Blood, Bull Terriers and Babesiosis: further evidence for direct transmission of Babesia gibsoni in dogs

This study reports on the epidemiology of Babesia gibsoni in American Pit Bull Terriers living in a region of western Victoria in southern Australia. Both American Pit Bull Terriers (n = 100) and other dog breeds (n = 51) were screened for B gibsoni using immunofluorescent antibody testing (IFAT) and/or polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). A questionnaire was also completed by each dog owner, ascertaining the husbandry and habits of the dogs sampled. Fourteen dogs were positive for B gibsoni using IFAT and/or PCR-RFLP and all were American Pit Bull Terriers. Dogs that were male and/or had been bitten by or were biters of other American Pit Bull Terriers were more likely to be B gibsoni positive, thus suggesting that blood-to-blood transmission contributes to the spread of this disease between dogs.     

Differences in metabolic parameters and gene expression related to osteochondrosis/osteoarthrosis in pigs fed 25-hydroxyvitamin D3

Osteochondrosis/osteoarthrosis (OC/OA) are common terms for various joint pathologies that occur in pigs. Pathologies that may contribute to these disorders have been described, but the primary cause(s) remain unknown. We hypothesised that as OC has some similarities to dyschondroplasia, which involves a failure of growth plate chondrocytes to fully differentiate and hypertrophy, treatment with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-D) might reduce the incidence and/or severity of lesions in pigs, as it does in chickens with dyschondroplasia. Control pigs were fed a commercial diet ad libitum. In the treated group this diet was supplemented with 25-D at 0.1 mg/kg. Ten pigs from each of the control and treated groups were sampled at 7, 12, 16 and 21 weeks. Treatment with 25-D had no effect on the incidence or severity of OC/OA lesions. Cartilage dry weight, total collagen content and proteoglycan content, and plasma levels oftotal calcium, inorganic phosphorous, vitamin C, insuline-like growth factor-I, parathyroid hormone and tumour necrosis factor alpha were unaffected by treatment. In addition, none of these parameters were correlated with the incidence or severity of OC/OA lesions. The mRNA expression levels of 21 out of 23 genes assayed by RT-PCR were unaltered in articular cartilage from OA lesion samples as compared to normal articular cartilage. However, collagen type II was reduced and collagen type X increased in OA lesion and near lesion samples. These results suggest that OA in pigs may share some features of osteoarthritis in other mammalian species.     

Is the decline of soil microbial biomass in late winter coupled to changes in the physical state of cold soils?

During winter when the active layer of Arctic and alpine soils is below 0 °C, soil microbes are alive but metabolizing slowly, presumably in contact with unfrozen water. This unfrozen water is at the same negative chemical potential as the ice. While both the hydrostatic and the osmotic components of the chemical potential will contribute to this negative value, we argue that the osmotic component (osmotic potential) is the significant contributor. Hence, the soil microorganisms need to be at least halotolerant and psychrotolerant to survive in seasonally frozen soils. The low osmotic potential of unfrozen soil water will lead to the withdrawal of cell water, unless balanced by accumulation of compatible solutes. Many microbes appear to survive this dehydration, since microbial biomass in some situations is high, and rising, in winter. In late winter however, before the soil temperature rises above zero, there can be a considerable decline in soil microbial biomass due to the loss of compatible solutes from viable cells or to cell rupture. This decline may be caused by changes in the physical state of the system, specifically by sudden fluxes of melt water down channels in frozen soil, rapidly raising the chemical potential. The dehydrated cells may be unable to accommodate a rapid rise in osmotic potential so that cell membranes rupture and cells lyse. The exhaustion of soluble substrates released from senescing plant and microbial tissues in autumn and winter may also limit microbial growth, while in addition the rising temperatures may terminate a winter bloom of psychrophiles.Climate change is predicted to cause a decline in plant production in these northern soils, due to summer drought and to an increase in freeze-thaw cycles. Both of these may be expected to reduce soil microbial biomass in late winter. After lysis of microbial cells this biomass provides nutrients for plant growth in early spring. These feedbacks, in turn, could affect herbivory and production at higher trophic levels.     

Degradation and disappearance of ortho, para isomer of technical DDT in living and dead avian tissues

The O,p'-DDT in technical DDT is broken down to p,p'-DDT and then to 1,1-dichloro- 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene in living avian tissue. In the anaerobic conditions existing after death, O,p'-DDT is metabolized to 1,1-dichloro-2-(O-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)ethane. The absence of O,p'-DDT and metabolites in field specimens is ascribed to the rapid rate of breakdown and a masking of the 1,1-dichloro-2-(O-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)ethane residue during analysis by the relatively large amounts of 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene.     

The effect of pp'‐DDT on the rate,amplitude and weight of the heart of the pigeon and Bengalese finch

Fifty‐four homing pigeons were fed control diets and dose rates of pp'‐DDT ranging from 3 to 36 mg/kg d. At 3 mg/kg d there was an increase in the pulse rate and S wave amplitude after 3 weeks dosing followed by an increase in the heart weight. The pulse rate, amplitude and weight then decreased with increasing dose rate. At high dose rates the heart was flaccid and reduced to half the normal weight after 8 weeks. This pattern of results is similar to that obtained for oxygen consumption, body temperature and vitamin A storage, using this species. This suggests that DDT causes hyperthyroidism at low dose rates and hypothyroidism at high dose rates in pigeons. These results contrast with those for the Bengalese finch which suggest hyperthyroidism only. The possible mechanisms and effects of these reactions are discussed.     

Infective polyarthritis and multiple discospondylitis in a dog due to Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae

A seven-month-old Irish wolfhound suffered an infectious polyarthritis and multiple discospondylitis. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae was cultured from several of the joints at post mortem examination.     

A case of hyperplastic gastropathy in a cat

Primary hyperplastic gastropathy is an uncommon human disease characterized by giant gastric mucosal folds and is associated with a spectrum of histopathological changes. Diagnosis is usually made on radiological and gastroscopic findings followed by full-thickness biopsy of the stomach wall. The aetiology is unknown and symptomatic treatment is usually disappointing. A similar condition has been described in a small number of dogs. A case of hyperplastic gastropathy is reported in a cat and compared with the findings in man and dogs. The cat presented with chronic vomiting and weight loss. Radiological and gastroscopic examinations revealed enlarged gastric rugae. Medical and surgical treatment was unsuccessful and the cat was destroyed. The pathological findings were similar to those described in man.     

Structural modifications increase the insecticidal activity of ryanodine

The toxicity of ryanodine ( 1 ) and 9,21-didehydroryanodine ( 2 ) (the principal active ingredients of the botanical insecticide ryania) to adult female house flies (Musca domestica L.) is attributable to binding to the ryanodine receptor (ryr) and thereby disrupting the Ca²⁺-release channel. These ryanoids, assayed in house flies with piperonyl butoxide (PBO) to suppress cytochrome P450-dependent detoxification, give injected KD₅₀ values of 0·07–0·11 μg g^-1, injected LD₅₀ values of 0·39–0·45 μg g^-1 and topical LD₅₀ values of 12– 50 μg g^-1. They inhibit the [³H]ryanodine binding site of house fly and rabbit muscle with IC₅₀ values of 3–10 nM . This study examines the effect of structure on potency, with 15 variants of the cyclohexane substituents, two 4,6-cyclic boron and two methylated derivatives, and four modifications of the isopropyl and ester substituents. The most effective compound examined was 10-deoxy- 2 ( 3 ) which was more potent than 2 by 2–4-fold on injection and 29-fold applied topically following PBO (LD₅₀ 0·41 μg g^-1). Additional high-potency compounds were 10-oxo- 1 and the cyclohexane variants with lactam, 21-nor-9-oxo and 21-nor-10-deoxy substituents. Other modifications usually reduced toxicity. The injected knockdown potency of the ester ryanoids was generally related to their effectiveness in competing with [³H]ryanodine at the ryr of rabbit skeletal muscle. Two non-ester ryanoids, ryanodol and 9,21-didehydroryanodol, were found to be more toxic than predicted from their potency at the ryr and may therefore act in a different manner such as at a K⁺ channel, as suggested by Usherwood and Vais. Clearly ryanoids are challenging prototypes for a potential new generation of insecticides. © 1997 SCI.     

Effects of drought on chlorophyll fluorescence in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). I. Plant water status and the kinetics of chlorophyll fluorescence

Summary The slow kinetics of chlorophyll fluorescence were examined in seven potato genotypes grown either fully irrigated or droughted from the time of plant emergence. Constant and variable fluorescence (F _o andF _v respectively) declined with time in plants from both irrigated and droughted treatments, but the decline was greater in droughted than irrigated plants. However, the yield of variable fluorescence (F _v/(F _o+F _v)) was unaffected by the drought treatment. The main effect of drought was upon the quenching of variable fluorescence. Both the half life of the decay of variable fluorescence (q_1/2) and the secondary maximum (M) were significantly greater in the droughted plants than in those from the irrigated treatment. Significant differences between genotypes were found forF _v/(F _o+F _v),M andq _1/2. Genotype-by-treatment interactions were non-significant for all the variables examined. Changes in chlorophyll fluorescence transients were not closely related to changes in leaf water potential.     

The distributions of tuber sizes in droughted and irrigated crops of potato. II. Relation between size and weight of tubers and the variability of tuber-size distributions

Summary Tubers from six cultivars of potato grown in irrigated and droughted conditions were examined to show whether observed differences in grade distributions were simple consequences of differences in yield or were the results of changes in tuber shape or in the relative variability (Rv=σ/μ) of the distributions. Differences in tuber shape, indicated by the relations between tuber size (mm) and weight, were statistically significant but were insufficient to cause measurable changes in the grade distributions. There was a range of values of Rv but drought had no statistically significant effect on Rv and may only affect it by influencing the numbers of tubers set. The main effect of drought on the distribution of tuber sizes was through its effect on total yield and hence on mean tuber size. Yield and number of tubers define a unique tuber-size distribution regardless of the soil moisture stress experienced by the crop.