Dietary crude protein concentration does not affect the leucine requirement of growing dogs

The objective of the present study was to examine the interaction between graded levels of leucine and dietary crude protein. Dose–response curves were generated using four 3 × 3 Latin squares (two dogs/square). Each square represented one of two concentrations of crude protein (140 or 280 g/kg diet) and one of two combinations of three concentrations of leucine (5.0, 7.0 and 9.0 g/kg diet or 9.0, 11 and 13 g/kg diet). An additional experiment was performed by feeding crude protein at 210 g/kg diet with either 7.0 or 11 g leucine/kg diet. Weight gain, food intake, nitrogen retention, plasma albumin and plasma amino acids were measured. The requirement was determined to be the minimum leucine concentration required to maximize weight gain and nitrogen retention. For 8–14-week-old male Beagle dogs, 140 g crude protein/kg diet in a diet containing 18 kJ metabolizable energy/g does not appear to support maximal growth. The leucine requirement was not affected by doubling the dietary crude protein level from 140 to 280 g/kg diet. From these results, the leucine requirement of 8–14-week-old Beagle dogs appears to be 11 g leucine/kg diet independent of the level of dietary crude protein, whereas dogs over 14 weeks require only 7 g leucine/kg diet for maximal nitrogen retention.     

The Ischigualasto Tetrapod Assemblage (Late Triassic, Argentina) and 40Ar/39Ar Dating of Dinosaur Origins

(40)Ar/(39)Ar dating of sanidine from a bentonite interbedded in the Ischigualasto Formation of northwestern Argentina yielded a plateau age of 227.8 +/- 0.3 million years ago. This middle Carnian age is a direct calibration of the Ischigualasto tetrapod assemblage, which includes some of the best known early dinosaurs. This age shifts last appearances of Ischigualasto taxa back into the middle Carnian, diminishing the magnitude of the proposed late Carnian tetrapod extinction event. By 228 million years ago, the major dinosaurian lineages were established, and theropods were already important constituents of the carnivorous tetrapod guild in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin. Dinosaurs as a whole remained minor components of tetrapod faunas for at least another 10 million years.     

Delay of disease development in transgenic plants that express the tobacco mosaic virus coat protein gene

A chimeric gene containing a cloned cDNA of the coat protein (CP) gene of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was introduced into tobacco cells on a Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens from which tumor inducing genes had been removed. Plants regenerated from transformed cells expressed TMV mRNA and CP as a nuclear trait. Seedlings from self-fertilized transgenic plants were inoculated with TMV and observed for development of disease symptoms. The seedlings that expressed the CP gene were delayed in symptom development and 10 to 60 percent of the transgenic plants failed to develop symptoms for the duration of the experiments. Increasing the concentration of TMV in the inoculum shortened the delay in appearance of symptoms. The results of these experiments indicate that plants can be genetically transformed for resistance to virus disease development.     

In situ hybridization for the detection and localization of swine Chlamydia trachomatis

Gnotobiotic piglets were inoculated intralaryngeally with swine Chlamydia trachomatis strain R33 or orally with swine C. trachmatis strain R27. Archived formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from piglets euthanatized 4-7 days postinoculation were examined by in situ hybridization for C. trachomatis nucleic acid using a nonradioactive digoxigenin-labeled DNA probes that targeted specific ribosomal RNA or omp1 mRNA molecules of the swine C. trachomatis strains. Positive hybridization signals were detected in bronchial epithelial cells, bronchiolar epithelial cells, pneumocytes, alveolar and interstitial macrophages, and jejunal and ileal enterocytes. Chlamydia-infected cells had a strong signal that was confined to the intracytoplasmic inclusions. Positive hybridization signals were not detected in tissue sections from an uninfected control piglet or in C. psittaci-infected sheep placenta. The morphology of host cells was preserved despite the relatively high temperature required in parts of the incubation procedure. The data indicate that in situ hybridization can be used to detect swine C. trachomatis in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens.     

Teratogenic effects of chronic ingestion of high levels of vitamin A in cats

High concentrations of retinoids occur in some commercial cat food formulations as a result of the use of animal liver as an ingredient. Our objective was to study the teratogenic potential of dietary vitamin A in cats. We investigated the incidence of birth defects in kittens of queens given diets with retinyl acetate concentrations of 6000, 306000, or 606000 retinol equivalents (RE)/kg diet (control, 306K, or 606K groups, respectively) for approximately 3 years [1 RE=1 micro g retinol=3.3 International Units (IU)]. Each group comprised 12-15 age-matched, nulliparous domestic short-haired queens that were exposed to toms. There were a total of 396 kittens born in 97 litters. Pregnancy rate, number of kittens per gestation and gestations per year were not significantly different among treatment groups. A total of 2, 5 and 11 malformed kittens occurred in the control, 306K and 606K groups, respectively. Malformations included cleft palate, cranioschisis, foreshortened mandible, stenotic colon, enlarged heart and agenesis of the spinal cord and small intestine, which are typical foetal defects consistent with ingestion of excess retinoids in other species. This study demonstrated that a concentration of 306000 RE/kg diet has a potential for causing birth defects in the kittens.