Role of Luteinizing Hormone in Primiparous Sow Responses to Split Weaning

In 45 primiparous sows, we examined endocrine, ovarian and reproductive responses to split-weaning or five injections per day of 800 ng GnRH from 18 to 21 days of lactation. There was no effect of treatment on absolute or changes in sow weight or backfat depth during lactation. Average piglet growth rates were similar among treatments except that piglets suckling split-weaned sows grew faster (p < 0.05) during days 18–21. On day 18, mean plasma LH concentrations and LH pulse frequency remained relatively stable in conventionally weaned sows but increased (p < 0.01) in response to split-weaning and GnRH. Prior to weaning on day 21, mean plasma LH concentrations remained elevated in GnRH-treated sows but had returned to control levels in split weaned sows. There was no treatment effect on preweaning LH pulse frequency noted on day 21. Weaning was associated with an increase in plasma LH concentrations in all the treatment groups. Mean plasma IGF-I remained relatively constant in conventionally weaned and GnRH sows, decreased in response to split weaning on day 18 (p < 0.02), but were elevated (p < 0.03) in split wean sows on day 21. On the day after weaning, split wean sows had more (p < 0.04) ovarian follicles ≥3 mm than conventionally weaned sows, with GnRH sows being intermediate. The wean-to-oestrus interval was reduced in split-wean sows compared with those conventionally weaned (p < 0.01), with GnRH sows being intermediate. There was no effect of treatment on ovulation rates, numbers of embryos, or embryonic survival rates. These data indicate that split-weaning of litters results in a more rapid return to oestrus after weaning and that this effect is associated with a transient acute increase in circulating gonadotrophins and earlier resumption of ovarian follicular development.     

Elevating glucose and insulin secretion by carbohydrate formulation diets in late lactation to improve post‐weaning fertility in primiparous sows

Primiparous (P1) sows commonly lose excessive body reserves to meet energy requirements for maintenance and milk production during lactation, and consequently, post‐weaning reproductive performance may be compromised. The present studies determined whether ad libitum feeding a glucogenic carbohydrate diet (CHO) during late lactation could stimulate insulin and glucose secretion (experiment 1) and improve subsequent litter size (experiment 2). For experiment 1, 15 P1 sows, and for experiment 2, 99 P1 sows (198.5 ± 2.7 kg) were allocated randomly according to suckled litter size (≥10 piglets), either to a CHO diet (14.3 MJ DE/kg, 19.8% crude protein) or a standard lactation diet (control; 14.2 DE MJ/kg, 19.5% crude protein) at 8 days before weaning. The CHO diet aimed to provide glucogenic content (extruded wheat, dextrose and sugar) as energy sources instead of fat sources without changing total dietary energy. Pre‐prandial plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were not influenced by treatments. However, post‐prandial plasma glucose and insulin concentrations and their peaks were both higher (p < .05) compared to the control treatment. Body weight loss during lactation was relatively low at 3%–4% for both treatments and did not differ between control and CHO treatments (?7.6 ± 1.6 vs ?5.4 ± 1.2 kg; p > .05). Second litter size was not influenced by diet (p > .05), but the weaning‐to‐mating interval was shorter in CHO sows (p < .05). This study demonstrates that providing an enriched CHO diet in late lactation did influence post‐weaning follicle growth but did not improve subsequent litter size. This may be due to the primiparous sows in this study not experiencing severe negative energy balance and there was no second litter syndrome in this farm which limited the ability of diet to improve sow fertility.     

The effect of water on dormancy in the potato

Summary The dormant period of potato tubers could be terminated within 7 days by storing the tubers under moist conditions at temperatures of 20–35 C and with reasonable aeration. Dry-stored tubers were dormant for at least 7 weeks. Ethylene-chlorhydrin or gibberellic-acid treatments were less effective than moist storage in shortening the dormant period. Rotting could be prevented by storing the tubers under light of intensity greater than 9–10³ cal cm⁻² hr¹. Water was supplied either by wetting the tubers and putting them in thin-walled polythene bags containing a little water, or by loosely wrapping them in wet filter paper. The response was not increased by cutting the surface of the tuber. Water had no effect on the dormant period of tubers buried in soil or vermiculite. There was less response if the tubers were stored in airtight containers. Transferring tubers from wet to dry storage when the sprouts were less than 1 cm long caused a resumption of dormancy.

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Zusammenfassung In einer Vorstudie wurde festgestellt, dass bei frisch geernteten Knollen vonArran Pilot undMajestic, die unter feuchten Bedingungen in Polythen-S?cken gelagert wurden, die Keimruheperiode innerhalb 7 Tagen beendet war. Da mehrere Forscher gefunden haben, Wasser habe wenig oder keinen Einfluss auf die Ruheperiode, wurde eine Untersuchung der Faktoren vorgenommen, die die Reaktion gegenüber Wasser bestimmen. Unterbrochenes Keimwachstum kam w?hrend der Keimruhe vor, die durch eine Periode stetigen Keimwachstums bei einer anf?nglich gleichbleibenden Wachstumsrate beendet wurde (abdildung). Feuchte Lagerung in Polythen-S?cken verkürzte die Ruhezeit bei 21 C st?rker als bei 15 C und st?rker nach Behandlung mit ?thylenchlorhydrin als ohne Vorbehandlung (tabelle 1). Die F?ulnis der unter feuchten Bedingungen gelagerten Knollen begann binnen 3–6 Wochen, ausgenommen wenn sie bei einer Lichtintensit?t von 9 ° 10³ cal cm²h¹ oder st?rker gelagert wurden. Behandlungen, die auf eine Verkürzung der Ruhezeit hinzielten, erh?hten die anf?ngliche relative Wachstumsrate nach Beginn des Wachstums (tabelle 2). Die Keimruhe von Knollen, die in nassem Filterpapier feucht gehalten wurden, war ebenfalls von kurzer Dauer. Eine Beeinflussung wurde nur bei Temperaturen über 15 C festgestellt. Das Anschneiden der Knollenoberfl?che dehnte den Temperaturbereich, in dem sich eine Reaktion ergab, nich aus (tabelle 3). Wasser verkürtze die Ruheperiode von in Erde oder Vermiculit eingelegten Knollen nicht und übte nur einen kleinen Einfluss auf Knollen aus, die in luftdichten Beh?ltern gelagert wurden (tabelle 4). Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass das Fehlen einer Beeinflussung durch Wasser bei Einlegen der Knollen in Erde oder Vermiculit mit der geringen Luftzufuhr im Zusammenhang steht. Keime an Knollen, die w?hrend 5 Tagen in Polythen-S?cken unter feuchten Bedingungen gelagert und dann in einen trockenen Lagerraum gebracht wurden, begannen zu wachsen und fielen dann in den Ruhezustand zurück. Es wird angedeutet, dass unter feuchten Bedingungen sehr günstige Umweltsverh?ltnisse für das Keimwachstum geschaffen werden, so dass die Keime unter andernfalls hemmenden physiologischen Voraussetzungen doch wachsen k?nnen. Der praktische Wert dieser Ergebnisse wird besprochen. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass Lagerung von Knollen bei Temperaturen zwischen 20 und 30 C in dünnen Polythen-S?cken unter feuchten Bedingungen und hellem Tageslicht als billiges und wirksames Mittel zur Brechung der Keimruhe gebracht werden k?nnte.

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Résumé Une étude préliminaire a révélé que, chez des tubercules fraichement récoltés deArran Pilot et deMajestic, la conservation dans des conditions humides en sacs en polythène mettait fin à la période de dormance endéans 7 jours. Comme de nombreux chercheurs ont trouvé que l'eau a peu ou pas d'effet sur la période de dormance, l'auteur a effectué une étude sur les facteurs qui déterminent la réaction à l'eau. Une croissance intermittente du germe existe durant la période de dormance, qui se termine par une période de croissance continue du bourgeon, le taux de développement relatif étant initialement constant (figure). La conservation humide en sacs de polythène écourtait la période de dormance davantage à 21 C qu'à 15 C, et plus après traitement à l'éthylène chlorhydrine que sans prétraitement (tableau 1). La pourriture des tubercules conservés en conditions humides commen?ait après 3 à 6 semaines, sauf quand la conservation avait lieu à une lumière d'une intensité 9 · 10⁻³ cal cm²h⁻¹ ou davantage. Les traitements visant à écourter la période de dormance augmentaient, après le début de la croissance, le taux initial de développement relatif (tableau 2). La période de dormance des tubercules tenus humides par enrobage dans du papier filtre humide, est également courte. La réaction se manifeste seulement à des températures audessus de 15 C. Le sectionnement de la surface du tubercule n'augmente pas l'échelle des températures dans laquelle il y a réaction (tableau 3). L'eau n'écourte pas la période de dormance des tubercules placés dans le sol ou dans la vermiculite et a seulement un effet réduit sur les tubercules conservés dans des récipients hermétiques à l'air (tableau 4). Il est suggéré que le manque de réaction à l'eau des tubercules placés dans le sol ou la vermiculite est lié à une minime aération. Les bourgeons des tubercules conservés en sacs de polythène sous conditions humides pendant 5 jours, et alors transférés en condition sèche, commen?aient à germer et ensuite retournaient à l'état dormant. Il est suggéré que les conditions humides réalisent un miliex externe très favorable à la croissance des bourgeons, à tel point que ceux-ci peuvent alors pousser dans des conditions physiologiques par ailleurs inhibitrices. L'importance pratique de ces découvertes est discutée. Il est suggéré que la conservation des tubercules à des températures comprises entre 20 et 30 C dans des sacs de polythène mince, sous conditions humides, et à la lumière claire de jour pourrait être utilisée comme un procédé bon marché et efficient de rompre la dormance.

     

Epizootics in farm-raised channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), caused by the enteric redmouth bacterium Yersinia ruckeri

In the winters of 1995 and 1996, unusual disease outbreaks occurred on two separate channel catfish farms in Arkansas, USA. Affected fish exhibited extraordinary haemorrhaged rings around the eyes and raised haemorrhaged areas overlying the frontal foramens. Other signs included abnormal swimming, lethargy, loss of equilibrium, and exophthalmia. Bacterial isolates from the moribund fish were identified as Yersinia ruckeri by biochemical tests, no lysis by the Hafnia-specific bacteriophage 1672, and Y. ruckeri-specific growth patterns on Shotts-Waltman media. Fingerling catfish injected intraperitoneally with the bacterial isolate at 7.8 × 10⁶ bacteria fish^?1 developed lesions characteristic of the epizootics at 13, 18, and 22 °C and a biochemically identical isolate was recovered. Fingerling rainbow trout injected with the channel catfish isolate at 1 × 10⁵ bacteria fish^?1 and held at 20 °C developed signs typical of enteric redmouth by 4 days post-inoculation and were moribund by 5 days post-inoculation. Some differences of clinical signs occurred between experimentally infected rainbow trout and channel catfish. Clinical and biochemical similarities between infections of Y. ruckeri and many warmwater pathogens in affected catfish may lead to incorrect diagnosis of ERM infections.     

Changing trends in mastitis

The global dairy industry, the predominant pathogens causing mastitis, our understanding of mastitis pathogens and the host response to intramammary infection are changing rapidly. This paper aims to discuss changes in each of these aspects. Globalisation, energy demands, human population growth and climate change all affect the dairy industry. In many western countries, control programs for contagious mastitis have been in place for decades, resulting in a decrease in occurrence of Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus aureus mastitis and an increase in the relative impact of Streptococcus uberis and Escherichia coli mastitis. In some countries, Klebsiella spp. or Streptococcus dysgalactiae are appearing as important causes of mastitis. Differences between countries in legislation, veterinary and laboratory services and farmers' management practices affect the distribution and impact of mastitis pathogens. For pathogens that have traditionally been categorised as contagious, strain adaptation to human and bovine hosts has been recognised. For pathogens that are often categorised as environmental, strains causing transient and chronic infections are distinguished. The genetic basis underlying host adaptation and mechanisms of infection is being unravelled. Genomic information on pathogens and their hosts and improved knowledge of the host's innate and acquired immune responses to intramammary infections provide opportunities to expand our understanding of bovine mastitis. These developments will undoubtedly contribute to novel approaches to mastitis diagnostics and control.     

Testing a model to track fish migrations in polar regions using pop‐up satellite archival tags

The use of pop‐up archival satellite tags (PSATs) to geolocate marine fishes in polar regions is challenging due to the brevity of periods during which there is a defined sunrise and sunset. Models using other environmental parameters are thus required to supplement geolocation data in the estimation of marine migratory routes. The objective of this work was to create a simple method that would estimate the migratory pathways of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in polar regions using temperature and depth recordings. Validated geolocations from PSATs were used to test and constrict the model. The model’s predicted migratory routes were within 100 km of the light‐based geolocations calculated by the tags. By constraining the trajectories through the geolocations, bias was reduced. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that slight alterations of the location and timing of the start and end points did not affect the mean migratory route estimates. This method is a management tool that can determine the primary habitat areas for any surface‐ or bottom‐dwelling marine species – especially in polar regions, where other methods may be impossible.     

Assessing changes in forest fragmentation following infestation using time series Landsat imagery

The current epidemic of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) in British Columbia, Canada, has impacted an area of over 13 million hectares presenting a considerable challenge to provincial forest resource managers. Remote sensing technologies offer a highly effective tool to monitor this impact due to very large areas involved and its ability to detect dead and dying tree crowns. Conventionally, change detection procedures based upon spectral values have been applied; however, analysis of landscape pattern changes associated with long-time series change detection approaches present opportunities for the generation of unique and ecologically important information. This study is focussed on the detection and monitoring of the shape and area characteristics of lodgepole pine stands during mountain pine beetle infestation to quantify the progression of forest fragmentation and related loss of landscape connectivity. A set of landscape pattern indices were applied to a set of images consisting of six Landsat satellite images spanning the period from 1993 to 2006. Our results indicate that the impacts of the mountain pine beetle infestation on forest spatial pattern consist of an increase in the number of patches, an increase in forest patch shape complexity, a reduction in forest patch size, an increase in forest patch isolation, and a decrease in interspersion. These findings demonstrate the unique information available from long-time series satellite imagery combined with pattern analysis to better understand the combined effects of insect infestation and forest salvage and harvesting.     

Chlorophyll fluorescence for quantification of fungal foliar infection and assessment of the effectiveness of an induced systemic resistance activator

Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging was used to follow infections of Nicotiana benthamiana with the hemibiotrophic fungus, Colletotrichum orbiculare. Based on F_v/F_m images, infected leaves were divided into: healthy tissue with values similar to non-inoculated leaves; water-soaked/necrotic tissue with values near zero; and non-necrotic disease-affected tissue with intermediate values, which preceded or surrounded water-soaked/necrotic tissue. Quantification of F_v/F_m images showed that there were no changes until late in the biotrophic phase when spots of intermediate F_v/F_m appeared in visibly normal tissue. Those became water-soaked approx. 24 h later and then turned necrotic. Later in the necrotrophic phase, there was a rapid increase in affected and necrotic tissue followed by a slower increase as necrotic areas merged. Treatment with the induced systemic resistance activator, 2R, 3R-butanediol, delayed affected and necrotic tissue development by approx. 24 h. Also, the halo of affected tissue was narrower indicating that plant cells retained a higher photosystem II efficiency longer prior to death. While chlorophyll fluorescence imaging can reveal much about the physiology of infected plants, this study demonstrates that it is also a practical tool for quantifying hemibiotrophic fungal infections, including affected tissue that is appears normal visually but is damaged by infection.     

Grassland songbird occurrence on remnant prairie patches is primarily determined by landscape characteristics

Context

North American grassland songbird populations have declined significantly due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Understanding the influence of the surrounding landscape on prairie fragment occupancy is vital for predicting the fate of grassland birds in these heavily altered landscapes.

Objectives

We examined the relative importance of local and landscape variables on grassland bird occupancy of prairie fragments using a focal-patch study. We also investigated the spatial scale at which landscape variables were most influential.

Methods

We surveyed birds on 29 unplowed prairie fragments in western Minnesota and eastern North and South Dakota. We quantified local habitat on the fragment using vegetation surveys and aerial photographs and the landscape surrounding the fragment out to 4 km using aerial photographs. We analyzed occupancy using multi-model approaches applied to multiple logistic regression.

Results

Of 38 species encountered, nine were neither too rare nor too abundant to be analyzed. Predictors of patch occupancy were unique for each bird species, yet general patterns emerged. For eight species, landscape variables were more important than local variables. Mostly, those landscape variables measured configuration (e.g., edge density) and not composition (e.g., percent cover of a particular matrix element). Landscape effects were mostly from variables measured at the greatest extents from the prairie fragment.

Conclusions

Using a focal-patch study design we demonstrated the importance of the surrounding landscape, often out to 4 km from the fragment edge, on prairie occupancy by grassland birds. Effective management of grassland songbirds will require attention to the landscape context of prairie fragments.

     

Sectional notes

American Journal of Potato Research -