The control of adaptive hypertrophy in the salt glands of geese and ducks.
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1. Factors controlling adaptive hypertrophy, which occurs when marine, or potentially marine, birds drink salt water, have been investigated in geese and ducks using changes in salt-weight weight, RNA and DNA contents as indices of this process. 2. Unilateral post-ganglionic denervation in geese prevented the changes in [RNA] and [RNA]:[DNA] that occurred in the intact gland of birds given salt water for 24 hr; denervation had no significant effect in birds on fresh water throughout. 3. Atropine treatment also prevented the adaptive changes in geese given salt water. 4. In ducks give 0.3 M-NaCl for 48 hr salt-gland weight, [RNA] and [RNA]:[DNA] increase markedly. Treatment of ducks drinking fresh water with large doses of corticosterone and mammalian ACTH for 48 hr had no significant effects on salt-gland weight, RNA or DNA; mammalian prolactin treatment for 48 hr significantly raised [RNA]. 5. No changes in the total amount of DNA in the glands were observed in these experiments, thus indicating that hyperplasia does not occur within 48 hr of a bird first drinking salt water. 6. It is concluded that adaptive hypertrophy is controlled by secretory nerves, and that hormones, if they play any part in this process, have a permissive or secondary role. It is suggested that hypertrophy and the maintenance of the secretory cells in the fully-adapted state may be obligatorily related to secretory activity induced by cholinergic secretory nerves. (+info)
Isolation and partial characterization of the gene for goose fatty acid synthase.
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Fatty acid synthase is regulated by diet and hormones, with regulation being primarily transcriptional. In chick embryo hepatocytes in culture, triiodothyronine stimulates accumulation of enzyme and transcription of the gene. Since the 5'-flanking region of this gene is likely involved in hormonal regulation of its expression, we have isolated and partially characterized an avian fatty acid synthase gene. A genomic DNA library was constructed in a cosmid vector and screened with cDNA clones that contained sequence complementary to the 3' end of goose fatty acid synthase mRNA. A genomic clone (approximately 35 kilobase pairs (kb] was isolated, and a 6.5-kb EcoRI fragment thereof contained DNA complementary to the 3' noncoding region of fatty acid synthase mRNA. Additional cosmid libraries were screened with 5' fragments of previously isolated genomic clones, resulting in the isolation of five overlapping cosmid DNAs. The entire region of cloned DNA spans approximately 105 kb. Exon-containing fragments were identified by hybridization with end-labeled poly(A)+ RNA and by hybridization of labeled exon-containing genomic DNA fragments to fatty acid synthase mRNA. A new set of cDNA clones spanning approximately 3.2 kb was isolated from a lambda-ZAP goose liver cDNA library using the 5'-most exon-containing fragment of the 5'-most genomic DNA clone. This region of mRNA contains a 5'-untranslated sequence and a continuous open reading frame which includes a region that codes for the essential cysteine of the beta-ketoacyl synthase domain. The entire fatty acid synthase gene spans about 50 kb. The 5' 15 kb of the gene contain 7 exons. S1 nuclease and primer extension analyses were used to identify a single site for initiation of transcription, 174 nucleotides upstream from the putative translation initiation codon. Putative "TATA" and "CCAAT" boxes are located 28 and 60 base pairs (bp), respectively, upstream of the site of initiation of transcription. The 5'-flanking 597 bp of DNA contains G/C-rich sequences including several "GC" boxes corresponding to binding sites for the nuclear transcription factor Sp1. Putative sites for AP-2, C/EBP, and the triiodothyronine and glucocorticoid receptors also were found in this region. A chimeric DNA, containing approximately 1.6 kb of 5'-flanking sequence and 139 bp of untranslated sequence of the goose fatty acid synthase gene ligated to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase (CAT) gene, was transfected into chick embryo hepatocytes in culture. Cells treated with triiodothyronine contained increased chloramphenicol acetyltransferase and fatty acid synthase activities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) (+info)
West Nile virus infection in commercial waterfowl operation, Wisconsin.
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A West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak occurred at a commercial waterfowl operation in Wisconsin in 2005. Retrospective analysis of dead and live birds was conducted. WNV was detected by PCR in 84.1% of 88 dead birds; neutralizing antibodies were found in 14 of 30 randomly sampled asymptomatic or recovered birds. (+info)
Avian collision risk at an offshore wind farm.
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We have been the first to investigate whether long-lived geese and ducks can detect and avoid a large offshore wind farm by tracking their diurnal migration patterns with radar. We found that the percentage of flocks entering the wind farm area decreased significantly (by a factor 4.5) from pre-construction to initial operation. At night, migrating flocks were more prone to enter the wind farm but counteracted the higher risk of collision in the dark by increasing their distance from individual turbines and flying in the corridors between turbines. Overall, less than 1% of the ducks and geese migrated close enough to the turbines to be at any risk of collision. (+info)
High-throughput and quantitative procedure for determining sources of Escherichia coli in waterways by using host-specific DNA marker genes.
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Escherichia coli is currently used as an indicator of fecal pollution and to assess water quality. While several genotypic techniques have been used to determine potential sources of fecal bacteria impacting waterways and beaches, they do not allow for the rapid analysis of a large number of samples in a relatively short period of time. Here we report that gene probes identified by Hamilton and colleagues (M. J. Hamilton, T. Yan, and M. J. Sadowsky, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:4012-4019, 2006) were useful for the development of a high-throughput and quantitative macroarray hybridization system to determine numbers of E. coli bacteria originating from geese/ducks. The procedure we developed, using a QBot robot for picking and arraying of colonies, allowed us to simultaneously analyze up to 20,736 E. coli colonies from water samples, with minimal time and human input. Statistically significant results were obtained by analyzing 700 E. coli colonies per water sample, allowing for the analysis of approximately 30 sites per macroarray. Macroarray hybridization studies done on E. coli collected from water samples obtained from two urban Minnesota lakes and one rural South Carolina lake indicated that geese/ducks contributed up to 51% of the fecal bacteria in the urban lake water samples, and the level was below the detection limit in the rural lake water sample. This technique, coupled with the use of other host source-specific gene probes, holds great promise as a new quantitative microbial source tracking tool to rapidly determine the origins of E. coli in waterways and on beaches. (+info)
Anatidae migration in the western Palearctic and spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5NI virus.
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During the second half of 2005, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus spread rapidly from central Asia to eastern Europe. The relative roles of wild migratory birds and the poultry trade are still unclear, given that little is yet known about the range of virus hosts, precise movements of migratory birds, or routes of illegal poultry trade. We document and discuss the spread of the HPAI H5N1 virus in relation to species-specific flyways of Anatidae species (ducks, geese, and swans) and climate. We conclude that the spread of HPAI H5N1 virus from Russia and Kazakhstan to the Black Sea basin is consistent in space and time with the hypothesis that birds in the Anatidae family have seeded the virus along their autumn migration routes. (+info)
Considerations when using discriminant function analysis of antimicrobial resistance profiles to identify sources of fecal contamination of surface water in Michigan.
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The goals of this study were to (i) identify issues that affect the ability of discriminant function analysis (DA) of antimicrobial resistance profiles to differentiate sources of fecal contamination, (ii) test the accuracy of DA from a known-source library of fecal Escherichia coli isolates with isolates from environmental samples, and (iii) apply this DA to classify E. coli from surface water. A repeated cross-sectional study was used to collect fecal and environmental samples from Michigan livestock, wild geese, and surface water for bacterial isolation, identification, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing using disk diffusion for 12 agents chosen for their importance in treating E. coli infections or for their use as animal feed additives. Nonparametric DA was used to classify E. coli by source species individually and by groups according to antimicrobial exposure. A modified backwards model-building approach was applied to create the best decision rules for isolate differentiation with the smallest number of antimicrobial agents. Decision rules were generated from fecal isolates and applied to environmental isolates to determine the effectiveness of DA for identifying sources of contamination. Principal component analysis was applied to describe differences in resistance patterns between species groups. The average rate of correct classification by DA was improved by reducing the numbers of species classifications and antimicrobial agents. DA was able to correctly classify environmental isolates when fewer than four classifications were used. Water sample isolates were classified by livestock type. An evaluation of the performance of DA must take into consideration relative contributions of random chance and the true discriminatory power of the decision rules. (+info)
Granule enzymes of polymorphonuclear neutrophils: A phylogenetic comparison.
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The functional significance of granule enzymes in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) is not fully understood because of the multiplicity of the enzymes and the rare occurrence of deficiencies in man. In order to select appropriate laboratory animals for functional studies, a phylogenetic comparison of enzyme levels in animal and human PMN was undertaken. Neutrophils were obtained from a variety of laboratory animals and man; the activities of alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme, myeloperoxidase, and beta-glucuronidase were determined by histochemical and analytical techniques. Marked interspecies differences in enzyme activity were found; many species were deficient in alkaline phosphatase or lysozyme. Differences in pH optima and metal requirements of alkaline phosphatase were not of sufficient magnitude to explain the variations of this enzyme. (+info)