An appraisal of the extracellular toxins of Aeromonas salmonicida ssp. salmonicida

Abstract. Aeromonas salmonicida produces many extracellular enzymes, some of which are known to play an important role in pathogenesis and virulence, while the role of others is presently speculative. The latter group includes amylase, aryl-sulphatase, glucosidases, esterases and lysophospholipase. There are two enzymes which are known to be of prime importance in pathogenesis: a 70-kDa protease (caseinase) and a 25-kDa phospholipase (glycerophospholipid: cholesterol acyltransferase, GCAT). The protease causes extensive tissue liquefaction, activates the blood clotting system and is lethal for fish at 2·4 μg/g fish. It is inhibited by α2-macroglobulin but resistant to all the other serum protease inhibitors. Its role in vivo appears to be as a broad spectrum protease providing amino acids for in vivo growth. The GCAT is mainly present in a high molecular weight complex with LPS. The complex is extremely haemolytic for fish (but not mammalian) erythrocytes. It is the most lethal component of the exotoxins (lethal dose 45 ng/g fish). The complex with LPS confers enhanced toxicity to the GCAT and stability to heat and proteolytic degradation. In vitro , this toxin also has high leucocytolytic and cytolytic (RTG-2) activity. On injection into fish, it causes very little histopathology other than a marked degranulation of eosinophilic granular cells (EGCs) in the gills. Its precise mode of pathogenesis is uncertain and appears complex. The protease and the GCAT/LPS have an additive relationship in respect to lethal doses and mixtures of the two produce extensive liquefactive and haemorrhagic lesions typical of furuncles. The possible relationship of the GCAT/LPS to other less well characterized factors (cytotoxin, leucocytolysin, haemolysin, salmolysin) is discussed.     

Lack of relationship between virulence of Aeromonas salmonicida and the putative virulence factors: A-layer, extracellular proteases and extracellular haemolysins

Abstract The role of A-layer (A), protease (P) and haemolysin (H) as virulence factors of Aeromonas salmonicida, the aetiological agent of fish furunculosis, was a investigated using three strains of the bacterium. Strain MT004 lacked the A-Iayer (A⁻) and produced extracellular caseinase and gelatinase (P⁺) and haemolysin (T-lysin; H⁺). Strain MT028 was A⁻, P⁻ and H⁻, and strain MT048 was A⁺, P⁺ and H⁻. The pathology and LD50 produced in rainbow trout by cells or extracellular products (ECP) of each strain were determined. The ECP was produced by two different methods where the protease and haemolytic activities differed in relative levels, or when the protease of MT004 ECP was inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor PMSF. The results indicate that the presence of A-layer is not essential, at least for a moderate degree of virulence; that in vitro production of extracellular proteases is not a requisite of virulent strains; that presence of protease and haemolysin in ECP can be correlated with the development of certain lesions and a rapid time to death but cannot be correlated with the lethal toxicity of the ECP. The authors conclude that an as-yet unrecognized component of ECP is responsible for killing fish.     

Proliferative kidney disease in brown trout, Salmo trutta L., and Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., parr: histopathological and epidemiological observations

Abstract Proliferative kidney disease (PKD) has been described in cultivated rainbow trout but major outbreaks have not been recognized in other fish species. This paper describes light and electron microscope studies and presents epidemiological data of a disease condition in first summer Salmo salar parr and S. trutta , which is associated with an organism apparently identical to the aetiological agent of PKD. The pathology was found to be similar to that described for PKD in rainbow trout. The epidemiology in the brown trout suggests that exposure after May does not result in infection. The data from the outbreaks in two salmon hatcheries appear complex and suggest different susceptibilities to PKD among salmon originating from different sources.     

Nearly singular magnetic fluctuations in the normal state of a high-Tc cuprate superconductor

Polarized and unpolarized neutron scattering was used to measure the wave vector- and frequency-dependent magnetic fluctuations in the normal state (from the superconducting transition temperature, Tc = 35 kelvin, up to 350 kelvin) of single crystals of La1.86Sr0.14CuO4. The peaks that dominate the fluctuations have amplitudes that decrease as T-2 and widths that increase in proportion to the thermal energy, kBT (where kB is Boltzmann's constant), and energy transfer added in quadrature. The nearly singular fluctuations are consistent with a nearby quantum critical point.     

Effect of fertilizers on the yield and chemical composition of pure sown white clover and on soil nutrient status

The effects of three levels of potash, phosphate and lime fertilizers on the yield and mineral content of white clover ( Trifolium repens ) and on soil nutrient levels were studied in a field experiment over 7 years. The aim of the experiment was to define an optimum fertilizer programme for breeding nurseries and experimental fields.
Potash was the main factor limiting production: clover yield was negligible after 2 years where no potassium was applied. Phosphate increased yields after the third year, while liming had no significant effect on clover yield.
The soil potassium status improved with the repeated application of potash over the 7–year period, but no consistent pattern was discernible for the phosphate treatments. There was a slight increase in soil pH with liming.
Application of phosphate increased the phosphorous content of herbage, but had no effect on other plant constituents for the first 2 years. Subsequent applications increased the calcium and sodium contents. Potash reduced the content of all constituents other than potassium as the treatment levels increased. Lime had little effect on plant constituents other than calcium.     

The role of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis lung lesions in the transmission of this bacterium to other sheep

SUMMARY: :Five groups of 5 shorn and 5 unshorn caseous lymphadenitis (CLA)-free Merino wether weaners were each placed in feedlot pens with 6 Merino ewes, 2 or more of which had CLA lung lesions but no discharging superficial lesions. The sheep were kept together for 5 months.
Twenty-eight per cent of the shorn weaners and 20% of the unshorn weaners developed antibodies to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. At slaughter, 8% of the shorn weaners and 12% of the unshorn weaners had CLA lesions in either lungs, lymph nodes or both. In the absence of contact with CLA-infected ewes, a control group of 5 shorn and 5 unshorn weaners failed to develop antibodies to C. pseudotuberculosis or CLA lesions in the same period. This showed that sheep with CLA abscesses in the lungs but no discharging superficial abscesses were a source of C. pseudotuberculosis infection to other sheep. Aust Vet J. 64: 261–263     

Phosphorus supplements and fluorosis in cattle—a northern Australian experience

SUMMARY Chronic fluoride toxicosis caused lameness, dental lesions and illthrift in an extensive beef cattle herd in northern Australia. Up to 15% of the herd was lame and the disease forced the culling of large numbers of cows. The source of fluoride was fertiliser-grade monoammonium and diammonlum phosphate fed as part of a mineral supplement. Large quantities of mineral supplement were provided to the cattle because lameness was attributed to phosphorus deficiency, which is endemic in the area. Most lameness developed in the late dry season in the post-lactation phase. Severe lameness was caused by fractured pedal bones.     

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of procainamide in horses after intravenous administration

Six horses were administered either 15 or 20 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) procainamide (PA) as an intravenous (i.v.) dose over 10 min. The plasma concentrations of PA and N-acetylprocainamide (NAPA) as well as the pharmacodynamic effect (prolongation of the QT interval) were monitored. The PA plasma concentrations could be described by a one-compartment model with a t _½ of 3.49 ± 0.61 h. The total body clearance of PA was 0.395 ± 0.090 1/hr/kg and the volume of distribution was 1.93 ± 0.27 l/kg. As observed after PA administration, NAPA (an active metabolite) had a t _½ longer than PA of 6.31 ± 1.49 h. Peak NAPA concentrations (1.91 ± 0.51 μg/ml) occurred at 5.2 h after the PA i.v. dose. The ratio of area under the curves for NAPA to PA was 0.46 ± 0.15 which is similar to that expected in humans classified as slow acetylators. Percentage change in the QT interval was examined with respect to PA and PA + NAPA plasma concentrations. For PA, %ΔQT = 41.2 log (PA) - 13.26 and correlations ( r ) ranged from 0.77 to 0.91 among the horses. In the case of PA + NAPA,%ΔQT= 57.3 log(PA+NAPA)-31.83 andrangedfrom0.77to0.90. No evidence of toxicity was noted with respect to changes in the PR interval.     

KINETICS OF DICHLOBENIL DEGRADATION IN SOIL

Summary. The rates of degradation of dichlobenil (2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile) in soil were determined at 67 and 267°C. The degradation followed first-order kinetics but at 67°C this occurred after an initial lag period of 10 weeks. The half-lives were 28 weeks (+ 10 weeks lag) at 6.7°C and 19 weeks at 26.7°C. The activation energy for the decomposition was the relatively low value of 3.57 kcal/mole, indicating that the degradation of dichlobenil is not as markedly affected by temperature as that of many other herbicides. The only detectable metabolite was 2,6-dichlorobenzamide, a compound that should have a substantially lower vapour pressure and a higher affinity for surfaces than the parent compound. Cinétique de la dégradation du dichlobénil dans le sol Résumé. Les taux de dégradation du dichlobénil (2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile) dans le sol ont été détermines à 6,7 et 26,7°C. La déSgradation suivit une loi cinétique du premier ordre, mais à 6,7°C ceci se produisit aprés une période initiate de latence de 10 semaines. Les demi-vies furent de 28 semaines (plus 10 semaines de latence) a 6,7°C et 19 semaines à. 26,7°C. L'énergie d'activation pour la décomposition s'établit à la valeur relativement faible de 3,57 kcal/mole; ceci indique que la dégradation du dichlobénil n'est pas aussi profondément affcctée par la température quc celle de beaucoup d'autres herbicides. Le seul métabolite detectable fut le 2,6-dichlorobenzamide, composé qui devrait avoir une pression de vapeur notablement plus faible et une affinité plus grande pour les surfaces que le composé apparenté. Kinetik des Dichlohenil-Abbaus im Boden Zusammenfassung. Es wurde die Abbaugeschwindigkeit von Dichlobenil (2,6-Dichlorbenzonitril) im Boden bei 6,7°C und 26,7°C bestinimt. Der Abbau entsprach einer Reaktion erster Ordnung. Bei 6,7°G setzte der Abbau nach einer lag-Phase von 10 Wochen ein. Die Halbwertzeiten betrugen 28 Wochen (+10 Wochen lag-Phase) bei 6,7°C und 19 Wochen bei 26,7°C. Die Aktivierungsenergie war verhältnisniässig niedrig und betrug 3,57 Kcal/Mol und zeigt, dass der Abbau von Dichlobenil durch Temperatur nicht so stark beeinflusst wird wie bei vielen anderen Herbiziden. Der einzige nachweisbare Metabolit war 2,6-Dichlorbenzamid, der einen wcsentlich nieddgeren Dampfdruck und eine grössere Affinität gegenüber Oberfiächen haben dürfte als die ursprüngliche Verbindung.