Species management benchmarking: outcomes over outputs in a changing operating environment.

Species management has been utilized by the zoo and aquarium industry, since the mid-1990s, to ensure the ongoing genetic and demographic viability of populations, which can be difficult to maintain in the ever-changing operating environments of zoos. In 2009, the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia reviewed their species management services, focusing on addressing issues that had arisen as a result of the managed programs maturing and operating environments evolving. In summary, the project examined resourcing, policies, processes, and species to be managed. As a result, a benchmarking tool was developed (Health Check Report, HCR), which evaluated the programs against a set of broad criteria. A comparison of managed programs (n = 98), between 2008 and 2011, was undertaken to ascertain the tool's effectiveness. There was a marked decrease in programs that were designated as weak (37 down to 13); and an increase in excellent programs (24 up to 49) between the 2 years. Further, there were significant improvements in the administration benchmarking area (submission of reports, captive management plan development) across a number of taxon advisory groups. This HCR comparison showed that a benchmarking tool enables a program's performance to be quickly assessed and any remedial measures applied. The increases observed in program health were mainly due to increased management goals being attained. The HCR will be an ongoing program, as the management of the programs increases and goals are achieved, criteria will be refined to better highlight ongoing issues and ways in which these can be resolved.

Syk and Slp-76 mutant mice reveal a cell-autonomous hematopoietic cell contribution to vascular development.

Developmental studies support a common origin for blood and endothelial cells, while studies of adult angiogenic responses suggest that the hematopoietic system can be a source of endothelial cells later in life. Whether hematopoietic tissue is a source of endothelial cells during normal vascular development is unknown. Mouse embryos lacking the signaling proteins Syk and Slp-76 develop abnormal blood-lymphatic endothelial connections. Here we demonstrate that expression of GFPSlp-76 in a subset of hematopoietic cells rescues this phenotype, and that deficient cells confer focal vascular phenotypes in chimeric embryos consistent with a cell-autonomous mechanism. Endogenous Syk and Slp-76, as well as transgenic GFPSlp-76, are expressed in circulating cells previously proposed to be endothelial precursors, supporting a causal role for these cells. These studies provide genetic evidence for hematopoietic contribution to vascular development and suggest that hematopoietic tissue can provide a source of vascular endothelial progenitor cells throughout life.

MHC diversity and female age underpin reproductive success in an Australian icon; the Tasmanian Devil.

Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a highly contagious cancer, has decimated Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) numbers in the wild. To ensure its long-term survival, a captive breeding program was implemented but has not been as successful as envisaged at its launch in 2005. We therefore investigated the reproductive success of 65 captive devil pair combinations, of which 35 produced offspring (successful pairs) whereas the remaining 30 pairs, despite being observed mating, produced no offspring (unsuccessful pairs). The devils were screened at six MHC Class I-linked microsatellite loci. Our analyses revealed that younger females had a higher probability of being successful than older females. In the successful pairs we also observed a higher difference in total number of heterozygous loci, i.e. when one devil had a high total number of heterozygous loci, its partner had low numbers. Our results therefore suggest that devil reproductive success is subject to disruptive MHC selection, which to our knowledge has never been recorded in any vertebrate. In order to enhance the success of the captive breeding program the results from the present study show the importance of using young (2-year old) females as well as subjecting the devils to MHC genotyping.

The endothelial cell-specific antibody PAL-E identifies a secreted form of vimentin in the blood vasculature.

During mammalian vascular development, endothelial cells form a complex array of vessels that differ markedly in structure and function, but the molecular basis for this vascular complexity is poorly understood. Recent insights into endothelial diversity have come from the identification of molecular markers expressed on distinct endothelial cell populations. One such marker, the PAL-E antibody, has been used for almost 20 years to distinguish blood and lymphatic vessels, but the identity of the protein recognized by PAL-E has been unknown. In the present study we have used protein purification and tandem mass spectrometry analysis of tryptic peptides to identify the PAL-E antigen as a secreted form of vimentin. Vimentin has been well characterized as an intracellular intermediate filament protein expressed broadly in mesenchymal cells. In contrast, PAL-E-reactive vimentin is secreted extracellularly, its synthesis is restricted to a distinct population of blood endothelial cells and activated macrophages, and PAL-E-reactive vimentin is found in circulating human blood. PAL-E-reactive vimentin does not arise from an endothelial cell-specific mRNA transcript but is the product of cell-specific posttranslational modification. The PAL-E antibody therefore defines secretion of vimentin as a molecular distinction among endothelial cells and exposes a novel, extracellular role for vimentin in the blood vasculature.