Isolation of keratomycetes from the soil of wild animal cages and enclosures in the zoo of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Italy.
The keratinophilic fungi present in the soil of wild animal cages and enclosures in the zoo of the "Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo", at Pescasseroli, Italy were studied. The goal of the investigation was to determine what species of such fungi existed in wild animal habitats in that area and what variation there may be in their frequency in connection with the seasons. The most prevalent fungus was Trichophyton ajelloi, followed in decreasing order by the Chrysosporium species (C. keratinophilum, C. tropicum, C. state of Ctenomyces serratus). The Microsporums were relatively rare. The perfect forms Arthroderma uncinatum, A. quadrifidum, Nannizzia cajetani and Ctenomyces serratus were isolated from plates containing their corresponding imperfect forms. The recurrence of the species present in the soil of each cage and enclosure in April and in July was remarkable.
Keratinolytic and keratinophilic fungi in the soils of Papua New Guinea
A study was made of soil samples collected during an expedition to the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Fungi were isolated from the samples by the method of hair baiting (To-Ka-Va). Of the 33 species isolated, about half showed keratinolytic activity. Such activity is previously unreported for Mucor hiemalis f. hiemalis, Myrothecium roridum, Paecilomyces carneus, P. marquandii, Penicillium brevicompactum, Rhinocladiella mansonii and Verticillium lecanii. The species most active keratinolytically were Chrysosporium an. Arthroderma cuniculi, C. an. A. curreyi, C. indicum, Myceliophthora vellerea and Trichophyton ajelloi. The spectrum of fungi with keratinolytic activity isolated from the different sites differed considerably according to the frequency of use by man, heaviest use being correlated with greatest activity. The pH of the soil (varying from 5.8–7.5) had little influence on the type of such fungi isolated.
Intentional poisoning cases of animals with anticholinesterase pesticide-carbofuran in Sri Lanka.
Carbofuran is a broad spectrum insecticide and nematicide which inhibits acetyl cholinesterase. Several intentional poisoning cases of animals and birds including crows, dogs, cow, and elephant, using carbofuran were reported in Sri Lanka. Qualitative analysis of carbofuran in biological specimens was carried out using T.L.C and GC-MS. The quantitative analysis was carried out by HPLC using Zorbax Eclips XDB-C18 (150 x 4.6 mm I.D x 5 microm particle size) column with acetonitrile: water 25:75 v/v mobile phase and UV detection at 210 nm. The liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform was reproducible and sensitive. The procedure was validated in terms of linearity (0.996<r<0.999) for concentrations ranging from 1 to 200 microg/ml, repeatability (RSD 4.4% at 100 microg/ml, n=10) extraction recovery (91.7% at 100 microg/g, 77.3% at 20 microg/g), limit of detection (S/N ratio=3, 0.7 microg/ml) and limit of quantification (S/N ratio=10, 2.4 microg/ml). The method was found satisfactory and successfully applied in fatal cases of animals and birds due to carbofuran poisoning. The fatal carbofuran levels detected were in the range of 42-910 microg/g in crow's gizzard and contents, 50-800 microg/g in dog's stomach contents, 13-20 microg/g in dog's liver, 0.9 microg/g in cow's stomach and contents, 35 microg/g in elephant's stomach and contents.