Survival and morphologic changes of entodiniomorphid ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti in chimpanzee feces

Entodiniomorphid ciliates occur in the hindgut of both captive and wild African great apes. These ciliates do not form cysts, and therefore they are more susceptible for degradation. This present study focused on the survival, quantification, and decomposition processes of Troglodytella abrassarti trophozoites in the feces of captive chimpanzees. Fecal samples were examined using wet mounts and the merthiolate-iodine-formaldehyde concentration method, and the number of ciliates was expressed as ciliates per gram, which did not differ when examined from three different samples of the same feces. Trophozoites of T. abrassarti survived 5-15 hr after defecation at 25 degrees C under aerobic conditions. Decomposition of trophozoites began immediately after defecation; however, most of the trophozoites had a compact shape and visible cilia. Trophozoites, although without cilia, can be detected in the feces 55-65 hr after defecation, although most of the trophozoites were fragmented. The total number of ciliates in the sample started to decrease 35-55 hr after defecation. The absence of entodiniomorphid ciliates in fecal samples could not be caused by delayed feces fixation; instead, the absence was due to low sensitivity of coproscopic techniques. However, because of quick morphologic changes of trophozoites, accurate identification of ciliates in older samples may be difficult or even impossible.     

Isolated abdominal fat tissue inflammation and necrosis in a cat

This report describes a rare clinical case of a 4.5-month-old, female domestic shorthair, cat with isolated abdominal fat tissue inflammation and necrosis, resembling human omental panniculitis. Its possible relationship with pancreatitis or bile induced chemical peritonitis is also discussed. The overall clinical course was considered benign. Initial clinical signs were vomiting and anorexia, presumably due to inflammation, followed by mass development. It was speculated that, eventually, the kitten was vomiting because of mechanical pressure from the mass, and that this pressure subsided as the kitten grew. The mass was surgically resected and no relapse was evident during the next 4 years.     

Genotype,ultraviolet irradiation,and harvesting time interaction effects on secondary metabolites of whole lettuce and browning of fresh-cut product

This study evaluated the importance of three factors (genotype, ultraviolet [UV] radiation and harvest time) and their interaction on phenolics, tannins, flavonoids and antioxidant activity of ‘Paris Island’ (romaine type) and ‘Sanguine’ (red leaf type) lettuce plants as well as on the severity of browning of their fresh-cut product. Ten genotypes had significant effect on secondary metabolite accumulation and higher levels were found in ‘Sanguine’, while no interaction effect was found among all the studied factors. Therefore, a new analysis of variance was performed for each genotype separately. The results showed that in ‘Paris Island’ the time of harvest had a significant effect on all measured parameters with higher levels for plants from the night harvest, while UV radiation had little effect on the plants’ biochemistry. On the contrary, in ‘Sanguine’, UV radiation significantly affected the concentration of secondary metabolites and antioxidant capacity, with higher levels for plants grown under UV-open film. Browning evaluation of fresh-cut product derived from the above plants showed that factors affecting secondary metabolite concentration in whole plants at harvest did not have a similar effect. The findings indicate that there are appropriate treatments, for each genotype, that could achieve high production of secondary metabolites and improve their antioxidant properties.     

Strength properties of black spruce wood under different treatment

Summary The effect of various forms of treatment — chemical, thermal and pressure — on the tensile properties of wood was investigated. Spruce was impregnated in water, sodium sulfite and/or sodium bicarbonate, and heated at temperatures ranging from 20 to 190 °C. At the end of cooking (190 °C), decompression was applied both slowly and suddenly.A rise in temperature, an increase in heating time, from 4 to 10 min. at 190 °C, as well as fast pressure release influenced the tensile strength. The chemical treatment resulted in lignin sulfonation while carboxylation produced fiber swelling and, consequently, tensile strength decreased.The authors wish to thank the FCAR (Québec), NSERC (Canada) and Stake Tech. Co. for their financial support     

Bacterial populations on the phyllosphere of Mediterranean plants: influence of leaf age and leaf surface

In the present study, we estimated the size of phyllosphere bacterial populations in young and mature leaves from the same plants and also assessed the population abundance on adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces. We examined eight perennial species naturally occurring in the same area, in Halkidiki (northern Greece). They are Arbutus unedo, Quercus coccifera, Pistacia lentiscus, and Myrtus communis (evergreen sclerophyllous species), Lavandula stoechas and Cistus incanus (drought semideciduous species), and Calamintha nepeta and Melissa officinalis (nonwoody perennial species). Young and mature leaves were examined from the four sclerophyllous evergreen species for their epiphytic bacterial colonization, and it was found that mature leaves were highly populated compared to the younger ones except in M. communis. As regards the bacterial colonization of the two leaf surfaces, no differences were found in most species except for the drought semideciduous type where the two leaf surfaces behaved differently.     

Porcine mononuclear phagocyte subpopulations in the lung,blood and bone marrow: dynamics during inflammation induced by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

Mononuclear phagocytes (MP) are cells of nonspecific immunity, playing an essential role in defense against bacterial pathogens. Although various MP subpopulations have been described in the pig, relations among these populations in vivo are unknown to date. The present study was aimed at describing porcine MP subpopulations infiltrating inflamed tissue of pigs under in vivo conditions. Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) infection was used to induce an inflammatory response. CD172α, CD14, CD163, MHCII and CD203α cell surface molecules were used to identify MP by flow cytometry. Changes in MP subpopulations in the peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) compartments along with the analysis of MP appearing in the inflamed lungs were assessed to elucidate the possible origin and maturation stages of the infiltrating MP. The MP population migrating to the inflamed lungs was phenotype CD14⁺ CD163⁺ CD203α^+/− MHCII^+/−. Concomitantly, after APP infection there was an increase in the PB MP CD14⁺ CD163⁺ CD203α⁻ MHC II⁻ population, suggesting that these cells give rise to inflammatory monocytes/macrophages. The CD203α and MHCII molecules appear on these cells after leaving the PB. In healthy animals, the BM MP precursors were represented by CD14⁻ CD163⁻ cells maturing directly into CD14⁺ CD163⁻ that were then released into the PB. After infection, an altered maturation pathway of MP precursors appeared, represented by CD14⁻ CD163⁻ CD203α⁻ MHCII⁻ MP directly switching into CD14⁺ CD163⁺ CD203α⁻ MHCII⁻ MP. In conclusion, two different MP maturation pathways were suggested in pigs. The use of these pathways differs under inflammatory and noninflammatory conditions.     

Epidemiological basis useful for the control of foot-and-mouth disease

Although known for many years, foot-and-mouth disease is still able to represent a real threat to many farming economies in the world. The recent 2001 Western European epizootics linked to O PanAsia virus strain can illustrate the fact that many questions are still unanswered in the field of foot-and-mouth epidemiology. It also demonstrates that the increase in international trade, including livestock, animal products and animal food, means an increase in the probability of transmitting, through the same way, some animal diseases, foot-and-mouth included. In our economies, a rapid identification of the virus and a fast elimination of infected, contaminated and even some contact animals are still the key factors to react in front of such a disease.

Résumé

Bien que connue depuis des années, la fièvre aphteuse représente toujours une menace réelle pour beaucoup d'économies agricoles de la planète. L'épisode récent de 2001 en Europe Occidentale, lié au virus O PanAsia, illustre le fait que de nombreuses questions sont toujours sans réponse au niveau de l'épidémiologie de la maladie. Cet épisode démontre aussi que le développement du commerce international des animaux et des produits animaux se traduit par une augmentation de la probabilité de transmettre, de la même façon, diverses maladies animales dont la fièvre aphteuse. Dans nos économies, une identification rapide du virus, suivie d'une élimination précoce des animaux malades, contaminés, voire contact, restent les clefs d'une maîtrise de la fièvre aphteuse.     

SIRT1-dependent modulation of methylation and acetylation of histone H3 on lysine 9 (H3K9) in the zygotic pronuclei improves porcine embryo development

Background: The histone code is an established epigenetic regulator of early embryonic development in mammals.The lysine residue K9 of histone H3(H3 K9) is a prime target of SIRT1, a member of NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase family of enzymes targeting both histone and non-histone substrates. At present, little is known about SIRT1-modulation of H3 K9 in zygotic pronuclei and its association with the success of preimplantation embryo development. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of SIRT1 activity on H3 K9 methylation and acetylation in porcine zygotes and the significance of H3 K9 modifications for early embryonic development.Results: Our results show that SIRT1 activators resveratrol and BML-278 increased H3 K9 methylation and suppressed H3 K9 acetylation in both the paternal and maternal pronucleus. Inversely, SIRT1 inhibitors nicotinamide and sirtinol suppressed methylation and increased acetylation of pronuclear H3 K9. Evaluation of early embryonic development confirmed positive effect of selective SIRT1 activation on blastocyst formation rate(5.2 ± 2.9% versus 32.9 ± 8.1% in vehicle control and BML-278 group, respectively; P ≤ 0.05). Stimulation of SIRT1 activity coincided with fluorometric signal intensity of ooplasmic ubiquitin ligase MDM2, a known substrate of SIRT1 and known limiting factor of epigenome remodeling.Conclusions: We conclude that SIRT1 modulates zygotic histone code, obviously through direct deacetylation and via non-histone targets resulting in increased H3 K9 me3. These changes in zygotes lead to more successful pre-implantation embryonic development and, indeed, the specific SIRT1 activation due to BML-278 is beneficial for in vitro embryo production and blastocyst achievement.     

Antioxidant vitamins in barley green biomass

Two malting hulled varieties (Sebastian, Malz) and one nonmalting hull-less variety (AF Lucius) were used to assess vitamins C and E in the green biomass of young plants of spring barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) in three stages of growth and development (BBCH 29, 31, 32-33). The samples from sampling I (BBCH 29) had statistically significantly higher vitamin C content and vitamin E activity compared to sampling I (BBCH 31). The highest average vitamin content was determined in the malting variety Sebastian (vitamin C, 520 mg 100 g(-1) DM; vitamin E, 73.06 mg kg(-1) DM) compared to the varieties Malz (501 mg 100 g(-1) DM; 61.84 mg kg(-1) DM) and AF Lucius (508 mg 100 g(-1) DM; 67.81 mg 100 g(-1) DM). The locality Krome?r?i?z? (Czech Republic, CR), with vitamin C and E contents of 524 mg 100 g(-1) DM and 68.74 mg kg(-1) DM, respectively, proved to be more suitable for growing green biomass compared to the locality Z?abc?ice (CR) (content of vitamins C and E, 477 mg 100 g(-1) DM and 66.39 mg kg(-1) DM, respectively). During the research period (2005-2007), it was determined that the green mass of young plants of spring barley was a significant source of vitamins C and E in the growth stage BBCH 29; in later samplings (BBCH 32-33) the vitamin levels dropped (by as much as 48%). These vitamins are important antioxidants for human health. Therefore, "green barley" can be recommended for the preparation of natural dietary supplements and is preferred to synthetic vitamin preparations.