We report a family with an 18p trisomic mother and two 18p tetrasomic daughters. The mother is phenotypically normal and healthy, but with an unusual type of trisomy 18p: 47,XX,del(18)(pter-*pll.21),+i(18p) de novo. The older sister has microcephaly, mental retardation, an asymmetrical and peculiar face with low set ears, pinched up nose, high arched palate, small mouth, micrognathia, tapering fingers, asymmetrical length of legs, and an asthenic body. The younger sister was stillborn with extensive defects of the skull, congenital hydrocephalus, severe facial anomalies, and lumbosacral meningocele. Both daughters have inherited one normal chromosome 18 and an isochromosome 18p from their mother, and one normal chromosome 18 from their father. Although one quite similar family has been reported, to the best of our knowledge there have been no reports of families in which two daughters with tetrasomy 18p syndrome have been born to a mother with trisomy 18p with isochromosomes. Based on a comparative analysis of 18 cases, Rivera et all concluded that tetrasomy 18p constitutes a clinically and cyto enetically recognisable syndrome. Fryns et al gave further support to the existence of such a clinical entity. We present a family in which two daughters with tetrasomy 18p were born to a mother with de novo trisomy 18p. Case reports Case 1, a 27 month old female, was born at 37 weeks' gestation, with a birth weight of 2045 g. She showed marked psychomotor retardation. Physical examination at this age showed height 81-5 cm (-1.76 SD), weight 9-0 kg (-2.33 SD), head circum

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Respiratory disease is the most important health concern for the swine industry. Genetic improvement for disease resistance is challenging because of the difficulty in obtaining good phenotypes related with disease resistance; however, identification of genes or markers associated with disease resistance can help in the genetic improvement of pig health. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with disease resistance were segregated in a purebred population of Landrace pigs that had been selected for meat production traits and mycoplasmal pneumonia of swine (MPS) scores over five generations. We analysed 1395 pigs from the base to the fifth generation of this population. Two respiratory disease traits [MPS scores and atrophic rhinitis (AR) scores] and 11 immune-capacity traits were measured in 630-1332 animals at 7 weeks of age and when the animal's body weight reached 105 kg. Each of the pigs, except sires in the base population, was genotyped using 109 microsatellite markers, and then, QTL analysis of the full-sib family population with a multi-generational pedigree structure was performed. Variance component analysis was used to detect QTL associated with MPS or AR scores, and the logarithm of odds (LOD) score and genotypic heritability of the QTL were estimated. Five significant (LOD > 2.51) and 18 suggestive (LOD > 1.35) QTL for respiratory disease traits and immune-capacity traits were detected. The significant QTL for Log-MPS score, located on S. scrofa chromosome 2, could explain 87% of the genetic variance of this score in this analysis. This is the first report of QTL associated with respiratory disease lesions.

In pig production, dietary additive antibiotics are usually used for growth stimulation and disease prevention, although there is public concern about the increased incidence of resistant antibiotics and food safety. It is possible that such antibiotics might be replaced by naturally derived products such as seaweed and licorice. In this study, we evaluated the effect of dietary addition of seaweed and licorice on enhancing the immune function in swine. The animals of each group (eight animals per group) were sensitized at day 42 and 49, and the immunoglobulin production and the expression of cytokines were detected by the ELISA and real-time PCR. As the results, saliva IgA production of the seaweed-treated group increased around five times compared to that of control (day 56). Delayed hypersensitivity reaction and IgG production of the seaweed-treated group increased around 1.8-2.0 times. In addition, enhanced saliva IgA production was detected at day 50 (around two times) and day 51 (around five times) by the licorice treatment, and lower expression level of tumor necrosis factor-α messenger RNA at day 51 (around 1/25) was observed in the licorice treatment. We conclude that the replacement of antibiotics by naturally derived dietary additives might be feasible for immune system enhancement.

Intestinal bacteria from several coastal fish species were screened on 1/20 PYBG medium containing 0.2% colloidal chitin, and 361 bacteria capable of decomposing colloidal chitin were isolated. These isolates were subsequently screened on media containing either 0.5% alpha-chitin or 0.5% beta-chitin resulting in the identification of 31 alpha-chitinolytic and 275 beta-chitinolytic bacterial isolates. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing was carried out and homology searches of the resultant sequences against the DDBJ, EMBL, and GenBank databases revealed that the majority (99%) of the chitinolytic bacteria isolated belonged to the Vibrionaceae. Phylogenetic analysis using a Bayesian approach showed that the alpha-chitinolytic bacteria belonging to the Vibrionaceae formed a separate cluster from the non-alpha-chitinolytic bacteria in the Vibrionaceae.