An improved ferritin assay for canine sera

An improved serum ferritin assay for canine serum has been developed. It uses two monoclonal antibodies in a sandwich arrangement. Serum ferritin can be determined on undiluted canine sera with this assay. The recovery of ferritin added to canine serum ranged from 98 to 106%, the within-assay coefficient of variability was 3.3 to 4.5%, and the assay-to-assay variability was 9.8 to 10.2%. Serum ferritin from 61 apparently healthy dogs had a geometric mean of 252 ng/ml, with a range of 80 ng/ml to 800 ng/ml.     

Toxicosis in sheep following ingestion of natural gas condensate.

Thirty of 200 ewes died or were euthanatized during a 21-day period following a 1-day accidental exposure to natural gas condensate, a complex mixture of hydrocarbons obtained during collection of natural gas from wells. Despite access to potable well water, the poisoned ewes willingly consumed toxic doses of condensate that contaminated surface water. Eight animals died without premonitory signs; the remainder became ill over the course of a few days to 3 weeks. The principal cause of mortality was aspiration pneumonia, but myocardial degeneration and necrosis, renal tubular damage, gastritis, enteritis, and meningeal edema and hyperemia were also observed. Gas chromatographic analysis identified chemical traces of the hydrocarbons in the tissues, and "fingerprinting," the process of matching chromatographic tracings, provided forensic proof of the contamination source. Atomic absorption spectroscopy and cholinesterase analyses were performed to eliminate the possibility of toxicosis by heavy metal contaminants or other constituents. This appears to be the first reported incidence of natural gas condensate toxicity involving sheep or other ruminants. Although the available literature presents a suggestive pattern of clinical signs and pathologic lesions of petroleum product poisoning, diagnostic investigations should employ detailed analytic examination because each source of petroleum hydrocarbons contains unique sets of components that may produce different toxic effects.     

An evaluation of two cypermethrin-based pour-on formulations on sheep infested with the biting louse, Bovicola ovis

Two synthetic pyrethroid (cypermethrin) based pour-on insecticide formulations, with high cis/trans isomer ratios (80:20) but differing in their respective active ingredient concentrations and solvent component(s), were applied to sheep infested with the biting-louse, Bovicola ovis. All treated sheep were penned with louse-infested sheep 9,12 and 15 weeks after the insecticide was applied. The 2% cypermethrin formulation achieved a higher level of control than the 1.25% cypermethrin formulation at each challenge interval when applied 12 weeks after shearing. The 2% cypermethrin formulation provided 97-100% control of lice from 4 to 16 weeks after application on sheep shorn 6 or 12 weeks prior to treatment. The 1.25% cypermethrin formulation provided 85% control of lice 4 weeks after application on sheep shorn 12 weeks prior to treatment, the level of control increasing to a maximum of 100% by week 9, and declining thereafter. The 2% cypermethrin formulation may provide a better level of control in long-woolled sheep than 1.25% cypermethrin, by compensating for the diluent effect of lipid.     

Virus transmission by aphids in potato crops

This paper reviews the contribution of vector activity and plant age to virus spread in potato crops. Determining which aphid species are vectors is particularly important for timing haulm destruction to minimize tuber infection by potato virus Y (PVY). Alate aphids of more than 30 species transmit PVY, and aphids such asRhopalosiphum padi, that migrate in large numbers before flights of the more efficient vector,Myzus persicae, appear to be important vectors. Differences in methodology, aphid biotypes and virus strains prevent direct comparisons between estimates of vector efficiencies obtained for aphids in different countries in north western Europe. M. persicae is also the most efficient vector of potato leafroll virus (PLRV), but some clones ofMacrosiphum euphorbiae transmit PLRV efficiently toNicotiana clevelandii and potato test plants. The removal of infected plants early in the season prevents the spread of PLRV in cool regions with limited vector activity. The proportion of aphids acquiring PLRV from infected potato plants decreases with plant age, and healthy potato plants are more resistant to infection later in the season. Severe symptoms of secondary leafroll developed on progeny plants of cv. Maris Piper derived from mother plants inoculated with PLRV in June or July of the previous year. Progeny plants derived from mother plants inoculated in August showed only mild symptoms, but the concentration of PLRV in these plants was as high as that in the plants with severe symptoms.     

Bacterial diseases of potatoes: from classical phytobacteriology to molecular pathogenicity

Various bacterial pathogens attack potato plants and tubers. These pathogens includeErwinia, Corynebacterium (Clavibacter), Psuedomonas andStreptomyces. Over the past few years there have been significant advances in the molecular biological analysis of several of these pathogens and this is now helping us to understand the major aspects of virulence mechanisms. However, to date, such information is not sufficiently useful to allow us to intervene rationally in these potato diseases, except by the standard practises of good husbandry.     

Effective irrigation uniformity as related to root zone depth

Summary In models used for relating the yield to irrigation uniformity it has been assumed that the spatial distribution of irrigation water, as measured at the soil surface, is indeed the water distribution at any depth throughout the root zone. In the present paper the distribution of infiltrated water within the soil bulk, as determined by an analytic solution of the two-dimensional unsaturated flow equation, did not conform to this assumption. A new alternative definition of irrigation uniformity is proposed under the assumption that water uptake by roots does not affect the flux distribution within the soil profile. In this analysis the spatial distribution of irrigation water flux at the soil surface, which is the upper boundary condition of the flow equation, is assumed to be a sine function. The solution to this problem indicates that there is a damping effect, which increases with soil depth, on the surface flux fluctuations. Furthermore, the actual irrigation uniformity at a given depth below the soil surface depends upon the initial uniformity at the surface and the distance between adjacent water sources. The closer the water sources are to each other, the shallower is the depth needed to damp the oscillations down to a certain level. This may explain why the actual uniformity of drip irrigation is high while the detailed distribution is very nonuniform and on the other hand, why the actual uniformity of sprinkler guns is low while the detailed actual distribution is close to uniform. Two uniformity coefficients are derived in this study: 1. A depth dependent coefficient which is made up of the damping factor that multiplies the flux fluctuations at the soil surface; 2. An effective uniformity coefficient, which is an average of the depth dependent coefficient over a part or the entire root zone. Different degrees of uniformity are expected when water is applied by different irrigation systems having similar uniformity coefficients at the soil surface, but dissimilar distances between the emitters. Assuming that crop yield depends to some extent on the uniformity of water depth actually available to the roots, the yields associated with such irrigation systems will probably also vary.     

Nutritional stress in ficea sitchensis plantations in coastal British columbia: The effects of gaultheria shallon and declining site fertility

Examples of nutritional stress in conifer seedlings caused by competing ericaceous species (e.g. Calluna and Kalmia), have been reported in several parts of the world. Nutritional stress (primarily N deficiency) has been reported in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) plantations growing in association with an ericaceous species, salal (Gaultheria shallon), in coastal British Columbia. Nutritional interference by salal was investigated on a chronosequence of sites up to 10 yr after clearcutting and slashburning. No direct evidence for an allelopathic contribution to the N stress was obtained. However, the rapid accumulation of salal fine roots and rhizomes, and the nutrients contained therein, provides a partial explanation for the observed stress symptoms. Soil analyses and seedling bioassays demonstrated a reduction in fertility in the period 8 to 10 yr after clearcutting and slashburning in comparison to the period 2 to 4 yr, which is believed to impose further nutritional stress on Sitka spruce. It is concluded that the nutritional stress in these Sitka spruce plantations is caused by a combination of (1) salal competition for nutrients and their subsequent immobilization in salal biomass, and (2) declining site fertility caused by the termination of the flush of nutrients (the assert period) that occurs in the immediate post-clearcutting and slashburning period. Sustaining good growth of plantations under such circumstances will require site nutrient management as well as vegetation management.