HOUSE MOUSE BEHAVIOR AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO CONTROL

It seems explicitly evident that animal control practices must now, and especially in the future, emphasize fuller appreciation of the habits of each kind of animal. Further, this will require consideration be given to behavioral aspects as expressed by a population as a whole of a given species, as well as each individual animal within that population. Animals react with one another and with all characteristics of their environment; and, this in turn results in an identifiable reaction or behavior of each population as a unit of social organization. Although within broad limits some aspects of these responses, whether individual or group, are reasonably predictable, many are not. But, in this day of stringent regulations on food contamination and methods of controlling pests, reasonably predictable is no longer acceptable. The near-perfect, if actually not the perfect, technique is becoming a requirement. Therefore, to approach this level of success, one must attempt to interpret the behavior of each mouse and/or population in every infestation

Bobwhite Quail and Changing Land Use

(Invited Paper) The downward trend of bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) numbers nationally is well established. Generally, this reflects deterioration and widespread loss of suitable habitat resulting from changes in land use. Since the 1940s research on the quail seems to have dwindled with few indications of on-going studies. There is much emphasis on setting aside areas as wilderness and natural areas and creating special funds, but these activities cannot accommodate the special needs of quail except in a general way. The intense emphasis on the economics of agriculture, use of chemicals in farming, and the activities of government and agricultural colleges have all but eliminated wildlife and diversity in many rural settings. Seemingly, a plausible course of action includes best land-use practices in concert with special programs of habitat development and preservation, an intensive effort to develop public awareness and support, the establishment of continuing long-term studies in connection with research-demonstration, a re-emphasis on well-trained field biologists with specialty in bobwhite ecology, a greater quail habitat management emphasis on public-controlled lands, a vastly improved and effective cooperation by various state and federal agencies, and carefully-planned and regulated land use for major soil types and/or ecosystems

An Evaluation of Some Marking Techniques Used on Bobwhite Quail

Summarized are data obtained from field testing various marking techniques used to distinguish individual, unrestrained bobwhite quail. Four methods and combinations of each included various types of back tags, colored leg bands, dyes, and radio transmitters. Discussed are methods, advantages, and limitations as based upon field observations of 195 back-tagged quail, 86 quail with colored leg bands, 55 dyed quail, and 91 radio-marked quail

Some Aspects of the Dynamics of a Hunted Bobwhite Population

Dynamics of a hunted bobwhite population have been investigated on a 1,450-acre study area near Carbondale, Illinois since 1952. Habitat conditions have not changed greatly during the study, and November densities have oscillated regularly about a rather stable long-term mean. Most of the variance of annual rates of population change is due to variation in net productivity from spring to fall rather than to variation in net losses from fall to spring. Population declines from November to April averaged 66% (range 36 to 81%); about 0.66 of this resulted from hunting. Post-hunting mortality, which was slightly density-related, partially compensated for hunting losses. Spring densities were correlated with (r = +o.75) and almost as variable as preceding fall populations. Net increases from spring to fall varied from 17 to 383 and averaged 235% of the breeding population. Multiple regression analysis showed that annual rates of productivity were significantly influenced by the combined effect of breeding density, length of snow cover during the previous 2 winters, and amounts of prenesting rainfall. Annual rates of population change were inversely related to the preceding fall density, but strong correlations between successive seasonal population levels caused periods of change as well as highs and lows to persist for several years. Major highs and lows each occurred at 8- to 10-year intervals. It was not clear whether 2 severe winters caused the apparent cyclic regularity or merely accentuated the lows

Attitudes of a Select Group of Illinois Quail Hunters

During the past 3-4 decades major social, political, economic, and environmental changes have taken place in the United States that have greatly affected quail hunters, their quarry, and their sport. Against this backdrop, we examined the attitudes and perceptions of a select group of Illinois quail hunters from 1954 to 1989 regarding issues such as stocking, predator control, habitat management, and harvest regulations. During this time, hunters became increasingly cognizant of the importance of habitat and less inclined to demand unproductive practices such as stocking. Concerns about predators peaked in the 1970\u27s. Hunters in the I980\u27s tended to want more liberal hunting seasons than did their predecessors. Possible explanations and implications of these trends are discussed

Attenuation of Sindbis virus variants incorporating uncleaved PE2 glycoprotein is correlated with attachment to cell-surface heparan sulfate

Sindbis virus virions incorporating uncleaved precursor envelope protein PE2 bind efficiently to cell-surface heparan sulfate (HS) because the furin cleavage site (a consensus HS-binding domain) is retained in the mature virus particle. However, they are essentially nonviable. Resuscitating mutations selected in the E3 or E2 protein preserve the PE2 noncleaving phenotype and HS binding, but facilitate fusion, and thereby restore wild-type infectivity on cultured cells. Here, we have demonstrated that the resuscitated PE2 noncleaving virus was almost avirulent in vivo, but mutated during the infection. Mutants had increased virulence and cleavage of PE2, with reduced HS binding capacity. We hypothesize that HS binding leads to sequestration of PE2 noncleaving virus particles and suppression of serum viremia, thereby selecting for evolution of the virus into a PE2-cleaving, low HS-binding phenotype

Attenuation of Sindbis virus variants incorporating uncleaved PE2 glycoprotein is correlated with attachment to cell-surface heparan sulfate

Sindbis virus virions incorporating uncleaved precursor envelope protein PE2 bind efficiently to cell-surface heparan sulfate (HS) because the furin cleavage site (a consensus HS-binding domain) is retained in the mature virus particle. However, they are essentially nonviable. Resuscitating mutations selected in the E3 or E2 protein preserve the PE2 noncleaving phenotype and HS binding, but facilitate fusion, and thereby restore wild-type infectivity on cultured cells. Here, we have demonstrated that the resuscitated PE2 noncleaving virus was almost avirulent in vivo, but mutated during the infection. Mutants had increased virulence and cleavage of PE2, with reduced HS binding capacity. We hypothesize that HS binding leads to sequestration of PE2 noncleaving virus particles and suppression of serum viremia, thereby selecting for evolution of the virus into a PE2-cleaving, low HS-binding phenotype

The interferon-induced exonuclease ISG20 exerts antiviral activity through upregulation of type I interferon response proteins

The host immune responses to infection lead to the production of type I interferon (IFN), and the upregulation of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) reduces virus replication and virus dissemination within a host. Ectopic expression of the interferon-induced 20-kDa exonuclease ISG20 suppressed replication of chikungunya virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, two mosquito-vectored RNA alphaviruses. Since the replication of alphavirus genomes occurs exclusively in the cytoplasm, the mechanism of nucleus-localized ISG20 inhibition of replication is unclear. In this study, we determined that ISG20 acts as a master regulator of over 100 genes, many of which are ISGs. Specifically, ISG20 upregulated IFIT1 genes and inhibited translation of the alphavirus genome. Furthermore, IFIT1-sensitive alphavirus replication was increased in Isg20−/− mice compared to the replication of wild-type viruses but not in cells ectopically expressing ISG20. We propose that ISG20 acts as an indirect regulator of RNA virus replication in the cytoplasm through the upregulation of many other ISGs.Type I interferon (IFN)-stimulated genes (ISGs) have critical roles in inhibiting virus replication and dissemination. Despite advances in understanding the molecular basis of ISG restriction, the antiviral mechanisms of many remain unclear. The 20-kDa ISG ISG20 is a nuclear 3′–5′ exonuclease with preference for single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) and has been implicated in the IFN-mediated restriction of several RNA viruses. Although the exonuclease activity of ISG20 has been shown to degrade viral RNA in vitro, evidence has yet to be presented that virus inhibition in cells requires this activity. Here, we utilized a combination of an inducible, ectopic expression system and newly generated Isg20−/− mice to investigate mechanisms and consequences of ISG20-mediated restriction. Ectopically expressed ISG20 localized primarily to Cajal bodies in the nucleus and restricted replication of chikungunya and Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses. Although restriction by ISG20 was associated with inhibition of translation of infecting genomic RNA, degradation of viral RNAs was not observed. Instead, translation inhibition of viral RNA was associated with ISG20-induced upregulation of over 100 other genes, many of which encode known antiviral effectors. ISG20 modulated the production of IFIT1, an ISG that suppresses translation of alphavirus RNAs. Consistent with this observation, the pathogenicity of IFIT1-sensitive alphaviruses was increased in Isg20−/− mice compared to that of wild-type viruses but not in cells ectopically expressing ISG20. Our findings establish an indirect role for ISG20 in the early restriction of RNA virus replication by regulating expression of other ISGs that inhibit translation and possibly other activities in the replication cycle

Interferon-alpha/beta deficiency greatly exacerbates arthritogenic disease in mice infected with wild-type chikungunya virus but not with the cell culture-adapted live-attenuated 181/25 vaccine candidate

AbstractIn humans, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection causes fever, rash, and acute and persisting polyarthralgia/arthritis associated with joint swelling. We report a new CHIKV disease model in adult mice that distinguishes the wild-type CHIKV-LR strain from the live-attenuated vaccine strain (CHIKV-181/25). Although eight-week old normal mice inoculated in the hind footpad developed no hind limb swelling with either virus, CHIKV-LR replicated in musculoskeletal tissues and caused detectable inflammation. In mice deficient in STAT1-dependent interferon (IFN) responses, CHIKV-LR caused significant swelling of the inoculated and contralateral limbs and dramatic inflammatory lesions, while CHIKV-181/25 vaccine and another arthritogenic alphavirus, Sindbis, failed to induce swelling. IFN responses suppressed CHIKV-LR and CHIKV-181/25 replication equally in dendritic cells in vitro whereas macrophages were refractory to infection independently of STAT1-mediated IFN responses. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) binding may be a CHIKV vaccine attenuation mechanism as CHIKV-LR infectivity was not dependent upon GAG, while CHIKV-181/25 was highly dependent