Foetal Protection against Bovine Virus Diarrhoea Virus after Two‐step Vaccination

In order to assess the efficacy of a two‐step vaccination protocol with respect to foetal protection against transplacental infections with bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) with special attention to BVDV‐2 seronegative heifers were vaccinated with an inactivated BVDV‐1 vaccine and boostered with a modified live BVDV‐1 vaccine after 4 weeks. A second group was left unvaccinated as control. Between days 30 and 120 of pregnancy the heifers of both groups were intranasally challenged with a mixture of BVDV‐1 and ‐2. All heifers of the vaccinated group gave birth to nine clinically healthy, seronegative (precolostral) and BVDV‐free calves. In contrast in the control group four BVDV viraemic underdeveloped calves were born. Additionally, one calf was stillborn and another viraemic calf was not viable and died 2 days after birth. All six calves of the control group were viraemic with BVDV‐2. This study demonstrated for the first time that two‐step vaccination of breeding cattle with a modified live BVDV vaccine 4 weeks after application of an inactivated BVDV vaccine was capable of providing a foetal protection against transplacental infection with BVDV‐2.     

Cover Image,Volume 16, Issue 1

The cover image, by Alexandra Keller et al., is based on the Original Article The JAK2/STAT5 signaling pathway as a potential therapeutic target in canine mastocytoma, DOI: 10.1111/vco.12311

     

Effect of Heat Stress on Concentrations of Faecal Cortisol Metabolites in Dairy Cows

The negative impact of heat stress on health and productivity of dairy cows is well known. Heat stress can be quantified with the temperature–humidity index (THI) and is defined as a THI ≥ 72. Additionally, animal welfare is affected in cows living under heat stress conditions. Finding a way to quantify heat stress in dairy cows has been of increasing interest over the past decades. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites [i.e. 11,17‐dioxoandrostanes (11,17‐DOA)] as an indirect stress parameter in dairy cows without heat stress (DOA 0), with heat stress on a single day (acute heat stress, DOA 1) or with more than a single day of heat stress (chronic heat stress, DOA 2). Cows were housed in five farms under moderate European climates. Two statistical approaches (approach 1 and approach 2) were assessed. Using approach 1, concentrations of faecal 11,17‐DOA were compared among DOA 0, DOA 1 and DOA 2 samples regardless of their origin (i.e. cow, unpaired comparison with a one‐way anova ). Using approach 2, a cow was considered as its own control; that is 11,17‐DOA was treated as a cow‐specific factor and only paired samples were included in the analysis for this approach (paired comparison with t‐tests). In approach 1 (p = 0.006) and approach 2 (p = 0.038), 11,17‐DOA values of cows under acute heat stress were higher compared to those of cows without heat stress. Our results also indicate that acute heat stress has to be considered as a confounder in studies measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in cows to evaluate other stressful situations.     

Anatomical Atlas of the Quail's Ear (Coturnix coturnix)

This study aims to enhance the anatomical knowledge of the ear of the adult quail (Coturnix coturnix) through the creation of a scaled 3D model utilizing data from micro‐CT images. In addition, 17 annotated histological sections of the quail's ear are aligned to their 3D position in the model. The resulting anatomical atlas provides an intuitive insight into the 3D anatomy and can be used for medical education. The model also allows measuring anatomical structures and can thus serve as reference for the quail's auricular anatomy and as a basis to evaluate clinical diagnostic imaging results.     

Identification of genome‐wide selection signatures in the Limousin beef cattle breed

The study is aimed at identifying selection footprints within the genome of Limousin cattle. With the use of Extended Haplotype Homozygosity test, supplemented with correction for variation in recombination rates across the genome, we created map of selection footprints and detected 173 significant (p < 0.01) core haplotypes being potentially under positive selection. Within these regions, a number of candidate genes associated inter alia with skeletal muscle growth (GDF15, BMP7, BMP4 and TGFB3) or postmortem proteolysis and meat maturation (CAPN1 and CAPN5) were annotated. Noticeable clusters of selection footprints were detected on chromosomes 1, 4, 8 and 14, which are known to carry several quantitative trait loci for growth traits and meat quality. The study provides information about the genes and metabolic pathways potentially modified under the influence of directional selection, aimed at improving beef production characteristics in Limousin cattle.     

Content and distribution of different phosphorus forms in broiler chickens

To understand the background value of phosphorus in chickens, the quantitative distribution of different phosphorus forms, including total phosphorus (TP), free phosphate (FP) and phospholipid (PL), in viscera, blood and bones of broiler chickens was investigated. Results showed that phosphorus contents exhibited significant differences in different parts of chickens. TP content of breast and thigh meat was over 5.0 g/kg, in which most of the phosphorus was in the form of water‐soluble phosphates. TP content in viscera was higher than that in meat, and spleen was observed to contain the highest amount of phosphorus (10.0 g/kg). In all tested organs, FP and PL contents in liver were the highest, ranging between 1207–1989 and 81–369 mg/kg respectively. TP content in chicken bone was in the range of 52 716–136 643 mg/kg, and FP content in the bone was relatively lower than that in chicken meat.