Role of assisted reproduction biotechniques in the transmission of bovine viral diarrhea virus

Las biotécnicas de reproducción asistida han adquirido importancia comercial en los últimos años. Asociado a estas técnicas surge el interrogante sobre su rol en la posible transmisión de agentes infecciosos vía semen y ovocitos utilizados como material de partida. La elevada prevalencia y capacidad de causar infecciones reproductivas del virus de la Diarrea Viral Bovina (vDVB) lo ha convertido en un problema potencial en la producción in vitro de embriones. La presente revisión aborda los antecedentes previos sobre la temática y muestra resultados propios sobre las vías de infección del virus de la Diarrea Viral Bovina (vDVB) asociadas a las técnicas de producción in vitro (PIV) y su impacto en la reproducción bovina. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran alteraciones en el desarrollo folicular ovárico asociadas a infecciones persistentes por vDVB. Estas alteraciones fueron reflejadas en la baja eficiencia obtenida en la fecundación in vitro (FIV) como resultado de la interacción temprana entre el virus y la línea germinal del ovario. Por otra parte, se determinó que el vDVB-no citopático (vDVB-ncp) puede atravesar la zona pelúcida de ovocitos bovinos infectados al inicio de la etapa de maduración in vitro (MIV). Este hallazgo pone en evidencia la importancia de controles sanitarios en los sistemas de producción in vitro basados en la comprensión de los riesgos de transmisión del virus a partir de semen y ovocitos. Asimismo, la asociación del vDVB con gametas fue demostrada cuando la FIV se realizó tanto con ovocitos como con semen de animales persistentemente infectados (PI), donde se observó una disminución en las tasas de división y desarrollo de embriones. La información presentada en este artículo de revisión aporta al conocimiento sobre las implicancias de infecciones por vDVB en los sistemas de PIV y su efecto en el desarrollo embrionario, como así también al impacto de la transmisión de la infección en el ganado bovino mediante técnicas de reproducción asistida.Biotechnical of assisted reproduction have become commercially important in recent years. Associated with these techniques the question about his possible role in the transmission of infectious agents via semen and oocytes used as starting material arises. The high prevalence and ability to cause reproductive infections of the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) has become a potential problem in the in vitro production embryos. This update addresses the previous data on the subject and shows own results on the ways of infection with bovine viral diarrhea (BVDV) associated with in vitro production techniques and their impact on the reproduction bovine. The results demonstrate changes in the ovarian follicular development associated with persistent BVDV infection. These changes were reflected in the low efficiency obtained in the in vitro fertilization as a result of early interaction between the virus and ovarian germ line. Moreover, it was determined that non-cytopathic BVDV can cross the zona pellucida of bovine oocytes infected at the beginning of the stage of in vitro maturation. This finding highlights the importance of to understand fully the risks of transmission of virus via semen and oocytes and appropriate quality assurances are used in in vitro production embryos systems (IVP). Likewise, the association of BVDV was demonstrated with gametes when IVF was performed with both types from animals infected persistent, where a decrease was observed in cleavage rates and embryo development. The information obtained in this review article contributes to knowledge about the implications of BVDV infections in IVP systems and its effect on embryonic development, as well as the impact of the transmission of infection in cattle by breeding techniques assisted.Fil: Gonzalez Altamiranda, Erika Analia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Kaiser, Germán Gustavo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Laboratorio de Biotecnología de la Reproduccion; ArgentinaFil: Odeón, Anselmo Carlos. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; Argentin

Upregulation of interferon-alpha gene in bovine embryos produced in vitro in response to experimental infection with noncytophatic bovine-viral-diarrhea virus

In-vitro fertilization is a routine livestock-breeding technique widely used around the world. Several studies have reported the interaction of bovine viral-diarrhea virus (BVDV) with gametes and in-vitro-produced (IVP) bovine embryos. Since, gene expression in BVDV-infected IVP bovine embryos is scarcely addressed. The aim of this work was to evaluate the differential expression of genes involved in immune and inflammatory response. Groups of 20–25 embryos on Day 6 (morula stage) were exposed (infected) or not (control) to an NCP-BVDV strain in SOF medium. After 24 h, embryos that reached expanded blastocyst stage were washed. Total RNA of each embryo group was extracted to determine the transcription levels of 9 specific transcripts related with antiviral and inflammatory response by SYBR Green real time quantitative (RT-qPCR). Culture media and an aliquot of the last embryos wash on Day 7 were analyzed by titration and virus isolation, respectively. A conventional PCR confirmed BVDV presence in IVP embryos. A significantly higher expression of interferon-α was observed in blastocysts exposed to NCP-BVDV compared to the controls (p < 0.05). In this study, the upregulation of INFα and TLR7 genes involved in inflammatory and immune response in BVDV-infected IVP bovine embryos is a new finding in this field. This differential expression suggest that embryonic cells could function in a manner like immune cells by recognizing and responding early to interaction with viral pathogens. These results provide new insights into the action of BVDV on the complex molecular pathways controlling bovine early embryonic development.Fil: Gonzalez Altamiranda, Erika Analia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible.; ArgentinaFil: Arias, María E.. Universidad de La Frontera. Núcleo Científico y Tecnológico en Recursos Naturales; ChileFil: Kaiser, Germán Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible.; ArgentinaFil: Mucci, Nicolás Crescencio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible.; ArgentinaFil: Odeón, Anselmo C.. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Felmer Dörner, Ricardo Nicolás. Universidad de La Frontera. Núcleo Científico y Tecnológico en Recursos Naturales; Chil

Assessing coupling dynamics from an ensemble of time series

Finding interdependency relations between (possibly multivariate) time series provides valuable knowledge about the processes that generate the signals. Information theory sets a natural framework for non-parametric measures of several classes of statistical dependencies. However, a reliable estimation from information-theoretic functionals is hampered when the dependency to be assessed is brief or evolves in time. Here, we show that these limitations can be overcome when we have access to an ensemble of independent repetitions of the time series. In particular, we gear a data-efficient estimator of probability densities to make use of the full structure of trial-based measures. By doing so, we can obtain time-resolved estimates for a family of entropy combinations (including mutual information, transfer entropy, and their conditional counterparts) which are more accurate than the simple average of individual estimates over trials. We show with simulated and real data that the proposed approach allows to recover the time-resolved dynamics of the coupling between different subsystems

Physical and spectroscopic properties of pure C2H4 and CH4:C2H4 ices

[EN] Physical and spectroscopic properties of ices of C2H4 and CH4:C2H4 mixtures with 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 ratios have been investigated at 30 K. Two laboratories are involved in this work. In one of them, the density and refractive index of the samples have been measured by using a cryogenic quartz microbalance and laser interferometric techniques. In the other one, IR spectra have been recorded in the near- and mid-infrared regions, and band shifts with respect to the pure species, band strengths of the main bands, and the optical constants in both regions have been determined. Previous data on ethylene and the mixtures studied here were scarce. For methane, both the wavenumbers and band strengths have been found to follow a regular pattern of decrease with increasing dilution, but no pattern has been detected for ethylene vibrations. The method employed for the preparation of the samples, by vapour deposition under vacuum, is thought to be adequate to mimic the structure of astrophysical ices. Possible astrophysical implications, especially by means of the optical constants reported here, have been discussed.This work has been funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain under grants FIS2013-48087-C2-1P, FIS2013-48087-C2-2P and AYA2015-71975-REDT 'Polvo Cosmico' by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion of Spain under grant CDS2009-00038 and by the European Research Council project ERC-2013-Syg 610256 'Nanocosmos'. GM acknowledges MINECO PhD grant BES-2014-069355. Our skillful technicians C. Santonja, M. A. Moreno, A. Gonzalez and J. Rodriguez are also gratefully acknowledged.Molpeceres, G.; Satorre Aznar, MÁ.; Ortigoso, J.; Zanchet, A.; Luna Molina, R.; Millán Verdú, C.; Escribano, R.... (2017). Physical and spectroscopic properties of pure C2H4 and CH4:C2H4 ices. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 466(2):1894-1902. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw3166S18941902466

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Box d'estudi i passadís de la zona de silenci de la Biblioteca del Campus del Baix Llobregat

Fotografies realitzades per encàrrec del Servei de Biblioteques, Publicacions i Arxius per tal d'il·lustrar l'ús del servei i les biblioteques de la universitat. I per tal de poder usar les imatges en diferents àmbits: difusió de la institució, memòries i altres publicacions

Effect of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus on the ovarian functionality and in vitro reproductive performance of persistently infected heifers

The aim of this study was to study the effect of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus on the reproductive female tract by means of analyzing the ovarian follicular population of persistently infected (PI) heifers, and evaluating the performance of oocytes procured form those heifers in in vitro fertilization procedures. Seven BVDV PI Aberdeen Angus and British crossbred heifers ranging from 18 to 36 months of age were spayed and their ovaries used for viral isolation, microscopic examination, and in vitro fertilization procedures. Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus was detected from the follicular fluid and sera of all PI heifers. Microscopic examination of the ovaries from PI heifers showed a significant drop in the number of follicles cortical regions, compared with controls. A comparative analysis of the stages of follicular development showed a significant decrease in the number of primordial and tertiary follicles in the cortical regions of ovaries from PI heifers. Viral antigen was detected by immunohistochemistry, and was widely distributed throughout the ovarian tissues. There were differences in the rate of cleavage and embryo development between oocytes obtained from the ovaries of control animals and PI heifers. Furthermore, two developed embryos obtained from oocytes from one of the PI heifers were positive to BVDV, as well as two media from in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. The results of this study demonstrate that BVDV PI heifers exhibit alterations in follicular population through of the early interaction between the virus and germ cell line affecting directly the mechanisms involved in the ontogenesis of the ovary.Fil: Gonzalez Altamiranda, Erika Analia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Kaiser, Germán Gustavo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Laboratorio de Biotecnología de la Reproduccion; ArgentinaFil: Mucci, N.C.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Laboratorio de Biotecnología de la Reproduccion; ArgentinaFil: Verna, Andrea Elizabeth. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Campero, Carlos Manuel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Odeón, Anselmo Carlos. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentin

Clinical and reproductive consequences of using BVDV contaminated semen in artificial insemination in a beef herd in Argentina

The current report was prompted by an atypical outbreak of mucosal disease that occurred in a beef herd in the southwestern part of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, where a total of 9/41 (21.9%) yearling bulls died. Blood samples from 73 bulls and 189 heifers were tested for evidence of persistent BVDV infection with Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV). Non-cytopathic BVDV was isolated from 7 (9.6%) 24- to 36-month-old bulls, and 3 (1.6%) 36-month-old heifers. Non-cytopathic BVDV was also detected in the seminal plasma of three of six persistently infected (PI) bulls. Furthermore, a 171 bp genomic fragment of BVDV was consistently detected by nested RT-PCR in one of the two samples of the commercial semen used for artificial insemination, indicating that this semen could be a possible source of infection for the whole herd. To evaluate the possible reproductive consequences of PI heifers and bulls, ovaries and semen were obtained from PI cattle for in vitro assays. The in vitro fertilization of oocytes with semen from PI bulls was associated with decreased cleavage and embryo development rates. Additionally, non-cytopathic BVDV was isolated from the follicular fluid of PI heifers. Genetic typing revealed that all isolates BVDV from the present study had a high percentage of homology and that all of the fragments from the RT-PCR clearly fit with the BVDV 1b cluster. These findings confirm the negative impact that BVDV can have on the reproductive performance of cattle and the importance of applying the proper sanitary controls to minimize the risk of BVDV infection.Fil: Gonzalez Altamiranda, Erika Analia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Kaiser, Germán Gustavo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; ArgentinaFil: Weber, Natalia Alejandra. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; ArgentinaFil: Leunda, Maria Rosa. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; ArgentinaFil: Pecora, Andrea. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; Argentina. Instituto de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Malacari, Dario Amilcar. Instituto de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Morán, Oscar Daniel. Otra; ArgentinaFil: Campero, C. M.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; ArgentinaFil: Odeón, Anselmo Carlos. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Área de Investigación en Producción y Sanidad Animal; Argentin

Reproductive Characteristics in Old and Young Subfertile Mares: Are They Really Different?

Physiological and pathological mechanisms that determine subfertility (pregnancy failure, irregular cycles, and abnormalities in reproductive tract) in old mares (OM) have being studied by many authors. However, some young mares also share this reproduction condition although no previous reports have being published. We decided to investigate reproductive parameters of young subfertile mares (YSM) in order to understand the basis of their reproductive behavior. Forty-nine subfertile mares were classified and separated into 2 groups: YSM (3–10 years old; n = 28) and OM (13–23 years old; n = 21). Different number of cycles (1–8) was used for data analysis on the embryo recovery rate (ERR), interovulatory interval (IOI), multiple ovulation rate (MOR) and plasmatic progesterone. Embryo quality was evaluated by gene expression through RNAm analysis. Effluent samples were taken for bacteriological and cytological evaluation and endometrial biopsies were performed to evaluate the presence of inflammatory cells and endometrial progesterone receptors (PR). There was no significant differences in ERR (P =.1230) on the percentage of each embryonic stage found on the different days of flushing (P >.05); on embryo gene expression (P >.05); on MOR (P =.1218); and on plasmatic progesterone at day 8 PO (P =.1230). However, differences were found on the percentage of positive cytologies (P =.0122) and bacteriological cultures (P =.0023); the amount of mononuclear cells in biopsies (P <.05) and distribution of PR on endometrial localization. In conclusion, YSM share some physiopathological mechanisms with OM that could explain their reproductive performance's similarities.Fil: Marinone, Ana Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Mucci, Nicolás. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Laboratorio de Biotecnología de la Reproduccion; ArgentinaFil: Kaiser, Germán Gustavo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Laboratorio de Biotecnología de la Reproduccion; ArgentinaFil: Losinno, Luis. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Armendano, Joaquín. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Edgardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Mutto, Adrián Angel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Redolatti, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Cantatore, Sofia Ernestina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Herrera, Marcela Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Herrera, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Fumuso, Elida Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; Argentin