PubMed · 3616627
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P W Hedrick. 1987-08-28. Genetic bottlenecks.. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3616627
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Faecal oestradiol and progestogen metabolite excretion was monitored in adult, female cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) (n = 26) for 1-24 months. Increased faecal oestradiol excretion was associated with mating or equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) administration for artificial insemination, whereas increased progestogen metabolites were observed during natural and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG)-induced pregnant and nonpregnant luteal phases. On the basis of oestradiol excretory patterns, duration of the oestrous cycle (mean +/- SEM) was 13.6 +/- 1.2 days with high oestradiol concentrations lasting for 4.1 +/- 0.8 days. In non-gonadotrophin-treated cheetahs, 75% showed evidence of oestrous cyclicity; however, none evaluated for 1 year or longer were continuously cyclic. Rather, cyclicity was interrupted by periods of anoestrus, often exceeding several months in duration. These inactive ovarian periods were unrelated to season and were not synchronous among females. Mean duration of gestation (breeding to parturition) was 94.2 +/- 0.5 days, whereas duration of faecal progestogen metabolite excretion during the nonpregnant luteal phase was 51.2 +/- 3.5 days. On the basis of progestogen metabolite evaluations, spontaneous ovulation (non-mating induced) occurred only once in two females (2 of 184 oestrous cycles; 1.1%). Peak eCG-stimulated, preovulatory oestradiol concentrations were similar to those associated with natural oestrus, whereas progestogen metabolite profiles after hCG resembled those during pregnant and nonpregnant luteal phases after natural mating. In summary, results confirm that the cheetah is polyoestrus and ovulation is almost always induced. However, new evidence suggests that many females inexplicably experience periods of anoestrus unrelated to season, while 25% of the cheetahs examined expressed no ovarian activity during the study period.
Gastric and non-gastric species of Helicobacter were examined for the presence of the adhesin-encoding gene, hpaA, from the human-associated gastric Helicobacter H. pylori (Hp), and for adhesin subunit protein HpaA. Amplification of a 375-bp internal DNA fragment of hpaA by PCR demonstrated the presence of the gene in Hp and in two closely related gastric Helicobacters, H. nemestrinae (Hn) and H. acinonyx (Hx), but not in the more distantly related H. felis (Hf) and H. mustelae (Hm). The non-gastric Helicobacters, H. canis (Hc), H. muridarum (Hr), H. fennelliae (He) and H. cinaedi (Hi), were all negative for hpaA. An immunoblot assay of water extracts with adhesin-specific antibody confirmed these results. The deduced amino acid (aa) sequences of Hp HpaA and Hn adhesin A (hereafter termed HnaA) are very similar, having identical receptor-binding motifs (rbm); also, the hemagglutination (HA) properties of Hn and Hp cells were indistinguishable. In contrast, the rbm of Hx adhesin A (hereafter termed HxaA), compared to that of Hp, contained a non-conservative aa substitution (Ile to Thr); also, there was variance in five consecutive aa from 10 to 14 residues upstream from the rbm. We conclude that these aa substitutions in HxaA are probably responsible for the difference in receptor recognition of this adhesin, as evidenced by the resistance of Hx HA to inhibition with N-acetylneuraminyl-alpha(2,3)-lactose. These results are consistent with the biological similarity between the natural host(s) of Hp and Hn; i.e., human and non-human primates, and the dissimilarity between these hosts and the feline host, the cheetah.