An impact of Deoxynivalenol produced by Fusarium graminearum on broiler chickens.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a major mycotoxin from the trichothecene family of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium fungi that cause disease in grains. Food and feed contaminated with DON cause a variety of adverse health effects in humans and farm animals. However, the fermentation conditions of DON for toxicological study remain to be optimised. Deoxynivalenol levels were increased in a constant temperature of 20°C after fermentation for 7 and 14 days compared with cycling temperatures between 10-20°C and 15-20°C. We have established that optimum conditions for DON production on rice-based medium is constant temperature at 20°C. In feeding experiments, the villus height and the ratio of villus height and crypt depth were reduced in the duodenum of DON-fed broiler chickens, whereas a mycotoxin degradation agent efficiently reversed the abnormal morphology of the small intestine in the DON-fed broilers. The expression of pro-inflammatory gene, COX-2, was induced in the spleen and bursa of Fabricius of DON-fed broilers. This effect was alleviated in the presence of mycotoxin degradation agent. DON produced in solid-state fermentation is able to cause toxic effects in broilers and induce an abnormal morphology of the small intestine, particularly the duodenum.

Feather keratin gene polymorphism (F-KER) in domestic pigeons.

1. A 525-bp fragment of a feather keratin (F-KER) gene was amplified. Four PCR products were sequenced. 2. Two substitutions in the amplified region were observed, one of them in the coding region of the gene (cysteine to glycine substitution in the protein). A new ACRS-PCR test for AvaI enzyme was designed. A total of 344 domestic pigeons (Columba livia var. domestica) were genotyped. 3. There were significant differences in the frequencies of alleles and genotypes between homing and non-homing pigeons. The frequency of the rare F-KER(G) allele was higher in the group of homing pigeons. 4. The effects of the detected polymorphism on flying performance should be verified in biomechanical studies.

Factors affecting dystocia in cattle.

The paper reviews the various factors affecting dystocia in cattle. It is based mainly on the recent studies found in the literature of the subject but refers occasionally to some older papers as well. The factors are grouped into four main categories: direct factors, phenotypic factors related to calf and cow, non-genetic and genetic factors. The first group includes malpresentations and uterine torsion. The second one includes: calf birth weight, multiple calvings, perinatal mortality, cow pelvic area, cow body weight and body condition at calving, gestation length. The non-genetic factors are: cow age and parity, year and season of calving, place of calving, maintenance practises, disorders, calf sex and nutrition. Other non-genetic factors are the level of hormones in the periparturient period, in vitro production of embryos and embryo cloning. Finally, the genotypes of cow, bull and calf, inbreeding, muscular hypertrophy, selection and quantitative trait loci form the fourth group of genetic factors.