Competitive and allelopathic interference between soybean crop and annual wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) under field conditions

Annual wormwood interference on soybean crop growth and yield may result from competition and allelopathy, which are modulated by crop management. Allelochemicals released by annual wormwood (e.g. artemisinin) may affect the crop directly or indirectly through the effect on the nitrogen fixing symbiont, Bradyrhizobium japonicum. The objectives were (i) to quantify the crop response (i.e. biomass production, nodulation and yield) to weed interference and (ii) to determinate the relative change of competition and allelopathy interferences, when a sublethal dose of herbicide is applied. Two split plot field experiments with three replications were used. The experiment involved a factorial combination of five weed–crop density (soybean/annual wormwood, plants m^?2) levels: D1, pure soybean, 40/0 plants m^?2; D2, 40/2 plants m^?2; D3, 40/4 plants m^?2 and D4, 40/8 plants m^?2, and D5, pure annual wormwood, 0/8 plants m^?2, two activated carbon (allelopathy) levels: C?, with activated carbon (reduced allelopathy) and C+, non activated carbon applied (with allelopathy) and two herbicide levels: H?, untreated and H+, treated with a sub-lethal dose of glyphosate. Activated carbon to adsorb allelochemicals (with and without activated carbon) and glyphosate application (with and no herbicide) were assigned to sub-plots. Increasing weed density did not affect crop biomass at flowering, but changed nodule number and soybean yield with a different pattern depending on carbon and herbicide treatment. Relative crop yield decreased with increasing relative weed biomass. This decrease was particularly drastic when allelopathy was reduced by activated carbon and without herbicide application. The maximum yield losses of 33% in 2006 and 17% in 2007 were observed with the highest weed density (8 plants m^?2). In contrast, without carbon (high allelopathy level), soybean yield remained stable within the explored range of annual wormwood biomass, despite the fact that weed biomass at high densities (D4) was high enough to generate competition. The lack of response to increasing weed density could be related to the indirect effect of allelochemicals interacting with soil microorganisms (i.e. B. japonicum) that positively affected the nodulation (e.g. larger nodules in 2006 and increased nodules biomass due to higher number of roots in 2007 at high densities). With herbicide application, soybean yield of both carbon treatments remained stable when biomass of annual wormwood increased. This research provided strong evidence in support of the existence of positive effect of allelopathic and competitive interactions between annual wormwood and soybean crop under field conditions that may be overridden under herbicide application.     

Seroepidemiology of infection with Toxoplasma gondii in waste pickers and waste workers in Durango, Mexico

Municipal waste is a potential source of infection for Toxoplasma gondii as it may contain contaminated meat with parasite tissue cysts and cat excrement with parasite oocysts. Therefore, we sought to determine the prevalence of T. gondii infection and associated characteristics in two populations exposed to municipal solid waste in Durango, Mexico. Ninety waste pickers and 83 waste workers of Durango City, Mexico were examined for T. gondii infection. They were tested for anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using enzyme-linked immunoassays. In addition, socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics from each participant were obtained. Nineteen (21.1%) of the 90 waste pickers and seven (8.4%) of the 83 waste workers were positive for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies. The difference in prevalence among the groups was statistically significant (P =0.03). Waste pickers aged 31-50 years showed a significantly higher prevalence (40.9%) than waste workers of the same age group (2.9%, P < 0.001). Anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies were found in two (2.2%) of the waste pickers but in none of the waste workers. The seroprevalence of T. gondii was significantly higher in workers of the waste transfer station (25.0%) than in drivers or helpers of waste vehicles (2.5%) (P =0.03). Multivariate analysis showed that T. gondii infection was associated with consuming food found in the garbage [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 4.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6-11.8] and with lack of education (adjusted OR = 3.2; 95% CI 1.1-8.8). From this study, we conclude: (i) waste pickers may represent a risk group for T. gondii infection; (ii) lack of education might be a contributing factor for T. gondii infection; (iii) the higher the exposure to garbage, the higher the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection; (iv) Eating food products from the garbage may represent an important route for T. gondii infection.     

Avian CD154 enhances humoral and cellular immune responses induced by an adenovirus vector-based vaccine in chickens

Recombinant adenoviral vectors have emerged as an attractive system for veterinary vaccines development. However, for poultry vaccination a very important criterion for an ideal vaccine is its low cost. The objective of this study was to test the ability of chicken CD154 to enhance the immunogenicity of an adenoviral vector-based vaccine against avian influenza virus in order to reduce the amount of antigen required to induce an effective immune response in avian. Chickens were vaccinated with three different doses of adenoviral vectors encoding either HA (AdHA), or HA fused to extracellular domain chicken's CD154 (AdHACD). Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay and relative quantification of IFN-γ showed that the adenoviral vector encoding for the chimeric antigen is able to elicit an improved humoral and cellular immune response, which demonstrated that CD154 can be used as a molecular adjuvant allowing to reduce in about 50-fold the amount of adenoviral vector vaccine required to induce an effective immune response.     

Analysis of the effect of the bovine adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transporter G2 single nucleotide polymorphism Y581S on transcellular transport of veterinary drugs using new cell culture models

In commercial dairy production, the risk of drug residues and environmental pollutants in milk from ruminants has become an outstanding problem. One of the main determinants of active drug secretion into milk is the ATP-binding cassette transporter G2/breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2/BCRP). It is located in several organs associated with drug absorption, metabolism, and excretion, and its expression is highly induced during lactation in the mammary gland of ruminants, mice, and humans. As a consequence, potential contamination of milk could expose suckling infants to xenotoxins. In cows, a SNP for this protein affecting quality and quantity of milk production has been described previously (Y581S). In this study, our main purpose was to determine whether this polymorphism has an effect on transcellular transport of veterinary drugs because this could alter substrate pharmacokinetics and milk residues. We stably expressed the wild-type bovine ABCG2 and the Y581S variant in Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells (MDCKII) and MEF3.8 cell lines generating cell models in which the functionality of the bovine transporter could be addressed. Functional studies confirmed the greater functional activity in mitoxantrone accumulation assays for the Y581S variant with a greater relative V(MAX) value (P = 0.040) and showed for the first time that the Y581S variant presents greater transcellular transport of the model ABCG2 substrate nitrofurantoin (P = 0.024) and of 3 veterinary antibiotics, the fluoroquinolone agents enrofloxacin (P = 0.035), danofloxacin (P = 0.001), and difloxacin (P = 0.008), identified as new substrates of the bovine ABCG2. In addition, the inhibitory effect of the macrocyclic lactone ivermectin on the activity of wild-type bovine ABCG2 and the Y581S variant was also confirmed, showing a greater inhibitory potency on the wild-type protein at all the concentrations tested (5 μM, P = 0.017; 10 μM, P = 0.001; 25 μM, P = 0.008; and 50 μM, P = 0.003). Differential transport activity depending on the genotype together with the differential inhibition pattern might have clinical consequences, including changes in substrate pharmacokinetics (and subsequently pharmacodynamics) and more specifically, changes in secretion of ABCG2 substrates into milk, potentially implying important consequences to veterinary therapeutics.     

The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of ivermectin in domestic animal species

The pharmacokinetic properties of drugs are closely related to their pharmacological efficacy. The kinetics of ivermectin are characterised, in general terms, by a slow absorption process, a broad distribution in the organism, low metabolism, and slow excretion. The kinetics vary according to the route of administration, formulation, animal species, body condition, age, and physiological status, all of which contribute to differences in drug efficacy. Characterisation of ivermectin kinetics can be used to predict and optimise the value of the parasiticide effects and to design programmes for parasite control. This article reviews the pharmacokinetics of ivermectin in several domestic animal species.     

Mucus characterisation in the Octopus vulgaris skin throughout its life cycle

The development of the epidermis of octopus, Octopus vulgaris, throughout its life cycle was studied by conventional staining and histochemical techniques using lectins. The mantle, the arm and the two parts of the suckers: the infundibulum and the acetabulum were analysed independently. With the exception of the suckers, the general morphology of the epidermis does not vary from the first days post-hatching to adulthood. In general terms, histochemical techniques do not indicate changes in the composition of glycoconjugates of the epidermis main cells, epithelial and secretory cells. The epithelial cells of the mantle and arm show positivity for mannose (ConA+) in their apical portions, indicating the presence of n-glycoproteins that, among other things, provide lubrication to the surface of the body. In the suckers, the apical surface of the infundibulum contains sulphated glycosaminoglycans of the N-acetylglucosamine type that provide adhesive properties. In addition to observing three types of mucocytes, m1 and m2 are characteristic of the mantle and arm, and m3 is found in the suckers. The paralarva epidermis is characterised by the presence of Kölliker's organs whose exact function is unknown. In this study, the absence of staining with alcian blue/periodic acid–Schiff(AB/PAS) prevents the possibility of attributing a secretory function. Nevertheless, the linkage of three lectins (WGA, LEL and GSL-I) in the fascicle of the organ suggests the presence of proteoglycans rich in N-acetylglucosamine that would mainly have a structural role.     

Polymorphisms in major histocompatibility complex genes and its associations with milk quality in Murrah buffaloes

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Animal breeding programs have used molecular genetic tools as an auxiliary method to identify and select animals with superior genetic merit for milk...     

Factors Affecting Fertility According to the Postpartum Period in Crossbred Dual-Purpose Suckling Cows in the Tropics

To determine the relationship between first service conception rate (FSC) and the postpartum period (PP), 6160 calvings from 2250 crossbred dual-purpose cows were analysed. The effects of breed predominance (BT: Bos taurus and BI: Bos indicus), season of service (dry, intermediate and humid), parity (1 or 2 and more), agroecological region (Sub-humid and Dry Tropical Forest) and milk production were studied. The postpartum period was grouped according to the calving–first service interval as G1 ≤ 60 days (n = 1889); G2 > 60 ≤ 90 days (n = 1436); G3 > 90 ≤ 120 days (n = 1030); and G4 > 120 days (n = 1805). Data were analysed by chi-squared test. The overall mean for FSC was 58.2% and was lower in G1 (p < 0.01). All PP showed a breed effect on FSC, with mean values of 61.6% and 53.3% for BI and BT, respectively. Season of service also affected FSC, which was significantly lower during the humid period: 51.2% versus 57.4% and 61.5% for the intermediate and dry periods (p < 0.01), respectively. Parity and environmental effects were not observed on FSC. Levels of milk yield did influence the FSC, which decreased from 66.7% and 61.0% for milk yields of < 1500 kg and between 1501 and 2000 kg to 46.0% in milk yields > 2000 kg (p < 0.01).