Successful treatment of hepatic failure secondary to diazepam administration in a cat

A 2-year-old castrated male domestic shorthair cat developed acute hepatic failure following oral diazepam administration for behavioral problems. The patient survived with intensive supportive care and was discharged after 5 days in hospital. Successful treatment of diazepam-associated fulminant hepatic failure in cats has rarely been described in the veterinary literature.     

Molecular cloning and expression analysis of pig CD81

CD81, also known as TAPA-1 (target of antiproliferative antibody 1), is a member of the tetraspanin family of proteins and a component of the B cell co-receptor complex. Several studies have shown that CD81 plays significant roles in a variety of immune responses, including activation of B cells and T cells. In this study, we cloned pig Cd81 cDNA using RT-PCR coupled with rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR and determined the complete cDNA sequence of pig Cd81. Pig Cd81 cDNA contains an open reading frame (711 bp) encoding 236 amino acids. The identity of pig CD81 with those of human, cattle, rat, and mouse are 90.30%, 92.26%, 86.22%, and 86.22%, respectively. Alignment of the CD81 amino acid sequence with those of mammalian species showed that the large extracellular loop (LEL) is the most divergent, whereas other domains are largely conserved. Pig Cd81 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in a broad range of tissues, including lymphoid tissues as well as nonlymphoid tissues, indicated variety of cellular functions of CD81 in most pig tissues. Flow cytometry analyses demonstrated that human CD81 antibody recognizes a pig CD81 on the cell surface. Further, immunohistochemistry analysis using human CD81 antibody on pig spleen was revealed that CD81 expression is widely diffused in spleen tissue. Future study will be focused on defining the functional role of CD81 during the course of pig infectious diseases.     

Genetic Diversity in Australian Populations of Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae

ABSTRACT Sequence-tagged microsatellite profiling was used to develop 110 microsatellites for Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (causal agent of wheat stem rust). Low microsatellite polymorphism was exhibited among 10 pathogenically diverse P. graminis f. sp. tritici isolates collected from Australian cereal growing regions over a period of at least 70 years, with two polymorphic loci detected, each revealing two alleles. Limited cross-species amplification was observed for the wheat rust pathogens, P. triticina (leaf rust) and P. striiformis f. sp. tritici (stripe rust). However, very high transferability was revealed with P. graminis f. sp. avenae (causal agent of oat stem rust) isolates. A genetic diversity study of 47 P. graminis f. sp. avenae isolates collected from an Australia-wide survey in 1999, and a historical group of 16 isolates collected from Australian cereal growing regions from 1971 to 1996, revealed six polymorphic microsatellite loci with a total of 15 alleles. Genetic analysis revealed the presence of several clonal lineages and subpopulations in the pathogen population, and wide dispersal of identical races and genotypes throughout Australian cereal-growing regions. These findings demonstrated the dynamic population structure of this pathogen in Australia and concur with the patterns of diversity observed in pathogenicity studies.     

Recycling endosomes supply AMPA receptors for LTP

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic strength, the most established cellular model of information storage in the brain, is expressed by an increase in the number of postsynaptic AMPA receptors. However, the source of AMPA receptors mobilized during LTP is unknown. We report that AMPA receptors are transported from recycling endosomes to the plasma membrane for LTP. Stimuli that triggered LTP promoted not only AMPA receptor insertion but also generalized recycling of cargo and membrane from endocytic compartments. Thus, recycling endosomes supply AMPA receptors for LTP and provide a mechanistic link between synaptic potentiation and membrane remodeling during synapse modification.     

Evaluation of seedling and adult plant resistance to stem rust in European wheat cultivars

A total of 105 European wheat cultivars were assessed for seedling and adult plant resistance (APR) to stem rust using an array of Australian isolates of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici. Twenty-seven cultivars were susceptible at both seedling and adult plant growth stages. Twelve catalogued seedling stem rust resistance genes (Sr7b, Sr8a, Sr8b, Sr9b, Sr9g, Sr11, Sr15, Sr17, Sr29, Sr31, Sr36 and Sr38) were detected in the remaining cultivars, and 13 cultivars carried additional seedling resistance genes that could not be postulated with the isolates used. Low levels of APR to stem rust were found in the cultivars Artaban, Forno, Mec, Mercia, Pandas and Vlada. Although the genetic identity of this APR was not determined, it was clear that the only designated stem rust APR gene Sr2 was not present in any of the cultivars tested based on the absence of the linked traits seedling chlorosis and pseudo black chaff. One of these cultivars, Forno, is believed to carry the leaf rust APR gene Lr34, previously reported to be associated with improved resistance to stem rust. A detailed genetic characterisation of the APRs in these cultivars will be needed to understand their modes of inheritance and relationships with catalogued stem rust resistance genes. Such knowledge may help in developing cultivars with effective gene combinations that confer higher levels of protection.     

Three AFLP markers tightly linked to the genic male sterility <Emphasis Type="Italic">ms</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">3</Emphasis></Subscript> gene in chili pepper (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Capsicum annuum</Emphasis> L.) and conversion to a CAPS marker

Genic male sterility (GMS) has long been used as a tool for hybrid seed production in chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). We developed DNA markers linked to the GMS ms ₃ gene in a segregating population using bulked segregant analysis (BSA) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) techniques. The segregating population was subjected to BSA-AFLP with 512 primer combinations. Three AFLP markers (Eagg/Mccc₂₇₆, Eagc/Mctt₁₇₈, and Ecag/Mtgc₂₀₄) were identified as tightly linked to the ms ₃ locus. Among them, we converted the AFLP marker Ecag/Mtgc₂₀₄ to the cleavage amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker, named GMS3-CAPS, based on sequencing analysis of internal and flanking regions for the markers between male-fertile and sterile plants. This marker will be useful for pepper breeding using the GMS system.     

Dietary eicosapentaenoic acid requirement of juvenile rock bream,Oplegnathus fasciatus

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the optimum dietary level of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n‐3) based on growth and non‐specific immune responses in juvenile rock bream. A basal diet without EPA supplementation was used as a control, and six other diets were prepared by supplementing with 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 or 40 g of EPA per kg diet. The actual EPA concentrations of the diets were 0.5, 4.3, 8.5, 13.0, 16.8, 21.0 and 41.2 g of EPA per kg diet, and the diets were abbreviated as EPA_0.5, EPA_4.3, EPA_8.5, EPA_13.0, EPA_16.8, EPA_21.0 and EPA_41.2, respectively. Triplicate groups of fish averaging 1.06 ± 0.01 g (mean ± SD) were fed one of the seven experimental diets at the apparent satiation for 8 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, weight gain, specific growth rate and feed efficiency of fish fed EPA_16.8, EPA_21.0 and EPA_41.2 diets were significantly higher than those of fish fed EPA_0.5, EPA_4.3, EPA_8.5 and EPA_13.0 diets (p < .05). Superoxide dismutase activity of fish fed EPA_16.8, EPA_21.0 and EPA_41.2 diets were significantly higher than those of fish fed EPA_0.5, EPA_4.3 and EPA_8.5 diets. Fish fed EPA_21.0 and EPA_41.2 diets showed significantly higher lysozyme activity than did fish fed EPA_0.5, EPA_4.3, EPA_8.5 and EPA_13.0 diets. The broken‐line analysis of weight gain indicated that the optimum dietary EPA level was 16.7 g/kg diet. These results suggested that the optimum dietary EPA level in juvenile rock bream could be greater than 16.7 g/kg diet but less than or equal to 16.8 g/kg diet based on the broken‐line analysis and the ANOVA test of weight gain.     

Effect of glycerol cross-linking and PDI on the shape memory effect and mechanical properties of polyurethane

A series of shape memory polyurethane (PU) copolymers synthesized from 1,4-phenyldiisocyanate (PDI), poly(tetramethyleneglycol) (PTMG), 1,4-butanediol (BD) as a chain extender, and glycerol as a cross-linking agent were tested for the mechanical properties and the shape memory effect at the temperature 20 °C above melting temperature (T _m), and were compared with other PUs synthesized from 4,4′-methylene-bis-phenyldiisocyanate (MDI), PTMG, and BD. Mechanical properties and shape memory effect were improved substantially by adopting both PDI and glycerol. Interestingly, enthalpy of melting and T _m were not affected by the glycerol content. Vibration and shock absorption ability was investigated by measuring both loss tan δ and storage modulus with dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA).