Toxoplasma gondii infections in sheep in Sicily, southern Italy     

Vesco G  Buffolano W  La Chiusa S  Mancuso G  Caracappa S  Chianca A  Villari S  Currò V  Liga F  Petersen E 《Veterinary parasitology》2007,146(1-2):3-8

The aim of the study was to determine the burden of Toxoplasma gondii-infections in sheep in Sicily, southern Italy and the risk factors for infection. Sera from 1961 sheep were collected just before slaughtering from 62 farms located in 8 out of 9 Sicilian administrative districts. The sera were analysed for Toxoplasma-specific IgG antibodies using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Sheep less than 4 weeks old were further analysed by ELISA for Toxoplasma-specific IgM-antibodies. Data on farm size and location were obtained from slaughterhouse sanitary reports and through structured telephone interviews of the veterinary officers from public health districts. The overall seroprevalence of Toxoplasma-specific IgG-antibodies were 49.9% (937/1876) by ELISA. Eighty-seven (54/62) percent of the farms had at least one Toxoplasma-positive animal. All the farms fed the animals outdoor on pasture and only one was claiming organic farming. Having cats on the farm, age of the animals, farm size and the use of surface water sources for drinking were all significantly associated with T. gondii-infected animals on the farm. T. gondii infection in mutton used for human consumption is very prevalent, and eating unprocessed sheep and lamb meat has a high risk of transmitting infections to humans. The presence of cats on the farm, farm size and using surface water as drinking water for the animals were risk factors for infection in sheep, with age as a significant confounder.  相似文献   

Disposition of plasma creatinine in non-azotaemic and moderately azotaemic cats     

Le Garreres A  Laroute V  De La Farge F  Boudet KG  Lefebvre HP 《Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery》2007,9(2):89-96

The objectives of this study were to compare assay methods for plasma creatinine (Pl-creat) in cats and to describe the disposition of creatinine and iohexol in 12 healthy and moderately azotaemic cats. Exogenous creatinine and iohexol were injected simultaneously by intravenous bolus, and repeated blood samples were taken to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters of each marker. Pl-creat was assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Jaffé and enzymatic methods. The enzymatic method was shown to be more reliable than the Jaffé method. Two stereoisomers, exo- and endo-iohexol were identified. The plasma clearance of creatinine (2.3+/-0.66 ml/min/kg) was significantly higher (P<0.001) than that of exo-iohexol (1.7+/-0.40 ml/min/kg). The volume of distribution (447+/-97 ml/kg) and elimination half-life (181+/-77 min) of creatinine were also higher (P<0.001) than those of exo- and endo-iohexol. The estimated daily endogenous production of creatinine was 65+/-23 mg/kg. None of the pharmacokinetic parameters was changed by the azotaemic status of the animals.  相似文献   

Early life history connectivity of Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica) in the Ross Sea          下载免费PDF全文

Cassandra M. Brooks  Jilda Alicia Caccavo  Julian Ashford  Robert Dunbar  Kimberly Goetz  Mario La Mesa  Lorenzo Zane 《Fisheries Oceanography》2018,27(3):274-287

A recent population hypothesis for Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica), a critical forage species, argued that interactions between life history and circulation associated with glacial trough systems drive circumpolar distributions over the continental shelf. In the Ross Sea, aggregations of eggs and larvae occur under fast ice in Terra Nova Bay, and the hypothesis predicted that dispersing larvae encounter outflow along the western side of Drygalski Trough. The outflow advects larvae towards the shelf‐break, and mixing with trough inflow facilitates return toward the inner shelf. To examine the hypothesis, we compared samples of P. antarctica collected near Coulman Island in the outflow, along Crary Bank in the inflow, and a third set taken over the rest of the Ross Sea. We ruled out misidentification using an innovative genetic validation. Silverfish larvae comprised 99.5% of the catch, and the highest population densities were found in Drygalski Trough. The results provided no evidence to reject the population hypothesis. Abundance indices, back‐calculated hatching dates, length distributions and growth were congruent with a unified early life history in the western Ross Sea, constrained by cryopelagic early stages in Terra Nova Bay. By contrast, a sample in the Bay of Whales revealed much smaller larvae, suggesting either a geographically separate population in the eastern Ross Sea, or westward connectivity with larvae spawned nearby by fish sourced from troughs upstream in the Amundsen Sea. These results illustrate how hypotheses that integrate population structure with life history can provide precise spatial predictions for subsequent testing.  相似文献   

Weak effects of habitat type on susceptibility to invasive freshwater species: an Italian case study          下载免费PDF全文

Angela Boggero  Alberto Basset  Martina Austoni  Enrico Barbone  Luca Bartolozzi  Isabella Bertani  Alessandro Campanaro  Antonella Cattaneo  Fabio Cianferoni  Giuseppe Corriero  Ambrosius Martin Dörr  A. Concetta Elia  Gentile Francesco Ficetola  Lyudmila Kamburska  Gianandrea La Porta  Sara Lauceri  Alessandro Ludovisi  Elda Gaino  Enzo Goretti  Massimo Lorenzoni  Marina Manca  Aldo Marchetto  Giuseppe Morabito  Francesco Nonnis Marzano  Alessandro Oggioni  Cataldo Pierri  Nicoletta Riccardi  Giampaolo Rossetti  Nicola Ungaro  Pietro Volta  Silvia Zaupa  Diego Fontaneto 《水产资源保护:海洋与淡水生态系统》2014,24(6):841-852

Survey on viroids infecting grapevine in Italy: identification and characterization of Australian grapevine viroid and Grapevine yellow speckle viroid 2     

G. Gambino  B. Navarro  E. M. Torchetti  P. La Notte  A. Schneider  F. Mannini  F. Di Serio 《European journal of plant pathology / European Foundation for Plant Pathology》2014,140(2):199-205

Five viroid species have been reported from grapevine. Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) and Grapevine yellow speckle viroid 1 (GYSVd-1) are distributed worldwide, whereas Grapevine yellow speckle viroid 2 (GYSVd-2), Australian grapevine viroid (AGVd) and Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) are found only sporadically. However, the presence of AGVd and GYSVd-2 in several countries, including China, Turkey and Label="Tunisia" gaAction="reference-keyword">Tunisia, suggests a wider dissemination, possibly also in Europe, where AGVd has never been found and GYSVd-2 has been occasionally identified in Italy. Taking advantage of a multiplex Label="RT-PCR" gaAction="reference-keyword">RT-PCR assay recently developed for detecting simultaneously these five viroids, vines growing in Italy in commercial vineyards and germplasm collections were surveyed. Besides confirming the widespread presence of HSVd and GYSVd-1 in the field, GYSVd-2 and/or AGVd were identified in two grapevine table cultivars (Sultanina Bianca and Red Globe) from germplasm collections. Tests extended to vines cultivated in southern Italy confirmed the presence of both viroids, which were further characterized. No major sequence divergences between the AGVd and GYSVd-2 variants from Italy and those previously described from other countries were observed. Phylogenetic analysis supported the close relationships among AGVd variants from Italy, Label="Tunisia" gaAction="reference-keyword">Tunisia and Australia. To our knowledge this is the first report of AGVd in Europe and the first molecular characterization of GYSVd-2 isolates from a European country.  相似文献   

Evaluation of recombinant Bhlp29.7 as an ELISA antigen for detecting pig herds with swine dysentery     

La T  Phillips ND  Hampson DJ 《Veterinary microbiology》2009,133(1-2):98-104

Swine dysentery (SD) results from infection of the porcine large intestine with the anaerobic intestinal spirochaete Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. Diagnosis of SD traditionally has relied on detecting the spirochaete in the faeces of acutely affected pigs. To date simple and reliable serological assays that can be applied as a diagnostic tool at the herd level have not been available. In the current study a recombinant histidine tagged 29.7 kDa lipoprotein of B. hyodysenteriae (His6-Bhlp29.7) was used as an ELISA plate-coating antigen. Sera (n=1121) from slaughter-aged pigs on 19 farms were tested in this ELISA. Following optimization of the ELISA conditions using hyperimmune control sera, a set of 464 sera from slaughter-aged pigs from five herds where SD did not occur was tested. From these results a suitable cut-off value for herd negativity was defined as the mean optical density reading plus three standard deviations. Testing of 337 pig sera from six farms with SD then showed that the sensitivity of the test at the herd level was 100%, with all six farms having one or more serum samples exceeding the cut-off value for negativity. Finally, 320 sera from eight herds suspected of having SD were examined. Four of these herds were shown to have pigs with titres consistent with SD. The true health status of the other four herds that were serologically negative could not be confirmed. In conclusion, when used on sets of 40 sera from slaughter-aged pigs the His6-Bhlp29.7 ELISA as established proved to be a useful adjunct to the diagnosis of SD at the herd level.  相似文献   

Multilocus sequence typing as a tool for studying the molecular epidemiology and population structure of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae     

Tom La  Nyree D. Phillips  Belinda L. Harland  Phatthanaphong Wanchanthuek  Matthew I. Bellgard  David J. Hampson   《Veterinary microbiology》2009,138(3-4):330-338

The purpose of this study was to develop and apply a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme to study the molecular epidemiology of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, the aetiological agent of swine dysentery. Sequences of seven conserved genomic loci were examined in 111 B. hyodysenteriae strains. Fifty-eight of these previously had been analysed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), and for some the results of pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) and/or serotyping also were available. The discriminatory power of these methods was compared. The strains were divided into 67 sequence types (STs) and 46 amino acid types (AATs) by MLST. The Index of Association value was significantly different from zero, indication that the population was clonal. Eleven clonal complexes (Cc) comprising between 2 and 10 STs were recognised. A population snapshot based on AATs placed 77.5% of the isolates from 30 of the AATs into one major cluster. The founder type AAT9 included 13 strains from nine STs that were isolated in Australia, Sweden, Germany and Belgium, including one from a mallard. The MLST results were generally comparable to those produced by MLEE. The MLST system had a similar discriminatory power to PFGE, but was more discriminatory than REA, MLEE or serotyping. MLST data provided evidence for likely transmission of strains between farms, but also for the occurrence of temporal “micro-evolution” of strains on individual farms. Overall, the MLST system proved to be a useful new tool for investigating the molecular epidemiology and diversity of B. hyodysenteriae.  相似文献   

Characterisation of Escherichia fergusonii isolates from farm animals using an Escherichia coli virulence gene array and tissue culture adherence assays     

Wragg P  La Ragione RM  Best A  Reichel R  Anjum MF  Mafura M  Woodward MJ 《Research in veterinary science》2009,86(1):27-35

Escherichia fergusonii has been associated with a wide variety of intestinal and extra-intestinal infections in both humans and animals but, despite strong circumstantial evidence, the degree to which the organism is responsible for the pathologies identified remains uncertain. Thirty isolates of E. fergusonii collected between 2003 and 2004 were screened using an Escherichia coli virulence gene array to test for the presence of homologous virulence genes in E. fergusonii. The iss (increased serum survival) gene was present in 13/30 (43%) of the test strains and the prfB (P-related fimbriae regulatory) and ireA (siderophore receptor IreA) genes were also detected jointly in 3/30 (10%) strains. No known virulence genes were detected in 14/30 (47%) of strains. Following confirmatory PCR and sequence analysis, the E. fergusoniiprfB, iss and ireA genes shared a high degree of sequence similarity to their counterparts in E. coli, and a particular resemblance was noted with the E. coli strain APEC O1 pathogenicity island. In tissue culture adherence assays, nine E. fergusonii isolates associated with HEp-2 cells with a ‘localised adherence’ or ‘diffuse adherence’ phenotype, and they proved to be moderately invasive. The E. fergusonii isolates in this study possess both some phenotypic and genotypic features linked to known pathotypes of E. coli, and support existing evidence that strains of E. fergusonii may act as an opportunistic pathogens, although their specific virulence factors may need to be explored.  相似文献   

小麦抗麦红吸浆虫品种遗传多样性的表型和SSR标记分析   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

仇松英  史晓芳  史忠良  张松令  谢福来  高炜  逯腊虎 《麦类作物学报》2011,31(6):1050-1056

为更深入地揭示小麦抗麦红吸浆虫品种（系）的遗传多样性,从而为进一步选育抗虫品种提供依据,在对田间虫圃1 562份小麦品种（系）损失率鉴定的基础上,取47份年度间鉴定抗性结果较为一致的材料,利用表型和SSR标记,进行遗传多样性分析。这些抗麦红吸浆虫品种农艺性状表现出较大的差异,表型聚类在遗传距离为0.68处将供试材料分为6个类群。19对SSR标记在47份不同抗性品种中检测到104个等位基因,能够将所有品种区分开来,每对引物可以检测到3～8个等位基因,平均5.47个。47个小麦品种间遗传距离为0.40～0.95,平均为0.71。SSR标记聚类分析在遗传距离为0.74处将供试材料分为6大类群。Mental测验结果表明,表型同基因型距离矩阵间存在显著正相关（r=0.76,P〈0.05）。抗虫品种晋麦65号单独聚为一类,同其余品种具有较远的亲缘关系,可作为新的抗源用于抗虫育种,并在吸浆虫发生地块推广种植。  相似文献   

Structural development of Pacific red snapper Lutjanus peru from hatching to the onset of first feeding          下载免费PDF全文

Iram Zavala‐Leal  Silvie Dumas  Edgar O. López‐Villegas  Renato Peña  Mauricio Contreras‐Olguín  Laura Flores‐Montijo  José De La Cruz‐Agüero 《Aquaculture Research》2015,46(5):1162-1174

Successful rearing of larval fish requires culture conditions and feeding strategies matching the ontogenetic status of larvae. This study describes the external morphology and development of organs and structures involved in the feeding process (i.e. sensorial organs, mouthparts and digestive system) from hatching until first feeding in Pacific red snapper. Hatching occurred 26 h after fertilization at 26°C and total length (TL) was 2.45 ± 0.08 mm. The larvae showed an undifferentiated eye and digestive tract. At 48 hah, TL was 3.31 ± 0.12 mm. Yolk and oil globule were still present. The mouth was still closed, but the Meckel's, quadrate, hyoid and hyomandibular cartilages were present. The retina was formed by 5 layers, and a thin layer of pigment epithelium was observed in the outer nuclear layer (ONL). At 70 hah, TL was 3.44 ± 0.22 mm. A remnant of oil globule was still present. The mouth and anus were open. At 93 hah, the number of cones in the ONL of the retina have increased and there was more pigment in the pigment epithelial layer. A joint between Meckel's and the quadrate cartilage and also a joint between the hyomandibular cartilage and the skull were present. The presence of live feed was detected in the digestive tract of these larvae. Based on these observations, the Pacific red snapper larvae is functional to start ingesting live feed between the 3rd and 4th day after hatching.  相似文献