Prevalence of antibodies to Neospora caninum in the serum of camels (Camelus dromedarius) from central Punjab,Pakistan

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Infection with the Apicomplexan parasite Neospora caninum occurs in domestic and wild animals worldwide. This parasite causes significant economic losses in...     

Molecular identification, genetic diversity and distribution of Theileria and Babesia species infecting small ruminants

Detection and identification of Theileria and Babesia species in 920 apparently healthy small ruminants in eastern Turkey, as well as parasite genetic diversity, was investigated using a specifically designed reverse line blot (RLB) assay. The hypervariable V4 region of the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was amplified and hybridized to a membrane onto which catchall and species-specific oligonucleotide probes were covalently linked. Three Theileria and one Babesia genotype were identified. Comparison of the Theileria genotypes revealed 93.6-96.2% similarity among their 18S rRNA genes. Two Theileria shared 100% and 99.7% similarity with the previously described sequences of T. ovis and Theileria sp. OT3, respectively. A third Theileria genotype was found to be clearly different from previously described Theileria species. The genotype was provisionally designated as Theileria sp. MK. The Babesia genotype shared 100% similarity with Babesia ovis. The survey indicated a high prevalence of piroplasm infections in small ruminants (38.36%). Theileria spp. prevalence was 36.08%. Prevalence of B. ovis was 5.43%. The most abundant Theileria species identified was T. ovis (34.56%) followed by Theileia sp. MK (1.30%) and Theileria sp. OT3 (0.43%).     

Dietary supplementation of milk thistle (Silybum marianum): growth performance,oxidative stress,and immune response in natural summer stressed broilers

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of dietary supplementation of various levels of milk thistle (MT) on growth performance, oxidative...     

The effect of bi-culture cover crops on soil quality,carbon sequestration,and growth characteristics in apple orchards of North Western Himalayas

Agroforestry Systems - Cover crops significantly affect soil quality, and growth characteristics in apple orchards, but reports are scarce. Therefore, the present study was conducted on a...     

Studies on Persian clover (Trifolium resupinatum)

Drying of leaf protein concentrate (LPC) in either a cabinet dehydrator or in a steam heated drum drier adversely affected extractability of lipids and availability of essential amino acids. Extraction of heated protein with chloroform: methanol mixture or acetone improved availability of amino acids. The amount of available essential amino acids in the freeze dried LPC was also increased by solvent extraction.