The effects of cage enrichment on agonistic behaviour and dominance in male laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus)

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of enriching laboratory cages on agonistic interaction and dominance of rats. In a series of three replicates, 48 rats were housed in groups of four in either ‘standard’ or ‘enriched’ cages for 6 weeks. Successful aggressive and defensive behaviour that ended up in a clear winner and loser were sampled in the first hour of the dark phase of the light/dark cycle every other week. Rats in the ‘complex’ cages showed lower levels of both successful aggressive and successful defensive bouts compared to rats in the ‘standard’ cages. Enriching cages of laboratory rat did not change the social order of the animals in the cage. Thus, enhancing the complexity of cages of laboratory rats by the particular cage modification regimen implemented in this experiment could be considered enrichment and could therefore result in an improvement of welfare in these animals.     

Cytochrome P-450 in insects. 7. Age dependency and phenobarbital induction of cytochrome P-450, P-450 reductase,and monooxygenase activities in the black blow fly (Phormia regina,Meigen)

Development and phenobarbital (PB) induction of microsomal cytochrome P-450, NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase, two epoxidation, and two O-demethylation activities were examined in chronologically timed populations of female black blow flies (Phormia regina, Meigen). Measurements of these enzymes started with the pharate adult stage and ended 5 days following eclosion. Induction occurred in all enzymes, even at 0.005% PB, and was maximum at 0.15%. Dramatic induction of the O-demethylation of 7-methoxy-4-methylcoumarin was observed in flies dosed with the maximum concentration of the drug. This monooxygenase activity increased to nearly 1400 times the level in control flies, whereas the other O-demethylation (methoxyresorufin) and the two epoxidation reactions exhibited considerably less change. Induction of the structural enzymes of this enzyme system were 10-fold for cytochrome P-450 and 5-fold for NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase. These data suggest that PB induces several P-450's in the blow fly, particularly one bearing a high degree of specificity for 7-methoxy-4-methycoumarin.     

杀虫剂对草地贪夜蛾幼虫的室内防效测定

草地贪夜蛾已经对多种杀虫剂产生了严重抗性,为筛选应急防控特效药剂,采用浸叶法研究了国家农业农村部推荐用于草地贪食蛾应急防控药剂清单中的7种不同作用机理杀虫剂对草地贪夜蛾甘肃种群3龄幼虫的室内防效。结果表明,60 g/L乙基多杀菌素悬浮剂2 000倍液、5 000倍液和2%甲维盐乳剂2 000倍液、 4 000倍液处理对草地贪夜蛾3龄幼虫杀虫活性最好,药后24、48 h的校正防效均为100%。其次为0.5%苦参碱水剂300倍液、10%啶虫脒乳油1 000倍液和200 g/L氯虫苯甲酰胺悬浮剂2 000倍液处理,48 h的校正防效分别为82.86%、88.73%、88.57%。生物源农药8 000 IU/uL苏云金杆菌悬浮剂100倍液处理速效性稍差,72 h后校正防效仅为43.28%;4.5%高效氯氰菊酯乳油1 000倍液、1 500倍液处理48 h的校正防效均不足30%,表明草地贪夜蛾可能对该药产生严重的抗性。     

农业高职院校实验室废弃物的危害与处理

随着高职院校办学规模的扩大,学生人数的增加,实验室产生的废弃物越来越多,若处理不当将引起二次传染和环境污染,危害人们身体健康。加强对农类高职院校实验室废弃物分类、危害的认识和重视,并对实验室废弃物进行科学处理,有利于疾病的预防与控制、实验室建设和环境保护。     

Pup mortality in laboratory mice – infanticide or not?

Background

Despite being the most commonly used mammal in biomedical research, problems with perinatal mortality in mice have received little attention and the causes of pup death are still poorly known. Females are often housed alone with their litters and since the lost pups are generally eaten, it is commonly assumed that the mother has killed them. However, more detailed observations than have been reported previously in the literature are required to establish if the cause of death is infanticide. Litter loss can only be prevented efficiently after underlying causes have been carefully investigated and interpreted. The aim of this study was to investigate if females actively kill their pups by observing the behaviour of females and pups in litters that later were lost. We used video recordings of females that lost their entire litter to observe females in detail from parturition until the pups died. In total, 10 C57BL/6 females (wildtype and the knockouts Hfe^−/− and β2m^−/−) were studied, housed in Makrolon II cages with or without access to a small amount of nesting material.

Results

Three of the females had pups that were never seen moving, and another three females had one or two pups that never moved, indicating that some pups were most likely still-born. In five females with live-born pups, detailed observations from the time when a pup was last seen moving until it died were possible to carry out. We observed females eating dead offspring and interacting with both moving and dead pups. However, we never observed a pup stop moving when manipulated by the female, nor were any wounds seen in the pups. Hence, we found no evidence of infanticide when studying females that had lost their entire litter.

Conclusion

These results suggest that other causes than infanticide plays a major role in mouse pup death, and stress the need for more systematic and careful investigations of the causality of litter loss.     

Composition and biological activity of the essential oil from Thapsia minor, a new source of geranyl acetate

The essential oils from aerial parts of Thapsia minor Hoffmanns. & Link (Apiaceae), obtained by hydrodistillation, were analyzed by gas-chromatography and gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry. Oxygenated monoterpenes represented the main fraction with geranyl acetate (82.3-83.0%) as the major constituent, making this plant a good source of this compound.Biological activity of the essential oil was evaluated against several fungal strains. The highest activity was found against dermatophyte strains, Crytococcus neoformans and Candida guillermondii with minimal inhibitory concentrations values from 0.32 μl/ml to 1.25 μl/ml. The antifungal activity could be associated with the significant contribution of the oxygenated monoterpene geranyl acetate.Furthermore, this essential oil demonstrated to have potent anti-inflammatory in vitro activity, at concentrations that did not affect macrophages and keratinocytes viability, being the anti-inflammatory properties of the oil mainly due to geranyl acetate.These favorable results emphasize the antifungal and anti-inflammatory abilities of the molecule geranyl acetate and further support the exploitation of T. minor oil for pharmaceutical industry, in order to find new phytopharmaceuticals.     

农业转基因实验室生物风险研究进展

综述了我国农业转基因实验室生物安全研究的现状以及转基因作物实验室的生物安全风险因素,并提出了相应的安全管理建议。     

农业科研实验室规范化管理的探讨

随着实验室规模和层次的不断提升,实验室评估、分中心建设工作的广泛开展,加快实验室规范化管理已显得十分重要。实验室规范化管理主要包括实验室组织机构管理、设施和环境管理、技术人员管理、仪器设备管理、化学药品管理、档案管理等内容。本文就如何进行农业科研实验室的规范化管理问题进行了有益的探讨。     

5种杀虫剂对粘虫不同发育阶段的室内毒力

采用胃毒法、卵和蛹采用浸渍法,测定甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐、氯虫苯甲酰胺、辛硫磷、联苯菊酯、高效氯氟氰菊酯5种杀虫剂对粘虫卵、1龄幼虫、3龄幼虫、5龄幼虫和蛹的室内毒杀作用。结果表明:供试5种杀虫剂对卵的触杀作用依次为甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐高效氯氟氰菊酯联苯菊酯辛硫磷氯虫苯甲酰胺;对幼虫的毒杀作用依次为甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐联苯菊酯、高效氯氟氰菊酯氯虫苯甲酰胺辛硫磷;对蛹的触杀作用依次为高效氯氟氰菊酯联苯菊酯辛硫磷甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐氯虫苯甲酰胺。甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐对粘虫卵和幼虫的毒杀效果最好,对卵、1龄幼虫、3龄幼虫、5龄幼虫的LC50分别为0.276、1.555、0.109和1.483 mg/L;高效氯氟氰菊酯对粘虫蛹的触杀效果最好,LC50为5.539mg/L。建议根据粘虫发生的实际情况,在生产中将甲维盐和高效氯氟氰菊酯作为防治粘虫的首选药剂。与其他供试的4种杀虫剂相比,氯虫苯甲酰胺对粘虫卵和蛹的毒杀作用最弱,对1龄、3龄、5龄幼虫的毒杀作用略高于辛硫磷或与其相当,显著低于联苯菊酯、高效氯氟氰菊酯和甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐,建议在粘虫大发生时慎用。