Serum osteocalcin or bone Gla-protein, a biochemical marker for bone metabolism in horses: differences in serum levels with age.

Levels of alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin or bone Gla-protein, a new marker of bone metabolism, were analyzed in blood samples of 50 clinically normal female Standardbred horses between four months and twenty years of age. Samples were collected in the morning before exercise. Serum osteocalcin was measured by radioimmunoassay using bovine antibodies. There was a significant inverse correlation between alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and the age of the animals up to 48 months. The decrease in osteocalcin levels in serum was very marked during the first 30 months of life. The mean osteocalcin concentration was respectively 47.3, 35.7 and 6.7 ng/mL for animals less than one year, between 1.5 and 2.5 years of age and older than 3.5 years. Alkaline phosphatase serum activity was higher in foals less than one year of age (means = 856 U/L) than in the two older groups (meansII = 339, meansIII = 351 U/L). We believe that osteocalcin is a useful parameter for the evaluation of bone metabolism in growing animals and in adults and is probably more specific than alkaline phosphatase.     

Megakaryocytic infection and thrombocytopenia in African swine fever

Pigs infected with an African swine fever field isolate of modified virulence became acutely thrombocytopenic four to five days after the onset of fever and viremia. By eight days after inoculation, all pigs were thrombocytopenic. Immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated that 2 to 10% of the megakaryocytes were infected. By 13 days after inoculation, platelet counts returned to within normal limits, and there was megakaryocytic hyperplasia despite a continued viremia. Secondary complications delayed the return of normal circulating platelet levels in some pigs. The clinical findings of African swine fever are discussed in light of the gross and histologic lesions.     

Demonstration of Heterogeneous Genotypes of Taylorella equigenitalis Isolated from Horses in Six European Countries by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Forty-six isolates of Taylorella equigenitalis were analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after separate digestion of the genomic DNA with ApaI and with NotI. The isolates had been obtained from horses in six European countries and were classified into 18 genotypes. In Belgium, 2 genotypes were detected in 2 isolates, in England 9 among 15, in Finland 2 in 2, in France 2 among 10, in Sweden 3 among 5, and in Switzerland 3 among 12. Two English isolates and 4 French isolates gave identical PFGE profiles to those of Kentucky 188 from the United States. A common genotype was found in 5 isolates from Belgium and England and also in 10 isolates from France and Switzerland. The analysis of genomic DNA from 12 isolates of T. equigenitalis obtained from male horses in France, Sweden and Switzerland gave no evidence of a sex-related difference in the genomic DNA. Genomic DNA from 11 streptomycin (STM)-susceptible isolates obtained in Sweden and Switzerland were classified into four genotypes by PFGE. Each of the six genotypes determined among the 17 isolates from these two countries had single phenotypes for resistance or susceptibility to STM.     

Assessment and prediction of changes in the reserves of organic carbon in abandoned soils of European Russia in 1990–2020

Experimental studies and the analysis of published data have shown that carbon reserves in soils generally increase upon soil exclusion from agricultural use. The rate of carbon accumulation in the abandoned soils depends on the soil type, the time elapsed since the soil abandoning (the restoration period), and the thickness of the layer for which the rate of carbon accumulation is determined. For the upper 20-cm-thick layer, it varies from 66 to 175 g C/m² per year in dependence on the type of soil and averages 111 g C/m² per year. The highest rate is typical of the first 10–15 years of soil restoration. According to our calculations, the carbon sequestration in the upper 20-cm-thick layer of Russian soils due to changes in land use was 184–673 Mt C in 1990–2005 and may reach 282–1030 Mt C by 2020.     

Modifications of the mineralogical composition and surface properties of soils as related to steppe climate dynamics in historical time

This work presents the results of a study of changes in the soil mineral components and the related modifications of the chemical composition and surface properties of soils in the desert-steppe zone in the southern part of the Ergeni Upland. Burial mounds dating back to the Bronze epoch have been investigated. According to radiocarbon data, their ages are estimated at 5100 ± 50, 4410 ± 100, 4260 ± 120, 4120 ± 70, and 3960 ± 40 years. The substantial transformation of the clay minerals, the molar chemical coefficients, the magnetic mineralogy, and the surface properties of the soils permits us to assess the rates of the mineralogical transformations caused by the climate change during the time interval of less than <∼100 years. The ratio between the content of the mineral phases in the buried soils of different ages testifies to the primary importance of climatic factor in comparison with the total duration of weathering or the soil existence on the land surface prior to its burial, i.e., the soil age.     

Soil microbial populations and activities as influenced by legume green fallow in a semiarid climate

Tilled fallow-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (F-W) is the most commonly used cropping system in the semiarid Canadian prairie. However, because frequent fallowing degrades soil, a partial fallow with annual legumes as green manure [i.e. ‘green fallow’ (GF)] has been proposed as a soil conserving and more bio-resource efficient alternative to bare fallow. We conducted a 6-year study to compare the influence of four GF-W, a F-W and a continuous W (Cont. W) system, on soil microbial communities, microbial biomass (MB) and activities in an Orthic Brown Chernozem, silt loam (Aridic Haploboroll) at Swift Current, Sask., Canada. The four GF legumes used were black lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), Tangier flatpea (Lathyrus tingitanus L.), chickling vetch (Lathyrus sativus L.) and feedpea (Pisum sativum L.). They were grown to full bloom and then incorporated with a tandem disk. Analysis of soil taken from 0 to 10 cm depth after growing wheat in the sixth year of the experiment (i.e. 15 months after the most recent legume GF had been turned under) showed that most of the soil biochemical and microbiological attributes assessed were significantly improved (compared to F-W) by increasing cropping intensity (Cont. W), and even more by using the GF systems. The average improvement gained from the four GF legumes relative to F-W, was 385% for number of bacteria, 210% for filamentous fungi, 170% for MB-C, 191% for MB-N, 205% for cumulative C mineralization in 30 days at 21 °C, 202% for dehydrogenase, 171% for phosphatase, and 287% for arylsulfatase activity. The biologically active C and N, when expressed as ratios of MB-C or MB-N to total soil C or N, increased from 1.6 and 2.0% in F-W to 1.9 and 2.6% in Cont. W and to an average of 2.4 and 3.5% in GF-W. A sensitivity analysis (ratio of other treatment values to value for F-W) showed that Cont. W, and the GF-W systems even more, increased all major soil biological attributes tested. Among the GF systems, lentil-W consistently increased sensitivity the most, while Tangier flatpea-W usually increased it the least. The dynamic direct and indirect microbiological attributes were more sensitive indicators of changes in soil productivity than total organic C or N. The sensitivity of the attributes decreased in the sequence: Bacteria>Arylsulfatase>Filamentous fungi≈Cumulative C mineralization≈Dehydrogenase>MB-N>Phosphatase≈MB-C. Compared to the earlier published sensitivities of select physical and chemical attributes of soil quality to these same agronomic treatments, the microbiological attributes proved to be far more sensitive and more responsive to the beneficial influence of legume green fallowing in this semiarid loam.     

Improved isolation procedure for azaspiracids from shellfish, structural elucidation of azaspiracid-6, and stability studies

Azaspiracids are a group of lipophilic polyether toxins produced by the small dinoflagellate Azadinium spinosum. They may accumulate in shellfish and can result in illnesses when consumed by humans. Research into analytical methods, chemistry, metabolism, and toxicology of azaspiracids has been severely constrained by the scarcity of high-purity azaspiracids. Consequently, since their discovery in 1995, considerable efforts have been made to develop methods for the isolation of azaspiracids in sufficient amounts and purities for toxicological studies, in addition to the preparation of standard reference materials. A seven-step procedure was improved for the isolation of azaspiracids-1-3 (1, 2, and 3) increasing recoveries 2-fold as compared to previous methods and leading to isolation of sufficiently purified azaspiracid-6 (6) for structural determination by NMR spectroscopy. The procedure, which involved a series of partitioning and column chromatography steps, was performed on 500 g of Mytilus edulis hepatopancreas tissue containing ~14 mg of 1. Overall yields of 1 (52%), 2 (43%), 3 (43%), and 6 (38%) were good, and purities were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. The structure of 6 was determined by one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The stability of 6 relative to 1 was also assessed in three solvents in a short-term study that demonstrated the greatest stability in aqueous acetonitrile.     

Characterization and antioxidant potential of Brazilian fruits from the Myrtaceae family

The objective of this study is to evaluating the Brazilian biodiversity through physicochemical characterization and determination of antioxidant potential of three species from the Myrtaceae family, namely yellow guava (Psidium cattleyanum Sabine), guabiroba (Campomanesia xanthocarpa O. Berg), and uvaia ( Eugenia pyriformis Cambess). Guabiroba had the greater quantity of phenolic compounds (9033 mg chlorogenic acid/100 g) and vitamin C (30.58 mg/g) and showed the best TSS/TTA (total soluble solid/total titratable acid) ratio (45.12). For the ABTS (2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic) method, the guabiroba (507.49 μM Trolox/g) presented the highest antioxidant potential; however, in the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) method, uvaia (170.26 g/g DPPH) and guabiroba (161.29 g/g DPPH) were not statistically different. The uvaia outranked the other fruits with respect to its high carotenoid (909.33 μg/g) and vitamin A (37.83 μg/g) contents, and the yellow guava, although showing a lower bioactive compound content and antioxidant activity, nevertheless presented much higher values than many traditionally consumed fruits.     

Barley yield and soil microbial and enzyme activities as affected by contamination of two soils with lead, zinc or copper

The effects of increasing rates of Pb, Zn and Cu on extractable heavy metal levels, barley yields, basal respiration and the activities of catalase, urease, invertase and acid phosphatase were investigated in two soils in a 2-year greenhouse experiment. In the first year, barley yields were decreased by increasing additions of Pb, Zn and Cu. In the second year, increased yields were recorded at lower rates of addition of all three metals in both the chestnut and chernozem soils. Yield depressions were most marked for added Cu and least marked for Pb but, in contrast, accumulation of heavy metals in grain, in excess of recommended limits, was most pronounced for Pb and did not occur for Cu. Increasing rates of all three metals caused a decrease in basal respiration; the degree of inhibition was generally greater in the second than in the first year. After 1 year of incubation, increasing rates of addition of metals reduced all tested enzyme activities. However, after 2 years, the pattern of response was more complex, with increases in enzyme activities being noted at lower rates of addition of all three metals. In general, invertase and urease activities were more markedly inhibited by heavy metal contamination than those of catalase and phosphatase. Ammonium acetate-extractable heavy metal concentrations in soils were less after 2 years than 1 years reaction time due to their transformation into less labile forms. Significant negative correlations between grain yield, basal respiration and enzyme activities were observed in both years.