Successful transfer of embryos recovered from a cow with chronic cervicitis of mixed aerobic and anaerobic bacterial aetiology a case report

An imported 13-year-old Simmentaler cow was presented with severe purulent cervicitis and endometritis from which Corynebacterium pyogenes , Fusobacterium necrophorum , Bacteroides melaninogenicus and an untyped Clostridium perfringens were isolated. The endometritis responded to treatment but the cervix did not and remained fibrous, continuously patent and purulent. Natural pregnancy was considered unlikely and the cow was prepared as an embryo transfer donor. Eight embryos were recovered and six transferred, resulting in five confirmed pregnancies and four live births.     

The chorologic pattern of European Nardus-rich communities

Two types of Nardus-rich communities may be distinguished in Europe according to their geographic pattern:I. Communities of high mountains showing discontinuous variation. Different florogenesis in island-like high mountains results in a number of alliances characteristic for particular mountain systems: Trifolion humilis Quézel 57 (Atlas, N Africa), Plantaginion thalackeri Quézel 53 (Sierra Nevada), Campanulo-Nardion Rivaz-Martinez 63 (mountains of the central Iberian peninsula), Nardion Br.-Bl. 26 (from Pyrenees, Auvergne to W and E Carpathians), Potentillo ternatae-Nardion Simon 58 (S Carpathians, Pirin, Rila), Jasionion orbiculatae Lakui 66 (Dinarids), Trifolion parnassi Quézel 64 (S Greece), Nardo-Caricion rigidae Nordhagen 37 (Iceland, Scotland, Scandinavia, W Sudeten).II. Communities at lower altitudes with continuous variation, where particular syntaxa are difficult to distinguish. Along the climatic gradient from a subatlantic to a subcontinental climate, a cline in floristic composition of the communities under discussion is found. Towards the eastern borderline, the communities are poorer in characteristic species. Here only one alliance is considered-Violion caninae Schwickerath 44. A Similar situation occurs along the altitudinal gradient in mountains. Only in mountains with a belt of alpine communities the montane Nardeta are saturated with alpine species. This thpe of communities was described as Nardo-Agrostion tenuis by Sillinger (1933).     

Eutrophication of Lakes Leman and Neuchâtel (Switzerland) indicated by oligochaete communities

In 1978–80, oligochaete communities of meso-eutrophic Lake Léman (Lake of Geneva) were compared to those of mesotrophic Lake Neuchâtel. Worm species were classified into three groups corresponding to their increasing tolerance to eutrophication: (1) oligotrophic species, mostly Peloscolex velutinus, Stylodrilus heringianus; (2) mesotrophic species, mostly Potamothrix vejdovskyi, P. bedoti; (3) eutrophic species, mostly Potamothrix hammoniensis, P. heuscheri, Tubifex tubifex. In both lakes, eutrophic species constituted the bulk of the communities in terms of absolute abundance. However, relative abundance of mesotrophic and eutrophic species was higher in Lake Léman; oligotrophic species were more important in Lake Neuchâtel. These data confirmed the trophic classification of lakes based on chemical parameters. The number of zero values, which perturbated statistical analysis, was reduced by using species groupings instead of isolated species. Thus, making the lakes more comparable even if different species were present in each one. Relative density values based on all samples were distributed among 4 density classes for the 3 species groupings. The 12 resulting frequencies described the community structure expressed in terms of eutrophication. Furthermore, these frequencies may be used for comparison of eutrophication levels in several lakes.     

Animal community structure as a function of stream size

The species-area relationship of the island biogeography theory was calculated for macroinvertebrates in 22 coastal, adjacent streams. A z-value of 0.19 was obtained. The low z-value was probably a consequence of the short distances between streams as well as high dispersal rates. In addition, a cluster analysis based on the dissimilarity of species assemblages showed that stream size was of prime importance in categorizing the streams. To a smaller extent water quality affected the community structure in the streams.     

An experimental evaluation of diversity indices as environmental discriminators

Seven diversity indices were calculated for each of fifty-eight microcosm communities. All fifty-eight communities were initiated from equal density inoculations of fourteen algal species. Each microcosm developed in one of six controlled experimental environments; the environments differing only in their temporal patterns of disturbance. Five linear discriminating techniques were used to evaluate the diversity index most useful for discriminating between these environments. The Shannon-Wiener index was best according to two of the discriminating methodologies and second best using the other techniques. Evenness was best when the Shannon-Wiener index was second best and vice versa.     

The hemolymph coagulation system in invertebrate animals

A hemocyte lysate from horseshoe crab produced a gel, when exposed to Gram-negative bacterial endotoxins. This gelation reaction of the lysate, so-called Limulus test, has been widely employed as a simple and very sensitive assay method for endotoxins. Recent biochemical studies on the principle of Limulus test indicate that the hemocytes contain several serine protease zymogens, which constitute a coagulation cascade triggered by endotoxins, and that there is a (1 3)--d-glucan-mediated coagulation pathway which also results in the formation of gel. Up to now, six protein components, designated coagulogen, proclotting enzyme, factor B, factor C, factor G and anti-LPS factor, all of which are closely associated with the endotoxin-mediated coagulation pathway, have been purified and biochemically characterized. Among these components, the complete amino acid sequences of coagulogens isolated from one American and three Asian species of horseshoe crabs have been established. Moreover, the reconstitution experiment using the isolated clotting factors, C, B, proclotting enzyme and coagulogen in the presence of endotoxin, leads to the formation of coagulin get. Based on these results, we propose here a mechanism for the Limulus coagulation cascade.     

Cell envelope phospholipid changes in a moderate halophile during phenotypic adaptation to altered salinity and osmotic stress

Abstract The increased content of negatively-charged phospholipids in membranes of Vibrio costicola grown at high salinities is mediated by increased phospholipid synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol relative to phosphatidylethanolamine. This phenomenon provides a system for investigating the factors involved in triggering and controlling haloadaptation in this moderately halophilic bacterium. We review recent experiments, which show that when subjected to sudden increases in external salinity, V. costicola senses both the absolute NaCl concentration and the magnitude of the salt shift. We show that the latter is sensed at least in part via osmotic pressure effects, since shift-up into sucrose-containing media triggers comparable changes in growth and in phospholipid composition and synthesis.     

An enzymatic assay for acetate in spent bacterial culture supernatants

A method is presented for the rapid enzymatic determination of acetate in spent bacterial culture supernatants. The assay is based on a previously published assay for acetate kinase [Bergmeyer et al. (1974) in Methods of Enzymatic Analysis (Bergmeyer, H. V., ed.), Vol. 1, pp. 425-426, Verlag Chemie-Academic Press, New York/London], and is sufficiently sensitive to detect acetate levels of 50 microM. The assay is cheaper than commercially available assays and is particularly useful for occasional use by laboratories not equipped for routine acetate analysis using gas chromatography. The application of the assay to the measurement of acetate in bacterial cultures is described, though it should also be applicable to other biological fluids and foodstuffs.     

Biosynthesis and transport of envelope proteins of Escherichia coli

Bacterial protein synthesis takes place in the cytoplasm, thus periplasmic and outer membrane proteins pass through the cytoplasmic membrane during their dispatch to the cell envelope. The exported proteins are synthesized as precursor that contains an extra amino-terminal sequence of amino-acids. This sequence, termed "signal sequence", is essential for transport of the envelope proteins through the inner membrane and is cleaved during the exportation process. Various hypotheses for the mechanism have been presented, and it is likely that no signal model will be suitable to the export of all cell envelope proteins. This review is focused on the relationship between the cytoplasmic membrane and the precursor form. The physiological state of the membrane - fluidity, membrane potential for instance - is the strategic requirement of exportation process. Precursors can be accumulated in whole cells with various treatments which alter the cytoplasmic membrane. This inhibition of processing is obtained by modification of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids ratio or with phenylethyl alcohol which perturbs the membrane fluidity, with uncoupler agents such as carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone which dissipate the proton motive force, or with hybrid proteins which get jamming in the membrane. However, little is known about the early steps of translocation process across the cytoplasmic membrane ; for instance, it is not clear yet whether energy is required for either or both of the first interaction membrane-precursor and the crossing through the membrane. Several studies have recently shown the presence of exportation sites and of proteins which might play a prominent role in the export process, but the mechanism of discrimination between outer membrane proteins and periplasmic proteins is unknown. Considerable work has been done by genetic or biochemical methods and we have now the first lights of the expert mechanism.