Genetic diversity estimates in Cicer using AFLP analysis

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was used to evaluate the genetic variation among cultivated chickpea and wild Cicer relatives. In total, 214 marker loci were assessed, of which 211 were polymorphic (98.6%) across the 95 accessions that represented 17 species of Cicer. The genetic variation within a species was highest in C. pinnatifidum followed by C. reticulatum and lowest in C. macracanthum. Three main species groups were identified by UPGMA clustering using Nei's pair‐wise distance calculations. Group I included the cultivated species C. arietinum, C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum. Within this group, C. reticulatum accessions were clustered closest to the C. arietinum cultivars ‘Lasseter’, ‘Kaniva’ and ‘Bumper’, supporting the hypothesis that C. reticulatum is the most probable progenitor of the cultivated species. Cicer bijugum, C. judaicum and C. pinnatifidum were clustered together creating group II. Group III contained all nine perennial species assessed and two annual species C. yamashitae and C. cuneatum. The genetic distance detected between group I and group III (0.13) was equivalent to the genetic distance detected between group I and group II (the primary and annual tertiary species, respectively; 0.14). This indicated that the perennial tertiary species may be as valuable for increasing variation to incorporate novel germplasm in the cultigen as the annual tertiary species.     

Pathogenicity of Campylobacter jejuni for turkeys and chickens.

A Campylobacter jejuni isolate obtained from a turkey liver, designated C101, and a C. jejuni isolate obtained from the feces of a chicken, designated C111, were used to inoculate their respective hosts. Isolate C101 depressed weight gain by 20% when inoculated into newly hatched poults or 4-day-old poults. It also caused death, hepatic necrosis, and generalized hemorrhages in turkey embryos. The chicken-derived isolate, C111, did not reduce weight gain in newly hatched chicks, but it did induce mortality in chicken embryos. The supernatant of the cultures of both C. jejuni isolates also caused mortality in embryos.     

The combined effect of fenbendazole treatment and a move to aftermath 7 or 9 weeks after turnout on Dictyocaulus viviparus infections in calves

A grazing study was performed with the main objective of examining the effect of fenbendazole (FBZ) in a ‘dose and move’ system on nematode infections in calves with special emphasis on Dictyocaulus viviparus.

Three groups of six calves were grazed from May to October 1993. One group (DM7) was treated with FBZ and moved to aftermath (pasture which had only been mown) 7 weeks after turnout. The second group (DM9) was similarly treated and moved 9 weeks after turnout and the third group served as untreated pasture control group (PC) and was moved to aftermath 9 weeks after turnout.

FBZ treatment removed adult lungworms from DM7 and DM9. Tracer calves grazed during the first 7 or the first 9 weeks after turnout acquired mean burdens of 18 and 125 lungworms, respectively. In PC faecal larval counts increased until the end of August. Most of the animals in this group were then suffering from lungworm disease and emergency treatment with ivermectin was given. In both FBZ-treated groups, larvae reappeared in the faeces of some of the calves 4–5 weeks after treatment. Subsequent reinfection resulted in higher mean faecal larval counts in both groups 2 months after treatment, although variation in faecal larval counts was high. In DM7 values tended to be higher than in DM9. These higher larval counts were associated with mild signs of parasitic bronchitis in some calves of DM7, whereas no signs were seen in DM9.

At the end of the experiment, all calves, and also a group of six permanently housed non-infected control calves (HC), were infected experimentally with 5000 D. viviparus larvae to evaluate development of immunity. The worm counts at necropsy showed that all calves on pasture had developed immunity.     

TRUNCATION ARTIFACT IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES OF THE CANINE SPINAL CORD

The truncation artifact in magnetic resonance (MR) images is a line of abnormal signal intensity that occurs parallel to an interface between tissues of markedly different signal intensity. In order to demonstrate the truncation artifact in sagittal images of the canine spinal cord and the effect of changing spatial resolution, we conducted an experimental in vitro study. A section of fixed canine spinal cord was imaged using a 1.5T magnet. Spatial resolution was increased by increasing the acquisition matrix and reconstruction matrix, producing series of T2‐weighted (T2w) images with the following pixel sizes: A, 1.6 (vertical) × 2.2 mm² (horizontal); B, 1.2 × 1.7 mm²; C, 0.8 × 1.1 mm²; D, 0.4 × 0. 6 mm². Plots of mean pixel value across the cord showed variations in signal intensity compatible with truncation artifact, which appeared as a single, wide central hyperintense zone in low‐resolution images and as multiple narrower zones in high spatial resolution images. Even in images obtained using the highest spatial resolution available for the MR system, the edge of the spinal cord was not accurately defined and the central canal was not visible. The experiment was repeated using an unfixed spinal cord specimen with focal compression applied to mimic a pathologic lesion. Slight hyperintensity was observed within the spinal cord at the site of compression although the cord was normal histologically. Results of this study suggest that caution should be applied when interpreting hyperintensity affecting the spinal cord in T2w sagittal images of clinical patients because of the possibility that the abnormal signal could represent a truncation artifact.