Environmental Factors Influencing White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Exposure to Livestock Pathogens in Wisconsin

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are commonly exposed to disease agents that affect livestock but environmental factors that predispose deer to exposure are unknown for many pathogens. We trapped deer during winter months on two study areas (Northern Forest and Eastern Farmland) in Wisconsin from 2010 to 2013. Deer were tested for exposure to six serovars of Leptospira interrogans (grippotyphosa, icterohaemorrhagiae, canicola, bratislava, pomona, and hardjo), bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV-1 and BVDV-2), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBR), and parainfluenza 3 virus (PI3). We used logistic regression to model potential intrinsic (e.g., age, sex) and extrinsic (e.g., land type, study site, year, exposure to multiple pathogens) variables we considered biologically meaningful to exposure of deer to livestock pathogens. Deer sampled in 2010–2011 did not demonstrate exposure to BVDV, so we did not test for BVDV in subsequent years. Deer had evidence of exposure to PI3 (24.7%), IBR (7.9%), Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona (11.7%), L. i. bratislava (1.0%), L. i. grippotyphosa (2.5%) and L. i. hardjo (0.3%). Deer did not demonstrate exposure to L. interrogans serovars canicola and icterohaemorrhagiae. For PI3, we found that capture site and year influenced exposure. Fawns (n = 119) were not exposed to L. i. pomona, but land type was an important predictor of exposure to L. i. pomona for older deer. Our results serve as baseline exposure levels of Wisconsin white-tailed deer to livestock pathogens, and helped to identify important factors that explain deer exposure to livestock pathogens.     

Resources for genetic management and genomics research on non-human primates at the National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs)

Abstract The National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) established Working Groups (WGs) for developing resources and mechanisms to facilitate collaborations among non-human primate (NHP) researchers. Here we report the progress of the Genome Banking and the Genetics and Genomics WGs in developing resources to advance the exchange, analysis and comparison of NHP genetic and genomic data across the NPRCs.
The Genome Banking WG has established a National NHP DNA bank comprising 1250 DNA samples from unrelated animals and family trios from the 10 NHP species housed within the NPRC system. The Genetics and Genomics WG is developing SNP arrays that will provide a uniform, highly informative, efficient and low-cost method for rhesus and long-tailed macaque genotyping across the eight NPRCs. This WG is also establishing a Biomedical Informatics Research Network-based portal for shared bioinformatics resources including vital statistics, genotype and population data and information on the National NHP DNA bank.     

MonkeySNP: a web portal for non-human primate single nucleotide polymorphisms

MonkeySNP is a web-based resource created by the Genetic Resource and Informatics Program at the Oregon National Primate Research Center to facilitate access to non-human primate (NHP) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) data. MonkeySNP is a mirror of the NCBI dbSNP database and contains additional NHP subpopulation genotype data and visual genotype displays to support SNP review and selection. AVAILABILITY: http://monkeysnp.ohsu.edu/snp/ SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.     

BioQuery: an object framework for building queries to biomedical databases

SUMMARY: BioQuery is an application that helps scientists automate database searches. Users can build and store queries to public biomedical databases, and receive periodic updates on the results of those queries when new data is available. The application is implemented on a portable object framework that can provide database-searching capability to other applications. This framework is easily extensible, allowing users to develop plug-ins that provide access to new databases. BioQuery thus provides end-users with a complete database searching interface and updating service, and gives developers a toolkit to provide database-searching capability to their applications. AVAILABILITY: Free to all users: http://www.bioquery.org.     

Chemical composition of scent marks in the ringtailed lemur (Lemur catta): glandular differences, seasonal variation, and individual signatures

The apocrine and sebaceous scent glands of ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) appear to serve different social functions. In behavioral experiments, lemurs modulate their responses to scent marks based on the type of odorant, their own physiological state, the signaler's physiological state, and prior social experience. To examine variation in odorant chemistry relative to olfactory behavior, we used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to analyze over 86 samples of glandular secretion collected over 2 years from 15 adult lemurs. Labial and scrotal secretions contained organic acids and esters, whereas male brachial secretions were composed almost entirely of squalene and cholesterol derivatives. Principal component and linear discriminant analyses revealed glandular, individual-specific, and seasonal variation in chemical profiles but no relationship to the signaler's social status. The chemical composition of the various secretions provides further clues about the function of the different glands: the higher molecular weight compounds in genital and brachial secretions may increase signal longevity and provide lasting information to conspecifics, consistent with a role in advertising resource ownership or reproductive state. Conversely, the lower molecular weight compounds of antebrachial secretions produce ephemeral signals used primarily in social dominance displays and require integration of multiple sensory modalities for effective signal transmission.