Methods of conserving gametes and embryos of farm mammalsLes méthoses de conservation des gamètes et embryons de mammifères de fermeKonservierungsmethoden für gameten und embryonen von haus-säugetieren

There are several methods of preserving domestic animal genes. In the present paper methods using frozen germ plasm are considered. Except in the mare, birth rates of more than 50% are obtained from deep-freezing spermatozoa. The freezing of oocytes has not been used yet in all domestic animals, but the techniques of freezing cattle, sheep, goat, rabbit and recently horse embryos are being developed. It is not yet possible to use these techniques in the pig. The success of gene preservation programmes depends not only on the technique used, but also on the efforts made by breeders and official organizations.     

Isolation of dermatophytes from domestic animals in Norway

The examination of 2066 skin scrapings from domestic animals in the period from July 1981 to June 1984, revealed dermatophytes in 439 samples. Dermatophytes isolated were: M. canis in dog, cat, cattle, horse, swine, goat, rabbit and hamster, M. equinum in dog and horse, M. gypseum in horse, T. equinum in horse and cattle, T. mentagrophytes in dog, cat, cattle, horse, guinea pig and rabbit, T. verrucosum in cattle and E. floccosum in dog.     

胶乳凝集抑制试验快速鉴定肉种类研究

以羧化聚苯乙烯胶乳作载体,将动物血清分别共价交联到载体微球表面,制成免疫微球。将此微球同相应抗血清配对,进行胶乳凝集抑制试验以鉴定牛肉、马肉、羊肉、狗肉和猪肉。通过对162份牛肉、43份马肉、100份猪肉、34份羊肉、30份狗肉、10份骡肉、4份驴肉和7份山羊肉的鉴定,制备的5种胶乳试剂敏感性均为100％。除马肉胶乳试剂和羊肉胶乳试剂有种属内交叉反应外,其它胶乳试剂特异性为100％。实验具有良好的重复性,试剂稳定性强,易于保存。5分钟内出结果,操作简便,适于基层单位应用。     

Na?ve-like conversion enhances the difference in innate in vitro differentiation capacity between rabbit ES cells and iPS cells

Quality evaluation of pluripotent stem cells using appropriate animal models needs to be improved for human regenerative medicine. Previously, we demonstrated that although the in vitro neural differentiating capacity of rabbit induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be mitigated by improving their baseline level of pluripotency, i.e., by converting them into the so-called “naïve-like” state, the effect after such conversion of rabbit embryonic stem cells (ESCs) remains to be elucidated. Here we found that naïve-like conversion enhanced the differences in innate in vitro differentiation capacity between ESCs and iPSCs. Naïve-like rabbit ESCs exhibited several features indicating pluripotency, including the capacity for teratoma formation. They differentiated into mature oligodendrocytes much more effectively (3.3–7.2 times) than naïve-like iPSCs. This suggests an inherent variation in differentiation potential in vitro among PSC lines. When naïve-like ESCs were injected into preimplantation rabbit embryos, although they contributed efficiently to forming the inner cell mass of blastocysts, no chimeric pups were obtained. Thus, in vitro neural differentiation following naïve-like conversion is a promising option for determining the quality of PSCs without the need to demonstrate chimeric contribution. These results provide an opportunity to evaluate which pluripotent stem cells or treatments are best suited for therapeutic use.     

Isolation of a rare Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain from farm animals in Greece

A strain of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was isolated from goat faeces during a surveillance study on the prevalence of this serotype of E. coli in farm animals in Greece. Three hundred and fifty one faecal samples were collected from goat, sheep and cattle breeding farms in the area of Epirus, Northwestern Greece. The E. coli O157:H7 isolate was nonsorbitol-fermenter, produced only VT2 and showed a beta-glucuronidase positive activity, a rather unusual biochemical feature for the E. coli O157:H7 serotype. No other strain of E. coli O157:H7 was isolated from the faecal samples of the rest farm animals examined, thus the overall prevalence of animal carriage was found to be 0.2%. The findings also indicate that goats can be a reservoir of E. coli O157:H7 and goat milk, dairy products and meat may serve as a vehicle for the pathogen transmission to humans.     

家养动物线粒体DNA最新研究进展

线粒体DNA多态性研究对于了解家养动物的驯化历史十分重要.本文对家猪、黄牛、水牛、马、驴、绵羊、山羊与家鸡的线粒体DNA多态性最新研究进展作了总结.通过mtDNA D-loop研究,发现家养动物都是通过野生动物多次驯化而来,可能有多个驯化地点,表现出复杂的驯化历史.     

An outbreak of ringworm in karakul sheep caused by a physiological variant of Trichophyton verrucosum Bodin.

An outbreak of ringworm in Karakul sheep occurred during 1973 among the flocks of at least 14 farmers in South West Africa and the northern Cape Province. Infections spread from one farm to another as a result of introducing infected stud rams. On one farm a few cattle, a goat and a horse developed lesions after being in contact with infected sheep. Some of the attendants handling infected sheep also contracted the disease. Strains recovered from infected animals resembled Trichophyton verrucosum morphologically, but when grown on laboratory media they did not require an exogenous source of vitamins, which was found to be indispensable for strains of this species studied previously.     

Epidemiology of Potomac horse fever: an investigation into the possible role of non-equine mammals

A serological study of antibodies to Ehrlichia risticii was carried out on 10 species of wild and domestic mammals found on or near 21 horse farms in an area of the USA in which Potomac horse fever is endemic. No antibodies were found in 133 peridomestic rodents (Norway rats and house mice), nor in 108 wild rodents (white-footed mice and meadow voles) captured on farms. Three of the six domestic animal species examined, cats, pigs and a goat, showed serological evidence of exposure to E risticii. Seropositive animals were detected on three of the 21 premises. The eight seropositive cats (of 48 cats tested) were on two farms, and the three seropositive pigs (of 14 tested) were all on one farm which lay some 3 km from where the one seropositive goat (of three tested) was found. None of the 79 dogs, 75 cattle and seven sheep tested had antibodies to E risticii. The significance of these findings is discussed in the light of current understanding of the transmission of Potomac horse fever and of the epidemiology of other related ehrlichial diseases.     

Detection of staphylo-coagulase using plasmas from various animals

The effect of sources of Staphylococcus aureus and plasmas, concentration of plasma, temperature and duration of incubation on coagulase-test results was evaluated. Using S. aureus strains of food origin, the value of plasmas in coagulase tests was, in order of superiority, human and rabbit greater than pig greater than donkey greater than chicken greater than cattle greater than duck greater than goat greater than dog. However, with staphylococcal isolates of animal origin the order was cattle greater than pig greater than human greater than duck greater than goat greater than dog greater than rabbit greater than chicken greater than donkey. Regardless of the source of staphylococci, horse plasma was found unsuitable in coagulase tests as it clotted spontaneously. The temperature (25 and 37 degrees C), and duration of incubation and type of anticoagulant had no significant (P greater than 0.05, X2) effect on coagulase-test results. It is concluded that in testing staphylococcal isolates from various sources for coagulase production, it is imperative to use plasmas from several animal species whenever practicable as staphylococcal biotypes display variable ability to coagulate different plasmas.     

Pluripotent cell derivation from male germline cells by suppression of Dmrt1 and Trp53

Diploid germ cells are thought to have pluripotency potential. We recently described a method to derive pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) from cultured spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) by depleting Trp53 and Dmrt1, both of which are known suppressors of teratomas. In this study, we used this technique to analyze the effect of this protocol in deriving PSCs from the male germline at different developmental stages. We collected primordial germ cells (PGCs), gonocytes and spermatogonia, and the cells were transduced with lentiviruses expressing short hairpin RNA against Dmrt1 and/or Trp53. We found that PGCs are highly susceptible to reprogramming induction and that only Trp53 depletion was sufficient to induce pluripotency. In contrast, gonocytes and spermatogonia were resistant to reprogramming by double knockdown of Dmrt1 and Trp53. PSCs derived from PGCs contributed to chimeras produced by blastocyst injection, but some of the embryos showed placenta-only phenotypes suggestive of epigenetic abnormalities of PGC-derived PSCs. These results show that PGCs and gonocytes/spermatogonia have distinct reprogramming potential and also suggest that fresh and cultured SSCs do not necessarily have the same properties.     

哺乳动物胚胎冷冻原理及研究进展

哺乳动物胚胎冷冻研究始于 5 0年代 ,先后在小鼠、大鼠、兔、马、牛、绵羊、山羊等动物胚胎上获得成功。目前该方面的研究进展很快 ,部分家畜的冷冻胚胎已逐步走向商品化应用。本文比较全面的综述了哺乳动物胚胎冷冻的原理、方法过程和冷冻胚胎的解冻及解冻后保护剂脱除。     

Complement "specificity" and interchangeability: measurement of hemolytic complement levels and use of the complement-fixation test with sera from common domesticated animals.

The results from studies to measure lytic complement (C') in sera of different animal species were reviewed. The traditional system, using sheep red blood cells (RBC) and rabbit antibody, was confirmed as the most sensitive to measure C' levels in man, monkey, dog, guinea pig, and rat serums. Sera C' from horse, cow, and sheep were found to be best assayed using rabbit RBC, whereas C' from goat, cat, and rabbit were best assayed with human RBC. Antibodies and C' from the same species usually mediated lysis of foreign RBC, but this lysis occurred more readily with some RBC targets than with others and may be associated with the presence of natural antibodies in the test sera. The effects of the species origin of a C' source in immunologic reactions in vitro and in vivo are discussed.     

Epigenetics and transgenerational inheritance in domesticated farm animals

Epigenetics provides a molecular mechanism of inheritance that is not solely dependent on DNA sequence and that can account for non-Mendelian inheritance patterns. Epigenetic changes underlie many normal developmental processes, and can lead to disease development as well. While epigenetic effects have been studied in well-characterized rodent models, less research has been done using agriculturally important domestic animal species. This review will present the results of current epigenetic research using farm animal models (cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens). Much of the work has focused on the epigenetic effects that environmental exposures to toxicants, nutrients and infectious agents has on either the exposed animals themselves or on their direct offspring. Only one porcine study examined epigenetic transgenerational effects; namely the effect diet micronutrients fed to male pigs has on liver DNA methylation and muscle mass in grand-offspring (F2 generation). Healthy viable offspring are very important in the farm and husbandry industry and epigenetic differences can be associated with production traits. Therefore further epigenetic research into domestic animal health and how exposure to toxicants or nutritional changes affects future generations is imperative.     

Isolation and culture of preantral follicles for retrieving oocytes for the embryo production: present status in domestic animals

The development of efficient ovarian preantral follicle (PF) isolation and culture systems provide a large number of oocytes for the manipulation and embryo production. It also helps for understanding the mechanisms of follicle and oocyte development. Isolation and culture protocols for PFs were developed for many domestic species like cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, horse, camel, dog and cats; however, embryo production from oocytes derived from in vitro grown PFs was reported only in pigs, buffalo, sheep and goat. The rate of oocyte maturation from PFs grown in vitro is low and requires considerable research. This paper presents an overview of isolation and culture systems of PFs that have been developed for domestic species (cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pigs, horse, camel, dog and cat) along with the current status of progress achieved in the direction of producing embryos using PFs as the source of oocyte in these species.     

An in vitro study of hematopoietic progenitor cells from peripheral blood of rabbits

The purpose of this study was to isolate and cultivate a subpopulation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) from the peripheral blood of rabbits, which are frequently used in veterinary research as an animal model. Pluripotent stem cells, as described in human beings, are fibroblast-like cells that exhibit a CD34 marker, specific from other hematopoietic stem cells. Commonly used human commercial media has been researched for culturing rabbit PSCs. These findings allow us to contemplate the direct application of this simple and standardized methodology in several areas of study, such as of the pharmacological effect of many drugs on hematopoietic cells, veterinary practice, and even the study of new strategies in cellular therapy for some human diseases.     

Twenty years of embryonic stem cell research in farm animals

Notable distinctions between an embryonic stem cell (ESC) and somatic cell are that an ESC can maintain an undifferentiated state indefinitely, self-renew, and is pluripotent, meaning that the ESC can potentially generate cells representing all the three primordial germ layers and contribute to the terminally differentiated cells of a conceptus. These attributes make the ESC an ideal source for genome editing for both agricultural and biomedical applications. Although, ESC lines have been successfully established from rodents and primates, authentic ungulate stem cell lines on the contrary are still not available. Outstanding issues including but not limited to differences in pluripotency characteristics among the existing ESC lines, pre-implantation embryo development, pluripotency pathways, and culture conditions plague our efforts to establish authentic ESC lines from farm animals. In this review, we highlight some of these issues and discuss how the recent derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) might augur the establishment of robust authentic ESC lines from farm animals.     

Sox2基因真核表达载体的构建及转Sox2基因绵羊骨髓间充质干细胞系的建立

Sox2是多能干细胞的主要标记之一,有研究发现高表达Sox2基因的神经干细胞作为供体细胞进行核移植时具有较高的重编程能力。本研究旨在通过对绵羊骨髓间充质干细胞(bonemarrowmesenchymal stem cells,BMSC) Sox2基因进行外源性增强表达,以期提高其重编程能力,从而改善动物体细胞克隆效率。试验提取绵羊胎儿生殖腺组织RNA,以其为模板克隆Sox2基因cDNA序列,装入真核表达载体pEGFP-N1,构建出pEGFP-N1-Sox2表达载体。经脂质体转染将重组质粒转染入绵羊BMSC,经G418与荧光标记双筛选后挑选单克隆并扩增培养。测序鉴定表明,克隆得到绵羊Sox2基因CDS区全长,重组质粒构建成功;荧光检测表明,成功建立表达Sox2基因的绵羊BMSC系。本研究得到了高表达Sox2基因的绵羊BMSC系,为提高体细胞克隆过程中的重编程效率提供了新思路。     

Construction of Eukaryotic Expression Vector of Sox2 Gene and Establishment of Sheep Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell Lines Transfected with Sox2 Gene

Sox2 is one important marker of pluripotent stem cells, a study found that neural stem cells with high expression of Sox2 as donor cells showed higher reprogramming ability in nuclear transplantation.In this study, through enhancing exogenous Sox 2 gene expression of sheep bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, in order to raise their reprogramming ability, and improve the efficiency of somatic cell cloning in animal.Total RNA was extracted from sheep testicular tissue, and with this template, Sox2 cDNA sequence was amplified and inserted into the eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-N1 to build a recombinant vector pEGFP-N1-Sox2.The vector was transfected into the sheep bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by liposome method, and through G418 and fluorescence screening to obtain and amplify monoclone.DNA sequencing showed that sheep Sox 2 gene CDS sequence was obtained, and recombinant plasmid was successfully constructed.Identification of fluorescence confirmed that stable sheep bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell lines transfected with Sox2 were established.This study obtained the sheep bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell lines with high expression of Sox2, and provided a new idea for raising reprogramming efficiency in the process of somatic cell cloning.     

Observed prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in domestic animals in Sicily, Italy during 2003-2005

The objective of this study was to characterize the observed prevalence of tick-borne pathogens (TBP) in domestic animals in Sicily, Italy during 2003-2005. Serological (competitive ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence antibody, n = 3299) and DNA tests (polymerase chain reaction and reverse line blot, n = 2565) were conducted on horse, donkey, cattle, sheep, goat, pig and dog samples. Pathogens analysed included Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, Babesia and Theileria species, and Coxiella burnetii. The most prevalent TBP were Anaplasma and Babesia species. The results reported herein suggested that cattle could serve as the major reservoir for Babesia and Theileria spp. while for Anaplasma spp. cattle, dogs, sheep and goats may be the most important reservoir species. These results expanded our knowledge about the prevalence of TBP in Sicily and provided information to understand the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases and may help to implement measures to diagnose, treat and control transmission to humans and animals in this region.