Age estimation of Arabian mares by incisors morphometry and dentition changes

Veterinary Research Communications - Accurate estimation of a horse's age based on the condition of the tooth status is necessary as a scientific and artistic technique, which has not been...     

Morphinandienone alkaloids from Dehaasia longipedicellata

Five morphinoid alkaloids have been isolated from Dehaasia longipedicellata, namely (-) pallidine, a new alkaloid (+) pallidinine (1), (+)-milonine, (-) 8,14-dehydrosalutaridine and (-) sinoacutine.     

RNAi-mediated knockdown of INHBB increases apoptosis and inhibits steroidogenesis in mouse granulosa cells

Inhibins are members of the TGFβ superfamily and act as suppressors of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) secretion from pituitary glands via a negative feedback mechanism to regulate folliculogenesis. In this study, the INHBB gene was knocked down by three RNAi-Ready pSIREN-RetroQ-ZsGreen vector- mediated recombinant plasmids to explore the effects of INHBB silencing on granulosa cell (GC) cell cycle, apoptosis and steroid production in vitro. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, flow cytometry and ELISA were performed to evaluate the role of INHBB in the mouse GC cell cycle, apoptosis and steroid production in vitro. The results showed that the relative mRNA and protein expression of INHBB in mouse GCs can be significantly reduced by RNAi with pshRNA-B1, pshRNA-B2 and pshRNA-B3 plasmids, with pshRNA-B3 having the best knockdown efficiency. Downregulation of the expression of INHBB significantly arrests cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and increases the apoptosis rate in GCs. This was further confirmed by downregulation of the protein expressions of Cyclin D1, Cyclin E and Bcl2, while the protein expression of Bax was upregulated. In addition, specific downregulation of INHBB markedly decreased the concentration of estradiol and progesterone, which was further validated by the decrease in the mRNA levels of CYP19A1and CYP11A1. These findings suggest that inhibin βB is important in the regulation of apoptosis and cell cycle progression in granulosa cells. Furthermore, the inhibin βB subunit has a role in the regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis. Evidence is accumulating to support the concept that inhibin βB is physiologically essential for early folliculogenesis in the mouse.     

Comparison of effectiveness of introduced barn owls,Tyto javanica javanica,and rodenticide treatments on rat control in oil palm plantations

Journal of Pest Science - In Peninsular Malaysia, barn owls (Tyto javanica javanica) have been utilized as biological control of rats since the 1960s. In this study, the impact of introduced barn...     

Dopamine-induced hypophagia is mediated by D1 and 5HT-2c receptors in chicken

The present study was designed to examine the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Dopamine (10, 20 and 40 nmol), L-DOPA (dopamine precursor; 62.5, 125 and 250 nmol), 6-OHDA (dopamine inhibitor; 75, 150 and 300 nmol), SCH 23390 (D₁ antagonist; 2.5, 5 and 10 nmol), AMI-193 (D₂ antagonist; 2.5, 5 and 10 nmol), NGB2904 (D₃ antagonist; 3.2, 6.4 and 12.8 nmol), L-741 T742 (D₄ antagonist; 1.5, 3 and 6 nmol) on food intake in FD₃ chickens. At following, birds were ICV injected using 8-OH-DPAT (5-HT_1A agonist; 15.25 nmol) and SB242084 (5-HT_2C antagonist; 1.5 μg) prior dopamine (40 nmol) injection. Cumulative food intake was determined until 3 h post-injection. According to the results, dopamine significantly decreased food intake in chickens (p?<?0.05). The inhibitory effect of dopamine on food intake was decreased by SCH 23390 pretreatment (P?<?0.05), but AMI-193, NGB2904 and L-741, 742 had no effect on food intake induced by dopamine. In addition, hypophagic effect of dopamine was attenuated by SB242084 (P?<?0.05), but 8-OH-DPAT had no effect. These results suggest that dopamine decrease food intake via D₁ receptor and there is an interaction between dopaminergic and serotonergic systems via 5-HT_2C receptor in chickens.     

Extrapituitary gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) binding sites in goldfish

In teleosts, as in other vertebrates, the secretion of pituitary gonadotropin (GTH) is mediated by the hypothalamic decapeptide, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Recent findings in teleosts indicate that GnRH receptors are not restricted to the pituitary gonadotropes and are also associated with somatotropes as well as being present in a number of other tissues. In the present study, we provide novel information on GnRH binding in a number of extrapituitary tissues in goldfish. However, we do not intend to provide full characterization of GnRH binding sites in various extrapituitary tissues in goldfish as this would clearly be outside the scope of this paper. In this study we examined GnRH binding in a number of extrapituitary tissues in goldfish and observed specific binding in ovary, testis, brain, liver and kidney. No specific GnRH binding was observed in muscle, skin, gut, gill and heart. In general, the present findings together with the results of other studies carried out in our laboratory demonstrate that mature goldfish ovary and testis contain two classes of GnRH binding sites, high affinity/low capacity and low affinity/high capacity sites with binding characteristics similar to those of the pituitary GnRH receptors. The brain of goldfish was also found to contain two classes of GnRH binding sites, a super-high affinity/low capacity and a low affinity/high capacity sites. Furthermore, study of goldfish liver and kidney demonstrated the presence of a single class of GnRH binding sites with characteristics different from those of pituitary, ovary, testis and brain. Overall, it is evident that goldfish contains a family of GnRH binding sites which can be classified into four groups based on binding affinities: 1) A class of high affinity binding sites present in the pituitary, ovary and testis, 2) a class of super high affinity sites so far only detected in the brain, 3) a class of intermediate-affinity GnRH binding sites in the liver and kidney, and 4) a class of low affinity binding sites present in all the tissues containing specific GnRH binding sites except for liver and kidney.     

A study of goldfish oocyte meiosisin vitro: effects of 2,4-dinitrophenol and adenosine-5-triphosphate

Germinal vesicle migration (GVM) and/or dissolution (GVD) were measured in goldfish oocytes, treated with 17α, 20β dihydroxyprogesterone (DHP) and other compounds considered to effect the cytoskeleton and oxidative phosphorylation,in vitro. Administration of DHP reinitiated meiotic maturation, increasing GVM and GVD in goldfish oocytes. Addition of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) to the incubation medium significantly inhibited DHP-induced GVM and GVD. The DNP effect was found to be partially reversible after 24 h and could be reversed fully after a further delay of approximately 24h. Treatment of goldfish oocytes with demecolcine (DE; a colchicine derivative also known as colcemid) induces GVM to the micropyle without effecting GVD; while Cytochalasin-B which inhibits microfilament polymerization impairs both GVM and GVD. Administration of DNP, significantly inhibited DE-induced GVM, suggesting that GVM as well as GVD are dependent upon the process of oxidative phosphorylation. Addition of adenosine-5′ -triphosphate (ATP) at low concentrations (0.01–0.1 mM) did not effect DHP-induced or DNP-inhibited GVD in goldfish oocytes. The present results are consistent with the idea that migration of the oocyte nucleus during meiosis reinitiation has an energy requirement and involves participation by the cytoskeleton.     

Assessment of molecular genetic diversity of 384 chickpea genotypes and development of core set of 192 genotypes for chickpea improvement programs

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Cicer arietinum L. (chickpea) is one of the most significant legume crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. This study was aimed to characterize a diverse...     

Seed Size Variation and its Effects on Germination and Seedling Vigour in Rice

The extent of seed size variations within a rice variety and its effect on germination and seedling vigour were investigated. Seed size was determined by weighing individual grains of randomly selected one hundred panicles. Grains were sorted into four size classes: 11–15, 16–20, 21–25 and 25–30 mg. There was nearly a three-fold variation between the smallest and the largest seeds, which ranged from 11 to 30 mg. Germination rate and seedling vigour index values increased with the increase of seed size suggesting the selection of larger seeds for good stand establishment.