Metabolic characterization of rumen epithelial tissue from dairy calves fed different starter diets using 1H NMR spectroscopy

The metabolic profile of calf rumen epithelial tissue was for the first time characterized by ¹H NMR spectroscopy of chloroform/methanol extracts. The metabolite profiles comprised a number of amino acids, creatine, taurine, short-chain fatty acids and triglycerides. The effects of two dietary interventions; i) four levels of milk allowance with a concomitant different uptake of starter concentrate, and ii) two diets with varying content of starch and fibre in the concentrate, were elucidated. Partial least square regression analysis revealed that the intensity of NMR signals assigned to leucine, isoleucine and valine (0.90  ppm), propionate (1.06 and 2.18  ppm), lactate (1.32  ppm), butyrate (1.56  ppm), acetate (1.93  ppm), glutamine/glutamate (2.18, 2.35 and 3.75  ppm), creatine (3.04 and 3.94  ppm) and glycine (3.55  ppm) decreased with increasing milk allowance. In addition, the analysis revealed that the main difference between the two diets was the content of propionate in the epithelia tissue extracts. Previous morphological analyses of the same rumen epithelia were not able to detect any significant effects of either milk allowance or dietary starch content. Accordingly, the present study demonstrated that ¹H NMR spectroscopy applied on extracts is a useful tool for metabolite profiling of epithelial tissue and for following the development of epithelia tissue in young calves, and that the technique may be more sensitive to dietary effects than morphological studies.     

Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus isolates from equine infectious endometritis belong to a distinct genetic group

Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus is the pathogen most commonly isolated from the uterus of mares. S. zooepidemicus is an opportunistic pathogen and part of the resident flora in the caudal reproductive tract. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a genotypically distinct subpopulation of S. zooepidemicus is associated with endometritis in the mare, by genotyping and comparing uterine S. zooepidemicus strains with isolates from the vagina and clitoral fossa. Mares with (n = 18) or without (n = 11) clinical symptoms of endometritis were included. Uterine samples were obtained using a guarded endometrial biopsy punch, whereas a swab was used to recover samples from the cranial vagina and the clitoral fossa. If S. zooepidemicus was present, up to three colonies were selected from each anatomical location (max. 9 isolates per mare). Bacterial isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). S. zooepidemicus was isolated from the endometrium of 12 mares. A total of 88 isolates were analyzed by PFGE: 31 from the endometrium, 26 from the cranial vagina and 31 isolates from the clitoral fossa. For MLST 21 isolates were chosen. Results demonstrated a higher genetic similarity of the isolates obtained from infectious endometritis compared to isolates obtained from the caudal reproductive tract. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that a genetically distinct group of S. zooepidemicus is associated with infectious endometritis in the mare.     

Bacterial cholangiohepatitis in a dog

A 9-year-old female Yorkshire terrier was presented for vomiting and diarrhea. Blood chemistry tests revealed hepatic dysfunction, cholestasis, and inflammation. Liver ultrasonography and liver biopsy were consistent with cholangiohepatitis. Fine-needle aspiration of the gallbladder revealed the presence of bacteria later identified as Clostridium spp. The cholangiohepatitis was successfully treated.     

Resorptive tooth root lesions in the Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus)

Facial abscessation and osteomyelitis due to dental disease is commonly seen in the Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), but little is known about the prevalence or etiology of these lesions. To determine the prevalence of dental ailments, 56 skulls and mandibles of deceased Malayan tapirs were visually and radiographically evaluated. Dental lesions were scored according to severity, and individuals were classified according to their age (juvenile/ young adult/adult) and origin (captive/free ranging). All of the lesions identified were of a resorptive nature. seemingly originating at the cementoenamel junction and burrowing towards the center of the tooth. Overall, 27% of the investigated skulls presented radiolucent dental lesions. The prevalence among captive animals was 52% (13/25), while only 6% (2/31) of the free-ranging tapirs had dental lesions. The second, third, and fourth premolars and first molar were the teeth most commonly affected, and the mandibular teeth were more often involved than the maxillary dentition. This study demonstrates a high prevalence of resorptive dental lesions in captive Malayan tapirs and provides a strong indication that age and captivity are significant risk factors in the development of these lesions. Dental disease, Malayan tapir, radiology, resorptive lesions, Tapirus indicus.     

Segment-based coancestry,additive relationship and genetic variance within and between the Norwegian and the Swedish Fjord horse populations

ABSTRACT

The Fjord horse originates from Norway but forms a global population due to several small populations in foreign countries. There exists no information about the additive relationship and the genetic variance between these subpopulations. By collecting blood samples from Norwegian and Swedish Fjord horses, a sample of 311 Norwegian and 102 Swedish horses gave 485,918 SNPs available for analysis. Their inbreeding coefficients were calculated and compared to the pairwise coancestry and the shared genomic segments. The effective population size was almost similar with the two methods in the Norwegian Fjord horse population (63 and 71), but very different in the Swedish population (269 and 1136) and unprecise due to a much smaller number of observations. The study showed that coancestry from shared genomic segments can be used to estimate additive genetic relationship and genetic variation within and between the global populations of the Fjord horse.     

Screening for periodontal disease in research dogs - a methodology study

Background

It has been shown that the prevalence of both clinical attachment loss (CAL) ≥1 mm and pocket probing depth (PPD) ≥4 mm is relatively high even in younger dogs, but also that only a minority of the dogs have such clinical signs of periodontal disease (PD) in more than a few teeth. Hence, a minority of dogs carry the major PD burden. These epidemiological features suggest that screening for PD in larger groups of dogs, allowing for rapid assessment of treatment planning, or for the selection of dogs with or without PD prior to be included in experimental trials, should be possible. CAL is the central variable in assessing PD extent and severity while PPD is the central variable used in treatment planning which make these two variables obvious in a screening protocol with the dual aim of disease identification and treatment planning. The main purpose of the present study in 98 laboratory Beagle dogs was to construct a fast, simple and accurate screening tool, which is highly sensitive for the identification of dogs with PD.

Results

Examination of the maxillary P4, P3, P2, I1 and C would, in this population, result in the identification of 85.5% of all dogs and 96% of all teeth positive for CAL ≥1 mm, and 58.9% of all dogs and 82.1% of all teeth positive for PD ≥4 mm.Examination of tooth pairs, all C’s, maxillary I2, M2 and the mandibular P4 would, in this population result in identification of 92.9% of all dogs and 97.3% of all teeth positive for PD ≥4 mm, and 65.5% of all dogs and 83.2% of all teeth positive for CAL ≥1 mm. The results presented here only pertain to the present study population.

Conclusions

This screening protocol is suitable for examination of larger groups of laboratory Beagle dogs for PD and our findings indicate that diseased dogs are identified with a high degree of sensitivity. Before this screening can be used in clinical practice, it has to be validated in breeds other than Beagle dogs and in populations with larger age variation.     

Applying forest restoration principles to coral reef rehabilitation

• 1. Forest restoration through silviculture (gardening) programs revives productivity, biodiversity, and stability. As in silviculture approaches, the coral ‘gardening’ strategy is based on a two‐step protocol.
• 2. The first step deals with the establishment of in situ and/or ex situ coral nurseries in which corals are farmed (originating from two types of source material: asexual [ramets, nubbins], and sexual [planula larvae, spat] recruits).
• 3. The second is the reef rehabilitation step, where maricultured colonies are transplanted into degraded sites.
• 4. We compare here the rationale of forest restoration to coral reef ecosystem restoration by evaluating major key criteria. As in silviculture programs, a sustainable mariculture operation that focuses on the prime structural component of the reef (‘gardening’ with corals) may promote the persistence of threatened coral populations, as well as that of other reef taxa, thus maintaining genetic diversity. In chronically degrading reef sites this may facilitate a halt in biodiversity depletion.
• 5. Within the current theoretical framework of ecosystem restoration, the recovery of biodiversity indices is considered a core element since a rich species diversity provides higher ecosystem resilience to disturbances.
• 6. The gardening measure may also be implemented worldwide, eliminating the need to extract existing colonies for transplantation operations. At degraded reef sites, the coral gardening strategy can assist in managing human and non‐human stakeholders' requirements as is done in forest management.

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of inter-varietal diversity,biotic stresses and environmental productivity on grain yield of spring barley variety mixtures

Varietal seed mixtures tend to increase and stabilize crop yields, yet their application is sparse. Large-scale cultivation of variety mixtures may require a better understanding of how inter-varietal interactions and their interaction with the environment may influence the grain yield of variety mixtures relative to their component varieties. For this purpose, six variety mixtures of spring barley and 14 component varieties were grown in each of 17 trial environments. A total of 28 observed and a priori plant characteristics, including grain yield, disease severity and weed competitiveness, were derived for each component variety in each trial. The relationship between inter-varietal diversity of each characteristic and the mixing effect on grain yield was analysed. Additionally, various types of yield stability were estimated and compared among mixtures and component varieties. One mixture out-yielded all of its component varieties in almost half of the trial environments. Inter-varietal diversity in grain yield potential correlated significantly with mixing effect, as did straw length diversity when weighted with weed pressure. The grain yields of most mixtures were more stable across environments than their component varieties when accounting also for the general response to environmental productivity. Hence, most mixtures adapted slightly better to environmental productivity and were less sensitive to environmental stress than their component varieties. We conclude that the efficacy of variety mixtures may be enhanced by mixing relatively high-yielding varieties differing in responsiveness to environmental productivity.     

Predicting spring barley yield from variety-specific yield potential, disease resistance and straw length, and from environment-specific disease loads and weed pressure

For low-input crop production, well-characterised varieties increase the possibilities of managing diseases and weeds. This analysis aims at developing a framework for analyzing grain yield using external varietal information about disease resistance, weed competitiveness and yield potential and quantifying the impact of susceptibility grouping and straw length scores (as a measure for weed competitiveness) for predicting spring barley grain yield under variable biotic stress levels. The study comprised 52 spring barley varieties and 17 environments, i.e., combinations of location, growing system and year. Individual varieties and their interactions with environments were analysed by factorial regression of grain yield on external variety information combined with observed environmental disease loads and weed pressure. The external information was based on the official Danish VCU testing. The most parsimonious models explained about 50% of the yield variation among varieties including genotype-environment interactions. Disease resistance characteristics of varieties, weighted with disease loads of powdery mildew, leaf rust and net blotch, respectively, had a highly significant influence on grain yield. The extend to which increased susceptibility resulted in increased yield losses in environments with high disease loads of the respective diseases was predicted. The effect of externally determined straw length scores, weighted with weed pressure, was weaker although significant for weeds with creeping growth habit. Higher grain yield was thus predicted for taller plants under weed pressure. The results are discussed in relation to the model framework, impact of the considered traits and use of information from conventional variety testing in organic cropping systems.