Effect of dietary supplementation of Bacillus subtilis spores on growth performance,oxidative status,and digestive enzyme activities in Japanese quail birds

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The present trial investigated the feeding effect of B. subtilis spores on growth performance, blood metabolites, antioxidative status, and digestive enzyme...     

Humoral antibody responses to different H5N1 and H5N2 vaccination regimes: implications for the development of autogenously based vaccines

Whereas H5N1 vaccine and several H5N2 vaccines are commercially available and are used to control H5N1 outbreaks in some endemic countries, infections hit many vaccinated flocks. The following study was conducted to compare the efficacy of such vaccines and to assess their potential induction of antibodies against the haemagglutinin of local H5N1 isolate after single vaccination. The possible beneficiary effect of booster dose at different intervals was screened for both H5N1 vaccine as well as a selected H5N2 candidate. Differences in the serological immune response among native and cross breeds were also screened. No significant variations were detected between available commercial H5N1 and H5N2 vaccines after single vaccination. Two vaccination shots using H5N1 but not H5N2 vaccine were found to be superior to a single vaccination scheme, where chicks developed more conceivable antibody titers than in single vaccination program. There was considerable variation among chicken lines in the immune response to H5N1 vaccine: native breeds possessed the highest antibody titers as compared to other breeds.     

Genetic variations in maternal transfer and immune responsiveness to infectious bursal disease virus

The immune responsiveness to infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) in four native and crossbred chicken lines was compared. ELISA IBDV antibody titers in hen serum samples, yolk from matched eggs and sera from matched 1-day-old chicks from each chicken line with an identical vaccination program were measured, and plotted. There was considerable variation between lines in the measured IBDV specific antibodies, in vaccinated parent hens and in the amounts of inherited maternally derived antibodies in both yolk and progeny chicks. Differences in ratios of the inherited antibody level from hen to 1-day-old chicks were also found among different chicken lines. Breed differences in regressions of IBDV antibody levels in yolk to that of hen or progeny chicks' sera were also found, so prediction of serum titer of hen and/or progeny chicks from yolk are varied among chicken lines.     

Gill oxidative stress and histopathological biomarkers of pollution impacts in Nile tilapia from Lake Mariut and Lake Edku, Egypt

Various oxidative stress and histopathological biomarkers in gill tissues of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus were investigated. Fish were collected from four sites that differ in their extent of pollution load, including heavy metals: the southeast basin (SEB), main basin (MB), and northwest basin (NWB) of Lake Mariut; and Boughaz El-Maadiya, a channel in Lake Edku. The oxidative stress biomarkers that were analyzed included lipid peroxidation (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione redox cycle enzymes (glutathione peroxidase [GPx] and glutathione reductase [GR]). Levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) were also evaluated. Gill morphology was analyzed by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Gill LPO was significantly higher in gill tissues of fish collected from the more heavily contaminated MB (40.0%) and NWB (51.4%) sites than in gill samples from the less-contaminated (reference) site, the SEB. Gill LPO in fish from Lake Edku was intermediate but was not significantly higher (17.1%) than the reference. The activities of antioxidant enzymes and the redox-sensitive thiol compound GSH were significantly lower in gill samples from the disturbed sites than in samples from the reference site. Specifically, SOD in MB, NWB, and Lake Edku samples; CAT and GPx in NWB samples; and GR activity and GSH content in MB and NWB samples were lower than those in SEB samples. In most cases, gill tissues from Lake Edku fish had intermediate levels of antioxidants. The main histopathological alterations observed in gills were epithelial lifting, hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the respiratory epithelium, lamellar fusion, and aneurysms. In addition, SEM results demonstrated transformation of the surface structure of epithelial pavement cells. Pathological reactions in the gills of Nile tilapia were most severe at the MB and NWB sites. Our findings suggest that Nile tilapia responded differently according to the environmental stress index in each sampling area. This study is the first to report gill oxidative stress and histopathologies in Nile tilapia from Egyptian aquatic environments.     

Effects of Long-Term Heavy Metal Contamination on Diversity of Terricolous Fungi and Nematodes in Egypt - A Case Study

Internationally there is a gradual decline in availability of fresh water to be used for irrigation. As a consequence, the use of drain water for irrigating agricultural lands is on the rise particularly in urban areas of developing countries especially Egypt. On the other hand, there is increasing concern regarding the exceedance of statutory and advisory food standards for trace metals throughout the world. A study was undertaken to assess the long-term effect of irrigation with drain water on heavy metal content in soils and diversity of terricolous biota. An agroecosystem in Bahr El-Baqar area, south of Port Said, Egypt were selected where various cereals, vegetable and fodder crops have successfully been grown. During the period from September (2004) to February (2005), 25 soil profiles, 100 soil and 30 water samples were collected from cultivated soil and drain of Bahr El-Baqar. Soil heavy metals content (Zn, Pb, Cd, Co, Mn and Cu), gypsum, organic matter, total calcium carbonates, cations, anions, electric conductivity and pH were determined. Water samples has been subjected to various analyses including water temperature, pH, total soluble salts, electric conductivity, total nitrogen, total phosphate, heavy metals and organic loads (chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand). For isolation and examination of total mycobiota, arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and nematodes from rhizosphere soils, samples were collected from dominant plant species in the study area. Obtained data were subjected to multivariate analysis by using Canonical Correspondence Analysis to find out the relationship between biota and environmental variables. Results indicated that concentrations of heavy metals exceeded the maximum allowable limits while water analyses showed that organic load values are slightly increase in all examined samples and samples were not complying with the standard value given by law 48/1982 for ambient water quality in the drain. It was possible to encounter as many as 43 fungal species belonged to twenty-one genera from five sites in the agroecosystem in south Port Said. The results show that Zygomycota represented by six species (7.59% of the total isolate number), teleomorphic Ascomycota (3 species, 3.78%), anamorphic Ascomycota (31 species, 86.96%) and mitosporic fungi (3 species, 1.67%). The AM fungal spores obtained belonged to the three genera namely Acaulospora, Gigaspora, and Glomus and eight species. While family Glomeraceae accommodates the greatest range of species (6 species), the other family Gigasporaceae accommodate the lowest range (two species). Twelve species belonging to eight genera and six families of plant-parasitic nematodes were identified throughout the study. Total levels of heavy metals showed a trend relationship between metal concentration in soil and long term of irrigation assuming that there is a continuous deposition of heavy metals on the soils due the continuous use of Bahr El-Baqar drain in watering soil for many years in which both living and non-living components of ecosystem are hazardly affected. Detailed studies to minimize the quantity and improve the quality of wastewater discharged should be carried out for each industry. Research must take the objective of sustainability into consideration. Legislation sensible to environmental control should depend on a thorough knowledge of the existing situation and careful assessment of its likely impact on the development. On the other hand activation of law 4/1994, for the protection of environment in Egypt, is urgently needed.