Effect of non-starch-polysaccharide-degrading enzymes as feed additive on the rumen bacterial population in non-lactating cows quantified by real-time PCR.

The effects of non-starch-polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, added to a maize silage- and grass silage-based total mixed ration (TMR) at least 14 h before feeding, on the rumen bacterial population were investigated. Six non-lactating Holstein Friesian cows were allocated to three treatment groups using a duplicate 3 × 3 Latin square design with three 31-day periods (29 days of adaptation and 2 days of sampling). Treatments were control TMR [69% forage and 31% concentrates on a dry matter (DM) basis] or TMR with 13.8 or 27.7 ml/kg of feed DM of Roxazyme G2 liquid with activities (U/ml enzyme preparation) of xylanase 260 000, ß-glucanase 180 000 and cellulase 8000 (DSM Nutritional Products, Basel, Switzerland). The concentrations of 16S rDNA of Anaerovibrio lipolytica, Fibrobacter succinogenes, Prevotella ruminicola, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Selenomonas ruminantium and Treponema bryantii, and their relative percentage of total bacteria in rumen samples obtained before feeding and 3 and 7 h after feeding and from two rumen fractions were determined using real-time PCR. Sampling time had only little influence, but bacterial numbers and the composition of the population differed between the transition layer between rumen fluid and the fibre mat (fraction A) and the rumen fluid (fraction B) highlighting the importance to standardize sampling. The 16S rDNA copies of total bacteria and the six bacterial species as well as the population composition were mainly unaffected by the high levels of exogenous enzymes supplemented at all sampling times and in both rumen fractions. Occasionally, the percentages of the non-fibrolytic species P. ruminicola and A. lipolytica changed in response to enzyme supplementation. Some increases in the potential degradability of the diet and decreases in lag time which occurred collaterally indicate that other factors than changes in numbers of non-particle-associated bacteria are mainly responsible for the effects of exogenous enzymes.

Pre-treatment of dietary plant feedstuffs with phytase and its effect on growth and mineral concentration in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.).

Effect of phytase pre-treatment of dietary plant feed stuffs (PF) on growth and mineral concentration in common carp (C. carpio L.) was investigated. Diets used were: C0, diet with no supplement; CI, diet with incubated PF; CP0, diet supplemented with 3 g P/kg; CPI, diet with incubated PF supplemented with 3 g P/kg; Phyt0, diet fortified with 4000 U phytase/kg; PhytI, diet with PF incubated with 4000 U phytase/kg. Mean weight gain, SGR and FCR were the same (p < 0.05) in fish fed CP0, CPI or PhytI but less (p < 0.05) in other fish. Bone P was similar in fish fed CP0 (74.9), CPI (75.9) or PhytI (71.5 mg/g DM) but higher (p < 0.05) than in fish fed C0. Bone Ca and Mg were similar in fish fed CP0, CPI or PhytI but less (p < 0.05) in other fish. Bone Zn in fish fed C0, Phyt0 or PhytI was higher (p < 0.05) than that in fish fed CP0 or CPI. In conclusion, CP0, CPI and PhytI had the same effect, suggesting phytase pre-treatment as the most effective method. CPI did not have any advantage over CP0. Phytase increased mineral availability and utilization, which would minimize cost of mineral supplementation and discharges into the environment.

Phytoplasma induced free-branching in commercial poinsettia cultivars.

Free-branching poinsettia cultivars that produce numerous axillary shoots are essential for propagating desirable multi-flowered poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima Wild. Klotz). For more than a decade, a biological agent has been suspected to cause free-branching in poinsettias. Attempts to identify the branching agent have failed. Isolation of the pathogen was accomplished using a living host and it was concluded that an unculturable phytoplasma is the cause of free-branching in poinsettias. This is the first reported example of a pathogenic phytoplasma as the causal agent of a desirable and economically important trait.

[Acute hemopericardium--a rare intraoperative complication of cardiac pacemaker therapy]. / Das akute Hämoperikard--eine seltene intraoperative Komplikation der Herzschrittmachertherapie.

During the observation period from 1977 to 1985 in altogether 1,520 cardiac pacemaker operations 7 perforations of the myocardium with haemodynamic effect on the cardiac function were treated. In the light of the own experiences of the operative surroundings and the results the pericardiotomy is regarded as method of choice. If in the implantation of a cardiac pacemaker an acute deterioration of the general condition of the patient develops, one should at first think of the possibility of the tamponade of the pericardium. Only by active approach (pericardiotomy or puncture) the patient's life can be preserved.