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The flavor, quality, and composition of beef changes with the cattle diet regimen. The quality of meat varies, and that variability is determined by both individual and environmental factors: age, breed, live weight, fatness degree, plane of nutrition, and concentrate/roughage ratio. The strategy for the rearing and feeding of cattle for slaughter should therefore aim at reducing the saturated fatty acid content and increasing the polyunsaturated fatty acid and monounsaturated fatty acid levels. Many diseases in humans, like atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, are associated with dietary fat, and their development process could take a year, the results of which can be a shorter life and its lower quality. The objective of this review was to describe the factors affecting the meat quality and fatty acid profile of the intramuscular fat of European cattle fed various diets., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sakowski, Grodkowski, Gołebiewski, Slósarz, Kostusiak, Solarczyk and Puppel.)

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate bioactive whey protein concentrations in cow's milk collected in late pasture (LP) and early indoor feeding (EIF) season from conventional and organic farms in Poland., Results: Results showed that in the LP somatic cell count (SCC) was higher under organic farming conditions. However, percentages of protein and fat were higher under conventional farming conditions. In EIF, milk from conventional dairy farms had a higher percentage of fat and lactose and a lower concentration of protein and SCC in comparison to milk from organic farms. Organic milk in LP had higher concentrations of beneficial whey proteins than conventional milk, including β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg, 4.12 vs. 2.68 g L⁻¹), lactoferrin (Lf, 334.99 vs. 188.02 mg L⁻¹), and lysozyme (Lz, 15.68 vs. 12.56 µg L⁻¹). However, conventional milk in EIF had higher concentrations of bovine serum albumin (146.47 vs. 118.65 mg L⁻¹), Lf (49 vs. 185.27 mg L⁻¹), and Lz (16.63 vs. 13.22 µg L⁻¹)., Conclusions: The results show significant differences in the investigated parameters between organic milk and milk from conventional system during EIF and LP. Moreover, extending the pasture season during EIF in organic farms decreases concentration of bioactive compounds of milk., (Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: So far, in research studies, the age of cows has not been considered as a factor that may influence the changes in the content of milk ingredients with antioxidant properties modified by the feed supplementation. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of supplementation on the content of ingredients having antioxidant properties and to determine the influence of the age of cows taking part in the experiment on these changes. The experiment was conducted using 20 Polish Holstein Friesian cows, 10 primiparous and 10 multiparous. The combined supplementation of fish oil and linseed constituted the experimental factor., Results: The milk of primiparous cows after 21 days of supplementation was characterised by a higher content of C18:1 trans-11, C18:2 cis-9, trans-11, α-retinol, α-tocopherol and β-lactoglobulin compared to the milk of multiparous cows, in which a higher level of lactoferrin, C20:5 and β-carotene was recorded. In both groups an increase in the total antioxidant status was noted (a higher level in the milk of primiparous cows)., Conclusions: Modification of the diet of cows with fish oil and linseed significantly influenced antioxidant properties of their milk; however, the response of multiparous and primaparous cows was noticeably different to the supplement introduced., (Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Bacteriophage bIBB29 was isolated from a whey sample originating from an industrial biotechnological process, disturbed by a bacteriophage attack. Phage bIBB29 was determined to be active against three phage-resistant strains of Lactococcus lactis. It belongs to the 936 species containing virulent phages with isometric head and short non-contractile tail. One-step growth kinetics of bIBB29 phage showed that its latent time was 23 min, and the burst size was about 130 bacteriophages. The complete nucleotide sequence of the virulent L. lactis bacteriophage bIBB29 comprises 29305 nucleotides and is the sixth phage genome of the 936 species published until now. The G+C content of the bIBB29 genome (34.7%) is similar to that of its host and also to that of other phages from the 936 species. The bIBB29 genome counts 54 open reading frames organized in three typical clusters, corresponding to the early, middle and late expressed genes. Only 20 protein products of the predicted genes were found to have their homologs among proteins with known function. The early expressed region in the genomes of 936 group members displays the highest divergence, whereas the late and middle regions share high similarities, with the exception of five genes. The genome of bIBB29 shares the highest overall nucleotide similarity with bIL170 (87%), and the lowest with phage 712 (77%). The host range analysis showed that despite the high level of similarity between the receptor binding protein (RBP) of phage bIBB29 and P475, they have a different host range. This implies that RBP is not a sufficient factor for host range.

Here we report the nucleotide sequence of pCTX-M3, a highly conjugative plasmid that is responsible for the extensive spread of the gene coding for the CTX-M-3 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase in clinical populations of the family Enterobacteriaceae in Poland. The plasmid belongs to the IncL/M incompatibility group, is 89,468 bp in size, and carries 103 putative genes. Besides bla(CTX-M-3), it also bears the bla(TEM-1), aacC2, and armA genes, as well as integronic aadA2, dfrA12, and sul1, which altogether confer resistance to the majority of beta-lactams and aminoglycosides and to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The conjugal transfer genes are organized in two blocks, tra and trb, separated by a spacer sequence where almost all antibiotic resistance genes and multiple mobile genetic elements are located. Only bla(CTX-M-3), accompanied by an ISEcp1 element, is placed separately, in a DNA fragment previously identified as a fragment of the Kluyvera ascorbata chromosome. On the basis of sequence analysis, we speculate that pCTX-M3 might have arisen from plasmid pEL60 from plant pathogen Erwinia amylovora by acquiring mobile elements with resistance genes. This suggests that plasmids of environmental bacterial strains could be the source of those plasmids now observed in bacteria pathogenic for humans.

Escherichia coli isolates recovered from patients during a clonal outbreak in a Warsaw, Poland, hospital in 1997 produced different levels of an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) of the SHV type. The beta-lactamase hyperproduction correlated with the multiplication of ESBL gene copies within a plasmid. Here, we present the complete nucleotide sequence of plasmid p1658/97 carried by the isolates recovered during the outbreak. The plasmid is 125,491 bp and shows a mosaic structure in which all modules constituting the plasmid core are homologous to those found in plasmids F and R100 and are separated by segments of homology to other known regions (plasmid R64, Providencia rettgeri genomic island R391, Vibrio cholerae STX transposon, Klebsiella pneumoniae or E. coli chromosomes). Plasmid p1658/97 bears two replication systems, IncFII and IncFIB; we demonstrated that both are active in E. coli. The presence of an active partition system (sopABC locus) and two postsegregational killing systems (pemIK and hok/sok) indicates that the plasmid should be stably maintained in E. coli populations. The conjugative transfer is ensured by the operons of the tra and trb genes. We also demonstrate that the plasmidic segment undergoing amplification contains the blaSHV-5 gene and is homologous to a 7.9-kb fragment of the K. pneumoniae chromosome. The amplicon displays the structure of a composite transposon of type I.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to investigate the value of structural neuroimaging with MRI in the selection of patients for epilepsy surgery. We sought to determine whether MRI influenced decision concerning resective surgery and whether MRI provided much more useful information than enhanced CT., Materials and Methods: Neuroimaging studies, MRI and CT, of 300 patients; 265 with partial and 35 with primary generalized seizures, evaluated for surgical treatment of epilepsy were analysed. The MRIs and CTs were interpreted using visual diagnostic criteria and findings were correlated with the EEG changes and clinical semiology., Results: MRIs identified structural lesions in 142, CTs in 96 of all patients. The clinical semiology (partial seizures), MRI, CT and EEG focal findings were concordant in 72 cases. The group of 34 patients had resective surgery. The 7 patients were also operated with MRI and CT focal abnormalities discordant with EEG changes. Also one patient with primary generalized epilepsy and temporal lobe lesion (glioma) had resective surgery. MRI studies revealed structural lesions in 48 patients with normal CT studies. The 43 patients with partial epilepsy had normal CTs and lesions in MRIs; the 34 cases revealed correlation with the EEG findings in 29 temporal and 5 extratemporal regions. Surgery were performed in 23 cases. Also one with partial seizures and MRI detected hippocampal atrophy was operated, despite of generalized EEG patterns. In contrast CT revealed two patients with normal MRI and focal changes. The patients with partial seizures and only CT abnormalities (focal calcifications) were not operated due to discordant EEG findings. In group of 132 patients with normal neuroimaging studies and EEG identified seizure focus only 27 had anterior temporal lobectomy., Conclusion: MRI studies gave additional information in case of 16% patients with intractable epilepsy in comparison with CT findings. Resective epilepsy surgery was almost twice as often performed when MRIs revealed structural abnormality. In operated patients, diagnostic sensitivity of structural MRI, CT and EEG to neurophatology were 70.6%, 46.7 and 92.4% respectively.