Immunochemical study of canine intestinal, hepatic, and osseous alkaline phosphatases.

Partially purified alkaline phosphatase (ALP) from canine intestine, liver, and bone were injected into rabbits to elicit anti-canine intestinal, hepatic, and osseous ALP antibodies, respectively. The antibody formed a soluble enzyme-antienzyme complex when directly interacted with the ALP antigen. In order to form an insoluble complex, it was then necessary to interact the initial soluble complex with the goat anti-rabbit gamma-globulin antibody in the 2nd step. Antiintestinal ALP antibody was highly specific and did not cross react with canine hepatic, osseous, splenic, and renal ALP. Antiliver and antibone ALP antibodies, on the other hand, did cross react with hepatic, osseous, splenic, and renal ALP, but not with the intestinal ALP.     

Ultrasonographic diagnosis and surgical management of double intestinal intussusception in 3 dogs

The diagnosis and treatment of double intestinal intussusception in 3 pups with persistent vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, anemia, leucocytosis, and electrolyte imbalance are described. Ultrasonography confirmed intussusception and laparotomy revealed double intussusceptions. Intussusceptions were corrected by manual reduction in 1 pup and intestinal resection and anastomosis in 2 pups. Two pups survived and 1 pup died on the 4th day after surgery.     

Effect of timing of first and last irrigation on the yield and water use efficiency in cotton

With increasing concern about declining water resources, there is increasing thrust in improving water management in farming systems to improve water use efficiency. The present investigation was undertaken to determine the optimum timing for the first and last irrigation of cotton on the basis of meteorological approach for scheduling irrigations. The experiment was conducted in a split plot design with three timings of first irrigation as main-plots and three timing of last irrigation as sub-plots. Delay of first irrigation from 28 days after sowing (DAS) to 42 DAS, irrespective of last irrigation, resulted in an increase of 8, 14 and 17% in seed cotton yield during first, second and third year, respectively. The corresponding increases due to delay in the last irrigation from 130 to 170 DAS were 14, 32 and 8%, respectively. On the basis of 3 years average, application of first and last irrigation at optimum time (after 42 and 170 days after sowing) resulted in an increase of 36% in seed cotton yield without involving any additional cost. Water expense efficiency (WEE) increased by 54%.     

Immune response of chicks to oral vaccination against Newcastle disease and fowl pox

The humoral immune response and immunity conferred in chicks were compared following separate and combined oral vaccination with F strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and HP1 strain of fowl pox virus. The haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titre against NDV and passive haemagglutination (PHA) antibody titre against fowl pox virus were comparable in two respective groups. The serum IgG concentration increased significantly after the second vaccination in all the groups. The NDV vaccine induced significantly higher IgG production as compared to fowl pox virus vaccine. There was no significant difference in serum IgG concentration produced by combined vaccine and separate F strain vaccine. The protection afforded by combined and separate vaccinations did not vary significantly against challenge with virulent strains of NDV and fowl pox virus at different stages.     

Comparative Expression Analysis of Gametogenesis‐Associated Genes in Foetal and Adult Bubaline (Bubalus bubalis) Ovaries and Testes

This study was conducted to identify and analyse the expression of gametogenesis‐associated genes and proteins in foetal and adult buffalo gonads of both the sexes. Relative quantification of the genes was determined by qPCR and Western blotting. Immunohistochemistry was also performed for various gametogenesis‐associated proteins in foetal and adult gonads of both the sexes. We observed significantly (p < 0.05) increased expression of primordial germ cell‐specific, meiotic as well as genes associated with oocyte maturation and development in foetal ovaries as compared to the adult ones. However, significantly (p < 0.05) increased expression of proteins associated with oocyte maturation like GDF9 and ZP4 was found in adult ovaries, indicating temporal regulation of mRNA translation during oogenesis. Meiotic genes showed significantly (p < 0.05) increased expression in adult testes as compared to foetal testes and ovaries, indicating onset of meiosis at a later stage in spermatogenesis. In general, the expression of primordial germ cell‐associated as well as meiotic genes was higher in adult testes, indicating the increased biological activity in the organ. Immunohistochemistry revealed localized expression of gametogenesis‐associated proteins in ovarian follicles and seminiferous tubules of testes, while the surrounding somatic tissues were devoid of these proteins. The study gives an understanding of the sequential and temporal events of gene expression as well as mRNA translation during male and female gametogenesis. It could also be concluded that follicles and seminiferous tubules are the functional units of the female and male gonads, respectively, and their function could be enhanced by appropriate chemical and genetic intervention of the somatic tissue immediately surrounding them. This assumes importance in the context that buffalo attains sexual maturity at an older age of 2–3 years and have smaller ovaries with lesser number of primordial follicles in comparison with cattle, which is suggested to be the main reason of their poor breeding performance.     

Effect of feeding different levels of wheat roti on nutrient utilization and blood metabolite profile in semi‐captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of different levels of wheat roti (WR) on nutrient utilization and blood metabolites in Asian elephants fed roughages ad libitum. Nine (3 M, 6 F) Asian elephants (14–52 years of age, 1909–3968 kg BW) were used in an experiment based on replicated Latin square design. Animals in each group (n = 3) were assigned to one of the three dietary treatments in a manner that animals in all the three groups were exposed to all the three treatments in three different periods. Each feeding trial comprised 30 days (25 days of adaptation and 5 days collection period). The amount of WR fed to the elephants was 0.18, 0.12 and 0.06% of BW in groups I, II and III, respectively. They were allowed to forage in the nearby forests for 6 h/day and to bathe for 2 h/day. The animals had ad libitum access to cut Rohini (Mallotus philippensis) trees in their night shelter. Intake and apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), gross energy (GE), Ca, P, Fe, Cu and Zn were measured. Feed consumption was not significantly different among the groups. Significant (p < 0.01) decrease in digestibility of DM and GE and blood glucose concentration was observed with decreased level of WR in the diet. Feeding of WR at 0.06% of BW supplied adequate amount of DE, CP, Ca, P, Fe, Cu and Zn to meet requirement for adult maintenance. Feeding of WR in excess of 0.06% of BW supplied DE in excess of requirement, increased blood glucose concentration which may cause obesity and other associated health problems. It was concluded that the amount of WR should be restricted to 0.06% of BW in the diet of captive Asian elephants.     

Production of Wild Buffalo (Bubalus arnee) Embryos by Interspecies Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Using Domestic Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Oocytes

The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of producing wild buffalo embryos by interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) through handmade cloning using wild buffalo somatic cells and domestic buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) oocytes. Somatic cells derived from the ear skin of wild buffalo were found to express vimentin but not keratin and cytokeratin‐18, indicating that they were of fibroblast origin. The population doubling time of skin fibroblasts from wild buffalo was significantly (p < 0.05) higher, and the cell proliferation rate was significantly (p < 0.05) lower compared with that of skin fibroblasts from domestic buffalo. Neither the cleavage (92.6 ± 2.0% vs 92.8 ± 2.0%) nor the blastocyst rate (42.4 ± 2.4% vs 38.7 ± 2.8%) was significantly different between the intraspecies cloned embryos produced using skin fibroblasts from domestic buffalo and interspecies cloned embryos produced using skin fibroblasts from wild buffalo. However, the total cell number (TCN) was significantly (p < 0.05) lower (192.0 ± 25.6 vs 345.7 ± 42.2), and the apoptotic index was significantly (p < 0.05) higher (15.1 ± 3.1 vs 8.0 ± 1.4) for interspecies than that for intraspecies cloned embryos. Following vitrification in open‐pulled straws (OPS) and warming, although the cryosurvival rate of both types of cloned embryos, as indicated by their re‐expansion rate, was not significantly different (34.8 ± 1.5% vs 47.8 ± 7.8), the apoptotic index was significantly (p < 0.05) higher for vitrified–warmed interspecies than that for corresponding intraspecies cloned embryos (48.9 ± 7.2 vs 23.9 ± 2.8). The global level of H3K18ac was significantly (p < 0.05) lower in interspecies cloned embryos than that in intraspecies cloned embryos. The expression level of HDAC1, DNMT3a and CASPASE3 was significantly (p < 0.05) higher, that of P53 was significantly (p < 0.05) lower in interspecies than in intraspecies embryos, whereas that of DNMT1 was similar between the two types of embryos. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that wild buffalo embryos can be produced by iSCNT.     

Inter-relationships among cane yield and commercial cane sugar and their component traits in autumn plant crop of sugarcane

Seventeen diverse clones of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) (7 early, 6 mid season and 4 late) were planted in October 1991 and 1992 in flooded (FE) and non flooded (NFE) environments for evaluation of cane yield, commercial cane sugar (CCS), internode length, internode number, stalk length, stalk thickness (circumference), stalk number, sugar recovery, and stalk weight. Cane yield showed significant positive phenotypic correlation coefficient (PCC) with stalk number in FE (P ≤ 0.05) and NFE (P ≤ 0.01). Stalk length had a significant positive PCC with stalk weight in both environments, and with internode length in FE (P ≤ 0.05). Commercial cane sugar also expressed significant positive PCC with cane yield in both environments (P ≤ 0.01), but with stalk number only in NFE (P ≤ 0.05). Genotypic correlation coefficients were generally in the same direction as PCC but higher in magnitude. In both environments, stalk number and stalk weight had relatively high positive direct effects on cane yield. However, flooding tended to enhance the direct effect of stalk weight and diminish the direct effect of stalk number on cane yield. Only cane yield and sugar recovery had high direct effects on CCS. Selection for improvement of cane yield can be based on stalk number and stalk weight in both environments. High yielding clones can be further screened for more sugar recovery to improve CCS. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.