Determination of growth,colour and other traits in F1 hybrid of Amphiprion percula (male) × A. ocellaris (female)

This study reported the traits values such as colour, feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR) and fluorescence capacity of F₁ hybrids of Amphiprion percula (male) and A. ocellaris (female). The hybrids exhibited significant variation in FCR (3.63 ± 0.56) and SGR (3.63% ± 0.44) compared with the pure breeds, A. percula (3.12 ± 0.42; 2.80% ± 0.42) and A. ocellaris (3.17 ± 0.43; 3.02% ± 0.19). An exponential relationship was found between FCR and SGR in both the breeds. Image analysis displayed a better colour performance of hybrid than the pure breeds. Individual body parts of the hybrid and pure breeds showed significant colour variation between each other. However, colour contrast of whole body of hybrid was found closer to A. ocellaris in hue cone and towards A. percula in saturation and brightness values. Hence, hybrid displays combination colour reflexion of both the parents. The total pigment content of hybrid (65.71 μg g^?1 ± 2.81) was found higher than A. ocellaris (62.01 μg g^?1 ± 2.29) and A. percula (56.71 μg g^?1 ± 2.56). Further, the spectroflurometric analysis revealed that the both hybrid and pure breeds having poor fluorescence on skin pigmentation. A direct positive heterosis was observed on the SGR, FCR, total pigment and spawning frequency, while negative effect was noted on total length of newly hatched larvae (TL), fertilization rate (FrR), hatching rate (HR), deformation rate (DFR) and survival rate (SR). Hence, multiple cross‐breeding programmes will help in developing high‐quality traits in successive generations.     

Prevalence of Leptospira serogroup-specific antibodies in cattle associated with reproductive problems in endemic states of India

Tropical Animal Health and Production - In this study, the seroprevalence and distribution of Leptospira in dairy cattle in endemic states of India were investigated in association with...     

Development of an Indirect ELISA for the Detection of Antibodies against Peste-des-petits-ruminants Virus in Small Ruminants

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute, febrile, highly contagious and economically important viral disease of small ruminants. A polyclonal antibody based indirect ELISA was developed for detection of antibodies to PPR virus in the serum samples of goats and sheep using purified PPR viral antigen propogated in Vero cell culture. A threshold (cut-off) value was set as twice the mean of the negative population based on the distribution of known negative serum samples in respect of PPR virus antibodies in the test. A total of 1544 serum samples from goats and sheep were screened by indirect ELISA and competitive ELISA. The indirect ELISA compared very well with competitive ELISA, with a high degree of specificity (95.09%) and sensitivity (90.81%). When compared with virus neutralization test, the present assay had 100% specificity and 80% sensitivity. With serum samples, the assay could clearly differentiate animals from the infected population from uninfected ones. These results suggest that the indirect ELISA may be a good alternative tool to competitive ELISA for seroepidemiological surveys.     

Seroprevalence of Peste des petits ruminants in cattle and buffaloes from Southern Peninsular India

This study describes seroprevalence of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in cattle and buffaloes carried out during the period 2009–2010 using the randomly collected serum samples from different parts of Southern peninsular India. The report presents the results of PPR virus (PPRV)—specific antibodies in situations where either the subclinical or inapparent or non-lethal infection was there in cattle and buffaloes. A total of 2,548 serum samples [cattle = 1,158, buffaloes = 1,001, sheep = 303 and goat = 86] were collected and screened for PPRV antibodies by using a PPR monoclonal antibody-based competitive ELISA kit. Analysis of 2,159 serum samples indicates an overall 4.58% prevalence of PPRV antibody in cattle and buffaloes. The presence of PPRV-specific antibodies demonstrates that cattle and buffaloes are exposed to PPR infection naturally, and the transmission mode may be direct or indirect. Further, it implies the importance of bovines as subclinical hosts for the virus besides widespread presence of the disease in sheep and goats in the country.     

Presence of maturation-promoting factor in 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one-induced oocytes of catfish,Clarias batrachus

Full-grown immature Clarias batrachus oocytes respond in vitro to exogenous 17,20-dihydroxy-4-preg-nen-3-one ( 17,20-DP) by undergoing germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD). Cytosolic extract (CE) prepared from 17,20-DP-induced oocytes has been shown to produce similar effect when microinjected into unstimulated immature oocytes of the same fish. A dose of 50 nl is enough to cause 100% GVBD after 4 h. Maturation-promoting factor was investigated from 17,20-DP-induced, immature and cycloheximide treated oocytes incubated in presence of [³⁵S] methionine. When the proteins were extracted and analyzed on SDS-PAGE, two prominent bands corresponding to molecular weight 34- and 46-kDa were detected in the CE of mature oocytes. However, labelling of [³⁵S] methionine was observed mainly in the region of 46 kDa protein band indicating de novo synthesis of this particular protein during l7,20-DP-induction. Further, immunoblotting study by using rabbit anti-cyclin B₁ antibody has clearly demonstrated that the protein which is newly synthesized is highly homologous to Xenopus cyclin B₁ and goldfish cyclin B.     

Prevalence of peste des petits ruminants among sheep and goats in India

This study measured the clinical prevalence of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) among sheep and goats in India between 2003 and 2009 by analyzing clinical samples from suspected cases of PPR that were submitted to the Rinderpest and Allied Disease Laboratory, Division of Virology, IVRI, Mukteswar for PPR diagnosis. PPR outbreaks were confirmed by detecting PPR virus (PPRV)-specific antigen in the clinical samples. Clinical samples (blood, nasal swabs, spleen, lymph node, kidney, liver, intestine, and pooled tissue materials) were taken from a total of 592 sheep and 912 goats in different states of India and screened for the presence of PPRV antigen using a monoclonal antibody-based sandwich ELISA kit. A total of 20, 38, and 11 laboratory-confirmed PPR outbreaks occurred among sheep, goat, and combined sheep and goat populations, respectively. Our findings provide evidence of widespread PPR endemicity in India. The underlying reasons could be variations in husbandry practices in different geographical regions, agro-climatic conditions, and livestock migration. Furthermore, decrease in the number of PPR outbreaks over time might be due to the effectiveness of current live PPR vaccines and timely vaccination of target species. Vaccination against PPR has been practiced in India since 2002 to control this disease.     

The Hydropericardium Syndrome in Poultry – A Current Scenario

Inclusion-body hepatitis hydropericardium syndrome (IBH-HPS) is an important, recently emerged, disease of poultry, particularly of 3- to 6-week-old broiler chicks, characterized by its sudden onset, with high mortality ranging from 20% to 70%, typical hydropericardium and enlarged mottled and friable livers, with intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes. The causative agent is a non-enveloped icosahedral fowl adenovirus (FAV) serotype 4, belonging to the Adenovirus genus of the family Adenoviridae, which can be propagated or cultivated in chicken embryo liver and kidney primary cell cultures. The transmission of disease occurs vertically and laterally by the oral-faecal route. The liver of infected birds shows necrotic foci and basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes. The disease can be diagnosed from its gross and histopathological changes in the liver and by various serological tests, such as agar gel immunodiffusion, counterimmunoelectrophoresis, indirect haemagglutination, the fluorescent antibody technique, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the polymerase chain reaction. The disease has been brought under control by the use of formalin-inactivated vaccines, prepared from infected liver homogenate, and of inactivated cell culture vaccines. The vaccines are effective in the face of natural outbreaks or experimental challenge and significantly reduce the mortality.     

Sequence Analysis of the Nucleoprotein Gene of Asian Lineage Peste des Petits Ruminants Vaccine Virus

The complete nucleotide sequence of the nucleocapsid (N) protein of the peste-des-petits ruminants vaccine virus (PPRV Sungri/96) belonging to the Asian lineage was determined. The gene was 1692 nucleotides in length and encoded a polypeptide of 525 amino acids. The PPRV Sungri/96 N gene has a nucleotide homology of 92% for PPRV Nigeria 75/1 to 55.5% for canine distemper virus. At amino acid level the homology was 94.1% with PPRV Nigeria 75/1, while with other morbilliviruses, PPRV Sungri/96 had only 71.4–64.9% amino acid identity. The phosphorylation prediction reveals eight conserved sites across morbilliviruses, whereas in the C-terminal portion of the protein the sites are not conserved. Phylogenetic analysis of different N proteins of morbilliviruses revealed five well-defined clusters as observed previously. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report describing the nucleocapsid gene sequence of PPRV Indian isolate. Muthuchelvan, D., Sanyal, A., Balamurugan,V., Dhar, P. and Bandyopadhyay, S.K., 2006. Sequence analysis of the nucleoprotein gene of Asian lineage peste des petits ruminants vaccine virus.Veterinary Research Communications, 30(8), 957–963