Applying genetic technologies to combat infectious diseases in aquaculture.

Disease and parasitism cause major welfare, environmental and economic concerns for global aquaculture. In this review, we examine the status and potential of technologies that exploit genetic variation in host resistance to tackle this problem. We argue that there is an urgent need to improve understanding of the genetic mechanisms involved, leading to the development of tools that can be applied to boost host resistance and reduce the disease burden.

Evolutionary predictions for a parasite metapopulation: Modelling salmon louse resistance to pest controls in aquaculture.

Pests often evolve resistance to pest controls used in agriculture and aquaculture. The rate of pest adaptation is influenced by the type of control, the selective pressure it imposes, and the gene flow between farms. By understanding how these factors influence evolution at the metapopulation level, pest management strategies that prevent resistance from evolving can be developed.

A landmark environmental law looks ahead.

In late December 1973, the United States enacted what some would come to call "the pitbull of environmental laws." In the 50 years since, the formidable regulatory teeth of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) have been credited with considerable successes, obliging agencies to draw upon the best available science to protect species and habitats. Yet human pressures continue to push the planet toward extinctions on a massive scale.

Using cultured canine cardiac slices to model the autophagic flux with doxorubicin.

Chemotherapy-induced impairment of autophagy is implicated in cardiac toxicity induced by anti-cancer drugs. Imperfect translation from rodent models and lack of in vitro models of toxicity has limited investigation of autophagic flux dysregulation, preventing design of novel cardioprotective strategies based on autophagy control. Development of an adult heart tissue culture technique from a translational model will improve investigation of cardiac toxicity.

Retrospective evaluation of canine primary, multicentric, and metastatic intraocular neoplasia.

Objective: To provide an updated characterization of the prevalence of primary, multicentric, and metastatic intraocular tumors in the canine patient.

Procedures: Medical records databases from 4 veterinary referral hospitals were reviewed from 1999 to present to identify dogs with a diagnosis of intraocular neoplasia histopathologically confirmed following enucleation or necropsy.

Results: One hundred seventy-two dogs with 173 intraocular neoplasms met the inclusion criteria.

Using Gene Expression Analysis to Understand Complex Autoimmune Skin Disease Patients: A Series of Four Canine Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Cases.

Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE) is an autoimmune skin disease that occurs in almost two-thirds of people with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and can exist as its own entity. Despite its negative impact on the quality of life of patients, lupus pathogenesis is not fully understood. In recent years, the role of gene expression analysis has become important in understanding cellular functions and disease causation within and across species.

Gene Expression Analysis in Four Dogs With Canine Pemphigus Clinical Subtypes Reveals B Cell Signatures and Immune Activation Pathways Similar to Human Disease.

Pemphigus is a group of autoimmune-mediated mucocutaneous blistering diseases characterized by acantholysis. Pemphigus has also been recognized in dogs and shares similar clinical characteristics and variants with human pemphigus. While relationships between human and canine pemphigus have been reported, gene expression patterns across species have not been described in the literature.

Development and validation of a multivariable model and online decision-support calculator to aid in preoperative discrimination of benign from malignant splenic masses in dogs.

Objective: To develop a multivariable model and online decision-support calculator to aid in preoperative discrimination of benign from malignant splenic masses in dogs.

Animals: 522 dogs that underwent splenectomy because of splenic masses.

Procedures: A multivariable model was developed with preoperative clinical data obtained retrospectively from the records of 422 dogs that underwent splenectomy.

Shared inflammatory and skin-specific gene signatures reveal common drivers of discoid lupus erythematosus in canines, humans and mice.

Autoimmune skin diseases are complex and are thought to arise from a combination of genetics and environmental exposures, which trigger an ongoing immune response against self-antigens. Companion animals including cats and dogs are known to develop inflammatory skin conditions similar to humans and share the same environment, providing opportunities to study spontaneous disease that encompasses genetic and environmental factors with a One Health approach. A strength of comparative immunology approaches is that immune profiles may be assessed across different species to better identify shared or conserved pathways that might drive inflammation.

Case Series: Gene Expression Analysis in Canine Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada/Uveodermatologic Syndrome and Vitiligo Reveals Conserved Immunopathogenesis Pathways Between Dog and Human Autoimmune Pigmentary Disorders.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome (VKH) and vitiligo are autoimmune diseases that target melanocytes. VKH affects several organs such as the skin, hair follicle, eyes, ears, and meninges, whereas vitiligo is often limited to the skin and mucosa. Many studies have identified immune genes, pathways and cells that drive the pathogeneses of VKH and vitiligo, including interleukins, chemokines, cytotoxic T-cells, and other leukocytes.

LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS Characterization of Seaweed Phenolics and Their Antioxidant Potential.

Seaweed is an important food widely consumed in Asian countries. Seaweed has a diverse array of bioactive compounds, including dietary fiber, carbohydrate, protein, fatty acid, minerals and polyphenols, which contribute to the health benefits and commercial value of seaweed. Nevertheless, detailed information on polyphenol content in seaweeds is still limited.

Evaluation of cytology and histopathology for the diagnosis of feline orbital neoplasia: 81 cases (2004-2019) and review of the literature.

Objective: To provide an updated overview of feline orbital neoplasia, to compare diagnostic utility of cytology and histopathology, and to evaluate minimally invasive sampling modalities.

Procedures: A medical records search was performed to identify cats with orbital neoplasia. Data were collected regarding signalment, diagnosis, vision status, imaging modalities, and sample collection methods.

Evaluation of cytology and histopathology for the diagnosis of canine orbital neoplasia: 112 cases (2004-2019) and review of the literature.

Objective: To provide an updated overview of canine orbital neoplasia, to compare diagnostic utility of cytology and histopathology, and to evaluate alternative sampling modalities, particularly image-guided core needle biopsy.

Procedures: A medical records search was performed to identify dogs with orbital neoplasia. Data were collected regarding signalment, diagnosis, vision status, imaging modalities, and sample collection methods.

Early Developmental Stress Affects Subsequent Gene Expression Response to an Acute Stress in Atlantic Salmon: An Approach for Creating Robust Fish for Aquaculture?

Stress during early life has potential to program and alter the response to stressful events and metabolism in later life. Repeated short exposure of Atlantic salmon to cold water and air during embryonic (E), post-hatch (PH) or both phases of development (EPH) has been shown to alter the methylome and transcriptome and to affect growth performance during later life compared to untreated controls (CO). The aim of this study was to investigate how the transcriptome of these fish responds to subsequent acute stress at the start feeding stage, and to describe methylation differences that might steer these changes.

The Hancock® Valved Conduit for Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Reconstruction in Sheep for Assessing New Devices.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Xenograft conduits have been used successfully to repair congenital heart defects, but are prone to failure over time. Hence, in order to improve patient outcomes, better xenografts are being developed. When evaluating a conduit's performance and safety it must first be compared against a clinically available control in a large animal model.

Training the salmon's genes: influence of aerobic exercise, swimming performance and selection on gene expression in Atlantic salmon.

Background: Farmed and wild Atlantic salmon are exposed to many infectious and non-infectious challenges that can cause mortality when they enter the sea. Exercise before transfer promotes growth, health and survival in the sea. Swimming performance in juveniles at the freshwater parr stage is positively associated with resistance to some diseases.

Impact of a refined advanced design for left atrial appendage exclusion.

Objectives: Exclusion of the left atrial appendage has been proposed to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of the AtriClip PRO·V device (AOD2), now in development, for left atrial appendage exclusion in a canine model.

Methods: The newest AtriClip design comprises a dual-spring mechanism that allows the clip to open into a 'V' shape while still providing equivalent force along the length of the beam.

Epipodial Tentacle Gene Expression and Predetermined Resilience to Summer Mortality in the Commercially Important Greenlip Abalone, Haliotis laevigata.

"Summer mortality" is a phenomenon that occurs during warm water temperature spikes that results in the mass mortality of many ecologically and economically important mollusks such as abalone. This study aimed to determine whether the baseline gene expression of abalone before a laboratory-induced summer mortality event was associated with resilience to summer mortality. Tentacle transcriptomes of 35 greenlip abalone (Haliotis laevigata) were sequenced prior to the animals being exposed to an increase in water temperature-simulating conditions which have previously resulted in summer mortality.

Assessment of eosinophil peroxidase as a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a method for identifying intact and degranulated eosinophils in the small intestine of dogs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by use of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against eosinophil peroxidase (EPX). ANIMALS 11 untreated dogs with IBD, 5 dogs with IBD treated with prednisolone, and 8 control dogs with no clinical evidence of gastrointestinal tract disease and no immunosuppressive treatment. PROCEDURES 4-μm-thick sections of paraffin-embedded tissues from necropsy specimens were immunostained with EPX mAb.

Microsatellite marker development based on next-generation sequencing for the smooth marron (Cherax cainii, Austin) and cross-species amplification in other Cherax species.

Background: The smooth marron, Cherax cainii is an important freshwater crustacean species for aquaculture and for a local wild fishery. C. tenuimanus, commonly known as the hairy marron is under threat from environmental impacts and genetic introgression from C.

QTL for white spot syndrome virus resistance and the sex-determining locus in the Indian black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon).

Background: Shrimp culture is a fast growing aquaculture sector, but in recent years there has been a shift away from tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon to other species. This is largely due to the susceptibility of P. monodon to white spot syndrome virus disease (Whispovirus sp.