Systemic Immunosuppression by Methylprednisolone and Pregnancy Rates in Goats Undergoing the Transfer of Cloned Embryos

The presence of the zona pellucida has been perceived as a requirement for the oviductal transfer of cloned embryos at early stages of development while protecting the embryo from an immune system response. We hypothesized that steroid hormone therapy could reduce a potential cellular immune response after the transfer of zona‐free cloned embryos into the oviduct of recipient female goats. In Experiment 1, seven does were used to study the systemic immunosuppressant effect of the methylprednisolone administration (for 3 days) on blood cell counts. Whole blood was collected prior to treatment with methyprednisolone and then on Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 after the first dose of methylprednisolone for the analysis of haematological parameters. Methylprednisolone treatment significantly reduced circulating white blood cells and neutrophils in comparison with pre‐treatment levels, demonstrating a systemic immunosuppressant effect. In Experiment 2, a group of 58 does were used as recipient females to study the effect of administration of methylprednisolone for 3 days on the establishment of pregnancies after the transfer of zona‐free cloned embryos into the oviducts. No effects on pregnancy rates on Day 30 were observed regarding the distinct treatment groups (control vs. methylprednisolone), the source of oocytes (in vivo‐ vs in vitro‐matured) or the presence or absence of the zona pellucida in embryos. In summary, methylprednisolone was effective at inducing a systemic immunosuppressed state in goats, but the treatment prior to embryo transfer did not affect pregnancy rates. Moreover, pregnancy rates were similar between zona‐free and zona‐intact goat cloned embryos.     

Sexual Precocity of Nellore Bulls that are Offspring of Super Precocious,Precocious and Normal Cows in Extensive Farming Conditions

The objective of this work was to verify that mothers classified as super precocious (M1) and precocious (M2) produce more precocious bulls than females classified as normal (M3). This study included 21 186 animals with an average age of 21.29 ± 1.77 months that underwent a breeding soundness evaluation from 1999 to 2008. Of these animals, 2019, 6059 and 13 108 were offspring of M1, M2 and M3 females, respectively. In the breeding soundness examination, the animals were classified as sound for reproduction, sound under a natural mating regime, unsound for reproduction and discarded. To compare the averages obtained for each category of mother within the individual breeding soundness classes, a chi‐square test with a 5% error probability was used, considering the effects of year and month of birth and farm. For the three classes of mothers (M1, M2 and M3), 67.26, 67.22 and 64.16% of bull calves were considered sound for reproduction and 19.71, 19.46 and 21.90% were considered unsound for reproduction, respectively. There was no difference in the frequency of animals that were sound for reproduction under the natural breeding regime between the three classes of mothers (8.87, 9.31 and 9.19%, respectively). There was a difference between the numbers of precocious and normal females that were discarded, with frequencies of 4.01 and 4.75%, respectively (p < 0.05). There were differences in year and month of birth and farm between super precocious and precocious cows in relation to the breeding soundness classification of the animals. It was concluded that the bull offspring of super precocious and precocious cows presented a higher percentage of approval in the breeding soundness examination than the bull offspring of normal cows, demonstrating that the selection for precocity of females has contributed to an increase in the sexual precocity of the herd in relation to the sexual maturity of bulls.     

Metapopulation dynamics, abundance, and distribution in a microecosystem

The experimental fragmentation of landscapes of a natural ecosystem resulted in declines in the abundance and distribution of most species in the multispecies animal community inhabiting the landscapes and the extinction of many species. These declines caused the deterioration of the positive interspecific relation between local population abundance and distributional extent in this community. However, when patches were connected by habitat corridors, an immigration "rescue effect" arrested declines in both abundance and distribution and maintained the observed positive relation between them. These results demonstrate the importance of metapopulation dynamics and landscape connectivity for the persistence of populations in fragmented landscapes.     

Artificial incubation of Japanese crayfish (Cambaroides japonicus) eggs by using a simple, easy method with a microplate

We developed a simple, easy method with a microplate to artificially incubate Japanese crayfish (Cambaroides japonicus) eggs for their cultivation. We prepared 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-, and 96-well microplates containing sterile water heated to 5, 10, 15, and 20 °C. Fourteen experimental groups for each water temperature were prepared for each of different water volumes (0.125–10 ml) in each well. One embryonic egg was placed in each well. Experiments were also conducted with water collected from the lake where the eggs were harvested from and held at 15 °C. In the microplates with sterile water, high proportions of eggs hatched (60–100%) at 15 °C in all volumes of water, although the proportions of hatching were low (0–20%) at 5, 10, and 20 °C. All eggs died in the experiments that used lake water. We conclude that the 96-well would be the most effective size to hatch crayfish eggs in, because of its convenience. This method using a microplate is simpler and easier compared with methods of previous studies to artificially incubate crayfish eggs, and therefore it might be useful to incubate eggs of other freshwater crayfish species.     

Interannual variation in spring biomass and gut content composition of copepods in the Kuroshio current, 1971–89

We examined the effects of climate factors on interannual variations of copepod biomass and gut content composition in early spring in the Kuroshio and the slope water off the Pacific coast of central Japan from 1971 to 1989. The biomass trends were different for large (prosomal length ≥ 1 mm) and small (prosomal length < 1 mm) copepods in both waters. Peaks in biomass of large copepods decreased in magnitude, and the biomass of small copepods was low around 1980. For the large copepods in the Kuroshio, 3-year running mean biomass was related to the Kuroshio meander index. The yearly mean biomass was related to diatom abundance in the gut which, in turn, was related to wind speed and temperature. The 3-year running mean biomass of large copepods in the slope water was positively related to solar radiation in March. The biomass of small copepods in both waters was negatively related to solar radiation in February, and years with high biomass of small copepods corresponded with not only the years with high abundance of larger foods (diatoms and micro-sized foods) in copepod guts, but also with the years with high abundance of the nano-sized foods. We hypothesize that nutrient supply to upper layers regulates interannual variation of biomass of large copepods in the Kuroshio. Thus, climate influences both size composition and biomass of copepods in and near the Kuroshio in early spring.     

Why do young Pacific bluefin tuna repeatedly dive to depths through the thermocline?

Young Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis with archival tags were released in the East China Sea. Time-series data for depth, and ambient and peritoneal temperatures for nine fish, recorded every 128 s, were analyzed. Our objectives were to describe monthly changes in diving patterns in relation to the ambient thermal structure and the occurrence of feeding events during March–June, and to discuss possible reasons why bluefin tuna repeatedly dived to depths below the thermocline in terms of their thermoconservation mechanisms. It was found that the fish repeatedly dived through the thermocline at intervals of 1.2 h on average, and the dive frequency was high during March–May. However, the dive frequency and periodicity decreased in June, when the gradient became steeper. In contrast, feeding events increased in June. These results indicate that from March to May, bluefin tuna repeatedly dive because food biomass is inadequate at the surface, and they stop undertaking repeated dives in June when food becomes more readily available at the surface, in addition to low visibility caused by low solar radiation. Further, the range of heat transfer times for these fish was so long that their peritoneal temperature was probably maintained by engaging in brief dives. The periodicity of dives may lead to a lower fluctuation in the peritoneal temperature, suggesting that the dives are a kind of behavioral thermoregulation.