Discovery of a new avian bornavirus genotype in estrildid finches (Estrildidae) in Germany

Avian bornaviruses (ABV) are known to be the causative agent of proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) in parrots and their relatives (Psittaciformes). A broad range of ABV genotypes has been detected not only in psittacine birds, but also in other avian species including canary birds (Serinus canaria forma domestica) and Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata f. dom.), which are both members of the order songbirds (Passeriformes).During this study 286 samples collected from captive and wild birds of various passerine species in different parts of Germany were screened for the presence of ABV. Interestingly, only three ABV-positive samples were identified by RT-PCR. They originated from one yellow-winged pytilia (Pytilia hypogrammica) and two black-rumped waxbills (Estrilda troglodytes) from a flock of captive estrildid finches in Saxony. The ABV isolates detected here were only distantly related to ABV isolates found in passerine species in Germany and Japan and form a new genotype tentatively called ABV-EF (for “estrildid finches”).     

Validating an empiric sulfadiazine–trimethoprim dosage regimen for treatment of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus delphini infections in mink (Neovison vison)

Antimicrobial agents are used extensively off‐label in mink, as almost no agents are registered for this animal species. Pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) data are required to determine antimicrobial dosages specifically targeting mink bacterial pathogens. The aims of this study were to assess, in a PKPD framework, the empirical dosage regimen for a combination of trimethoprim (TMP) and sulfadiazine (SDZ) in mink, and secondarily to produce data for future setting of clinical breakpoints. TMP and SDZ PK parameters were obtained experimentally in 22 minks following IV or oral administration of TMP/SDZ (30 mg/kg, i.e. 5 mg/kg TMP and 25 mg/kg SDZ). fAUC/MIC with a target value of 24 hr was selected as the PKPD index predictive of TMP/SDZ efficacy. Using a modeling approach, PKPD cutoffs for TMP and SDZ were determined as 0.062 and 16 mg/L, respectively. By incorporating an anticipated potentiation effect of SDZ on TMP against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus delphini, the PKPD cutoff of TMP was revised to 0.312 mg/L, which is above the tentative epidemiological cutoffs (TECOFF) for these species. The current empirical TMP/SDZ dosage regimen (30 mg/kg, PO, once daily) therefore appears adequate for treatment of wild‐type E. coli and S. delphini infections in mink.     

Prevalence of systolic hypertension in cats with chronic renal failure at initial evaluation

OBJECTIVE: To determine prevalence of systolic hypertension and associated risk factors in cats with chronic renal failure evaluated in first-opinion practice. DESIGN: Prospective study. ANIMALS: 103 cats with chronic renal failure. PROCEDURE: Systolic arterial blood pressure (SABP) was measured with a noninvasive Doppler technique, and cats that had SABP > 175 mm Hg on 2 occasions or that had SABP > 175 mm Hg and compatible ocular lesions were classified as hypertensive. Information from the history (previous treatment for hyperthyroidism, age), physical examination (sex, body weight), routine plasma biochemical analyses (creatinine, cholesterol, potassium, sodium, chloride, and calcium concentrations), and thyroid status were evaluated as potential risk factors for systolic hypertension. Variables associated with systolic hypertension were evaluated by use of logistic regression. RESULTS: 20 (19.4%; 95% confidence interval, 13 to 28%) cats had systolic hypertension. Plasma potassium concentration was significantly and inversely associated with systolic hypertension. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Prevalence of systolic hypertension, although clinically important, was lower than that reported previously. The cause of the inverse association between systolic hypertension and plasma potassium concentration is not yet known.     

Physiological Predictors in Calves of Dairy Breeds: Part 1. Genetic Parameters of Basal and Induced Growth Hormone Secretion

Abstract

Genetic variation in plasma growth hormone (GH) concentration before and after GRF (growth hormone releasing factor) stimulation was studied in young bulls (N=284) and heifers (N=212), the progeny of 53 sires of four dairy and dual-purpose breeds (Danish Jersey, Red Dane, Danish Friesian and Danish Red and White). Male and female calves were reared, fed and tested on separate experimental stations; thus sex, station and feeding were completely confounded effects. The animals were tested at about 9 months of age, after a 24 h fast. GH concentration was measured in serial plasma samples collected for 1 h before and 1 h following intravenous administration of 2.0 ug synthetic GRF(1–29)NH₂/kg live weight^>0.75. Prior to statistical analysis, concentrations were log_e-transformed. Response variables were BASELINE (mean GH in -15, -5 and 0 min samples) and PEAK (mean GH in 10, 15 and 20 min samples). A statistical model taking at least three generations of ancestral relationships into account was used to estimate variance and covariance components for traits in male and female calves by use of restricted maximum likelihood methods.

Heritability of BASELINE was low (0.04 ± 0.12) in males but high in females (0.60 ± 0.16). The heritability of PEAK was high in both sexes (males, 0.42 ± 0.16; females, 0.60 ± 0.16). Genetic correlations between the same trait measured in males and females were low for BASELINE (r _g = 0.32±0.55) but high for PEAK (r _g = 0.82±0.15). Within sex, BASELINE and PEAK were both highly genetically correlated (males, r _g=0.62 ± 0.40; females, r _g= 1.00 ± 0.07).

We conclude that growth hormone concentration is a highly heritable trait in juvenile cattle of both sexes, and that GRF stimulation is benificial to the uncovering of genetic differences among animals.     

The optical isomers of α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl 3-(1,2-dibromo-2,2-dichloroethyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclo-propanecarboxylate and their insecticidal activities

Bromination of the dichlorovinyl group of cypermethrin yielded a new compound which is a highly potent insecticide. This dibromo adduct has four asymmetric centres and therefore can exist as a mixture of 16 stereoisomers. To establish the influence of the absolute configuration at the chiral centres on the biological activities of these isomers, each of the isomers was isolated; their insecticidal activities against larvae of Heliothis virescens, and adult Calliphora erythrocephala and Blattella germanica were then determined and compared with those of (S)-α-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl (1R)-cis-3-(2,2-dibromovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate (deltamethrin NRDC 161), of fenvalerate, and of the eight stereoisomers of cyper methrin.     

Comparative activity of Choristoneura fumiferana nucleopolyhedrovirus propagated in different hosts

The biological activity of the Ireland strain of Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem) nucleopolyhedrovirus (CfMNPV) propagated in different hosts was determined to provide the basis upon which genetically modified CfMNPV, or other naturally occurring isolates, should be compared. Occlusion bodies (OB) derived from CF-203 cells were significantly larger and more pathogenic than those propagated in vivo when tested against the fifth larval instar of C fumiferana (Clem) and C occidentalis Freeman. The dose-responses (LD50 and LD95, expressed as occlusion bodies per larva) of C fumiferana larvae to in vitro-propagated OBs were 274 and 5785, respectively. The values of LD50 and LD95 to C occidentalis larvae were 19 and 118, respectively. There were no significant differences in pathogenicity or size when OBs propagated in C fumiferana larvae were tested against either insect species, nor were there significant differences for OBs propagated in C occidentalis larvae. The LD50 and LD95 of in vivo-produced OBs to C fumiferana were 925 and 61988, respectively. The LD50 and LD95 to C occidentalis were 50 and 453, respectively. OBs propagated in vitro had a mean volume of 13.13 microm3, whereas those propagated in vivo ranged from 0.84 to 1.41 microm3. The median survival time-responses (ST50) of fifth-instar C fumiferana or C occidentalis larvae to OBs propagated in vivo were not significantly different from those propagated in vitro at the dosage levels tested. Values of ST50 of C fumiferana larvae to in vitro- and in vivo-produced OBs at dosages causing less than 50% mortality rangedfrom 9.6 to 9.8 days post-inoculation (dpi), whereas a LD95 dose resulted in ST50 values ranging from 7.3 to 7.7 days. ST50 values of C occidentalis larvae at dosages causing less than 50% mortality ranged from 9.8 to 10.2 dpi, whereas a LD95 dose resulted in ST50 values ranging from 9.5 to 9.8 dpi. The median feeding cessation time-response (FT50) of fifth-instar C fumiferana larvae to OBs propagated in vitro (5.7 days) was not significantly different from the FT50 of those propagated in vivo in either insect species (5.3 and 5.7 days) at the dosage level tested (LD95). No significant differences in FT50 values were observed between OBs propagated in either larval host. The FT50 of C occidentalis larvae to OBs propagated in vitro (7.7 days) was not significantly different from that to those propagated in vivo in C occidentalis larvae (7.6days), but somewhat different (7.2 days) from that to those propagated in C fumiferana larvae. Results indicate that CfMNPV can be propagated in vivo in either C fumiferana or C occidentalis larvae (or sequentially through both) without alteration in infectivity, although the use of the CF-203 cell line yields the most biologically active OBs.     

The Effect of Inoculation Treatment and Long-term Application of Moisture on Fusarium Head Blight Symptoms and Deoxynivalenol Contamination in Wheat Grains

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an important disease of wheat, which can result in the contamination of grains with mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON). Artificial inoculation of flowering ears with conidial suspensions is widely used to study FHB diseases. Our goal was to compare four inoculation treatments in which a conidial suspension was sprayed on flowering ears and to study the effect of the application of moisture during kernel setting and filling with a mist-irrigation system. Ten wheat genotypes were inoculated with a DON-producing Fusarium culmorum strain. Inoculation treatments varied in time of application of the inoculum (morning or evening) and in the method of controlling humidity during inoculation (bagging or mist irrigation). A wet season was simulated with a mist-irrigation system, keeping the crop canopy wet for at least 26 days after flowering. The severity of FHB symptoms (area under disease progress curve (AUDPC)), yield loss and DON contamination in the grains were determined. AUDPC data obtained with the different inoculation treatments were highly correlated (r=0.85–0.95). Mist irrigation after inoculation resulted in a higher mean disease severity, but in a overall lower toxin contamination as compared to the non-irrigated treatments. Genotypic differences in DON accumulation were present: for one wheat line toxin contamination significantly increased when irrigated, while two genotypes accumulated significantly less toxin. The closest relationships (r=0.73–0.89) between the visual symptoms and the DON content were obtained under moderate mean infection pressure. This relation between visual symptoms and the DON content deteriorated at higher infection levels.     

Cross-resistance to pyrethroids and other insecticides in Aedes aegypti

Two substrains of Aedes aegypti, already resistant to DDT and pyrethroids, were further selected using either DDT or permethrin by mass exposure of the females only. DDT selection over 14 generations raised the resistance to DDT so far that no accurate LC₅₀ values could be determined. Selection with permethrin raised the tolerance to an irregular plateau 7–10 times the original. DDT selection in the adults raised the DDT resistance of the larvae, but this could be partly overcome using a dehydrochlorinase inhibitor. The resistance to pyrethroids was increased but tolerance of dieldrin, malathion and propoxur compounds was little changed. Permethrin selection of the adults raised resistance to pyrethroids more than DDT selection but also increased DDT resistance. Similar patterns were found for the larval insects. A strain from Demerara in Guyana showed both DDT and pyrethroid resistance, including strong resistance to pyrethrins together with dieldrin and propoxur. It was concluded that two major independent resistance mechanisms existed in the selected strains, a dehydrochlorinase affecting DDT alone, and an unknown mechanism, probably nerve insensitivity (kdr) affecting both DDT and pyrethroids.