Septicaemia secondary to infection by Corynebacterium macginleyi in an Indian python (Python molurus)

A seven-year-old female Indian python (Python molurus) weighing about 35kg was euthanased after several clinical episodes of stomatitis, pneumonia, ophthalmitis and dystocia over a period of four years. The animal had been maintained in a terrarium in a circus truck at an adequate temperature. During shows, however, the snake was considered to be exposed to stressful conditions for several hours at a time at low temperatures and with noise and bright lights. A post-mortem examination indicated ulcerative stomatitis, osteomyelitis, severe pneumonia and numerous granulomata and multifocal necrosis in stomach and spleen. Corynebacterium macginleyi was isolated in pure culture from the ulcerative stomatitis, and mixed with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from the lungs and spleen. The findings indicated that the snake had died from a septicaemic process caused by C. macginleyi, probably originating from the stomatitis. The role of S. maltophilia as a secondary agent is discussed. The stress of the circus show and poor husbandry may have predisposed the animal to infection and septicaemia. This is the first report of C. macginleyi causing disease in a snake.     

In vitro antiviral activity of dehydroepiandrosterone and its synthetic derivatives against vesicular stomatitis virus

In this work the antiviral activity of 20 dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) analogs with different substituents at positions C-3, C-15, C-16 and C-17 were evaluated against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in Vero cell cultures. The selectivity indexes (SI) obtained with DHEA and epiandrosterone (EA) were 50 and 72.6, respectively. The work showed that the compounds 21-norpregna-5,17(20)-dien-3β,16α-diyl-diacetate, 17,17-ethylendioxyandrostan-5,15-dien-3β-ol and 3β-hydroxypregn-17(20)-en-16-one had higher SI values than ribavirin, which was used as a reference drug. The antiviral mode of action of DHEA was also investigated against VSV replication in Vero cells, and time of addition experiments showed that DHEA mainly affected a late event in the virus growth cycle. Analysis of RNA and protein synthesis indicated that DHEA adversely affected positive strand RNA synthesis and viral mature particle formation.     

The Relationship Between the Positive Identification of the Embryo Proper in Equine Pregnancies Aged 18-28 Days and its Future Viability: A Field Study

Early embryonic loss (EEL) negatively affects the reproductive efficiency of equine reproduction. A sign of future EEL is when the embryo proper (EP) fails to develop within the embryonic vesicle after 30 days of gestation. The earlier the identification of impending EEL, the earlier the mare can be rebred to allow a second chance of pregnancy. The objectives of this study were to determine the percentage of embryonic vesicles with a visible EP at 18-28 days of gestation and to study the association between the presence/absence of the EP at different days of gestation and the future viability of the pregnancy. A total of 1,256 pregnancies were identified and followed by transrectal B-mode ultrasonography 12-45 days post ovulation in mares of the same Thoroughbred farm. The identification of the EP was attempted once during days 18-28. Pregnancy reconfirmation was performed on days 35-45. The percentage of vesicles with an EP increased gradually from days 18 (2.8%) to 21 (86.9%) (P < .05). From day 20 onward, the EEL rate of mares with vesicles without an EP was significantly higher (P < .05) than that of vesicles with a positive identification of an EP. In conclusion, the EP of the equine vesicle can be identified reliably with B-mode ultrasonography in the majority of mares (>71%) on day 20 of gestation. The lack of a positive identification of an EP from day 20 onward is associated with a higher EEL rate.     

Changes in nutrient balance,methane emissions,physiologic biomarkers,and production performance in goats fed different forage-to-concentrate ratios during lactation

The objective was to determine the effect forage-to-concentrate (F:C) ratio and stage of lactation on methane emissions, digestibility, nutrient balance, lactation performance, and metabolic responses in lactating goats. Twenty Murciano-Granadina dairy goats were used in an experiment divided into 3 periods: early (30 d), mid (100 d), and late (170 d) lactation. All goats were fed a diet with 35:65 F:C (FCL) during early-lactation. Then, 1 group (n = 10 goats) remained on FCL through mid- and late-lactation while the other group (n = 10 goats) was fed a diet with 50:50 F:C at mid-lactation (FCM) and 65:35 (FCH) at late lactation. A greater proportion of concentrate in the diet was associated with greater overall intake and digestibility (P < 0.05). Energy balance was negative in early-lactation (−77 kJ/kg of BW^0.75, on average) and positive for FCL at mid- and late-lactation (13 and 35 kJ/kg of BW^0.75, respectively). Goats fed FCM and FCH maintained negative energy balance throughout lactation. Plasma concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids at mid-lactation were greater for FCM than FCL (680 mEq/L), and at late-lactation concentrations were greater for FCH and FCL (856 mEq/L). A similar response was detected for plasma β-hydroxybutyrate. Methane emission was greater (P < 0.05) for FCM than FCH (1.7 g CH₄/d). This study demonstrated that differences in F:C across stages of lactation lead to distinct metabolic responses at the level of the rumen and tissues.     

Trichinella: differing effects of antigens from encapsulated and non-encapsulated species on in vitro nitric oxide production

Trichinellosis is a cosmopolitan zoonotic disease affecting a wide variety of animals, including man. Non-encapsulated and encapsulated species diverge with respect to their developmental strategies. Little is known at the molecular level about parasite-derived mediators responsible for host muscle cell transformation occurring during trichinellosis. In this context, host-parasite relationships in Trichinella-infected animals could be related to different host-immune and cell mediators, e.g. nitric oxide (NO). Here, we investigate the stimulatory/inhibitory role of L1 antigens from four encapsulated (T. spiralis, T. britovi, T. nelsoni and T. nativa) and one non-encapsulated (T. pseudospiralis) Trichinella species on NO production from rat macrophages in vitro. Our results demonstrate that encapsulated and non-encapsulated Trichinella species differ in their capacity to stimulate the secretion of NO from host macrophages. Biological significance of these differences should be further assessed in the available experimental models.     

蒺藜苜蓿叶绿体密码子偏好性分析

本文对蒺藜苜蓿叶绿体基因组全序列密码子进行分析,筛选出50条CDS(coding DNA sequence)利用CodonW软件进行分析其密码子使用模式。结果显示,蒺藜苜蓿叶绿体基因组密码子第3位碱基GC含量为26.9%,即第3位密码子富含A和U,ENC值在37.11~51.91之间密码子偏好性较弱。相对同义密码子使用度分析显示RSCU值大于1的密码子有23个,其中以A和U为结尾20个。中性绘图分析显示GC₁₂与GC₃的相关系数为0.341,相关性不显著,回归系数为0.4843;单基因ENC比值多分布在-0.05~0.05,即大部分基因ENC值离ENC期望值较近;对应性分析,第一轴显示了12.50%的差异为主要影响因素,第一轴与ENC和GC₃的相关系数分别为0.091和-0.092,均相关不显著。综合这几项分析发现蒺藜苜蓿叶绿体基因组密码子偏好性主要受到突变的影响,但是并不是唯一的影响因素,其他因素对密码子偏好性也可能有一定的影响。最终通过高表达优越密码子方法确定得出UUA、UUG、CCU等23个密码子为最优密码子,为之后对外源基因进行改造,提高其在叶绿体中的表达效率奠定了基础。     

Expression and Bioinformatic Analysis of ADIPOQ Gene in Hanper Sheep

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and biological characteristics of adiponectin (ADIPOQ) gene in longissimus dorsi muscle of Hanper sheep at different months of age.The ADIPOQ gene mRNA expression was detected in longissimus dorsi muscle of Hanper sheep at 3 different growth periods (1,7 and 13 months old) by Real-time quantitative PCR.The bioinformatics method was used to analyze the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of ADIPOQ gene,protein characteristics and network interaction protein.The results showed that ADIPOQ gene was expressed in longissimus dorsi muscle of Hanper sheep,which showed an increasing trend with the growth of the months age without significant difference (P>0.05).There was higher homology of ADIPOQ gene with Capra hircus (98.60%,99.00%) and Bos taurus (98.60%,87.00%) in nucleotide and amino acid sequences.The results of physical and chemical properties analysis showed that the molecular formula of ADIPOQ protein was C₁₁₇₂H₁₇₇₆N₃₁₄O₃₄₉S₅,the molecular mass was 26.00 ku,and the theoretical isoelectric point (pI) was 5.88,which suggested that the protein was acidic.The average value of ADIPOQ hydrophilic protein (GRAVY) was －0.403,which indicated that the protein was hydrophilic and didn’t belong to transmembrane protein.In addition,the signal peptide sequence was Met¹-Ala¹⁷,and the cleavage site was between Ala¹⁷ and Arg¹⁸.ADIPOQ existed collagen structure domain and C1Q conserved structure domain at position 45－101 and 101－237,respectively.The secondary structure mainly composed of random coil (66.95%).The construction of protein interaction network indicated that ADIPOQ might interact with ADIPOR1,ADIPOR2,CDH13 and LEP.The results provided a theoretical basis for further exploring the molecular biological functions of ADIPOQ gene in the process of muscle development in Hanper sheep.     

Morphological study of Socorro Island Merino sheep and its crosses with hair breeds

Tropical Animal Health and Production - A study was conducted with the objective to characterize the morphology of Socorro Island Merino sheep. A total of 67 sheep, 62 females, 26 purebred and 36...     

绿色富硒牧草饲料作物生产技术规程

本规程规定了绿色富硒牧草饲料作物的生产基地环境、种植区域分布、生产管理、刈割利用、票证管理等内容,并制定了牧草饲料作物硒含量达到0.01～0.1mg/kg的产品标准.