Search

Summary. In a search for new fingerprinting probes for use with sheep, repeat sequences derived from five poxviruses, an iridovirus and a baculovirus were screened against DNA from sheep pedigrees. Probes constructed from portions of the parapox viruses, orf virus and papular stomatitis virus and the baculovirus from the alfalfa looper, Autographa californica, nuclear polyhedrosis virus all gave fingerprint patterns. Probes from three other poxviruses and an iridovirus did not give useful banding patterns.

Source/description: Primer sequences were designed from the bovine DNA sequence GenBank U88329 and AF047692 to amplify a part of the 3′ untranslated region which contained a 13-bp deletion in some animals2.

The germination of sporangia in Coelomomyces psorophorae var tasmaniensis (C. p. tas.) is uncoordinated and thus there is a mixture of developmental stages in any given population. Continuous urografin gradients separated out the critical stages of germinating sporangia giving four bands, each band representing a consecutive stage of germination. These stages were investigated for changes in the sporangial wall using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The sporangia have a typical two-layered wall, an electron dense outer layer which can be divided into three distinct sub-layers D1, D2, and D3 and an inner electron transparent secondary wall. Stage 3 sporangia have an intact D1 layer on their outer wall. In the subsequent stages (4 & 4b) there is a progressive breakdown of this layer.