ALBERT

Notes: In an experiment, involving twelve male cattle (initially 235 kg live weight), the effects of applying lactic acid bacteria [Lactobacillus plantarum; 109 colony-forming units (g fresh silage)−1] to grass silage, immediately prior to that silage being fed, on dry-matter (DM) intake of the silage, degradability of nitrogen (N) and fibre in the rumen, total tract digestibility and composition of rumen fluid in the animals were examined. A grass silage, which had been made from the primary growth of a predominantly perennial ryegrass sward, was offered as the sole diet. The inoculant was applied to the silage at the rate of 2 g of freeze-dried powder reconstituted in 12 ml of water (kg fresh silage)−1 immediately prior to that silage being fed and an equivalent amount of water was applied to the silage in the control treatment. The two diets were compared in a change-over design. The silage was well preserved, having a pH and concentrations of ammonia N and butyrate of 3.72, 74 g (kg total N)−1 and 0.11 g (kg DM)−1 respectively. Application of the inoculant significantly increased true protein, acid-insoluble N and water-soluble carbohydrate concentrations (P 〈 0.001) in the diet. Silage DM intake was not significantly increased (P= 0.072) by this of inoculant treatment, which had no significant effect (P 〉 0.05) on rumen degradability or total tract digestibility of DM, N, neutral detergent fibre or modified acid detergent fibre. Rumen pH, ammonia concentration or the molar proportions of volatile fatty acids were not altered (P〉0.05) by inoculant treatment. It is concluded that application of the inoculant to the silage prior to silage being fed did not significantly affect silage DM intake, total tract digestibility, or degradability or fermentation in the rumen of cattle offered grass silage as the sole diet. It is also concluded that the results of this experiment provide no evidence that the mode of action of L plantarum, applied as an additive to grass at ensiling in previous studies, is through ‘direct’ effects in the rumen.

Notes: A changeover design experiment involving thirty-six 3-month-old Friesian male calves (mean initial live weight 127 kg) was carried out to evaluate a bacterial inoculant based on a single strain of Lactobacillus plantarum (Ecosyl, ICI) as a silage additive. On 25–31 August 1988, nine silages were harvested using double-chop forage harvesters from the second regrowth of three swards, namely permanent pasture which had received 100 kg N ha−1 and perennial ryegrass which had received either 100 or 150 kg N ha−1. Herbages (mean DM and WSC concentrations 144 and 11·2 g kg−1 respectively) from each sward were treated with either no additive, formic acid (2·4 1 t−1) or the inoculant (3·3·1 t−1) and were ensiled in 126 silos of 0·8 t capacity. The only effects of the inoculant on chemical composition of the silages were a decrease in modified acid detergent fibre and an increase in endotoxin and crude and true protein concentrations. Silages were offered ad libitum and supplemented with 1·0 kg of concentrates per head daily for three periods each of 3 weeks in a partially balanced changeover design experiment. Digestibilities of the total diets were determined at the end of the experiment. For the untreated, formic acid-treated and inoculant-treated silages, silage dry matter intakes were respectively 3·58, 3·66 and 3·67 (s.e. 0·044) kg d−1, estimated metabolizable energy (ME) intakes were 46·1, 46·7 and 47·1 (s.e. 0·44) MJ d−1, energy digestibilities were 0·727, 0·727 and 0·738 (s.e. 0·0046) and organic matter digestibilities were 0·770, 0·771 and 0·788 (s.e. 0·0042). Rumen degradabilities of the silages were determined using two rumen-fistulated cows. Mean dry matter and nitrogen degradabilities for the control, formic acid-treated and inoculant-treated silages, assuming an outflow rate of 0·05 h−1, were 10·508, 0·49, 0·491 and 0·702, 0·676 and 0·729. It is concluded that the inoculant significantly increased the digestibility of the silages but did not affect dry matter or ME intake.

Notes: This experiment evaluated a bacterial inoculant based on a single strain of Lactobacillus plantarum as a silage additive. Three silages were harvested on 8 September 1989 from the second regrowth of a perennial ryegrass sward, which had received 167 kg N, 28 kg P2O5 and 45 kg K2O ha−1. Mean dry matter (DM) and water soluble carbohydrate concentrations of the herbages at ensiling were 148 g kg−1 and 78 g.(kg DM)−1 respectively. Herbages were treated with either no additive (C), formic acid (3·0 1 t−1) (F) or the inoculant (3·0 1 t−1) (I) and were ensiled in three 80-t capacity silos. For silages C, F and I respectively, pH values were 4·70, 3·77 and 4·47, ammonia-N concentrations were 192, 111 and 182 g (kg total N)−1 and butyrate concentrations were 6·8, 1·8 and 7·1 g (kg DM)−1. The silages were offered ad libitum and supplemented with 2·0 kg concentrates per head daily to thirty-six heifers (mean initial live weight 442 kg). For silages C, F and I, silage DM intakes were 12·7, 14·4 and 14·1 (s.e. 0·42) g (kg live weight)−1, metabolizable energy intakes were 155, 166 and 172 (s.e. 5·1) kJ (kg live weight)−1, and estimated carcass gains were 456, 519 and 518 (s.e. 28·1) g d−1 respectively. A further 18 similar cattle were used in studies on the digestibility of the silages, and rumen degradation of each was estimated with three mature cattle. Inoculant treatment significantly increased crude fibre (P 〈0·01), neutral detergent fibre (P 〈0·01), modified acid detergent fibre (P 〈0·01), hemicellulose (P 〈0·05) and N digestibilities (P 〈0·05) and tended to increase N retention from the total diet. It is concluded that although treatment of herbage that was difficult to ensile with the inoculant did not improve silage fermentation, it significantly increased digestibility, especially of the fibre fractions, and silage DM intake and tended to increase animal performance to levels similar to those achieved with a well preserved formic acid-treated silage. Increases in silage DM and metabolizable energy intakes are likely to have been attributable to the effects of the inoculant on digestibility, especially of the fibre fractions.

Notes: A randomized block design experiment involving thirty beef cattle (mean initial live weight 462 kg) was carried out to evaluate a bacterial inoculant based on a single strain of Lactobacillus plantarum as a silage additive and to provide further information in relation to its mode of action. Three herbages were harvested on 10 August 1989 using three double-chop forage harvesters from the first regrowth of a perennial ryegrass sward which had received 170 kg N, 25 kg P2O5, and 42 kg K2O ha−1. They received either no additive (silage C), formic acid at 2·91 (t grass)−1(silage F) or the inoculant at 3·21 (t grass)−1 (silage I). Mean dry-matter (DM), water-soluble carbohydrate and crude protein concentrations in the untreated herbages were 158g kg−1, 88 g (kg DM)− and 183g (kg DM)−1 respectively. For silages C, F and I respectively, pH values were 4·01, 3·57 and 3·62; ammonia N concentrations 117, 55 and 77 g (kg total N)−1; and butyrate concentrations 2·18, 0·50 and l·24g (kg DM)−1. The silages were offered ad libitum and supplemented with 2·5 kg concentrates per head daily for 77 days. For treatments C, F and I, silage DM intakes were 6·59, 7·25 and 6·80 (s.e. 0·074)kg d−1; metabolizable energy (ME) intakes 86,99 and 94 (s.e. 0·8) MJ d−1; liveweight gains 0·90, 0·97 and 1·02(s.e.0·066) kg d−1; carcass gains 541,656 and 680 (s.e. 34·0) g d−1. Inoculant treatment increased DM (P 〈 0·01), organic matter (P 〈 0·01), crude fibre (P 〈 0·05), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) (P 〈 0·05) and energy (P 〈 0·05) digestibilities, the digestible organic matter concentration (P 〈 0·01) and the ME concentration (P 〈 0·05) of the total diets. Additive treatment altered rumen fermentation patterns but had little effect on the rumen degradability of silage DM, modified acid detergent (MAD) fibre, NDF or hemicellulose. It is concluded that treatment with the inoculant improved silage fermentation and increased digestibility, had little effect on silage DM intake but significantly increased carcass gain to a level similar to that sustained by a well-preserved formic acid-treated silage

Notes: Seagrass transplanting experiments were conducted in Back Sound, Carteret County, North Carolina, and Tampa Bay, Pinellas County, Florida. In Florida, we compared three planting methods (cores, stapled bare root, and peat-pot plugs) for shoot addition rate coverage, and labor cost (harvest, fabrication, and deployment) using Halodule wrightii. Only planting methods and development rates were recorded for Syringodium filiforme. Fertilizer additions were made to peat-pot plantings of H. wrightii and Zostera marina in both North Carolina and Florida. Exclosure cages were tested to attempt to minimize bioturbation of H. wrightii and Z. marina in both North Carolina and Florida. Recovery from harvesting impacts to existing, natural beds of S. filiforme and H. wrightii were assessed in Florida. The peat-pot method was about 35% and 63% less expensive in work time than staples and core tubes, respectively. Response to fertilizer additions was masked by inconsistent release properties of the fertilizer, although some indication of positive response to phosphorus fertilizer in sediments with low carbonate content, and nitrogen in general, was detected. Complete loss of peat pots, largely ascribed to bioturbation, occurred in a large planting (Tampa Bay) but not in nearby smaller ones where exclosure cages were used. Cages did not affect planting unit survival in North Carolina but did improve number of shoots per planting unit in one of three experiments. No detrimental effects of cages were noted. Existing natura beds used to harvest transplanting stock in Tampa Bay recovered from excavations as large as 0.5 m2 in one year. Significant cost savings were found to be possible through methodological improvement, including planting techniques, bioturbation exclusion, and possibly fertilizer additions.

Notes: The Anmatjira Range and adjacent Reynolds Range, central Australia, comprise early Proterozoic metasediments and othogneisses that were affected by three, and possibly four, temporally distinct metamorphic events, M1–4, and deformation events, D1–4, in the period 1820–1590 Ma. The north-western portion of the range, around Mt Stafford, preserves the effects of ±1820 Ma M1-D1, and shows a spectacular lateral transition from muscovite + quartz-bearing schists to interlayered andalusite-bearing migmatites and two-pyroxene granofelses that reflect extremely low-pressure granulite facies conditions, over a distance of less than 10 km. Orthopyroxene + cordierite + garnet + K-feldspar + quartz-bearing gneisses occur at the highest grade, implying peak conditions of ±750°C and 2.5 ± 0.6 kbar. An anticlockwise P–T path for M1 is inferred from syn- to late-D1 sillimanite overprinting andalusite, petrogenetic grid considerations and quantitative estimates of metamorphic conditions for inferred overprinting assemblages. The effects of M1 have been variably overprinted to the south-east by a c. 1760 Ma M2–D2 event. Much of the central Anmatjira Range, around Ingellina Gap, comprises orthogneiss, deformed during D2, and metapelites that have M1 andalusite and K-feldspar overprinted by M2 sillimanite and muscovite. The south-eastern portion of the range, around Mt Weldon, comprises metasediments and orthogneisses that were completely recrystallized during M2–D2, with metapelitic gneisses characterized by spinel + sillimanite + K-feldspar + quartz-bearing assemblages that suggest peak M2 conditions of 〉750°C and 5.5 ± 1 kbar. Overprinting parageneses in metapelitic gneisses imply that D2 occurred during essentially isobaric cooling. A third granulite facies event, M3, affected rocks in the Reynolds Range, immediately to the south of the Anmatjira Range, at c. 1730 Ma. A possible fourth event, M4, with a minimum age of c. 1590 My affected both Ranges, but resulted in only minor overprinting of M1–3 assemblages. The superimposed effects of M1–4, mapped for the entire Anmatjira–Reynolds Range area, indicate that only minor or no dislocation of the regional geology occurred during any of the metamorphic and accompanying folding, events. Although the immediate cause of each of the metamorphic events involved advection, the ultimate causes were external to the metasediments and most probably external to the crust.

Notes: In three Patagonian cavies (Dolichotis Patagonia) which died in Dutch zoological gardens, coccidia were found. They were determined as Eimeria dolichotis (Morini Boero & Rodriguez, 1955). Cross-infection experiments with guinea-pigs exclude the identity with Eimenc cmvimt.

Notes: SYNOPSIS. An acetone-insoluble yeast fraction required for axenic growth of P. aurelia, stock 51, variety 4, sensitive, after fractionation contained at least 3 essential components: (1) one soluble in perchloric acid and completely replaceable by a mixture of ribosides or ribotides; (2) one inactivated after digestion with trypsin, chymotrypsin or papain. Proteose-Peptone restored activity to this preparation, which suggests a peptide requirement; and (3) one not yet characterized.As for the purine and pyrimidines, these combinations, in decreasing order of activity, supported growth: guanosine + cytidine, guanosine + uridine, guanylic acid + cytidylic acid, and guanylic acid + uridylic acid. Each combination was maximally effective when the molar purine: pyrimidine ratio was ∼ 0.4. On a molar basis, the minimal riboside combinations were ∼ 1.3 × more active than the ribotides.Sparing of the purine and pyrimidine requirement was also investigated. In the presence of limiting amounts of guanylic acid, the following compounds, in decreasing order of activity, had sparing activity: deoxyguanosine, inosine, xanthosine, adenylic acid, and guanine. Adenine, adenosine, and deoxyadenosine were inhibitory under the test conditions. The requirement for cytidylic acid was spared by deoxycytidine, uridine, uridylic acid, deoxyuridine, thymidine, thymine, and uracil, in descending order.

Notes: Nitrogen in cell fractions of Paramecium aurelia varied according to the growth medium. Trichloroacetic acid-soluble fractions of cells were chromatographer. Adenine, adenosine, guanine, guanosine, hypoxanthine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, histidine, lysine, proline, and phenylalanine were identified. Fyrimidines and xanthine, or their respective ribosides and ribotides, were not detected. Ammonia was released into the medium by both actively growing and “resting” cells. Culture fluids of “resting”cells also contained hypoxanthine and lesser amounts of adenine and guanine. Urea, uric acid, creatine, cretonne, and ailantoin were absent.Pyrimidine nitrogen seems excreted as dihydrouracil. The following enzymes were detected in homogenates and cell-free preparations: nucleotidases, nucleoside hydrolases, and cytidine deaminase. Urease, uricase, adenase, guanase, xanthine oxidase, adenosine deaminase, and 5′-adenylic acid deaminase were not present in this organism.Purine and pyrimidine incorporation into nucleic acids was investigated by the use of radioactive tracers. Guanosine gives rise to nucleic-acid guanine and adenine; adenosine was precursor to nucleic acid adenine only. Formate was incorporated into purines; glycine was not. P. aurelia can interconvert cytidine and uridine; both give rise to nucleic acid thymine. The methyl group of thymine may be derived from formate.

Notes: Ten-day-old broiler chickens were inoculated with oocysts of a characterized strain of Eimeria mitis, and tissues were fixed at 4, 8, or 24-h intervals after inoculation for histopathological examination. Tissue collections were initiated at the time of inoculation and extended up to 168 h postinoculation. The preferred site of development of E. mitis was found to be the ileum although more limited development of the parasite also took in the jejunum, cecal pouches, cloaca, and bursa of Fabricius. No distinctive and consistent intestinal lesions were macroscopically evident even in heavily parasitized chickens. The prepatent period was approximately 92 h postinoculation. The histopathological features of the E. mitis infections were characterized using conventional bright-field microscopy as well as both scanning and transmission electron microscopy. No extra-intestinal development of the parasite was observed.