Studies on some toxic substances in brassica napus L. var. Winter Rape,cultivated in Chile

The chemical analysis of some toxic substances ofBrassica napus L. var. Winter Rape cultivated in Chile by means of thin layer chromatography disclosed the presence of eight thioglucosides. Five of them were identified: Glucorapiferin, Sinalbin, Sinigrin, Glucobrassicin and Neoglucobrassicin. The concentrations of main products of hydrolysis of these thioglucosides were determined. Quantitative differences among the analysed Chilean variety andBrassica Napus L. cultivated in other countries were found.

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Zusammenfassung Die chemische Analyse einiger toxischer Bestandteile des in Chile kultivierten Winterraps (Brassica napus L. Var. Winter Rape) mit Hilfe der Dünnschicht-Chromatographie hat die Existenz von acht Thioglykosiden nachgewiesen. Von diesen konnten fünf chemisch identifiziert werden: Glucorapiferin, Sinalbin, Sinigrin, Glucobrassicin und Neoglucobrassicin.Die Konzentration der wichtigsten Hydrolyse-Produkte dieser Thioglykoside wurde ermittelt. Quantitative Unterschiede zwischen den in verschiedenen Ländern kultivierten und der von uns analysierten chilenischen VarietätenBrassica Napus wurden aufgedeckt.

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Résumé L'analyse chimique de quelques principes toxiques de laBrassica napus L. Var. Winter Rape qui se cultive au Chili, a revelé au moyen de la chromatographie en plaque fine la présence de huit thioglucosides desquels cinq ont été identifiés: sinalbine, sinigrine, glucobrassicine, neoglucobrassicine et glucorapiferine.On a determiné les concentrations des produits principaux de l'hydrolyse de ces thioglucosides. On a trouvé des différences quantitatives entre la variété analysée et lesBrassica cultivées dans d'autres pays.

     

Variation in the levels of the different xylanase inhibitors in grain and flour of 20 French wheat cultivars

A xylanase from Aspergillus aculeatus (glycoside hydrolase family 10), uninhibited by TAXI, and a xylanase from Bacillus subtilis (family 11), uninhibited by XIP-I, were selected to quantify the respective apparent levels of XIP-I and TAXI inhibitors, in flours and grains of 20 wheat varieties. The apparent TAXI amount ranged from 0.05 to 0.19 mg/g in flour (mean: 0.11 mg/g) and from 0.07 to 0.2 mg/g in grain (mean: 0.14 mg/g). The range observed for XIP-I was 0.12–0.6 mg/g in flour (mean 0.32 mg/g), and 0.21–0.56 mg/g in grain (mean: 0.41 mg/g). The inhibition profile of the xylanase from A. aculeatus by a crude inhibitor preparation suggested the presence of an additional component in wheat flour, responsible for an increase in inhibition.     

Design of vectors for transgene expression: The use of genomic comparative approaches

The design of transgenes has always been limited by the extent of available information on the endogenous locus whose expression pattern had to be replicated. Those genes whose expression domain had not been entirely documented resulted, usually, in transgenes with an unpredictable expression patterns and suboptimal performance in transgenic animals. The use of genomic comparative approaches, highlighting evolutionary conserved homologous DNA sequences, helps to identify crucial regulatory elements that are associated to a given expression domain. The inclusion of these conserved regulatory sequences in transgenic constructs would normally result in optimal expression levels of transgenes in recipient animals. The use of artificial chromosome-type transgenes usually ensures the inclusion of these preserved regulatory elements that are required for the faithful expression of the gene. These constructs could also contain insulators, a subset of regulatory sequences whose application is being addressed in transgenesis. Therefore, the generation of transgenic animals with genomic-type constructs is the recommended approach to achieve optimal transgene expression, according to the expected pattern of the corresponding endogenous locus.     

Electrocardiographic reference values in whippets

The aim of this study was to determine the electrocardiographic characteristics of whippets and to compare the results with published reference values for a general dog population. Electrocardiographic parameters from 105 healthy whippets were used to establish reference values for the breed.The most important differences compared to published reference values were the higher median R-wave amplitudes in leads II, CV₆LL and CV₆LU. For some parameters (P-wave amplitude, ST-segment deflection and T-wave amplitude in lead II; R-wave amplitude in CV₅RL), a marked percentage of the whippet values were above the published maximum reference data. The results confirmed that whippets have electrocardiographic characteristics similar to those reported in athletic heart syndrome in humans. Some of these characteristics could be erroneously taken as evidence of cardiac disease and clinicians should be aware of these factors to prevent unnecessary investigations in healthy dogs.     

Live weight assessment based on easily accessible morphometric characteristics in the double-muscled Belgian Blue beef breed

Live weight is an important trait in cattle farming. Weighing is not always feasible and therefore live weight is often estimated from easily accessible data. In this study, data on live weight, age and gender, and four body measurements, withers height (WH), heart girth (HG) and width of the shoulders (SW) and hind quarters (BcW) of double-muscled Belgian Blue beef (DM-BBB) farm animals were used to develop multivariable non-linear and linear regression models that predict live weight from these easily accessible data. The relationship between the logarithm of the live weight and the logarithm of time is adequately described by a general logistic function. The age period from 100 to 600 days of age is contained in the linear part of the logistic function. This region is of particular economic interest because it contains the yearling age and slaughter age that are important in DM-BBB breeding and management. Adding one of the body traits in the linear models that contain age and gender as fixed effects decreases the coefficient of variation. A model with withers height and shoulder width has the lowest coefficient of variation, with no further significant improvement when adding either heart girth or width of the hind quarters.     

BONE INFECTION IN THE BOVINE APPENDICULAR SKELETON: A CLINICAL, RADIOGRAPHIC, AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Four hundred and forty-five bovines with bone infection of the appendicular skeleton were selected for clinical and radiographic assessment. A distinction was made between hematogenous and post-traumatic origin (wound/fracture). Bone infection was classified into four types according to the site of infection: type 1 is metaphyseal and/or epiphyseal osteomyelitis close to the growth plate; type 2 is primary subchondral osteomyelitis mostly accompanied by septic arthritis; type 3 is infectious osteoarthritis with subchondral osteomyelitis implicating that infection in the subchondral bone originates from the infection. Type 4 summarizes bone infections which can not be categorized in the previous groups. Hematogenous osteomyelitis is 3.2 times more frequent than post-traumatic osteomyelitis. Within the different groups, the relation of hematogenous to post-traumatic infection changed significantly. In type 1 infection the ratio was 5/1, in type 2 the ratio was 8/1 and in type 3 it was 3/1. Epiphyseal or metaphyseal osteomyelitis exhibited early radiographic bone changes, whereas with infection eminating from the joint, the bone lesions were detected later, because the bone was infected as a consequence of a primary septic arthritis. In smaller bones, severe and complete bone destruction was often present. Hematogenous bone infection never involved the entire diaphysis. Actinomyces pyogenes was discovered to be the main etiologic agent, whether or not combined with anaerobes. Bone fragments from the metaphysis of young calves were subjected to the effect of pure cultures of different bacteria. Radiographic changes to the structure of the bone were not identified within 2 weeks. Rapid radiographic changes in osteomyelitis cannot be explained by the direct effect of the bacteria on bone tissue in vivo. General infections of the lungs, disorders of the intestines and other internal organs were rarely responsible for osteomyelitis or septic arthritis. Osteomyelitis and infectious osteoarthritis is probably often induced by external and internal traumatic events to joints and bones in cattle.     

New phenolic esters from the resinous exudate of Haplopappus taeda

Two new phenolic esters 9-trans-p-coumaroyloxy-alpha-terpineol (1) and 7-trans-p-coumaroyloxy-taedol (2), both endowed with free radical scavenger activity and cleroda-3,13 (E)-dien-15,18-diol (3) for which a cis stereochemistry at the decalin junction was found, were isolated from the resinous exudate from Haplopappus taeda upper parts.     

Potential Dissipation of Atrazine in the Soil Unsaturated Zone: a Comparative Study in Four European Countries

A European-wide project has been undertaken to establish the potential for dissipation of atrazine in the soil subsurface environment. Samples were obtained, avoiding contamination, in four countries (Belgium, Greece, Hungary and UK) and laboratory studies carried out. In order to make comparisons between results from each laboratory, a ring experiment was carried out using common methodology for sampling, extraction and analytical techniques. Subsurface materials from each country were distributed to the other countries. Atrazine dissipation was determined in each country for all materials under the same laboratory conditions. The results of this comparative study showed generally good agreement between all laboratories. Significant potential microbiological dissipation was detected in certain samples. Where differences occurred between laboratories this was attributed to small, spatially heterogeneous microbial populations in the subsurface materials. © 1997 SCI.