Ethnoveterinary health management practices using medicinal plants in South Asia – a review

Animal rearing is the major occupation of most population of South Asian countries. Due to lack of resources and limited approach to modern medicine, most of the livestock raisers prefer to use plant-based traditional medicine also referred to as ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM). Indeed, the use of medicinal plants in South Asia dates back to several centuries with documented evidences. However, there is currently a dearth of documentation and compilation of use of medicinal plants for animal diseases in this part of the world. This review aims to provide an up-to-date compilation of common medicinal plants used for the treatment and/or management of common animal diseases in South Asian countries. Extensive literature search was conducted online and relevant data was retrieved from well-known scientific databases. A total of 276 plants belonging to 95 families have been documented to be in common use for managing 14 different categories of animal diseases. Solanaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, and Leguminosae were most common plant families in terms of their plant species used for EVM. Gastric diseases were commonly reported and accounted for 72 species of plants used for its treatment followed by the miscellaneous disorders category and skin diseases comprising of 65 and 39 plant species respectively. Herbs accounted for 46% of the total plant species, followed by trees (33%), and shrubs (18%). The EVM were applied through different routes of administration; oral administration accounted for 72% followed by topical application 27%, while burning of plant parts to create smoke around animals to repel insects was less common (1%). It is anticipated that the present review will stimulate further ethnoveterinary research among livestock disease management practices in South Asia.     

Village poultry consumption and marketing in relation to gender,religious festivals and market access

This study aimed to examine village poultry consumption and marketing in Ethiopia in relation to gender, socio-cultural events and market access. The main objects of the research were producers, poultry markets, producer-sellers, and intermediary sellers in three locations representing different levels of market access in Tigray. About 3000 farm records were collected over a period of 12 months from 131 producers to obtain quantitative data on sales and consumption. Ninety-three semi-structured interviews with 58 producer-sellers and 35 intermediaries and 12 group discussions with these market actors were conducted to explore organization, price dynamics and socio-cultural aspects of poultry marketing. In total, 928 producer-sellers and 225 intermediaries were monitored monthly to examine participation by gender in poultry marketing. Better market access was associated with a shorter market chain and higher prices for the producers. Female-headed households had smaller poultry sales and consumption per household but sale and consumption per family member were 25% and 66% higher, respectively, than in male-headed households. While women dominated in the producer-sellers group, intermediaries were mainly men. Religious festivals periodically shifted local demand and prices of poultry. To improve the benefit of poultry keeping, poverty-stricken households may profit from better market access through better market information, infrastructure, market group formation and careful planning to match the dynamics in demand.     

双峰驼精清及其活性组分凝集素寡糖的初步研究

应用植物血凝素与寡糖结构相同或相似的糖复合物专一凝集的原理与方法,结合小鼠排卵试验,间接观察了公驼精清及其经ＤＥ－５２离子交换层析和高效液相层析提取分离的活性组分的蛋白组成。结果表明,公驼精清内糖蛋白含有２种以上的寡糖,其内的活性组分及诱导排卵因子与所试植物血凝素不发生反应     

环保畜牧业与健康养殖发展探讨

当今,养殖业面对的环保要求越来越高,且人类社会对畜禽产品的质量也是高度关注。本文从畜牧业污染产生的危害、治理思路、控污的具体措施以及健康的养殖模式展开分析,并做出一些对未来养殖业发展的预测,旨在为环保养殖提供参考与借鉴。     

加工条件对再制干酪功能特性的影响

为了解加工条件对再制干酪功能特性的影响,用不同加热温度(80 ℃、95℃)、剪切速度(600 r/min、1200 r/min)和冷却方法(冰水冷却、自然冷却)制作了4种再制干酪样品,并分别测定了样品的融化功能特性(融化性)和非融化功能特性(硬度、凝聚性、粘着性).结果表明,加热温度、搅拌速度的提高和冷却速度的降低明显降低了再制千酪的融化性(P＜0.05);剪切速度的升高使再制干酪的硬度显著提高(P＜0.05);加热温度的升高降低了再制干酪的凝聚性(P＜0.05);而加工条件对再制干酪粘着性的影响在统计学上无显著差异(P＞0.05).     

Design and evaluation of primer pairs for efficient detection of avian rotavirus

The use of molecular methods for rotavirus characterisation provides increased sensitivity for typing and allows the identification of putative reassortant strains. Reagents and methods for genotyping the virus need constant modification because of the reassortant nature of the virus. This study was aimed at designing and evaluating new oligonucleotide degenerate primer pairs that provide increased sensitivity and specificity for detecting avian rotavirus. Gene-specific primer pairs were designed by analysing different rotavirus strains isolated during the last decade by downloading them from the GenBank. The alignments were generated using clustal analysis from the BioEdit program. Degenerate nucleotides were included due to the reassortant nature of rotavirus. The consensus sequences were aligned using the BioEdit program and then treated with the Fast PCR software to derive the primers. The derived primer sequences were submitted for a BLAST search to ensure alignment was exclusive to the desired target genes. The designed primers had specific bands and were efficient in detecting rotavirus in faecal samples than previously published primers. Thus, a successful surveillance of rotaviruses requires that primer pairs be updated regularly in order to detect the emergence of novel or “unusual types”, which have occurred by genetic drift causing nucleotide changes at the primer binding sites that result in typing failures. We recommend the use of the proposed primers in molecular surveillance studies for efficient detection of avian rotavirus.     

La Sota vaccination may not protect against virus shedding and the lesions of velogenic Newcastle disease in commercial turkeys

The aim of this project is to study the clinical signs and lesion of velogenic Newcastle disease (vND) in commercial turkeys, and also to find out if La Sota vaccination offered protection against these signs and lesions. The cockerels were included as positive controls. One hundred and twenty turkey poults and cockerels were divided into eight groups as follows: unvaccinated unchallenged turkeys (UUT), unvaccinated challenged turkeys (UCT), vaccinated unchallenged turkeys (VUT), vaccinated challenged turkeys (VCT), and along the same lines, the cockerel groups were UUC, UCC, VUC and vaccinated challenged cockerels (VCC). Vaccination was at 3 weeks of age while challenge was at 6 weeks of age. The unvaccinated turkeys and cockerels (UCT and UCC) showed different degrees of depression, diarrhoea and later paralysis at challenge. Total mortality was 100% in cockerels within 6 days, but 60% in turkeys. Similar but milder clinical signs were found in the VCC with a total mortality of 13.3%. The VCT showed mild drop in feed and water consumption, and no mortality. All the challenged groups had significant (p < 0.05) loss of weight when compared with their controls. Necropsy showed that while the UCC had severe proventricular haemorrhages, intestinal and caecal tonsil ulcers, the UCT had no digestive tract lesion. There was severe atrophy of the lymphoid organs in all the challenged groups. Histopathological sections of the bursa, spleen and thymus in all the challenged groups with special emphasis on the vaccinated and unvaccinated turkeys with mortalities of 0 and 60%, respectively, had very severe necrosis and depletion of the lymphoid tissue. Virus was isolated from the cloacal swabs. The haemagglutination inhibition antibodies were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the challenged groups than the unchallenged. The above observations in the intestinal tracts of UCT are of diagnostic significance while the gross and microscopic lesions in the UCT and VCT show that La Sota vaccination may not protect turkeys against the destruction of the lymphoid organs by vND as earlier reported in chickens. This may lead to immunosuppression and production problems in areas where vND is enzootic.     

Virulence traits of avian pathogenic (APEC) and fecal (AFEC) <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> isolated from broiler chickens in Algeria

Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) is the etiologic agent of avian colibacillosis, the most common disease responsible for chicken morbidity in the world. Although multiple virulence-associated factors were identified, their prevalence in Algeria is still poorly known. In the present research, 92 avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) isolates were recovered from broilers with clinical signs and lesions of colibacillosis. In addition, 32 E. coli isolates collected from feces of healthy birds (AFEC) were included for comparison. All isolates were investigated by PCR for the presence of a total of 11 virulence-associated genes described for avian pathogenic (iroN, ompT, hlyF, iss, iutA, and fimC) and diarrheagenic E. coli (eae, stx, elt/est, ipaH, and aggR). The sensitivity of 39 APEC isolates to 16 antibiotics was also determined using antimicrobial pretreated microplates. Here, we report that 98% of the examined isolates host at least one of the tested virulence factors. The most prevalent genes in APEC were iutA (90.6%), ompT (86.9%), and iss (85.8%); whereas, iutA (78.1%), fimC (78.1%), and iroN (68.7%) were the highest prevalent genes in AFEC. Our data showed that none of the AFEC isolates harbor any of the tested diarrheagenic genes. Moreover, only elt/est (5.4%), stx (2.1%), and ipaH (2.1%) genes were carried by APEC isolates. We further established that ceftazodime, ceftiofur, mequindox, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and meropenem were the most efficient antibiotics against the analyzed APEC isolates. Overall, our findings provide more insights about APEC and AFEC virulence potential in Algeria which could participate in the fight against colibacillosis.     

Genomic characterization of the first oral avian papillomavirus in a colony of breeding canaries (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Serinus canaria</Emphasis>)

Papillomaviruses are non-enveloped, DNA viruses that infect skin and mucosa of a wide variety of vertebrates, causing neoplasias or simply persisting asymptomatically. Avian papillomaviruses, with six fully sequenced genomes, are the second most studied group after mammalian papillomaviruses. In this study, we describe the first oral avian papillomavirus, detected in the tongue of a dead Yorkshire canary (Serinus canaria) and in oral swabs of the same bird and other two live canaries from an aviary in Madrid, Spain. Its genome is 8,071 bp and presents the canonical papillomavirus architecture with six early (E6, E7, E1, E9, E2, E4) and two late open reading frames (L1 and L2) and a long control region between L1 and E6. This new avian papillomavirus L1 gene shares a 64% pairwise identity with FcPV1 L1, so it has been classified as a new species (ScPV1) within the Ethapapillomavirus genus. Although the canary died after showing breathing problems, there is no evidence that the papillomavirus caused those symptoms so it could be part of the oral microbiota of the birds. Hence, future investigations are needed to evaluate the clinical relevance of the virus.     

紫花苜蓿甘氨酸脱羧酶H-蛋白基因MsGDC-H1功能分析

光呼吸通过清除2-磷酸乙醇酸(2-PG)使氧合光合作用成为可能,该过程对C3植物至关重要。H-蛋白是光呼吸过程中将甘氨酸转化为丝氨酸的甘氨酸脱羧酶(GDC)的关键组成蛋白之一。本研究克隆了紫花苜蓿MsGDCH1,该基因编码166个氨基酸,具有1个硫辛酰基附着位点保守结构域和1个N6-硫辛酰赖氨酸保守位点。进化分析表明,MsGDC-H1蛋白与双子叶植物的甘氨酸脱羧酶H-蛋白(GDC-H)亲缘关系近。表达模式分析表明,MsGDC-H1在苜蓿叶中表达丰度高,且受光诱导。为了探究MsGDC-H1基因对拟南芥生长的影响,分别使用光诱导的茎叶特异性启动子ST-LS1和组成型启动子CaMV 35S驱动MsGDC-H1(ST-LS1::MsGDC-H1;CaMV35S::MsGDC-H1)在拟南芥中异源表达。检测过表达植株生物量、淀粉、可溶性糖含量以及光合速率。数据分析显示,CaMV 35S::MsGDC-H1过表达拟南芥(G系列植株)生长受阻,淀粉含量比ST-LS1::MsGDC-H1特异性表达拟南芥(GS系列植株)增加了34%~67%,比野生型(WT)增加了7。3%~33。7%;可溶性糖含量比GS系列降低了36%~38%,比WT增加了44。3%~49。7%;与WT相比,GS系列植株生长更快,淀粉含量无显著差异(P>0。05),可溶性糖含量显著增加(P<0。05)。试验结果表明,MsGDC-H1基因在调控拟南芥光合速率、碳水化合物合成以及生长等方面发挥重要作用,未来可作为提高苜蓿产量的基因工程育种候选基因。