Prevalence of avian influenza (H9N2) in commercial quail,partridge, and turkey farms in Iran, 2014–2015

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Avian influenza virus (AIV) H9N2 subtype is endemic in Iran and causes substantial economic loss to the growing poultry industry within the country. In this...     

Growth performance,muscle and liver composition,blood traits,digestibility and gut bacteria of beluga (Huso huso) juvenile fed different levels of soybean meal and lactic acid

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of fishmeal (FM) replacement with 0, 350 or 700 g/kg soybean meal (SBM) in combination with the supplementation of lactic acid (LA; 0, 10 or 20 g/kg) in the diets of juvenile beluga sturgeon (Huso huso; 700 ± 30 g). Nine isonitrogenous (400 g/kg protein) and isoenergetic (18 MJ/kg) diets were fed to beluga ad libitum, three times a day, for 60 days. The results showed that replacing FM with SBM without LA significantly reduced fish growth; on the other hand, LA supplementation had positive effects on fish fed diets that FM was replaced by SBM (p < .05). Increasing SBM in the diet altered the fatty acid profiles of the fish, reducing long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and the n‐3/n‐6 fatty acids. High amounts of SBM (700 g/kg) caused reductions in the haematocrit, glucose and cholesterol levels in the blood (p < .05). In addition, the digestibility of protein, fat, dry matter and phosphorus was reduced when replacing FM with SBM, however, adding LA to the diets increased fish performance (p < .05), and this improvement was sharper in 2% LA groups. The number of LA bacteria increased significantly with the dietary supplementation of LA (p < .05). Based on these results, replacing 350 g/kg of FM with SBM and adding 20 g/kg LA to their feed do not negatively affect the biological and physiological indices of beluga.     

基于COI基因的入侵物种旧金山卤虫遗传多样性与遗传分化研究

伴随着中国水产养殖业的快速发展,原产美国的旧金山卤虫(Artemia franciscana)被引入至我国渤海湾地区.为研究旧金山卤虫被引入中国后其基因组遗传多样性改变情况,本研究利用COI线粒体分子标记,评估旧金山卤虫在非原生栖息地,即唐山曹妃甸南堡镇(渤海湾,河北省)定殖的旧金山卤虫的遗传多样性现状.研究分析发现:...     

Growth enhancement of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by passive immunization against somatostatin-14

Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were passively immunized by intraperitoneal immunization against somatostatin-14 (SS-14) using an antibody originating from egg-laying chicken (Gallus domesticus). Fish were immunized weekly (0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 days) with chicken egg yolk-derived immunoglobulin (IgY) against SS-14 (1:25 IgY, 5 mg mL^?1), and growth performance, feed utilization as well as plasma concentrations and mRNA levels of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) were compared to the control group that received placebo immunization with PBS. Passive immunization significantly increased weight gain of treated fish (67.7 ± 7.4 g) compared to the control group (40.1 ± 2.0 g) after 35 days (p < 0.05). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly improved in the immunized fish (0.7 ± 0.08) compared to control group (1.2 ± 0.06) (p < 0.05). The concentrations of GH and IGF-I in the blood plasma showed no significant differences between the fish treated with anti-SS-14 and those of control during the treatment (p > 0.05). In both groups, GH levels decreased over the 35 days of the experiment (p < 0.05). However, IGF-I level during the period of treatment remained unchanged in both control and immunized fish with the anti-SS-14. Similarly, no changes were observed in pituitary GH and liver IGF-I mRNA levels between treatment and control at each sampling time (p > 0.05). There was no indication of a cumulative, long-lasting effect of repeated immunization on GH or IGF-I plasma concentrations or mRNA expression. The present study shows that a passive immunization of rainbow trout against SS-14 using a chicken egg yolk-derived SS-14 antibody could increase growth rate and improved FCR.     

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Seawater, Sediment, and Rock Oyster Saccostrea cucullata from the Northern Part of the Persian Gulf (Bushehr Province)

The concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was determined in seawater, sediment, and Rock oyster Saccostrea cucullata collected from four sampling sites in the inter-tidal areas of Bushehr province. The total concentrations of 14 PAHs varied from 1.5 to 3.6 ng/L in seawater, 41.7 to 227.5 ng/g dry weight in surface sediment, and 126 to 226.1 ng/g dry weight in oyster tissue. In comparing PAH concentrations among the three matrices in Bushehr province, data showed that the pattern of individual PAHs in seawater, oyster, and sediment were different. The oysters tended to accumulate the lower molecular weight and the more water-soluble PAHs. Sediment samples were distinguished from the sea water and oyster samples by the presence of high molecular weight PAHs, especially six-ring PAHs. Three- and four-ring PAHs were the most abundant compounds among the 14 PAHs investigated in surface seawater, sediment, and oyster samples. As expected, differences in octanol/water partition coefficient among individual PAHs and the greater persistence of the higher molecular weight PAHs contributed to the accumulation patterns in oyster and sediment. The results of the study suggested that the main sources of PAHs in the seawater and sediment in the region were mixed pyrolitic and petrogenic inputs.     

Maternal age influence on diapause induction in sexual and asexual Trichogramma brassicae

In this study, the effect of maternal age on prepupae diapause of progeny in sexual (Wolbachia free) and asexual (Wolbachia infected) Trichogramma brassicae was studied at two temperatures. Maternal generation (G₁) of both populations was reared at 10L:14D photoperiod, 14 and 20 °C, separately. Mated females from G₁ were supplied with eggs of Ephestia kuehniella, each 48 h from one day after emergence to death. The tendency to diapause in progeny (G₂) was determined by rearing at 10 °C. According to the results, reproductive modes, maternal temperature and age have significant effect on the mean number of eggs laid by G₁ and the diapause percentage of G₂. Offspring whose maternal generation was reared at 20 °C had higher diapause percentage than those reared at 14 °C. Diapause percentage in sexual population was higher than the asexual, which demonstrates a negative effect of Wolbachia on this process. Wolbachia infection modifies the effect of maternal age on the diapause percentage in the offspring at 20 °C but not at 14 °C. The result can be due to lower Wolbachia density at 14 °C and greater Wolbachia density at 20 °C.     

Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis CTL epitopes restricted by HLA-A*0201 in HHD mice

BACKGROUND: CD8 T cells are thought to play an important role in protective immunity to tuberculosis. The major histocompatibility complex class I subtype HLA-A*0201 is one of the most prevalent class I alleles, with a frequency of over 30% in most populations. HLA-A*0201 transgenic, H-2D(b)/mouse beta2-microglobulin double-knockout mice (HHD) which express human HLA-A*0201 but no mouse class 1, was shown to provide a powerful model for studying induction of HLA-A*0201-restricted immune responses in vivo. METHODS: HHD mice were immunized with plasmid DNA encoding MPB51 by using a gene gun, and IFN-gamma production from the immune spleen cells was analyzed in response to a synthetic overlapping peptide library covering the mature MPB51 sequence. catatonic T lymphocytes (CTL) activity was measured using cytotoxicity assay and the three-color flowcytometry was used to reveal IFN-gamma-producing immune spleen cells. RESULTS: Our findings were shown that only one peptide, p51-70, appeared to stimulate the immune splenocytes to produce IFN-gamma. Flow cytometric analysis with intracellular IFN-gamma and the T-cell phenotype revealed that the p51-70 peptide contains an immunodominant CD8+ T-cell epitope. Further analysis with computer-assisted algorithms permitted identification of a T-cell nona mer epitope, p54-62. Finally, we proved that the p54-62/HLA-A*0201 complex is strongly recognized by HLA class I-restricted CD8+ MPB5 1-specific CTL cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that vaccination with MPB51 gene elicited MPB51-specific CTL. In addition, the P54-62 epitope thus represent potential subunit component for the design of vaccines against tuberculosis.     

Collaborative development of the Arrowsmith two node search interface designed for laboratory investigators

Arrowsmith is a unique computer-assisted strategy designed to assist investigators in detecting biologically-relevant connections between two disparate sets of articles in Medline. This paper describes how an inter-institutional consortium of neuroscientists used the UIC Arrowsmith web interface http://arrowsmith.psych.uic.edu in their daily work and guided the development, refinement and expansion of the system into a suite of tools intended for use by the wider scientific community.