Gamma Interferon Production and Plasma Concentrations of Pregnancy‐Associated Glycoproteins 1 and 2 in Gestating Dairy Cows Naturally Infected With Neospora caninum     

B Serrano‐Pérez  I Garcia‐Ispierto  NM de Sousa  JF Beckers  S Almería  F López‐Gatius 《Reproduction in domestic animals》2014,49(2):275-280

Gamma interferon (IFN‐γ) production and cross‐breed pregnancy have been attributed a role in protecting dairy cows infected with Neospora caninum against abortion. Plasma levels of pregnancy‐associated glycoproteins‐1 (PAG‐1) are a marker of placental/foetal well‐being and of PAG‐2 is an abortion risk indicator in chronically N. caninum‐infected animals. The present study examines, in cross‐breed pregnancies, interactions between IFN‐γ production and levels of PAG‐1 and PAG‐2 in non‐aborting naturally Neospora‐infected dairy cows. Data were obtained from 60 pregnant Holstein‐Friesian cows: 44 Neospora‐seropositive and 16 Neospora‐seronegative; 12 became pregnant using Holstein‐Friesian semen and 48 using Limousin semen. Blood samples were collected on Days 40, 90, 120, 150, 180 and 210 of gestation. Gamma interferon was only detected in the plasma of nine of the 44 Neospora‐seropositive cows, all of them became pregnant using Limousin semen. Through GLM procedures, in cows inseminated with Limousin semen and Neospora‐seropositive cows showing no IFN‐γ production, PAG‐1 concentrations were high and increased throughout gestation compared to the levels detected in cows inseminated with Holstein‐Friesian semen and Neospora‐seropositive cows producing IFN‐γ, respectively. In Neospora‐seronegative cows and in Neospora‐seropositive cows showing no IFN‐γ production, significantly increased PAG‐2 concentrations were observed on gestation Day 120. Our findings indicate that IFN‐γ production correlates negatively and the production of antibodies against N. caninum is uncorrelated with plasma PAG concentrations during gestation in Neospora‐infected dairy cows. Accordingly, IFN‐γ production could be linked to the transplacental migration of tachyzoites, which may cause a reduction in PAG levels.  相似文献   

Validation of a Field Based Chromatin Dispersion Assay to Assess Sperm DNA Fragmentation in the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)     

M‐J Sánchez‐Calabuig  C López‐Fernández  E Martínez‐Nevado  JF Pérez‐Gutiérrez  J de la Fuente  SD Johnston  D Blyde  K Harrison  J Gosálvez 《Reproduction in domestic animals》2014,49(5):761-768

Over the last two decades, there have been significant advances in the use of assisted reproductive technology for genetic and reproductive management of captive dolphin populations, including evaluation of sperm DNA quality. This study validated a customized sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCDt) for the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) as a means of assessing sperm DNA damage both in the field and in the laboratory. After performing the SCDt, two different sperm morphotypes were identified: (i) sperm with fragmented DNA showed large haloes of dispersed DNA fragments emerging from a compact sperm nucleoid core and (ii) sperm containing non‐fragmented DNA displayed small compact haloes surrounded by a dense core of non‐dispersed DNA and protein complex. Estimates of sperm DNA fragmentation by means of SCDt were directly comparable to results obtained following a two‐tailed comet assay and showed a significant degree of correlation (r = 0.961; p < 0.001). This investigation also revealed that the SCDt, with minor modifications to the standard protocol, can be successfully conducted in the field using a LED florescence microscopy obtaining a high correlation (r = 0.993; p = 0.01) between the data obtained in the laboratory and in the field.  相似文献   

New method for evaluating astringency in red wine   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

Llaudy MC  Canals R  Canals JM  Rozés N  Arola L  Zamora F 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2004,52(4):742-746

Astringency is an important sensory attribute of red wine. It is usually estimated by tasting and is subject to a certain subjectivity. It can also be estimated by using the gelatin index. This procedure is not very reproducible because there are many gelatins on the market with a heterogeneous composition. Furthermore, the gelatin index determines procyanidin concentration by acid hydrolysis that gives only an approximate result. This paper proposes a new and reproducible method that determines astringency by using ovalbumin as the precipitation agent and tannic acid solutions as standards. Statistical analysis of the results indicates that this method is more reproducible (RSD = 5%) than the gelatin index (RSD = 12%) and correlates better with sensorial analysis.  相似文献   

Impacts of fine root turnover on forest NPP and soil C sequestration potential   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Matamala R  Gonzàlez-Meler MA  Jastrow JD  Norby RJ  Schlesinger WH 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2003,302(5649):1385-1387

Estimates of forest net primary production (NPP) demand accurate estimates of root production and turnover. We assessed root turnover with the use of an isotope tracer in two forest free-air carbon dioxide enrichment experiments. Growth at elevated carbon dioxide did not accelerate root turnover in either the pine or the hardwood forest. Turnover of fine root carbon varied from 1.2 to 9 years, depending on root diameter and dominant tree species. These long turnover times suggest that root production and turnover in forests have been overestimated and that sequestration of anthropogenic atmospheric carbon in forest soils may be lower than currently estimated.  相似文献   

Humanization of yeast to produce complex terminally sialylated glycoproteins     

Hamilton SR  Davidson RC  Sethuraman N  Nett JH  Jiang Y  Rios S  Bobrowicz P  Stadheim TA  Li H  Choi BK  Hopkins D  Wischnewski H  Roser J  Mitchell T  Strawbridge RR  Hoopes J  Wildt S  Gerngross TU 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2006,313(5792):1441-1443

Yeast is a widely used recombinant protein expression system. We expanded its utility by engineering the yeast Pichia pastoris to secrete human glycoproteins with fully complex terminally sialylated N-glycans. After the knockout of four genes to eliminate yeast-specific glycosylation, we introduced 14 heterologous genes, allowing us to replicate the sequential steps of human glycosylation. The reported cell lines produce complex glycoproteins with greater than 90% terminal sialylation. Finally, to demonstrate the utility of these yeast strains, functional recombinant erythropoietin was produced.  相似文献   

Distribution of thiobacillus ferrooxidans and leptospirillum ferrooxidans: implications for generation of acid mine drainage   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

MO Schrenk  KJ Edwards  RM Goodman  RJ Hamers  JF Banfield 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1998,279(5356):1519-1522

Although Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans are widely considered to be the microorganisms that control the rate of generation of acid mine drainage, little is known about their natural distribution and abundance. Fluorescence in situ hybridization studies showed that at Iron Mountain, California, T. ferrooxidans occurs in peripheral slime-based communities (at pH over 1.3 and temperature under 30 degreesC) but not in important subsurface acid-forming environments (pH 0.3 to 0.7, temperature 30 degrees to 50 degreesC). Leptospirillum ferrooxidans is abundant in slimes and as a planktonic organism in environments with lower pH. Thiobacillus ferrooxidans affects the precipitation of ferric iron solids but plays a limited role in acid generation, and neither species controls direct catalysis at low pH at this site.  相似文献   

Deep-Sea coral evidence for rapid change in ventilation of the deep north atlantic 15,400 years Ago   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

JF Adkins  H Cheng  EA Boyle  ERM Druffel  RL Edwards 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1998,280(5364):725-728

Coupled radiocarbon and thorium-230 dates from benthic coral species reveal that the ventilation rate of the North Atlantic upper deep water varied greatly during the last deglaciation. Radiocarbon ages in several corals of the same age, 15.41 +/- 0.17 thousand years, and nearly the same depth, 1800 meters, in the western North Atlantic Ocean increased by as much as 670 years during the 30- to 160-year life spans of the samples. Cadmium/calcium ratios in one coral imply that the nutrient content of these deep waters also increased. Our data show that the deep ocean changed on decadal-centennial time scales during rapid changes in the surface ocean and the atmosphere.  相似文献