Gossypol toxicity in preruminant calves

SUMMARY Twenty-four of 57 calves fed a diet containing 33% cotton seed meal (CSM) died between 7 and 15 weeks of age. Initial deaths were not accompanied by premonitory signs, but after CSM withdrawal most calves developed rough coats, anorexia, weakness, ascites and subcutaneous oedema. Those that died had large volumes of serous fluid in the body cavities, hard livers of ‘nutmeg’ appearance, and pulmonary congestion. Histopathologically the livers showed periacinar necrosis in acute cases and periacinar fibrosis in chronic cases. Lungs from several calves had oedema, haemosiderosis and fibrosis in some pulmonary vessels. Atrophy of myocardial fibres was present in most cases. The concentration of free gossypol in the diet was 100 to 220 mg/kg. Ante-mortem and post-mortem findings supported a diagnosis of gossypol poisoning. The deaths continued for 4 weeks after withdrawal of CSM from the diet.     

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Ectoparasites on Cage‐reared Channel Catfish,Ictalurus punctatus,in Tamaulipas,Mexico

Studies in cage‐cultured fish have reported spatial and temporal variations on parasite prevalence; however, most of these studies have been carried out in cold water and marine environments. Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is the main floating cages‐raised species used in intensive fish culture in Tamaulipas. In Mexico, there are no seasonal reports on fish parasites in this type of cage system. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and mean intensity of ectoparasites of cage‐cultured channel catfish in a year. Fish were sampled bimonthly from six locations in Tamaulipas and measured and evaluated for ectoparasites. Results showed the presence of two gill‐dwelling metazoans, Ligictaluridus floridanus and Ergasilus cerastes and one skin‐dwelling protozoan, Trichodina sp.; a pattern characterized by peaks in prevalence in early autumn for L. floridanus and late autumn for E. cerastes was observed. In addition, geographic location had a significant effect on the prevalence of L. floridanus and E. cerastes. It was also observed that presence of these parasites was not associated with any fish mortality. To our knowledge, this is the first seasonal study on ectoparasite prevalence on channel catfish reared in cages in México.     

Studies on the artificial propagation of Monopterus albus (Zuiew)

Artificial propagation of Monopterus albus (Zuiew) was conducted during their spawning season in the present study. Different doses of luteinizing-hormone-releasing-hormone analogue (LHRH-A) were tested for inducing the ovulation of brood females. No significant difference was found in the degree-hours and fertilization rates between three different doses (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 μg LHRH-A g^-1 fish). A fertilization solution of 0.3% NaCl produced significantly higher fertilization rates than the other three solutions (0.5% NaCl, 0.65% NaCl and water). Fertilization times ranging from 5 to 2 0 min gave no significant difference in the fertilization rates. The embryonic and larval development of M. albus was observed and illustrated. The hatching time of eggs of M. albus was about 140 h in the 28-3 0^oC water temperature range. Using Tubifex spp. for the first food for the larval nursery gave higher growth rate than two other foods, zooplankton and artificial food.     

The efficiency of free‐floating and emergent aquatic macrophytes in constructed wetlands for the treatment of a fishpond effluent

Many studies have evaluated the efficiency of constructed wetlands (CWs) for the treatment of fishpond effluents, but only a few have compared between CWs with emergent and free‐floating macrophytes and assessed the amount of nutrients removed only by the macrophytes. For this purpose, we performed an experiment during 113 days in which we treated a fishpond effluent using four different CWs: (i) with the free‐floating macrophyte Eichhornia crassipes (Ec); (ii) without E. crassipes (WEc); (iii) with a substrate and the emergent macrophyte Typha domingensis (Td); (iv) with a substrate and without T. domingensis (WTd). To verify the efficiency of CWs, the removal rates of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved (DKN) and total (TKN) Kjeldahl nitrogen, total inorganic nitrogen (TIN), total phosphorus (TP) and P‐orthophosphate (P‐ORT) were analysed using ANOVA‐rm. The removal of TP and TKN was higher in CWs with substrate than without substrate. The removal of P‐ORT, TIN and DKN was higher in Ec compared to others CWs. The average removal of TSS in Ec (78.9%), WTd (77.4%) and Td (75.0%) was higher than in WEc (68.3%). The contribution of E. crassipes towards the removal of all forms of N and P was higher than of T. domingensis. This greater contribution of E. crassipes can be due to the higher biomass that this species gained in comparison with T. domingensis.     

An environmentally sustainable approach for the management of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phaeoacremonium minimum</Emphasis>, the main agent of wood diseases in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Actinidia deliciosa</Emphasis>

Among the fungi associated with the kiwi wood diseases, the vascular pathogen Phaeoacremonium minimum can infect plants already at nursery stage, without any external symptoms. At the moment, there are not effective control strategies. The effect of soil treatments applicable in organic agriculture was evaluated in two-years experiments on potted kiwi plants artificially inoculated with P. minimum. The soil treatments were based on commercial formulations of iron chelate, silicon, neem paste, Trichoderma afroharzianum strain T22, and cover cropping with selected perennial Poaceae. Cover cropping and iron chelate treatments enhanced the iron availability for the plants and significantly reduced wood necrosis caused by the pathogen. Both treatments also produced an increase of hairy root proliferation, so the plants were able to better cope with stress conditions. Laboratory assays showed the role of iron on the pathogen growth and its pathogenesis enzyme activities.