The nutritional value of low lathyrogenic Lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus) for growing chicks

1. The feeding value of new low β‐N‐oxalyl‐amino‐L‐alanine (BOAA) lines of Lathyrus sativus (lathyrus) and the benefits of dehulling the seed or of pre‐adapting chicks to lathyrus‐based diets were examined in several experiments.

2. Chicks fed on diets containing 400 g/kg of the low (1.3 g BOAA/kg seed) and medium (2.2 g BOAA/kg seed) BOAA lines did not differ (P>0.05) in weight gain (WG) or in apparent fat and protein digestibilities compared to birds fed on a wheat‐based diet.

3. Consumption of 600 g low BOAA lathyrus/kg diet caused a slight, but significant (P< 0.05), decrease in WG. Food efficiency decreased as the amount of dietary lathyrus was increased, suggesting that lathyrus may contain an antinutritive factor(s) other than BOAA.

4. Removal of the hull (70 g hull/kg seed) from the seed did not affect chick performance (P> 0.05).

5. Pre‐adapting chicks for 7 d to diets containing up to 600 g medium line lathyrus/kg diet did not reduce the detrimental effects of the lathyrus.

6. Although dehulling and pre‐adaptation of chicks to lathyrus were not beneficial, the low and medium lines of lathyrus tested show potential for use in chick diets up to at least 400 g lathyrus/kg diet.     

Spread of potato virus Y in potato cultivars (Solanum tuberosum L.) with different levels of sensitivity

The aim of this work was to correlate the appearance of the symptoms, multiplication and spread of virus after mechanical inoculation of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars showing different levels of susceptibility and sensitivity to Potato virus Y^NTN (PVY^NTN). The potato cultivars used were the resistant cultivar Sante and susceptible cultivars Igor, Pentland squire and Désirée. The spread of the virus PVY^NTN in infected plants was monitored using different methods: DAS-ELISA, tissue printing, immuno-serological electron microscopy and real-time PCR. In all three susceptible cultivars, the virus was detected in the inoculated leaves 4–5 days after inoculation. From there virus spread rapidly, first into the stem, then more or less simultaneously to the upper leaves and roots. Real-time PCR was shown to be very sensitive and enabled viral RNA to be detected in non-inoculated leaves of susceptible cultivar Igor earlier than other methods. Therefore, for exact studies of plant–virus interaction, a combination of methods which detect viruses on the basis of their different properties (coat protein, morphology or RNA) should be used to monitor the spread of viruses.     

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and their bacteriophages as a model for the analysis of virulence and stress response of a food-borne pathogen

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) are a subgroup of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) that are able to cause serious food-borne intestinal diseases which can be followed in 5 to 15% by extraintestinal sequelae such as the hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). One of the major pathogenicity factors of EHEC is the production of one or more Shiga toxins (Stx), which act as inhibitors of protein biosynthesis and have profound effects on the signal transduction and immunological response in eukaryotic cells. The stx genes are located in the genome of heterogeneous, lambdoid, functional or cryptic bacteriophages and are expressed during the phage life cycle. Due to the linkage between the phage life cycle and stx expression, STEC and their bacteriophages are useful as a model for the analysis of stress response and virulence of this food-borne pathogen.     

Expression of porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) in melanomas of Munich miniature swine (MMS) Troll

Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) are integrated in the genome of all pig breeds. Since some of them are able to infect human cells, they might represent a risk for xenotransplantation using pig cells or organs. However, the expression and biological role of PERVs in healthy pigs as well as in porcine tumours is largely unknown. Since we and others have recently shown overexpression of a human endogenous retrovirus, HERV-K, in human melanomas, we studied the expression of PERVs in melanomas of selectively bred Munich miniature swine (MMS) Troll. This breeding herd of MMS Troll is characterised by a high prevalence of melanomas, which histologically resemble various types of cutaneous melanomas in humans. Several genetic factors have been defined when studying inheritance of melanomas and melanocytic nevi in MMS Troll. Here we show that the polytropic PERV-A and PERV-B as well as the ecotropic PERV-C are present in the genome of all melanoma bearing MMS Troll investigated. Most interestingly, in the spleen, but not in other organs, recombinant PERV-A/C proviruses were found. PERV expression was found elevated in melanomas when compared to normal skin and viral proteins were expressed in melanomas and pulmonary metastasis-derived melanoma cell cultures. During passaging of these cells in vitro the expression of PERV mRNA and protein increased and virus particles were released as shown by RT activity in the supernatant and by electron microscopy. Genomic RNA of PERV-A, -B and -C were found in pelleted virus particles. Although PERV expression was elevated in melanomas and pulmonary metastasis-derived cell cultures, the function of the virus in tumour development is still unclear.     

Hybridisation in kiwi (Apteryx; Apterygidae) requires taxonomic revision for the Great Spotted Kiwi

Background: Kiwi (Apteryx spp.) are flightless ratites from New Zealand whose numbers and distributions have declined following human arrival. Some of the kiwi ...