Effect of herbicides with different modes of action on physiological and cellular traits of Anabaena fertilissima

Cyanobacteria are important components of the lowland rice ecosystem. Therefore, it is important to examine the effect of herbicides (commonly used against weeds of rice crop) on the performance of cyanobacteria. We studied the toxic effects of three herbicides often used in rice field, viz. propanil, pretilachlor and glyphosate, on the performance traits of Anabaena fertilissima C.B. Rao. Pretilachlor [0–40 active ingredient (ai) mg/L] and glyphosate (0–80 ai mg/L) exhibited toxicity to A. fertilissima at higher doses than propanil (0–1.5 mg/L). Propanil had severe damaging effects on cellular characteristics of A. fertilissima when compared to pretilachlor or glyphosate. Propanil treatment of A. fertilissima resulted in the leakage of protoplast from the heterocyst due to the breakage of the plasma membrane and surrounding wall. Our study shows that photosystem II herbicides such as propanil could have deleterious effects on phototrophic (cyanobacterial) communities, which are an integral part of the rice ecosystem.     

旋毛虫不同发育时期排泄分泌物抗原在免疫学诊断中的应用研究

[目的]系统了解并比较旋毛虫不同发育时期排泄分泌物(ES)抗原的免疫学特性,探索可用于临床检测出栏猪旋毛虫感染的血清学诊断技术。[方法]分别以旋毛虫肠道期10 h肌幼虫(10 h ML)、肠道期30 h成虫(30 h Ad)、3 d成虫(Ad3)、6 d成虫与新生幼虫混合(Ad6+NBL)以及肌幼虫(ML)五个不同发育时期的ES作为包被抗原,应用ELISA方法,检测感染不同剂量、不同天数的猪血清中的抗旋毛虫抗体Ig M和Ig G水平,绘制抗体消长规律曲线并进行数据分析。[结果]10 h ML ES和ML ES作为包被抗原适合检测不同感染剂量、感染35 d之前的猪抗旋毛虫Ig M抗体,低剂量感染10 d左右可以检出,高剂量感染5 d也可以检出;Ad3 ES作为包被抗原对高剂量感染35 d之前的猪抗旋毛虫Ig M抗体检测敏感;Ad3和ML的ES作为包被抗原可检测不同剂量、感染35 d之后的猪抗旋毛虫Ig G抗体,其中Ad3 ES抗原检测低剂量感染的效果优于ML ES抗原。[结论]肠道期肌幼虫、成虫和肌幼虫的ES抗原可用于检测旋毛虫的早期感染,成虫和肌幼虫的ES抗原可用于检测出栏猪的旋毛虫感染。本研究为进一步合理有效利用旋毛虫不同发育时期的ES抗原,建立更有效的检测屠宰动物旋毛虫感染的方法提供了重要理论基础和参考。     

无线电追踪技术在地下啮齿动物研究中的应用

营地下生活的啮齿动物被誉为陆地生态系统的工程师,但其长期栖居于地下的生活习性难以被人们直接观察,给动物行为学和生态生物学等研究带来了挑战。随着科学技术的发展,无线电技术的小型化和轻量化为地下啮齿动物研究提供了可行性。国外学者已成功将无线电追踪技术应用于对地下啮齿动物洞道系统、活动节律、巢域面积变化以及社群制度等的研究。但国内将其应用于地下啮齿动物研究的较少。本文根据目前国内外研究现状,对无线追踪技术的研究内容和研究方法进行综述,以期为我国地下啮齿类研究提供参考。     

Village poultry consumption and marketing in relation to gender,religious festivals and market access

This study aimed to examine village poultry consumption and marketing in Ethiopia in relation to gender, socio-cultural events and market access. The main objects of the research were producers, poultry markets, producer-sellers, and intermediary sellers in three locations representing different levels of market access in Tigray. About 3000 farm records were collected over a period of 12 months from 131 producers to obtain quantitative data on sales and consumption. Ninety-three semi-structured interviews with 58 producer-sellers and 35 intermediaries and 12 group discussions with these market actors were conducted to explore organization, price dynamics and socio-cultural aspects of poultry marketing. In total, 928 producer-sellers and 225 intermediaries were monitored monthly to examine participation by gender in poultry marketing. Better market access was associated with a shorter market chain and higher prices for the producers. Female-headed households had smaller poultry sales and consumption per household but sale and consumption per family member were 25% and 66% higher, respectively, than in male-headed households. While women dominated in the producer-sellers group, intermediaries were mainly men. Religious festivals periodically shifted local demand and prices of poultry. To improve the benefit of poultry keeping, poverty-stricken households may profit from better market access through better market information, infrastructure, market group formation and careful planning to match the dynamics in demand.     

规模化屠宰场官方兽医及协检员的设置与职责

@@进入新世纪以来,伴随SARS、禽流感和猪链球菌病等疫情在全球范围内的传播,对世界各国人民的身体健康构成极大威胁。因此,国家逐步加大对动物疫病的防控,相继颁布了《中华人民共和国动物防疫法》《动物检疫管理办法》等法律法规,使我国动物防疫和检疫工作走上了有法可依、有章可循的规范化、法制化轨道。屠宰检疫是动物检疫工作的重要组成部分,是保证人民群众食肉安全的重要手段。猪肉及猪产品是广大群众餐桌上不可或缺的食品,国家为保证生猪产品质量安全,保障人民身体健康对生猪屠宰实行定点屠宰、集中检疫,从而使重大疫病的发生和流行得到有效控制。     

"兰箭3号"春箭筈豌豆叶绿体全基因组草图及特征分析

箭筈豌豆(Vicia sativa)是自花授粉的二倍体一年生豆科牧草,可为我国高海拔地区的反刍动物提供优质蛋白粗饲料。以"兰箭3号"春箭筈豌豆为研究对象,采用DNase I法纯化叶绿体,利用第二代高通量测序平台Illumina Hiseq2000进行测序,并对"兰箭3号"叶绿体全基因组序列的结构特征进行分析。结果表明,"兰箭3号"叶绿体基因组仅包括一个单拷贝的反向重复序列,其叶绿体全基因组大小为121 883bp,共编码了109个基因,包括4个核糖体RNA(rRNA)基因,29个转运RNA(tRNA)基因,75个蛋白质编码基因和1个假基因。"兰箭3号"在叶绿体基因组结构、基因种类、排列顺序上与其它豆科植物基本一致。其叶绿体全基因组序列已在GenBank注册,序列号为KU053796。"兰箭3号"叶绿体全基因组测序的成功为叶绿体分子生物学研究奠定了基础,并可有效地促进箭筈豌豆遗传育种和分子进化研究。     

生物菌菇饲料对幼兔生产性能及血常规指标的影响

为研究生物菌菇饲料对幼兔生产性能的影响,选择健康、日龄相近的新西兰断奶幼兔144只,随机分为4个处理,对照组、试验1、试验2、试验3组日粮中分别含0%、8%、11%和14%的生物菌菇饲料替代麦麸,试验期30天。结果表明本试验条件下,生物菌菇饲料在断奶幼兔日粮中的用量过大对其血常规指标和存活率有一定的影响,建议添加量以不超过8%为宜。     

Design and evaluation of primer pairs for efficient detection of avian rotavirus

The use of molecular methods for rotavirus characterisation provides increased sensitivity for typing and allows the identification of putative reassortant strains. Reagents and methods for genotyping the virus need constant modification because of the reassortant nature of the virus. This study was aimed at designing and evaluating new oligonucleotide degenerate primer pairs that provide increased sensitivity and specificity for detecting avian rotavirus. Gene-specific primer pairs were designed by analysing different rotavirus strains isolated during the last decade by downloading them from the GenBank. The alignments were generated using clustal analysis from the BioEdit program. Degenerate nucleotides were included due to the reassortant nature of rotavirus. The consensus sequences were aligned using the BioEdit program and then treated with the Fast PCR software to derive the primers. The derived primer sequences were submitted for a BLAST search to ensure alignment was exclusive to the desired target genes. The designed primers had specific bands and were efficient in detecting rotavirus in faecal samples than previously published primers. Thus, a successful surveillance of rotaviruses requires that primer pairs be updated regularly in order to detect the emergence of novel or “unusual types”, which have occurred by genetic drift causing nucleotide changes at the primer binding sites that result in typing failures. We recommend the use of the proposed primers in molecular surveillance studies for efficient detection of avian rotavirus.     

La Sota vaccination may not protect against virus shedding and the lesions of velogenic Newcastle disease in commercial turkeys

The aim of this project is to study the clinical signs and lesion of velogenic Newcastle disease (vND) in commercial turkeys, and also to find out if La Sota vaccination offered protection against these signs and lesions. The cockerels were included as positive controls. One hundred and twenty turkey poults and cockerels were divided into eight groups as follows: unvaccinated unchallenged turkeys (UUT), unvaccinated challenged turkeys (UCT), vaccinated unchallenged turkeys (VUT), vaccinated challenged turkeys (VCT), and along the same lines, the cockerel groups were UUC, UCC, VUC and vaccinated challenged cockerels (VCC). Vaccination was at 3 weeks of age while challenge was at 6 weeks of age. The unvaccinated turkeys and cockerels (UCT and UCC) showed different degrees of depression, diarrhoea and later paralysis at challenge. Total mortality was 100% in cockerels within 6 days, but 60% in turkeys. Similar but milder clinical signs were found in the VCC with a total mortality of 13.3%. The VCT showed mild drop in feed and water consumption, and no mortality. All the challenged groups had significant (p < 0.05) loss of weight when compared with their controls. Necropsy showed that while the UCC had severe proventricular haemorrhages, intestinal and caecal tonsil ulcers, the UCT had no digestive tract lesion. There was severe atrophy of the lymphoid organs in all the challenged groups. Histopathological sections of the bursa, spleen and thymus in all the challenged groups with special emphasis on the vaccinated and unvaccinated turkeys with mortalities of 0 and 60%, respectively, had very severe necrosis and depletion of the lymphoid tissue. Virus was isolated from the cloacal swabs. The haemagglutination inhibition antibodies were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the challenged groups than the unchallenged. The above observations in the intestinal tracts of UCT are of diagnostic significance while the gross and microscopic lesions in the UCT and VCT show that La Sota vaccination may not protect turkeys against the destruction of the lymphoid organs by vND as earlier reported in chickens. This may lead to immunosuppression and production problems in areas where vND is enzootic.     

Genomic characterization of the first oral avian papillomavirus in a colony of breeding canaries (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Serinus canaria</Emphasis>)

Papillomaviruses are non-enveloped, DNA viruses that infect skin and mucosa of a wide variety of vertebrates, causing neoplasias or simply persisting asymptomatically. Avian papillomaviruses, with six fully sequenced genomes, are the second most studied group after mammalian papillomaviruses. In this study, we describe the first oral avian papillomavirus, detected in the tongue of a dead Yorkshire canary (Serinus canaria) and in oral swabs of the same bird and other two live canaries from an aviary in Madrid, Spain. Its genome is 8,071 bp and presents the canonical papillomavirus architecture with six early (E6, E7, E1, E9, E2, E4) and two late open reading frames (L1 and L2) and a long control region between L1 and E6. This new avian papillomavirus L1 gene shares a 64% pairwise identity with FcPV1 L1, so it has been classified as a new species (ScPV1) within the Ethapapillomavirus genus. Although the canary died after showing breathing problems, there is no evidence that the papillomavirus caused those symptoms so it could be part of the oral microbiota of the birds. Hence, future investigations are needed to evaluate the clinical relevance of the virus.