Protection of sheep by vaccination against experimental challenge with Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo and L. interrogans serovar Pomona

AIMS: To evaluate a multivalent leptospiral and clostridial vaccine for prevention of renal colonisation and urinary shedding in sheep, following experimental challenge with New Zealand strains of Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo type Hardjobovis and L. interrogans serovar Pomona.

METHODS: Two separate but similarly designed studies were conducted. In both studies, Romney-cross lambs, aged 9–11 weeks, were randomly allocated to a vaccinated group and a control group. Vaccinated lambs each received two 1.5-mL S/C doses of a multivalent leptospiral and clostridial vaccine, 4 weeks apart, and animals in the control groups received the same dose of saline. Groups of 12 vaccinated and 12 control lambs were randomly selected in each study for challenge with serovars Hardjo or Pomona. Challenge was initiated 16 weeks following the second vaccination with three daily doses of live leptospires by intranasal and conjunctival routes. Following challenge, urine samples were collected weekly for 6 weeks, for dark field microscopy and leptospiral culture; 6 weeks after challenge the lambs were slaughtered and kidneys collected for leptospiral culture.

RESULTS: In lambs challenged with serovar Hardjo, 8/12 unvaccinated lambs had ≥1 urine or kidney sample that was positive for leptospires following culture, compared with 0/12 lambs in the vaccinated group (p=0.001). In lambs challenged with serovar Pomona, 9/12 unvaccinated lambs had ≥1 urine or kidney sample that was positive following culture, compared with 0/12 lambs in the vaccinated group (p<0.001). Prevention of renal colonisation and urinary shedding, expressed as the prevented fraction, was 100 (95% CI=61.7–100)% and 100 (95% CI=68.3–100)% against challenge with serovars Hardjo and Pomona, respectively, at 4 months after vaccination.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Use of a multivalent leptospiral and clostridial vaccine demonstrated protection against challenge from New Zealand strains of serovars of Hardjo and Pomona 4 months after vaccination in lambs first vaccinated at 9–11 weeks of age. Further studies are required to assess the duration of immunity against challenge in sheep.     

Uptake and translocation of some pesticides by hypocotyls of radish seedlings

Some of the factors affecting absorption and translocation of pesticides by the hypocotyls of intact radish (Raphanus sativus, L., cv. Black Spanish) seedlings have been studied, particular attention being given to the triazine herbicides simazine, atrazine and atraton. Uptake and translocation appear to be largely passive processes and by contrast with foliar absorption seem to be unaffected by humidity, con-centration, light and by the aqueous solubilities of the compounds. Diffusion across the tissues of the hypocotyl, rather than rate of transpiration, appears to determine the rate at which atrazine and simazine are translocated to the cotyledons. For several pesticides there is a qualitative relationship between the percentages of the compounds translocated to the upper portion of the shoots and their partition coefficients in oil/water systems. In conclusion, some consideration is given to the relative importance of uptake by roots and shoots under field conditions.     

植物耐干机制研究进展

干旱已成为制约我国农业发展的关键环境因素之一。植物因固着生长,当外界水分因子变化时不能主动逃避胁迫,只能依赖自身机制来抵御外界胁迫,因此,植物的耐干性研究显得十分迫切。本文对前人有关植物耐干研究的工作进行了综述,重点阐明了耐干植物的分类、耐干植物在失水再复水期间形态结构、生理及分子水平上的响应机制,以期为挖掘耐干植物耐干基因、创制耐干种质资源和培育耐干新品种提供新思路。     

DISTRIBUTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE AND OXYGEN IN THE GAS PHASE OF AEROBIC SOILS

It is shown that, under certain conditions, the increase in carbon dioxide partial pressure is proportional to the drop in oxygen partial pressure in the gas phase in fallow soils. The principal assumptions are that respiration is unaffected by lowering of oxygen partial pressure until very low levels are reached, and that the respiration quotient is constant. Previously reported measurements of the composition of gases extracted from soil are consistent with the theory.     

Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in skeletal muscle and blood of ewes from a sheep farm in New Zealand

Abstract

AIM: To determine whether viable Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) is present in skeletal muscle and blood in ewes with and without Johne's disease confirmed histologically.

METHODS: A total of 51 mixed-aged ewes in poor body condition from a farm with a history of clinical Johne's disease were culled and examined at necropsy. BACTEC radiometric culture was performed on samples of skeletal muscle from the biceps femoris, mononuclear cells in peripheral blood (hereafter referred to as blood), and ileum. Histological sections and Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN)-stained impression smears of terminal ileum and mesenteric lymph nodes were examined. Ewes were defined as having confirmed Johne's disease if there was histopathological evidence typical of the disease within the ileum and adjacent lymph nodes.

RESULTS: Eighteen of 21 (86%) ewes with confirmed clinical Johne's disease were culture-positive for Map from sites peripheral to the alimentary tract, comprising 15 from skeletal muscle and 13 from blood. Five of 30 (17%) ewes that did not have Johne's disease were culture-positive, with four from skeletal muscle and one from blood. The likelihood that ewes with confirmed Johne's disease had systemic Map infection compared with ewes without was determined as OR=30 (95% CI=6.3–142.0; p<0.001).

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of Map infection of skeletal muscle and blood in ewes with confirmed Johne's disease was 71% and 62% respectively, and in unaffected ewes was 13% for muscle and 3% for blood.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Skeletal muscle and blood are potential sources of exposure of humans to Map, and the risk appears higher from sheep with Johne's disease.     

Effect of liveweight and condition score of ewes at mating,and shearing mid-pregnancy,on birthweights and growth rates of twin lambs to weaning

AIMS: To determine the effects of liveweight and condition score of ewes at mating, and shearing mid-pregnancy, on birthweights and growth rates of twin lambs from birth to the time of weaning, and; to determine whether any effect of condition score is independent of liveweight.

METHODS: Romney ewes (n=435) which conceived within a 17-day mating period and successfully gave birth to and reared twin lambs to weaning were used. Ewes were managed during pregnancy so that their total liveweight increased at a level equivalent to the expected growth of the conceptuses. Approximately half of the ewes were shorn 70 days after the mid-point of mating, and the remainder were left unshorn, at which time they had 6-months' wool growth. All lambs were weighed within 12 h of birth and again at weaning.

RESULTS: There was a significant linear relationship (R²=0.99) between mean group liveweight and condition score of ewes at mating (difference of 7.3 kg per 1.0 unit condition score). Liveweight of ewes at mating had small but significant (p<0.05) positive effects on both birthweights and growth rates of twin lambs to weaning. Ewes that had condition scores of 3.5–4.0 (scale 0–5) at mating gave birth to significantly (p<0.05) lighter lambs than ewes that had condition scores <3.5. The condition score of ewes at mating was positively associated with growth rates of lambs, although this effect was largely explained by variation in the liveweight of ewes at mating.

Twin lambs born to ewes shorn mid-pregnancy were significantly (p<0.05) heavier at birth (by 0.4 kg) and at weaning (p<0.05) than those born to unshorn ewes. The heavier weaning weights of lambs born to ewes shorn mid-pregnancy were due to a heavier birthweights rather than increased growth rate.

CONCLUSIONS: Liveweight and condition score of ewes at mating had small positive effects on growth rates to weaning of twin lambs. Shearing mid-pregnancy increased birthweights and weaning weights of twin lambs. To achieve high weaning weights of twin lambs, farmers should ensure ewes attain high liveweights and condition scores at mating and shear mid-pregnancy. It is speculated that the effects of liveweight and condition score of ewes at mating on weaning weights of twin lambs would be greater than those observed in the present study under conditions in which nutrition of the dam is below optimum.     

Influence of nitrogen and sewage sludge on botanical composition of an old hay field†

Applications of either sewage sludge or N as ammonium nitrate were made to a 15-year-old hayfield over a 2-year period. The original seeding mixture was unknown but was believed to be timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). During the second year, botanical separations indicated that applications of both N and sewage sludge resulted in reduced proportions of red and volunteer white clover (Trifolium repens L.) as well as volunteer Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). During the growing season a decline in proportion of timothy (Phleum pratense L.) was observed for the control as well as for the N and sludge treatments. In contrast, quackgrass (Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv.) was markedly stimulated by the treatments and the proportion of it in the hay increased during the growing season.     

The effect of postprandial changes in pH along the gastrointestinal tract on the distribution of ions between the solid and fluid phases of chyme in rainbow trout

An area of emerging importance is the role that the diet can play in alleviating the demands for ion uptake in fish living in a freshwater environment, by providing a highly concentrated supply of electrolytes. The availability of ions for uptake from the diet likely requires dissolution in the fluid phase of the chyme. However, the distribution of ions between the fluid and solid phases of chyme has not been well‐characterized in fish, and little is known about the effects of location along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, or about the pH gradients found therein, on this distribution. Hence, the pH and ionic concentrations (Na⁺, K⁺, Cl^?, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, in both fluid and solid phases) of the chyme in each GI tract section were measured at various time points during the digestion of a single meal of commercial pellets in freshwater rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Additionally, the presence of an inert reference marker (lead‐glass beads) in the diet was used to quantify the distribution of these ions between the solid and fluid phases of the chyme. The buffering capacity of the food was evident in the acidic stomach (ST), whereas the intestine provided an alkaline environment for further digestion. It appeared that pH had little influence on the distribution of the monovalent ions between the phases in all GI tract sections. However, the ST showed significant changes in the partitioning of both Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, with each mineral becoming highly dissolved as the gastric chyme pH decreased. This was followed by subsequent precipitation of both minerals in the alkaline environment of the intestine. The high degree of dissolution of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ in the fluid phase of gastric chyme corresponded with large absorptive rates from the ST seen previously, however, this was not true of the monovalent ions.     

Reproductive dominance of pasture trees in a fragmented tropical forest mosaic

Tropical forest fragmentation threatens biodiversity, yet basic information on population responses for major groups such as plants is lacking. Hypervariable genetic markers were used to reconstruct a population-level pedigree in fragmented tropical forest for the tree Symphonia globulifera. Though seedlings occurred only in remnant forest, the pedigree showed that most seedlings had been produced by sequentially fewer adults in pasture, creating a genetic bottleneck. The pedigree also implicated shifts in the foraging of animals that disperse pollen and seed in a secondary constriction of the bottleneck. These results suggest that tropical conservation strategies should anticipate complex, cryptic responses to fragmentation.     

Experimental demonstration of guiding and bending of electromagnetic waves in a photonic crystal

The routing and interconnection of optical signals through narrow channels and around sharp corners are important for large-scale all-optical circuit applications. A recent computational result suggests that photonic crystals may offer a novel way of achieving this goal by providing a mechanism for guiding light that is fundamentally different from traditional index guiding. Waveguiding in a photonic crystal and near 100 percent transmission of electromagnetic waves around sharp 90 degree corners were observed experimentally. Bending radii were made smaller than one wavelength.