Comparison of bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide concentrations in the blood,ovarian follicular fluid and uterine fluid: a clinical case of bovine metritis

We investigated the concentration of the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the blood, ovarian follicular fluid and uterine fluid of a clinical case of bovine metritis. A 2-year-old lactating Holstein cow exhibited continuous fever >39.5°C for more than 2 weeks after normal calving. The cow produced a fetid, watery, red-brown uterine discharge from the vagina and was diagnosed with metritis. The LPS concentrations in plasma and uterine fluid were 0.94 and 6.34 endotoxin units (EU)/ml, respectively. One of seven follicles showed an extremely high level of LPS (12.40 EU/ml) compared to the other follicles (0.62–0.97 EU/ml). These results might suggest the presence of high concentration of LPS in follicles in cows with postpartum metritis.     

Fish feed can show genotoxic damage

Fish Physiology and Biochemistry - The present study was carried out to evaluate the genotoxic potential of nutritional quality of feed, using erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities assay in Nile...     

Fusarium incarnatum isolated from black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon Fabricius, with black gill disease cultured in Vietnam

Fusarium incarnatum was isolated from gill lesions of cultured black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, in every crop during 2000-2002 in Nghe An province, Vietnam. Infected shrimps showed typical signs of black gill disease and mortalities about a month prior to harvest. Detailed morphological examinations, as well as molecular phylogenic analyses based on partial nucleotide sequences of ribosomal DNA, were made on the isolates. An artificial infection of kuruma prawn, Penaeus japonicus, using two selected isolates was also conducted and their pathogenicity determined.     

Detection of quinolone-resistance genes in Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida strains by targeting-induced local lesions in genomes

Quinolone-resistant strains of the fish-pathogenic bacterium, Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida are distributed widely in cultured yellowtail, Seriola quinqueradiata (Temminck & Schlegel), in Japan. The quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) was amplified with degenerate primers, followed by cassette ligation-mediated PCR. Open reading frames encoding proteins of 875 and 755 amino acid residues were detected in the gyrA and parC genes, respectively. Resistant strains of P. damselae subsp. piscicida carried a point mutation only in the gyrA QRDR leading to a Ser-to-Ile substitution at residue position 83. No amino acid alterations were discovered in the ParC sequence. A mutation in the gyrA gene was also detected in nalidixic acid-resistant mutants of strain SP96002 obtained from agar medium containing increased levels of quinolone. These results suggest that GyrA, as in other Gram-negative bacteria, is a target of quinolone in P. damselae subsp. piscicida. Furthermore, we attempted to detect a point mutation using targeting-induced local lesions in genomes (TILLING), which is a general strategy used for the detection of a variety of induced point mutations and naturally occurring polymorphisms. We developed a new detection method for the rapid and large-scale identification of quinolone-resistant strains of P. damselae subsp. piscicida using TILLING.     

Detection of antigenic proteins expressed by lymphocystis virus as vaccine candidates in olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus (Temminck & Schlegel)

Although the major capsid proteins (MCPs) of lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) have been characterized, little is known about the host-derived immune response to MCPs and other LCDV antigenic proteins. To identify antigenic proteins of LCDV that could be used as vaccine candidates in olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, we analysed the viral proteins responsible for its virulence by applying immuno-proteomics. LCDV proteins were separated by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis, transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membrane, and probed with homogeneous P. olivaceus antisera elicited by LCDV natural infection and vaccination with formalin-killed LCDV. Four immune-reactive proteins were obtained at 68-, 51-, 41- and 21 kDa using antisera collected from natural infection while two proteins at 51- and 21 kDa exhibited response to antisera from vaccinated fish, indicating that the latter two proteins have vaccine potential. Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and nanoelectrospray MS/MS, the 51 and 21 kDa proteins were identified as MCP and an unknown protein, respectively.     

Nursery‐Box Total Fertilization Technology (NBTF) Application for Increasing Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Chinese Irrigated Riceland: N–Soil Interactions

High N fertilizer and flooding irrigation applied to rice in anthropogenic‐alluvial soil often result in N leaching and low use efficiency of applied fertilizer N from the rice field in Ningxia irrigation region in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Sound N management practices need to be established to improve N use efficiency while sustaining high grain yield levels and minimize fertilizer N loss to the environment. We investigated the effects of Nursery Box Total Fertilization technology (NBTF) on N leaching at different rice growing stages, N use efficiency and rice yield in 2010 and 2011. The four fertilizer N treatments were 300 kg N ha⁻¹ (CU, Conventional treatment of urea at 300 kg N ha⁻¹), 120 kg N ha⁻¹ (NBTF120, NBTF treatment of controlled‐release N fertilizer at 120 kg N ha⁻¹), 80 kgN ha⁻¹ (NBTF80, NBTF treatment of controlled‐release N fertilizer at 80 kg N ha⁻¹) and no N fertilizer application treatment (CK). The results showed that the NBTF120 treatment increased N use efficiency, maintained crop yields and substantially reduced N losses to the environment. Under the CU treatment, the rice yield was 9634 and 7098 kg ha⁻¹, the N use efficiency was 31·6% and 34·8% and the leaching losses of TN were 44·51 and 39·89 kg ha⁻¹; NH₄⁺‐N was 5·26 and 5·49 kg ha⁻¹, and NO₃⁻‐N was 27·94 and 26·22 kg ha⁻¹ during the rice whole growing period in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Compared with CU, NBTF120 significantly increased the N use efficiency and decreased the N losses from the paddy field. Under NBTF120, the N use efficiency was 56·3% and 51·4%, which was 24·7% and 16·6% higher than that of CU, and the conventional fertilizer application rate could be reduced by 60% without lowering the rice yield while decreasing the leaching losses of TN by 16·27 and 14·36 kg ha⁻¹, NH₄⁺‐N by 0·90 and 1·84 kg ha⁻¹, NO₃⁻‐N by 110·6 and 10·14 kg ha⁻¹ in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Our results indicate that the CU treatment resulted in relatively high N leaching losses, and that alternative practice of NBTF which synchronized fertilizer application with crop demand substantially reduced these losses. We therefore suggest the NBTF120 be a fertilizer application alternative which leads to high food production but low environmental impact. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improvement of functional properties of egg white protein through phosphorylation by dry-heating in the presence of pyrophosphate

Egg white protein (EWP) was phosphorylated by dry-heating in the presence of pyrophosphate at pH 3.0-7.0 and 85 degrees C for 1 and 5 days, and the functional properties of the phosphorylated EWP (PP-EWP) were investigated. The phosphorylation was accelerated with a decrease of pH from 7.0 to 3.0 and for heating times from 1 to 5 days. The phosphorus content of EWP increased approximately 1.05% by dry-heating at pH 4.0 and 85 degrees C for 5 days in the presence of pyrophosphate, which was higher than that of casein. The electrophoretic mobility of EWP increased with an increase in the phosphorylation level. The surface hydrophobicity of EWP increased by phosphorylation. The heat stability, emulsifying properties, and digestibility of EWP were improved by phosphorylation. The calcium phosphate-solubilizing ability of EWP was enhanced by phosphorylation. A firmer and transparent heat-induced gel of PP-EWP was obtained, and the water-holding capacity of heat-induced PP-EWP gel was higher that that of the control. These results suggest that phosphorylation by dry-heating in the presence of pyrophosphate is a useful method for improving the functional properties of EWP.