Tissue localisation of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis following artificially induced intracellular and naked bacteraemia

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative agent of Johne's disease or paratuberculosis, a chronic enteritis of ruminants. While Johne's disease is primarily expressed in the gastrointestinal tract, isolation of MAP from extra-intestinal tissues indicates that microbial dissemination via the haematogenous route may occur during the infection. This study examined the movement of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) infected with MAP and the dissemination of MAP following mycobacteraemia induced by IV inoculation over a time frame of 3 days.     

Argan Oil Element Content is a Powerful Marker of the Quality of the Fruit Used for its Preparation

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Argan oil is prepared by cold pressing argan kernels collected from fully ripe fruit. Argan oil market price is particularly elevated. Consequently, efficient...     

Spatial analysis of the exposure of dogs in rural north-coastal California to vectorborne pathogens

Between 0 and 50 per cent of the dogs in eight rural villages in far northern California with a high risk of tickborne diseases were seropositive for Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Bartonella vinsonii subspecies berkhoffii, and between 0 and 10 per cent were seropositive for Borrelia burgdorferi. The odds ratio for the co-exposure of individual dogs to B vinsonii berkhoffii and A phagocytophilum was 18.2. None of the diseases was associated with the sex of the dogs, whether they slept out of doors, or whether tick-preventive measures were taken. When the villages were assessed for landscape risk factors, a particularly high seroprevalence for B vinsonii berkhoffii and A phagocytophilum was observed in a village at a relatively high altitude and greater distance from the Pacific coast, and montane hardwood conifer woodland was most associated with a high seroprevalence for these two pathogens.     

Detection of a chitinase-like protein in the roots of Douglas-fir trees infected with Armillaria ostoyae and Phellinus weirii

Protein was extracted from root bark of 11- and 25-year-old interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) trees that were naturally infected with Armillaria ostoyae (Romagnesi) Herink. The proteins were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Root bark tissue adjacent to infected areas had a significantly higher protein concentration than healthy tissue (P < 0.05), whereas the protein concentration of infected tissue was consistently lower (P < 0.05) than that of healthy tissue. The SDS-PAGE profiles of healthy, infected, and adjacent-to-infected root bark tissues revealed significant differences in concentrations of a 29.3-kDa protein. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 29.3-kDa protein displayed significant homology (P = 0.013) to a basic endochitinase. Use of a polyclonal antibody raised against the 29.3-kDa putative endochitinase-like protein (ECP) indicated differences in the quantities of ECP in healthy roots compared with roots infected with A. ostoyae in 11- and 25-year-old interior Douglas-fir trees. The antibody was also used to screen for the presence of the 29.3-kDa protein in roots of 24-year-old coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) trees that were artificially inoculated with and colonized by Phellinus weirii (Murr.) Gilbn. The amount of ECP was elevated in root bark of coastal Douglas-fir in response to P. weirii infection, although in lower quantities relative to those found in the A. ostoyae-interior Douglas-fir pathosystem. The sequence homology of the ECP with a basic chitinase, together with its increased synthesis in response to two fungal pathogens, indicate a possible role for this protein in the defense of Douglas-fir against fungal pathogens.     

IT—Information Technology and the Human Interface: A Review of the Environmental Effects of Different Livestock Manure Storage Systems, and a Suggested Procedure for Assigning Environmental Ratings

There are concerns over a range of adverse environmental effects resulting from the storage of livestock manures on farms. The objectives of this study were to examine all the likely environmental effects of different storage methods, and to recommend which were the most desirable options.Literature reviews were undertaken to identify the likely environmental consequences of each commonly used storage method, in terms of water pollution risks, odour and ammonia emissions, greenhouse gas emissions and survival of microorganisms during storage. Planning and landscape aspects were considered and the most feasible options for abatement of ammonia emissions were identified. An ‘environmental rating’ for different storage systems was then devised, with the aim of obtaining a balance between water pollution, aerial emissions and other concerns.The environmental rating exercise favoured the more sophisticated and hence most expensive storage methods. No large differences emerged between ratings for slurry systems and solid systems when ease of adding ammonia control measures was excluded. For pigs, slurry systems appear to have a slight advantage, because of the greater ammonia emissions from the solid pig manure. The use of such a rating system could be developed further as more data become available. Whilst the method indicates the relative desirability of systems at a national scale it could be adapted to take account of local considerations or those of individual farm sites.