Backyard poultry: legislation,zoonoses and disease prevention

In law, backyard poultry are “food‐producing animals” and “farmed animals” and are subject to regulations regarding welfare, prescribing, banned procedures, disposal of carcases, feeding bans, notifiable diseases and disease surveillance in addition to those applying to most other pets. Many owners and some veterinary surgeons are unclear about the requirements of these regulations. Backyard poultry are also associated with some different zoonotic disease risks to mammalian pets. Because a high proportion of poultry morbidity and mortality relates to infectious diseases, the health of backyard poultry is amenable to improvement through basic husbandry, biosecurity, hygiene and preventive medicine measures that can be incorporated into a simple “flock‐health plan”. This article reviews these topics.     

Mutation of a degS homologue in Enterobacter cloacae decreases colonization and biological control of damping-off on cucumber

We have been using mutagenesis to determine how biocontrol bacteria such as Enterobacter cloacae 501R3 deal with complex nutritional environments found in association with plants. E. cloacae C10, a mutant of 501R3 with a transposon insertion in degS, was diminished in growth on synthetic cucumber root exudate (SRE), colonization of cucumber seed and roots, and control of damping-off of cucumber caused by Pythium ultimum. DegS, a periplasmic serine protease in the closely related bacterium Escherichia coli K12, is required for the RpoE-mediated stress response. C10 containing wild-type degS from 501R3 or from E. coli K12 on pBeloBAC11 was significantly increased in growth on SRE, colonization of cucumber roots, and control of P. ultimum relative to C10 containing pBeloBAC11 alone. C10 and 501R3 were similar in sensitivity to acidic conditions, plant-derived phenolic compounds, oxidative stress caused by hydrogen peroxide, dessication, and high osmoticum; stress conditions potentially associated with plants. This study demonstrates a role for degS in the spermosphere and rhizosphere during colonization and disease control by Enterobacter cloacae. This study implicates, for the first time, the involvement of DegS and, by extension, the RpoE-mediated stress response, in reducing stress on E. cloacae resulting from the complex nutritional environments in the spermosphere and rhizosphere.     

The metabolism of the herbicide flamprop-isopropyl in barley

The metabolism of the wild oat herbicide, flamprop-isopropyl, [Barnon, isopropyl (±) N-benzoyl-N-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-2-aminopropionate] in barley grown to maturity has been examined under glass-house and outdoor conditions. [¹⁴C]Flamprop-isopropyl labeled separately in two positions was used. The major metabolic route of the herbicide was by hydrolysis to the corresponding carboxylic acid, II, which occurred in free and conjugated forms. Flamprop-isopropyl also underwent hydroxylation in the 3 and 4 positions of the benzoyl group, and the 3-hydroxybenzoyl analogue of II was detected. The hydroxylated metabolites were also present in the plants as conjugates. Additional minor metabolites detected only in glass-house samples were N-benzoyl-3-chloro-4-fluoroaniline, 2-[3-chloro-4-fluorophenylamino]-propionic acid, and benzoic acid. The soil in which the plants were grown received part of the spray application of the herbicide. Residues in the 0–10-cm layer at barley harvest comprised the unchanged herbicide, the carboxylic acid II, and unidentified polar material.     

Apoplastic redox metabolism: Synergistic phenolic oxidation and a novel oxidative burst

The plant apoplast is an important mediator of communication between the cell cytoplasm and its surroundings. Plant cell suspensions offer a convenient model system to gain insight into apoplastic physiology. Here, we describe a novel phenomenon that took place when two naturally occurring phenolics were added together to either soybean or tobacco cell suspensions. Acetosyringone (AS) and/or hydroxyacetophenone (HAP), phenolics found in the extracellular/apoplast of tobacco cells, were added to soybean or tobacco cell suspensions undergoing an oxidative burst. Individually, AS appeared to be utilized as a typical peroxidase substrate to scavenge hydrogen peroxide, while HAP was utilized at a much lower rate. However, when added together the rate of utilization of both phenolics increased and surprisingly resulted in the production of hydrogen peroxide. We have further characterized this novel phenomenon in suspension cells. This study demonstrates that certain phenolics in plants can cause co-oxidation which, as in animals, could alter the structure and bioactivity of surrounding phenolics.     

Decoding attraction: Improving vine weevil monitoring by exploiting key sensory cues

BACKGROUND

Monitoring is an integral component of integrated pest management (IPM) programmes used to inform crop management decisions. Vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus F. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), continues to cause economically significant losses in horticultural crops due to an inability to reliably detect the presence of this species before crop damage occurs. To improve vine weevil monitoring we investigated the behavioural responses of adult vine weevils to visual (monitoring tool shade/colour, height and diameter as well as the effect of monitoring tool and plant density) and olfactory (host plant and conspecifics) cues under glasshouse conditions.

RESULTS

Monitoring tool shade, height and diameter all influenced monitoring tool efficacy, with individuals exhibiting a preference for black, tall and wide monitoring tools. The total number of individuals recorded in monitoring tools increased with monitoring tool density. By contrast, plant density did not influence the number of individuals recorded in monitoring tools. Yew-baited monitoring tools retained a larger number of individuals compared to unbaited ones. Similarly, more vine weevils were recorded in monitoring tools baited with yew and conspecifics than in unbaited monitoring tools or those baited with only yew. Baiting monitoring tools with conspecifics alone did not enhance the number of vine weevils recorded in monitoring tools.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study confirms that visual and olfactory cues influence vine weevil behaviour. This provides information on key factors that influence vine weevil monitoring tool efficacy and can be used to inform the development of a new monitoring tool for this pest. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Detection of twelve mycotoxins in mixed animal feedstuffs, using a novel membrane cleanup procedure.

A multimycotoxin thin layer chromatographic screening method is described which is applicable to most animal feedstuffs. Interference from nonspecific lipid, pigment, and other components of simple and mixed feeds is reduced to a minimum by using a membrane cleanup step. Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2, citrinin, diacetoxyscirpenol, ochratoxin A, patulin, penitrem A, sterigmatocystin, T-2 toxin, and zearalenone may be reliably detected. The sensitivity of the method is generally low for mixed feeds but even so aflatoxin B1 can be detected at a level of 3 ppb and ochratoxin A at 80 ppb. While the basic method is less sensitive for sterigmatocystin (330 ppb), patulin (600 ppb), zearalenone (1000 ppb), and the trichothecenes (1000-4000 ppb), it may be adapted so as to reduce the above detection limits when the presence of these toxins is suspected. Lower levels may be detected in extracts of simple feeds.     

Identifying obstacles to reducing the use of antibiotics to control porcine proliferative enteropathy

Proliferative enteropathy (PE) is an enteric disease of pigs that results in diarrhoea, reduced growth rate, reduced feed conversion efficiency and sometimes death. A survey of 13 pig veterinary practitioners in Australia was conducted to determine: (1) PE control strategies (antibiotics and vaccination), (2) how the efficacies of these strategies are evaluated and (3) how reliance on antibiotics could be reduced by increasing vaccine adoption. Antibiotics were routinely prescribed in the diets of weaner, grower and finisher pigs by 9/13, 10/13 and 8/13 veterinarians, respectively, if vaccination was not implemented. Water-soluble antibiotics were prescribed less frequently than in-feed antibiotics. Efficacy of control strategies was assessed most often through reduced clinical signs (diarrhoea, 'tail-ender' pigs, death) and reduced lesion incidence at abattoir postmortem inspection. Twelve practitioners had recommended PE vaccination to their clients in the previous 6 months. Barriers to continued vaccine implementation included perceived lack of efficacy for pigs housed in bedded systems, high cost relative to medication and difficulties in vaccinating pigs post-weaning.     

Identification and characterization of a novel whitefly-transmitted member of the family potyviridae isolated from cucurbits in Florida

ABSTRACT A novel whitefly-transmitted member of the family Potyviridae was isolated from a squash plant (Cucurbita pepo) with vein yellowing symptoms in Florida. The virus, for which the name Squash vein yellowing virus (SqVYV) is proposed, has flexuous rod-shaped particles of approximately 840 nm in length. The experimental host range was limited to species in the family Cucurbitaceae, with the most dramatic symptoms observed in squash and watermelon, but excluded all tested species in the families Amaranthaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, and Solanaceae. The virus was transmitted by whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) but was not transmitted by aphids (Myzus persicae). Infection by SqVYV induced inclusion bodies visible by electron and light microscopy that were characteristic of members of the family Potyviridae. Comparison of the SqVYV coat protein gene and protein sequences with those of recognized members of the family Potyviridae indicate that it is a novel member of the genus Ipomovirus. A limited survey revealed that SqVYV also was present in watermelon plants suffering from a vine decline and fruit rot recently observed in Florida and was sufficient to induce these symptoms in greenhouse-grown watermelon, suggesting that SqVYV is the likely cause of this disease.     

Memory in mice analyzed with antibiotics. Antibiotics are useful to study stages of memory and to indicate molecular events which sustain memory

It is apparent that antibiotics are useful in differentiating different stages in the formation of memory. Puromycin gave the first indication that very early memory can be established and survive, for a short period at least, in spite of inhibition of protein synthesis (12). Injection of actinomycin D indicates that RNA synthesis is not essential during this early stage (13). The duration of this early period seems to vary with the inhibiting agent; with puromycin memory was notably degraded in less than an hour, but with actinomycin D or with acetoxycycloheximide it persisted for several hours or more. The fixation or consolidation of memory involves whatever processes give permanence to memory. These processes are disrupted when electroconvulsive shock is administered shortly after a learning experience, presumably because of the interference with organized patterns of neuronal electrical activity. Memory acquired in the presence of antibiotics appears to proceed to a stage beyond that based purely on electrical activity because the memory persists beyond the period usually reported as sensitive to electroconvulsive shock. Further work should show whether this stage is truly insensitive to electroconvulsive shock. Memory acquired in the presence of puromycin does not seem to achieve any durable consolidation. In contrast, memory acquired in the presence of or immediately before injection of acetoxycycloheximide does appear to initiate the later stages of consolidation, as permanent memory. reappears some days after the initial stages have become ineffective in controlling performance. Finally, puromycin has provided evidence of the enlarged area of the neocortex which participates as memory matures. Puromycin also indicates the time required for this maturation process. Since antibiotics have also been useful in studying learning and memory in goldfish (14), this approach seems to have general applicability in defining various stages in the process of memory formation. The initial purpose of these investigations was to determine the molecular basis of the "memory trace" This goal still remains distant, although there are some indications that protein synthesizing systems are involved. This objective, though of enormous interest, is to be regarded as only a necessary first step. Whether new proteins or some other molecules cause the changes in synapses thought to underlie memory, this knowledge of itself will contribute only a beginning to our understanding of the events which account for the functioning of the brain. A determination of the composition of computer components would provide very little information towards unraveling their function. As the experiments proceeded, however, information of a more general nature was being obtained. The identification of different stages of consolidation show how injections of antibiotics can supplement electroconvulsive shock as a way of disrupting the establishment of memory and how it can supplement ablation in destroying memory already laid down in a permanent mode. Applied to larger animals the localization of various regions sensitive or insensitive to the action of the drugs should become more definitive. We hope that such experiments will contribute increasingly to the general problem of brain function.