The Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat (T. plicata) in Thailand and the Brazilian free-tailed bat (T. brasiliensis) in south-central Texas are integral in the control of agricultural pests. The effect on the production of rice and cotton is determined by the bats consumption of a particular pest species in that region. In Thailand, it is the White-Backed Planthopper (Sogatella furcifera), while in south-central Texas, it is the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa zea). The ecological service these bat species provide is measured in millions of dollars saved by farmers each year. Finally, a conclusion was made about which species had a greater effect on the economy when compared to each other.

The available data examining the influence of rotational grazing on rodent responses are limited. This study investigated how rotational livestock grazing practices influence small mammal rodent abundances and species diversity. We looked for evidence of variation in the occurrence and/or numbers of certain rodent species among three plant community types (grassland, shrubland, grass-shrub mix), managed with or without grazing. We used Sherman live traps over a total of eight trapping sessions. We totaled 486 trapnights for each of the six plant community and grazing management combinations. The three plant community types were identified by visual cover. Out of the eight different species we captured, only Peromyscus maniculatus (North American deermouse) and Reithrodontomys megalotis (western harvest mouse) had sufficient captures to be analyzed for differences in abundance. Using all eight species to calculate the Shannon’s diversity index for each plot, we found evidence that rodent species diversity is less in grassland habitats than in shrubland habitats or grassland/shrubland mixed habitats (p

Previous studies have revealed insight into the effects of noises and vibrations on rodents, livestock, and zoo animals, but there is little information about such effects on non-human primates. This study aimed to assess the impact of construction activity on the behavior of animals in a non-human primate (rhesus macaque) facility. Construction activity and modified frequency behavioral data were divided into three phases: baseline (~3 months prior to construction), roof (construction on top of the animal facility), and honors (construction of 7 new buildings adjacent to the facility). We hypothesized that anxiety behaviors (scratch and yawn) would be increased during the construction as opposed to baseline but that overall behavioral activity would be decreased. Additionally, we predicted that these effects would be most prominent during the roof construction period. However, subjects actually exhibited a significant decrease in scratching behavior from the baseline to the honors phase (p=0.040). The average number of behaviors performed in a 15-sec interval (behavioral change) significantly decreased (p=0.034) between the baseline and honors construction periods. This same decrease was seen in the average number of different species typical behaviors performed per observation period (behavioral range; p=0.004). Both effects occurred from the baseline to honors period (p=0.015). Closer inspection of the honors construction period revealed levels of scratching , behavioral change, and behavioral range had returned to baseline during Honors 3 and 4 (All p>0.05). These data suggest that adaptation may be possible when monkeys are exposed to prolonged construction.

The increasing dependence on amphibian captive breeding programs to support at-risk populations has led to growth in the application of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) to aid with the management of decreasing population density and genetic diversity. Already the integration of ART within these programs has led to monumental successes and shows great promise as a means to augment amphibian breeding efforts when natural breeding has low success. The focus of this project was to continue the optimization of ART to aid in making these technologies more widely applicable. Specific objectives include developing a framework that can be used to standardize follicular grading of oocytes through ultrasound assessments, demonstrating how advantageous routine sonography assessments are in providing insight into the female reproductive cycle in captive amphibians, and determining the differences in offspring growth and development between Ambystoma tigrinum larvae produced through in-vitro fertilization with either freshly collected or frozen-thawed sperm.

Cryopreservation of in vivo derived Jersey bovine embryos have resulted in a 10% lower pregnancy rate compared to other dairy breeds. Poor embryo survival after cryopreservation has been partially attributed to the high lipid content of Jersey embryos. In vitro-produced (IVP) bovine embryos have darker cytoplasm than their in vivo-derived counterparts because of higher lipid accumulation. High lipid accumulation is associated with impaired embryo quality. Forskolin is an adenylate cyclase activator that regulates cAMP levels in cells and has been shown to induce lipolysis in IVP embryos. L-carnitine is required for transport of fatty acids from the intermembrane space of the mitochondria into the mitochondrial matrix to support the process of β-oxidation, and enhances ATP production. We hypothesized that the lipid content of in vivo-produced and IVP Jersey embryos is higher than respective Holstein embryos and that forskolin + L-carnitine would reduce lipid content of IVP embryos and vitrification with embryo collapse would improve the cryosurvival of Jersey IVP embryos. The objectives of this experiment were (1) to analyze lipid content of in vivo and IVP Jersey and Holstein cattle embryos, (2) to evaluate the effect of forskolin + L-carnitine added to IVP culture media, and (3) evaluate Jersey IVP survival rates after three cryopreservation procedures. The factorial experimental design for objectives one and two used two breeds (Holstein and Jersey) and three embryo production methods (in vivo, IVP, and IVP + forsk/L-C). In vivo produced embryos (n = 27 blastocysts) were collected from superstimulated donors by routine procedures 7.5 days after AI. IVP embryos (n = 259 blastocysts) were produced by standard procedures; briefly, oocytes were aspirated from 2- to 8-mm follicles from slaughterhouse ovaries and matured for 24 h in SMM medium (BoviPro, MOFA Global, Verona, WI, USA). Matured oocytes were fertilized using semen from two different bulls for each breed, and embryos were cultured in BBH7 medium (BoviPro, MOFA Global) alone or with the addition of 1.5mM L-carnitine during maturation and embryo culture with forskolin (10 µM) added at Day 5 of culture at 38.5°C in 5% O2, 5% CO2, and 90% N2. The lipid content of embryos was quantified by staining Day 7 blastocysts with 1 μg mL–1 Nile red dye (580–596 nm), after which a digital photograph of the equatorial part of the embryo was taken at 40×, and fluorescence intensity (FI) was measured with Image Pro software. Data was analyzed by ANOVA, and means were compared using Tukey’s HSD. For the third objective, grade 1 Jersey IVP blastocysts (n=356) were divided into six treatments using a 2x3 factorial design comparing intact (IB) vs collapsed blastocoele (CB) and three cryopreservation methods: slow freezing (SF) vs vitrification using open pulled straws (OPS) or cryotop (CT). Slow freezing embryos were equilibrated in 0.7 M glycerol and 0.1 M galactose in holding media for 10 min, held for 10 min at -6°C, seeded after 5 min, decreased to -32 °C at 0.5 °C /min, held at -32°C for 5 min, and finally plunged into liquid nitrogen. Vitrified embryos were equilibrated in 1.5 M ethylene glycol (EG) for 5 min, exposed to 7 M EG + 0.6 M galactose for 30 s while loaded into OPS or placed onto CT, then immediately plunged into liquid nitrogen. SF embryos were thawed in air for 10 s and placed in a water bath at 37°C for 45 s. Vitrified embryos were warmed directly into holding medium at 37°C supplemented with 1.0 M, 0.5 M and 0.25 M galactose for 3 minutes each. Subsequently, embryos were cultured in BBH7 and re-expansion rates were assessed at 24 and 48h post warming and data was evaluated by GLIMX. For objective 1, Jersey and Holstein IVP embryos had higher lipid content than Holstein in vivo-produced embryos (P < 0.05), but were not different than Jersey in vivo-derived embryos (P > 0.1). Forskolin + L-carnitine lowered the lipid content (P < 0.05) of both IVP Jersey and Holstein embryos and was not different (P > 0.1) than in vivo-produced embryos. For experiment 2, re-expansion rates were higher for CT, than OPS, and SF (85 vs. 66 vs. 72% ± 0.4, respectively; p<0.05). Main effect means for re-expansion were higher for CB than IB (79 vs 68% ± 0.3; p<0.05). In conclusion, IVP embryos have higher lipid accumulation over Holstein in vivo embryos. Addition of forskolin and L-carnitine to embryo culture media has the potential to lower embryo lipid accumulation and possibly improve embryo viability and cryotolerance of IVP embryos. The CT method and collapsing the blastocoele prior to cryopreservation resulted in higher blastocyst survival rate. Further studies including transfer of embryos to recipients are necessary to corroborate these results.

Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death. Lifetime exposure to estrogen contributes to this risk but high dose estrogen has been used to induce apoptosis as treatment for breast cancer. These opposing tumorigenic and anti-tumorigenic effects of estrogen may be regulated differently by the two Estrogen Receptors (ER), Estrogen Receptor alpha (ERα) and Estrogen Receptor beta (ERβ). Although the receptors share a 96% homology in their DNA binding domain, they are unique in the ligand-binding domain with 53% amino acid homology. Previous studies have shown that ERα drives cell proliferation in the mammary gland. We propose that ERβ mediates genomic surveillance in the mammary gland to restrict proliferation. To test this hypothesis we first characterized each of our reference breast cancer cell lines to determine the ERα and ERβstatus. We found that ERβ transcript and protein are expressed in some breast cancer cell lines that are considered to be “triple-negative” (HCC1937 and MDA MB 231). Using specific ER agonists, we were able to demonstrate that amphiregulin, a secreted protein and a marker of ERα activation, is upregulated by ERα agonists in a dose dependent manner in cell lines that have ERα (T47D & MCF7). ERα agonists do not enhance AREG expression in cell lines that primarily expresses ERβ (HCC1937). Instead, CEBPd, a tumor suppressor, is expressed at high levels in this cell line. In conclusion, targeting ERβ has the potential to selectively activate tumor suppressor pathways without stimulating proliferation and may provide a treatment option for patients for whom inhibition of ERa is not an option.

Many zoonotic pathogens of concern to human and veterinary health are maintained in the environment within small mammal reservoirs and vectored to new hosts by ectoparasitic arthropods. While the ecological relationships among small mammals, ectoparasites, and disease-causing symbiotic microorganisms are important to these dynamics, little is known about them across much of North America. The sylvatic cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, is of particular interest because Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease of humans in the United States. However, cases of Lyme disease are primarily confined to the northeastern and Midwestern United States, with only sporadic cases extending into the southeast. As a result, much of what is known of the ecology of Lyme disease comes from studies conducted in those regions. The goal of this study was to examine the ecological dynamics of the B. burgdorferi/vector/reservoir system in south-central Kentucky and gain insight into the relative paucity of Lyme disease in Kentucky. Small mammals were captured using live traps in three 200x50 m trapping grids within Western Kentucky University’s Green River Preserve from November 2014-October 2015. Captured small mammals were identified to species and standard measurements were recorded. Ectoparasites were removed and retained for identification. Collected blood and tissue were examined for B. burgdorferi DNA by polymerase chain reaction with primers specific to the OspA gene. The Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index, Schnabel population estimates, and the Shannon-Wiener diversity index were used to assess the structure of the small mammal communities. Parasite infestation was low but was affected by age and sex of the host, site, and season in different parasite taxa. Infestation by Ixodes scapularis, the primary vector for B. burgdorferi, was uncommon and prevalence of B. burgdorferi in blood was similar to the lowest prevalence previously observed in the Lyme disease endemic regions. We found that life history characteristics of hosts and ectoparasites drive their associations. We also suggest that the lack of an efficient vector for B. burgdorferi is the likely explanation for the few reported cases of Lyme disease in Kentucky.

The relationship between measures of temperament, growth performance, and social hierarchy in finishing beef cattle were explored in two experiments. In experiment 1, high OCS (objective chute score) steers had periods of significantly higher ADG (P < 0.01), but OCS had no relationship with dominance ranking (P > 0.47). Conversely, slow exit velocity (EV) correlated with higher ranking (P ≤ 0.06), but EV had no relationship with performance (P > 0.37) in a competitive environment. Rank showed no relationship with performance (P > .58). In experiment 2, steers with fast EV had periods of decreased growth (P ≤ .06), intake (P ≤ .06), and gain:feed (G:F; P = 0.02). There were no interactions between EV, OCS, and monensin or between EV and monensin. Monensin and EV together, however, significantly impacted overall (days 0 – end) G:F (P = 0.02) and gain (P = 0.05). Overall, these studies further confirm the idea that EV affects performance as does OCS in concert with monensin. Moreover, it further confirms that different measures of temperament correlated to different aspects of performance and should not be lumped together under the general term “temperament” when describing its relationship with performance.

The decrease in productivity caused by fescue toxicosis has been estimated to cost the United States livestock industry more than $1 billion per year due to reduced growth and diminished reproductive efficiency. This goal of the research presented in this dissertation is to enhance the knowledge base concerning the underlying physiological changes that occur during fescue toxicosis that lead to reduced intake and weight gain in cattle. As one of the factors associated with fescue toxicosis is a reduction in feed intake, achieving a consistent and adequate intake of toxins can be a complication. Results from experiment 1demonstrate that ruminal dosing of ground seed and a seed extract are able to mimic the classic symptoms of fescue toxicosis in cattle. This model whereby seed or extract is directly dosed into the rumen eliminates the possibility of reduced alkaloid intake due to refusal of feed by the animal. This model allows for more precise and repeatable dosing of alkaloids in fescue research. Experiment 2 results indicate that ingestion of endophyte-infected tall fescue leads to decreased fasting heat production in cattle. This is indicative of a reduction in maintenance energy requirements and may be related to a decrease in liver size or other metabolic activity in animals grazing endophyte-infected pastures. In addition, a reduction in basal metabolic rate may cause the compensatory gain often observed in cattle entering the feedlot after grazing endophyte-infected pastures. Data from experiment 3 provides evidence that whole body nitrogen and energy metabolism are not altered by fescue alkaloid ingestion. Experiment 3 also addresses the rate of feed degradation and ruminal passage rates in cattle ingesting endophyte infected fescue. While ruminal VFA profile is altered, this is likely due to reduced absorption, not increased production. The data from this experiment indicate that the reduction in weight gain and productivity seen during fescue toxicosis is primarily a function of reduced intake and not secondary effects of alkaloid ingestion.

Two experiments were conducted at the University of Kentucky, Eden Shale Farm, Owenton, KY to evaluate the use of MTB-100TM (Alltech, Inc., Nicholasville, KY) to alleviate the symptoms of fescue toxicity when lactating Angus x Beefmaster cows and their calves grazed endophyte-infected KY-31 tall fescue. Experiment 1 provided a carbohydrate based toxin adsorbent, MTB-100TM, ad libitum in a commercial mineral supplement to project a daily consumption rate of 0, 20 or 40 g of MTB-100TM per cow. Cows were weighed, assigned a body condition score (BCS) and hair coat score (HC), rectal temperatures were recorded and fecal grab samples were taken for ergovaline (EV) and lysergic acid (LA) analysis every 35 days for three grazing seasons (May to September). Calves were also weighed and assigned a HC score. Although MTB-100TM did not improve cow or calf performance, cows older than 4 years and those with greater Beefmaster breeding exhibited a higher tolerance to fescue toxicity than 2 and 3-yr-olds and cows with greater Angus breeding. Experiment 2 was conducted to evaluate the response of lactating beef cows and their calves to strategic supplementation with MTB-100TM. MTB-100TM was mixed with a complete mineral so daily intake was projected to be 0 or 20 g/cow. The experimental period extended from May 5 to October 2 and was divided into 3 strategic periods: P1 = May 5 to July 5; P2 = July 5 to August 31; P3 = August 31 to October 2. Treatments were either 0 or 20 g•cow-1•d-1 MTB-100TM within a period (Treatment 1 = 0, 0, 0; Treatment 2 = 20, 0, 20; Treatment 3 = 0, 20, 0; Treatment 4 = 20, 20, 0; and Treatment 5 = 20, 20, 20). Cow and calf performance was measured the same as Exp. 1, but every 21 days. Supplementation early in the grazing season tended to improve cow weight gain and body condition; however, there was no effect on calf performance. Fecal output of EV and LA did not increase in either experiment with supplementation. In conclusion, strategically invoked MTB-100TM consumption can increase performance of cows grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue forage.