Suppression of wheat-seedling diseases caused by Fusarium culmorum and Microdochium nivale using bacterial seed treatment

Snow mould, caused by Microdochium nivale , and seedling blight caused by members of the Fusarium complex, are cereal diseases of great economic importance in many temperate zones. In a glasshouse bioassay designed to enhance disease, about 600 plant-associated bacterial isolates obtained by different methods were screened for suppressive effects in wheat against infection caused by Fusarium culmorum . Although most of the isolates tested had a neutral effect on test plants and disease development, a few were synergistic to the pathogen and about one-fifth showed > 80% disease suppression. During five consecutive growing seasons, 164 bacterial isolates were tested in field experiments against both F. culmorum and M. nivale as causal agents of seedling blight. Tests for effects on yield in experiments with spring and winter wheat, performed in different climatic regions of Sweden, showed that disease-suppressive effects were repeatable. The most efficient isolates, three fluorescent pseudomonads and a species of Pantoea , suppressed disease equal to that of the fungicide guazatine, both with respect to crop stand and yield. Seed treatment with Pantoea sp. (isolate MF 626) increased yield by an average of more than 500 kg ha⁻¹ in six field experiments.     

Effect of induced unilateral synovitis of distal intertarsal and tarsometatarsal joints on sagittal plane kinematics and kinetics of trotting horses

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of unilateral synovitis in the distal intertarsal and tarsometatarsal joints on locomotion, including the compensating effects within and between limbs. ANIMALS: 4 clinically normal horses. PROCEDURE: Gait analyses including kinematics, force plate, and inverse dynamic analysis were performed at the trot before lameness, after which synovitis was induced by injecting endotoxin into the right distal intertarsal and tarsometatarsal joints. Gait analyses were repeated 24 to 30 hours later during lameness. Differences between the stride variables during the 2 conditions (lame and sound) were identified. RESULTS: Tarsal joint range of motion, peak vertical force, and vertical impulse were decreased during lameness. Mechanical deficits included a decrease in negative work performed by the tarsal extensors during the early stance phase and a decrease in positive work by the tarsal extensors during push off. No compensatory changes in work were performed by other joints within the lame hind limb during the stance phase. Vertical impulse in the diagonal forelimb decreased, but there were no significant changes in forces or impulses in the ipsilateral forelimb or contralateral hind limb. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicate that horses are able to manage mild, unilateral hind limb lameness by reducing the airborne phase of the stride rather than by increased loading of the compensating limbs.     

Epidemiology of porcine non-specific colitis on Scottish farms

The objective of this study was to investigate epidemiological risk factors for porcine non-specific colitis (NSC). Forty-seven Scottish pig farms, with and without a clinical history of diarrhoea during the growing period (15-40 kg), were selected. The study included farm visits, clinical inspection of pigs, completion of farm management questionnaires, pathological tests into the cause of the diarrhoea and analysis of the non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) content of feeds. The results from 17 farms designated as NSC and 10 control farms suggest dietary associations with NSC. Farms with NSC fed diets with significantly higher levels of NSPs, especially containing the sugars glucose, arabinose and xylose. Few management factors were identified, although the high prevalence of infectious colitis reduced the power of the study.     

Cyclooxygenase ‐2 Expression in Mammary Tumors in Dogs and its Correlation to Histologic and Biologic Behavior

Introduction:  Cyclooxygenase‐2 (Cox‐2) is the inducible form and the rate‐limiting enzyme, for conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. Cox‐2 overexpression, common in carcinomas, is associated with increased growth rate, resistance to apoptosis, angiogenesis, and overall, both local and distant aggressive behavior. Cox‐2 overexpression has been detected in human and canine mammary tumors (MTs). Histopathology of canine MT is not always predictive of biologic behavior, and anecdotally, only 50% of the malignant MTs are expected to metastasize. We hypothesize that Cox‐2 expression correlates with aggressive behavior.
Methods:  This retrospective study evaluated 48 bitches, presented for excision of MT between 2000 and 2003 at FMVZ de Botucatu‐UNESP, Brasil. Follow‐up varied from 18 months to 24 months and included physical examination and thoracic radiographs. Histopathologic examination was performed in all tumors, as well as in metastatic lesions when detected in the follow‐up period. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect expression of Cox‐2 in paraffin blocks (Rabbit polyclonal anti‐PGHS‐2. Oxford Biomedical). 10 adenomas, 10 carcinomas, 10 benign mixed tumors, 10 malignant mixed tumors and 8 cases of primary carcinomas and their metastatic lesions.
Results:  Expression of Cox‐2 varied among groups. Adenomas (32.1%), mixed benign tumors (38%), carcinomas (60.3%), malignant mixed tumors (65.8%), and metastatic carcinomas (81.25%) and their metastatic lesions (84.35%). Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed between the benign and malignant counterparts and between carcinomas and metastatic carcinomas.
Conclusions:  Cox‐2 expression correlates with both histologic and biologic behavior in mammary carcinomas, and may serve as a predictor of metastatic potential.     

Conservation of the European Mink (Mustela lutreola): Focus on Reproduction and Reproductive Technologies

The European mink ( Mustela lutreola ) is a small mammal, which belongs to the Mustelidae family ( Carnivora) . Earlier, the range of distribution of this species encompassed much of the European continent. During the 20th century, the numbers of European mink declined and the range of its distribution became reduced to three fragmented populations; today this species faces extinction. The urgent necessity for effective conservation efforts to protect the European mink is accepted by the governmental organizations as well as scientific communities of most European countries. In this paper, the reasons for the disappearance of European mink are reviewed and results of past conservation efforts based on captive breeding and reintroduction programmes are critically evaluated in the broad context of modern concepts of conservation genetics and reproductive biology. The data recently obtained on the reproduction and pre-implantation development of European mink and the prospects of incorporation of modern reproductive technologies into the conservation programme of this species are discussed.     

A questionnaire survey of the prevalence of scrapie in sheep in Britain

An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire has been used in two independent surveys to try to determine the prevalence of scrapie in the national sheep flock. The disease was recorded in 35 counties in England and Wales. About a third (26.5 and 37.3 percent) of respondents owning 100 or more sheep indicated that they had seen sheep with scrapie in their flocks. The incidences of clinical cases recorded in affected flocks in the two surveys were 0.5 and 1.1 cases/100 ewes/year. At present there is no control over the disposal of these animals. If as has been suggested, an increase in the prevalence of scrapie was a contributory factor in the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, it would seem logical that measures should be introduced to monitor the prevalence and incidence of scrapie and to control the disposal of clinical cases.     

Exploration of plant genomes in the FLAGdb++ environment

Background

Efficient high throughput screening systems of useful mutants are prerequisite for study of plant functional genomics and lots of application fields. Advance in such screening tools, thanks to the development of analytic instruments. Direct analysis in real-time (DART)-mass spectrometry (MS) by ionization of complex materials at atmospheric pressure is a rapid, simple, high-resolution analytical technique. Here we describe a rapid, simple method for the genetic discrimination of intact Arabidopsis thaliana mutant seeds using metabolic profiling by DART-MS.

Results

To determine whether this DART-MS combined by multivariate analysis can perform genetic discrimination based on global metabolic profiling, intact Arabidopsis thaliana mutant seeds were subjected to DART-MS without any sample preparation. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of DART-MS spectral data from intact seeds classified 14 different lines of seeds into two distinct groups: Columbia (Col-0) and Landsberg erecta (Ler) ecotype backgrounds. A hierarchical dendrogram based on partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) subdivided the Col-0 ecotype into two groups: mutant lines harboring defects in the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway and mutants without these defects. These results indicated that metabolic profiling with DART-MS could discriminate intact Arabidopsis seeds at least ecotype level and metabolic pathway level within same ecotype.

Conclusion

The described DART-MS combined by multivariate analysis allows for rapid screening and metabolic characterization of lots of Arabidopsis mutant seeds without complex metabolic preparation steps. Moreover, potential novel metabolic markers can be detected and used to clarify the genetic relationship between Arabidopsis cultivars. Furthermore this technique can be applied to predict the novel gene function of metabolic mutants regardless of morphological phenotypes.     

Serobiotypes and virulence genes of Escherichia coli strains isolated from diarrheic and healthy rabbits in Brazil

A total of 178 Escherichia coli isolates from diarrheic and healthy rabbits in the S?o Paulo State (Brazil) were serobiotyped and investigated by PCR for the presence of virulence genes. Among the 90 (50.6%) isolates which possessed the eae gene, 74 were from diarrheic animals and all but one encoded intimin beta. Sixty five (72.2%) of the eae+ isolates had insertion of the locus of enterocyte effacement locus in the pheU locus, 11 (12.2%) in the selC and 14 (15.6%) did not insert in either of these loci. All isolates were negative for genes of the E. coli enterotoxins, Stx1, Stx2, CNF1, CNF2 and EHEC hemolysin. The O132:H2 serotype was dominant, being present in 63 isolates (70%) of the 90 eae+ isolates, and 57 of the 63 isolates of this serotype belonged to biotype 30. PCR detected the gene for AF/R2 fimbriae in 75 (83.3%) of the 90 eae+ isolates. Adherence to HeLa cells was best detected following 6h incubation and a positive fluorescence actin staining (FAS) test was given by 52 isolates. These data show that isolates of E. coli associated with diarrhea in rabbits in Brazil possess the genotype and phenotype typically associated with rabbit enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). We conclude that EPEC that possess the eae gene are a common cause of diarrhea in Brazilian rabbit farms and that the pathogenic eae+ AF/R2+ isolates of O132:H2:B30 serobiotype are especially predominant.