Veterinary Medicine Commons^™

Isospora Species (I. Canaria, Isospora Sp.) In Canaries (Serinus Canarius, Linnaeus), Cem Ecmel Şaki̇, Edi̇p Özer

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Of 64 canaries with diarrhea in Elazığ Province between May 2002 and May 2006, 18 (28.1%) had Isospora oocysts in their feces. It was determined that the oocysts, examined morphologically before and after sporulating, were Isospora canaria and Isospora sp. Among the infected animals, 8 (44.4%) were concurrently infected with both species. Total numbers of I. canaria oocysts were greater than those of Isospora sp. A total of 2 canaries showing severe clinical signs were necropsied. Liver, spleen, and lung preparations and peripheral blood smears of the necropsied animals were examined for Atoxoplasma, and no development forms were seen. For …

Prolonged Dystocia, Uterine Necrosis, And Ovariohysterectomy In A Chios Ewe, Christos N. Brozos, Lazaros Lazarides, Isidoros Karagiannis, Evangelos Kiossis, Georgios Tsousis, Vasilios Psychas, Nektarios Giadinis

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

A 4-year-old Chios ewe was submitted to the Clinic of Farm Animals (School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). The animal had delivered 2 healthy lambs, 2 days earlier, and was inappetent, depressed, and reluctant to move, while it had tachycardia and tachypnea. The cervix was opened at a dilation of 1 finger in diameter and fetid fetal membranes expelled from the vagina. Serum biochemistry revealed renal and liver disease, while ultrasonography revealed uterine dilatation. Laparotomy revealed a partly autolysed embryo in the uterus and gangrenous metritis. Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli were isolated in bacterial cultures from the …

Ingestion Of Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Seed Induces Peripheral Vasoconstriction But Does Not Affect Cyclicity In Non-Pregnant Mares, And A Population Of Biogenic Amine Receptors Relative To Vasoconstriction Is Identified, Daniel Andrew Hestad

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Three experiments were conducted to explore the effect of fescue toxicosis on vasoconstriction and various parameters of the estrous cycle. In the experiment of Chapter 3, a 2x2 crossover experimental design with repeated measures was implemented to test whether the ingestion of endophyte-infected tall fescue seed would alter blood hormone concentrations of prolactin, progesterone, and estradiol, interovulatory intervals, and corpus luteum blood flow. Also, Doppler ultrasonography was used to assess whether palmar artery and palmar vein lumen diameter, area, circumference, and resistivity index could be altered by the ingestion of endophyte-infected tall fescue seed. Ingestion of endophyte-infected tall fescue seed …

The Transmission Dynamics Of Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (Ehv-1) Infection In Outbreaks Characterized Predominately By Neurologic Or Respiratory Illness, Barry Jay Meade

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Formalized epidemiological field investigations were conducted to compare and contrast the transmission dynamics of EHV-1 neurological disease among horses stabled at Churchill Downs Racetrack, Louisville, Kentucky and of EHV-1 respiratory illness among horses stabled in the student barn at Murray State University. Differences were assessed by means of statistical and mathematical modeling techniques applied to survey and biological data collected over the course of the respective disease events.

Regression methods applied to survey data enabled the construction of a statistical model to predict a date of onset of illness for horses within each equine cohort. Comparisons of the epidemic curves …

Breeding Induced Endometritis In The Mare: The Local Innate Immune Response, Elizabeth Moran Woodward

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Uterine inflammation after breeding is considered necessary for the clearance of excess semen and debris from the uterus. A subpopulation of mares fails to clear the inflammation in a timely fashion, and develops a persistent breeding induced endometritis (PBIE). Experiments were preformed to evaluate correlations of PBIE to endometrial quality and age. Mares of advanced age and poor endometrial quality had a higher incidence of PBIE. In addition, mares fluctuated in susceptibility to PBIE from one season to the next. The uterine inflammatory gene expression in susceptible and resistant mares within the first 24 hours after breeding was investigated. The …

Development Of Molecular Diagnostic Assays For Equine Respiratory Viruses And Analysis Of The Role Of Equine Arteritis Virus Envelope Proteins In The Early Events Of Virus Entry, Zhengchun Lu

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

There is an urgent need for detection of viral respiratory pathogens to identify the causal agent(s) involved and to prevent the spread of related diseases. The first part of this dissertation focuses on development, optimization and validation of Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assays for the detection of several common equine viral pathogens: equine arteritis virus (EAV), equine influenza virus and equine rhinitis viruses A and B. Emphasis of the second part of this dissertation is on studying the role of EAV envelope proteins in virus attachment and entry. Using an infectious cDNA clone of EAV and reverse …

Role Of Herpes Simplex Type I Glycoproteins In Entry And Cell-Cell Fusion, Sona Chowdhury

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) is a neurotropic virus that infects primarily mucocutaneous epithelial cells and nervous tissue. Membrane fusion is an important aspect of the HSV-1 lifecycle, that occurs during viral entry (virus-cell fusion), viral spread (cell-to-cell fusion), as well as, during virion morphogenesis (assembly and egress). These membrane fusion steps involve complex interactions between multiple viral glycoproteins and cellular receptors. HSV-1 glycoprotein B (gB) is necessary but not sufficient for membrane fusion events. Despite the fact, that the majority of known hypermorphic mutations which cause extensive virus-induced cell fusion occur within glycoprotein K (gK); yet the role …

Evaluation Of Plasma Sprayed Hydroxyapatite Coated Ao Cortical Screws In Equine Third Metacarpal Bone, Myra Elizabeth Durham

LSU Master's Theses

ABSTRACT Objectives - To compare the osteointegration of plasma sprayed hydroxyapatite (HA) coated and uncoated 5.5 mm cortical screws in equine third metacarpal (MC3) bones in combination with a 4.5mm broad dynamic compression plate (DCP). Study design - In vivo study. Animals – 6 Adult Thoroughbred horses. Methods – For each horse, four HA coated screws were placed unicortically through a 4.5mm broad DCP in the dorsal cortex of a randomly chosen MC3 bone, with 4 uncoated screws placed in an identical manner in the contralateral MC3 bone. All screws were tightened to a torque of 5.4 N-m. Extraction torques …

Isolation And Characterization Of Adult Progenitor Cells From Healthy And Laminitic Hoof Tissue, Vanessa Pinto

LSU Master's Theses

Laminitis is an often fatal condition in horses with few available and only moderately effective treatment options. Separation of laminar dermis and epidermis lead to rotation or ventral deviation of the third phalanx inside the hoof capsule. Despite being a modified skin, equine laminar tissue does not completely return to normal after laminitis. The hypothesis tested was that adult progenitor cells in the equine laminar tissue are irreversibly damaged by laminitis. A method to harvest and culture cells in vitro from the equine lamina was established; and progenitor cells from unaffected and laminitic hooves were characterized and compared. Laminar tissue …

Morphological Characterization Of The Immune Organs In Ostrich Chicks, Hui Song, Ke-Mei Peng, Sheng-He Li, Yan Wang, Lan Wei, Li Tang

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study describes the anatomical, light microscopic, and ultrastructural characterization of the immune organs in ostrich chicks. In this study 6 healthy 8-week-old ostrich chicks were processed for light and transmission electron microscopy. Hematoxylin and eosin as well as improved Weigert staining were used for light microscopy. The small thymus, which clustered caudally along both sides of the neck, contained Hassall's corpuscles in the medulla. The cloacal bursa, which formed the hanging and lateral walls of the cloaca, enveloped the cloaca but did not form a truly independent bursa. Inside the bursa convex papillae were densely distributed on the surface …

Optimum Temperature And Growth Performance Of Hatchery Reared Black Sea Flounder (Platichthys Flesus Luscus Pallas, 1814), İlhan Aydin, Orhan Ak, Ercan Küçük, Hamza Polat, Bi̇nnur Ceylan

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present study focused on the effect of water temperature on growth and feed conversion ratio of juvenile Black Sea flounder (Platichthys flesus luscus; initial weight: 2.0 g ± 0.01 g). The experiment was carried out for 84 days with the following range of water temperatures: 13, 17, 21, and 25 °C. Growth, food consumption, and feed conversion ratio were the highest at 21 °C and the lowest at 13 °C. The growth rate of the fish increased with water temperatures up to 21 °C and it decreased significantly with a further increase in temperature. The conclusion of this study …

Full Length Cdna Synthesis Of Differentially Displayed Ests During Lactation In The Indian Buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis), Ajai Tripathi, Krishna M. Singh, Makrand N. Vaze, Umed V. Ramani, Dharamsi N. Rank, Chaitanya G. Joshi

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In the present study, antisense primers were designed from 7 differentially displayed expressed sequence tags (ESTs) previously identified at our laboratory. Total RNA was isolated from the mammary gland tissue of lactating buffalo to carry out 5' rapid amplification cDNA ends (RACE) PCR. 5' RACE PCR amplicons, ranging from 161 bp to 336 bp, were cloned and sequenced. These 5' RACE sequences were analyzed using the blastn (Megablast) bioinformatics tool available from NCBI. Of these 7, only one 5' mRNA sequence did not show a match in the available database and another 1 failed to show a match with any …

Seasonal And Group Effects On Dairy Cow Behavior In Large Yards, Akbar Nikkhah, Rasool Kowsar

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In mechanized modern dairy facilities with competitive environments, monitoring behavior provides opportunities to manipulate and optimize the nutritional, health, and social status of high-merit cows. The objective of the current study was to determine seasonal and cow group effects on the eating, ruminating, standing, and lying behaviors of dairy cows in large yards. Seasonal data on various behaviors of lactating cows in different production and lactation stages were collected continuously for 26 months, from December 2006 through February 2008. The herd had approximately 3000 dairy cattle housed in groups within specific yards. A total of 415 multiparous high-producing cows (MH), …

A Retrospective Study Of Anaplasma In Minnesota Cattle, Aneela Durrani, Sagar Goyal

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

To determine the seroprevalence of Anaplasma in Minnesota cattle, the database of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL), University of Minnesota was searched over a 10 year period (2001 to July 2010). A total of 438,407 bovine serum samples were tested by complement fixation test (CFT) and competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent test (cELISA). The positive rate of seroprevalence by CFT was 2.4% out of 211,484 samples, with a 0.13% anticomplementary result. The VDL at the University of Minnesota started using cELISA after 2002, and CFT application was suspended as diagnostic test for anaplasmosis after 2005 due to its complexity. With cELISA, …

Effect Of Fermented Protein Feedstuffs On Pig Production Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, And Fecal Microbes, Juan Chang, Qingqiang Yin, Pengpeng Wang, Weimin Wang, Ruiyu Zuo, Qiuhong Zheng, Junxi Liu

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In order to determine the availability of fermented protein feedstuffs (FPFS)-such as cottonseed, blood, and feather meals—with Aspergillus oryzae, 2 phases of feeding experiments were adopted for 7 weeks. Sixty 58-day-old crossbred pigs were assigned to 6 groups, 10 pigs per group. Group 1 was the control; groups 2, 3, and 4 were supplemented with 6%-7%, 12%-14%, and 18%-21% FPFS, respectively, by replacing the same percentage of soybean meal (SBM); group 5 was supplemented with 12%-14% unfermented protein feedstuffs (UFPFS) by replacing the same percentage of SBM; group 6 was on the same base as group 3 with digestive energy …

Detection, Cloning, And Sequencing Of The Enterotoxin Gene Of Clostridium Perfringens Type C Isolated From Goat, Yuan Tang, Ming Wen, Bin Lian, Jianzhong Cheng, Kaigong Wang, Bijun Zhou

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) is an important virulence factor involved in C. perfringens food poisoning and other gastrointestinal illnesses. In our experiment a Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin gene (cpe) positive type C strain was obtained by multiplex PCR from 34 C. perfringens isolates from goat in Guizhou Province, China. Then a pair of specific primers was designed and synthesized according to the published cpe gene, and the complete cpe gene was amplified from the genomic DNA of the cpe-positive C. perfringens isolate. The PCR product was cloned into pMD18-T vectors and transformed into competent cell DH5a. The recombinant plasmid was identified …

Effects Of Cold Stress During Transportation On Hatchability And Chick Quality Of Broiler Breeder Eggs, Ahmad Salahi, Mozhdeh Moosanezhad Khabisi, Abbas Pakdel, Ali Baghbanzadeh

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In this experiment 72,000 broiler breeder eggs (Ross 308 strain) collected from 36-week-old flocks were subjected to cold stress during transportation. Eggs were allocated to 4 temperature groups (treatments): 1.2 °C, 1-2 °C, 2.5-3.9 °C, 4-6 °C, and a control group, 21-22 °C. Each treatment had 14,400 eggs, and data were analyzed in a completely randomized design. The results of this study showed that cold stress had a significant effect on percentage of egg weight loss (P < 0.001), and minimal egg weight loss occurred in the control group. The percentage of exploders and early hatched chicks and chick weight were higher in the below zero temperature treatment than the other groups (P < 0.01). Cold stress had a significant effect on chick length, hatchability, and the hatching of fertile eggs (P < 0.001). The effects of cold stress on chick yield and body weight uniformity were significant (P < 0.01). The effect of cold stress on hatchery byproduct efficiency was significant (P < 0.001), but did not affect fertility. Cold stress also had significant effects on early (1-8 days), middle (9-17 days), and late mortality (20-21 days); total embryo mortality; and exposed brain. Ectopic viscera was significant (P < 0.001), and most mortality was observed in below 4 °C treatments. Total percentages of malpositions and deformity (P < 0.001) and egg contamination at 1-9 days (first stage) and 10-21 days (second phase) were affected by cold stress (P < 0.001). Cold stress also had a significant impact on the number of cull chicks; percent of string navel, button navel, total string, and button; omphalitis; full body cavity; red hocks; dehydration; dirty chickens; and stubby down. Cold stress affects performance during incubation and overall chick quality.

The Effect Of Bleeding On Peripheral Blood And Head Kidney Hematopoietic Tissue In Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio), Elzbieta Kondera, Aneta Dmowska, Monika Rosa, Malgorzata Witeska

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Adverse environmental conditions (contamination of water with nitrite, pesticides, or other pollutants), nutritional deficiencies, bacterial and viral infections, and parasitic invasions may induce anemia in fish, in both natural and aquaculture conditions. Changes in hematological values and cellular composition of peripheral blood and head kidney hematopoietic tissue of bled common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) were evaluated over a 4 week period post-bleeding (30% blood loss). The results showed that fish very quickly compensated for anemia. Erythrocyte count (RBC), hemoglobin concentration (Hb), and hematocrit (Ht) gradually increased to values significantly higher than they were before bleeding; this was accompanied by an …

The Effect Of Different Extenders On The Motility And Morphology Of Ram Sperm Frozen Or Stored At 4 °C, Recai̇ Kulaksiz, Çi̇ğdem Çebi̇, Ergün Akçay

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects on sperm motility and abnormality in ram semen extended with skimmed milk (M), sodium citrate (SC), Tris (T), and Bioxcell® (B) after storage in liquid form at 4 °C and in frozen form. Ejaculates were collected from 3 Akkaraman rams by artificial vagina twice a week during the non-breeding season. After pooling, each pooled ejaculate was split into 4 equal aliquots and diluted with skimmed milk (M), sodium citrate (SC), Tris (T), and Bioxcell® (B) extenders. Sperm motility was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in M compared with B, SC, and T on the first and second days (48 h) of storage. With regard to the percentage of total abnormal spermatozoa, the results in M were different from (P < 0.05) from those of SC and T on the first day (24 h) of storage but no different from B. Differences among extenders were found to be significant post-thawing for spermatozoa motility and the percentage of total abnormal spermatozoa. The total abnormality of semen diluted with M was significantly lower than that observed in the other extenders. Consequently, it was found that skimmed milk was better than the other extenders in terms of the sperm parameters evaluated during liquid storage and post-thaw.

Dust And Endotoxin In Laying Hen Dwellings, Kristina Matkovic, Marija Vucemilo, Bara Vinkovic

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Only healthy laying hens are capable of producing an average of 280 eggs in 1 year of exploitation. Production of consume eggs takes place in intensive housing systems where the laying hens are still mainly kept in cages under controlled conditions. Technical infrastructure and hygiene quality do not guarantee a production atmosphere completely free from pollutants, including potential pathological risk factors. Laying hens and farm workers are exposed to large quantities of bioaerosols in henhouses. Bioaerosols represent a mixture of different biological particles which can, under certain circumstances, cause health and welfare problems in animals. The most important components are …

Reproductive Performance Of Primiparous And Multiparous Saanen Goats After Laparoscopic Intrauterine Insemination: A Field Study, Recai̇ Kulaksiz, Ali̇ Daşkin

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The objective of this study was to evaluate the reproductive performance of primiparous and multiparous Saanen goats after intrauterine laparoscopic artificial insemination with frozen semen. Twenty-four Saanen goats, divided in 2 groups: group 1 consisted of 11 primiparous goats and group 2 consisted of 13 multiparous goats. Estrus was synchronized by 20 mg fluorogestone acetate (FGA)-impregnated intravaginal sponges and the IM administration of 125 mg of cloprostenol (PGF2\alpha) and eCG (400 IU), 48 h before sponge removal. Intrauterine fixed time artificial insemination (AI) was carried out 55 h after removal of the FGA sponges. Results of the present study indicate …

A Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (Lamp) Assay For Rapid Detection Of Anaplasma Phagocytophilum Infection In Dogs, Chungchen Lee, Yungchang Lin, Chauloong Tsang, Yangtsung Chung

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

A simple and rapid diagnostic method of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection was established, employing the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reaction. With 1 set of 4 specific primers targeting the citrate synthase (gltA) gene of A. phagocytophilum, the LAMP assay rapidly amplified the target DNA sequence in a single tube in 1 h, requiring only a water bath for reaction. When visualized by gel electrophoresis, the LAMP products appeared as a ladder-like pattern, with many bands of different sizes from 180 base pairs up to the loading well. The results obtained from testing 32 clinical blood samples of dogs demonstrated that the …

Evaluation Of Elevated Bait Trays For Attracting Blackbirds (Icteridae) In Central North Dakota, George M. Linz, Jamison B. Winter, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) became an economically important crop in North Dakota in the 1970s, providing a major source of food for post-breeding blackbirds (Icteridae). Reducing local blackbird populations with rice grains treated with an avicide is one proposed alternative for reducing sunflower damage. In fall 2007 and 2008, we evaluated the idea of attracting blackbirds to rice-baited trays attached to wire cages supplied with live blackbirds. During our observations (1011 h), we saw 3888 birds, consisting of 25 species and 12 families, on the bait trays. Blackbirds made up 90.4% of the bird observations, whereas sparrows (Emberizidae) made …

Copper–Zinc Superoxide Dismutase-Deficient Mice Show Increased Susceptibility To Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Induced With Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein 35–55, Chandirasegara Massilamany, Arunakumar Gangaplara, Heejeong Kim, Charlotte Standord, Govardhan Rathnaiah, David Steffen, Jaekwon Lee, Jay Reddy

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

In this report, we have addressed the role of copper–zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) deficiency in the mediation of central nervous system autoimmunity. We demonstrate that SOD1-deficient C57Bl/6 mice develop more severe autoimmune encephalomyelitis induced with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) 35–55, compared with wild type mice. This alteration in the disease phenotype was not due to aberrant expansion of MOG-specific T cells nor their ability to produce inflammatory cytokines; rather lymphocytes generated in SOD1-deficient mice were more prone to spontaneous cell death when compared with their wild type littermate controls. The data point to a role for SOD1 in the maintenance …

Rhodotorula Minuta Fungemia In A Ewe Lamb, C G. Chitko-Mckown, K A. Leymaster, M. P. Heaton, D D. Griffin, J K. Veatch, S A. Jones, M. L. Clawson

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

An 8-month-old crossbred ewe, normal upon physical examination, was humanely euthanized for tissue collection. After approximately 3 weeks in tissue culture, fungi began budding out of cells obtained from the choroid plexus. After an additional 3 weeks, budding was observed in kidney cell cultures and eventually in monocyte cultures as well. Serum from the lamb was submitted to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Colorado State University for fungal diagnosis and was found negative for Aspergillus, Blastomyces, Coccidioidomycosis and Histoplasmosis. DNA was isolated from fungi collected from tissue culture supernatants and used in a set of pan-fungal PCR assays with DNA …

Posttranslational Modification Of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Glycoprotein, But Not Jnk Inhibition, Is The Antiviral Mechanism Of Sp600125, Sabrina Marozin, Jennifer Altomonte, Sibylle Apfel, Phat X. Dinh, Enrico De Toni, Antonia Rizzani, Andreas Nüssler, Nobuyuki Kato, Roland M. Schmid, Asit K. Pattnaik, Oliver Eberta

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a negative-sense single-stranded-RNA rhabdovirus, is an extremely promising oncolytic agent for cancer treatment. Since oncolytic virotherapy is moving closer to clinical application, potentially synergistic combinations of oncolytic viruses and molecularly targeted antitumor agents are becoming a meaningful strategy for cancer treatment. Mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors have been shown to impair liver cell proliferation and tumor development, suggesting their potential use as therapeutic agents for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this work, we show that the impairment of MAPK in vitro did not interfere with the oncolytic properties of VSV in HCC cell lines. Moreover, the administration …

Identification Of Amino Acid Residues Important For Anti-Ifn Activity Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Non-Structural Protein 1, Lalit Beura, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Hiep Vu, Byungjoon Kwon, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fernando A. Osorio

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The non-structural protein 1 (nsp1) of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is partly responsible for inhibition of type I interferon (IFN) response by the infected host. By performing alanine-scanning mutagenesis, we have identified amino acid residues in nsp1α and nsp1β~ (the proteolytic products of nsp1) that when substituted with alanine(s) exhibited significant relief of IFNsuppression. A mutant virus (16-SA, in which residues 16-20 of nsp1β were substituted with alanines) encoding mutant nsp1β recovered from infectious cDNA clone was shown to be attenuated for growth in vitro and induced significantly higher amount of type I IFN transcripts in infected macrophages. …

Glycosyl-Phosphatidylinositol (Gpi)-Anchored Membrane Association Of The Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Gp4 Glycoprotein And Its Co-Localization With Cd163 In Lipid Rafts, Yijun Du, Asit K. Pattnaik, Cheng Song, Dongwan Yoo, Gang Li

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) glycoprotein 4 (GP4) resembles a typical type I membrane protein in its structure but lacks a hydrophilic tail at the C-terminus, suggesting that GP4 may be a lipid-anchored membrane protein. Using the human decay-accelerating factor (DAF; CD55), a known glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) lipid-anchored protein, chimeric constructs were made to substitute the GPI-anchor domain of DAF with the putative lipid-anchor domain of GP4, and their membrane association and lipase cleavage were determined in cells. The DAF-GP4 fusion protein was transported to the plasma membrane and was cleaved by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC), indicating that …

A Single Amino Acid Change Resulting In Loss Of Fluorescence Of Egfp In A Viral Fusion Protein Confers Fitness And Growth Advantage To The Recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus, Phat X. Dinh, Debasis Panda, Phani B. Das, Subash C. Das, Anshuman Das, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Using a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus encoding eGFP fused in-frame with an essential viral replication protein, the phosphoprotein P, we show that during passage in culture, the virus mutates the nucleotide C289 within eGFP of the fusion protein PeGFP to A or T, resulting in R97S/C amino acid substitution and loss of fluorescence. The resultant non-fluorescent virus exhibits increased fitness and growth advantage over its fluorescent counterpart. The growth advantage of the non-fluorescent virus appears to be due to increased transcription and replication activities of the PeGFP protein carrying the R97S/C substitution. Further, our results show that the R97S/C mutation …

Amino Acid Residues In The Non-Structural Protein 1 Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Involved In Down-Regulation Of Tnf-Cx Expression In Vitro And Attenuation In Vivo, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Lalit Beura, Byungjoon Kwon, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fernando A. Osorio

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) suppresses tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) production at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels by its non-structural proteins 1α and 1β (Nsp1α and Nsp1β). To identifY the amino acid residues responsible for this activity, we generated several alanine substitution mutants of Nsp1α and Nsp1β. Examination of the mutant proteins revealed that Nsp1α residues Gly90, Asn91 , Arg97, Argl 00 and Arg124 were necessary for TNF-α promoter suppression, whereas several amino acids spanning the entire Nsp1β ~ were found to be required for this activity. Two mutant viruses, with mutations at Nsp1α Gly90 or Nsp1β residues …