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Oxidation of cardiac myoglobin in vivo by sodium nitrite or hydroxylamine.

A non-vascularized fish heart model was used to assess the oxidation of cardiac myoglobin in vivo by compounds known to cause methemoglobinemia. Buffalo sculpin (Enophrys bison) were cannulated from the afferent branchial artery to permit repeated blood sampling and injected intraperitoneally with sodium nitrite, hydroxylamine or aniline. Methemoglobin was formed by sublethal levels of sodium nitrite or hydroxylamine. For hydroxylamine, the time to peak effect was less than 1 h. For sodium nitrite, the onset was less rapid and the effect more prolonged. Aniline had no effect on hemoglobin at any concentration tested. Cardiac myoglobin, assayed at the time of peak effect on hemoglobin, was oxidized in a dose-dependent manner by sodium nitrite or hydroxylamine. At high doses of sodium nitrite (50 and 100 mg/kg), the oxidation of myoglobin exceeded that of hemoglobin. The reverse was true of hydroxylamine at all concentrations tested. This study suggests that possibility that cardiac myoglobin is oxidized in occupational or other exposures to sodium nitrite, hydroxylamine and related compounds.

Animals↗

Comparative oxygen affinity of fish and mammalian myoglobins.

Myoglobins from rat, coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), buffalo sculpin (Enophrys bison) hearts, and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) red skeletal muscle were partially purified and their O2 binding affinities determined. Commercially prepared sperm whale myoglobin was employed as an internal standard. Tested at 20 degrees C, myoglobins from salmon and sculpin bound O2 with lower affinity than myoglobins from the rat or sperm whale. Oxygen binding studies at 12 degrees C and 37 degrees C suggest that this difference is adaptive, permitting myoglobins from cold-adapted fish to function at physiologically relevant temperatures. Taken together, purification and O2 binding data obtained in this study reveal a previously unrecognized diversity of myoglobin structure and function.

Animals↗

Evolutionary histories of highly repeated DNA families among the Artiodactyla (Mammalia).

Six highly repeated DNA families were analyzed using Southern blotting and fluorescence in situ hybridization in a comparative study of 46 species of artiodactyls belonging to seven of the eight extant taxonomic families. Two of the repeats, the dispersed bovine-Pst family and the localized 1.715 component, were found to have the broadest taxonomic distributions, being present in all pecoran ruminants (Giraffidae, Cervidae, Antilocapridae, and Bovidae), indicating that these repeats may be 25-40 million years old. Different 1.715 restriction patterns were observed in different taxonomic families, indicating that independent concerted evolution events have homogenized different motifs in different lineages. The other four satellite arrays were restricted to the Bovini and sometimes to the related Boselaphini and Tragelaphini. Results reveal that among the two compound satellites studied, the two components of the 1.711a originated simultaneously, whereas the two components of the 1.711b originated at two different historical times, perhaps as many as 15 million years apart. Systematic conclusions support the monophyly of the infraorder Pecora, the monophyly of the subfamily Bovinae (containing the Boselaphini, Bovini, and Tragelaphini), an inability to resolve any interrelationships among the other tribes of bovids, paraphyly of the genus Bos with respect to Bison, and a lack of molecular variation among two morphologically and ecologically distinct subspecies of African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer cafer and S. c. nanus). Cytogenetically, a reduction in diploid chromosome numbers through centric fusion in derived karyotypes is accompanied by a loss of centromeric satellite DNA. The nilgai karyotype contains an apparent dicentric chromosome as evidenced by the sites of 1.715 hybridization. Telomeric sequences have been translocated to the centromeres without concomitant chromosomal rearrangement in Thompson's gazelle.

Animals↗

Ancient specimens and DNA contamination: a case study from the 12S rRNA gene sequence of the "Linh Duong" bovid (Pseudonovibos spiralis).

In 1993, several unusual horn sheaths, collected in the South of Vietnam, were regarded as evidence for a new mammal species, Pseudonovibos spiralis. However, the taxonomic status of P. spiralis remains a highly controversial subject: firstly, it has been related to three different groups of the family Bovidae: Antilopini (gazelles), Bovini (oxen, bisons, and buffaloes), and Caprini sensu lato (goats, sheep and allies). Secondly, certain horns have been shown to be faked. Most recently, it has been suggested, on the basis of 12S rRNA gene sequences, that P. spiralis was a new species of buffalo. I demonstrate here that this conclusion was inaccurate, and base this on the grounds that: (1) the putative sequence of P. spiralis is shown to be a chimera obtained from three different species: Bos taurus, Bubalus bubalis and Saiga tatarica, and (2) several factors indicate that the specimen used was not authentic. This new study confirms earlier suggestions that the horns used to formally describe P. spiralis were bogus and were in fact derived from the horns of domesticated cattle (Bos taurus). The data suggest that P. spiralis never existed.

Animals↗

Evidence of earliest human occurrence in Europe: the site of Pirro Nord (Southern Italy).

Some flint lithic artifacts were discovered in the fissure fillings of the well-known Pirro Nord site (Apulia, Southern Italy). The lithic industry, composed by three cores and some flakes, has been found to be associated to an Early Pleistocene vertebrate fossil assemblage. The fossil association contains a wide range of micromammals, including Allophaiomys ruffoi and Episoriculus gibberodon and large mammals including Bison degiulii and Equus altidens together with African elements as the gelada baboon Theropithecus and the saber-toothed cat Megantereon whitei. It defines the latest Villafranchian chronological unit (Pirro Nord Faunal Unit) in the Western European mammal biochronology. The lithic industry of Pirro Nord represents the oldest occurrence of the genus Homo in Europe as it is attributable to a chronological interval between 1.3 and 1.7 Ma. This supports the hypothesis that the genus Homo, with Oldowaian technology, extended its range in Europe, probably from western Asia, during the first half of the Early Pleistocene. The new discovery from Pirro Nord changes the chronology of the first arrival of hominids in Europe and offers new perspectives in the debate about the human dispersal in the Early Pleistocene.

Animals↗

SINE retrotransposition during the evolution of the Pecoran ruminants.

SINE retrotransposition events have proven their value as phylogenetic markers in several eukaryotic taxa at different taxonomic levels. The genomes of ruminants contain three related SINE elements, Bov-tA, Bov-A2, and Bov-B. To estimate the time points of retrotransposition of individual copies of these SINEs, we designed PCR primers on database sequences containing SINE insertions in cattle, sheep, or goat genomes and tested for the presence of these copies in the genomes of other ruminants. It was checked by sequencing whether length variation of the PCR products reflected a SINE retrotransposition. One Bov-B and nine Bov-tA insertions were shared by cattle, sheep, goat, and giraffe, indicating an early retrotransposition event before the radiation of the Pecora, while three other Bov-tA and two Bov-B elements were apparently inserted later. The ruminant alpha-lactalbumine gene contains a hotspot of early and more recent Bov-tA insertions, a Bov-tA replacement as well as a recent Bov-B insertion. Three Bov-A2 insertions were found to be shared only by the Bovidae, the Bovini, and the Bos and Bison species, respectively, indicating that most Bov-A2 insertions are relatively recent. The time elapsed since the retrotransposition was also reflected in the degeneration of the direct repeats that flank SINE inserts. We suggest that retrotransposition of SINEs may serve as phylogenetic markers in the ruminant families, subfamilies, and even tribes. In addition, sequencing of SINE insertions revealed several other unique deletions/insertions that also may be informative for phylogenetic reconstructions of ruminants.

Animals↗

Mutation and recombination in cattle satellite DNA: a feedback model for the evolution of satellite DNA repeats.

The cattle genome contains several distinct centromeric satellites with interrelated evolutionary histories. We compared these satellites in Bovini species that diverged 0.2 to about 5 Myr ago. Quantification of hybridization signals by phosphor imaging revealed a large variation in the relative amounts of the major satellites. In the genome of water buffalo this has led to the complete deletion of satellite III. Comparative sequencing and PCR-RFLP analysis of satellites IV, 1.711a, and 1.711b from the related Bos and Bison species revealed heterogeneities in 0.5 to 2% of the positions, again with variations in the relative amounts of sequence variants. Restriction patterns generated by double digestions suggested a recombination of sequence variants. Our results are compatible with a model of the life history of satellites during which homogeneity of interacting repeat units is both cause and consequence of the rapid turnover of satellite DNA. Initially, a positive feedback loop leads to a rapid saltatory amplification of homogeneous repeat units. In the second phase, mutations inhibit the interaction of repeat units and coexisting sequence variants amplify independently. Homogenization by the spreading of one of the variants is prevented by recombination and the satellite is eventually outcompeted by another, more homogeneous tandem repeat sequence.

Animals↗

Differential transcription of ovine herpesvirus 2 genes in lymphocytes from reservoir and susceptible species.

Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) is a lymphotropic gammaherpesvirus that asymptomatically infects most sheep, but causes malignant catarrhal fever in cattle, bison, pigs and deer. There is no permissive cell culture system but OvHV-2-infected T lymphocytes can be cultured from diseased animals. We showed that the OvHV-2 genome was in a circular conformation in sheep peripheral blood mononuclear cells and that the latency-associated ORF73 was transcribed, while expression of the productive cycle genes ORF9 (DNA polymerase) and ORF50 (R-transactivator) was barely detectable, suggestive of latency. Doxorubicin treatment of these cells induced the appearance of linear viral DNA and transcription of productive cycle genes along with several viral unique genes. In contrast, cultured T cells from diseased cattle and rabbits contained a mixture of circular and linear genome configurations indicative of a mixture of latently- and productively-infected cells. Most of the OvHV-2 unique genes were transcribed in these cells but ORF50 expression was only seen after doxorubicin treatment indicating a 'leaky' latent pattern of gene expression. 5-azacytidine treatment increased the proportion of circular DNA and inhibited the expression of most of the OvHV-2 unique genes except Ov2.5 (vIL-10) and Ov4.5 (Bcl-2 homologue) in the cattle cell line. These studies provide key insights into the differences in OvHV-2 gene expression in cells from reservoir and susceptible species and, for the first time, an in vitro system for studying the latent and productive phases of the OvHV-2 virus life cycle.

Animals↗

The amino acid sequence of topi pancreatic ribonuclease.

Pancreatic tissue from topi (Damaliscus korrigum) contains three ribonuclease components in a ratio of 8:22:70. Two components are glycosidated, whereas the third one does not contain carbohydrate. The amino acid sequence of topi ribonuclease A was deduced from a tryptic digest of the performic acid-oxidized protein. Peptides were positioned by homology with other bovid ribonucleases. Only peptides that differed in amino acid composition from the corresponding peptides of bovine ribonuclease were sequenced. The evidence obtained for the sequence of residues 67-73 is incomplete. Among the bovid ribonucleases (cow, bison, eland, sheep, goat and gnu), topi ribonuclease shows the closest resemblance with sheep and goat ribonucleases; except that the glutamic acid residue at position 103 in the ribonucleases from sheep and goat is substituted by a lysine residue in topi. Topi ribonucleases A and B differ only in the presence of carbohydrate attached to asparagine 34.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A polymorphic satellite sequence maps to the pericentric region of the bovine Y chromosome.

Exploiting a serendipitously observed bovine male-specific signal, generated by the mouse pSP64.2.5EI minisatellite probe, we have cloned a bovine (Bos taurus) Y-specific sequence: btDYZ-1. This sequence is composed of 60 tandem repetitions of a motif consisting of two parts: a 40-bp-long unit, showing a mean divergence of 27% between repeats, separated from the next repeat by a TG-rich stretch varying in length between 12 and 63 bp. The number of copies of this repeated motif has been estimated at 6 X 10(4) per male genome. As a consequence, the corresponding satellite, DYZ-1, might represent approximately 1/20 of the bovine Y chromosome. btDYZ-1 has been mapped by in situ hybridization to the pericentric region of the Y chromosome. It is characterized by a substantial genetic polymorphism and has been shown to be conserved within the Bos and Bison genera of the Bovinae subfamily. This sequence is being used to develop a sexing procedure for bovine preimplantation embryos based on the polymerase chain reaction.

Animals↗

The epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis infections in animals and man: a review.

Tuberculosis is primarily a respiratory disease and transmission of infection within and between species is mainly by the airborne route. Mycobacterium bovis, the cause of bovine-type tuberculosis, has an exceptionally wide host range. Susceptible species include cattle, humans, non-human primates, goats, cats dogs, pigs, buffalo, badgers, possums, deer and bison. Many susceptible species, including man, are spillover hosts in which infection is not self-maintaining. In countries where there is transmission of infection from endemically infected wildlife populations to cattle or other farmed animals, eradication is not feasible and control measures must be applied indefinitely. Possible methods of limiting spread of infection from wildlife to cattle including the use of vaccines are outlined. The usefulness of DNA fingerprinting of M. bovis strains as an epidemiological tool and of BCG vaccination of humans and cattle as a control measure are reviewed. The factors determining susceptibility to infection and clinical disease, and the infectiousness of infected hosts and transmission of infection, are detailed. Reports of the epidemiology of M. bovis infections in man and a variety of animal species are reviewed. M. bovis infection was recognised as a major public health problem when this organism was transmitted to man via milk from infected cows. The introduction of pasteurization helped eliminate this problem. Those occupational groups working with M. bovis infected cattle or deer, on the farm or in the slaughter house, are more likely to develop pulmonary disease than alimentary disease. In recent years, tuberculosis in farmed cervidae has become a disease of economic as well as public health importance in several countries. Nowadays, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with a greatly increased risk of overt disease in humans infected with Myobacterium tuberculosis. It is believed this increased risk also occurs in the case of M. bovis infections in humans.

Animals↗

Morphological evidence of marine adaptations in human kidneys.

Amongst primates, kidneys normally exhibiting lobulated, multipyramidal, medullas is a unique attribute of the human species. Although, kidneys naturally multipyramidal in their medullary morphology are rare in terrestrial mammals, kidneys with lobulated medullas do occur in: elephants, bears, rhinoceroses, bison, cattle, pigs, and the okapi. However, kidneys characterized with multipyramidal medullas are common in aquatic mammals and are nearly universal in marine mammals. To avoid the deleterious effects of saline water dehydration, marine mammals have adaptively thickened the medullas of their kidneys--which enhances their ability to concentrate excretory salts in the urine. However, the lobulation of the kidney's medullary region in marine mammals appears to be an adaptation to expand the surface area between the medulla and the enveloping outer cortex in order to increase the volume of marine dietary induced hypertonic plasma that can be immediately processed for the excretion of excess salts and nitrogenous waste. A phylogenetic review of freshwater aquatic mammals suggest that most, if not all, nonmarine aquatic mammals inherited the medullary pyramids of their kidneys from ancestors who originally inhabited, or frequented, marine environments. So this suggest that most, if not all, aquatic mammals exhibiting kidneys with lobulated medullas are either marine adapted--or are descended from marine antecedents. Additionally, a phylogenetic review of nonhuman terrestrial mammals possessing kidneys with multipyramidal medullas suggest that bears, elephants and possibly rhinoceroses, also, inherited their lobulated medullas from semiaquatic marine ancestors. The fact that several terrestrial mammalian species of semiaquatic marine ancestry exhibit kidneys with multipyramidal medullas, may suggest that humans could have, also, inherited the lobulated medullas of their kidneys from coastal marine ancestors. And a specialized marine diet in ancient human ancestry could, also, explain the reactivation and enumeration of corporeal eccrine sweat glands and the copious secretion of salt tears. The substantial loss of genetic variation in humans relative to other hominoid primates, combined with the apparent isolation of early Pliocene human ancestors from particular retroviruses that infected all other African primate species, may suggest that such a semiaquatic marine phase, during the emergence of Homo, may have occurred on an island off the coast of Africa during the early Pliocene.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Anaplasma infection in free-ranging Iberian red deer in the region of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

Organisms in the genus Anaplasma are obligate intracellular pathogens that multiply in both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. The type species, Anaplasma marginale, causes bovine anaplasmosis and infects erythrocytes of the vertebrate host and undergoes a complex developmental cycle in ticks which serve as biological vectors. Infected cattle, wild ruminants and ticks can all serve as reservoirs of A. marginale. In this study, hunter killed Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) from the region of Castilla-La Mancha in southwestern Spain were tested for Anaplasma infection. We found that 10% of the deer examined were seropositive for Anaplasma. Three A. marginale strains were subsequently obtained from salivary glands of Hyalomma marginatum that were removed from these deer, and the sequence of the major surface protein (msp)4 gene was determined for each strain and used for phylogenetic studies. Maximum parsimony analyses of msp4 sequences from H. marginatum ticks in comparison with New World cattle and bison isolates reported previously, suggested different origins for these Spanish A. marginale strains. The results of this study demonstrated that Iberian red deer are naturally infected with Anaplasma, and may therefore serve as a wildlife reservoir of the pathogen. Although the link between deer infection and the strains of A. marginale identified in ticks was not established, H. marginatum and Rhipicephalus bursa were identified as potential biological vectors for A. marginale in this region and may effect transmission of A. marginale between deer and cattle populations.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Evidence from DNA that the mysterious 'linh duong' (Pseudonovibos spiralis) is not a new bovid.

In 1993, several horns of an unknown mammal were collected in the south of Vietnam. Due to the unusual characteristics of its horns, the 'linh duong', as named by Vietnamese hunters, was quickly described as belonging to a new monospecific genus of bovid, i.e. Pseudonovibos spiralis Peter & Feiler, 1994. The taxonomic status of Pseudonovibos was a highly controversial subject, and it has been suggested that this enigmatic species may be related to three different groups of Bovidae: Antilopini (gazelles), Bovini (cattle, bisons, buffaloes), and Caprini sensu lato (goats, sheep and allies). To assess the phylogenetic relationships of the linh duong within the family Bovidae, two different DNA markers, the nuclear lactoferrin and the mitochondrial cytochrome b genes, were sequenced from bone samples of four trophies collected during 1925 in Indochina. Results show that the mysterious horns of linh duong belong to domestic cattle (Bos taurus). Thus, the linh duong is not a new mammal and the scientific name Pseudonovibos spiralis should be abandoned.

Animals↗

Acetogenic coccoid spore-forming bacteria isolated from the rumen.

Thirteen strains of a new acetogenic bacterium were isolated from the rumen contents of lambs, llamas and bisons. This paper is the first report of Gram-positive coccoid spore-forming bacteria occurring in chains and able to use H2 + CO2 as energy source and produce acetate from this gas mixture. One of them, chosen as the reference strain for its efficiency in utilizing H2/CO2 likely via the acetyl-CoA pathway, was characterized in detail. The G + C ratio of the DNA of the organism was 46.5 mol%. The temperature and pH optimum were 37 degrees-40 degrees C and 6.3-6.8, respectively. Numerous organic substrates including some o-methylate aromatic compounds were used heterotrophically. The full 16S rRNA gene sequence was determined. The phylogeny, physiology, morphology and numerous features described here are sufficiently different from those of any bacteria described today to justify the definition of a new species. The name "New acetogenic bacterium" is temporarily proposed, awaiting a future taxonomic revision of the genus Clostridium.

Acetic Acid↗

Estimation of accumulated dose of radiation by the method of ESR-spectrometry of dental enamel of mammals.

ESR-spectrometry was used to investigate radiation-induced paramagnetic centers in enamel of mammals: carnivores (polar bear and fox), ungulates (reindeer, European bison, moose), and man. Values at half the microwave power saturation of the radiation signal, P1/2, evaluated at room temperature, was found to range from 16 to 26 mW for animals and man. A new approach to discrimination of the radiation induced signal from the total ESR spectrum of reindeer enamel is proposed. 'Dose-response' dependencies of enamel of different species mammals were measured within the dose range from 0.48 up to 10.08 Gy. Estimations of 'radiosensitivity' enamel of carnivores and ungulates showed good agreement with radiosensitivity enamel of man by ESR method.

Adult↗

Changes in the transcription pattern of flax cotyledons after inoculation with flax rust.

The rate of (32)P incorporation into RNA fractions of flax cotyledons (Linum usitatissimum L. var. Bison) was found to increase two- to three-fold by 48h after inoculation with flax rust [Melampsora lini (Pers.) Lev., race no. 3]. This was accompanied by a change in the nucleotide composition of the newly transcribed sodium chloride-soluble RNA fraction. A comparison of the nucleotide composition of the RNA synthesized in the host-parasite complex at different stages of development indicated the preferential synthesis of one or more molecular species of RNA with a high A+U/G+C ratio at a relatively early stage of infection. Treatment of healthy plants with indol-3-ylacetic acid also resulted in a substantial stimulation in the rate of (32)P incorporation into RNA but this was not accompanied by a detectable change in the nucleotide ratios of the newly synthesized RNA. These results suggest that the synthesis of one of more additional RNA species or the augmented synthesis of certain species of RNA may be a specific phenomenon elicited by host-pathogen interaction.

Adenosine Monophosphate↗

Review article: Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis as one cause of Crohn's disease.

A number of theories regarding the aetiology of Crohn's disease have been proposed. Diet, infections, other unidentified environmental factors and immune disregulation, all working under the influence of a genetic predisposition, have been viewed with suspicion. Many now believe that Crohn's disease is a syndrome caused by several aetiologies. The two leading theories are the infectious and autoimmune theories. The leading infectious candidate is Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Mycobacterium paratuberculosis), the causative agent of Johne's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease in a variety of mammals including cattle, sheep, deer, bison, monkeys and chimpanzees. The evidence to support M. paratuberculosis infection as a cause of Crohn's disease is mounting rapidly. Technical advances have allowed the identification and/or isolation of M. paratuberculosis from a significantly higher proportion of Crohn's disease tissues than from controls. These methodologies include: (i) improved culture techniques; (ii) development of M. paratuberculosis-specific polymerase chain reaction assays; (iii) development of a novel in situ hybridization method; (iv) efficacy of macrolide and anti-mycobacterial drug therapies; and (v) discovery of Crohn's disease-specific seroreactivity against two specific M. paratuberculosis recombinant antigens. The causal role for M. paratuberculosis in Crohn's disease and correlation of infection with specific stratification(s) of the disorder need to be investigated. The data implicating Crohn's as an autoimmune disorder may be viewed in a manner that supports the mycobacterial theory. The mycobacterial theory and the autoimmune theory are complementary; the first deals with the aetiology of the disorder, the second deals with its pathogenesis. Combined therapies directed against a mycobacterial aetiology and inflammation may be the optimal treatment of the disease.

Animals↗