BILATERAL OVARIAN ADENOCARCINOMA IN A DOG: ULTRASONOGRAPHIC-AIDED DIAGNOSIS

Abdominal ultrasonography was instrumental in the diagnosis of bilateral ovarian adenocarcinoma in a twelve year old female Irish Setter. Severe ascites limited the diagnostic quality of abdominal radiography, but enhanced ultrasonographic images. Ultrasonographically, the ovarian tumors were large, contained multiple anechoic cystic structures, and had irregular margins. The ultrasonographic appearance of ovarian adenocarcinoma has not been previously reported.     

Characterization of interdigital glands in the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

In the Asian elephant, wetness akin to perspiration is commonly observed on the cuticles and interdigital areas of the feet; this observation has lead to speculation regarding the existence of an interdigital gland. Our goal was to search for interdigital glands and characterise them morphologically, histochemically, and immunohistochemically. Necropsy samples of interdigital areas from two Asian elephants were obtained. Multiple sections were fixed and processed routinely, then stained with hematoxylin/eosin and differential mucin stains. Immunohistochemistry was also performed for cytokeratins 8 and 10. Interdigital glands resembling human eccrine glands were detected deep within the reticular dermis. Histochemical staining indicated neutral mucopolysaccharides and nonsulphated acid mucopolysaccharides in glandular secretions, and the glandular epithelium also showed immunoreactivity to cytokeratins 8 and 10. Both the histochemical and immunohistochemical staining patterns are analogous to human eccrine structures. This study shows with certainty that Asian elephants possess sweat glands as they are defined histologically.     

Monitoring for swine dysentery: six years' experience with a control scheme

A control scheme for swine dysentery was initiated in Britain by the Pig Health Control Association in January 1978. To qualify, herds must not show clinical signs suggestive of swine dysentery or, if any suspicious signs arise, laboratory tests must be negative for Treponema hyodysenteriae. In addition, a range of pharmaceutical compounds that might mask the disease or its laboratory diagnosis may not be used routinely after weaning, either for treatment or as food additives. Qualifying herds can import pigs only from other qualifying herds or via hysterectomy/hysterotomy or embryo transfer methods; artificial insemination is also permitted. During the first six years, 91 herds qualified at some stage, and at the end of 1983, 56 herds (average size 200 sows) were still listed. By this date, 72 herds had imported stock from 36 other qualifying herds; despite this degree of inter-herd connection, no evidence of swine dysentery has occurred within the scheme since its inception, nor has this disease appeared in herds established entirely from listed herds. It seems, therefore, that freedom from swine dysentery (unlike enzootic pneumonia) can be readily maintained in a controlled group of pig herds identified by these monitoring methods.     

Modelling soil-water-plant relationships in the Cerrado soils of Brazil: The case of maize (Zea mays L.)

A soil-water balance simulation model developed for the Cerrado soils of central Brazil is presented. The model calculates daily soil water evaporation, plant transpiration and soil-water balance for fourteen soil layers of 15 mm each. The model includes a subroutine to calculate capillary water movement. Computer simulations of daily soil water levels at five soil depths (15, 30, 45, 60 and 90 cm) for a field of maize are compared with actual field measurements over an 80-day period. Results indicated that the developed model can, in general, estimate the soil-water balance of the various depths within ± 10% of actual measurements.     

Optimum conditions for the radioimmunoprecipitation assay for the major internal protein of bovine leukemia virus

The sensitivity of the radioimmunoprecipitation assay for the major internal protein (p24) of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) was examined. Conditions were varied for the assay by 1) using larger amounts of serum and 2) increasing the amount of second antibody. Sensitivity for the p24 radioimmunoprecipitation test was greatest when 10 microliter of test serum and 200 microliter of rabbit anti-bovine IgG were used. Under these conditions there were no discrepancies between the p24 radioimmunoprecipitation test and the radioimmunoprecipitation test for the surface glycoprotein (gp51) in 380 cattle from commercial dairy herds.     

Studies of infectious laryngotracheitis vaccines: immunity in layers

Ten-week-old layer chickens obtained from a commercial source were eye-drop vaccinated with chicken-embryo-origin (CEO) or tissue-culture-origin (TCO) vaccines for infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT). Controls were not vaccinated. Approximately one-third of the layers were challenged with virulent ILT virus at 21, 40, or 60 weeks of age. Serum samples taken from the layers before challenge were used in a virus neutralization (VN) test to determine vaccination titers at those three ages. Both vaccines induced low VN titers (geometric mean titer [GMT] less than 6). At 21 weeks of age, the titers produced by the two vaccines were not significantly different, but at 40 and 60 weeks of age the VN GMT of the CEO-vaccinated group was significantly greater than that of the TCO-vaccinated group. The VN GMTs did not drop over time in either group and actually rose between 21 and 60 weeks of age in the CEO group. Both vaccines protected layers against severe challenge with virulent ILT virus, neither being significantly better than the other under these experimental conditions. Unvaccinated sentinel chickens were maintained in contact with the vaccinated layers during three intervals between 1 day and 6 weeks post-vaccination. Diagnostic tests performed on the sentinels to detect lateral spread of vaccine virus from vaccinated to unvaccinated chickens showed scattered positive results.     

Molecular Mapping of the Stb4 Gene for Resistance to Septoria tritici Blotch in Wheat

ABSTRACT Breeding wheat for resistance is the most effective means to control Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the ascomycete Mycosphaerella graminicola (anamorph Septoria tritici). At least eight genes that confer resistance to STB in wheat have been identified. Among them, the Stb4 locus from the wheat cv. Tadinia showed resistance to M. graminicola at both seedling and adult-plant stages. However, no attempt has been made to map the Stb4 locus in the wheat genome. A mapping population of 77 F10 recombinant-inbred lines (RILs) derived from a three-way cross between the resistant cv. Tadinia and the susceptible parent (Yecora Rojo x UC554) was evaluated for disease resistance and molecular mapping. The RILs were tested with Argentina isolate I 89 of M. graminicola for one greenhouse season in Brazil during 1999, with an isolate from Brazil (IPBr1) for one field season in Piracicaba (Brazil) during 2000, and with Indiana tester isolate IN95-Lafayette-1196-WW-1-4 in the greenhouse during 2000 and 2001. The ratio of resistant:susceptible RILs was 1:1 in all three tests, confirming the single-gene model for control of resistance to STB in Tadinia. However, the patterns of resistance and susceptibility were different between the Indiana isolate and those from South America. For example, the ratio of RILs resistant to both the Indiana and Argentina isolates, resistant to one but susceptible to the other, and susceptible to both isolates was approximately 1:1:1:1, indicating that Tadinia may contain at least two genes for resistance to STB. A similar pattern was observed between the Indiana and Brazil isolates. The gene identified with the Indiana tester isolate was assumed to be the same as Stb4, whereas that revealed by the South American isolates may be new. Bulked-segregant analysis was used to identify amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and microsatellite markers linked to the presumed Stb4 gene. The AFLP marker EcoRI-ACTG/MseI-CAAA5 and microsatellite Xgwm111 were closely linked to the Stb4 locus in coupling at distances of 2.1 and 0.7 centimorgans (cM), respectively. A flanking marker, AFLP EAGG/ M-CAT10, was 4 cM from Stb4. The Stb4 gene was in a potential supercluster of resistance genes near the centromere on the short arm of wheat chromosome 7D that also contained Stb5 plus five previously identified genes for resistance to Russian wheat aphid. The microsatellite marker Xgwm111 identified in this study may be useful for facilitating the transfer of Stb4 into improved cultivars of wheat.     

National Pork Producers Council Maternal Line National Genetic Evaluation Program: a comparison of sow longevity and trait associations with sow longevity

Data from the National Pork Producers Council Maternal Line National Genetic Evaluation Program were used to compare longevity of sows from 6 commercial genetic lines and to estimate the phenotypic associations of sow longevity with gilt backfat thickness, ADG, age at first farrowing, litter size at first farrowing, litter weight at first farrowing, average feed intake during lactation, and average backfat loss during lactation. The lines evaluated were American Diamond Genetics, Danbred North America, Dekalb-Monsanto DK44, Dekalb-Monsanto GPK347, Newsham Hybrids, and National Swine Registry. The data set contained information from 3,251 gilts, of which 17% had censored longevity records (sows lived longer than 6 parities). The line comparison was carried out by analyzing all lines simultaneously. Because the survival distribution functions differed among genetic lines, later analyses were carried out separately for each genetic line. All analyses were based on the non-parametric proportional hazard (Cox model). Dekalb-Monsanto GPK347 sows had a lower risk of being culled than sows from the other lines. Moreover, the shape of the survival distribution function of the Delkab-Monsanto GPK347 line was different from the other 5 lines. The Dekalb-Monsanto 347 line had lower culling rates because they had lower gilt reproductive failure before the first parity than gilts from the other lines. Within line, sows with lower feed intake and greater backfat loss during lactation had a shorter productive lifetime. Thus, producers should implement management practices having positive effects on sow lactation feed intake. Additionally, the swine genetics industry is challenged to simultaneously improve efficiency of gain of their terminal market pigs and to obtain high feed intake during lactation of their maternal lines for future improvement of sow longevity. Recording sow feed intake and backfat loss during lactation in nucleus and multiplication breeding herds should be considered. Between-line differences in this study indicate that it is possible to select for sow longevity, but more research is needed to determine the most efficient selection methods to improve sow longevity.     

Three genes of miraculin-like proteins from Nicotiana benthamiana with dissimilar putative structures show highly similar patterns of induction following bacterial and fungal infections

Expression of three Nicotiana benthamiana miraculin-like protein genes, NbMLP1, NbMLP2 and NbMLP3, showed almost identical responses to wounding, an incompatible interaction with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci and compatible interactions with P. syringae pv. tabaci, Colletotrichum destructivum or Colletotrichum orbiculare. However, only NbMLP1 expression responded to exogenous methyl jasmonate or ethylene. None exhibited expression in healthy leaves and stems, and all showed highest expression in seeds, except for NbMLP1, which had highest expression in roots. NbMLP1, NbMLP2 and NbMLP3 were in different subfamilies of miraculin-like protein sequences of N. benthamiana and Nicotiana tabacum. Subfamilies correlated well with predicted features of the reactive-site loop potentially affecting the bond that could react with serine proteinases. Despite considerable predicted structural diversity that might affect biological activity, the apparently coordinated expression of these genes to pathogen attack may reflect the need to produce diverse proteinase inhibitors to act against a potentially broad range of secreted microbial proteinases during basal resistance to pathogens.     

Vertical transmission of Ovipleistophora ovariae (microspora) within the eggs of the golden shiner

Fertilized eggs collected from broodfish infected by Ovipleistophora ovariae were tested by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and found to be positive for the O. ovariae genome at 7.77 X 10(2) to 3.26 x 10(7) copies per microgram of host DNA. Fry hatched from these eggs contained from 1.37 X 10(2) to 9.89 X 10(6) copies of the O. ovariae genome per microgram of host DNA. Surface treatments of fertilized eggs with 150 mg formalin/L (used by farms as a fungicide) or a 1.5% solution of sodium sulfite (which removes the adhesive egg matrix) did not reduce vertical transmission to fry. Treatment of eggs with a 10% solution of bleach or a proprietary commercial DNA denaturant did not reduce the number of egg-associated copies of the O. ovariae genome. Histology of ovaries of infected fish demonstrated spores within the oocytes. However, no spores were observed by histology in positive fry hatched from infected eggs. The PCR and histological demonstration of the presence of O. ovariae spores in oocytes and fry, and the failure of strong DNA denaturants to reduce egg-associated copies, give evidence that O. ovariae is vertically transmitted within eggs.