Cyclic nitramines are a class of compounds that include most of the commonly used explosives today. These are among the most common toxicants released into the environment as a result of human activity, generated on military ranges, battlefields, and production sites. Of these, hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5- triazine (RDX) is of particular interest,...
Bacteria found in clarified ovine rumen fluid are capable of degradation of high-energy explosives such as RDX (Hexahydro-1,3,-trinitro‐1,3,5‐triazine) and HMX (Octahydro‐1,3,5,7‐tetranitro‐1,3,5,7-tetrazocine).
A study was conducted to evaluate the developmental toxicity of three commonly detected mycotoxins in food (deoxynivalenol, patulin, and zearalenone) using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model. Mycotoxin exposures were carried out at five concentrations (0.0064, 0.064, 0.64, 6.4, and 64 μM). Morphological and photomotor screenings were conducted at 24 hours...
Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) hay is an important source of forage for a variety of livestock species, and is most common in cool, coastal climates such as the Pacific Northwest. An endophyte fungus called Neotyphodium lolii frequently colonizes this grass to promote insect resistance, drought tolerance, and growth enhancement without...
An experiment was designed to simulate field conditions of tansy
ragwort poisoning in cattle and horses.
Four calves and four ponies were fed pelleted feed containing 5%
Senecio jacobaea and two ponies and two calves were used as controls.
The feeding continued for two months. Following this, the chronic
delayed...
The plant Senecio jacobaea (tansy ragwort) produces several macrocyclic pyrrolizidine alkaloids which cause irreversible liver cirrhosis. All of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Senecio jacobaea are macrocyclic diesters of the necine base retronecine, with the two most predominant being seneciphylline and jacobine. Unlike horses and cattle, sheep and goats are generally...
Perennial ryegrass (PRG, Lolium perenne) is a hardy cool-season grass that is infected with the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium lolii, which enables the plant to be insect repellant and drought resistant, lowering the use of insecticides and fertilizers. However, this fungus produces the compound lolitrem B (LB, m/z 686.4) which causes...
Endophytic fungi (A. coenophialum and A. lolii) which infect grasses produce ergot alkaloids that serve as the grasses' chemical defenses and enhance the vigor of the grass. Turf-type tall fescue with high endophyte levels has been deliberately developed to produce a greener, more vigorous, pest-resistant turf. Consumption of endophyte-infected grass...
Bacterial cultures enriched from sheep rumen fluid have demonstrated the ability to detoxify pyrrolizidine alkaloids (seneciphylline and jacobine) in tansy ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). The microbes are difficult to isolate using classical anaerobic techniques, therefore, microbes from two different enrichment cultures demonstrating similar degradation activity were identified using their 16S ribosomal...