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Wild Rats (wild + rat)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences60%

Selected Abstracts

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection in breeding monkeys: detection and analysis of strain diversity by PCR

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
T. Kageyama
In the last three decades, several monkeys reared in outdoor/indoor,outdoor breeding colonies and cages of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, died of yersiniosis caused by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, necessitating introduction of a method to detect the bacteria rapidly and thus allow preventive measures to be undertaken. A rapid nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for identification of Y. pseudotuberculosis in fecal samples and a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR approach for distinguishing between bacterial strains were therefore developed. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis isolates from monkey specimens were found to be classifiable into several types. To determine the source of infection, hundreds of fecal samples of wild rats, pigeons, and sparrows were collected from around the breeding colonies and cages, and subjected to PCR analyses. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was detected in 1.7% of the fecal samples of wild rats. The DNA fingerprints of the bacteria revealed by RAPD-PCR were the same as that of one strain isolated from macaques, suggesting the wild rat to be a possible source of infection. [source]

Warfarin resistance in a French strain of rats

JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR TOXICOLOGY, Issue 6 2006
Romain Lasseur
Abstract A warfarin-resistant strain and a warfarin-susceptible strain of wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) maintained in enclosures of the National Veterinary School of Lyon (France) were studied to determine the mechanism of the resistance to anticoagulant rodenticides. A low vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR) activity has been reported for many resistant rat strains. As recently suggested, mutations in the vitamin K epoxide reductase subunit 1 (VKORC1) gene are the genetic basis of anticoagulant resistance in wild populations of rats from various locations in Europe. Here we report, for our strain, one of the seven described mutations (Tyr139Phe) for VKORC1 in rats. In addition, a low expression of mRNA encoding VKORC1 gene is observed in resistant rats, which could explain their low VKOR activity. We calculated kinetic parameters of VKOR in the warfarin-resistant and warfarin-susceptible rats. The Vmax and the Km of the VKOR obtained in resistant rats were lowered by 57 and 77%, respectively, compared to those obtained in susceptible rats. As a consequence, the enzymatic efficiency (Vm/Km) of the VKOR was similar between resistant and susceptible rats. This result could be a good explanation to the observation that no clinical signs of vitamin K deficiency was observed in the warfarin-resistant strain, while a low VKOR activity was found. VKOR activity in warfarin-resistant rats was poorly inhibited by warfarin (Ki for warfarin is 29 ,M and 0.72 ,M for resistant and susceptible rats, respectively). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 19:379-385, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.20104 [source]

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection in breeding monkeys: detection and analysis of strain diversity by PCR

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
T. Kageyama
In the last three decades, several monkeys reared in outdoor/indoor,outdoor breeding colonies and cages of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, died of yersiniosis caused by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, necessitating introduction of a method to detect the bacteria rapidly and thus allow preventive measures to be undertaken. A rapid nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for identification of Y. pseudotuberculosis in fecal samples and a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR approach for distinguishing between bacterial strains were therefore developed. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis isolates from monkey specimens were found to be classifiable into several types. To determine the source of infection, hundreds of fecal samples of wild rats, pigeons, and sparrows were collected from around the breeding colonies and cages, and subjected to PCR analyses. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was detected in 1.7% of the fecal samples of wild rats. The DNA fingerprints of the bacteria revealed by RAPD-PCR were the same as that of one strain isolated from macaques, suggesting the wild rat to be a possible source of infection. [source]

Pneumocystis carinii and Pneumocystis wakefieldiae in Wild Rattus norvegicus Trapped in Thailand

THE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
MAGALI CHABÉ
ABSTRACT. This work reports for the first time the presence of two Pneumocystis species in wild Rattus norvegicus specimens from Thailand. Pneumocystis DNA was detected in 57.7% (15/26) wild rats without apparent association with typical pneumocystosis. Pneumocystis carinii was found alone in five rats (19.2%), Pneumocystis wakefieldiae was detected alone in six rats (23.1%), and two rats were infected by both species (7.7%). In addition, a new P. wakefieldiae variant sequence has been identified in three wild R. norvegicus specimens caught in the same geographical area. The high frequency of Pneumocystis in wild rats documented in this study and the apparent scarcity of severe pneumocystosis were consistent with an efficient circulation of rat Pneumocystis species in ecosystems. [source]

Identification of a new serotype of Rickettsia heilongjiangensis in wild rats from Guangdong Province, China

CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 2009
L. J. Zhang
No abstract is available for this article. [source]