Tuberculosis in wild seals and characterisation of the seal bacillus

SUMMARY Tuberculosis was diagnosed in 3 otariid seals found dead on beaches at 3 locations on the south coast of Western Australian between May 1990 and March 1991. This confirms that tuberculosis is present in the 2 native seals (Neophoca cinerea and Arctocephalus forsteri) in Western Australian waters. Mycobacterium sp isolated from the lungs of 2 of the seals were studied to determine the similarity of the strains to each other, to the strains isolated during 1986 from Australian sea lions and New Zealand fur seals kept in captivity at a marine park near Perth, Western Australia, and to a strain isolated in 1988 from a seal trainer who worked with the infected captive seals for 3 years. After restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) with the endonucleases Bst Ell, Bcl I and Pvu II, one of the wild seal strains appeared to have identical DNA fragment patterns to the strains from the captive seals and the seal trainer. The other wild seal isolate had identical REA profiles using Bst EII and Bcl I, but a minor difference was detected using Pvu II. Differences in these isolates were more clearly seen in restriction fragment length polymorphisms after hybridisation with two DNA probes. The secretory protein MPB70, present in M bovis, was not detected in wild seal isolates using sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting techniques. Analysis of protein and DNA fragment profiles indicated that seal tuberculosis isolates form a unique cluster within the M tuberculosis complex.     

Linkage analysis using direct and indirect counting and relative efficiencies for codominant and dominant loci

A method based on direct and indirect counting is developed for rapid and accurate linkage analysis for codominant and dominant loci. Methods for estimating gender-specific recombination frequencies are available for cases where at least one of the two loci is multiallelic and for biallelic loci with mixed parental linkage phases where at least one locus is codominant. Most of the estimates of gender-average and gender-specific recombination frequencies required iterative solutions. The new method makes use of the full data set, yields exact estimates of the recombination frequencies when the observed and expected genotypic frequencies are equal, and are computationally efficient. Relative efficiency of various data types is affected by the inheritance mode and by parental linkage phases of biallelic loci, but unaffected by the locus polymorphism when using the full data set for linkage analysis. The ability to determine parental linkage phases is affected by the locus polymorphism as well as inheritance mode. Intercross (or F-2 design) is more efficient for mapping codominant loci, whereas backcross is more efficient if dominance is involved. Mixed parental linkage phases of biallelic loci are less efficient than coupling or repulsion linkage phases. Ignoring noninformative offspring results in biased estimates of recombination frequency for biallelic loci only and reduced LOD scores for all cases.     

In vivo determination of the pyridine nucleotide reduction charge by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

An intracellular coenzyme has been observed by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The pyridine nucleotides in Escherichia coli were specifically labeled with carbon-13 from the biosynthetic precursor, nicotinic acid. The intracellular redox status and metabolic transformations of the pyridine nucleotides were examined under a variety of conditions. A highly reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide pool was observed under anaerobic conditions only in cells that were cultured aerobically on glycerol.     

Australia antigen: detection and transmission in shellfish

Australia antigen was found in clams contaminated by drainage of untreated sewage from a coastal hospital. In closed-system aquariums, the antigen was ingested by clams and transmitted to previously uninfected clams. In opensystem aquariums, the titer of Australia antigen decreased with time, suggesting viral concentration rather than replication.     

Transmission of simian acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (SAIDS) with blood or filtered plasma

Simian acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (SAIDS), a disease clinically and pathologically similar to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in humans, was transmitted from diseased rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) to normal monkeys by inoculation with heparinized whole blood or plasma that had been passed through filters of 0.45 micrometer pore size. This suggests that the causative agent is small and most probably a virus. No viruses, however, were isolated by standard cell culture techniques from the blood or filtered plasma which caused SAIDS. Both cellular and humoral immunity were markedly depressed in animals with advanced SAIDS.     

牛子宫复旧过程中胶原蛋白和肌浆球蛋白降解规律的研究

本实验监测8头围产期奶牛外周血浆中胶原蛋白和肌浆球蛋白的代谢产物——羟基脯氨酸(HP)和3甲基组氨酸(3MH)的含量,借以找出这两种蛋白质的代谢规律和子宫复旧的关系。结果表明:荷兰黑白花牛和娟珊牛血浆中HP的含量和子宫角直径分别呈显著及极显著正相关(r=0.41,P<0.05和r=0.57 P<0.01),而3MH分别呈极显著和显著正相关(r=0.52 P<0.01和r=0.39(P<0.05)。此外,黑白花牛血浆中3MH的含量极显著高于娟珊牛(P<0.001)。两个品种牛子宫复旧的平均时间,黑白花牛为37.4±3.1天,娟珊牛32.3±2.1天。结果说明牛产后子宫体积的缩小与子宫肌肉的胶原蛋白和肌浆球蛋白降解成氨基酸排出体外有关,子宫复旧的速度可能决定于这两种蛋白质的降解速度。     

Cytochrome in Thiobacillus thiooxidans

Cytochrome is present in the autotrophic sulfur bacterium, Thiobacillus thiooxidans. As mediator in the final electron transfer to oxygen, the cytochrome participates in the oxidation of sulfur compounds by extracts of the organism.