Improved detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis in African wildlife samples using cationic peptide decontamination and mycobacterial culture supplementation

In South Africa, mycobacterial culture is regarded as the gold standard for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) infection in wildlife even though it is regarded as “imperfect.” We compared a novel decontamination and mycobacterial culture technique (TiKa) to the conventional mycobacterium growth indicator tube (MGIT) system using known amounts of bacilli and clinical samples from MTBC-infected African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), and African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Use of the TiKa-KiC decontamination agent on samples spiked with 10,000 to 10 colony forming units (cfu) of M. bovis (SB0121) and M. tuberculosis (H37Rv) had no effect on isolate recovery in culture. In contrast, decontamination with MGIT MycoPrep resulted in no growth of M. bovis samples at concentrations < 1,000 cfu and M. tuberculosis samples < 100 cfu. Subsequently, we used the TiKa system with stored clinical samples (various lymphatic tissues) collected from wildlife and paucibacillary bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, trunk washes, and endotracheal tube washes from 3 species with known MTBC infections. Overall, MTBC recovery by culture was improved significantly (p < 0.01) by using TiKa compared to conventional MGIT, with 54 of 57 positive specimens versus 25 of 57 positive specimens, respectively. The TiKa mycobacterial growth system appears to significantly enhance the recovery of MTBC members from tissue and paucibacillary respiratory samples collected from African buffaloes, African elephants, and white rhinoceros. Moreover, the TiKa system may improve success of MTBC culture from various sample types previously deemed unculturable from other species.     

An economically based evaluation index for perennial and short‐term ryegrasses in New Zealand dairy farm systems

Grazed pastures based on ryegrass species provide most of the feed for dairy cattle in New Zealand. There are many cultivars of perennial (Lolium perenne), annual and Italian (L. multiflorum), and hybrid (L. boucheanum) ryegrasses available for dairy farmers to use in pasture renewal. This study describes an index which ranks ryegrass cultivars relative to a genetic base according to the estimated economic value (EV) of seasonal dry matter (DM) traits. A farm system model was used to derive EVs (Grazed pastures based on ryegrass species provide most of the feed for dairy cattle in New Zealand. There are many cultivars of perennial (Lolium perenne), annual and Italian (L. multiflorum), and hybrid (L. boucheanum) ryegrasses available for dairy farmers to use in pasture renewal. This study describes an index which ranks ryegrass cultivars relative to a genetic base according to the estimated economic value (EV) of seasonal dry matter (DM) traits. A farm system model was used to derive EVs ($ ha^?1 calculated as change in operating profit divided by unit change of the trait) for additional DM produced in different seasons of the year in four regions. The EV of early spring DM was consistently high across all regions, whereas EV for late spring DM was moderate to low. Genotype × environment analysis revealed significant reranking of DM yield among ryegrass cultivars across regions. Hence, separate performance values (PVs) were calculated for two mega‐environments and then combined with the corresponding season and region EV to calculate the overall EV for twenty‐three perennial ryegrass and fifteen short‐term ryegrass cultivars. The difference in operating profit between the highest ranked and lowest ranked perennial ryegrass cultivar ranged from $556 ha^?1 to $863 ha^?1 year^?1 depending on region. For short‐term ryegrasses used for winter feed, the corresponding range was $394 to $478 ha^?1 year^?1. Using PV for DM yield, it was estimated that plant improvement in perennial ryegrass has added $12–$18 ha^?1 year^?1 (depending on region) operating profit on dairy farms since the mid‐1960s.