Serologic and molecular survey of horses to Coxiella burnetii in East of Iran a highly endemic area

There are few reports about Q fever in horse populations worldwide. This study aimed to detect the C. burnetii infection by serologic and molecular confirmation using commercial ELISA kit and real-time PCR in the East of Iran a region highly endemic. A total of 177 blood samples and 115 vaginal swabs were randomly collected from horses in East of Iran. The sera samples were analyzed for anti C.burnetii Ig G antibodies by a commercial ELISA kit and nucleic acid extraxted from vaginal samples were used to determine the C. burnetii DNA by real-time PCR assay. Antibodies were detected in 5.64 % (10/177) of sera samples and C. burnetii DNA was detected in 7.82 % (9/115) of horse vaginal samples. There was no significant difference in seroprevalence in different sex, age and breed groups. Our study showed that horses could be considered as a mild potential reservoir of C. burnetii which may be effective on horse health status. However, additional studies are needed to assess whether the horse could be considered as a relevant transmission risk indicator for Q fever.     

实时荧光定量PCR技术的概述及应用

实时荧光定量PCR技术是在传统PCR技术上发展而来的,不仅能判断某一基因的有无,而且还能对其进行定量分析。由于该技术与常规PCR相比,能够进行实时监测、且自动化程度高而被广大研究者青睐。本文对实时荧光定量PCR的原理、数据分析、定量方法、分类以及应用进行了系统而详细地综述。     

Rapid screening of genetically modified ingredients in soybean and cotton processing by-product and waste using direct qPCR

To develop a simple and fast method for screening genetically modified ingredients from processing by-product and waste, direct quantitative PCR (qPCR) kit-Taqman which omitting multi genomic DNA preparing steps was developed in this study. A total of 18 oil crop processing by-products and wastes including 10 soybean and 8 cotton materials were collected from food processing factories. Compared with 2 commercial direct qPCR kits, conditions of DNA releasing procedure and PCR amplification were optimized. Element screening was performed at the initial step of genetically modified (GM) ingredient testing procedure via direct qPCR. GM event identification was carried out in positive samples by initial screening. Totally 5 screening elements (P–35S, T-NOS, Cp4-epsps, bar and pat) for soybean materials and 6 screening elements (P–35S, T-NOS, NPTII, Cry1Ac, bar and pat) for cotton samples were detected. In GM event identification, MON531 and MON1445 were found in cotton materials. Results were further confirmed by real-time PCR with DNA extraction and purification. The direct qPCR system proposed by this research was convenient for rapid screening and identification of GM ingredients in oil crop primary by-product and waste.     

Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA by real-time PCR in saliva of dogs

This study developed a real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay to detect L. infantum kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) in canine saliva. The qPCR showed an efficiency of 93.8%, a coefficient of correlation of 0.996 and a detection limit of 0.5 fg/reaction (0.005 parasites), although it detected until 0.25 fg/reaction (0.0025 parasites). When samples from 12 dogs experimentally infected with L. infantum were collected, L. infantum kDNA was detected at 16-weeks post-infection (wpi) in 41.7% and 91.7% of saliva and bone marrow samples, respectively, and at 47-wpi in 75% of both samples. L. infantum kDNA can be detected by qPCR in canine saliva, with lower sensitivity in the early stages of infection and a lower parasite load estimation compared to bone marrow. However, saliva had similar sensitivities to bone marrow in the later stages of the infection and could be used to detect L. infantum kDNA being aware of its limitations.     

关岭牛MyoD Ⅰ基因在不同组织和时期中的表达分析

为研究MyoDⅠ基因在关岭牛不同组织表达量的差异及在肌肉发育过程中的表达情况,试验采用实时荧光定量PCR技术对关岭牛背最长肌、大腿肌、心脏、肝脏、脂肪、小肠6个组织的MyoDⅠ基因相对表达量进行检测。同时分析关岭牛胎儿、18月龄、30月龄时期背最长肌组织中MyoDⅠ基因的表达规律。结果显示,MyoDⅠ基因在背最长肌中表达量最高,在出生后的关岭牛肌肉组织中也具有较高的表达量,且随着出生时间的推移呈上升趋势。推测可能由于背最长肌是肌肉富集地方,因此基因表达量较高,随着年龄增大,肌肉丰满度增加,基因表达量也随着增加。     

农产品储运环境实时监测系统设计

农产品运输车辆和储存仓库的内部温湿度等环境和位置参数是农产品物流调度管理的重要依据，综合使用物联网、无线传感器网络、GPRS无线通信、GSM短信、GPS、GIS等技术与方法，构建一个一体化的农产品储运环境的远程实时监测系统。     

Assessing appetite of the swimming fish based on spontaneous collective behaviors in a recirculating aquaculture system

In order to realize the real-time appetite-based feeding in aquaculture, a novel and practical method, based on the quantification of the spontaneous collective behaviors, was proposed in this study to assess the real-time appetite of the swimming fish in a recirculating aquaculture system. First, foreground feature points of fish school were extracted using an improved complex network. Then, covariance, a modified social force model and a kinetic energy model were used to analyze the collective behaviors of the school from perspectives of dispersion degree, interaction force and the changing magnitude of the water flow field, respectively. Finally, the quantified behavioral characteristics were integrated and used to assess the appetite of fish school. The presented method shows its good performance in the expression of the collective behaviors representing five typical appetites (0.01, 0.52, 1.28, 2.26 and 2.92), and the assessing accuracy of the appetite of the school is also maintained at a low non-match rate ((2.19 ± 0.81)% best) in the context of ten different sampling durations.     

小反刍兽疫病毒及山羊痘病毒N-ITR基因二联实时荧光定量RT-PCR检测方法的建立

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) and goat pox virus (GTPV) are the causative agents of two kinds of goats’ diseases-peste des petits ruminants and goat pox which can cause disaster economic losses. In order to detect the two viruses simultaneously and quickly, two sets of primers and relative probes were designed based on the nucleoprotein (N) gene of PPRV and the inverted terminal repeat (ITR) segment of GTPV， respectively. In order to work together in the same reaction, the probes were labeled with different fluorescent materials 5′FAM-TAMRA3′and 5′JOE-Eclipse3′，respectively. Results showed that the duplex Real-time RT-PCR assay was identified to be specific for PPRV and GTPV only and specific fluorescent signal could be detected, but the related viruses including fowl pox virus（FPV）and canine distemper virus (CDV) had no specific fluorescent signal. Positive recombinant plasmids (PPRV pMD18-T-N and GTPV pMD18-T-ITR) were built and used for positive quantitative templates to establish duplex standard curves. The developed assay based on the probe N-ITR was found to be highly specific and sensitive with a detection limit of 10² copies/μL cDNA and 10³ copies/μL DNA for PPRV and GTPV， respectively. Finally, the duplex Real-time RT-PCR assay for simultaneous detection of PPRV and GTPV was established preliminarily in the study.