Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn : a review on its phytochemical screening and uses in animal husbandry and medicine

peer reviewe

Focused Microarray Analysis of Peripheral Mononuclear Blood Cells from Churg–Strauss Syndrome Patients

DNA diagnostics are useful but are hampered by difficult ethical issues. Moreover, it cannot provide enough information on the environmental factors that are important for pathogenesis of certain diseases. However, this is not a problem for RNA diagnostics, which evaluate the expression of the gene in question. We here report a novel RNA diagnostics tool that can be employed with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). To establish this tool, we identified 290 genes that are highly expressed in normal PBMCs but not in TIG-1, a normal human fibroblast cell. These genes were entitled PREP after predominantly expressed in PBMC and included 50 uncharacterized genes. We then conducted PREP gene-focused microarray analysis on PBMCs from seven cases of Churg–Strauss syndrome (CSS), which is a small-vessel necrotizing vasculitis. We found that PREP135 (coactosin-like protein), PREP77 (prosaposin), PREP191 (cathepsin D), PREP234 (c-fgr), and PREP136 (lysozyme) were very highly up-regulated in all seven CSS patients. Another 28 genes were also up-regulated, albeit more moderately, and three were down-regulated in all CSS patients. The nature of these up- and down-regulated genes suggest that the immune systems of the patients are activated in response to invading microorganisms. These observations indicate that focused microarray analysis of PBMCs may be a practical, useful, and low-cost bedside diagnostics tool

Diversité de la microflore initiale de la viande et sécurité sanitaire des consommateurs

La microflore initiale de la viande regroupe les germes survenus de l’animal vivant jusqu’à l’obtention de la carcasse c’est-à dire jusqu’à l’habillage mais avant lavage. Cet article décrit la diversité de cette microflore, les facteurs favorisant leur multiplication et leurs conséquences sur la santé des consommateurs. Les microorganismes de surface retrouvés immédiatement après abattage sur les carcasses ont été d’abord récapitulés. Les principaux indicateurs du respect des bonnes pratiques d’hygiène dans la filière viande ont été ensuite décrits, notamment, la Flore Aérobie Mésophile, Pseudomonas, les Enterobacteriaceae et E. coli. L’implication de l’activité de l’eau, de la température, du potentiel d’oxydoréduction et du pH dans le développement de la microflore initiale de la viande a été présentée. L’altération des viandes, les toxiinfections alimentaires et les conséquences technologiques issues du développement de cette microflore ont été décrites. Enfin, les caractéristiques des principaux germes pathogènes de la viande ont été décrites et les normes microbiologiques de la viande appliquées dans quelques pays ont été inventoriées.Mots clés: viande, microorganisme, altération, toxi-infection, normes

Evaluation du procédé d’abattage des bovins aux abattoirs de Cotonou-Porto- Novo au sud du Bénin

La viande est une denrée alimentaire hautement périssable dont la qualité hygiénique dépend de la contamination pendant les opérations d’abattage et de découpe. L’objectif de l’étude est d’évaluer le procédé d’abattage des bovins aux abattoirs de Cotonou-Porto-Novo au sud-Bénin. L’analyse du procédé d’abattage a été faite sur la base de la règle des cinq M. L’hygiène du procédé a été évaluée sur 60 carcasses et au cours dedeux périodes (répétition dans le temps). L’analyse du procédé a révélé que les pratiques courantes de production peuvent occasionner la contamination des carcasses par E. coli pathogène, Salmonella enterica,Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium bovis et Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Les charges microbiennes moyennes parpériode de prélèvement étaient respectivement de 3,0 ± 0,12 log UFC/cm² et 5,09 ± 0,16 log UFC/cm² pour la flore aérobie mésophile et 1,2 ± 0,11 log UFC/cm² et 1,73 ± 0,18 log UFC/cm² pour les entérobactériaceae. Unseul échantillon a révélé la présence de Salmonella sp. Les charges ont fortement varié selon la période de prélèvement (P<0,05). Conformément aux critères proposés dans la littérature, l’hygiène du procédé d’abattagepeut être considérée satisfaisante durant la première période d’étude et non satisfaisante durant la deuxième période.Mots clés: Abattoir, viande, hygiène, microbiologie, procédé, Bénin

Relationships between carcass traits and offal components in local poultry populations (gallus gallus) of Benin

peer reviewedObjectives : The current work was carried out to determine the relationships between live weight, carcass traits and the offal components traits in Holli, Fulani, Sahoue, North and Southe indigenous chicken ectoypes of Benin

Phenotypic characterisation and molecular polymorphism of indigenous poultry populations of the species Gallus gallus of Savannah and Forest ecotypes of Benin

The study of the phenotypic characterisation and molecular polymorphism of local chicken populations was carried out in Benin on 326 chickens of the Forest ecological area and 316 of the Savannah ecological area, all were 7 months old at least. The collection of blood for the molecular typing wasachieved on 121 indigenous chickens of which 60 from the Savannah ecological area and 61 from the Forest ecological area. The genotyping was carried out for 22 microsatellite loci. Weight and body measures of the Savannah chickens were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than those of the Forest chickens. In the Savannah ecological area, the most frequent plumage colours were the black (22.15%), the white (19.62%), the coppery black (7.59%) and the golden partridge (7.59%). In the Forest area, thefawn (15.34%), the black (10.43%), the white (6.8%), the silver white (6.8%) and the golden partridge (6.75%) were the dominant feather colours. Thus, phenotypic characterisation showed significant differences between Savannah and Forest local chickens. The FST calculated between the Savannah and Forest populations revealed a low genetic differentiation and the dendogram showed that Savannah and Forest chickens were quite intermingled. In conclusion, local populations from Savannah andForest area may be considered as ecotypes, but not as two distinct breeds

Comparison of growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of Benin indigenous chickens and Label Rouge (T55×SA51)

A study on growth performance, carcass traits and meat quality was carried out on Savannah and Forest  ecotype chicken of Benin, using Label Rouge (T55 X SA51) as a control genotype. All the animals were fed ad  libitum with three diets (starter, grower and layer feed). They were individually weighed at hatching and during the growing stage, and the daily feed intake was recorded. A sample of 12 males of each genetic type was  slaughtered for carcass characteristics. Sensory analysis was done on each genetic type after boiling or  roasting. The Label Rouge chickens were heavier than the local chickens at hatch (P<0.001). At the end of 40  weeks, the weight of the Label Rouge was double that of the Savannah ecotype and 2.8 times that of the Forest ecotype. The feed efficiency of the Label Rouge was higher than that of the local chickens (P<0.001). The  genetic type influenced tenderness and juiciness, with the local Savannah chicken being the most tender and  juiciest (P<0.001). However, the cooking method and the carcass cut influenced tenderness only. The overall assessment of the meat of the Label Rouge chickens was similar to that of the local chickens, whereas the  assessment of the meat was significantly lower for local chickens of Forest ecotype compared to the Savannah ecotype (P<0.001). The local chickens would therefore be suitable for improving traditional poultry production, whereas controlled crossbreeding programmes using Label Rouge could be recommended to improve local chicken weight.Key words: Growth, carcass, sensory characters, indigenous chicken, Label Rouge

Genopal™: A Novel Hollow Fibre Array for Focused Microarray Analysis

Expression profiling of target genes in patient blood is a powerful tool for RNA diagnosis. Here, we describe Genopal™, a novel platform ideal for efficient focused microarray analysis. Genopal™, which consists of gel-filled fibres, is advantageous for high-quality mass production via large-scale slicing of the Genopal™ block. We prepared two arrays, infectant and autoimmunity, that provided highly reliable data in terms of repetitive scanning of the same and/or distinct microarrays. Moreover, we demonstrated that Genopal™ had sensitivity sufficient to yield signals in short hybridization times (0.5 h). Application of the autoimmunity array to blood samples allowed us to identify an expression pattern specific to Takayasu arteritis based on the Spearman rank correlation by comparing the reference profile with those of several autoimmune diseases and healthy volunteers (HVs). The comparison of these data with those obtained by other methods revealed that they exhibited similar expression profiles of many target genes. Taken together, these data demonstrate that Genopal™ is an advantageous platform for focused microarrays with regard to its low cost, rapid results and reliable quality

Chum-RNA allows preparation of a high-quality cDNA library from a single-cell quantity of mRNA without PCR amplification

Linear RNA amplification using T7 RNA polymerase is useful in genome-wide analysis of gene expression using DNA microarrays, but exponential amplification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is still required for cDNA library preparation from single-cell quantities of RNA. We have designed a small RNA molecule called chum-RNA that has enabled us to prepare a single-cell cDNA library after four rounds of T7-based linear amplification, without using PCR amplification. Chum-RNA drove cDNA synthesis from only 0.49 femtograms of mRNA (730 mRNA molecules) as a substrate, a quantity that corresponds to a minor population of mRNA molecules in a single mammalian cell. Analysis of the independent cDNA clone of this library (6.6 × 105 cfu) suggests that 30-fold RNA amplification occurred in each round of the amplification process. The size distribution and representation of mRNAs in the resulting one-cell cDNA library retained its similarity to that of the million-cell cDNA library. The use of chum-RNA might also facilitate reactions involving other DNA/RNA modifying enzymes whose Michaelis constant (Km) values are around 1 mM, allowing them to be activated in the presence of only small quantities of substrate