Approaches to increase recovery of bacterial and fungal abortion agents in domestic ruminants

Abortions in domestic ruminants cause significant economic losses to farmers. Determining the cause of an abortion is important for control efforts, but it can be challenging. All available diagnostic methods in the bacteriology laboratory should be employed in every case due to the many limiting factors (autolysis, lack of history, range of samples) that complicate the investigation process. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the recovery of diagnostically significant isolates from domestic ruminant abortion cases could be increased through the use of a combination of the existing aerobic culture and Brucella selective method with methods that are commonly recommended in the literature reporting abortion investigations. These methods are examination of wet preparations and impression smears stained by the modified Ziehl–Neelsen method, anaerobic, microaerophilic, Leptospira, Mycoplasma and fungal culture. Samples of placenta and aborted foetuses from 135 routine clinical abortion cases of cattle (n = 88), sheep (n = 25) and goats (n = 22) were analysed by the new combination of methods. In 46 cases, bacteria were identified as aetiological agents and in one case a fungus. Isolation of Brucella species increased to 7.4% over two years compared with the previous 10 years (7.3%), as well as Campylobacter jejuni (n = 2) and Rhizopus species (n = 1). Salmonella species (5.9%) and Trueperella pyogenes (4.4%) were also isolated more often. In conclusion, the approach was effective in removing test selection bias in the bacteriology laboratory. The importance of performing an in-depth study on the products of abortion by means of an extensive, combination of conventional culture methods was emphasised by increased isolation of Brucella abortus and isolation of C. jejuni. The combination of methods that yielded the most clinically relevant isolates was aerobic, microaerophilic, Brucella and fungal cultures.     

绵羊生长激素(oGH)的分子克隆与序列测定

本文旨在新疆绵羊生长激素(oGH)基因的克隆。从阿勒泰×中国美利奴杂交羊脑垂体细胞中提取总RNA,分离得到具翻译活性的mRNA。用RTPCR方法扩增出编码oGH的基因,长度为671bp。将扩增产物经琼脂糖凝胶电泳后,回收纯化。采用PCR克隆试剂盒将扩增产物连接至pTAdv质粒上,经PstI和XbaI双酶切鉴定正反插入后,筛选正向插入阳性克隆,并进行序列分析。结果表明克隆到的oGH基因序列与国外报道的序列有4个碱基差异,但所推导的氨基酸序列完全一致。oGH基因的开放阅读框架共含654个核苷酸,编码217个氨基酸,其中信号肽26个氨基酸,编码碱基为1～78(78bp);成熟肽191个氨基酸,编码碱基为79～651(573bp);终止密码子TAG(652～654bp)。其蛋白质的氨基酸序列与牛、人和鱼的序列同源性分别为99.08%、26.7%和5.9%。     

Genetic variation in the 5′UTR of the KRT2.13 gene of sheep

KRT2.13 is a type II keratin wool intermediate filament (IF) protein. Extensive variation was revealed in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of the ovine KRT2.13 gene (KRT2.13) using polymerase chain reaction – single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR‐SSCP) analysis. Nine unique PCR‐SSCP patterns were obtained with individual sheep having either one (homozygous), or a combination of two (heterozygous) of these patterns. Seven of the amplicons that produced the apparently homozygous patterns were successfully sequenced (GenBank FJ217670 – FJ217676), revealing eight single nucleotide insertions, 10 single nucleotide substitutions, a nucleotide deletion and a 16 nucleotide insertion that occurred in only one of the sequences. The seven sequences showed between 85% and 95% homology to the previously identified KRT2.13 sequence (GenBank X72379). This study emphasizes the power of PCR‐SSCP analysis in genotyping, as this extensive variation was found in only 100 sheep, of a variety of breeds. Since variation in the 5′UTR of genes may affect their expression, this genetic variation needs to be further studied to establish its role if any, in influencing gene expression and consequently wool traits.     

Sensitivity and specificity of two serological tests for the detection of ovine paratuberculosis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of an absorbed ELISA and an AGID test for the detection of clinical and subclinical paratuberculosis in sheep. DESIGN: By testing a panel of sera from 1257 Australian Merino and crossbred sheep greater than 1 year of age, of which 1137 sheep were not infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis and 120 sheep had paratuberculosis. PROCEDURE: Sera were collected from 457 sheep in Victoria and 800 sheep in Western Australia. Presence of M a paratuberculosis infection in Victorian sheep was determined by histological examination of intestinal tissues, whereas sheep from Western Australia were presumed to be free of Johne's disease. The ability of an absorbed ELISA to discriminate between infected and uninfected sheep was described by test sensitivity and specificity, the distribution of ELISA OD, and the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: The absorbed ELISA had a specificity of 98.2 to 99.5% (CI) and a sensitivity of 35 to 54% (CI). In sheep from infected flocks in Victoria, the AGID test had a specificity of 99 to 100% (CI) and a sensitivity of 38 to 56% (CI). The sensitivity of serological tests was higher in sheep with a body condition representative of the lower quintile of their flock of origin. CONCLUSION: The AGID test and absorbed ELISA are useful tests for the detection of ovine paratuberculosis. Although the tests had a similar accuracy, they detected different subpopulations of infected sheep with only moderate overlap. The AGID test had a higher specificity than the absorbed ELISA.     

Mammary fibroadenoma in a lamb

A fibroadenoma was diagnosed in the left udder of a 3-month-old female Chios lamb. No recurrence was observed after surgery. Grossly, the tumor had a whitish-gray lobular appearance, and the lobules were interlaced with thin septa. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of proliferating fibroepithelial tissue, including differentiated ducts lined by whorls and interlacing bundles of abundant loose fibrovascular stroma. Immunohistochemistry revealed the ductal epithelium to be positive for pancytokeratin (AE1/AE3) and loose fibrovascular stroma was positive for vimentin and basal cells covering the ductal epithelium of alpha-smooth-muscle actin. Immunostaining for the estrogen and progesterone receptors was negative. A diagnosis of mammary fibroadenoma was made based on the histological and immunohistochemical findings.     

不同采卵方法及卵巢所处性周期阶段对绵羊卵母细胞体外成熟的影响

本试验主要从采集方法和性周期阶段2方面对绵羊卵母细胞体外成熟的影响进行了探讨。结果表明：不同采卵方法的采卵效果存在差异，卵裂率切割法显著高于抽吸法(27.9%，49.5%；P<0.05)；A、B级卵母细胞成熟率极显著高于C级(75.3%，64.4%，29.1%，P<0.01)，卵裂率A、B级均显著高于C级(42.5%，35.8%，16.0%，P<0.05)；从卵泡期和黄体期卵巢采集到的卵母细胞的体外成熟率和卵裂率分别为66.7%、62.9%；38.2%、34.4%，没有显著差异 (P>0.05)。     

羊脂制取肥皂的工艺研究

对从羊脂中制取肥皂的工艺条件进行了研究,经过净化、皂化、盐析等工艺制取出具有广阔市场前景和经济效益的化工产品肥皂。     

Effects of progestagen exposure duration on estrus synchronization and conception rates of crossbreed ewes undergoing fixed time artificial insemination

Synchronization of estrus and ovulation are of paramount importance in modern livestock improvement programs. These methods are critical for assisted reproduction technologies, including artificial insemination and embryo transfer, that can increase productivity. In the current study, subcutaneous implants containing norgestomet were placed for long (14 days), medium (9 days), and short (5 days) periods of time in 70 crossbred ewes undergoing fixed-time artificial insemination. The resulting effects on estrus synchronization and conception rates were subsequently evaluated. Among the synchronized ewes, 85.7% (60/70) underwent estrus over a period of 72 h after progestagen treatment ceased. The shortest mean interval between withdrawal of the device and onset of estrus (34.2 ± 8.9 h) was observed in the G14 days of P4 group (p < 0.05). The conception rate of the G14 days of P4 group was statistically higher than that of the other groups (83.3% vs. 60.9% vs. 47.8%; p < 0.05). In conclusion, 14 days of norgestomet treatment produced higher conception rates and a greater number of pregnancies at the beginning of the breeding season.