3 research outputs found
Fièvre des montagnes dans les estives du Pays Basque : étiologie et facteurs de risque d’apparition du syndrome Belar joa chez les agnelles lors de la première transhumance
No full textTranshumant sheep farming in the Basque Country is affected by a common issue, which is widespread across a very large number of summer pastures and geographical areas. For decades, breeders and shepherds have been dealing with Mountain Fever, a syndrome that affects almost exclusively first-transhumance ewes. The young ewes, receptive and sensitive to infectious agents encountered for the first time in the mountains, become ill as early as the 5th day after arriving at the summer pasture. They develop a pronounced febrile syndrome, become isolated, lose weight and may eventually die ; or they gradually recover. A memory immune response is established for the rest of their life, following this first contact with the infectious agents involved in Belar joa syndrome. The results of this study confirm the strong involvement of the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Mountain Fever. Furthermore, these studies highlight the significant frequency of multiple exposure an double or even triple co-infections with other tick-borne pathogens, including Anaplasma ovis, Babesia/Theileria and Mycoplasma ovis. These frequent combinations of pathogens complicate the diagnosis and the choice of treatments to implement.L’élevage ovin transhumant du Pays Basque est affecté par une problématique commune, généralisée à un nombre très élevé d’estives et de secteurs géographiques. Depuis des décennies, éleveurs et bergers font face à la Fièvre des montagnes, syndrome qui affecte quasi-exclusivement les agnelles de première transhumance. Ces dernières, réceptives et sensibles vis-à-vis des agents infectieux rencontrés pour la première fois en montagne, tombent malades dès le 5ème jour après l’arrivée sur l’estive. Elles développent un syndrome fébrile marqué, s’isolent, s’amaigrissent et peuvent finir par mourir ; ou elles se rétablissent progressivement. Une réponse immunitaire mémoire se met en place pour le restant de leur vie suite à ce premier contact avec les agents infectieux impliqués dans le syndrome Belar joa. Les résultats de ce travail confirment l’implication forte de la bactérie Anaplasma phagocytophilum dans la Fièvre des montagnes. De plus, ces travaux soulignent la fréquence importante de l’exposition multiple et des co-infections doubles, voire triples avec d’autres agents pathogènes transmis par les tiques, notamment Anaplasma ovis, Babesia/Theileria et Mycoplasma ovis. Ces associations fréquentes de pathogènes compliquent le diagnostic et le choix des traitements à mettre en place
Biodiversity accounting and reporting: A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis
No full textTowards the improvement of environmental sustainability and the conservation of biodiversity, organisations are increasingly aware of the importance of reporting their impacts on biodiversity and the conservation plans undertaken. Biodiversity accounting and reporting are relevant for developing organisational practices oriented towards environmental sustainability, promoting cleaner management policies with less impact on the environment. Biodiversity accounting research has attracted scholars in business management and accounting, and as a result, the literature in the field has grown in recent years. This study analyses the intellectual structure of the biodiversity accounting and management discipline through a systematic literature review, along with bibliometric techniques based on a co-word analysis of the main keywords included in 63 publications. The results reveal five thematic clusters: one motor cluster (sustainability), two transversal clusters (biodiversity reporting, corporate biodiversity management) and two isolated clusters (environmental protection, emancipatory accounting). In addition, the content of the selected papers is analysed and promising research paths are found, such as the need for more robust quantitative analyses or the development of new forms of emancipatory accounting. The study discusses the main insights from the analysis, proposes future research directions and provides practical implications for biodiversity protection and environmental sustainability. © The Author
Enhancing sucrose synthase activity results in increased levels of starch and adp-glucose in maize (zea mays l.) seed endosperms
No full textSucrose synthase (SuSy) is a highly regulated cytosolic enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of sucrose and a nucleoside diphosphate into the corresponding nucleoside diphosphate glucose and fructose. In cereal endosperms, it is widely assumed that the stepwise reactions of SuSy, UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase and ADPglucose (ADPG) pyrophosphorylase (AGP) take place in the cytosol to convert sucrose into ADPG necessary for starch biosynthesis, although it has also been suggested that SuSy may participate in the direct conversion of sucrose into ADPG. In this study, the levels of the major primary carbon metabolites, and the activities of starch metabolism-related enzymes were assessed in endosperms of transgenic maize plants ectopically expressing StSUS4, which encodes a potato SuSy isoform. A total of 29 fertile lines transformed with StSUS4 were obtained, five of them containing a single copy of the transgene that was still functional after five generations. The number of seeds per ear of the five transgenic lines containing a single StSUS4 copy was comparable with that of wild-type (WT) control seeds. However, transgenic seeds accumulated 10-15% more starch at the mature stage, and contained a higher amylose/amylopectin balance than WT seeds. Endosperms of developing StSUS4-expressing seeds exhibited a significant increase in SuSy activity, and in starch and ADPG contents when compared with WT endosperms. No significant changes could be detected in the transgenic seeds in the content of soluble sugars, and in activities of starch metabolism-related enzymes when compared with WT seeds. A suggested metabolic model is presented wherein both AGP and SuSy are involved in the production of ADPG linked to starch biosynthesis in maize endosperm cells. © 2013 The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved.Peer Reviewe
