Epidemiology of paramphistomosis in cattle.

The epidemiology of paramphistomosis in cattle was studied using tracer calves in a subtropical location in eastern Australia. Two species of paramphistomes were present; Calicophoron calicophorum and Paramphistomum ichikawai. The former species was the most abundant. Gyraulus scottianus and Helicorbis australiensis acted as intermediate hosts, respectively. Paramphistome burdens varied seasonally and were dependent upon the number of infected host snails. Peak fluke burdens and clinical paramphistomosis occurred in late summer in year 1 and early winter in year 2. The peak fluke burdens coincided with prolonged inundation of the grazing areas resulting in rapid multiplication and infection of host snails, and the period after the inundated areas dried out. The prevalence of infection in snails was high in both years, peaking at 98% in year 1 and 58% in year 2. The main host snail, G. scottianus, aestivated and retained infection for at least 24 weeks in soil, and in vegetable debris on the surface of the soil, resulting in rapid reappearance of host snails and infective metacercariae after the onset of seasonal rain. Metacercariae survived on herbage for up to 12 weeks, depending on the environmental conditions. Paramphistome burdens in calves could be predicted from the prevalence of infection in the host snail, the water levels and an index of surface water on the grazing site. Control of paramphistomosis during and after flooding may be achieved by removal of susceptible cattle from pasture or regular treatment during these periods. Strategic treatment during the dry season may reduce contamination of snail habitats and infectivity of the pasture in the following wet season.     

Vaccination of cattle against Q-fever.

Formalin-killed phase I C. burneti organisms containing the protective antigenic component were used for vaccination of heifers against Q fever. None of the vaccinated heifers contracted Q fever, whereas 8 out of 12 (66.6%) control, non-vaccinated heifers became infected when exposed to infection for 3 months in the breed of naturally infected dairy cows. In the vaccinated cattle C. burneti was detected immediately post partum neither in the placenta nor in the colostrum. No shedding of C. burneti in milk has been found so far during 3 years of post-vaccinal observation period. For detecting Q fever antibodies in the blood of vaccinated as well as naturally infected animals MAR was found more sensitive than CFR.     

Onchocerciasis in Minnesota cattle.

Umbilical hides from 536 dairy cattle in Minnesota were tested for the microfilarial stage of Onchocerca species to determine the distribution of onchocerciasis in the state. The infection was widespread as microfilariae were obtained from 214 (40%) of the animals, representing nearly all areas of the state. Adult Onchocerca parasites were collected primarily from nodules associated with tibial bones but also were found to a lesser extent within the gastrosplenic ligament. Specific identity of these organisms is unclear as they exhibit certain morphological features previously described as being characteristic of either Onchocerca gutturosa, Onchocerca lienalis, or Onchocerca stilesi.     

Agglutinability of cattle red cells. 3. Conglutination.

Addition of both complement and conglutinin was necessary to conglutinate the cattle red cells (CRC) when they were sensitized by different blood typing reagents. Although the degree of conglutinability of the CRC was influenced by the particular blood factor-reagent combination the average conglutinability (i.e. average titre scores) of CRC from different MZ pairs varied from 1.9 to 16.2. The titres of complement varied from zero to 1:32, while the titres of conglutinin ranged from 1:8 to 1:1024 in the different sera from MZ cattle twins. The variance due to differences in the titre scores between MZ pairs was 82.2% for conglutinin and 68.3% for complement. There was no evident association between the titres of conglutinin and complement.     

Serum antigens of cattle. VI. Isolation and properties of an intracellular antigen (Eel) from cattle erythrocytes*

The erythrocyte antigen (Ecl) of cattle has been isolated using DEAE-cellulose chromatography, Sephadex gel filtration, and isoelectrofocusing. The purified antigen is free from hemoglobin and migrates as a single protein on polyacrylamide gels. It exhibits an absorption maximum at 278 nm and has a molecular weight of about 100 000; its isoelectric point is 4.95. The antigen has a carbohydrate moeity and loses its activity after oxidation with periodate. The evidence suggests that it is not a common isozyme, but its exact identity remains unknown.     

Chemical classification of cattle. 1. Breed groups

From approximately 1000 papers with data on protein polymorphism in some 216 breeds of cattle, 10 polymorphic proteins were compared in means and variances of gene frequencies (arcsin p 1/2) for ten well-recognized breed groups for 196 of the breeds. The polymorphic proteins were alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin, caseins (alpha s1, beta and chi), serum albumin, transferrin, haemoglobin, amylase I and carbonic anhydrase II. The breed groups were North European, Pied Lowland, European Red brachyceros, Channel Island brachyceros, Upland brachyceros, primigenius-brachyceros mixed, primigenius, Indian Zebu, African Humped (with Zebu admixture), and African Humped (Sanga). The coherence within groups and the differences between groups are often impressive. Only carbonic anhydrase II fails to differentiate at least some of the major breed groups. In some cases paradoxical distributions of rare genetic variants can be explained by a more detailed inspection of breed history. The chemical data support the morphological and geographical divisions of cattle into major breed groups. There are three distinct but related brachyceros groups; for some polymorphisms the two Channel Island breeds, the Jersey and the Guernsey, are quite divergent. Although some authorities have considered the Pied Lowland as primigenius, it is a very distinct breed group.     

Prion gene haplotypes of U.S. cattle

Background

Inguinal and scrotal hernias are of great concern to pig producers, and lead to poor animal welfare and severe economic loss. Selection against these conditions is highly preferable, but at this time no gene, Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL), or mode of inheritance has been identified in pigs or in any other species. Therefore, a complete genome scan was performed in order to identify genomic regions affecting inguinal and scrotal hernias in pigs. Records from seedstock breeding farms were collected. No clinical examinations were executed on the pigs and there was therefore no distinction between inguinal and scrotal hernias. The genome scan utilised affected sib pairs (ASP), and the data was analysed using both an ASP test based on Non-parametric Linkage (NPL) analysis, and a Transmission Disequilibrium Test (TDT).

Results

Significant QTLs (p < 0.01) were detected on 8 out of 19 porcine chromosomes. The most promising QTLs, however, were detected in SSC1, SSC2, SSC5, SSC6, SSC15, SSC17 and SSCX; all of these regions showed either statistical significance with both statistical methods, or convincing significance with one of the methods. Haplotypes from these suggestive QTL regions were constructed and analysed with TDT. Of these, six different haplotypes were found to be differently transmitted (p < 0.01) to healthy and affected pigs. The most interesting result was one haplotype on SSC5 that was found to be transmitted to hernia pigs with four times higher frequency than to healthy pigs (p < 0.00005).

Conclusion

For the first time in any species, a genome scan has revealed suggestive QTLs for inguinal and scrotal hernias. While this study permitted the detection of chromosomal regions only, it is interesting to note that several promising candidate genes, including INSL3, MIS, and CGRP, are located within the highly significant QTL regions. Further studies are required in order to narrow down the suggestive QTL regions, investigate the candidate genes, and to confirm the suggestive QTLs in other populations. The haplotype associated with inguinal and scrotal hernias may help in achieving selection against the disorder.     

Chemical classification of cattle. 1. Breed groups

From approximately 1000 papers with data on protein polymorphism in some 216 breeds of cattle, 10 polymorphic proteins were compared in means and variances of gene frequencies (arcsin p½) for ten well-recognized breed groups for 196 of the breeds. The polymorphic proteins were α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, caseins (α_sl, β and x), serum albumin, transferrin, haemoglobin, amylase I and carbonic anhydrase II. The breed groups were North European, Pied Lowland, European Red brachyceros, Channel Island brachyceros, Upland brachyceros, primigenius-brachyceros mixed, primigenius, Indian Zebu, African Humped (with Zebu admixture), and African Humped (Sanga).
The coherence within groups and the differences between groups are often impressive. Only carbonic anhydrase II fails to differentiate at least some of the major breed groups.
In some cases paradoxical distributions of rare genetic variants can be explained by a more detailed inspection of breed history.
The chemical data support the morphological and geographical divisions of cattle into major breed groups. There are three distinct but related brachyceros groups; for some polymorphisms the two Channel Island breeds, the Jersey and the Guernsey, are quite divergent. Although some authorities have considered the Pied Lowland as primigenius, it is a very distinct breed group.     

Sulphate recycling and metabolism in sheep and cattle.

Merino wethers and Brahman x Shorthorn steers, offered lucerne or spear grass hay, were used to study the movements of sulphate through pools in plasma and ruminal liquor. The irreversible loss of sulphate from ruminal liquor was 60 and 76% of sulphur ingested for both species fed lucerne and spear grass respectively. The irreversible loss of sulphate from the plasma averaged 67 and 56% of sulphur ingested for animals fed lucerne and spear grass respectively. Daily recycling of sulphate to the rumen of sheep was 98 mg sulphur on the lucerne diet and 3.9 mg sulphur on the spear grass diet. Sulphate recycling in cattle fed lucerne was 533 mg sulphur; in cattle fed spear grass the value was 234 mg sulphur. Over 6 days following an intravenous injection of [35S]sulphate into sheep and cattle fed lucerne, 5-10% of the dose was excreted in the faeces and c. 10% was retained. Corresponding values for animals fed spear grass were 23-31% in faeces and 40-51% of the dose retained. After intraruminal injections of [35S]sulphate, animals fed lucerne excreted 15-18% of the dose in the faeces and retained 25-30% of the dose over 6 days. Values for animals fed spear grass were 22-26% in faeces and 62-70% retained. It was concluded that sulphate recycling to the rumen is a limiting factor in microbial synthesis for sheep fed low-quality roughage, and that secretion of endogenous sulphur into the postruminal tract of ruminants is of importance in the metabolism of sulphate.     

Antibodies to egg yolk in blood serum of rabbits and cattle and cervical mucus of cattle inseminated artificially.

Serum titers to egg yolk were induced in 6 rabbits by intravaginal deposition of an egg-yolk citrate extender used for artificial insemination of cattle. There was no effect of the low serum titers to egg yolk on fertility of the inseminated rabbits. Titers to egg-yolk semen extender were found in 3% of 59 cows of normal fertility compared to 29% of 14 repeat breeder cows of low fertility, all previously inseminated with semen diluted with egg yolk-citrate extender. Four of 6 cervical mucus samples (67%) from the repeat breeder cows had high titers to egg yolk, but only one also had a positive titer in blood serum.     

Agglutinability of cattle red cells. 3. Conlutination

Addition of both complement and conglutinin was necessary to conglutinate the cattle red cells (CRC) when they were sensitized by different blood typing reagents. Although the degree of conglutinability of the CRC was influenced by the particular blood factor-reagent combination the average conglutinability (i.e. average titre scores) of CRC from different MZ pairs varied from 1.9 to 16.2.
The titres of complement varied from zero to 1:32, while the litres of conglutinin ranged from 1:8 to 1:1024 in the different sera from MZ cattle twins. The variance due to differences in the titre scores between MZ pairs was 82.2 % for conglutinin and 68.3 % for complement. There was no evident association between the titres of conglutinin and complement.     

Expression of trophoblastic interferon genes in sheep and cattle.

The trophoblastic interferons ovine and bovine trophoblast protein-1 (oTP-1 and bTP-1, respectively) have been implicated as mediators of maternal recognition of pregnancy in sheep and cattle. The objective of this study was to describe the onset and duration of gene expression for oTP-1 and bTP-1 in preimplantation ovine and bovine conceptuses by in situ hybridization and Northern analysis. Sections from paraffin-embedded ovine conceptuses, collected on Days 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 of gestation (n = 1, 3, 3, 2, 2), and bovine conceptuses, collected on Days 12/13, 15/16, and 19 (n = 2, 4, 5), were hybridized to specific [35S]-labeled cDNA probes. Two different probes, one encompassing bases 442-918 and representing both coding and 3'-untranslated regions, and a second 3'-specific probe (bases 650-912) were used to detect oTP-1 mRNA. At all stages examined, oTP-1 mRNA was confined to trophectoderm of ovine conceptuses. Consistent with earlier studies, expression increased markedly at Day 13. oTP-1 mRNA was detected at low levels in seven of seven ovine conceptuses prior to Day 13 when the longer probe was employed. With the 3'-specific probe, however, oTP-1 mRNA was detected in only one of the seven ovine conceptuses prior to Day 13. Thus, although low amounts of oTP-1 mRNA may be present in ovine conceptuses prior to Day 13, massive induction of this mRNA occurs on Day 13 coincident with the initiation of maternal recognition of pregnancy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Morphological diversity of ruminal bacteriophages from sheep and cattle.

Large numbers of bacteriophages (2 x 10(7) to 1 x 10(8)/ml) were present in ruminal fluid from sheep and cattle. Twenty-six distinct types were identified and placed in three morphological groups; several phages possessed unusual structural features. The large numbers and diversity of phages observed indicates a possible role in bacterial lysis and hence in the population dynamics of the ruminal bacteria.