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Li, C., Jiang, Z., Tang, S., & Zeng, Y. (2007). Influence of enclosure size and animal density on fecal cortisol concentration and aggression in Pere David's deer stags. Gen Comp Endocrinol, 151(2), 202–209.
Abstract: We investigated the impact of enclosure size and animal density on behavior and adrenocortical secretion in Pere David's deer in Dafeng Nature Reserve, China. From February 15 to April 16 in 2004, we conducted two experiments. First, we studied maintenance behavior and conflict behavior of Pere David's deer stags in a large enclosure (200 ha) with low animal density (0.66 deer/ha) and a small display pen (0.75 ha) with high animal density (25.33 deer/ha). The maintenance behavior we recorded included standing, locomotion, foraging and rest. During the behavioral observations, we collected fresh voided fecal samples from the stags periodically, and analyzed the fecal cortisol concentrations in those samples using radioimmunoassay technique. Second, we monitored the fecal cortisol concentrations of one group of stags (12 deer lived in an enclosure of 100 ha) before and after transferred into a small pen (0.5 ha). We found that in the first experiment: (1) there were significant differences in standing and rest whereas no significant differences of locomotion and foraging between the free-ranging group and the display group; (2) frequency of conflict behavior in the display group was significantly higher than those in the free-ranging group; and (3) fecal cortisol concentration of the display group (326.17+/-16.98 ng/g dry feces) was significantly higher than that of the free-ranging group (268.98+/-15.21 ng/g dry feces). In the second experiment, there was no significant difference of the fecal cortisol concentrations among sampling days, but the mean fecal cortisol concentration of the day after transferring (337.46+/-17.88 ng/g dry feces) was significantly higher than that of the day before transferring (248.44+/-7.99 ng/g dry feces). Comparison with published findings, our results indicated that enclosure size and animal density affect not only behaviors, but also adrenocortical secretion in Pere David's deer. Small living space with high animal density may impose physiological stress to captive Pere David's deer. Moreover, long-term physiological stress and increase of conflict behavior may subsequently affect survival and reproduction of the deer.
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Touma, C., Palme, R., & Sachser, N. (2004). Analyzing corticosterone metabolites in fecal samples of mice: a noninvasive technique to monitor stress hormones. Horm Behav, 45(1), 10–22.
Abstract: In small animals like mice, the monitoring of endocrine functions over time is constrained seriously by the adverse effects of blood sampling. Therefore, noninvasive techniques to monitor, for example, stress hormones in these animals are highly demanded in laboratory as well as in field research. The aim of our study was to evaluate the biological relevance of a recently developed technique to monitor stress hormone metabolites in fecal samples of laboratory mice. In total, six experiments were performed using six male and six female mice each. Two adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge tests, two dexamethasone (Dex) suppression tests and two control experiments [investigating effects of the injection procedure itself and the diurnal variation (DV) of glucocorticoids (GCs), respectively] were conducted. The experiments clearly demonstrated that pharmacological stimulation and suppression of adrenocortical activity was reflected accurately by means of corticosterone metabolite (CM) measurements in the feces of males and females. Furthermore, the technique proved sensitive enough to detect dosage-dependent effects of the ACTH/Dex treatment and facilitated to reveal profound effects of the injection procedure itself. Even the naturally occurring DV of GCs could be monitored reliably. Thus, our results confirm that measurement of fecal CM with the recently established 5alpha-pregnane-3beta,11beta,21-triol-20-one enzyme immunoassay is a very powerful tool to monitor adrenocortical activity in laboratory mice. Since mice represent the vast majority of all rodents used for research worldwide and the number of transgenic and knockout mice utilized as animal models is still increasing, this noninvasive technique can open new perspectives in biomedical and behavioral science.
Keywords: Adrenal Cortex/drug effects; Adrenal Cortex Function Tests; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/pharmacology; Analysis of Variance; Animals; Circadian Rhythm; Corticosterone/*analysis/metabolism; Dexamethasone/pharmacology; Feces/*chemistry; Female; Immunoenzyme Techniques/*methods; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Models, Animal; Reproducibility of Results; Stress, Psychological/*metabolism
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Kralj-Fiser, S., Scheiber, I. B. R., Blejec, A., Moestl, E., & Kotrschal, K. (2007). Individualities in a flock of free-roaming greylag geese: behavioral and physiological consistency over time and across situations. Horm Behav, 51(2), 239–248.
Abstract: The concept of personality implies individual differences in behavior and physiology that show some degree of repeatability/consistency over time and across contexts. Most studies of animal personality, particularly studies of individuals' variation in physiological mechanisms, have been conducted on selected individuals in controlled conditions. We attempted to detect consistent behaviors as well as physiological patterns in greylag ganders (Anser anser) from a free-roaming flock living in semi-natural conditions. We tested 10 individuals repeatedly, in a handling trial, resembling tests for characterization of “temperaments” in captive animals. We recorded the behavior of the same 10 individuals during four situations in the socially intact flock: (1) a “low density feeding condition”, (2) a “high density feeding condition”, (3) a “low density post-feeding situation” and (4) while the geese rested. We collected fecal samples for determination of excreted immuno-reactive corticosterone (BM) and testosterone metabolites (TM) after handling trials, as well as the “low density feeding” and the “high density feeding” conditions. BM levels were very highly consistent over the repeats of handling trials, and the “low density feeding condition” and tended to be consistent over the first two repeats of the “high density feeding condition”. Also, BM responses tended to be consistent across contexts. Despite seasonal variation, there tended to be inter-test consistency of TM, which pointed to some individual differences in TM as well. Aggressiveness turned out to be a highly repeatable trait, which was consistent across social situations, and tended to correlate with an individual's resistance during handling trials. Also, “proximity to the female partner” and “sociability” – the average number of neighboring geese in a close distance while resting – were consistent. We conclude that aggressiveness, “affiliative tendencies” and levels of excreted corticosterone and testosterone metabolites may be crucial factors of personality in geese.
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Holzapfel, W. H., & Botha, S. J. (1988). Physiology of Sporolactobacillus strains isolated from different habitats and the indication of in vitro antagonism against Bacillus species. Int J Food Microbiol, 7(2), 161–168.
Abstract: In an ecological study only low numbers of Sporolactobacillus were found in habitats such as the faeces of herbivores, the rumen of cattle and the final waste water of an abattoir. Their presence in the final waste water of an abattoir indicates their possible association with food, and, more specifically, with meat. Differences were found in some physiological characteristics. One isolate (L2404) differed from the authentic Sporolactobacillus ATCC 15538 by its inability to ferment inulin, its growth in presence of 6.5% NaCl and in 0.2% tellurite, by the isomer(s) of lactic acid produced and the mol% G + G in the DNA. One Sporolactobacillus isolate (L2407) showed antagonism against Bacillus cereus, Bacillus cereus var, mycoides, Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtilis.
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Nowlan, S. S., & Deibel, R. H. (1967). Group Q streptococci. I. Ecology, serology, physiology, and relationship to established enterococci. J Bacteriol, 94(2), 291–296.
Abstract: The group Q streptococci possess unique serological and physiological characteristics which differentiate them from established enterococci. The group Q antigen was not demonstrable in all strains; however, all possessed the group D antigen. All group Q strains were physiologically similar regardless of whether or not they possessed the group Q antigen. These strains differed from the established enterococcal species, as they neither hydrolyzed arginine nor initiated growth in 1.0% methylene blue-milk. They also differed radically in the fermentation of various carbohydrates, especially the polyhydric sugar alcohols. The results indicate that the group Q streptococci constitute a unique taxonomic entity; the species designation Streptococcus avium sp. n. is suggested, owing to their characteristic occurrence in chicken fecal specimens.
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Wilhelm, W. E., & Anderson, J. H. (1971). Vahlkampfia lobospinosa (Craig. 1912) Craig. 1913: rediscovery of a coprozoic ameba. J Parasitol, 57(6), 1378–1379.
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Malek, E. A. (1971). The life cycle of Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus (Cobbold, 1876) Looss, 1896 (Trematoda: Paramphistomatidae: Gastrodiscinae). J Parasitol, 57(5), 975–979.
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Turner, J. W. J., Liu, I. K., & Kirkpatrick, J. F. (1996). Remotely delivered immunocontraception in free-roaming feral burros (Equus asinus). J Reprod Fertil, 107(1), 31–35.
Abstract: Regulation of local overpopulations of free-roaming feral equids is in demand worldwide for ecological balance and habitat preservation. Contraceptive vaccines have proven effective in feral horses, which breed seasonally, but no data are available for equids such as the burro, which is reproductively active all year round. In the present study, 27 individually identified female feral burros (Equus asinus) roaming free in Virgin Islands National Park (St John, US Virgin Islands; Lesser Antilles) were remotely treated with pig zonae pellucidae (PZP) vaccine. Between January and May, 16 burros were darted with a 1 ml emulsion of PZP plus Freund's adjuvant. Ten to twelve months later each treated burro was given a single booster injection of PZP plus adjuvant to maintain contraception through a second year. Eleven adult untreated jennies served as controls. Beginning one year after initial vaccination, these burros were monitored for pregnancy and foal production. Collection of data to determine treatment effect was not begun until 12 months after initial treatment to ensure that pregnancies existing before vaccination were not included. Pregnancy was assessed using previously validated methods for steroid metabolite measurement in fresh faecal samples. None of the PZP-treated burros produced foals between 0 and 12 months after the last inoculation. One PZP-treated burro tested positive for pregnancy at 10 months after the final inoculation. During this same period, six of 11 untreated burros tested pregnancy-positive, and four were observed with foals. There was no difference in pregnancy rates among treated, control and randomly sampled jennies between 12 and 24 months after the last inoculation. The results demonstrate that, in free-roaming feral burros that are reproductively active all year round: (1) burros can be accessed for remotely delivered PZP vaccination; (2) PZP contraception is effective; (3) PZP contraception is reversible; and (4) pregnancy can be reliably detected by faecal steroid analysis.
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Schwarzenberger, F., Mostl, E., Bamberg, E., Pammer, J., & Schmehlik, O. (1991). Concentrations of progestagens and oestrogens in the faeces of pregnant Lipizzan, trotter and thoroughbred mares. J Reprod Fertil Suppl, 44, 489–499.
Abstract: Faecal samples were collected at weekly intervals from pregnant Lipizzan mares during Weeks 7-16 following mating and from Lipizzan, Trotter and Thoroughbred mares during the last 3 months of gestation. After parturition, samples were taken daily from the Thoroughbred mares for another 6 days. Non-pregnant mares served as controls. The concentrations of unconjugated oestrogens (Eg), 20 alpha-OH-progestagens (20 alpha-G) and 20 beta-OH-progestagens (20 beta-G) were measured by enzyme immunoassay. In the faeces of Lipizzan mares, immunoreactive progestagens were significantly (P less than 0.01) elevated above the levels in non-pregnant mares by Week 11, and Eg by Week 13 of pregnancy onwards. During the last 3 months of gestation, concentrations of Eg were significantly higher in Trotter mares than in Lipizzan and Thoroughbred mares. Concentrations of 20 alpha-G and 20 beta-G increased to maximal values in the last month of gestation. There was no significant difference among the 3 breeds with respect to 20 alpha-G but, during the 10 weeks before parturition, concentrations of 20 beta-G in the Lipizzan mares were significantly lower (P less than 0.05) than those in the Thoroughbred mares. They were also significantly lower than those of the Trotter mares during the last 4 weeks of gestation. After parturition, the concentrations of Eg and progestagens had declined to baseline values by Days 3 and 4 respectively. From these results we conclude that high concentrations of progestagens with 20 alpha- and 20 beta-hydroxyl groups are present in the faeces of pregnant mares, especially during the last month of gestation.
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Lucas, Z., Raeside, J. I., & Betteridge, K. J. (1991). Non-invasive assessment of the incidences of pregnancy and pregnancy loss in the feral horses of Sable Island. J Reprod Fertil Suppl, 44, 479–488.
Abstract: Field observations of 400 totally unmanaged feral horses on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, were complemented by oestrogen determinations in faecal samples from 154 identified females over a 4-year period (454 mare-years). Of mares that were sampled throughout the year and subsequently produced foals, 92.1% exhibited elevated faecal oestrogens between 15 October and 30 March. The results confirm that faecal oestrogens are a useful indicator of pregnancy after approximately 120 days gestation. Distribution of foaling resembled that seen in other feral populations, with 95% of births occurring from April through July. The foaling rate for mares aged 3 years or older was 62.0%, with 50.7% of mares foaling in 3 or 4 years. Foaling rates were low (4.1%) in mares bred as yearlings and rose with age to 70.8% in those bred as 4-year-olds. Fetal loss after Day 120 was deduced from faecal oestrogens to be 26.0% overall, with marked variation from year to year (9.6-37.3%) and with age (70.0% in those bred as yearlings, decreasing to 5.6% in those bred as 4-year-olds). Of 58 mares aged 2 years or older that were sampled every year, about half (49.6%) the barren years were attributable to fetal loss after 120 days gestation. All mares conceived in at least 2 of the 4 years, suggesting that pregnancy loss, even after Day 120, is as important as failure to conceive in causing barren years.
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