Socio-spatial organization reveals paternity and low kinship in the Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba) in Costa Rica

Ectophylla alba is a tent-making bat that roosts in mixed-sex clusters comprising adults and offspring. Our goal was to determine the genetic identity of individuals belonging to different roosting groups. We tested the hypothesis of kin selection as a major force structuring group composition. We used 9 microsatellites designed for E. alba to determine the genetic identity and probability of parentage of individuals. We analyzed parentage and kinship using the software ML-Relate, GenAIEx, and Cervus. The obtained relationship probabilities (0.5) revealed a clear maternal relationship between female adults and offspring with allele compatibility, and at least 5 relationships between male adults and pups. We found a low degree of relatedness within roosting groups. Between roosting groups at different sites, the mean probability of a half-sibling relationship ranged from 0.214 to 0.244 and, for full-sibling relationship, from 0.383 to 0.553. Genetically, adult individuals were poorly related within clusters, and kinship as an evolutionary force could not explain group membership.     

Efficacy of a single milbemycin oxime administration in combination with praziquantel against experimentally induced heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in cats

The efficacy of a combination of milbemycin oxime and praziquantel in preventing the establishment of experimentally induced heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection was investigated in a study involving 24 young domestic short-hair cats. The animals were inoculated with 50 infective larvae on day 0. Subsequently they were divided into two groups of 12 animals each. The animals in group 1 were treated once with medicated tablets containing 4 mg milbemycin (minimum dose 2 mg/kg body weight) and 10 mg praziquantel (MILBEMAX) on day 30 after infection. Cats in group 2 received placebo tablets on the same day. On day 183 post-infection a blood sample was taken from each animal before euthanasia and necropsy. The blood samples were tested for the presence of microfilariae and the necropsied animals were examined for the presence of adult worms. Microfilariae were not found in any of the investigated cats. No heartworms were found in the animals in group 1 (treated with medicated tablets). Out of the 12 placebo-treated cats 1 was heartworm-free, whereas all the others were found to be infected with 1-3 adult heartworms.     

Evaluation of head-out constant volume body plethysmography for measurement of specific airway resistance in conscious, sedated sheep

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of a modified whole body plethysmograph in awake sheep. ANIMALS: 10 healthy adult sheep. PROCEDURE: Concurrent measurements of specific airway resistance (sR(aw)) and pulmonary resistance (R(L)) were obtained using a novel noninvasive head-out constant-volume plethysmograph and esophageal balloon-pneumotachography, respectively. All data were collected before and after external resistive loading with 1 and 5.6 cm H2O/L/s. Functional residual capacity (FRC) was measured by helium dilution for computation of airway resistance (R(aw)) preloading (R(aw) = sR(aw)/FRC). RESULTS: The sR(aw) and R(L) were closely correlated in 10 adult sheep. Additionally, sR(aw), and R(L) accurately reflected the magnitude of added resistance. The mean FRC was 52 mL/kg and used to calculate R(aw). At baseline, the values for R(aw) were significantly correlated with sR(aw) and R(L). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Precise measurements of sR(aw) and R(aw) at baseline and sR(aw) after external resistive loading were obtained by use of this novel noninvasive plethysmographic technology. This method should have application to veterinary patients or animals used in research in which noninvasive rapid or serial measurements of sR(aw) in the conscious state are required.     

Extracts of the endemic resurrection plant Haberlea rhodopensis stimulate in vitro growth of various Phytophthora spp. pathogens

The Phytophthora pathogens are among the most important pests in the modern agriculture and forestry. This makes them a subject of intensive studies, including laboratory experiments with in vitro culture on various plant-derived media. Here we show that leaf extracts from the resurrection endemic plant Haberlea rhodopensis stimulates significantly the in vitro growth of various isolates from several Phytophthora species. The extracts stimulate the formation of oospores in some heterothallic species. In this respect, the idea to propose Haberlea extracts as a potential ingredient of culture media for Phytophthora spp. maintenance under controlled conditions or as a component of detection systems for Phytophthora presence in nature seems quite attractive and promising.     

Effectiveness of capillary electrophoresis fluoroimmunoassay of blood PrpSc for evaluation of scrapie pathogenesis in sheep.

Management of prion diseases in livestock would benefit greatly from availability of a validated blood test. A promising immunocapillary electrophoresis technique (also known as capillary electrophoresis fluoroimmunoassay) to detect abnormal prion protein in blood from live sheep is evaluated here. Capillary electrophoresis fluoroimmunoassay was applied to analysis of extracted blood from scrapie-exposed sheep (n = 87; 347 samples) at various stages of incubation, and to control sheep (n = 194; 489 samples). Overall, test values for the control and test populations were not significantly different, and a similar proportion of control (7%) and test (10%) sheep were classified as positive. Over 2-3 month intervals from birth until clinical disease, test specificity and sensitivity ranged from 66.7% to 100% and 0% to 66.7%, respectively, indicating poor diagnostic performance at all stages of pathogenesis. In routine application, in its present form, the capillary electrophoresis fluoroimmunoassay procedure proved to be insufficiently robust for use as a blood test for scrapie diagnosis.     

Surgical decompression,with or without adjunctive therapy,for palliative treatment of primary vertebral osteosarcoma in dogs

Vertebral osteosarcoma (OSA) is the most common primary vertebral tumor in dogs, however studies examining the survival time after surgical decompression of these tumors are limited. There is also limited information regarding the benefit of adjunctive treatments such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy in these patients. The goal of this study was to determine survival time of dogs with primary vertebral OSA after palliative decompressive surgery alone and combined with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. Records from 22 client‐owned dogs diagnosed with primary vertebral OSA and treated with decompressive surgery were collected retrospectively from eight referral institutions. Survival time was assessed for dogs treated with surgery alone as well as dogs who received adjunctive radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. Median survival time in the 12 dogs treated with surgery alone was 42 days (range: 3‐1333 days). The three dogs treated with surgery and chemotherapy had a median survival time of 82 days (range: 56‐305 days). Only one dog was treated with surgery and radiation therapy; this dog survived 101 days. Six dogs were treated with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy; these dogs had a median survival time of 261 days (range: 223‐653 days). Cause of death in all cases that survived the initial postoperative period was euthanasia secondary to confirmed or suspected tumor regrowth. The results of this study suggest that definitive radiation therapy, possibly combined with concurrent chemotherapy, significantly improves survival in dogs treated with palliative decompressive surgery for vertebral OSA and should be the treatment of choice in selected cases.     

Genetic background of CTX‐M‐15‐producing Enterobacter hormaechei ST114 and Citrobacter freundii ST265 co‐infecting a free‐living green turtle (Chelonia mydas)

CTX‐M‐type extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase (ESBL)‐producing Enterobacteriaceae have become identified in marine ecosystem constituting a serious ecological issue. In this respect, although contamination of coastal waters and seafood, and even colonization of seabirds and fishes have been increasingly reported, molecular data are lacking to elucidate the clinical impact of ESBL producers in infected marine animals. In this study, using a genomic approach, we have analysed the genetic background of CTX‐M‐15‐producing Enterobacter hormaechei (belonging to the international human clone ST114) and Citrobacter freundii (ST265) co‐infecting a free‐living green turtle (Chelonia mydas) suffering from septic arthritis, which progressed to generalized coelomitis and death. Wide resistome of these pathogens contributed to treatment failure and death of the animal.     

Effect of low-phytate barley or phytase supplementation to a barley-soybean meal diet on phosphorus retention and excretion by grower pigs

Two studies were conducted to determine the effect of diets containing low-phytate barley or supplemented with phytase on P balance and excretion in grower pigs. In Exp. 1, eight 32-kg barrows were assigned to a repeated, 4 x 4 Latin square design and fed 4 diets that contained 96% barley: normal-phytate hulled barley (HB), low-phytate hulled barley (LPHB), normal-phytate hull-less barley (HLB), and low-phytate hull-less barley (LPHLB). The barley cultivars contained 0.16, 0.05, 0.24, and 0.03% phytate, respectively. Inorganic P (iP) was added to the HB and HLB diets to meet the 1998 National Research Council recommendation of available P (aP, 0.23%), whereas LPHB and LPHLB contained sufficient aP. The diets were fed at 2.5 times the maintenance requirement for ME. The apparent total tract digestibilities (ATTD) of P did not differ between the hulled and hull-less barley diets, but P retention (%) and excretion were greater in pigs fed the hull-less barley diets (P < 0.05). The ATTD of P was greater and P excretion was 35% lower in pigs fed the low-phytate compared with the normal-phytate diets (P < 0.001). The amount of P retained (g/d) was greater (P < 0.001) in pigs fed low-phytate barley, reflecting an ATTD of P of 65 and 49% for low-phytate and normal-phytate barley, respectively (P < 0.001). In Exp. 2, eight 21-kg barrows were assigned to a repeated, 4 x 4 Latin square design and fed 4 diets based on barley and soybean meal (SBM): HB-SBM, HB-SBM + iP, HB-SBM + phytase, and LPHB-SBM. The HB-SBM and HB-SBM + phytase diets were deficient in aP, whereas the HB-SBM + iP and LPHB-SBM diets had adequate aP. The feeding regimen was similar to that of Exp. 1. Adding iP to the HB-SBM diet did not affect the ATTD but increased the amount of P retained (g/d) and excreted (P < 0.001). The ATTD and amount of P retained (g/d) did not differ among pigs fed the HB-SBM + iP, HB-SBM + phytase, and LPHB-SBM diets. However, pigs fed the HB-SBM + phytase and LPHB-SBM diets excreted 32 and 29% less P, respectively, than pigs fed the HB-SBM + iP diet (P < 0.05), confirming that low-phytate barley is as effective as supplemental phytase in improving P digestibility and utilization and decreasing P excretion in grower pigs.     

Effect of storage time and temperature on the total protein concentration and electrophoretic fractions in equine serum

Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) is a technique that could be considered one of the most useful diagnostic aids available to the clinician. The effect of storage time and temperature on the total proteins and electrophoretic fractions (albumin, α₁-, α₂-, β₁-, β₂-, and γ-globulins) was assessed in 24 healthy horses. All samples, collected by jugular vein puncture, were centrifuged and divided into 4 aliquots. The 1st aliquot was analyzed within 3 h from collection (time 0), the 2nd was refrigerated at +4°C for 24 h, the 3rd was refrigerated at +4°C for 48 h, and the last was frozen at −20°C for 48 h. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant effect (P < 0.05) of the different storage conditions on the concentrations of all the parameters studied and significant variations in the percentages of albumin, α₁-globulins, α₂-globulins, and γ-globulins. Compared with time 0 the total protein concentration increased significantly after 48 h at −20°C, the albumin percentage decreased after 48 h at −20°C, the α₁-globulin percentage increased after 24 h at +4°C, the α₂-globulin percentage increased after 48 h at +4°C and at −20°C, and the γ-globulin percentage increased after 48 h at −20°C. The results should help veterinary practitioners handle and store equine serum samples appropriately. Further investigations at different storage times and temperatures could be useful.