Time of day modified the time required for semen collection with electroejaculation and slightly affected the quality of fresh semen in rams.

The aim was to compare some stress responses to electroejaculation (EE), and the quality of fresh semen, when ram semen is collected at dawn (06:00 h), noon (12:00 h), or evening (18:00 h). Twelve Corriedale rams were used, and semen was collected from four rams at each study time on three different days, with a Latin-square design. The time required for EE, the number of vocalizations emitted, heart rate, and rectal temperature were recorded, and fresh semen was evaluated. The time required for EE was shorter at evening than at dawn and noon (399.3 s, 480.6 s, and 460.2 s respectively; pooled SEM = 72.1; P = 0.03). The percentage of sperm with progressive motility was greater at noon than dawn (59.7% and 50.3%; pooled SEM = 5.8; P = 0.05). Curvilinear velocity was greater at dawn than evening (117.0 µm/s and 95.5 µm/s; pooled SEM = 7.1; P = 0.04), slow linear velocity was greater at evening than at dawn and noon (13.1 µm/s, 9.3 µm/s, and 8.5 µm/s respectively; pooled SEM = 1.7, P = 0.05), and the slow average path velocity was greater at evening than dawn and noon (16.2 µm/s, 11.7 µm/s, and 10.8 µm/s respectively; pooled SEM = 1.9, P = 0.05). In conclusion, the collection time modified the time required for electroejaculation and had only slight effects on the quality of fresh semen. Overall, the time of the day appears to have only slight effects on semen collection and quality.

C-5-substituted antifeedant silphinene sesquiterpenes from Senecio palmensis.

The new sesquiterpenes, 5alpha-senecioyloxysilphinen-3-one (5), 5alpha-tigloyloxysilphinen-3-one (7), and 3beta-hydroxy-5alpha-angeloyloxysilphinene (8), and the known compounds (6S)-2,10-bisaboladien-1-one (1), 6,7-epoxy-3(15)-caryophyllene (2), 6,7-epoxy-2,9-humuladiene (3), 5alpha-angeloyloxysilphinen-3-one (4), and 5alpha-acetoxysilphinen-3-one (6) were isolated from bioactive fractions of Senecio palmensis. The structures of these compounds were established by spectroscopic analysis and chemical evidence. The semisynthetic analogues silphinen-3,5-dione (9), 5alpha-hydroxysilphinen-3-one (10), 5beta-hydroxysilphinen-3-one (11), 5beta-acetoxysilphinen-3-one (12), and 5beta-isobutyryloxysilphinen-3-one (13) were generated to carry out a structure-activity study on the antifeedant action of these molecules against several divergent insect species.

Novel illudins from Coprinopsis episcopalis (syn. Coprinus episcopalis), and the distribution of illudin-like compounds among filamentous fungi.

The illudins are a family of fungal sesquiterpenes that have been studied as anti-tumor agents, and they also have antibacterial activity. Over a four-year period, 25 304 fungal isolates (approximately 97% ascomycetes and 3% basidiomycetes), were screened for antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Illudin-like compounds with antibacterial and cytotoxic activity against tumor cell lines were observed in 10 basidiomycete strains. The isolates were recovered from different types of substrata using indirect methods and only formed sterile mycelia in pure culture. The isolates were genetically related but not identical, based on PCR-based fingerprinting techniques. DNA sequencing of the ITS1-5.8 S-ITS2 region of the strains revealed that nine had identical sequences, indicating that they were conspecific. The sequence of the remaining isolate was 96.34% similar, suggesting that it was a closely related species. The D1-D2 region of the 25 S rRNA gene of the two strain types was also sequenced. Both sequences were 99.39% similar, and Coprinopsis gonophylla (syn. Coprinus gonophyllus) was the closest match for both. Strains were grown in pure culture on a rice-based medium that allowed the development of basidiomata from one culture of the main strain type, which was identified as C. episcopalis, a close relative of C. gonophyllus. Both species (or strain types) produced different types of illudin-like compounds. Three novel illudins (I, I2 and J2) were found to be produced by the cultures identified as C. episcopalis, while only illudinic acid was produced by the other Coprinopsis sp. The taxonomical relationships of the Coprinops is species identified in this study with other illudin producers previously reported in the literature are discussed.