Assessment of Egyptian Buffalo Crossing With Pakistani And Italian Buffaloes for some production traits.

Abstract: Egyptian buffaloes are considered one of the most important dual purpose farm animals that represent 44% of dairy animals in Egypt. In 1980, the Animal Production Research Institute (APRI) imported 93 Pakistani semen straws for crossbreeding to improve milk productivities. In 2003, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) allowed the commercial importation of Italian buffalo semen, which randomly utilized in some large scale buffalo farms. This study aims to evaluate the Egyptian buffalo crosses with both Pakistani and Italian buffaloes for some productive traits to assess the crossing trials. For the first trial of the study, 180 records (85 pure Egyptian buffaloes (E), 22 record 1/2 Egyptian (E) 1/2 Pakistani (PA) buffaloes and 52 record 3/4E 1/4PA buffaloes and 21 record 7/8E 1/8PA) through the period from 1980 to 1998 were used for the evaluation of Egyptian (E) Pakistani (PA) crossbred. Data for the second trial, concerned with the evaluation of the Egyptian (E) Italian (I) crosses, was collected from two private farms. A total 138 records; 64 record from Ganat Elreda farm (32 record E and 32 record 1/2E 1/2I) and 74 records from "United Group farm" (26 record E and 48 record 1/2E 1/2I buffaloes) was utilized. Utilized record covers the period from 2005 to 2009. Average for total milk yield was nearly the same for Egyptian and its cross with Pakistani buffaloes. In trial 1, Milk yield generally tended to increase with the advancement of parities till the ≥7 parity. Egyptian buffaloes showed the highest values for all growth traits measures. In trial 2, significant difference in milk productivity between the Egyptian and its Italian crossbred, which was significantly higher (P 0.001) in farm 2 than it is in farm 1 (P 0.01), was observed. The same trend in difference was detected for the parity effect. Italian crosses showed higher least square means (LSM) estimates for total milk yield (TMY) than the Egyptian buffaloes, which also increased with the advancement of the parity, in the two farms. LSM data reveal increase of 27 and 15% in 1/2E1/2I crossbred milk production than the Egyptian in farm 1 and farm 2, respectively. Difference between the highest and lowest breeding value (BV) in the Egyptian population is larger than it is in the crossbred population. More studies are recommended for the assessment of productive, reproductive and genetic diversity of crossbred populations before the enhancement of crossbreeding activities on national level. [Fooda, T. A.; Elbeltagy, A. R.; Laila R. Hassan and SetEl-habaeib S. Awad. Assessment of Egyptian buffaloes crossing with Pakistani and Italian buffaloes for some production traits

Global burden of human brucellosis : a systematic review of disease frequency

BACKGROUND: This report presents a systematic review of scientific literature published between 1990-2010 relating to the frequency of human brucellosis, commissioned by WHO. The objectives were to identify high quality disease incidence data to complement existing knowledge of the global disease burden and, ultimately, to contribute towards the calculation of a Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) estimate for brucellosis.METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Thirty three databases were searched, identifying 2,385 articles relating to human brucellosis. Based on strict screening criteria, 60 studies were selected for quality assessment, of which only 29 were of sufficient quality for data analysis. Data were only available from 15 countries in the regions of Northern Africa and Middle East, Western Europe, Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Asia. Half of the studies presented incidence data, six of which were longitudinal prospective studies, and half presented seroprevalence data which were converted to incidence rates. Brucellosis incidence varied widely between, and within, countries. Although study biases cannot be ruled out, demographic, occupational, and socioeconomic factors likely play a role. Aggregated data at national or regional levels do not capture these complexities of disease dynamics and, consequently, at-risk populations or areas may be overlooked. In many brucellosis-endemic countries, health systems are weak and passively-acquired official data underestimate the true disease burden.CONCLUSIONS: High quality research is essential for an accurate assessment of disease burden, particularly in Eastern Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Central and South America and Africa where data are lacking. Providing formal epidemiological and statistical training to researchers is essential for improving study quality. An integrated approach to disease surveillance involving both human health and veterinary services would allow a better understand of disease dynamics at the animal-human interface, as well as a more cost-effective utilisation of resources

Initial genomic characterization of Italian, Egyptian and Pakistani goat breeds

Selection and breeding practices in goats have differed greatly among countries and populations. These processes, together with natural selection and regional drift, have shaped the phenotypic variability of goat breeds (Kim et al., 2015). The availability of improved genomic analysis tools for this species may provide useful information on the history of selection, adaptation and differentiation of goats from different areas of the world, that can be evaluated by the study of gene frequencies and length of the Runs of Homozigosity (contiguous length of homozygous genotypes, ROH; Purfield et al., 2012). In current study, we examined using a goat medium density SNP chip animals from three different countries: Egypt (with lack of selection scheme), Italy (with several standardized breeds; Nicoloso et al., 2015) and Pakistan (with several breeds showing peculiar phenotypes) to produce a genomic landscape of goats breeds in these countries. A total of 1,123 animals of 39 different populations, and 48,895 SNP markers were analyzed. Genotypes were imputed on a country-based approach, and markers without known position in the genome were excluded from the analysis. MDS and ADMIXTURE plots confirmed the good differentiation among populations from the three countries. Runs of Homozygosity (ROH) were performed for each country and population allowed the detection of genomic regions with high homozygosity levels, common in at least two out of three sampling areas. These results provide new insights into goat genome structure within and among breeds and countries. The detection of conserved regions with different lengths may explain recent selection strategies or adaptation to different, extreme environmental conditions. The research was funded by INNOVAGEN project. Support by Iowa State University and the Ensminger funds for AE and AT as well as support by the Fulbright Foundation for AE are gratefully acknowledged. Sampling from Pakistan was funded by PAK-USAID project

Fluoxetine Counteracts the Cognitive and Cellular Effects of 5-Fluorouracil in the Rat Hippocampus by a Mechanism of Prevention Rather than Recovery

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a cytostatic drug associated with chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments that many cancer patients experience after treatment. Previous work in rodents has shown that 5-FU reduces hippocampal cell proliferation, a possible mechanism for the observed cognitive impairment, and that both effects can be reversed by co-administration of the antidepressant, fluoxetine. In the present study we investigate the optimum time for administration of fluoxetine to reverse or prevent the cognitive and cellular effects of 5-FU

Fluoxetine reverses the memory impairment and reduction in proliferation and survival of hippocampal cells caused by methotrexate chemotherapy

RATIONALE: Adjuvant cancer chemotherapy can cause long-lasting, cognitive deficits. It is postulated that these impairments are due to these drugs targeting neural precursors within the adult hippocampus, the loss of which has been associated with memory impairment. OBJECTIVES: The present study investigates the effects of the chemotherapy, methotrexate (MTX) on spatial working memory and the proliferation and survival of the neural precursors involved in hippocampal neurogenesis, and the possible neuroprotective properties of the antidepressant fluoxetine. METHODS: Male Lister hooded rats were administered MTX (75 mg/kg, two i.v. doses a week apart) followed by leucovorin rescue (i.p. 18 h after MTX at 6 mg/kg and at 26, 42 and 50 h at 3 mg/kg) and/or fluoxetine (10 mg/kg/day in drinking water for 40 days). Memory was tested using the novel location recognition (NLR) test. Using markers, cell proliferation (Ki67) and survival (bromodeoxyuridine/BrdU), in the dentate gyrus were quantified. RESULTS: MTX-treated rats showed a cognitive deficit in the NLR task compared with the vehicle and fluoxetine-treated groups. Cognitive ability was restored in the group receiving both MTX and fluoxetine. MTX reduced both the number of proliferating cells in the SGZ and their survival. This was prevented by the co-administration of fluoxetine, which alone increased cell numbers. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that MTX induces an impairment in spatial working memory and has a negative long-term effect on hippocampal neurogenesis, which is counteracted by the co-administration of fluoxetine. If translatable to patients, this finding has the potential to prevent the chemotherapy-induced cognitive deficits experienced by many cancer survivors

Complete Genomic Structure of the Cultivated Rice Endophyte Azospirillum sp. B510

We determined the nucleotide sequence of the entire genome of a diazotrophic endophyte, Azospirillum sp. B510. Strain B510 is an endophytic bacterium isolated from stems of rice plants (Oryza sativa cv. Nipponbare). The genome of B510 consisted of a single chromosome (3 311 395 bp) and six plasmids, designated as pAB510a (1 455 109 bp), pAB510b (723 779 bp), pAB510c (681 723 bp), pAB510d (628 837 bp), pAB510e (537 299 bp), and pAB510f (261 596 bp). The chromosome bears 2893 potential protein-encoding genes, two sets of rRNA gene clusters (rrns), and 45 tRNA genes representing 37 tRNA species. The genomes of the six plasmids contained a total of 3416 protein-encoding genes, seven sets of rrns, and 34 tRNAs representing 19 tRNA species. Eight genes for plasmid-specific tRNA species are located on either pAB510a or pAB510d. Two out of eight genomic islands are inserted in the plasmids, pAB510b and pAB510e, and one of the islands is inserted into trnfM-CAU in the rrn located on pAB510e. Genes other than the nif gene cluster that are involved in N2 fixation and are homologues of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA110 include fixABCX, fixNOQP, fixHIS, fixG, and fixLJK. Three putative plant hormone-related genes encoding tryptophan 2-monooxytenase (iaaM) and indole-3-acetaldehyde hydrolase (iaaH), which are involved in IAA biosynthesis, and ACC deaminase (acdS), which reduces ethylene levels, were identified. Multiple gene-clusters for tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic-transport systems and a diverse set of malic enzymes were identified, suggesting that B510 utilizes C4-dicarboxylate during its symbiotic relationship with the host plant

Invasion is a community affair: clandestine followers in the bacterial community associated to green algae, Caulerpa racemosa, track the invasion source

Biological invasions rank amongst the most deleterious components of global change inducing alterations from genes to ecosystems. The genetic characteristics of introduced pools of individuals greatly influence the capacity of introduced species to establish and expand. The recently demonstrated heritability of microbial communities associated to individual genotypes of primary producers makes them a potentially essential element of the evolution and adaptability of their hosts. Here, we characterized the bacterial communities associated to native and non-native populations of the marine green macroalga Caulerpa racemosa through pyrosequencing, and explored their potential role on the strikingly invasive trajectory of their host in the Mediterranean. The similarity of endophytic bacterial communities from the native Australian range and several Mediterranean locations confirmed the origin of invasion and revealed distinct communities associated to a second Mediterranean variety of C. racemosa long reported in the Mediterranean. Comparative analysis of these two groups demonstrated the stability of the composition of bacterial communities through the successive steps of introduction and invasion and suggested the vertical transmission of some major bacterial OTUs. Indirect inferences on the taxonomic identity and associated metabolism of bacterial lineages showed a striking consistency with sediment upheaval conditions associated to the expansion of their invasive host and to the decline of native species. These results demonstrate that bacterial communities can be an effective tracer of the origin of invasion and support their potential role in their eukaryotic host’s adaptation to new environments. They put forward the critical need to consider the 'meta-organism' encompassing both the host and associated micro-organisms, to unravel the origins, causes and mechanisms underlying biological invasions

Genetic and Phenotypic Characterization of African Goat Populations to Prioritize Conservation and Production Efforts for Small-holder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT: Food production systems in Africa depend heavily on the use of locally adapted animals. Goats are critical to small-holder farmers being easier to acquire, maintain, and act as scavengers in sparse pasture. Indigenous goats have undergone generations of adaptation and genetic isolation that have led to great phenotypic variation. These indigenous goats serve as a genetic reservoir for the identification of genes important to environmental adaptation, disease resistance, and improved productivity under local conditions. The immediate goal is to characterize African goat populations to prioritize conservation and production efforts and to develop genomic tools for use in selective breeding programs. We have established a standardized phenotypic scoring system to characterize goats including geographical information data, body measurements, photo characterization, and DNA. To date, 2,443 goats from 12 countries, representing 46 breeds have been sampled. Using the 50K goat beadchip, we report parameters of population structure of 620 African goats