T-61 Use in the Euthanasia of Domestic Animals: A Survey

A variety of techniques have been proposed and employed for the killing of domestic animals but relatively few have survived as suitable agents for euthanasia-namely, the induction of painless, suffering-free death. Some agents, such as strychnine, curariform agents, or potassium salts cause suffering while others have other disadvantages. \u27lbday, dogs and cats are commonly euthanatized with sodium pentobarbital or with T-61 which is a mixture of a central nervous system narcotic, a paralytic agent, and a local anesthetic. The use of T-61 was first reported in the United States in 1963 (Quin 1963). The substance gradually became more popular because it was not a DEA-controlled substance and therefore practitioners did not have to deal with the stringent reporting requirements needed for the barbiturates. However, the presence of a paralytic agent in the T-61 mixture, continuing anecdotal reports of bad reactions when using T-61, and the relatively complicated protocol recommended for its administration have resulted in repeated questions being raised about the appropriateness of T-61 as a euthanasia agent

A Sex-Specific Metabolite Identified in a Marine Invertebrate Utilizing Phosphorus-31 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Hormone level differences are generally accepted as the primary cause for sexual dimorphism in animal and human development. Levels of low molecular weight metabolites also differ between men and women in circulating amino acids, lipids and carbohydrates and within brain tissue. While investigating the metabolism of blue crab tissues using Phosphorus-31 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, we discovered that only the male blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) contained a phosphorus compound with a chemical shift well separated from the expected phosphate compounds. Spectra obtained from male gills were readily differentiated from female gill spectra. Analysis from six years of data from male and female crabs documented that the sex-specificity of this metabolite was normal for this species. Microscopic analysis of male and female gills found no differences in their gill anatomy or the presence of parasites or bacteria that might produce this phosphorus compound. Analysis of a rare gynandromorph blue crab (laterally, half male and half female) proved that this sex-specificity was an intrinsic biochemical process and was not caused by any variations in the diet or habitat of male versus female crabs. The existence of a sex-specific metabolite is a previously unrecognized, but potentially significant biochemical phenomenon. An entire enzyme system has been synthesized and activated only in one sex. Unless blue crabs are a unique species, sex-specific metabolites are likely to be present in other animals. Would the presence or absence of a sex-specific metabolite affect an animal's development, anatomy and biochemistry

Phosphate insensitive aminophosphonate mineralisation within oceanic nutrient cycles

Many areas of the ocean are nutrient-poor yet support large microbial populations, leading to intense competition for and recycling of nutrients. Organic phosphonates are frequently found in marine waters, but require specialist enzymes for catabolism. Previous studies have shown that the genes which encode these enzymes in marine systems are under Pho regulon control and so are repressed by inorganic phosphate. This has led to the conclusion that phosphonates are recalcitrant in much of the ocean where phosphorus is not limiting despite the degradative genes being common throughout the marine environment. Here we challenge this paradigm and show, for the first time, that bacteria isolated from marine samples have the ability to mineralise 2-aminoethylphosphonate, the most common biogenic marine aminophosphonate, via substrate-inducible gene regulation rather than via Pho-regulated metabolism. Substrate-inducible, Pho-independent 2-aminoethylphosphonate catabolism therefore represents a previously unrecognised component of the oceanic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles