Search results for " Rabbit"
showing 10 items of 33 documents
Functional genomics of Lactobacillus casei establishment in the gut
2014
International audience; Although the composition of the gut microbiota and its symbiotic contribution to key host physiological functions are well established, little is known as yet about the bacterial factors that account for this symbiosis. We selected Lactobacillus casei as a model microorganism to proceed to genomewide identification of the functions required for a symbiont to establish colonization in the gut. As a result of our recent development of a transposon-mutagenesis tool that overcomes the barrier that had prevented L. casei random mutagenesis, we developed a signature-tagged mutagenesis approach combining whole-genome reverse genetics using a set of tagged transposons and in…
Experience influences elemental and configural perception of certain binary odour mixtures in newborn rabbits.
2011
SUMMARY Elemental and configural olfactory perception allows interaction with the environment from very early in life. To evaluate how newborn rabbits can extract and respond to information from the highly complex chemical surroundings, and how experience acts on this sensory, cognitive and behavioural capability, we ran a study in four steps including a total of eight experiments. We mainly used a binary AB mixture comprising ethyl isobutyrate (component A) and ethyl maltol (component B), previously shown as a bearer of blending properties; in rabbit pups (as in human adults), the mixture elicits a weak configural perception, i.e. the perception of a configural odour different from the odo…
Spontaneous brain processing of the mammary pheromone in rabbit neonates prior to milk intake.
2016
International audience; Chemical signals play a critical role in interindividual communication, including mother-young relationships. Detecting odor cues released by the mammary area is vital to the newborn's survival. European rabbit females secret a mammary pheromone (MP) in their milk, which releases sucking related orocephalic movements in newborns. Pups spontaneously display these typical movements at birth, independently of any perinatal learning. Our previous Fos mapping study (Charra et al., 2012) performed in 4-day-old rabbits showed that the MP activated a network of brain regions involved in osmoregulation, odor processing and arousal in comparison with a control odor. However, a…
Mammary odor cues and pheromones: mammalian infant-directed communication about maternal state, mammae, and milk
2010
International audience; Neonatal mammals are exposed to an outstandingly powerful selective pressure at birth, and any mean to alleviate their localization effort and accelerate acceptance to orally grasp a nipple and ingest milk should have had advantageous consequences over evolutionary time. Thus, it is essential for females to display a biological interface structure that is sensorily conspicuous and executively easy for their newborns. Females' strategy to increase the conspicuousness of nipples could only exploit the newborns' most advanced and conserved sensory systems, touch and olfaction, and selection has accordingly shaped tactilely and olfactorily conspicuous mammary structures.…
Protection against myxomatosis and rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease with recombinant myxoma viruses expressing rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus capsi…
1996
Two myxoma virus-rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) recombinant viruses were constructed with the SG33 strain of myxoma virus to protect rabbits against myxomatosis and rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease. These recombinant viruses expressed the RHDV capsid protein (VP60). The recombinant protein, which is 60 kDa in size, was antigenic, as revealed by its reaction in immunoprecipitation with antibodies raised against RHDV. Both recombinant viruses induced high levels of RHDV- and myxoma virus-specific antibodies in rabbits after immunization. Inoculations by the intradermal route protected animals against virulent RHDV and myxoma virus challenges.
Brain anatomy of the 4‐day‐old European rabbit
2018
International audience; The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a widely used model in fundamental, medical and veterinary neurosciences. Besides investigations in adults, rabbit pups are relevant to study perinatal neurodevelopment and early behaviour. To date, the rabbit is also the only species in which a pheromone - the mammary pheromone (MP) - emitted by lactating females and active on neonatal adaptation has been described. The MP is crucial since it contributes directly to nipple localisation and oral seizing in neonates, i.e. to their sucking success. It may also be one of the non-photic cues arising from the mother, which stimulates synchronisation of the circadian system du…
Induction of body weight loss through RNAi-knockdown of APOBEC1 gene expression in transgenic rabbits
2014
In the search of new strategies to fight against obesity, we targeted a gene pathway involved in energy uptake. We have thus investigated the APOB mRNA editing protein (APOBEC1) gene pathway that is involved in fat absorption in the intestine. The APOB gene encodes two proteins, APOB100 and APOB48, via the editing of a single nucleotide in the APOB mRNA by the APOBEC1 enzyme. The APOB48 protein is mandatory for the synthesis of chylomicrons by intestinal cells to transport dietary lipids and cholesterol. We produced transgenic rabbits expressing permanently and ubiquitously a small hairpin RNA targeting the rabbit APOBEC1 mRNA. These rabbits exhibited a moderately but significantly reduced …
Identifying fossil rabbit warrens: Insights from a taphonomical analysis of a modern warren
2016
14 pages; International audience; The European rabbit is a small burrowing mammal that is particularly abundant in Western Europe since the Pleistocene and introduced around the world over the last few centuries. Rabbit bones are regularly recovered from archaeological and palaeontological sites; however, demonstrating their contemporaneity with associated material is often difficult. Additionally, determining the origin of rabbit remains in fossil sites is equally problematic due to the lack of reference collections for natural accumulations. In order to address these issues, we excavated a modern rabbit warren in southwestern France using modern archaeological field methods and techniques…
Biometric characterisation and taxonomic considerations of european rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus 1758) in Sicily (Italy)
2014
In Sicilian Mediterranean ecosystems the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is a keystone species, very important for popular small game species and for ecological reasons. However, its spread across the island seems to have decreased and fragmented in recent times, but until now no accurate population management has been carried out due to the lack of ethological, ecological and taxonomic knowledge. A biometric analysis of European rabbit specimens from Sicily to widen current taxonomic knowledge was performed. In this paper, 7 body variables and 23 cranial variables of 166 and 120 individuals, respectively, were examined. Thereafter, the results were compared with biometric data from o…
mtDNA diversity in rabbit population from Sicily (Italy)
2017
The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (O.c) lives all over the world and it represents an important resource for many predators. It has been classified as a Near-Threatened species in the Red List of Vertebrates of Italy. It is present in mediterranean basin as two known subspecies: O.c. cuniculus and O.c. algirus. The mediterranean geographic distribution of the two subspecies is still not well known. In particular, in Sicily, lacking of deep studies, is based on the body size and morphological characteristics; there wasn’t a complete description of the actual existing subspecies and previous studies only reported the morphological characteristics of the sicilian rabbit population. In …