Rabies Antibodies in Vaccinated Dogs

Forty-seven healthy, owned dogs were vaccinated with Madivak and 85 with Rabisin. Geometric mean titres of 17.40 and 1.03 IU/ml were measured by the rapid immunofluorescent focus inhibition test 30–40 and 350–370 days, respectively, after a single injection. Four out of 130 (3.1%) and 18 out of 106 (17% ) dogs had a titre of less than 0.5 IU/ml in serum 30–40 and 350–370 days after vaccination. Twenty-one dogs (19.8%) had a titre of 0.5 IU/ml 350–370 days after vaccinaton. There was no significant difference in antibody levels between animals vaccinated with Rabisin or Madivak. Our results indicate that a booster is always necessary after a single injection to ensure that all dogs have a lasting antibody titre.     

Certain enteropathogens in calves of Finnish dairy herds with recurrent outbreaks of diarrhea

The occurrence and distribution of certain enteropathogenic organisms and the manifestation of diarrhea, especially in relation to colostral management, were studied in neonatal calves of eight southern Finnish dairy herds with recurrent outbreaks of enteric disturbances. The fecal samples were obtained from the calves and were provided by the farmers. Potentially pathogenic agents were demonstrated in 52 of the 68 calves studied. Cryptosporidium was found in 36 of them while rotavirus was found in 29 and Escherichia coli in 15 of them, either singly or in combination. Salmonella, coronavirus or parvovirus were not detected in any of the calves. Twenty-six of the 36 calves contracted their Cryptosporidium infection and 18 of the 29 calves their rotavirus infection within the first week of life.

Eighteen of the 52 infected calves developed diarrhea of microbial origin within 20 days of age; the most frequent finding was mixed infection with Cryptosporidium and rotavirus. In addition there were six diarrheic calves where no infection could be demonstrated. Only 10 of the 68 calves had neither infections nor diarrhea. There was a highly significant difference between the mean times of the first colostral feeding of the uninfected non-diarrheic and diarrheic calves and a significant difference between the mean times of the first colostral feeding of the subclinically infected and diarrheic calves. The importance of sucking of colostrum at the first feeding was observed. The smallest amount protecting the calves from infections was 0.75 1 given within 1 h of delivery.     

Eradication of enzootic bovine leukosis from Finland

Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) was recognized among Finnish cattle in 1966. Administrative decisions specifying and refining official control measures were given in 1966, 1976, 1980, and 1993. The measures' key principle always has been 'test and slaughter'. The EBL/bovine leukosis virus (BLV) infection situation was monitored at meat inspection, and hematologically between 1970 and 1977 and serologically between 1978 and 1989. Annual surveys including all dairy herds and samples from beef animals were conducted in 1990-2001. Bulk-tank milk samples represented the dairy herds in the surveys; the beef animals were sampled individually at slaughter. The maximum positive herd-level percentage in the surveys was 0.03%. EBL/BLV infection was evenly dispersed in the southern part of the country and nonexistent in the northern part. We conclude that herd-level prevalence of EBL/BLV infection never exceeded 5%. It nevertheless took 30 years to eradicate the disease and the infection. EBL was eradicated from mainland Finland in 1996 and from the island district of Ahvenanmaa in 1999. Annual monitoring of the EBL situation continues.     

Vertical and horizontal distribution of ascending Atlantic salmon in power plant tailrace channels

Three‐dimensional distribution of adult upstream‐migrating Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., was studied in three power plant tailrace channels on the large, regulated River Kemijoki in northern Finland using novel pressure sensor radio telemetry. The salmon swam mostly at depths of 1–4 m below the surface, with the salmon‐specific averages ranging from 1.3 to 6.4 m. When approaching a power plant, no change in swimming depth was observed. The horizontal locations of salmon in the two regularly shaped tailrace channels peaked at 5–10 m distance from the shoreline and showed a positively skewed distribution with a tail towards the central part of the tailrace. A graphical presentation of salmon locations in the tailrace channel and data on swimming depth and distance from the shoreline may prove useful in determining the location and design of a fishway entrance and in dimensioning attraction flow.     

Occurrence of antibodies to group specific chlamydia antigen in Finnish sheep, cattle and horse sera

A serological survey on the occurrence of group-specific chlamydial antibodies in random sera of Finnish sheep, cattle and horses was performed. The whole material consisted of 1347 serum samples, including 432 ovine, 454 bovine and 461 equine sera. The sera were sent to the laboratory for various serological tests during 1968–1972. Of the ovine sera 9.5%, bovine 12.8 % and equine 7.1 % showed a titer ≥ 1:16 in the complement fixation test.No definite geographic differences could be found in the distribution of the herds which showed positive results. The ubiquity of chlamydial infections in domestic mammals and their role as a cause of clinical diseases is discussed.     

Genetic transformation of silver birch (Betula pendula) by particle bombardment

We used in vitro callus and shoot cultures as target material for genetic transformation of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) by particle bombardment. Cultivation of in vitro shoot cultures before particle bombardment and a long selection period, combined with a high concentration of selective agent after bombardment, led to the production of transformed plantlets that were stable, and no escapes were found among the tree lines produced. Clonal variation in transformation efficiency was found in transient expression of the beta-glucuronidase gene in callus cultures and in plantlets transformed by stable integration of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit (RbcS) and neomycin phosphotransferase (npt2) genes.     

Intrapopulation variation in flowering phenology and fecundity of silver birch, implications for adaptability to changing climate

Earlier modeling has suggested that long distance gene flow is of importance in increasing the adaptability of tree populations in a changing climate. In times of warming temperatures, early flowering phenotypes may be favored, because early flowering may be connected to early onset of growth. Long term direct measurements of flowering, pollen cloud and intrapopulation fecundity variations are needed to test this hypothesis. Having one of the furthest transported types of pollen grains, birch may have good potential for long distance gene flow. Our daily observations over eight years, of 30 silver birches (Betula pendula Roth), showed that the onset and duration of flowering phenology was determined by the accumulation of spring temperature sums, but the window for potential long distance gene flow was narrow. The interannual phenology variations were large, the order of timing of female and male catkins in various trees of this monoecious species tended to differ, and the timing of generative and vegetative spring phenologies were not correlated at tree level. Early flowering trees tended to have a higher variation in germinability than later flowering trees. No other connection between timing of phenology of flowering and seed quantity or quality was found. Although stochastic climatic conditions produce interannually variable phenological windows, probability for long distance gene flow from areas differing in timing of spring temperature accumulations may be low in silver birch. Intertree variations in fecundity were high, and the majority of seeds and pollen were produced by only a few trees. Moreover, the amount of seeds produced was positively related to seed germinability, thus large phenotypic fecundity variations may decrease interannual genetic variations in seed sets.     

Nuclear intron-targeting markers in genetic diversity analysis of black nightshade (Solanum sect. Solanum,Solanaceae) accessions

Different molecular markers are routinely used in studies of potato (Solanum tuberosum) and the genus Solanum in general. Genome sequence databases provide potential to design new markers for various applications. Here we present the application of a recently developed core set of nuclear intron-targeting (indel) markers. These markers are based on the fact that in the plant genome introns are more variable than exons; therefore primers flanking exons can reveal polymorphisms related to introns. We detected such variation among accessions of the eight different species of black nightshades (Solanum sect. Solanum). Members of this group are important sources of food, mostly in Africa, while others are poisonous weeds with near global distribution. The tested 29 primers were designed previously for potato based on Solanaceae EST and other genomic databases and targeted 16 different genes. Our results showed that Solanum intron-targeting markers are not very polymorphic but identified considerable structure among accessions indicating fairly high interspecies differentiation. Further analyses showed that inbreeding is unlikely to be the major driving force in determining the genetic structure of the analyzed species. All phylogenetic analyses resolved the species included in our study as distinct clades with high support values, but provided weak information about their internal relationships. In summary, indel markers would be useful for the assignment of new Solanum germplasm to taxonomic groups or to identify certain taxa. They could also be used to address important question about genetic diversity and should yield results comparable to other markers covering the whole genome.