Targeting a Newly Established Spontaneous Feline Fibrosarcoma Cell Line by Gene Transfer

Fibrosarcoma is a deadly disease in cats and is significantly more often located at classical vaccine injections sites. More rare forms of spontaneous non-vaccination site (NSV) fibrosarcomas have been described and have been found associated to genetic alterations. Purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of adenoviral gene transfer in NVS fibrosarcoma. We isolated and characterized a NVS fibrosarcoma cell line (Cocca-6A) from a spontaneous fibrosarcoma that occurred in a domestic calico cat. The feline cells were karyotyped and their chromosome number was counted using a Giemsa staining. Adenoviral gene transfer was verified by western blot analysis. Flow cytometry assay and Annexin-V were used to study cell-cycle changes and cell death of transduced cells. Cocca-6A fibrosarcoma cells were morphologically and cytogenetically characterized. Giemsa block staining of metaphase spreads of the Cocca-6A cells showed deletion of one of the E1 chromosomes, where feline p53 maps. Semi-quantitative PCR demonstrated reduction of p53 genomic DNA in the Cocca-6A cells. Adenoviral gene transfer determined a remarkable effect on the viability and growth of the Cocca-6A cells following single transduction with adenoviruses carrying Mda-7/IL-24 or IFN-γ or various combination of RB/p105, Ras-DN, IFN-γ, and Mda-7 gene transfer. Therapy for feline fibrosarcomas is often insufficient for long lasting tumor eradication. More gene transfer studies should be conducted in order to understand if these viral vectors could be applicable regardless the origin (spontaneous vs. vaccine induced) of feline fibrosarcomas

Impacts of Habitat Degradation and Interspecific Interactions on Riparian Animal Populations

Habitat degradation is a known driver of global biodiversity losses and is common in streams of the western U.S. Understanding the impacts of such degradation on biodiversity is an important goal, as stream and riparian zones are often keystone resources and provide important corridors between habitats. Kimball Creek, a 3rd-order stream located near De Beque Colorado at the High Lonesome Ranch, has been degraded by decades of poor management, including overgrazing by cattle and eradication of beaver. The upper reaches are less degraded than those further downstream. In an effort to provide baseline biodiversity data to evaluate a planned restoration of the stream, and to test the hypothesis that degradation (location and cattle presence) affects large mammal populations, we monitored camera traps during 2011-13. Cameras were placed along the stream corridor based on obvious animal crossings and natural landscape funnels. Large mammals, including native ungulates (mule deer and elk), carnivores (bear, cougar, coyote), and cattle, were captured in ~15% of \u3e40,000 digital photographs. We are currently correlating the richness, relative abundance, and time budgets of these species with the presence of predators, cattle, and location (= degradation). Our preliminary observations suggest that cattle usage of the riparian zone negatively affects the diversity, abundance, and activity of native large mammals, and cattle presence is a more important factor affecting native large mammal biodiversity than stream degradation per se. This implies that successful restoration of stream environments may require careful management of historically and economically important ranching operations

Spatial Ecology of Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys Imbricata) Nesting at Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica

The beaches in the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge (GMNWR) in southeastern Costa Rica are known to host nesting critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). The spatial ecology and movement behaviors of this nesting population has never been observed. Evaluating the spatial ecology of nesting sea turtles allows for a better understanding of their local movement behavior as well as their large scale oceanic movements that inform conservation needs. Satellite tracks reveal internesting, postnesting migration, and foraging behaviors for four nesting hawksbills from the GMNWR. During the internesting behavior, satellite-tracked hawksbills remained in the coastal waters near the nesting beach for 15 to 55 days before making their postnesting migration. Home-range areas occupied by internesting hawksbills vary between 21.9 and 557.9 km2 . Hawksbill internesting high use areas overlapped with the marine boundary of the GMNWR for an average of 29% of time spent inside the refuge. The beginning of all four turtle’s migrations start with a pelagic circular movement away from the coast into the Caribbean Sea before resuming a northern coastal migration pattern. Migration routes varied in length from 662 to 1,486 km and passed through three or four exclusive economic zones of various neighboring nations. Foraging areas of three hawksbills were situated east of Nicaragua and one was found along the northern coast of Honduras, near Roatan. Foraging home-range areas of satellite-tracked hawksbills varied from 205.1 to 696.1 km2 . This is the second satellite telemetry study completed on nesting hawksbills in the Costa Rican Caribbean and the first for GMNWR. These results display the use of pelagic and coastal migratory routes for the critically endangered hawksbill. Distant foraging grounds utilized by hawksbills nesting in Costa Rica reveal the importance for the preservation of the Miskito Cays and nearby ecosystems