Description and phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal transcription units from species of Fasciolidae (Platyhelminthes: Digenea).

Many members of Fasciolidae are common trematodes in cattle, buffaloes, sheep, elephants, pigs, with some capable of infecting humans also. In this study, the complete or near-complete sequences of ribosomal transcription unit (rTU or rDNA), each of Fasciola hepatica (Australia), Fascioloides jacksoni (Sri Lanka), Fasciolopsis buski (Vietnam) and three isolates of F. gigantica (Vietnam), were obtained and characterized. The full length of rDNA for each F. hepatica, 'hybrid' Fasciola sp., Fas. jacksoni and Fa. Buski, was 7657 bp, 7966 bp, 7781 bp and 8361 bp, with the complete intergenic spacer region (IGS) (862 bp, 1170 bp, 987 bp and 561 bp), respectively. The rDNA of two 'pure' F. gigantica isolates from Vietnam was 6794 bp with unsequenced IGS. For 28S rRNA genes the Fasciola spp. are equal, 1958 bp for 18S, 160 bp for 5.8S, 3863 bp and 454 bp for ITS1 but ITS2 differ by one nucleotide (Thymine) (359 or 360 bp). The ITS1 of the sensu lato Fa. buski has some distinguishable features, 286 bp for ITS2, 3862 bp for 28S and four repeat units of 356-361 bp each found in ITS1. The 28S rDNA analysis showed the lowest level of divergence (0-0.57%) between F. hepatica and F. gigantica and higher (2.23-2.62%) and highest (6-6.42%) for Fas. jacksoni and Fasciolopsis, respectively. The tree of 43 strains/species clearly produced a well-supported phylogeny, where 18 fasciolids consistently grouped, forming a discrete Fasciolidae clade, distinct from Philophthalmidae, Echinostomatidae and Echinochasmidae in Echinostomatoidea. Fascioloides jacksoni is outside Fasciola spp.: basal with Fas. magna, as previously demonstrated.

[Determination of hematologic and blood chemical reference values in fattening pigs of different ages]. / Bestimmung hämatologischer und blutchemischer Referenzwerte bei Mastschweinen verschiedenen Alters.

In swine medicine, the determination of hematology and blood chemistry parameters is of primary interest in connection with the detection of herd problems. For the evaluation of laboratory results the availability of reference values is a prerequisite. So far, no reference values of fattening pigs have been available in Switzerland. For this reason, in the present study reference values for hematology and blood chemistry were determined for two bodyweight categories, 40-60 kg (group 1) and 85-110 kg (group 2). Hematocrit, hemoglobin and RBC counts were lower in animals in group 1. The number of segmented neutrophils was markedly higher in group 1. Lymphocyte counts exceeded neutrophil values in both groups. Concentrations of total bilirubin, AST, CK and LDH partly reached very high levels due to hemolysis or contamination of the blood samples with muscle tissue.

Multidimensional chemotopic responses to n-aliphatic acid odorants in the rat olfactory bulb.

In an effort to understand the means by which similar chemical odorants are encoded in the mammalian brain, we exposed rats to a homologous series of n-aliphatic acids and mapped the response of the entire olfactory bulb glomerular layer by using a high-resolution [14C]-2-deoxyglucose uptake technique. We found that these similar odorants evoked spatially clustered but distinct responses in the bulb that changed systematically with carbon chain length. In addition to these chemotopic responses, different odorants within the series evoked systematic differences along two other dimensions: amount of deoxyglucose uptake and extent of the glomerular layer showing high activity. Increases along these two dimensions also were correlated with increasing carbon number. The focal glomerular responses were mirrored by responses in deeper bulb layers. Decreasing the odorant concentration decreased the deoxyglucose uptake within focal regions. The focal regions of activity occurred in pairs involving both medial and lateral representations in the bulb, perhaps reflecting the paired medial and lateral projections of olfactory sensory neurons expressing specific types of odorant feature receptor proteins. The observed spatial pattern of response also may explain both the failure of some bulb lesions to interfere with behavioral olfactory responses and the success of other lesions in blocking olfactory responses. These data support a model of parallel, distributed processing of odorants along multiple dimensions. They also support the notion that analyses of the spatial relationships among odorant responses in the olfactory bulb can demonstrate aspects of the mechanism for odor chemical coding.