Mutations associated with pyrethroid resistance in the honey bee parasite Varroa destructor evolved as a series of parallel and sequential events

Journal of Pest Science - Managed honey bees have suffered severe seasonal losses for most of the past 30 years, while at the same time there is a growing need for food crop pollination....     

Allometric relationships and reforestation guidelines for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Maclura tinctoria,</Emphasis> an important multi-purpose timber tree of Latin America

As reforestation and restoration processes gain momentum across the world native tree species are being established for production, conservation and restoration purposes in agricultural landscapes. One such tree with promise is dinde [Maclura tinctoria (L.) D. Don ex Steud]; a multi-purpose, Neotropical tree species that is being widely introduced on to farms of the coffee axis region in the Latin American Andes. No formal studies have been made that examine its potential for reforestation. In this study we aim to measure and define the relationships between age, bole size (dbh), tree height, and crown size of planted dinde trees for the development of spacing guidelines at time of planting and for thinning. We also sought to identify whether tree growth is influenced by various measures of soil fertility. We studied these relationships on dinde trees planted at twelve farms in the central Andean foothills of Colombia. Our results are the first to show dinde has comparable growth to other native and exotic trees used for reforestation in Latin America. Strong relationships exist for tree age and diameter at breast height (DBH) with crown size and height. Based on these relationships we developed spacing and thinning guidelines for timber production in plantation and silvo-pastoral circumstances. Soils were generally fertile but varied between farms. Growth varied with soil primarily related to pH and calcium, and secondly to soil nitrogen and organic matter. Our results provide preliminary information for the forester and/or the farmer on expected growth and size relationships for given ages in relation to soil fertility for planted trees. As more trees are planted on a wider array of soils and providing a greater diversity of ages further studies are necessary for refining guidelines.     

PCR-RFLP authentication of meats from red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), cattle (Bos taurus), sheep (Ovis aries), and goat (Capra hircus)

PCR-RFLP analysis has been applied to the identification of meats from red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), cattle (Bos taurus), sheep (Ovis aries), and goat (Capra hircus). PCR amplification was carried out using a set of primers flanking a conserved region of approximately 712 base pairs from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. Restriction site analysis based on sequence data from this DNA fragment permitted the selection of MseI, MboII, BslI, and ApoI endonucleases for species identification. The restriction profiles obtained when amplicons were digested with the chosen enzymes allowed the unequivocal identification of all domestic and game meat species analyzed in the present work.     

Zur Graviditätsdiagnose beim Schwein mittels Ultraschall

In zwei Untersuchungen wurde anhand von 2192 Tests bei 335 Sauen mehrerer Betriebe mit unterschiedlichen Haltungsformen bzw. 610 Tests bei 70 Sauen eines Be-triebes mit Anbindehaltung das Ultraschallgerat PREG-TONE zum Zwecke der Träch-tigkeitsfeststellung eingesetzt. Während im ersten Fall bei 8–14tägigen Testintervallen nicht vor der 5. Trächtigkeitswoche ein hinreichend zuverlässiger Nachweis geführt werden konnte, lieβ sich in der zweiten Testserie, bei täglicher Untersuchung vom 14. bis 31. Trächtigkeitstag, die Trächtigkeit der Sauen spätestens am 20. Tag nach Belegen feststellen. Die stark diffrierenden Resultate werden mit der unterschiedlichen Ruhigstellung der Tiere während des Tests in den beiden Untersuchungsreihen begründet. In der ersten Testserie waren bei nichttragenden Sauen keine Fehldiagnosen vertreten. Dagegen fiel in der zweiten Testreihe ein relativ hoher Anteil unrutreffender Diagnosen an nichttragenden Tieren an; hierfür könnte das Auftreten von Fällen embryonalen Frühtodes eine Erklärung liefern .     

Use of anti-coronavirus antibody testing of cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis involving the central nervous system in cats

OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of measuring anti-coronavirus IgG in CSF for the diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) involving the CNS in cats. DESIGN: Prospective study. SAMPLE POPULATION: CSF and serum samples from 67 cats. PROCEDURES: CSF and serum samples were allocated into 4 groups: cats with FIP involving the CNS (n = 10), cats with FIP not involving the CNS (13), cats with CNS disorders caused by diseases other than FIP (29), and cats with diseases other than FIP and not involving the CNS (15). Cerebrospinal fluid was evaluated for concentrations of erythrocytes, leukocytes, and total protein. Anti-coronavirus IgG was measured in CSF and serum by indirect immunofluorescence assay. RESULTS: CSF IgG (range of titers, 1:32 to 1:4,096) was detected in 12 cats, including 6 cats with neurologic manifestation of FIP, 4 cats with FIP not involving the CNS, and 2 cats with brain tumors. Cerebrospinal fluid IgG was detected only in cats with correspondingly high serum IgG titers (range, 1:4,096 to 1:16,384) and was positively correlated with serum IgG titers (r = 0.652; P < 0.01), but not with any other CSF parameter. Blood contamination of CSF resulted in < or = 333 erythrocytes/microL in cats with CSF IgG. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The correlation between serum and CSF IgG and the fact that CSF IgG was detected only in strongly seropositive cats suggested that CSF anti-coronavirus IgG was derived from blood. Measurement of anti-coronavirus IgG in CSF was of equivocal clinical use.     

Radiation up-regulates the expression of VEGF in a canine oral melanoma cell line

To evaluate radiosensitivity and the effects of radiation on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF receptors in the canine oral melanoma cell line, TLM 1, cells were irradiated with doses of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 Gray (Gy). Survival rates were then determined by a MTT assay, while vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1 and -2 expression was measured by flow cytometry and apoptotic cell death rates were investigated using an Annexin assay. Additionally, a commercially available canine VEGF ELISA kit was used to measure VEGF. Radiosensitivity was detected in TLM 1 cells, and mitotic and apoptotic cell death was found to occur in a radiation dose dependent manner. VEGF was secreted constitutively and significant up-regulation was observed in the 8 and 10 Gy irradiated cells. In addition, a minor portion of TLM 1 cells expressed vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1 intracellularly. VEGFR-2 was detected in the cytoplasm and was down-regulated following radiation with increasing dosages. In TLM 1 cells, apoptosis plays an important role in radiation induced cell death. It has also been suggested that the significantly higher VEGF production in the 8 and 10 Gy group could lead to tumour resistance.     

Informing landscape planning and design for sustaining ecosystem services from existing spatial patterns and knowledge

Over the last decade we have seen an increased emphasis in environmental management and policies aimed at maintaining and restoring multiple ecosystem services at landscape scales. This emphasis has resulted from the recognition that management of specific environmental targets and ecosystem services requires an understanding of landscape processes and the spatial scales that maintain those targets and services. Moreover, we have become increasingly aware of the influence of broad-scale drivers such as climate change on landscape processes and the ecosystem services they support. Studies and assessments on the relative success of environmental policies and landscape designs in maintaining landscape processes and ecosystem services is mostly lacking. This likely reflects the relatively high cost of maintaining a commitment to implement and maintain monitoring programs that document responses of landscape processes and ecosystem services to different landscape policies and designs. However, we argue that there is considerable variation in natural and human-caused landscape pattern at local to continental scales and that this variation may facilitate analyses of how environmental targets and ecosystem services have responded to such patterns. Moreover, wall-to-wall spatial data on land cover and land use at national scales may permit characterization and mapping of different landscape pattern gradients. We discuss four broad and interrelated focus areas that should enhance our understanding of how landscape pattern influences ecosystem services: (1) characterizing and mapping landscape pattern gradients; (2) quantifying relationships between landscape patterns and environmental targets and ecosystem services, (3) evaluating landscape patterns with regards to multiple ecosystem services, and (4) applying adaptive management concepts to improve the effectiveness of specific landscape designs in sustaining ecosystem services. We discuss opportunities as well as challenges in each of these four areas. We believe that this agenda could lead to spatially explicit solutions in managing a range of environmental targets and ecosystem services. Spatially explicit options are critical in managing and protecting landscapes, especially given that communities and organizations are often limited in their capacity to make changes at landscape scales. The issues and potential solutions discussed in this paper expand upon the call by Nassauer and Opdam (Landscape Ecol 23:633–644, 2008) to include design as a fundamental element in landscape ecology research by evaluating natural and human-caused (planned or designed) landscape patterns and their influence on ecosystem services. It also expands upon the idea of “learning by doing” to include “learning from what has already been done.”     

Rapid detection of Arthroderma vanbreuseghemii in rabbit skin specimens by PCR-RFLP

Three commercial rabbit farms independently reported suspected dermatophyte infections during 2004. Cultures confirmed that the infection was caused by the zoophilic Tricophyton mentagrophytes, while mating studies and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1/4 polymerase chain reaction products, directly amplified from skin lesions and from pure culture isolates, established its Arthroderma vanbreuseghemii lineage. Subsequently, the corresponding DdeI restriction profiles of the ITS1/4 PCR products matched one of the two published T. mentagrophytes complex profiles. Sequence analysis of the published ITS sequences predicted distinct DdeI restriction sites for Arthroderma benhamiae and A. vanbreuseghemii, while all DdeI-generated restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the rabbit isolates were identical to those of A. vanbreuseghemii. The proposed procedure can be used for rapid dermatophyte detection and presumptive T. mentagrophytes identification.     

A wide diversity of zoonotic intestinal parasites infects urban and rural dogs in Neuquén,Patagonia, Argentina

The presence of parasites was investigated by the examination of 1944 dog faecal samples collected from urban (n = 646) and rural (n = 1298) areas of the province of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. Parasitic agents (PA) were found in 37.86% of samples. A total of 15 different PA were detected, including Toxocara canis (16.35%), Taenia spp./Echinococcus spp. (12.65%), Trichurisvulpis (6.06%), Giardia spp. (1.29%), Toxascaris leonina (0.56%), Ancylostomacaninum (0.41%), Dipylidium caninum (0.31%), Diphyllobothrium spp. (0.10%), among others. Several of these PA are recognized as zoonotic agents. Therefore, the results of this investigation revealed that local population is exposed to a broad spectrum of zoonotic parasites by means of environmental contamination with dog faeces. Prevalence of PA was slightly higher in rural (40.06%) than in urban (33.44%) locations. Distribution of groups of PA (cestodes, nematodes, and protozoa) showed statistical differences between both habitats. Prevalence of cestodes (18.18%) and protozoa (11.86%) was significantly higher in the rural environment than in urban areas and nematodes (29.10%) were more frequent in urban locations. Infection of dogs with Linguatula serrata and Cryptosporidium sp. was demonstrated for the first time in Neuquén. Rural dogs of the study area are under hydatic disease control program, which includes treatment with praziquantel every 6 weeks; thus, the finding of high level of cestode infection in these areas is of great relevance. The epidemiology of zoonotic parasitic infections in urban and rural dogs showed different patterns and, in consequence, different control measurements should be applied in each location.