Conditioning domestic chickens to a magnetic anomaly

Young domestic chicks of two strains, ISA brown layers and White Leghorn X Australorps, were trained to associate a magnetic anomaly with food. This was done by feeding them in their housing boxes from a dish placed above a small coil that produced a magnetic anomaly roughly six times as strong as the local geomagnetic field. Unrewarded tests began on day 9 after hatching. In a square arena, two corresponding coils were placed underneath two opposite corners. One coil, the control coil, was double-wrapped producing no net magnetic field, while the other in the opposite corner produced a local magnetic anomaly similar to that experienced during feeding. The chicks favoured the corner with the anomaly from day 10 after hatching onward. Both strains of chickens showed this preference, indicating that they could sense the local changes in the magnetic field.     

Methods for studying recombination on chromosomes that undergo nondisjunction

A lod score method is provided for mapping genes relative to the centromere using family data from autosomal trisomies. Such gene-centromere mapping can be performed whenever two or more members of a meiotic tetrad can be recovered. The critical mapping parameter is not the recombination value theta or the map distance omega, but the probability of nonreduction in a heterozygous host, the probability of heterozygosity (nonreduction) is 1-gamma/2 for a meiosis I error and gamma for a meiosis II error. Under various assumptions regarding chiasma interference, gamma can be related to theta and omega. We provide specific methods for estimating gamma and theta from trisomy data using maximum likelihood, so that recombination may be studied on chromosomes that underwent nondisjunction.     

Molecular cytogenetic methods for studying interphase chromosomes in human brain cells

One of the main genetic factors determining the functional activity of the genome in somatic cells, including brain nerve cells, is the spatial organization of chromosomes in the interphase nucleus. For a long time, no studies of human brain cells were carried out until high-resolution methods of molecular cytogenetics were developed to analyze interphase chromosomes in nondividing somatic cells. The purpose of the present work was to assess the potential of high-resolution methods of interphase molecular cytogenetics for studying chromosomes and the nuclear organization in postmitotic brain cells. A high efficiency was shown by such methods as multiprobe and quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (Multiprobe FISH and QFISH), ImmunoMFISH (analysis of the chromosome organization in different types of brain cells), and interphase chromosome-specific multicolor banding (ICS-MCB). These approaches allowed studying the nuclear organization depending on the gene composition and types of repetitive DNA of specific chromosome regions in certain types of brain cells (in neurons and glial cells, in particular). The present work demonstrates a high potential of interphase molecular cytogenetics for studying the structural and functional organizations of the cell nucleus in highly differentiated nerve cells. Analysis of interphase chromosomes of brain cells in the normal and pathological states can be considered as a promising line of research in modern molecular cytogenetics and cell neurobiology, i. e., molecular neurocytogenetics.     

Attempts to reproduce vacuolar myelinopathy in domestic swine and chickens

Avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM) was first recognized as a cause of bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) mortality in 1994 in Arkansas (USA) and has since caused over 90 bald eagle and numerous American coot (Fulica americana) mortalities in five southeastern states. The cause of AVM remains undetermined but is suspected to be a biotoxin. Naturally occurring AVM has been limited to wild waterbirds, raptors, and one species of shorebird, and has been reproduced experimentally in red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis). In this study, chickens and swine were evaluated for susceptibility to vacuolar myelinopathy with the intent of developing animal models for research and to identify specific tissues in affected coots that contain the causative agent. Additionally, submerged, aquatic vegetation, primarily hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata), and associated material collected from a reservoir during an AVM outbreak was fed to chickens in an effort to reproduce the disease. In two separate experiments, six 4-wk-old leghorn chickens and ten 5-wk-old leghorn chickens were fed coot tissues. In a third experiment, five 3-mo-old domestic swine and one red-tailed hawk, serving as a positive control, were fed coot tissues. In these experiments, treatment animals received tissues (brain, fat, intestinal tract, kidney, liver, and/or muscle) from coots with AVM lesions collected at a lake during an AVM outbreak. Negative control chickens and one pig received tissues from coots without AVM lesions that had been collected at a lake where AVM has never been documented. In a fourth experiment, eight 3-wk-old leghorn chickens were fed aquatic vegetation material. Four chickens received material from the same lake from which coots with AVM lesions were collected for the previous experiments, and four control chickens were fed material from the lake where AVM has never been documented. Blood was collected and physical and neurologic exams were conducted on animals before and once per week during the trials. All animals were sacrificed and necropsies were performed on Day 29 of feeding, with the exception of one treated chicken that was sacrificed and necropsied on Day 15 of feeding. Microscopic lesions of vacuolar myelinopathy were present in the red-tailed hawk and five chickens that received a mixture of all tissues and two chickens that received only gastrointestinal tissues of coots with AVM lesions. Three of four treated chickens in the aquatic vegetation trial developed vacuolar lesions. None of four treatment pigs or any of the negative control animals developed vacuolar lesions. Chickens are susceptible to AVM and may serve as a useful animal model for future studies. Swine may be refractory to AVM or not affected by AVM at the same dose as are chickens and red-tailed hawks. The causative agent of AVM in affected coots is associated with the gastrointestinal tissues. Furthermore, AVM can be reproduced in chickens via ingestion of aquatic vegetation and associated materials collected from a lake during an AVM outbreak. The cause of AVM is most likely present in the materials associated with submerged vegetation because the vegetation itself (hydrilla) was the same at our AVM-positive and AVM-negative sites.     

Methods of molecular cytogenetics for studying interphase chromosomes in human brain cells

One of the main genetic factors determining the functional activity of the genome in somatic cells, including brain nerve cells, is the spatial organization of chromosomes in the interphase nucleus. For a long time, no studies of human brain cells were carried out until high-resolution methods of molecular cytogenetics were developed to analyze interphase chromosomes in nondividing somatic cells. The purpose of the present work was to assess the potential of high-resolution methods of interphase molecular cytogenetics for studying chromosomes and the nuclear organization in postmitotic brain cells. A high efficiency was shown by such methods as multiprobe and quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (Multiprobe FISH and QFISH), ImmunoMFISH (analysis of the chromosome organization in different types of brain cells), and interphase chromosome-specific multicolor banding (ICS-MCB). These approaches allowed studying the nuclear organization depending on the gene composition and types of repetitive DNA of specific chromosome regions in certain types of brain cells (in neurons and glial cells, in particular). The present work demonstrates a high potential of interphase molecular cytogenetics for studying the structural and functional organizations of the cell nucleus in highly differentiated nerve cells. Analysis of interphase chromosomes of brain cells in the normal and pathological states can be considered as a promising line of research in modern molecular cytogenetics and cell neurobiology, i. e., molecular neurocytogenetics.     

Effect of simultaneous partial pancreatectomy on liver regeneration in domestic chickens

Simultaneous partial pancreatectomy does not change the fundamental mechanisms of reparative regeneration of the chick liver, taking the course of regeneration hypertrophy. Nevertheless it introduces some temporary and quantitative alterations into this process. Later on the connective tissue is formed on the wound surface and infiltration of the resected organ lobe with eosinophilic leukocytes takes place. The wound healing and scar formation are slightly retarded, with the processes of hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the cells being more significant. These events govern more continuous and more intense processes of the regeneration of epithelial structures and the growth of the secretory tubes. The liver weight completely returns to normal toward the end of experiment. Stereological analysis of the regenerating organ shows that this happens largely due to the regeneration growth of the glandular parenchyma because of the activation of proliferative processes and cell hypertrophy.     

The radiosensitivity of embryos of domestic chickens and black-headed gulls

Eggs of domestic chickens and black-headed gulls were continuously exposed to gamma-rays during incubation, using dose rates ranging from 0.004 to 0.08 Gy h-1 for 20 days. Acute-dose experiments were also conducted, and eggs were irradiated on day 10 of incubation with doses of between 1.92 and 28.8 Gy. Hatchability and numbers reaching full-term developed were affected only after chronic doses of 9.6 Gy and acute doses of 4.8 Gy or higher. Maximum embryo mortality occurred around days 10-11 of incubation and just before hatching, in all experiments. An increase in foot and limb deformities was observed above acute and chronic doses of 9.6 Gy.     

Value of silver staining technics for studying translocations involving acrocentric chromosomes

The silver-staining technique was used to study several cases of translocations involving acrocentric chromosomes: robertsonian translocations, balanced reciprocal translocations, non-reciprocal translocation. This technique provides very useful and reliable information about the presence, loss or translocation of active NORs in cases of acrocentric breaks.     

Mating behaviour and fertility in domestic chickens. I. Inbreeding

Mating behaviour of males and females of the Inbred line 420 Single Comb White Leghorn chickens was compared with that of the random-bred Minnesota Marker line in a factorial experiment with two replications. Inbred males showed less frequency of approaching females, waltzing, treading and tail-bending, but did not differ from random-bred males in frequency of attempted and successful mountings. Inbred females showed fewer crouchings and completed fewer matings than random-bred females. Fertility was associated with the interaction of male and female behaviour.     

Cardiac response of domestic chickens to hawk and goose models

The response of precocial birds to configurational stimuli has been a source of controversy for decades. In this experiment we measured cardiac response of domestic chicks to “hawk” and “goose” silhouettes. The chicks' heart rates varied more in response to the hawk model than to the goose model, suggesting that the hawk silhouette is a more fearful stimulus than that of the goose. Our data document the recognition of a configurational stimulus without prior, pertinent experience.     

Isolation of individual chromosomes and their use in studying the human and animal genome

This mini-review considers the main achievements in the field of human and animal chromosome separation: technical problems of flow-karyotyping and flow-sorting, the types of cell lines and chromosome source used, different protocols of chromosome suspension preparation, fluorochromes for chromosome staining, efficiency of chromosome sorting and purity of the fractions. The use of fractions for creating chromosome-specific human gene libraries and mapping cloned genes and DNA fragment are also considered.     

Light and electron microscopy of Ag-NORs in domestic horse chromosomes identified after R-banding

Silver staining shows the presence in the domestic horse of six NORs located on chromosomes 1, 26 and 31 as identified after R-banding. Following electron microscopy, the argyrophilic material was observed outside the terminal secondary constrictions (satellite stalks) on the terminal portion of the short arm of chromosome 1, outside the secondary constrictions on the proximal region of the long arms of chromosome 31, and beside the proximal region of the long arms of chromosome 26. Satellite staining applied to these chromosomes appears to reveal only the active NORs.