Genetic diversity assessment of Ethiopian tetraploid wheat landraces and improved durum wheat varieties using microsatellites and markers linked with stem rust resistance

A set of 77 markers was used to describe the genetic diversity in a group of 58 tetraploid wheat accessions. Analysis was performed using 31 neutral SSR markers, 31 SSR/STS markers linked with reported major stem rust resistance genes and 15 SSR markers linked with QTL identified for resistance to Ethiopian stem rust races of Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. et E. Henn. (Pgt),including Ug99. The material consisted of 32 (Triticum durum s.l. incl. T. aethiopicum Jakubz., Triticum turgidum and Triticum polonicum) landraces and 22 registered T. durum varieties from Ethiopia that were released 1966–2009 and four T. durum varieties from ICARDA. A total of 720 alleles were detected. Considering the three marker sets, the mean number of alleles was higher for major stem rust resistance gene linked markers (9.9) followed by neutral SSR markers (9.2) and markers linked with QTL for stem rust resistance (8.5). Dendrograms derived from UPGMA analysis grouped the accessions into two major clusters. The principal component analysis based on the combination of the three marker sets formed three groups. The 1st group was composed of all the improved varieties, whereas the 2nd and the 3rd group contained the landraces. All the landraces that formed the 3rd group were susceptible to Ethiopian stem rust races of Pgt including Ug99. The information on the extent of the genetic diversity of the improved varieties obtained in this investigation will be helpful for developing appropriate breeding strategies to broadening the genetic base of durum wheat varieties in further breeding programmes.     

Single-flowered vetch (Vicia articulata Hornem.): A relic crop in Italy

Single-flowered vetch (Vicia articulata Hornem.), a crop native of the Mediterranean area, is widespread mainly in south Europe, in west Asia and Australia for forage, green manure and human food. In Italy this crop was still cultivated in the 1950s but, later, no records concerning its cultivation were available. This strongly suggested to place V. articulata among the Italian crop species that disappeared in the 20th century. In the course of a collecting expedition in Sardinia, a relic population, mistaken for lentil, was found. This population has been characterised from a botanical, nutritional and cytological point of view. V. articulata appears to be lower in nutritional quality than lentil. However, within the framework of a sustainable agriculture, V. articulata could find interesting opportunities. In fact, its role in soil conservation and rescue of marginal areas could be interesting, as well as its potentialities as a source of useful genes in breeding programmes.     

Pimpinella anisoides Briganti

Pimpinella anisoides Briganti is newly reported as a minor crop plant from Basilicata, South Italy. It is used in some parts of this region particularly for flavouring traditional pastries.     

Plasma, tissue, and urine carnitine concentrations in healthy adult cats and kittens

Mean carnitine concentrations [( carnitine]) were higher (P less than 0.05) in adult cats than in kittens for skeletal muscle (total and free carnitine), myocardium (free carnitine), and urine (total and free carnitine). The free/total carnitine ratio was lower (P less than 0.05) in kittens than in adults for liver, myocardium, and urine. Carnitine concentrations were similar between genders in kittens, but in adult cats, [carnitine] in plasma (total, free, and esterified carnitine) and liver (total and free carnitine) were higher (P less than 0.05) in female than in male cats. Total and free plasma [carnitine] were correlated to total and free liver [carnitine], respectively. Skeletal muscle [carnitine] was not correlated to plasma [carnitine]. Correlations in [carnitine] between plasma and myocardium, kidney, or urine were inconsistent.     

Amputation and Carboplatin for Treatment of Dogs With Osteosarcoma: 48 Cases (1991 to 1993)

Forty-eight dogs with histologically confirmed appendicular osteosarcoma (OSA) entered a prospective clinical trial evaluating treatment with amputation and up to 4 doses of carboplatin given every 21 days. The median disease-free interval (DFI) was 257 days, with 31.2% of the dogs disease-free at 1 year. The median survival time was 321 days, with 35.4% of the dogs alive at 1 year. Dogs with proximal humeral OSA had shorter DFI (P = .016) and survival (P = .037) times than dogs with OSA at other locations. Dogs with lower body weights (40 kg) had longer DFI (P = .0056) and survival (P = .007) times than larger dogs. Survival times for dogs that received carboplatin were statistically longer than those previously reported for amputation alone (P < .001). DFI and survival times are similar to those previously reported for 2 to 4 doses of cisplatin. Carboplatin appears to be a well-tolerated chemotherapeutic drug that can be given safely every 21 days at a dose of 300 mg/m². Neutropenia was the dose-limiting toxicity in this study. J Vet Intern Med 1996_;10:76–81. Copyright © 1996 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine .     

Hepatobiliary Scintigraphy in the Evaluation of Feline Liver Disease

Hepatobiliary scintigraphy (HBS) was performed in 10 cats with histologically documented hepatobiliary disease. The scintigraphic patterns were classified into one of 5 categories: normal, primary hepatocellular dysfunction, primary in-trahepatic cholestasis, mixed hepatocellular and intrahe-patic cholestasis, and extrahepatic obstructive patterns. Initial attempts were made to correlate specific disease entities with HBS patterns, but a consistent relationship could not be determined. A correlation between the histological severity of a given hepatic disease and the HBS pattern was made. All cats (n = 5) with a mixed hepatocellular and intra-hepatic cholestasis scintigraphic pattern with normal gallbladder function had a histologically severe form of their individual hepatic disease. Three of the 4 cats with an intra-hepatic cholestasis pattern and normal hepatocellular and gallbladder function had histologically mild or moderate forms of their individual hepatic disease. One cat had an extrahepatic obstructive pattern where no radiopharmaceu-tical was identified in the gallbladder or small intestine by 3 hours postinjection. This study suggests that HBS can be useful in cats with hepatobiliary disease to assess the severity of hepatic dysfunction, and to determine if extrahepatic biliary obstruction is present. Correlation between HBS patterns and specific disease entities such as hepatic lipidosis or cholangitis-cholangiohepatitis syndrome could not be made in this study.     

Effect of age, weaning and diet on digestive enzyme levels in the piglet

Thirty-seven pigs were used to evaluate the effects of age and weaning on the level of protease in the gastric mucosa and trypsin, chymotrypsin, amylase and lipase in the pancreas. There was a positive allometry of the pancreas and gastric mucosa associated with age and with weaning to a solid diet. Increases with age in total activity of chymotrypsin, trypsin, amylase and gastric proteases were due to increases in both tissue weight and enzyme activity per gram of tissue. A general depression in pancreatic enzymatic activities, but not in gastric proteolytic activity, was found during the first week following weaning. Forty pigs were used in a second trial to evaluate the effects of age and weaning diet on the same digestive enzymes. Total activity of all enzymes assayed increased with time postweaning. Increases in total activity of lipase and chymotrypsin were due primarily to increased pancreatic weight postweaning. Amylase, trypsin and gastric protease increases were due both to increased tissue weight and increased activity per gram of tissue. There were no effects of diet on the weight of gastric mucosa or the level of activity of the gastric proteases. Pigs fed a diet containing 20% whey had larger pancreases (P less than .10) at slaughter and a greater, but nonsignificant, mean activity per gram of pancreas for all pancreatic enzymes. It appears that the pig has sufficient pancreatic and gastric enzyme activity so that performance should not be limited, with the possible exception of the period shortly after weaning. However diet digestibility and subsequent pig performance may be more directly related to the extent of release of these enzymes into the intestine and the conditions that exist therein.     

In vitro muscle cell proliferation and protein turnover as affected by serum from pigs fed antimicrobials

The effect of antimicrobial supplementation of pigs on the capacity of their sera to influence proliferation and protein turnover in cultured muscle cells was evaluated. Mitogenic activity of sera increased when pigs were fed ASP250 (P less than .005) or carbadox (P less than .001), whereas the mitogenic activity of serum from pigs receiving the basal diet remained unchanged (P = .5). Additionally, sera from ASP250-fed pigs significantly decreased (P less than .001) total cellular protein degradation compared with sera obtained from the same pigs prior to supplementation. Neither ASP250 nor carbadox stimulated proliferation of myogenic cells when added to the culture media. Inclusion of ASP250 in swine diets altered the composition of their sera in a way that stimulated muscle cell proliferation and reduced the rate of protein degradation in cultured myogenic cells. Likewise, the inclusion of carbadox in swine diets increased the ability of their sera to stimulate cultured muscle cell proliferation.