Serologic responses of pregnant thoroughbred mares to vaccination with an inactivated equine herpesvirus 1 vaccine

The immunogenic potency and safety of a chemically inactivated equine herpesvirus 1 vaccine with added adjuvant was evaluated by testing serum-neutralizing and complement-fixation antibody responses of pregnant Thoroughbred mares. The vaccinated population comprised 321 pregnant mares on 7 farms; 3 in Normandy, France; 1 in Kildare, Ireland; and 3 in central Kentucky. The pattern of antibody response to vaccination was found qualitatively and quantitatively similar to that of pregnant mares previously vaccinated and determined by challenge exposure to be immune to abortigenic infection under experimentally controlled conditions. The safety of the vaccine was demonstrated by the occurrence of only 2 local untoward reactions to the administration of 941 IM injections.     

Epidermal patterns of the lemma in some fossil and living grasses and their phylogenetic significance

Morphological study of fossil grass anthoecia of Berriochloa and Nassella collected from Miocene-Pliocene strata in Kansas has revealed well-preserved epidermal structure. This seems to be the first micromorphological information known from fossil grass floral bracts. The epidermal pattern on the lemma in the fossils and their living counterparts are evidence in support of the view that the North American species of Stipa of the section Hesperostipa Elias and species of Piptochaetium have a common ancestry in Berriochloa, and that species of both taxa have been distinct from species of the Nassella, Oryzopsis, and other Stipa since at least the Miocene or Pliocene.