Retropharyngeal lymph node infection in horses: 46 cases (1977–1992)

SUMMARY A retrospective study of 46 horses with retropharyngeal lymph node (RPLN) infection presented to the Rural Veterinary Centre between 1977 and 1992 was undertaken. Horses aged less than one year were most commonly represented (46%). Thirty-nine percent of cases had been exposed to horses with confirmed or suspected strangles (Streptococcus equi subsp equi infection) within the previous 8 weeks. Most frequent signs were unilateral or bilateral swelling of the throat region (65%), respiratory stertor/dyspnoea (35%), purulent nasal discharge (20%), inappetence and signs of depression (15%), and dysphagia (9%). All horses had a soft tissue density in the retropharyngeal region on radiographs. Rhinopharyngoscopy, ultrasonography, haematology as well as cytological and microbial analysis of material aspirated from the soft tissue swelling facilitated diagnosis in some horses. Fifteen horses (33%) were treated with procaine penicillin intramuscularly for 4 to 7 days followed by oral trimethoprim-sulphadimidine for 7 to 14 days. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were administered to 6 horses. Four required tracheostomy for severe respiratory distress. The 15 horses treated medically responded to treatment and were discharged from hospital. Three horses (6%) with mild signs received no treatment and recovered uneventfully. Twenty-eight horses (61%) underwent general anaesthesia and surgical drainage of a RPLN abscess. Nineteen received procaine penicillin G for 4 to 7 days. Four of the nine horses that did not receive antibiotic treatment after surgery required further surgical drainage 10 days to 7 weeks after the initial surgery . Limited follow-up information was available for 37 horses. Thirty-two horses were considered to have made complete recovery, 3 horses had died through misadventure and 2 had been euthanased because of chronic ill-thrift .     

Ancestral developmental potential facilitates parallel evolution in ants

Complex worker caste systems have contributed to the evolutionary success of advanced ant societies; however, little is known about the developmental processes underlying their origin and evolution. We combined hormonal manipulation, gene expression, and phylogenetic analyses with field observations to understand how novel worker subcastes evolve. We uncovered an ancestral developmental potential to produce a "supersoldier" subcaste that has been actualized at least two times independently in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole. This potential has been retained and can be environmentally induced throughout the genus. Therefore, the retention and induction of this potential have facilitated the parallel evolution of supersoldiers through a process known as genetic accommodation. The recurrent induction of ancestral developmental potential may facilitate the adaptive and parallel evolution of phenotypes.     

Point source exposure of cattle to Neospora caninum consistent with periods of common housing and feeding and related to the introduction of a dog

Eight dairy herds with evidence of post-natal transmission of Neospora caninum were used to test the hypothesis of a point source exposure by a retrospective analysis of the housing and feeding of infected age-groups. The first N. caninum-associated abortion or birth of N. caninum-seropositive offspring from the post-natally infected age-group was considered as the first indication of the infection. In seven of the eight dairy herds, a point source exposure to N. caninum of the infected age-groups was found during a limited period of common housing and feeding. In all herds studied, the analysis indicated that the cattle had been infected shortly before the first abortions occurred. In all, except one herd, the post-natal infection was more directly related to housing than to feeding. Therefore, it appeared that the feed was contaminated in the feeding alley. In one herd, the total mixed ration was found to be the probable path of infection. In all farms studied, a new dog (young, adult dog or litter) had been introduced within a period of 1.5 years prior to the first indication of N. caninum infection in the cattle. As there was evidence in all herds of vertical transmission of neosporosis for years, it is hypothesized that the newly introduced dog was infected with N. caninum by materials from already infected cattle and subsequently transmitted the infection to other cattle by shedding of oocysts.     

Effect of eosin Y on the formation of local lesions and on the accumulation of callose in ‘Samsun NN’ tobacco and French bean leaves inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus

When leaf-halves of Samsun NN tobacco or bean plants were floated on a solution of 10–15 M eosin Y after inoculation with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and kept at 20° C, local lesion formation was markedly diminished. There was also a decrease in the size of the lesions.Depending on the temperature very strong fluorescence due to callose formation was seen around the lesions in eosin Y-treated leaf-halves of Samsun NN tobacco and bean plants. It lasted from 3–5 days after inoculation, whereas fluorescence around lesions in the water-treated control leaves disappeared within 2–3 days after inoculation.When leaf discs of Samsun tobacco, a systemic host for TMV, were floated on a solution of eosin Y after inoculation with TMV and kept at 20°C for 5 days, TMV multiplication was not prevented. Callose deposition could be detected, neither in eosin Y-treated nor in water-treated control leaves.The relation between the inhibition of local lesion formation and the accumulation of callose in eosin Y-treated leaves is discussed.Samenvatting Het is bekend dat er een verband bestaat tussen afzetting van callose en de vorming van lokale lesies bij verschillende virus-waardplantcombinaties. Tevens staat vast dat eosine ophoping van callose op zeefplaten veroorzaakt. Onderzocht werd nu of eosine Y van invloed is op de vorming van lokale lesies en tevens ophoping van callose veroorzaakt in bladeren van Samsun NN-tabak en boon, geïnoculeerd met tabaksmozaïekvirus (TMV).Het bleek dat bladhelften van tabak die, na inoculatie met TMV, bij 20°C gedreven hadden op een oplossing van 10 of 15 M eosine Y, minder en kleinere lesies hadden dan de controlehelften die op water hadden gedreven (Tabel 1; Fig. 1). Bij 25°C werden deze effecten niet waargenomen (Fig. 2). Een concentratie van 15 M veroorzaakte wat beschadiging van de bladeren (verbruining van een deel van de zijnerven).Bij bladhelften van de boon was geen beschadiging te zien bij een concentratie van 15 M. Bij bonebladeren geïnoculeerd met TMV bleek behandeling met eosine Y zowel bij 20°C als bij 25°C en zelfs bij 30°C minder en kleinere lesies tot gevolg te hebben (Tabel 2; Fig. 3 en 4).Als gezonde bladhelften van Samsun NN-planten te drijven waren gelegd op water verscheen er callose in de buurt van het wondvlak (Fig. 5). Deze ophoping van callose was sterker als de bladhelften hadden gedreven op eosine Y in concentraties van 10 of 15 M (Fig. 6). In de zijnerven, die als gevolg van de behandeling met 15 M bruin waren geworden, was eveneens een sterke fluorescentie als gevolg van de aanwezigheid van callose te zien (Fig. 7 en 8).Als bladhelften van Samsun NN-planten na inoculatie met TMV te drijven waren gelegd op oplossingen van 10 of 15 M bij een temperatuur van 20°C bleek er niet alleen een reductie in aantal en afmeting van de lesies opgetreden te zijn, maar ook sterke fluorescentie als gevolg van aanzienlijke callose-afzettingen rondom de in hun uitbreiding geremde lesies (Fig. 9). De sterke fluorescentie verdween zelfs niet 3–5 dagen na inoculatie, hoewel bij bladeren die op water hadden gedreven dit al na 2–3 dagen het geval was (Fig. 10). Hadden de bladhelften na inoculatie echter bij 25°C op eosine Y gedreven dan was de fluorescentie rondom de lesies dezelfde als in de bladhelften die op water hadden gedreven.Bij bladhelften van gezonde bonen was niet veel ophoping van wondcallose waarneembaar en evenmin stimuleerde eosine Y de vorming ervan. Wel bracht deze stof een ophoping van callose teweeg op de zeefplaten van bladnerven (Fig. 11). Eveneens was er in de met eosine Y behandelde bladhelften fluorescentie in delen van de zijnerven (Fig. 12).Bij bonebladeren die waren geïnoculeerd met TMV was een sterke afzetting van callose te zien rondom de lesies die zich niet meer uitbreidden als gevolg van behandeling met eosine Y bij temperaturen tussen 20°C en 30°C (Fig. 13). In de controlehelften die op water hadden gedreven verdween de fluorescentie binnen 2 dagen na inoculatie (Fig. 14).Hadden bladschijfjes van Samsun-tabak na inoculatie met TMV gedreven op een oplossing van eosine Y dan bleek de virusvermeerdering in deze schijfjes niet geremd te zijn (Tabel 3).We kunnen concluderen dat er een correlatie bestaat tussen de hoeveelheid afgezette callose in de bladeren en de uiteindelijke grootte van de lokale lesies. De vraag blijft echter nog wel bestaan of callose-afzetting inderdaad de verspreiding van virus naar naburige cellen verhindert.