River bank erosion in the mid-Zambezi valley,downstream of Lake Kariba

The rate of bank erosion by the Zambezi River downstream of Lake Kariba is discussed. Probable reasons for the apparently excessive rate of erosion in parts of the bank are the out-of-season flooding, sudden changes in water level due to operations at Lake Kariba, the silt-free water leaving Lake Kariba and the occurrence of large areas of sandy alluvial soils. Over a distance of about 40 km, about 1030 ha were lost to erosion between 1954 and 1973, whilst 210 ha were redeposited in the form of semi-permanent sandbanks.     

Flock size and human disturbance affect vigilance of endangered red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis)

Vigilance is used to detect predators and monitor rivals. We studied red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) in Yancheng Biosphere Reserve, China, to examine changes in the allocation of time to vigilance as a function of flock size in areas with different levels of human disturbance. There was low level of human activity in the core area of the reserve whereas more human activity occurred in the buffer zone. Vigilance decreased linearly with flock size but to significantly different extent in the two areas, with a more pronounced decrease in the more disturbed area. In smaller crane flocks, vigilance was higher in the more disturbed area. Vigilance also varied in a non-linear fashion with flock size first decreasing and then increasing in larger flocks. Increase in vigilance in larger flocks was accompanied by an increase in fighting suggesting that vigilance in large flocks was aimed partly at monitoring rivals. The effect of human disturbance on vigilance suggests that less time is available for foraging in more disturbed areas. Nevertheless, moving to less disturbed areas may not be an option for the cranes given the increase in vigilance that would probably occur in areas with more cranes.     

Studies on the diagnosis of hop stunt viroid in fruit trees: Identification of new hosts and application of a nucleic acid extraction procedure based on non-organic solvents

A non-radioactive digoxigenin-labelled RNA probe specific for hop stunt viroid (HSVd) diagnosis has been developed. The high sensitivity and specificity of this RNA probe in dot blot hybridizations to nucleic acids from field samples, allowed the confirmation of the presence of HSVd in apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) and its detection in two fruit tree species not previously described as hosts of this pathogen, almond (Prunus dulcis Miller) and pomegranate (Punica granatum L.). This result supports and extends the notion of the world wide distribution of HSVd, infecting cultivated fruit trees. HSVd was also found to accumulate to much higher levels in mature apricot fruits than in leaves. Additionally, a sample processing procedure which does not involve the use of organic solvents was demonstrated to render faithful results when used for viroid detection. The combined reliability and facility of use of both this extraction procedure and the non-radioactive probe will benefit agronomic investigations addressing the detection and eradication of HSVd. Other applications of the work described here, as the study of possible causal relations between specific disorders and HSVd infection, are also discussed.     

Crossprotective immunity between the Florida and a Zimbabwe stock ofAnaplasma marginale

Summary Cattle immunised by infection with the Florida stock ofAnaplasma marginale were protected against subsequent homologous challenge, as demonstrated by complete prevention of microscopically detectable parasitaemia. Identically immunised cattle were partially protected against challenge with the Norton, Zimbabwe stock ofA. marginale as determined by the significant prolongation of the prepatent period, a significantly lower peak parasitaemia and a significantly lower percentage drop in haemoglobin concentration when compared to non-immunised calves challenged identically. The partial protection induced by live Florida stock immunisation demonstrates that while protection-inducing epitopes are shared between the two stocks, induction of complete immunity against a Zimbabwe stock may require alternative presentation of Florida stock epitopes or inclusion of additional Zimbabwe stock epitopes in the immunogen.

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Resumen Cuando se inmunizó ganado contra anaplasmosis con la Cepa Florida deAnaplasma marginale, éstos estuvieron protegidos contra descargas homólogas, como se demostró por la ausencia de parasitemia microscópica. También, el ganado inmunizado con la referida Cepa, se inmunizó del período prepatente, parasitemia baja y caída insignificante de hemoglobina, comparando los animales con aquellos no inmunizados, los que fueron descargados igualmente. La protección parcial inducida con la Cepa Florida demuestra, que si bien existe cierta inmunidad cruzada con la Cepa Zimbabwe las cuales comparten ciertos epítopos, la inducción de una completa inmunidad tal vez requiere la presentación alternativa de los epítopos de la Cepa Florida o la inclusión de epítopos adicionales de la Cepa Zimbabwe en el inmunógeno.

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Résumé Du bétail immunisé après une infection avec le stock Floride d'Anaplasma marginale a été protégé d'un risque d'infection homologue ultérieur, comme l'a révélé la prévention complète d'une parasitémie décelable au microscope. Du bétail immunisé dans des conditions analogues s'est trouvé partiellement protégé d'une infection par le stock Norton du Zimbabwe. Confirmation en a été donnée par l'allongement significatif de la période prépatente, un pic significantivement plus bas de la pourcentage de la concentration en hémoglobine, par comparaison avec des veaux non immunisés et soumis au même risque. Alors que les épitopes qui engendrent la protection sont partagés entre les 2 stocks, la protection partielle induite par l'immunisation à l'aide du stock vivant Floride montre que la création d'une immunité compléte contre un stock Zimbabwe peut exiger soit la présence alternative d'épitopes du stock Floride, soit l'inclusion dans le gène d'immunité d'épitopes provenant du stock Zimbabwe.

     

Increased virulence of modified-live infectious laryngotracheitis vaccine virus following bird-to-bird passage.

Modified-live (ML) infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) vaccine viruses, both tissue-culture-origin (TCO) and chicken-embryo-origin (CEO), were passaged 20 times in specific-pathogen-free chickens. After serial bird-to-bird passage, increased virulence was observed for CEO virus but not TCO virus. Increased mortality and increased severity and duration of respiratory disease were observed in chickens inoculated with chicken-passaged CEO viruses; only mild respiratory disease (no mortality) occurred in chickens inoculated with chicken-passaged TCO viruses. These findings suggest that ML ILT vaccine viruses may increase in virulence after bird-to-bird passage.     

Chromosomal composition of the genome in the monomorphic diplokaryotic microsporidium Paranosema grylli: analysis by two-dimensional pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

The molecular karyotype of Paranosema grylli Sokolova, Seleznev, Dolgikh et Issi, 1994, a monomorphic diplokaryotic microsporidium, comprises numerous bright and faint bands of nonstoichiometric staining intensity. Restriction analysis of chromosomal DNAs by "karyotype and restriction display" 2-D PFGE has demonstrated that the complexity of molecular karyotype of P. grylli is related to the pronounced length polymorphism of-homologous chromosomes. The background of this phenomenon is discussed in the context of ploidy state, reproductive strategy and population structure in this microsporidium. We propose that the remarkable size variation between homologous chromosomes in P. grylli may be a consequence of ectopic recombination at the chromosome extremities.     

Prevalence of antibodies to Neospora caninum in local and imported cattle breeds in the Kars province of Turkey

This study investigates the seroprevalence of Neospora caninum in cattle in the province of Kars in north-eastern Turkey. A total of 301 serum samples, 228 from local breeds of cows with a history of recent abortion and the remaining 73 collected at random from Simmental cows imported from Germany or their offspring, were tested for anti-Neospora antibodies by ELISA. All the serum samples from local breeds were negative for N. caninum antibodies, apart from one which tested inconclusive. In contrast six of the samples (8.2% with 95%CI: 2-14.5%) from Simmental cows tested positive. There was a significant difference (P<0.001) in the seroprevalence of N. caninum between local and Simmental breeds, even if the inconclusive test was considered positive, and the odds ratio of its occurrence in the Simmental breed was 20.3. In conclusion, it is unlikely that N. caninum contributes to abortion in local cattle breeds and our results also suggest that N. caninum was introduced to the region by the importation of Simmental cattle and that the vertical transmission of the parasite in cattle is important in the region.     

Evaluation of a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting antibodies to Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica in cattle, sheep and buffaloes in Australia

A commercially available ELISA for detecting antibodies to liver fluke was evaluated for use in Australia. Milk and serum samples from cattle and sheep in which infection with Fasciola hepatica was confirmed by detection of eggs in faeces were used to estimate sensitivity. Similar samples collected from cattle and sheep outside the F. hepatica-endemic area were used to estimate specificity. The ELISA was also evaluated for detecting antibodies to F. hepatica in milk from sheep and antibodies to Fasciola gigantica in sera from cattle and buffaloes, but with small numbers of samples. In cattle, the sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA were 98.2% and 98.3% using serum and 97.7% and 99.3% using milk. In infected herds, 41.4% and 41.5% of animals were positive in the serum and milk ELISAs, respectively, whereas F. hepatica eggs were found in faecal samples from 26.5% of animals. In sheep, the sensitivity of the ELISA was 96.9% and the specificity was 99.4%. In infected flocks, 60.2% of animals were positive in the serum ELISA and F. hepatica eggs were found in faecal samples 52.2% of animals. There was perfect agreement in the ELISA between paired serum and milk samples collected from ewes. The assay detected antibodies in sera from cattle and buffaloes with natural and experimental F. gigantica infections. In the experimentally infected animals, antibodies were detected 2 weeks post-infection. We conclude that the ELISA will be a valuable tool for diagnosing F. hepatica infections in cattle and sheep. The assay may also be useful for diagnosing F. gigantica infections but further studies are required to establish sensitivity and specificity.