Functional risk assessment of handling of sheep housing and pasture areas at a scrapie-infested farm in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania

In the wake of a scrapie monitoring programme 2002 in Mecklenburg-Westpomerania a total of 10 positive cases were identified after culling at a suffolk-farm with about 1000 animals. Scientific based recommendations are difficult to judge as longitudinal studies and subsequent quantitative risk factors regarding the epidemiology of scrapie are either not available or conflicting. Given this background a risk assessment was developed that is based on the probability of validated risk factors considering special husbandry and circumstances at the very farm.     

Molecular markers for detection of pathogenic Escherichia coli strains belonging to serogroups O 138 and O 139

Escherichia coli strains belonging to O-serogroup 138 and 139 are important as disease agents in pigs causing post-weaning diarrhea and edema disease. Several types of shiga toxin-producing O 138 and O 139 strains were isolated from diarrheic humans and from cattle and food of bovine origin. Serotyping is the current method for detection of O 138 and O 139 strains but its applicability can be limited due to the presence of capsules and capsular-like bacterial surface antigens and in the case of rough LPS. To overcome these difficulties for diagnosis, we have developed a specific PCR method suitable for detection of different types of O 138 and O 139 strains. The O-antigen gene clusters of E. coli O 138 and O 139 type strains were sequenced, and the genes were identified on the basis of homology. By screening against 186 E. coli and Shigella type strains, two genes specific to each of E. coli O 138 and O 139 were identified, respectively, and were tested on 15 clinical and environmental isolates of those two serogroups in a double-blind test. The sensitivity of the PCR assays was determined, and the detection limits were 2 pg per mul of chromosomal DNA and 2 CFU per 10 g of water or pork samples. PCR-based detection of O-antigen specific genes of E. coli O 138 and O 139 was shown to be accurate, highly sensitive and rapid, and is suggested as a new diagnostic tool for investigations of infections and outbreaks with these strains in animals and humans and for control of food.     

Brown bear conservation and the ghost of persecution past

Large carnivores, such as brown bears, are focal species for conservation efforts. Historically, brown bears were persecuted in Europe for centuries before their gradual elimination from much of Western Europe. In contrast, large carnivore populations in North America were eradicated within two centuries in the east and within a few decades in the west. After a change towards conservation-oriented management in the 20th century, many bear populations are again increasing on both continents. Europe is seemingly less suited (i.e. higher human densities, greater habitat alteration and landscape fragmentation) than in North America, however bears seem to respond faster to conservation measures in Europe. We analyzed ecological and historical factors that may affect differences in reproductive allocation (mean litter size in relation to mean adult female body mass) and help explain why different brown bear populations react differently to conservation measures. The results indicated that mean litter size increased significantly with mean adult female body mass and a long persecution history. Our results suggest that high and long-term rates of nonselective harvesting can change life-history traits of large mammals, as has also been shown by modeling, but only has been documented for morphological traits. Incidentally, this “ghost of persecution past” may have helped some brown bear populations to be more productive and therefore to respond more positively to protective management policies than populations with short exploitation histories.     

Studies on the effect of different cyclohexane-1,3-diones on de-novo fatty acid biosynthesis in poaceae

Cyclohexane-1,3-diones such as the herbicides cycloxydim, sethoxydim, alloxydim and clethodim are known to be specific inhibitors of the plastid-located acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) in Poaceae, a key enzyme of de-novo fatty acid biosynthesis in higher plants. Using several new cyclohexane-1,3-dione derivatives and known herbicides, the relationships between chemical structure and enzyme inhibition have been studied. The basic cyclohexane-1,3-dione structure was modified at three different positions. These compounds were tested for inhibition of the de novo fatty-acid biosynthesis in test systems of etioplasts isolated from Avena sativa L. and Hordeum vulgare L. seedlings and also for inhibition of the isolated barley ACCase. The I₅₀ values of these cyclohexane-1,3-diones were determined. The influence of the modification of alkyl chains (length and type of substituent) on the degree of ACCase-inhibition is discussed. Several new compounds were found that were about two orders more active than the known herbicides cycloxydim or sethoxydim in the etioplast and ACCase test systems but not necessarily on the level of whole plants.     

A reassessment of the maintenance ration of red tilapia

The tilapias are one of the most important fish groups in aquaculture.In spite of this, relatively few workers have attempted to establish the feedration that would suffice for their maintenance. The results that they present,moreover, do not match, which may be attributed as much to differences inanalytical procedure as to experimental protocol. In this work, previous dataonred tilapia by the late Dr was therefore reassessed in order to arrive at more reliableresults. The dataset was based on fish between 15 and 20g wet body mass givenvarious levels (0, 0.5, 1 & 3% of body mass) of three protein level diets(low: 13.1%, LP; medium, 28.7%, MP; high: 43.9%, HP) at two temperatures (20.9& 24.3 °C). The required feeding level to maintain drybodyweight was 2.52, 2.81 and 7.05 g kg^–0.8 fishweight per day for the HP, MP and LP diets respectively at the highertemperature and 1.92, 2.32 and 5.04 g kg^–0.8day^–1 at the lower temperature. This gave rise to anaverage Q₁₀ coefficient of 2.22. The required feed quantity tomaintain body protein or body energy, however, was in most cases higher, partlybecause the fish initially had high protein and lipid and low ash content.Comparisons with other maintenance estimates for tilapia were also made and thereasons for discrepancies between the results obtained here and elsewherediscussed.     

Physiological and biochemical responses of two faba bean (Vicia faba L.) varieties grown in vitro to salt stress

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the most important legume crops worldwide. High salinity is a major constraint for faba bean productivity in many...     

Behavior of heavy metals from sewage sludge in a Chernozem of the dry belt in Saxony‐Anhalt/Germany

In a small‐plot trial different doses of sewage sludge (equivalent 82‐330 tons of dry matter per hectare) were incorporated in 0—25 cm depth (1982—1985). The aim of the investigations was to study the fate of the heavy metals Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Cr, to determine their concentration in different soil fractions using a sequential extraction method and to ascertain their uptake by Zea mays L. plants. Eleven years after the last application the metals supplied with the sludge had moved as far as 50 cm in depth. The concentrations of Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni, and Cr in the saturation extract of the sampled soil layers were closely correlated with the concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). This result suggests that the heavy metal displacement was partly connected with the DOC movement in the soil. Considerable amounts of Zn and Cd coming from sewage sludge were found in the mobile fractions of the soil. Cu, Ni, and Pb were located especially in organic particles, and Cr was obviously bound by Fe‐oxides. Nine years after the last application the binding species of heavy metals were still different compared with those in the untreated soil. The whole withdrawal of heavy metals by plants yielded <1 % of the applied amounts. In the case of Zn the uptake from the sludge amended soil decreased during the experimental period. No similar tendency was observed for the other elements. In any case their annual variations of uptake exceeded the effect of sludge application.     

Serological marking of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pnigalio agraules</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) for field dispersal studies

The parasitoid wasp Pnigalio agraules (Wlk.) is a key natural enemy of the horsechestnut leafminer Cameraria ohridella Deschka and Dimić (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae). As a basis for mark-release-recapture studies, aimed at investigating the dispersal of this parasitoid in the field, adults of P. agraules were marked using a vertebrate-specific immunoglobulin (IgG). The marker was later detected by double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA). The IgG was either applied externally by spraying or internally by feeding an IgG-enriched diet. Different concentrations of the marker were used and the influence of abiotic (climatic conditions, time elapsed between marking and marker examination) and biotic factors (sex and age of the parasitoids) on the detection of the immunomarker was tested. External marking by spraying led to more homogeneous labelling than feeding the marker. Parasitoids labelled with 0.25 mg rabbit IgG per ten individuals contained enough immunomarker to be easily distinguished from unmarked ones. Neither the climatic conditions nor the sex or age of the insects had an influence on the detection of the marker. The IgG remained well detectable during the entire lifespan of the parasitoids, which was not negatively affected by the marking procedure. Serological marking can be used to investigate the dispersal behaviour of beneficial insects within mark-release-recapture studies.     

Variation of flavonoids and furanocoumarins in grapefruit juices: a potential source of variability in grapefruit juice-drug interaction studies

Grapefruit juice (GFJ) has been found to interact with several medications, increasing their oral bioavailability and the risk of toxicity. Inhibition of CYP3A4 in the small intestine by flavonoids (such as naringin and naringenin) and furanocoumarins (including bergamottin and 6',7'-dihydroxybergamottin) present in GFJ seems to be the predominant mechanism, although P-glycoprotein and influx transporters in the small intestine are also involved. The quantity of interactive compounds ingested may affect the magnitude and mechanism of the food-drug interaction. Therefore, these four compounds were quantified by HPLC analysis in commercially available and fresh-squeezed GFJ and in grapefruit tissues. Considerable variability in naringin (174-1492 micromol/L), bergamottin (1.0-36.6 micromol/L), and 6',7'-dihydroxybergamottin (0.22-52.5 micromol/L) was observed, whereas naringenin could not be detected. White grapefruit showed higher concentrations of naringin and furanocoumarins located in the albedo and flavedo compared with red varieties. Findings from this study suggest considering concentrations of components with a potential for drug interactions in GFJ-drug interaction studies. The concentration of potentially contributing compounds may crucially influence the magnitude of observed interaction and impair direct comparison of studies in which different juices have been used.