A comparison of intradermal and intravenous inoculation of bluetongue virus serotype 23 in sheep for clinico-pathology, and viral and immune responses

The pathogenesis of bluetongue (BT) could vary with route of inoculation. Using laboratory-passaged moderately virulent bluetongue virus serotype 23 (BTV-23), one of the most prevalent Indian serotype, we investigated the pathogenesis of BT in intradermally (ID) and intravenously (IV) inoculated native sheep. The ID inoculation resulted in relatively increased clinical signs and lesions in many organs as compared to IV inoculation. BTV-23 detection by real-time RT-PCR and isolation studies revealed that ID inoculation can be more efficient than IV ones in disseminating and spreading virus to systemic organs, including pre-scapular draining lymph node, spleen, lungs and pulmonary artery. Furthermore, the ID inoculation resulted in early onset and increased humoral response with significant increase (P<0.01) in antibody titre at various intervals. Taken together, these data suggest that ID inoculation can be more potent in reproducing many aspects of natural infection, including clinical disease, viral and immune responses, and may be useful route in setting up experimental infections for challenge or pathogenesis studies using laboratory passaged BTVs.     

Seroprevalence of bluetongue and presence of viral antigen and type-specific neutralizing antibodies in goats in Tripura,a state at Indo-Bangladesh border of northeastern India

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Bluetongue (BT) is a notifiable multiple species transboundary viral disease of domestic and wild ruminants. Though the disease is enzootic in India, little...     

Micropropagation and accumulation of essential oils in wild sage (Salvia fruticosa Mill.)

A protocol for in vitro propagation of the wild three-lobed sage (Salvia fruticosa Mill.) (Synonym, Salvia triloba L.) was developed. Shoot tips were excised from in vitro seedlings and established on MS, Nitch and Nitch (NN), or B5 medium. For shoot proliferation, in vitro nodal and apical explants were cultured on MS medium containing 0.25–2 μM 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), 6-furfurylaminopurine (kinetin), or thidiazuron (TDZ). Proliferated microshoots were rooted on MS medium supplemented with 2.7–11.4 μM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), or α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Results indicated that shoots established at 100% regardless of media type, however, shoot height, nodes per shoot, and leaf number were highest for explants established on MS medium compared to NN or B5. Number and height of proliferated shoots, nodes per shoot, and leaf number were highest for nodal explants cultured on a medium containing 0.75 μM BA. Microshoots cultured on a medium supplemented with 2.7 μM IBA exhibited the highest rooting percentage compared to those cultured with IAA or NAA. Essential oil composition in microshoots and shoots of greenhouse-grown plants was determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The major essential oils detected in both plant materials were α-pinene, 1,8-cineole, camphor, and borneol. No α-thujone or β-thujone was detected. The content of essential oils, camphor, and borneol were higher in the microshoots than in shoots of greenhouse-grown plants.     

Garlic and hepatic coccidiosis: prophylaxis or treatment?

A study was conducted to investigate the protective and therapeutic effects of crude garlic (Allium sativum) against experimental infection with Eimeria stiedae in rabbits. Forty rabbits were divided into four groups of ten rabbits each: a healthy control group (HC); a challenged-garlic-protected group (CGP) which received a daily dose of 0.5 g/kg body weight (bwt) crude garlic for five successive days before challenge with E. stiedae; a challenged-garlic-treated group (CGT) which was treated with a daily dose of 0.5 g/kg bwt crude garlic for five successive days post-challenge; and an infected control group (IC). The challenge dose was 5?×?10⁴ sporulated E. stiedae oocysts per rabbit. Mortality rate, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and faecal oocyst count were evaluated throughout the experiment. At the end of the experiment, all rabbits were killed and histopathological examination was performed. No mortalities were recorded in the HC and CGP groups, whilst mortality was found to be 20% and 40% in the CGT and IC groups, respectively. CGP rabbits had better body weight gain and lower numbers of oocysts than those in the CGT and IC groups. Hepatic lesions were less severe in the CGP group than in the CGT and IC groups. These results showed that oral administration of crude garlic ameliorated the adverse impacts of hepatic coccidiosis on rabbits when used as a prophylactic, but garlic was less effective as a therapeutic.     

The effect of compost and Bacillus licheniformis on the phytoextraction of Cr,Cu, Pb and Zn by three brassicaceae species from contaminated soils in the Apulia region,Southern Italy

The selection of appropriate plant species is critical in the successful application of phytoremediation techniques. The present study is an attempt to assess the capability of three brassicaceae, Brassica alba (L.) Rabenh, Brassica carinata A. Braun and Brassica nigra (L.) Koch, for the phytoextraction of Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn from an unpolluted and polluted silty loamy soil added with either Bacillus licheniformis BLMB1 or compost or both. Experiments were conducted in a greenhouse in pots filled with the soils. In all experiments metals were shown to accumulate in shoots and roots of plants grown on polluted soils, and both compost and B. licheniformis BLMB1 strain were able to enhance the accumulation of metals, especially Cr. In particular, Cr accumulation in B. alba resulted higher than the Cr threshold for hyperaccumulator plants (1000 mg kg^? 1). This result provides a new plant resource that may have a potential use for phytoextraction of Cr from contaminated soil. However, because of the low bioconcentration factors (< 1) for all studied metals, these species cannot be regarded as suitable for the phytoextraction of excessive Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn from polluted soils. Thus, these species may be used with success only for low metal polluted soils.