Isolation,partial purification and characterization of a potato peel ∞-solanine cleaving glycosidase

An enzyme which hydrolyzes the rhamnose from ∞-solanine was isolated and partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation from the peels of Kennebec and Wauseon potatoes. Enzyme activity was found to be present in the 60 to 80% ammonium sulfate fraction. Enzyme activity was increased by the use of non-ionic detergents with a mixture of Triton X-100:Triton CF-54 (2:1, w/w) providing the greatest increase in activity. The pH optimum for the rhamnosidase for both varieties was found to be 6.0 while of the temperatures evaluated 42 °C was the optimum temperature. The effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity was determined for both varieties and the Vmax and Km were calculated from Lineweaver-Burke double reciprocal plots. The Vmax and Km for the Kennebec and Wauseon rhamnosidases were found to be 0.27 mg/ml and 5.4 x 10^-4 M and 0.48 mg/ml and 8.2 x 10^-4 M, respectively.     

Fertility of sows mated on different days of the week

The farrowing rates resulting from matings on different days of the week were determined for a 2800-sow intensive piggery in both 1983 and 1984. The results showed that sows mated early in the week achieved a significantly higher farrowing rate than sows mated late in the week (P less than 0.0001). During the seasonal (summer to autumn) infertility period, Wednesday matings resulted in a poor farrowing rate whereas for the rest of the year farrowing rates following Wednesday matings were similar to those for Sunday Monday and Tuesday matings. Consistent results were obtained for data from both years. It is proposed that the stress of regrouping unmated sows on Wednesday to accommodate newly weaned sows is responsible for this decrease in fertility. This study illustrates how detailed analysis of farrowing rates on a day of mating basis can identify a problem which is otherwise masked by weekly data.     

The comparative pathogenicity of four serovars of Actinobacillus (Haemophilus) pleuropneumoniae

The pathogenicity of 2 isolates of each of serovars 7, 3, 1 and 2 of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae was tested by intranasal inoculation into 60, 6-week-old large white pigs. Four dose rates varying from 0.27 to 560 x 10(6) organisms per pig with 10-fold serial dilutions were used. Surviving pigs were necropsied 7 days after inoculation. The proportion of pigs dying and developing gross lesions following infection was significantly greater for pigs given serotype 1 than for each of the other 3 serotypes, which did not differ significantly from each other. Twelve of 16 pigs given either of the 2 isolates of serovar 1 died after acute illness and 1 of 44 pigs given either of the 2 isolates each of serovars 7, 3 and 2 died. Pigs given serovar 1 showed high temperatures, severe respiratory distress, frothy haemorrhagic nasal discharge and weight loss. Lung lesions were produced in all 16 pigs given serovar 1, in 7 of 14 pigs given serovar 7, 7 of 14 pigs receiving serovar 3 and in 5 of 16 pigs given serovar 2. The lethal infections were characterised by a severe acute fibrinohaemorrhagic necrotising pleuropneumonia, whereas non-lethal cases had lung lesions ranging from necrotising purulent pleuropneumonia to abscessation. Significant differences between isolates in proportions of tissues culture positive for A. pleuropneumoniae for serovars 7 and 2, but not for serovars 3 and 1 suggested that isolates may vary in virulence within serovars, but more detailed studies are needed to clarify this point.     

Experimental evidence that tryptamine alkaloids do not cause Phalaris aquatica sudden death syndrome in sheep

The acute toxicity for sheep of 3 alkaloids that occur in Phalaris acquatica was examined by intravenous and oral administration. The lowest tested dose rates that produced clinically observed signs were, for 5-methoxy dimethyltryptamine, 0.1 mg/kg body weight intravenously and 40 mg/kg orally; for gramine, 10 mg/kg intravenously and 500 mg/kg orally; and for hordenine, 20 mg/kg intravenously and 800 mg/kg orally. All induced the clinical signs observed in the nervous form of phalaris toxicity, but none induced the cardiac, sudden death, syndrome.     

Brachygnathia in a herd of Angus cattle

Seven cases of brachygnathia in a single calf crop (28 calves) were observed in an Angus herd. Two of the affected calves, 1 female and 1 male, were necropsied and anatomically described. Breeding histories and results of pedigree analysis involving the 7 affected calves indicated the cause of the defect to be genetic with the mode of inheritance that of a single autosomal recessive gene.     

Mapping Spatial Patterns with Morphological Image Processing

We use morphological image processing for classifying spatial patterns at the pixel level on binary land-cover maps. Land-cover pattern is classified as ‘perforated,’ ‘edge,’ ‘patch,’ and ‘core’ with higher spatial precision and thematic accuracy compared to a previous approach based on image convolution, while retaining the capability to label these features at the pixel level for any scale of observation. The implementation of morphological image processing is explained and then demonstrated, with comparisons to results from image convolution, for a forest map of the Val Grande National Park in North Italy.     

Aboveground production and N and P use by Larix occidentalis and Pinus contorta in the Washington Cascades, USA

Aboveground net primary production (ANPP) and N and P use patterns were determined for western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.), a deciduous conifer, and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.), an evergreen conifer, in the Cascade Mountains of Washington, USA. Western larch and lodgepole pine retranslocated 87 and 66% of foliage N and 66 and 78% of foliage P, respectively. At the stand level, N use efficiency of western larch was greater than that of lodgepole pine, whereas P use efficiency of lodgepole pine was greater than that of western larch. Western larch and lodgepole pine were comparable in ANPP and production efficiency (ANPP/foliage mass) if needle longevity is considered. The similarity in ANPP of the evergreen lodgepole pine and the deciduous western larch may be related in part to the lower initial construction cost of the foliage, and the efficient use of nitrogen by western larch.     

Genetic heterogeneity of pestiviruses of ruminants in Switzerland

We have genetically analyzed ruminant pestiviruses. All >150 bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) viruses isolated from cattle in Switzerland belonged to genotype 1, with subgenogroups e, h, k and b found in decreasing frequency. To date, representatives of subgenogroup k have been detected in Switzerland only. Despite serological evidence of Border disease in sheep, only few Border disease viruses have been isolated, all of which belong to the novel group 3. Serological evidence suggested that pestivirus infections may occur also in wild ruminants in Switzerland but no isolates are available for analysis. In addition, we describe two pestiviruses, one a cell culture contaminant and the other isolated from a buffalo, that cluster with a recently proposed novel pestivirus species.