Asymptomatic encephalitis in calves experimentally infected with bovine herpesvirus-5

This study demonstrated that bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV)-5 infected calves can develop encephalitis and remain asymptomatic. Seven calves were infected intranasally and monitored for 30 days. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis was performed from the onset of neurological signs. Multiple sections of brain and the trigeminal ganglion were submitted to histopathology. Virus detection (PCR and isolation) was performed on CSF and tissues. Four calves developed signs of neurologic disease and died. Three calves remained asymptomatic and were euthanized 30 days post-infection. Cerebrospinal fluid mononuclear pleocytosis occurred in symptomatic and asymptomatic calves. BoHV-5 was isolated and viral DNA was detected in multiple areas of the encephalon of all calves. The viral DNA was detected in the CSF of 2 calves showing neurological signs. Histologically, inflammation was noted in the brain of all calves and confirmed that the encephalitis caused by BoHV-5 may be mild and asymptomatic.     

Foraging Behavior of Alberes Cattle in a Mediterranean Forest Ecosystem

The dietary composition of the semiferal cattle population in the Alberes Natural Park in northeastern Spain was determined four times per year, from June 2002 to February 2004, by microhistological analysis of a total of 120 fecal samples. Woody species, mainly the Quercus and Erica genera, formed the bulk of the diet, reaching 89% of it in winter. However, in spring and summer, the proportion of woody and herbaceous species varied between samples, depending on the habitat where they were collected. The forest samples contained 67% woody species in summer, whereas grassland samples only contained 44%. The results showed that the Alberes cattle population grazed actively in Mediterranean forests and consumed a high proportion of the most combustible species, such as the Erica genus (39% of the epidermal fragments in winter samples). Even when grassland habitat was utilized, in spring and summer, one-third of the diet was from woody species. Some bovines, such as the Alberes cattle breed, can therefore survive year-round in a forest habitat with little forage supplementation, and the consumption of a predominantly woody diet would be expected to reduce forest fire hazards.     

Characterization of Pectobacterium species from Iran using biochemical and molecular methods

Characteristics of forty strains from macerated potato tubers and water-soaked lesions of some ornamental plants were studied in north parts of Iran. The causal organisms isolated from infected tissues were identified as Pectobacterium spp. based on their physiological and biochemical assays and confirmed by species and subspecies specific PCR and RFLP analysis of 16S–23S intergenic transcribed spacer region. Artificial inoculation of isolates to their related hosts generated the same symptoms on potato and ornamental plants, from which the same bacteria were isolated and identified. We detected two groups of atypical isolates in this study. The first group from potato classified as Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum by phenotypic tests but was unable to elicit HR on tobacco leaves, to grow at 37°C and to amplify the pel gene relevant to this subspecies. The second one from ornamental plants which was again characterized as Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum in biochemical assays, produced a unique ITS-RFLP profile different from all of known Pectobacterium species and subspecies. Our findings based on phylogenetic analysis using concatenated partial sequences of housekeeping genes mdh and gapA, indicated the occurrence of P. wasabiae as a novel species in potato storage in Iran. Furthermore we detected a distinct clade of Pectobacterium spp. from some ornamental plants including Schlumbergera bridgesii, Syngonium podophyllum and Iris spp.     

Food intake and utilization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alabama argillacea</Emphasis> (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) fed on cotton cultivars with colored fibers

The study investigated the development, survivorship, and food intake of cotton leafworm Alabama argillacea (Hübner) fed on three cotton cultivars with colored fibers. Significantly shorter larval life-span and higher pupal weight as well as higher survival rates were observed in A. argillacea fed on leaves of BRS Safira and BRS Rubí cotton cultivars compared with the BRS 200 cultivar (BRS = Brazil). Weight gain, feces, and food intake were higher in A. argillacea fed on leaves of BRS Safira compared with the BRS 200 cultivar. The cotton cultivar significantly affected all larval food intake and utilization indices for A. argillacea. The larvae of A. argillacea were more efficient (higher efficiency in converting ingested (ECI) and digested (ECD) food) when fed on leaves of the BRS Safira cultivar in comparison to the BRS 200 cultivar, since the larval phase was shortened and food intake was higher, resulting in a higher growth rate (RGR). However, A. argillacea larvae fed on the leaves of the BRS 200 cultivar, with lower ECI and ECD, exhibited a compensatory response, extending the duration of the larval phase and increasing food intake, resulting in a higher relative metabolic rate. We conclude that BRS Safira provides the best food quality for A. argillacea, BRS 200 the worst, and BRS Rubi plants of intermediate quality.     

Misleading results from conventional gap analysis – Messages from the warming north

Gap analysis is a widely used method for assessing the representation of species in protected area (PA) networks. However, representation does not imply persistence. Here, we investigated whether gap analysis may result in misleading conservation guidelines by comparing the representation to two indicators of persistence. We ran a gap analysis with Finnish breeding birds and identified conservation priorities based on current distribution patterns. We tested the sensitivity of these results by using two target setting schemes and several thresholds defining the amount of protected area, and found the levels of representation identified by gap analysis to be robust. We then compared the gap analysis results with recent population trends and projected changes in potential suitable climate under different climate change scenarios for the year 2050. We show that although high latitude species are well represented in PAs, they are currently declining and are projected to lose climatic suitability in the near future. In contrast, low latitude species with poor representation in PAs have increasing population trends and are generally expected to expand their ranges into protected areas in the near future. This study demonstrates with empirical data a mismatch between representation in PAs and population trends, resulting in misleading understanding of current PA effectiveness. The mismatch is linked to the latitude of species distributions and corresponds to expected future changes, indicating that the patterns are potentially driven by climate change. We therefore urge practitioners and researchers to include better indicators of persistence in gap-analysis frameworks even for short term assessments.     

Detection of two minor phosphorylation sites for bovine κ-casein macropeptide by reversed-phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

This work addresses the characterization of phosphopeptides in bovine κ-casein macropeptide by reversed-phase liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (RPLC-ESI-MS(2)). Two different mass spectrometers, equipped with an ion trap (IT) or a quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) analyzer, were used to perform an accurate phosphorylation site assignment. A total of 8 phosphopeptides from 26 identified peptides were characterized. MS(2) spectra of phosphopeptides were dominated by the neutral loss of a phosphoric acid molecule (H(3)PO(4)) and sufficient informative fragment ions resulting from peptide backbone cleavages enabling the elucidation of the phosphopeptide sequence. A higher number of sequence informative b and y ions were detected using a Q-TOF instead of an IT analyzer. In addition to the well-established phosphorylation sites at Ser(149) and Ser(127), this study also revealed the presence of two minor phosphorylation sites at Thr(145) and Ser(166). These findings indicate that RPLC-ESI-MS(2) on a Q-TOF analyzer is a useful technique for identifying low-abundance phosphorylation sites in caseins.     

Life cycle of Pontoscolex corethrurus () in tropical artificial soil

Pontoscolex corethrurus (Müller) is a widespread, peregrine earthworm species of the Glossoscolecidae family, native to the Neotropics. This endogeic earthworm shows wide tolerance to environmental variations, being found in many different habitats and soil types throughout the tropics and sub-tropics. To evaluate the life cycle of this species in tropical artificial soil (TAS), a substrate used in ecotoxicological tests, and the influence of food availability and humidity on its growth, earthworms were incubated individually under laboratory conditions. The life cycle was evaluated in four treatments with 24 earthworms (replicates) each: TAS (120 g) without additional food (TAS0), TAS with 5 g of horse manure (TAS5), TAS with 10 g of manure (TAS10) and TAS with 25% greater soil moisture with 5 g of manure (TAS5H). Food was provided every 14 d and the containers maintained at room temperature (20 ± 4 °C). Cocoons collected in the field were placed individually in the different treatments and the hatching date, growth, development, and reproduction followed for 50 weeks after hatching. New cocoons hatched at 34 d, adulthood was reached at 8 months, and cocoon deposition began 3 months later, so that its life cycle was completed in 12 months. By the 13th week all juveniles in TAS0 had died due to insufficient food resources, while in the other treatments, all the animals had matured by 44 weeks, with significantly higher biomass and length in TAS10 (0.72 g, 5.4 cm), compared with TAS5 and TAS5H (0.59–0.61 g, 5.1–5.4 cm). Growth and weight gain were positively related to food availability, and no negative effect of excess moisture was observed on their growth. With additional food TAS showed no limitations for the development of the species, and it can be used for ecotoxicological tests involving acute toxicity (mortality) and avoidance, although its potential use in chronic tests (reproduction) is more limited. The length of its life cycle and other biological characteristics associated with this parthenogenetic species create some challenges that must be dealt with before this species can be recommended for wider use as a standard ecotoxicological test species.     

A probability-based approach to match species with reserves when data are at different resolutions

Gap analysis is a protocol for assessing the extent to which valued biodiversity attributes are represented within protected areas. Such analysis involves overlaying the distribution of biodiversity features (e.g. species) with protected areas, but the protocol entails arbitrary assumptions that affect the outcome of the assessments. In particular, since species’ distributions are usually mapped at a coarser resolution than protected areas, rules have to be defined to match the two data layers. Typically, a grid cell is considered protected if a given proportion is covered by protected areas. Because the effectiveness of protected areas is dependent on the definition of such arbitrary proportions (i.e., thresholds), errors of commission and omission in the level of species’ representation are bound to exist. We propose an alternative approach whereby the contribution of a cell for the representation of species is defined as the expected value of a hyper-geometric random variable. We compare the conventional approach based on fixed thresholds with this new probability-based approach for both static and dynamic conservation scenarios, using a virtual dataset and a 100-plant-species’ dataset for Iberian Peninsula. Results support the view that traditional fixed thresholds yield inconsistent results. Because species present different distributional patterns coinciding differently with protected areas, species-specific and time-specific thresholds should be used. Our approach enables to easily obtain these more adequate threshold values, thus offering a promising method for gap analyses. Future studies should seek to evaluate the performance of this method empirically in different conservation planning contexts.     

How much do soil and water contribute to the composition of meat? A case study: meat from three areas of Argentina

The main goal of this study was to propose a reliable method to verify the geographical origin of meat, establishing the influence of soil and water on its isotopic and elemental composition. Thus, beef meat, soil, and water samples were collected from three major cattle-producing regions of Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Entre Ríos). Multielemental composition was determined on these three matrices by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), δ(13)C and δ(15)N by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), and the (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratio by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Soil and drinking water samples could be characterized and clearly differentiated by combining the isotopic ratios and elements, demonstrating differences in geology and climatic conditions of three regions. Similarly, meat originating at each sampling area was characterized and differentiated using only five key variables (Rb, Ca/Sr, δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and (87)Sr/(86)Sr). Generalized procrustes analysis (GPA), using the three studied matrices (soil, water, and meat) shows consensus between them and clear differences between studied areas. Furthermore, canonical correlation analysis (CCA) demonstrates significant correlation between the chemical-isotopic profile of meat with those corresponding to both soil and water (r(2) = 0.93, p < 0.001; and r(2) = 0.83, p < 0.001, respectively). So far, there are clear coincidences between the meat fingerprint and those from soil/water where cattle grew, presenting a good method to establish beef provenance. To the authors' knowledge this is the first report linking the influence of soil and water all together on the composition of beef, presenting the basis for the authentication of Argentinean beef, which could be extended to meat from different provenances.     

A metabolomic approach differentiates between conventional and organic ketchups

The agronomic environments in which tomatoes are cultivated potentially affect the levels of antioxidants and other metabolites in commercial products. In this study, biochemical and metabolomic techniques were used to assess the differences between ketchups produced by organic and conventional systems. An untargeted metabolomic approach using QToF-MS was used to identify those nutrients that have the greatest impact on the overall metabolomic profile of organic ketchups as compared to conventional ones. Individual polyphenols were quantified using LC-ESI-QqQ. This multifaceted approach revealed that the agronomic environment in which tomatoes are grown induces alterations in the content of antioxidant capacity, phenolics, and other metabolites in ketchups. Organic cultivation was found to provide tomatoes and tomato-derived products with a significantly higher content of antioxidant microconstituents, whereas glutamylphenylalanine and N-malonyltryptophan were detected only in conventional ketchups.