study park consisting of 324 hectares. Agroforestry enterprises native to the area were selected for development on 70 hectares of the site. Linear programming was used to determine the optimum combinations of 23 agroforestry regimes composed of the following activities: 1) conventional forestry planting, tree density of 1682 trees/hectare, 2) the selected agroforestry planting with hay, tree density of 1495 trees/hectare, 3) the selected agroforestry planting with grazing, 4) hay production, and 5) rental of pasture for grazing. The objective function of the study was to maximize the net present value of the study site subject to land, labor, capital, and minimum annual income constraints. The preferred optimal regime generated $1782 per hectare from an agroforestry planting configuration of 1495 trees/hectare with 75 percent hay, 25 percent grazing, and no annual income requirements. Minimum annual income requirements of $2400 and $4800 were feasible but suboptimal from a net present value criteria. The study found that agroforestry could be used to privatize selective activities of public recreational parks and thus enable public agencies to provide these facilities more effectively.