Identification of Bovine Leucocyte Adhesion Deficiency (BLAD) Carriers in Holstein and Brown Swiss AI Bulls in Iran

BLAD is a hereditary disease in Holstein dairy cattle. The defective allele of CD18 gene, which is responsible for this disease, has recessive inheritance. The recessive homozygous form (BL/BL) is lethal and since carrier animals have viability, BLAD frequency increases by use of carrier bulls in Artificial Insemination (AI). BLAD carriers can be detected easily by means of polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction analysis of the amplicons. In this study DNA samples from Holstein (n = 30) and Brown Swiss (n = 10) bulls from Abbas Abad AI center (Khorasan state of Iran) were analysed. A 101-bp fragment from the polymorphic region of CD18 gene located on chromosome 1 was amplified by PCR. Restriction enzymes TaqI and HaeIII were used to identify genotypes. Digestion products were screened by electrophoresis on 8% non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel and visualized by ethidium bromide staining. Frequencies of BL/TL (carrier) genotypes in Holstein and Brown Swiss bulls were 3.33% and 0%, respectively. Our pedigree studies of the carrier bull in this experiment revealed that the mutation was inherited by him from Hawkeye bull (CANM 369995, BL). Although the elimination of BLAD-carrier bulls from the Holstein world would be the most efficient method to control this genetic disorder, many BLAD-carrier bulls are still listed commercially for AI, and BLAD is still occurring in Iran. Monitoring the prevalence of BLAD carriers in random selected herds may be helpful in judging the effectiveness of the BLAD-control program.     

Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay of potato virus M with monoclonal antibodies

Mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for potato virus M (PVM) were prepared and the properties of three of them were studied. MAb M4C1 is IgG2b, it binds with high affinity to PVM coat protein, to purified virus preparations and recognises PVM in infected potato leaves and tubers. MAb M6D5 is IgG2a and also reacts with PVM coat protein, purified PVM and with PVM in potato leaf and tuber extracts. In double-antibody sandwich ELISA (DAS ELISA) MAbs M4C1 and M6D5 reacted with all 17 PVM isolates tested. MAb M7 is IgG2b and recognises PVM only in indirect dot ELISA on nitrocellulose filters and viral coat protein on Western blots. MAbs against PVM were used as capture antibodies and europium-labelled MAbs as conjugates in time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (EuTRFIA). The standard EuTRFIA curve of PVM detection is approximately linear over a range of PVM concentrations from 0.5 ng/ml to 1000 ng/ml. The lowest PVM concentration detectable in EuTRFIA was 0.5 ng/ml and correspondingly 6 ng/ml in DAS ELISA. The use of the europium chelate label allows PVM detection in potato leaf and tuber sap at dilutions greater than 10^--⁴ with very low background fluorescence. EuTRFIA with MAbs, with either one or two incubations is about 10–20 times more sensitive for PVM detection than is DAS ELISA. PVM and PVX, mixed with healthy potato tuber sap, were simultaneously tested in a single sample at concentrations lower than 10 ng/ml by double-label TRFIA using europium-labelled MAbs to PVM and samarium-labelled MAbs to PVX.     

Economics of Oil Production from Pongamia (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Millettia pinnata</Emphasis>) for Biofuel in Australia

Pongamia (Millettia pinnata) has been widely studied as a potential feedstock for biodiesel fuel, though little is known about its feasibility at a commercial level. Capital budgeting and cash flow analysis was conducted for a potential Pongamia plantation and crushing plant in Queensland, Australia. For annual seed yields ranging from 20 to 80 kg (in shell) per tree, the delivered cost of Pongamia oil was estimated to be between AUD $2.22 and AUD $0.64 per litre. The seed yield range of 20 to 80 kg per tree is roughly equivalent to between 7 and 29 t per hectare at a planting density of 357 trees per hectare. Major components of the delivered cost of (Pongamia) oil are the capital expenses of land acquisition, plantation establishment and the crushing plant construction. The major operational costs include mechanical harvesting; fertiliser; control of weed, pests and diseases; seed crushing; and freight of oil to a refinery. The cost items with the greatest volume sensitivity are the capital expenses, overheads (consisting mostly of salaries and wages of employees) and the expenses associated with harvesting and crushing operations. These costs could be significantly reduced if the seed yield could be increased. Several scenarios were tested to demonstrate the effect of seed yield and oil price on the profitability and cash flow of the Pongamia enterprise. At most plausible oil prices and seed yields, Pongamia oil is not expected to be economically viable.     

Diurnal activity patterns of Harwood’s Spurfowl Pternistis harwoodi in relation to habitat types and climatic conditions in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Harwood’s Spurfowl Pternistis harwoodi is an endemic bird of Ethiopia. Globally, it is categorised as Vulnerable. Habitat loss and hunting are the major conservation threats to the species. This study investigated the activity patterns of Harwood’s Spurfowl in relation to biophysical variables in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia. A species focal sampling method was applied to quantify the time budget of the target species during the dry and wet seasons of 2016. The time spent by the species on various activity patterns were significantly different (p < 0.05). The mean proportion of time utilised by the species for ‘calling’, ‘feeding’, ‘preening’ and ‘resting’ activities based on habitat types and seasons were also statistically different (p < 0.05). Except for ‘resting’, most activity patterns showed bimodal patterns with peaks during the early morning and late in the afternoon. The number of Harwood’s Spurfowl (birds per hour per square metre) detected was higher during the cooler wet season. The highest bird counts occurred during low temperature, low wind speed and high relative humidity in the early morning and late afternoon. The species was recorded most in the scrubland habitat where human disturbance was low. Thus, this habitat should be conserved and managed to sustain the population.     

Complete Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium vaccae Type Strain ATCC 25954

Mycobacterium vaccae is a rapidly growing, nontuberculous Mycobacterium species that is generally not considered a human pathogen and is of major pharmaceutical interest as an immunotherapeutic agent. We report here the annotated genome sequence of the M. vaccae type strain, ATCC 25954.     

Revisiting the Effect of Capture Heterogeneity on Survival Estimates in Capture-Mark-Recapture Studies: Does It Matter?

Recently developed capture-mark-recapture methods allow us to account for capture heterogeneity among individuals in the form of discrete mixtures and continuous individual random effects. In this article, we used simulations and two case studies to evaluate the effectiveness of continuously distributed individual random effects at removing potential bias due to capture heterogeneity, and to evaluate in what situation the added complexity of these models is justified. Simulations and case studies showed that ignoring individual capture heterogeneity generally led to a small negative bias in survival estimates and that individual random effects effectively removed this bias. As expected, accounting for capture heterogeneity also led to slightly less precise survival estimates. Our case studies also showed that accounting for capture heterogeneity increased in importance towards the end of study. Though ignoring capture heterogeneity led to a small bias in survival estimates, such bias may greatly impact management decisions. We advocate reducing potential heterogeneity at the sampling design stage. Where this is insufficient, we recommend modelling individual capture heterogeneity in situations such as when a large proportion of the individuals has a low detection probability (e.g. in the presence of floaters) and situations where the most recent survival estimates are of great interest (e.g. in applied conservation).     

Does seasonality drive spatial patterns in demography? Variation in survival in African reed warblers Acrocephalus baeticatus across southern Africa does not reflect global patterns

Among birds, northern temperate species generally have larger clutches, shorter development periods and lower adult survival than similarly‐sized southern and tropical species. Even though this global pattern is well accepted, the driving mechanism is still not fully understood. The main theories are founded on the differing environmental seasonality of these zones (higher seasonality in the North). These patterns arise in cross‐species comparisons, but we hypothesized that the same patterns should arise among populations within a species if different types of seasonality select for different life histories. Few studies have examined this. We estimated survival of an azonal habitat specialist, the African reed warbler, across the environmentally diverse African subcontinent, and related survival to latitude and to the seasonality of the different environments of their breeding habitats. Data (1998–2010) collected through a public ringing scheme were analyzed with hierarchical capture‐mark‐recapture models to determine resident adult survival and its spatial variance across sixteen vegetation units spread across four biomes. The models were defined as state‐space multi‐state models to account for transience and implemented in a Bayesian framework. We did not find a latitudinal trend in survival or a clear link between seasonality and survival. Spatial variation in survival was substantial across the sixteen sites (spatial standard deviation of the logit mean survival: 0.70, 95% credible interval (CRI): 0.33–1.27). Mean site survival ranged from 0.49 (95% CRI: 0.18–0.80) to 0.83 (95% CRI: 0.62–0.97) with an overall mean of 0.67 (95% CRI: 0.47–0.85). A hierarchical modeling approach enabled us to estimate spatial variation in survival of the African reed warbler across the African subcontinent from sparse data. Although we could not confirm the global pattern of higher survival in less seasonal environments, our findings from a poorly studied region contribute to the study of life‐history strategies.     

κ-casein gene (<Emphasis Type="Italic">CSN3</Emphasis>) allelic polymorphism in Russian cattle breeds and its information value as a genetic marker

The frequencies of the κ-casein gene (CSN3) alleles and genotypes have been determined in five Russian cattle breeds (Bestuzhev, Kalmyk, Russian Black Pied, Yaroslavl, and Yakut breeds) by means of PCR-RFLP analysis using two independent restriction nucleases (HinfI and TaqI) and by allele-specific PCR. Typing alleles A and B of CSN3 is of practical importance, because allele B is correlated with commercially valuable parameters of milk productivity (protein content and milk yield) and improves the cheese yielding capacity. The frequencies of the B allele of CSN3 in the breeds studied vary from 0.16 to 0.50; and those of the AB and BB genotypes, from 0.27 to 0.60 and from 0.02 to 0.23, respectively. The Yaroslavl breed had the highest frequencies of CSN3 allele B and genotype BB (0.50 and 0.23, respectively). The frequencies of the B allele and BB genotype in other breeds studied varied from 0.25 to 0.32 and from 0.03 to 0.09, respectively. In none of the breeds studied have the observed and expected heterozygosities been found to differ from each other significantly. However, the observed genotype distributions significantly differ from the expected one in some herds (in most such cases, an excess of heterozygotes is observed). Two herds of the Yaroslavl breed dramatically differ from each other in the heterozygosity level: a deficit (D = ?0.14) and an excess (D = 0.20) of heterozygotes have been observed at the Mikhailovskoe and Gorshikha farms, respectively. In general, however, the heterozygosity of the Yaroslavl breed corresponds to the expected level (D = 0.04). Analysis of breeds for homogeneity with the use of Kulback’s test has shown that all cattle breeds studied are heterogeneous, the CSN3 diversity within breeds being higher than that among different breeds, which is confirmed by low F _st values (0.0025–0.0431). Thus, a DNA marker based on CSN3 gene polymorphism is extremely important for breeding practice as a marker of milk quality; however, it is inapplicable to marking differences between breeds or phylogenetic relationships between cattle breeds because of the high diversity with respect to this locus within breeds.     

Frequency of antibiotic resistance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helicobacter pylori</Emphasis> strains isolated from the northern population of Iran

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the primary resistance rates of recent clinical Helicobacter pylori isolates to the most commonly used antibiotics in Iran. Two hundreds and ten patients presenting with gastric maladies between January and July of 2009 were enrolled in this study. Endoscopy was performed, and biopsy specimens were collected from each patient for subsequent bacterial culture of H. pylori. Single colony isolates from each patient were then used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The disk diffusion method was used to determine susceptibility patterns. One hundred and ninety-seven of the patients were H. pylori positive (93.8%). The rates of resistance to tetracycline, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole, clarithromycin, and furizoladone were 37.1%, 23.9%, 34.5%, 65.5%, 45.2%, and 61.4%, respectively. A significant association between amoxicillin resistance and disease state (P<0.05) was identified. Furthermore, some double, triple, quadruple, and quintuple combinations of antibiotic resistance were found to be associated with disease state. This study evaluated the prevalence of H. pylori resistance to the most commonly prescribed antibiotics used in Iran and showed that resistance rates were generally higher than previously reported. This data adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests there is increasing antibiotic resistance among H. pylori isolates, which likely is responsible for the decreasing efficacy of anti-H. pylori therapy at the local and global level. Hence, there is a need for continued monitoring of resistance patterns, especially at the local level, and for incorporation of that information into treatment regimens for H. pylori infections.