Accidental discovery of a Tetraodontidae () within a cuttlefish () bought in a fish shop in Italy: risk assessment associated with the presence of Tetrodotoxin.

The discovery of a pufferfish specimen (Tetraodontidae) inside a frozen cuttlefish, purchased by a fishmonger, and caught in the Eastern Central Atlantic (FAO 34) is reported. The consumer, who reported this case to FishLab (Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa) for investigation, was a student of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pisa. He recognized the Tetraodontidae because he attended practical lessons on fish morphological identification during the course of food inspection and was aware of the risks to human health linked to the Tetrodotoxin (TTX).

Early and Pre-Clinical Detection of Prion Seeding Activity in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Goats using Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion Assay.

Since 2005, two cases of natural bovine spongiform encephalopathies (BSE) have been reported in goats. Furthermore, experimental transmissions of classical (C-BSE) and atypical (L-BSE) forms of BSE in goats were also reported. To minimize further spreading of prion diseases in small ruminants the development of a highly sensitive and specific test for ante-mortem detection of infected animals would be of great value.

Influence of essential oils in diet and life-stage on gut microbiota and fillet quality of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Developing fish farming to meet the demands of food security and sustainability in the 21st century will require new farming systems and improved feeds. Diet and microbe interactions in the gut is an important variable with the potential to make a significant impact on future fish farming diets and production systems. It was monitored the gut microbiota of farmed rainbow trout using 16S rRNA profiling over 51 weeks during standard rearing conditions and feeding diet with supplementation of an essential oils (MixOil) mixture from plants (at a concentration in diet of 200 mg/kg).

Assessment of the applicability of a "toolbox" designed for microbially assisted phytoremediation: the case study at Ingurtosu mining site (Italy).

The paper describes the fieldwork at the Italian test site of the abandoned mine of sphalerite and galena in Ingurtosu (Sardinia), with the aim to assess the applicability of a "toolbox" to establish the optimized techniques for remediation of soils contaminated by mining activities. A preliminary characterization-including (hydro)geochemistry, heavy metal concentration and their mobility in soil, bioprospecting for microbiology and botany-provided a data set for the development of a toolbox to deliver a microbially assisted phytoremediation process. Euphorbia pithyusa was selected as an endemic pioneer plant to be associated with a bacterial consortium, established with ten selected native strains, including metal-tolerant bacteria and producers of plant growth factors.

Bioprospecting at former mining sites across Europe: microbial and functional diversity in soils.

The planetary importance of microbial function requires urgently that our knowledge and our exploitation ability is extended, therefore every occasion of bioprospecting is welcome. In this work, bioprospecting is presented from the perspective of the UMBRELLA project, whose main goal was to develop an integral approach for remediation of soil influenced by mining activity, by using microorganisms in association with plants. Accordingly, this work relies on the cultivable fraction of microbial biodiversity, native to six mining sites across Europe, different for geographical, climatic and geochemical characteristics but similar for suffering from chronic stress.

Contaminated commercial dehydrated food as source of multiple Salmonella serotypes outbreak in a municipal kennel in Tuscany.

The authors describe a large outbreak of canine salmonellosis in a municipal kennel in Tuscany. During the outbreak, 174 samples of 'diarrhetic' and 'normal' faeces and two batches of commercial dehydrated dog food were cultured for pathogenic bacteria. The results of 25, out of a total of 41 dogs (60.

Protective effect of the AT137RQ and ARQK176 PrP allele against classical scrapie in Sarda breed sheep.

The susceptibility of sheep to scrapie is under the control of the host's prion protein (PrP gene and is also influenced by the strain of the agent. PrP polymorphisms at codons 136 (A/V), 15 (R/H) and 171 (Q/R/H) are the main determinants of susceptibility/resistance of sheep to classical scrapie. They are combined in four main variants of the wild-type ARQ allele: VRQ, AHQ, ARH and ARR.