Fate of feed plant DNA monitored in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

The effect of the digestion process in the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) of animal models on the fate and integrity of plant DNA has been widely evaluated since DNA availability and integrity is a key factor for hypothetical horizontal gene transfer of recombinant DNA from GM crop-derived feeds to animal and human gut microflora. In this study, plant DNA sequences from high and low copy number genes were monitored in GIT and tissues of buffaloes and rabbits. Using a real-time PCR approach to track plant DNA in animal samples, we demonstrated the persistence of fragmented plant DNA blood and tissues of buffaloes and rabbits raised with conventional feeding.     

Serum C-reactive protein concentrations in dogs with multicentric lymphoma undergoing chemotherapy

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration is high in dogs with multicentric lymphoma, whether CRP concentration changes in response to chemotherapy, and whether CRP concentration can be used as a marker for relapse in dogs with multicentric lymphoma. DESIGN: Cohort study. ANIMALS: 20 dogs with multicentric lymphoma and 8 healthy control dogs undergoing chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (CVP) or with vincristine, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and L-asparaginase (VCMA) and 20 other healthy dogs. PROCEDURES: Serum CRP concentration was measured weekly during the first month of chemotherapy and then at 3-week intervals until relapse in dogs with multicentric lymphoma, weekly for 16 weeks in healthy dogs undergoing chemotherapy, and once in the healthy dogs not undergoing chemotherapy. RESULTS: For both groups of dogs with lymphoma, mean serum CRP concentration during week 1 (prior to treatment) was significantly higher than mean concentrations following induction of chemotherapy and at the time of relapse. Mean serum CRP concentration in the healthy dogs undergoing chemotherapy was not significantly different at any time from mean concentration for the healthy dogs not undergoing chemotherapy. No significant differences were observed between dogs treated with CVP and dogs treated with VCMA. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that serum CRP concentration is high in dogs with multicentric lymphoma but that serum CRP concentration is not a useful marker for relapse and that chemotherapy itself does not affect serum CRP concentration.     

Invertebrate diversity associated with a shallow rhodolith bed in the Mediterranean Sea (Mar Piccolo of Taranto,south-east Italy)

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Environmental DNA as a non‐invasive sampling tool to detect the spawning distribution of European anadromous shads (Alosa spp.)

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In vitro and in silico analysis of two genes (A2-1 and G1-1) differentially regulated during dormancy and sprouting in potato tubers

Summary Two cDNAs, corresponding to genes differentially regulated during dormancy and sprouting in potato tubers, cultivar Désirée, were isolated: i) G1-1 corresponded to a gene that was turned off during dormancy and turned on during early phases of sprouting; ii) A2-1 corresponded to a gene activated during dormancy and strongly repressed during the transition from dormancy to sprouting. When induced, both genes were expressed at low level. Full-length cDNAs and genomic clones were isolated and characterized. G1-1 was a short gene, 452 bp long, containing an intronless open reading frame, coding for a putative protein of 64 aminoacids. Sequence analysis showed that G1-1 was homologous to an expressed sequence tag (EST) ofArabidopsis thaliana. A2-1 full-length cDNA was 1577 bp long and contained an open reading frame coding for a putative protein of 383 aminoacids, which contained a Walker box binding domain, common to a multifunctional family of intracellular ATPases.     

Silencing of G1-1 and A2-1 genes. Effects on general plant phenotype and on tuber dormancy inSolanum tuberosum L.

Summary We have evaluated the effect that the, silencing of two genes specifically expressed in conditions of dormancy (A2-1) and sprouting (G1-1) had on tuber dormancy. For this purpose potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Désirée) were transformed with the antisense of the genes G1-1 and A2-1 under the control of constitutive 35S CaMV promoter. A first generation of transgenic plants was propagated from axenic stem cuttings and a second generation by tuber planting. The plants obtined were analyzed for the length of dormancy, plant morphology and agronomic characteristics. Statistical analysis of dormancy in lines obtained from the original transformants for the antisense of G1-1 gene showed a significant increase in length as compared with different types of control plants, with few effects on plant vegetative habit and tuber production. In contrast, results obtained on A2-1 antisense transformed plants did not reveal any significant change on the length of dormancy. Here we report small-scale field trials performed with the aim to select and regenerate commercially exploitable potato plants with a stable transgene-dependent phenotype, affecting the length of dormancy.     

Reducing the incidence of cereal head infection and mycotoxins in small grain cereal species

Reducing the level of infection of cereal heads caused by Fusarium and associated mycotoxin accumulation in grains is of a high priority in order to secure the yield, agronomic performance, and food and feed safety from field to table. Strategies to tackle the problem have been proposed at many levels, including greater knowledge of the biology of toxigenic fungi and of plant–pathogen interactions, monitoring activities which extend from the field to the end-products, pre-breeding, breeding and transgenesis to develop new resistant plant varieties, crop protection based on synthetic or natural molecules, biocontrol of fungal populations, the development and use of models that take into account the climatic conditions, and the adoption of technological protocols for reducing or inactivating mycotoxins. This review article highlights that the problem is very complex but that the scientific community continues to produce important knowledge and potential solutions.