Genetic parameters estimates for ewes’ behavioural reactivity towards their litter after lambing

In livestock, improving maternal reactivity towards the litter is an important issue in breeding strategies to promote production and animal welfare. As of yet, no studies have investigated the within-breed genetic variation of maternal reactivity in sheep. The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters of maternal reactivity traits. A total of 1,095 primiparous and 1,441 multiparous Romane ewes were phenotyped 24 hr postlambing using a behavioural test (arena test, AT) over a 10-year experimental period. The test consisted of three successive phases evaluating the ewe's attraction to her litter, reactivity to separation from her litter, and reactivity to a conflict between attraction to her litter and avoidance of a motionless human. The ewes were reared exclusively on rangelands (South of France) and lambed outdoors in the spring. High-pitched bleating and low-pitched bleating in the AT were mostly highly heritable (0.39‒0.46). Heritabilities were moderate for proximity to the litter in the presence of a human (0.27) and low for locomotion and vigilance in the AT (0.09‒0.15). The measurements of a given behaviour in the three phases of the AT were highly genetically correlated. Few genetic correlations were found between the different behavioural traits in the AT, the highest correlations being between high-pitched bleating and low-pitched bleating (−0.43 to −0.77). In conclusion, our findings demonstrate moderate-to-high heritability for maternal reactivity traits. These traits could be included in genetic selection schemes to enhance maternal attachment provided there is no unfavourable link with other production traits.     

Marker-assisted selection efficiency in multiple connected populations: a simulation study based on the results of a QTL detection experiment in maize

Many studies already investigated marker-assisted selection (MAS) efficiency but mainly in biparental populations. Connected multiparental populations address a broader diversity and confer a gain of power for QTL detection which must be beneficial for MAS. Our objective was to compare multiparental connected designs to biparental populations taken separately for MAS and phenotypic selection. We first detected QTL for flowering time and grain yield in an experimental maize design involving four parental inbred lines crossed to produce six different biparental populations and confirmed the advantage of multiparental connected designs over biparental populations for QTL detection. Based on these results we performed stochastic simulations to evaluate the expected efficiency of four generations of MAS and phenotypic selection. Different parameters were considered: trait heritability, genetic architecture and whether QTL were assumed to be known or have to be detected. Genetic gains were higher in the multiparental design than on average over the biparental populations considered separately, especially when favourable alleles were equally distributed among parental lines. When QTL detection was included in the simulation process, we found that type I error risk considered for declaring QTL as significant should be adapted to the design. Type I error risks leading to the best response were higher for the biparental populations than for the multiparental design. Besides addressing a broader diversity, multiparental designs increase the power of QTL detection, which reinforces their superiority over biparental designs for MAS. Application of MAS to multiparental designs therefore appears promising to accelerate genetic gain in plant breeding programs.     

Characterisation of sunflower root colonisation by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoma macdonaldii</Emphasis>

Phoma macdonaldii, the causal agent of black stem disease of sunflower (Helianthus annuus), also attacks roots and collars of the plants, resulting in early death. Totally resistant lines do not exist for infection of the aerial parts, but tolerant lines have been characterised. This paper presents a study on colonisation of a partially resistant and a susceptible sunflower line by P. macdonaldii. The fungus was transformed with a constitutively expressed reporter gene encoding the jellyfish green fluorescent protein via Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and colonisation of sunflower roots by this transformed strain was studied by various microscopy techniques including confocal and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that penetration of the fungus into the root occurred through natural fissures or through the epidermis and was similar in both lines. In contrast, the colonisation rate of the stele was reduced in the partially resistant line, and the morphology of the fungal hyphae was also affected. The effect on hyphal morphology was strongest in the stele, indicating a localised production of defence compounds in this line.     

Early hepatic immune response in rats infected with Fasciola hepatica

We investigated the phenotype of the T cells (CD4+ and CD8+) that produced Th1 (IFN-gamma) and Th2 cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) during the firsttwo weeks of experimental fasciolosis in rats. We also followed the kinetics of the cytokine and proliferative responses of hepatic mononuclear cells (HMNC) over the same period. We found that HMNC were more numerous in the infected animals than in the controls. The percentage of CD4+ cells increased significantly after infection, whereas the percentage of CD8+ cells did not change. Moreover, the frequency of the cells producing (CP) cytokine changed after infection. The frequency of CP IFN-gamma on 7 days postinfection (pi) was similar to that in control animals. However, the frequency of CP IFN-gamma was clearly lower on day 14 pi, whereas the frequency of CP IL-4 and CP IL-10 had increased. The CP IL-10-were mostly CD4+. Mitogenic stimulation (phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin) of HMNC led to an increase in the amounts of the Th2 cytokines in the supernatant on days 7 and 14 pi, with the increase more pronounced on day 14. In contrast, IFN-gamma levels also increased by day 7 pi but then decreased to below control levels by day 14. In addition, HMNC proliferation in response to mitogen followed a similar pattern to IFN-gamma production. These findings suggested that, during the first 2 weeks of infection, F hepatica induced a transient ThO cytokine profile followed by downregulation of the cellular response and the induction of a Th2 cytokine profile.     

Environmental drivers of community diversity in a neotropical urban landscape: a multi-scale analysis

Context

Many aquatic communities are linked by the aerial dispersal of multiple, interacting species and are thus structured by processes occurring in both the aquatic and terrestrial compartments of the ecosystem.

Objectives

To evaluate the environmental factors shaping the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities associated with tank bromeliads in an urban landscape.

Methods

Thirty-two bromeliads were georeferenced to assess the spatial distribution of the aquatic meta-habitat in one city. The relative influence of the aquatic and terrestrial habitats on the structure of macroinvertebrate communities was analyzed at four spatial scales (radius = 10, 30, 50, and 70 m) using redundancy analyses.

Results

We sorted 18,352 aquatic macroinvertebrates into 29 taxa. Water volume and the amount of organic matter explained a significant part of the taxa variance, regardless of spatial scale. The remaining variance was explained by the meta-habitat size (i.e., the water volume for all of the bromeliads within a given surface area), the distance to the nearest building at small scales, and the surface area of buildings plus ground cover at larger scales. At small scales, the meta-habitat size influenced the two most frequent mosquito species in opposite ways, suggesting spatial competition and coexistence. Greater vegetation cover favored the presence of a top predator.

Conclusions

The size of the meta-habitat and urban landscape characteristics influence the structure of aquatic communities in tank bromeliads, including mosquito larval abundance. Modifications to this landscape will affect both the terrestrial and aquatic compartments of the urban ecosystem, offering prospects for mosquito management during urban planning.

     

Radar soundings of the subsurface of Mars

The martian subsurface has been probed to kilometer depths by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument aboard the Mars Express orbiter. Signals penetrate the polar layered deposits, probably imaging the base of the deposits. Data from the northern lowlands of Chryse Planitia have revealed a shallowly buried quasi-circular structure about 250 kilometers in diameter that is interpreted to be an impact basin. In addition, a planar reflector associated with the basin structure may indicate the presence of a low-loss deposit that is more than 1 kilometer thick.     

Shedding routes of Coxiella burnetii in dairy cows: implications for detection and control

Reliable detection of Coxiella burnetii shedders is a critical point for the control of the spread of this bacterium among animals and from animals to humans. Coxiella burnetii is shed by ruminants mainly by birth products (placenta, birth fluids), but may also be shed by vaginal mucus, milk, and faeces, urine and semen. However, the informative value of these types of samples to identify shedders under field conditions is unknown. Our aim was then to describe the responses obtained using a real-time PCR technique applied to milk, vaginal mucus and faeces samples taken from 242 dairy cows in commercial dairy herds known to be naturally infected with Coxiella burnetii, and to assess their putative associations. Positive results were found in all types of tested samples even in faeces. No predominant shedding route was identified. Among the shedder cows, 65.4% were detected as shedders by only one route. By contrast, cows with positive results for all three samples were scarce (less than 7%). Testing a cow based on only one type of biological sample may lead to misclassify it with regards to its shedding of Coxiella burnetii and thereby underestimate the risk of bacterial spread within a herd.     

Current therapies in exotic animal oncology.

The majority of information on oncology therapies has been reported in humans, canine, and feline patients, and laboratory animals with experimentally induced tumors. A variety of treatments,including radiation therapy, chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and others have been used with exotic animals. There are many species of exotic pets, and anatomic differences, as well as husbandry and nutritional requirements, must be taken into account to provide optimal care. By providing a broad overview of therapies and considerations for treatment, this article is intended to provide the practitioner with an overview of approach and options when addressing oncology cases in exotic animals.     

Evidence of the exploitation of marine resource by the terrestrial insect Scapteriscus didactylus through stable isotope analyzes of its cuticle

Background  

About 4 × 10⁵ eggs in more than 5000 marine turtle nests are deposited every year on a 3.6 km long beach in French Guiana (South America). The dry biomass of eggs is estimated to be 5 × 10³ kg, yet only 25% of this organic matter will return to the ocean in the form of hatchlings. Such amounts of organic matter are supposed to drive the functioning of the beach ecosystem. Previous studies have shown that egg predators and detritivorous organisms dominate the trophic relationships and the dynamics of the system. The role of a terrestrial insect Scapteriscus didactylus (Latreille), which damages up to 40% of the eggs of the marine turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), was unexpected. However it was impossible from direct observations to prove that the mole cricket consumed a significant amount of these eggs. Therefore, the precise place of the mole cricket in the nitrogen and carbon cycles of the beach ecosystem could not be determined. In order to answer this question, we looked for a marine signature of carbon and nitrogen source metabolized by the mole cricket.     

The establishment and impact of Pseudorasbora parva,an exotic fish species introduced into Lake Mikri Prespa (north-western Greece)

• 1. The topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva Schlegel, 1842, a south-east asian cyprinid, was introduced accidentally in the Danube Delta in Romania in the 1960s and has now achieved a pan-Danubian distribution. P. parva has been introduced into other countries, such as Greece, usually inadvertently included with other species imported for fish farming. In 1984–85, during a study of the fish populations of Lake Mikri Prespa (north-west Greece), several topmouth gudgeon were caught. Our aim was to study the changes in the population size of P. parva over nearly 10 years, to study its life history traits and to assess its potential impacts on native fish species.
• 2. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) in spring increased significantly between 1984 and 1992. We found evidence that P. parva has established a breeding population in the lake. P. parva combines many characteristics likely to favour a successful colonization (resistance to harsh climatic conditions, early sexual maturity, extended breeding season, broad dietary spectrum). Growth in Lake Prespa, where the oldest individuals captured were 3 years old, is very similar to that observed within its native range.
• 3. There is evidence for dietary overlap between P. parva and three endemic species: Paraphoxinus epiroticus prespensis, Cobitis meridionalis and Alburnoides bipunctatus ohridanus. No decline in the populations of these three species has yet been demonstrated. Other possible impacts are discussed. The successful colonization by P. parva was certainly favoured by the absence of a true piscivorous fish in the lake and by the isolation and high level of endemism of fish communities.
• 4. The conservation of the many endemic species in the lake should be a priority and the introduction of exotic species should be banned.