Consumption of endophyte-infected fescue seed during the dry period does not decrease milk production in the following lactation.

Ergot alkaloids in endophyte-infected grasses inhibit prolactin (PRL) secretion and may reduce milk production of cows consuming these grasses. We investigated the effects of consuming endophyte-infected fescue seed during late lactation and the dry period on mammary growth, differentiation, and milk production. Twenty-four multiparous Holstein cows were randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups. Starting at 90±4 d prepartum, cows were fed endophyte-free fescue seed (control; CON), endophyte-free fescue seed plus 3×/wk subcutaneous injections of bromocriptine (0.1mg/kg of body weight, positive control; BROMO), or endophyte-infected fescue seed (INF) as 10% of the diet on an as fed basis. Although milk yield of groups did not differ before treatment, at dry off (-60 d prepartum) INF and BROMO cows produced less milk than CON. Throughout the treatment period, basal concentrations of PRL and the prepartum increase in plasma PRL were reduced in INF and BROMO cows compared with CON cows. Three weeks after the end of treatment, circulating concentrations of PRL were equivalent across groups. In the subsequent lactation milk yield was not decreased; in fact, BROMO cows exhibited a 9% increase in milk yield relative to CON. Evaluation of mammary tissue during the dry period and the subsequent lactation, by quantitative histology and immunohistochemical analysis of proliferation markers and putative mammary stem or progenitor cell markers, indicated that feeding endophyte-infected fescue seed did not significantly affect mammary growth and development. Feeding endophyte-infected grasses during the dry period may permit effective utilization of feed resources without compromising milk production in the next lactation

Consumption of endophyte-infected fescue seed during the dry period does not decrease milk production in the following lactation

Ergot alkaloids in endophyte-infected grasses inhibit prolactin (PRL) secretion and may reduce milk production of cows consuming these grasses. We investigated the effects of consuming endophyte-infected fescue seed during late lactation and the dry period on mammary growth, differentiation, and milk production. Twenty-four multiparous Holstein cows were randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups. Starting at 90\ub14 d prepartum, cows were fed endophyte-free fescue seed (control; CON), endophyte-free fescue seed plus 3 7/wk subcutaneous injections of bromocriptine (0.1mg/kg of body weight, positive control; BROMO), or endophyte-infected fescue seed (INF) as 10% of the diet on an as fed basis. Although milk yield of groups did not differ before treatment, at dry off (-60 d prepartum) INF and BROMO cows produced less milk than CON. Throughout the treatment period, basal concentrations of PRL and the prepartum increase in plasma PRL were reduced in INF and BROMO cows compared with CON cows. Three weeks after the end of treatment, circulating concentrations of PRL were equivalent across groups. In the subsequent lactation milk yield was not decreased; in fact, BROMO cows exhibited a 9% increase in milk yield relative to CON. Evaluation of mammary tissue during the dry period and the subsequent lactation, by quantitative histology and immunohistochemical analysis of proliferation markers and putative mammary stem or progenitor cell markers, indicated that feeding endophyte-infected fescue seed did not significantly affect mammary growth and development. Feeding endophyte-infected grasses during the dry period may permit effective utilization of feed resources without compromising milk production in the next lactation

Nature of extensional accretionary orogens

Extensional accretionary orogens form by creation and destruction of large arc/back arc basin systems, generated by extension and sediment infilling during prolonged slab retreat, but episodically thickened by basin inversion during short-lived (~10 Ma), orogenic contraction events. They are characterised by widespread, syntectonic, silicic, and minor basaltic magmatism, regional low-P, variable-T metamorphism, and by the enigmatic development of rift basins throughout the peak orogenic history. These orogens have features associated with retreating subduction boundaries and contrast markedly with those formed by terrane accretion, such as the Canadian Cordillera. The Paleozoic Lachlan orogen example from eastern Australia shows that Silurian-Devonian synorogenic basalts and gabbros were intimately associated with rifting and granite emplacement, but they formed during a period of repeated orogenic contraction. Moreover, primitive basaltic compositions have oceanic affinities, indicating generation under lithosphere that was <30 km thick. Only in the final stages of orogeny (Middle Devonian), after at least three major crustal contraction events, did the lithosphere thicken to ~80 km or more, leading to stabilization of the orogen. Extensional accretionary orogens grow by magmatic and sedimentary additions during extension, caused mainly by asthenospheric melting and rift basin formation/sedimentation, augmented by localized and repeated crustal thickening events. Orogenic contraction leaves an indelible structural imprint which may obliterate the prior-formed extensional structures. The orogen remains hot, despite repeated thickening events, because of ongoing extension, which promotes advective heat transfer into the crust by basalt injection and crustal melting. Rapid switching to contraction, possibly during intermittent arrival of buoyant oceanic plateaus, inverts the thermally softened basins and forms localized fold-thrust belts in which the penetrative foliations record the peak metamorphism. Their most diagnostic features are the presence of basaltic rocks and rift basins throughout the orogenic contraction history

Paleomagnetic data from the New England Orogen (eastern Australia) and implications for oroclinal bending

© 2015 Elsevier B.V..Orogenic curvatures (oroclines) are common in modern and ancient orogens, but the geodynamic driving forces of many oroclines remain controversial. Here we focus on the New England oroclines of eastern Australia, the formation of which had been previously broadly constrained to the Early-Middle Permian. This time interval encompasses periods of both back-arc extension (at ~ 300-280 Ma) and subsequent contractional deformation (Hunter-Bowen Orogeny) that commenced at ~ 270 Ma along the paleo-Pacific and Gondwanan subduction plate boundary. We present new paleomagnetic data from volcanic rocks that were extruded during the transition from extension to contraction (at ~ 272 Ma), and we show that the oroclinal structure must have formed prior to the emplacement of the volcanic rocks. Our results thus indicate that oroclinal bending in the southernmost New England Orogen has been completed prior to the onset of Middle Permian contractional deformation. It is therefore concluded that the oroclines have likely formed during back-arc extension, and that a major contribution to the orogenic curvature was driven by trench retreat