Regional distribution and integrity of equine ovarian pre‐antral follicles

The goal of this study was to determine the distribution of pre‐antral follicles in the ovarian parenchyma of mares. For Experiment 1, each ovary was cut longitudinally at the greater curvature, performing two hemiovaries. After that, six fragments from each hemiovary were obtained, resulting in 12 fragments, which were divided into the innermost region of the parenchyma, the middle region and the outermost region. All the three obtained sections were cut transversally to obtain two fragments from each one. For Experiment 2, each ovary also submitted to a longitudinal cut on the greater curvature, forming two hemiovaries. Each hemiovary was sectioned into four symmetrical fragments, resulting in eight fragments per ovary. The fragments were related as being near to or far from the ovulatory fossa. The fragments of both experiments were immediately fixed in Carnoy for 12 hr and kept in 70% ethanol for 24 hr. Follicles were classified according to the stages of development and for morphological integrity according to oocyte morphology and granulosa cells. After the histological assessment, a total of 1,130 follicles were visualized from Experiment 1, being 1,054 (93.3%) primordial follicles and 76 (4.7%) follicles in development. The innermost region had the highest percentage of pre‐antral follicles compared to the other regions (p < .05). The middle and outermost regions showed higher percentages of intact primordial and developing follicles than the innermost region (p < .05). Considering Experiment 2, 938 follicles were found, being 894 (95.3%) primordial and 44 (4.7%) follicles in development. The region near the ovulatory fossa presented higher (58.7%; 551 of 938) follicular concentration compared to the region far from the ovulatory fossa (41.3%; 387 of 938; p < .05). As a conclusion, distribution of pre‐antral follicles in the equine ovary has a specific pattern through the parenchyma. Also, the follicular integrity differed in the studied ovarian areas.     

Accumulation of heavy metal in Platanus orientalis, Robinia pseudoacacia and Fraxinus rotundifolia

Plants are capable of reducing environmental pollutions through uptaking contaminants in their tissues. In the study site, twenty one-year-old leaves and shoots as well as twenty soil samples were sampled and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP). We investigated the uptaking ability of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) by the leaves and shoots of Platanus orientalis, Robinia pseudoacacia and Fraxinus rotundifolia in Karaj city, the western Tehran, Iran. We also evaluated the total metal accumulation capacity by using metal accumulation index (MAI). Results indicated that there was no significant difference in uptaking contents of Cd and Pb in the leaves among the trees. However accumulation of Cd in shoots of F. rotundifolia and R. pseudoacacia was significantly higher than that of P. orientalis. The accumulation of Pb in shoots of R. pseudoacacia was significantly higher than the other species. The amount of Pb in the soil of the study area was significantly higher than Cd. Concentrations of Cd and Pb in leaves of the three species are in the ranges of 2.4 2.7 mg Kg-1 and 7.1 14.4 mg Kg-1 , respectively. R. pseudoacacia had the highest MAI value for leaves (2.21) and F. rotundifolia had the highest MAI value for shoots (2.4).     

Squamous cell carcinoma in a tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)

CASE HISTORY: A mature male tuatara was presented with a history of recurrent cloacal prolapse.

CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: The prolapsed tissue included a 12 mm diameter mass, which histologically showed cords and nodules of neoplastic epithelial cells.

DIAGNOSIS: The mass was diagnosed as a squamous cell carcinoma with ulceration of the overlying stratified squamous epithelium and diffuse inflammation of the surrounding dermis.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This case presented a rare opportunity to investigate squamous cell carcinoma in a long-lived lower vertebrate species. Future recurrence or metastasis of the mass may add useful information to the current base of knowledge of the behaviour of malignant neoplasms in reptiles.     

Antimicrobial stewardship in the dairy industry: responding to the threat of antimicrobial resistance

Dairy Australia is the national service body for the Australian dairy industry. Its role is to help farmers adapt to a changing operating environment and achieve a profitable, sustainable dairy industry. Although the use of antibiotics in Australian agriculture is relatively low in global terms, Dairy Australia recognises important drivers for continuous improvement in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). Dairy Australia’s first strategic priority is to support profitable farms. This priority has driven the development of a range of on‐farm change management programs in the animal health and welfare fields to optimise the unit cost of production and dairy cattle welfare. Dairy Australia’s third strategic priority is to further develop a ‘trusted dairy industry’. Previous and current work under these two strategies position the dairy industry favourably with respect to confronting the challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and supporting sound AMS with the guiding principle of ‘as little as possible, as much as necessary’. However, given an incomplete but ongoing threat of AMR, more work is needed. Supported by Dairy Australia, the dairy industry has developed an antimicrobial use strategy aligning with the Australian Animal Sector National AMR Plan 2018.     

Analysis of the Phenylpropanoid Enzyme Activities and Products in the Soft- and Hard-Seeded Pomegranate Genotypes During Fruit Development

To find out more about the biochemical aspects of seed-softness trait in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), some of the phenylpropanoid pathway enzymes as well as their products were evaluated in the various soft- and hard-seeded genotypes during fruit development. Results showed that peroxidase (POD) activity decreased in all studied genotypes during fruit growth, while increasing at the last stages only in the hard-seeded genotypes. Although laccase (LAC) activity did not show high differences during fruit ripening and in different genotypes, but its general trend was increasing. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity decreased during the fruit development and approximately diminished for the hard-seeded genotypes. All genotypes had lignin components in their seeds and amount of lignin increased during the growth season. Total phenolic decreased drastically and antioxidant capacity increased gradually showing an opposite trend and probable competitive effect for the same substrate during fruit development. Considerable differences that were observed in the POD activity at the last sampling stage, and higher activity that was observed in POD than LAC, may indicate that POD is more important for polymerization of lignin in the pomegranate seed and this enzyme might have some role in the development of seed softness trait in pomegranate. Also, this is the first report about lignin detection in the seeds of soft-seeded pomegranate genotypes, and represents a different mechanism (such as monolignol conformation in the final polymer) from lignin content for development of the soft-seeded pomegranate genotype.     

Antibacterial activities of a new combination of essential oils against marine bacteria

The antibacterial activities of essential oils and herbal extracts have been demonstrated against a range of bacterial species. In this study, the antibacterial effects of a new combination of essential oils from the herbs Thymus vulgaris, Salvia officinalis, Eucalyptus globulus and Mentha piperita were assayed against common bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeroginosa) and fifteen novel marine bacteria isolates. The sensitivity of different isolates to antibacterial activity of the essential oils was determined using well diffusion assays. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were quantified by micro dilution assays. The data demonstrate that the combination of essential oils had potent antibacterial effects and marine bacteria were more sensitive to growth inhibition (P < 0.05). MIC rates were 0.77–6.18 mg/ml, and MBC rates were 1.67–12.30 mg/ml. This indicates that the combined essential oils (CEO) can be a new source of antibacterial agents for use in marine aquaculture.     

Evaluation of limb autotomy as a promising strategy to improve production performances of mud crab (Scylla olivacea) in the soft‐shell farming system

Soft‐shell crab, a newly moulted crab having non‐calcified and hydrated soft exoskeleton, farming has been increasing tremendously in recent years throughout the world due to its high market price and consumer preferences. However, high aggressiveness and cannibalistic behaviour of mud crab limit its culture to an individual chamber system which ultimately makes the soft‐shell mud crab farming space and labour‐intensive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve the efficiency of soft‐shell crab production by autotomy of the claw and/or walking legs to reduce the moulting duration and intensify the culture system through double stocking in the existing individual chamber culture system. To achieve our objectives, a series of experiment were conducted at both indoor and on‐farm levels by removing the claw and/or walking legs of Scylla olivacea for two consecutive moulting cycles. Results showed that both claw ablation significantly (p < .01) shortened the moulting duration and increased the carapace width, weight gain, specific growth rate, feeding efficiency and yield parameter compared to the non‐ablated crabs more prominently at 1st moulting than the 2nd moulting in both indoor and on‐farm trials. Ablation of all walking legs while keeping the claw intact did not significantly influence (p > .05) the moulting duration and carapace width, but significantly (p < .01) improved the specific growth rate, weight gain, feeding efficiency and yield parameters at 1st moulting compared to the non‐ablation and unilateral three walking leg ablation groups. However, ablation of all appendages (both claw and walking legs) showed significant (p < .01) improvements of carapace width, weight gain, specific growth rate, feeding efficiency and yield parameters, and shortened the moulting duration up to 23 days from 34 days during 1st moulting and up to 27 days from 40 days at 2nd moulting. The survivals of different autotomized mud crabs were statistically non‐significant (p > .05) to the non‐autotomized crabs in various indoor and on‐farm trials. Besides improving the production performances, ablation of bilateral claw and all appendages allowed to double the stocking density in the existing individual chamber‐based soft‐shell crab farming that enhanced the production about threefold higher than the existing individual chamber‐based culture system. Finally, our results suggest that autotomy could be a promising technology for the commercial farming of soft‐shell mud crab in near future.     

Dietary nucleotide mixture effects on reproductive and performance,ovary fatty acid profile and biochemical parameters of female Pacific shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

The effects of different dietary nucleotide mixture (NT) levels (0, 2, 4 and 6 g/kg) were investigated on the reproductive performance, fatty acid profile and biochemical parameters in Litopenaeus vannamei female that were co‐fed with fresh food (two times daily) and experimental diets (two times daily) for 30 days. Sampling was carried out at the first day of the trial, before eyestalk ablation (ESA) (day 21) and after ESA (day 30). Reproductive performance parameters including the hepatopancreatic index, absolute fecundity, egg diameter and latency period were higher in the NT‐supplemented groups than the control group (p < .05). Total n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the ovaries, especially eicosapentaenoic acid, were higher in the NT‐supplemented groups than in the control (222.6 ± 7.3 versus 204.7 ± 3.0 mg/g extracted lipid) (p < .05). Total hemocyte count, granular cells, plasma glucose (Glu), total protein (TP), calcium (Ca²⁺), total cholesterol (Chol), triglyceride (Tg) and high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) levels were significantly increased in the NT‐supplemented groups in comparison with the control group (p < .05). After ESA, the concentration of plasma Glu, TP, Chol and Tg significantly decreased, but HDL levels increased in all groups (p < .05). These results suggested that the application of dietary NT may present a novel strategy for increasing reproductive performance and health status in L. vannamei.