Identification and Characterisation of Bacteria Causing Soft-rot in Agave tequilana

Agave tequilana is the raw material for the production of the alcoholic beverage tequila. A bacterial disease has affected the A. tequilana crop in recent years. Previous reports based on colony and cell morphology, Gram stain and potato rot indicated that Erwinia sp. is the main pathogen. We isolated a several bacterial isolates capable of producing soft-rot symptoms in greenhouse pathogenicity assays. An extensive characterisation involving pathogenicity tests, fatty acid profile, metabolic and physiological properties, ribosomal DNA sequence and intergenic transcribed spacer amplification (ITS-PCR) and restriction banding pattern (ITS-RFLP) was made of each isolate. Three different species: Erwinia cacticida, Pantoea agglomerans and Pseudomonas sp. were identified. Fatty acid and metabolic profiles gave low similarity values of identification but 16S rDNA sequence, ITS-PCR and ITS-RFLP confirmed the identification of E. cacticida. In the phylogenetic tree, E. cacticida from blue agave was grouped neither with E. cacticida type strains nor with Erwinia carotovora. This is the first report that associates E. cacticida with A. tequilana soft-rot symptoms.     

A comparison of the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts after calving in cows also given internal teat sealants

AIM: To compare, in cows treated with an internal teat sealant, the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts (SCC) after calving.

METHODS: Cows from a spring-calving, pasture-based dairy farm in the Manawatu-Whanganui region of New Zealand were randomly allocated to receive either a short-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=291) or a long-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=288) at the end of lactation. Cows were managed on-farm with routine husbandry procedures through the dry period and following calving. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to determine the association between length of action of dry-cow therapy and the proportion of cows with a SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test after calving.

RESULTS: Age of cow, mean SCC for the preceding season and interval from calving to the first post-calving herd test were all associated with the proportion of cows with an individual SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test (p<0.001) Treatment with the short-acting dry-cow therapy was not associated with decreased odds of cows having a SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test compared with treatment with long-acting dry-cow therapy (OR=0.724; 95% CI=0.40–1.30).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In this herd, which routinely used internal teat sealants, the use of short-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy did not result in an increased proportion of cows with elevated SSC post-calving. This was a single farm, single year study but indicates that in this herd, changing from a long-acting to a short-acting antimicrobial may have no impact on the prevalence of subclinical mastitis.     

Detection of hepatitis E virus shedding in feces of pigs at different stages of production using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

The aim of this study was to determine at which production stages hepatitis E virus (HEV) is shed by the highest number of pigs and to estimate the relative risk associated with each stage. For this purpose, 146 fecal samples of pigs from 21 farms were studied. In addition, 1 sample from the manure ditch and another sample of drinking water, collected directly from the trough located in the pen, were taken from 16 farms. HEV RNA was detected in fecal samples from 34 pigs (23.29%). The production stages in which most pigs excreted HEV were weaners (41.7%) and pigs in the first month of feeding (60%). The results of the statistical analysis showed that the principal significant risk stage in HEV shedding was the first month of feeding (odds ratio [OR] 19.5, 95% CI 3.59-106.07, P = 0.001) followed by the weaners stage (OR 9.3, 95% CI .78-48.42, P = 0.008). In 8 out of 16 farms tested (50%) HEV RNA was detected in raw manure and in the water trough of only 1. Detection of HEV in manure ditches raises the concern of how to deal with manure of swine origin, because it is used as soil fertilizer.     

Acute cortisol responses of calves to scoop dehorning using local anaesthesia and/or cautery of the wound

Objective To measure plasma cortisol responses in calves dehorned using a scoop after administration of local anaesthesia and/or cautery of the wounds.
Design A physiological study with controls.
Procedure There were six treatments: control handling with and without local anaesthesia, dehorning, dehorning after local anaesthesia, dehorning followed by wound cautery, and dehorning after local anaesthesia followed by wound cautery. Blood samples were taken before and after dehorning.
Results Dehorning caused an increase in plasma cortisol concentrations, which decreased a little to plateau values and then declined to pretreatment values 3 to 4 h after dehorning. The peak was smaller after local anaesthesia was administered but when its effects wore off, cortisol concentrations increased and thereafter were similar to those in the dehorned animals. The combination of local anaesthesia and cautery resulted in a plasma cortisol response similar to those in control calves with or without local anaesthesia.
Conclusions If plasma cortisol concentrations reflect the distress being experienced by the calves, then local anaesthesia reduces the acute distress for about 3 h after dehorning but not during the subsequent 3 to 4 h. Combining local anaesthetic and cautery prevented the significant increase in plasma cortisol following dehorning and may eliminate the acute distress caused by scoop dehorning.     

Genital pathology of feral male goats

Genitalia from 1000 feral male goats derived from western Queensland and New South Wales were examined after slaughter at an abattoir and the prevalence of abnormalities determined. Ulcerative balanoposthitis, considered due to caprine herpesvirus infection, was observed in 11 animals (1.1%); acidophilic intranuclear inclusions were found in 7 of these. Other conditions included focal hypoplasia of seminiferous tubules in 2 bucks (0.2%), segmental aplasia of the epididymis (one buck, 0.1%), bulbourethral gland cysts with contained aggregations (33 bucks, 3.3%) and haemangiosarcoma of the bulbourethral gland in one animal. The low prevalence of several conditions such as spermatic granuloma, cryptorchidism, and testicular hypoplasia, was attributed largely to the fact that the bucks examined were horned so that the recognised association between genital abnormalities and polledness did not apply.     

Determination of reference intervals for metabolic profile of Hanwoo cows at early,middle and late gestation periods

Background

Metabolic profile was initially designed as a presymptomatic diagnostic aid based on statistical analyses of blood metabolites to provide an early warning of certain types of metabolic disorder. However, there is little metabolic profile data available about Korean Hanwoo cows. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the reference intervals of metabolic profile for Korean Hanwoo cows.

Methods

Healthy animals (2,205) were selected and divided into early (day 1 to 95), middle (day 96 to 190) and late (day 191 to 285) period according to their gestating period. Metabolic profile including total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), urea (UREA), glucose (Glu), total cholesterol (T-Cho), long-chain fatty acid (LCFA), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), creatinine (Crea), calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphorous (iP) and magnesium (Mg) were analyzed using a TBA-40FR automatic biochemical analyzer. The data of Korean Hanwoo cows were then compared to those of the Japanese Wagyu cows.

Results

Most of the data of the Korean Hanwoo cows were relatively higher than those of Japanese Wagyu cows, with the exception of Glu and GGT. This may indicate that the nutritional level of feed for the Korean Hanwoo cows was higher than that of the Japanese Wagyu cows because of the different feeding system. In particular, relatively higher levels of UREA and LCFA were observed in the Korean Hanwoo cows, and this may also contribute to the low reproduction efficiency.

Conclusions

These findings may provide some theoretical basis for understanding the reproductive and feeding situation of Korean Hanwoo cows.     

A preliminary study on the effects of dietary supplementation of brewers yeast and nucleotides, singularly or in combination, on juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with brewers yeast (Brewtech^®) and nucleotides (Optimûn), either singularly or in combination, on red drum growth, body composition, stress responses and possible resistance to Amyloodinium ocellatum infection. Juvenile red drum (～1 g initially) fed practical fish‐meal‐based diets for 6 weeks had similar weight gain regardless of whether the diet was unsupplemented (basal) or supplemented with brewers yeast (2% of diet), nucleotides (Optimûn at 0.2% of diet) or both brewers yeast (2% of diet) and nucleotides (Optimûn at 0.2% of diet). Dietary effects on hepatosomatic index, intraperitoneal fat ratio or whole‐body composition were not significant, except that fish fed the singular nucleotide supplement had a significantly higher whole‐body lipid content compared with fish fed the basal diet. No significant dietary effects on cortisol response were observed after a 15 min confinement stress test perhaps because of the extreme variation among individual fish. Subsequently, in situ challenge by co‐habitation with A. ocellatum caused 100% mortality regardless of dietary treatment within a 48 h period. It is concluded that dietary supplementation of brewers yeast and nucleotides did not promote enhanced growth or improved cortisol response and resistance to uncontrolled amyloodiniosis in juvenile red drum, at least at the tested dosages.     

Semen cryopreservation of salmonid fishes: influence of handling parameters on the postthaw fertilization rate

Using the cryopreservation method of Lahnsteiner, Berger, Weismann & Patzner (1995, Aquaculture Research 26 , 801-807) the influence of allowable variations of methodical parameters (storage of semen before cryopreservation, dilution ratios in the extender, equilibration in the extender, cooling rates, storage of deep-frozen semen in liquid nitrogen, storage of frozen/thawed semen, minimal sperm/egg ratio) was investigated under the aspect of routine utilization. Under optimized experimental conditions, fertilization rates were 90-100% of controls in Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), Salmo trutta L. f. lacustrisSalmo truttaL.f. fario and Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill). The following results were obtained: 1. Storage of untreated semen for more than 1 h before cryopreservation decreased the postthaw fertility. 2. Equilibration of semen up to 20 min in the extender did not affect the postthaw fertility. 3. Optimal dilution ratio of semen in the extender was threefold in Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salvelinus fontinalis. Lower dilution ratios decreased the postthaw fertility, higher dilution ratios did not affect the postthaw fertility. In Salmo trutta f. lacustris and Salmo trutta f. fario, which have a higher sperm density, optimal dilution ratio of semen in the extender was fivefold to sevenfold. 4. In Oncorhynchus mykiss, as in Salmo trutta f lacustris and Salmo trutta f. fario, the optimal freezing height was at 1.5 cm above the level of liquid nitrogen (-110 ± 2^oC); in Salvelinus fontinalis it was 2.5 cm above the level of liquid nitrogen (-92 ± 2^oC). Changes in the freezing height of 0.5 cm (about 10^oC) resulted in a significant decrease of postthaw fertility. 5. Storage of deep-frozen semen for up to 370 days in liquid nitrogen had no influence on its postthaw fertilization rate. 6. Storage of frozen/thawed semen for 30 s before insemination significantly decreased its postthaw fertility. 7. Reliable minimal sperm:egg ratio to obtain fertilization rates of 90-100% of control was 3-5 X 10⁵ spermatozoa egg^-1.