Reaction of the avian respiratory system to intratracheally administered avirulent Salmonella typhimurium.

Chickens were inoculated intratracheally (IT) with the SR-11 Salmonella typhimurium deletion mutant x4062 strain. Data collected for 8 days postinoculation (PI) were: signs of respiratory and gastrointestinal disease; histological lesions; the influx, phagocytic proportion, and phagocytic capacity of avian respiratory phagocytes (ARPs); and the proportion of granulocytes vs. macrophages in the lung tissues and lavage fluids of the lungs and air sacs. S. typhimurium-inoculated chickens had no clinical signs of gastrointestinal or respiratory disease but had various degrees of inflammatory changes in the lungs. At 5 hr PI, S. typhimurium-inoculated chickens had approximately 53-fold more ARPs than mock-inoculated controls. Between 26 hr and 8 days PI, the number of ARPs from S. typhimurium-inoculated birds was not significantly higher than the number from the mock-inoculated controls. Flow cytometric analysis of ARPs demonstrated that the proportion of phagocytic ARPs and the phagocytic capacity of ARPs from S. typhimurium-inoculated chickens were significantly higher between 5 and 26 hr PI than those of the ARPs from mock-inoculated chickens. Kinetic changes over 8 days in the granulocyte/macrophage ratios in the lavage fluids, as compared with kinetic changes in the lung tissues, suggested that the granulocytes generally represent a much higher proportion of the ARPs, and egress earlier and in much larger numbers from the tissues to the lumen of lungs and air sacs than do macrophages.     

Cellular defense of the avian respiratory system: effects of Pasteurella multocida on respiratory burst activity of avian respiratory tract phagocytes

The respiratory tract of healthy chickens contain few free-residing phagocytic cells. Intratracheal inoculation with Pasteurella multocida stimulated a significant (P less than 0.05) migration of cells to the lungs and air sacs of White Rock chickens within 2 hours after inoculation. We found the maximal number of avian respiratory tract phagocytes (22.9 +/- 14.0 x 10(6] at 8 hours after inoculation. Flow cytometric analysis of these cells revealed 2 populations on the basis of cell-size and cellular granularity. One of these was similar in size and granularity to those of blood heterophils. Only this population was capable of generating oxidative metabolites in response to phorbol myristate acetate. The ability of the heterophils to produce hydrogen peroxide, measured as the oxidation of intracellularly loaded 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein, decreased with time after inoculation. These results suggest that the migration of heterophils, which are capable of high levels of oxidative metabolism, to the lungs and air sacs may be an important defense mechanism of poultry against bacterial infections of the respiratory tract.     

Prevention of Toxoplasma gondii abortion in goats by vaccination with oocysts of Hammondia hammondi

Nineteen does (female goats) were dosed with 500,000 oocytes of Hammondia hammondi prior to breeding. At about 90 days of gestation these, and 18 uninoculated does were challenged with 25,000 Toxoplasma gondii oocysts. The 19 H. hammondi--inoculated does produced 26 live and one dead kid (newborn goat). The 18 does not given H. hammondi produced 12 live and 19 dead kids. However, examination of all of the kids by isolation of T. gondii in mice, serology and histology revealed that they were all infected with T. gondii. Thus, while H. hammondi "vaccination" is protective against the deleterious effects of T. gondii on pregnant does, perhaps by reducing the severity of placental lesions, it does not prevent foetal infection.     

Amplification Polymorphism Among Xanthomonas albilineans Strains, Using a Single Oligonucleotide Primer

A genomic library was produced by a subtractive hybridisation method using DNA from Xanthomonas albilineans serovar I and X. albilineans serovar II, originating from Mauritius. The cloned fragments were amplified and used as probes for Southern hybridisation. Probe F20 was selected on the basis of the RFLP pattern. Upon hybridisation of X. albilineans DNA with probe F20, strains of serovars I and II were differentiated by their banding profiles. This probe was sequenced and oligonucleotide primers were designed. Fragment number and length polymorphisms were obtained after PCR amplification of X. albilineans DNA using F20A as a single primer. The number and size of bands obtained with this primer was correlated to the serotypes of the strains and to the DNA grouping reported by Alvarez et al. (1996). The two serotypes I and II which exist in Mauritius were differentiated by the PCR using primer F20A. The probe and primer developed provide rapid and precise tools for the differentiation of genetic variants within the species X. albilineans.     

Effect of temperature and humidity on the formation of dibutylurea in benlate fungicide.

Benomyl [methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazolecarbamate] is the active ingredient in DuPont Benlate fungicides. The formation of N, N'-dibutylurea (DBU), a phytotoxic degradation product of benomyl, in Benlate formulations was evaluated by analyzing Benlate samples maintained under simulated storage conditions and assessing the effects of temperature and humidity on sample moisture content, benomyl degradation, and the rate of DBU formation. Benomyl degraded during storage by the elimination of n-butylisocyanate (BIC) to form methyl 2-benzimidazole carbamate (MBC; carbendazim). Liberated BIC could then proceed to react with water to form DBU (first-order rate constant of 8.4 x 10(-)(4) s (-)(1)). The degradation of benomyl and subsequent formation of DBU were dependent on the temperature and highly dependent on the humidity of the storage environment. At the lower humidity storage conditions the rates of DBU formation were significantly higher in the dry flowable (DF) formulation than in the wettable powder (WP) formulation. The initial moisture content of Benlate DF samples was higher than those of Benlate WP samples, although the Benlate WP samples absorbed more moisture upon incubation. These results may yield insight on the appearance of high levels of DBU found in some boxes and bags of Benlate DF and Benlate WP formulations.     

沧州市滨海盐碱区耕层土壤盐分特征

为了解沧州市滨海盐碱区耕层土壤的盐渍化特征,采集三个时期沧州不同地区耕层土壤（0~20 cm）样品,结合样品实验分析,探究土壤盐分特征。结果表明：①沧州滨海盐碱区耕层土壤离子类型多样,检测的八大离子中氯离子、钠离子、硫酸根、碳酸根+碳酸氢根离子为主要盐分离子,土壤类型为硫酸盐-氯化物型。②相关分析表明,耕层土样中总含盐量与氯离子和钠离子均存在显著或极显著相关关系,沧州市滨海盐碱地耕层土壤的总含盐量一定程上取决于土壤中氯化钠的含量;氯化钠、氯化镁和氯化钙为氯化物的主要组成部分;主要硫酸盐类为硫酸钠、硫酸镁和硫酸钙。③方差分析表明,三个不同采样时期和不同地区均对沧州市滨海区盐碱地的盐渍化的影响存在显著或极显著差异。④主成分分析表明,钠离子、氯离子、镁离子、钙离子和硫酸根与第1主成分相关性较高;钾离子和碳酸根+碳酸氢根与第2主成分相关性较高;第3主成分主要反映硅酸盐类对土壤离子成分的影响。由于钠离子、氯离子、钙离子和硫酸根在土壤中含量相对较高,是表征沧州滨海盐碱区土壤盐渍化的主要特征因子。     

Circulating Metabolic Hormones During the Peripubertal Period and Their Association with Testicular Development in Bulls

The objective of the present study was to characterize changes in serum metabolic hormones concentrations from 20 weeks before to 20 weeks post-puberty in bulls and to investigate the associations of metabolic hormones concentrations with testicular development. Leptin concentrations increased from 16 weeks before puberty to 8 weeks post-puberty and insulin concentrations increased from puberty to 8 weeks post-puberty. Growth hormone concentrations decreased after 4 weeks post-puberty, whereas IGF-I concentrations increased from 8 weeks before puberty to 8 weeks post-puberty. During this period, testicular growth was accelerated and testosterone secretion increased substantially, without any significant changes in gonadotropin secretion. Monthly circulating concentrations of leptin, IGF-I and insulin accounted for 63% of the variation in scrotal circumference and 59% of the variation in paired testes volume. In conclusion, the secretion of metabolic hormones was not associated with changes in gonadotropins concentrations. Furthermore, the associations of leptin, IGF-I and insulin concentrations with testes size indicated that these hormones might be involved in a gonadotropin-independent mechanism regulating the testicular development in peripubertal bulls.