Maternal immunization with vaccines containing recombinant NetB toxin partially protects progeny chickens from necrotic enteritis

Avian necrotic enteritis is a major economic and welfare issue throughout the global poultry industry and is caused by isolates of Clostridium perfringens that produce NetB toxin. Previously we have shown that birds directly vaccinated with inactivated C. perfringens type A culture supernatant (toxoid) combined with recombinant NetB (rNetB) protein were significantly protected from homologous and heterologous challenge. In the present study the protective effect of maternal immunization was examined. Broiler breeder hens were injected subcutaneously with genetically toxoided rNetB(S254L) alone, C. perfringens type A toxoid and toxoid combined with rNetB(S254L). Vaccination resulted in a strong serum immunoglobulin Y response to NetB in hens immunized with rNetB(S254L) formulations. Anti-NetB antibodies were transferred to the eggs and on into the hatched progeny. Subclinical necrotic enteritis was induced experimentally in the progeny and the occurrence of specific necrotic enteritis lesions evaluated. Birds derived from hens immunized with rNetB(S254L) combined with toxoid and challenged with a homologous strain (EHE-NE18) at either 14 or 21 days post-hatch had significantly lower levels of disease compared to birds from adjuvant only vaccinated hens. In addition, birds from hens immunized with rNetB(S254L) alone were significantly protected when challenged at 14 days post-hatch. These results demonstrate that maternal immunization with a NetB-enhanced toxoid vaccine is a promising method for the control of necrotic enteritis in young broiler chickens.     

Boron and zinc deficiencies and toxicities and their interactions with other nutrients in soybean roots,leaves, and seeds

In many parts of the world, soils deficient and/or toxic in micronutrients reduce potential soybean (Glycine max) yields. The objective of our study was to grow plants in low to high concentrations of boron (B) and zinc (Zn) to determine how B and Zn deficiencies and toxicities affect soybean growth and interact with other essential nutrients in roots, leaves, and seeds. We found that B significantly affected levels of all essential nutrients except manganese and iron, while Zn significantly affected all essential nutrients in at least one plant tissue tested. Some of the physiological responses and nutrient interactions were cultivar-dependent. This study showed how deficiencies and toxicities of B and Zn affect plant growth and how B and Zn fertility interacts with many of the other essential nutrients.     

An artificial inoculation protocol for Uromycladium acaciae,cause of a serious disease of Acacia mearnsii in southern Africa

Uromycladium acaciae is the cause of a severe wattle rust epidemic in plantations of Acacia mearnsii (black wattle) in southern Africa. Research on the biology of this damaging rust is assisting in the development of control strategies. One strategy under investigation is the identification and deployment of resistant lines of A. mearnsii. Selection of resistant families currently relies on large-scale, time-consuming and expensive field trials. In this study, we present a detailed artificial inoculation protocol for U. acaciae, which can be used to screen for resistance. The results of an experiment that used the protocol to screen the relative resistance of 12 families of A. mearnsii to U. acaciae are also presented. The developed artificial inoculation protocol can also be used to investigate several other aspects of this host–pathogen system.     

Citric acid extraction—An underestimated method in forest nutrition?

Since recent studies reveal citric acid to be favorable for estimating plant‐available P in soils, we investigated if it can also be used for assessing other nutrients. According to our results, it provides stronger correlations with the tree nutrition for Mg (beech, spruce), Ca+K (beech) and Fe (spruce) than the standard methods for determining exchangeable cations. Thus, when estimating plant‐available P by citric acid‐extraction, these cations should be additionally measured in ICP analysis.     

Experimental infection of domestic pigeons with pigeon circovirus

Pigeon circovirus (PiCV) infection and young pigeon disease syndrome (YPDS), associated with high morbidity and mortality, have been recognized in young racing pigeons from large portions of Central Europe. There exist a number of data indicating that YPDS is a consequence of PiCV infection and subsequent immunosuppression. In order to prove PiCV to be one of the crucial factors of YPDS, an experimental infection with PiCV was performed under controlled conditions. Twenty-four domestic pigeons (Columba livia forma domestica) were divided into two groups with 12 pigeons each; an infection group and a control group. All birds were between their fourth to eighth week of life. Pigeons in the infection group were infected both intramuscularly and orally with PiCV purified from naturally infected birds, while pigeons in the control group received a placebo. To test a possible influence of the PiCV infection on the immune system, the animals in both groups were vaccinated simultaneously, on the same day, against PMV-1 (Lasovac plus, IDT, Dessau-Tornau, Germany). Weekly virologic testing showed a viraemic period, and excretion of the infection virus, in pigeons in the infection group. Replication of PiCV could be proved on the basis of histologic findings of multiglobular inclusion bodies, mainly observed in macrophages of the bursa of Fabricius. A PiCV, genetically distinct from the experimental virus, was detected in the control group by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, but any histologic findings comparable to the infection group were absent. None of the pigeons revealed clinical signs of illness, or hints that immunosuppression had occurred, regardless of their group. The absence of stressful conditions, considered as a trigger for the development of YPDS, may be responsible for the failure of disease reproduction in our infection model.     

麦二叉蚜唾液蛋白基因Sg1655时空表达谱及其抑制小麦防御反应的功能

为进一步明确麦二叉蚜Schizaphis graminum唾液蛋白Sg1655在调控小麦防御反应中的作用,基于麦二叉蚜唾液腺转录组数据,利用PCR技术克隆获取Sg1655开放阅读框,利用生物信息学软件对其序列进行分析;通过实时荧光定量PCR（real-time quantitative PCR,RT-qPCR）技术检测Sg1655在麦二叉蚜不同组织及不同龄期中的表达;利用细菌III型分泌系统将Sg1655导入到小麦叶片内,检测其瞬时表达对小麦胼胝质积累的影响。结果表明,Sg1655开放阅读框全长375 bp,编码125个氨基酸残基,N端1~21位为信号肽序列,预测蛋白分子量为14.90 kD。麦二叉蚜Sg1655氨基酸序列与玉米蚜Rhopalosiphum maidis同源序列相致性最高,为89.52%;麦二叉蚜Sg1655与玉米蚜同源序列聚为一个分支,亲缘关系最近。Sg1655在麦二叉蚜各组织中均有表达,其中在唾液腺中表达量最高,Sg1655在麦二叉蚜各个龄期均有表达,且在不同龄期之间无显著差异。小麦叶片内Sg1655瞬时表达可显著抑制小麦胼胝质积累,表明该蛋白可作为潜在效应子参与抑制小麦防御反应。     

Planted forests of the wet and dry tropics: their variety,nature, and significance

Planting trees in tropical countries is an increasingly important forestry activity. Although much attention has been paid, and rightly so, to rapid deforestation in the tropics, the contribution and role that planted forests can play are now at the center of policy and planning in most national forestry strategies. The changing emphasis from exploitative management of natural forests to managed natural forests and plantation forests, seen in temperate regions over the last 100 years, has been taking place in tropical countries largely over the last 20 years. In neither temperate nor tropical regions has this evolution finished.Planted forests will increasingly furnish wood resources that meet domestic wood needs and provide many environmental services. In this paper I seek to place in perspective the contribution that planted forests will make in the tropics. I emphasize (1) the wide variety of purposes that planted forests serve; (2) the sustainability of plantation silviculture; and (3) the overriding importance of due regard to people's participation. I am optimistic about the great value that planted forests, rightly used, can provide for a great many hard-pressed peoples across the tropics and beyond.     

Effect of dietary flax oil and hypobaric hypoxia on pulmonary hypertension and haematological variables in broiler chickens.

1. Three experiments were conducted with broiler chickens using hypobaric chambers and control pens, feeding diets containing 25 or 50 g flax oil/kg food or control diets with equivalent amounts of animal/vegetable (A/V) blend oil for 4 weeks. The effect of these diets on haematological variables and the extent of right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) leading to ascites was determined. 2. Overall growth rate was not consistently affected by dietary treatment, although feeding the 25 g flax oil/kg diet reduced weight gain in week 4 of one experiment. Feeding the 50 g flax oil/kg diet but not the 25 g flax oil/kg diet reduced RVH in birds exposed to hypobaric conditions compared to feeding control diets. 3. Feeding the 50 g flax oil/kg diet under hypobaric conditions reduced the haematocrit and haemoglobin content, increased the erythrocyte deformability and the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the erythrocyte membranes, and reduced the whole blood viscosity compared to feeding control diets. These effects were not seen when the 25 g flax oil/kg diet was fed. The ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids in erythrocyte membranes was increased in the 50 g flax oil/kg treatment group compared to controls. 4. Including 50 g flax oil/kg broiler diet reduces RVH in broiler chickens. This may be attributable in part to an increase in erythrocyte deformability from an increased proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the erythrocyte membranes.     

Bonga shad (Ethmalosa fimbriata) spawning tactics in an upwelling environment

Successful recruitment in small pelagic fish populations inhabiting upwelling zones is subject to variation in fecundity and is driven by spatial and temporal fluctuations in environmental conditions, that is, mainly sea surface temperature, salinity and food availability. These fluctuations in abiotic factors have stimulated small pelagic fish populations to exhibit specifically adapted spawning tactics. To better understand to what extent a short‐lived exploited fish species such as bonga shad Ethmalosa fimbriata has adapted to an upwelling environment, we have investigated the interrelationship between upwelling intensity as a proxy for productivity and population fecundity by means of a virtual population analysis. We found that females of intermediate size contributed significantly more eggs to the population's fecundity than smaller or larger ones. Our model results further indicate that E. fimbriata exhibits a spawning preference at water temperatures of around 25°C and upwelling intensities of around 2.5 m³ s^?1 m^?1. Hence, we hypothesize that climate change‐driven increases in sea temperatures and modifications of upwelling‐favourable winds could significantly impact the species’ reproductive biology. To understand how climate change might impact fisheries, spawning tactics of small pelagic fishes are important to assess as well as their recruitment success. Such information is particularly relevant in countries where the fishery is critical at socio‐economic level, to better implement fisheries management addressing multiple stressors.